Chapter 159 I Hope Your Dreams Come True

It is a normal choice for Dortmund to play away games with a mixed lineup when they won the 2010-2011 league championship four rounds ahead of schedule. -In the 1983 season, the 36 rounds of the league were unbeaten. It is estimated that Tang Zheng will not appear in the starting lineup.

It also happened to be Tang Zheng's starting game that made those players who rarely played in games feel at ease.

Every time when the defense line is in an emergency or the offense is insufficient, Tang Zheng will appear in a key position at a critical moment and step forward.

In particular, Borussia Mönchengladbach's popular winger Royce performed extremely well, causing Dortmund's defense to be tested many times, and it was Tang Zheng who stood up to turn the tide and managed to keep the goal.

But because Tang Zheng focused too much on defense, the number of offensive support was limited, coupled with the amazing performance of the nineteen-year-old talented goalkeeper Ter Stegen, Dortmund drew with Borussia Mönchengladbach in the away game.

With an away draw against Borussia Mönchenglad, Dortmund's unbeaten streak is thirty-five games.

Dortmund's league opponent in the next round is Nuremberg, and the next round is Werder Bremen. According to Dortmund's current state, it is very likely to create a new Bundesliga unbeaten record.

Of course, paying attention to the unbeaten record of the Bundesliga is a matter for the media. The attention of the Dortmund team has shifted, from the Bundesliga to the preparations for the first round of the Europa League semi-finals.

Villarreal's performance in La Liga in the 2010-2011 season can be said to be remarkable. Although there is no way to compare with giants such as Barcelona and Real Madrid, their performance is still top among the other 18 teams in La Liga. of.

In the past 33 rounds of the league, Villarreal has achieved 17 wins, 6 draws, 10 losses and 57 points, ranking fourth in La Liga in the 2010-2011 season.

In the last five rounds of the 2010-2011 La Liga season, they are only five points away from Valencia, which ranks third in the league. It is very likely that they will surpass Valencia and rank third in the league in one fell swoop, and directly participate in the third round of the UEFA Champions League next season. game.

The key is that Villarreal's winning rate this season exceeds 50%, and the home winning rate is as high as 70.6%.

Sitting at the Love Song Stadium, they scored 30 goals. Their offensive ability may not look very good, but their defense is very good. They only conceded 17 goals in 17 games, and the average conceded goal is less than one per game.

Villarreal's ability to concede only ten goals at home is directly related to the central defender partnership of Musacchio and Marchena.

Although they are not the kind of tall central defenders, they have strong jumping ability and fast turning speed, and they are more sensitive to the judgment of the ball.

Klopp specifically mentioned this combination in his tactical explanation, reminding offensive players to pay attention to this combination.

At the same time, Villarreal head coach Garrido also seriously exhorted the players in the team's tactical arrangement hall.

However, the object of his advice was not Dortmund's double centre-back combination, but Tang Zheng who was about to be a guest at the Love Song Stadium wearing the captain's armband.

"The Bundesliga champions this season should not be underestimated. They eliminated the Portuguese Super League champions in the 1/16 finals, the Russian Super League champions in the 1/8 finals, and the Eredivisie champions in the 1/4 finals. This is a difficult ball to deal with. team."

When Garrido said this, he paused for a moment, then glanced up at the players present, pointed at the number 10 on the tactical board, and said seriously: "Don, he is the most threatening player in Dortmund, bar none! He scored 16 goals and 19 assists in 30 games in the league, and scored 7 goals and 8 assists in 10 games in the Europa League. I think... Everyone here should know what this data means, right? "

The faces of the first-team players sitting opposite were heavy, obviously feeling a little bit of crisis about Tang Zheng's outstanding statistics.

Especially Tang Zheng's good friend Matteo Musacchio, his brows were tightly wrinkled and his expression was serious.

The league is close to the double 20 data, no matter which league it is placed in, it is a difficult data to achieve.

So Villarreal's main players are very serious, especially the three of Cazorla, Senna and Barreiro. They mainly face Tang Zheng in the middle of the court.

Facing such a powerful opponent, they had to be cautious.

This season's Europa League has reached the semi-finals, and any mistakes will make their efforts for a season in vain.

※※※

Before the start of the Europa League semi-finals, there will be two Champions League semi-finals.

The first Champions League semi-final was held in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. Schalke 04 played against the Red Devils Manchester United at home.

Tang Zheng, who was preparing for the first round of the Europa League semi-final, also paid attention to this game, because Hao Junmin has been reused recently, and he will start this UEFA Champions League semi-final.

But helplessly, there is a huge gap between the Red Devils and Manchester United. After 90 minutes, Manchester United defeated Schalke 04 2-0 away.

Schalke 04's loss at home did not exceed the expectations of many media. The firing of Magath by the top management will definitely lead to a lack of morale. In addition, there is a big gap between the two, even if they are at the Veltins Arena at home. Not much of an advantage either.

However, the Chinese media and fans are gratified that Hao Junmin's performance on the court is remarkable, and it is one of the few highlights of Schalke 04's home game.

Even from the position of play, he is the best performance of the whole team.

Central 5 commentator He Wei said after the game: "Hao Junmin, who joined Schalke 04 last winter, is indeed a long ball..."

The next day, the Dortmund team took a flight to Valencia.

That night, the second game of the 2010-2011 UEFA Champions League semi-final was played at the Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, Spain.

This game has the attention of hundreds of millions of fans. The Bernabéu, who is playing at home, will face the thriving Barcelona.

At the same time, this Spanish national derby is also the first national derby in the history of the Champions League.

Before eleven o'clock, the two teams had a league battle at the Bernabéu.

After 90 minutes of competition, the two sides stood at 1:1

But the Champions League semi-finals are much more important than the league, and the atmosphere of the game is different.

Since Guardiola took charge of Barcelona in the summer of 2008, Barcelona's Tiki-Taka tactics have swept almost all opponents.

In the past three seasons, Real Madrid has suffered numerous losses.

There was no accident this time either. Ninety minutes later, the scoreboard showed 0:2

The home team is at the front and the visiting team is at the back.

It is worth mentioning that this Spanish national derby-style Champions League semi-final not only attracted a lot of attention, but the game process was also very hot.

There was a violent conflict between the two sides.

A total of three people were sent off by Real Madrid and Barcelona: Pepe, Mourinho and Pinto.

Dortmund coach Klopp organized the players to watch this focus battle together until the end of the game.

Since the head coach Klopp did not disband, although the players had doubts, they did not show it.

At this moment, head coach Klopp turned his head and asked Tang Zheng: "Tang, do you know why Real Madrid conceded two goals in a row in the second half?"

All teammates focused on Tang Zheng, obviously wanting to know how he would answer.

"Mentality."

Tang Zheng thought for a while and gave a concise answer.

"Oh?" Klopp was very surprised by Tang Zheng's answer, so he gave a puzzled expression.

Tang Zheng coughed lightly, and gave his own analysis: "Every player in Real Madrid is an outstanding existence. They are not inferior to the players in Barcelona. It's just that the consecutive losses to Barcelona in the past caused the mentality to be unbalanced. In addition, the fans and the media The hype and public opinion broke out, making Real Madrid pay too much attention to offense and ignore defense in the second half..."

The Dortmund players staying at the hotel almost nodded thoughtfully after listening to Tang Zheng's logical analysis, including head coach Klopp, assistant coaches Zeliko Buvac and Peter Kravitz.

After listening to Tang Zheng's analysis, Klopp nodded and said, "The analysis is very good, but there is one point that I overlooked."

Speaking of this, Klopp said solemnly: "It is undeniable that Barcelona's technical and tactical play is currently the most advanced in world football. Various triangle passes are the essence of Tiki-Taka. Long-term possession of the ball has caused Real Madrid to It is a very normal result for superstars to lose their mentality."

"If...we were the ones fighting against Barcelona, ​​how do you think we should play?" Klopp added Tang Zheng's statement, and then asked.

"If it's us playing against Barcelona." Tang Zheng frowned slightly, staring straight ahead, and said slowly after about half a minute: "Give full play to our superiority and high pressure, forcing them to have no way to accurately and quickly play in the midfield. ball, while using his physicality to stay close to the technically agile Barcelona players."

Klopp hadn't made a judgment yet, but assistant coaches Geliko Buvac and Peter Clavi nodded thoughtfully, obviously agreeing with Tang Zheng's statement.

"But Barcelona has a phenomenal superstar Messi."

"I won't give him a chance!" After finishing speaking, Tang Zheng's starry eyes looked at Messi who was specially taken care of by the broadcast camera, full of fighting spirit.

There is a lot of confidence in his eyes!

Klopp saw it, the two assistant managers saw it, the players saw it too.

Since Barcelona won the unprecedented six championships in the 2008-2009 season, it has been called the Cosmic Team by the earth media. Therefore, many players have an unexplained fear of Barcelona. There are some such players in the Dortmund team.

And Messi is the most dazzling star of this cosmic team.

Often rely on outstanding personal ability to open the situation when the team has no way to break the deadlock.

This was the case in the just-concluded 2010-2011 UEFA Champions League semi-finals, especially the second goal, which was a typical Messi-style goal, with five players in a row.

Tang Zheng was originally the kind of player who could motivate his teammates, not only on the court but also off the court, so these players suddenly realized that if they played against Barcelona, ​​it seemed that it was not as scary as they imagined.

No one thought that when the two teams played against each other in the near future, it was Tang Zheng's words after the Clasico-style Champions League semi-final that would build confidence.

※※※

Through the Barcelona game, Klopp seems to see the development direction of the team's tactical upgrade.

However, the first round of the Europa League semi-finals is imminent. Temporary change of tactics is a taboo in the game, and Klopp will naturally not take risks.

Besides, his new ideas cannot copy Barcelona's routines. After all, the skills of Dortmund players are not as good as those of Barcelona players, and he needs to be perfected.

Villarreal is not a La Liga giant in the traditional sense. It was not until the end of the 1990s that they were promoted to La Liga for the first time in history.

After the initial maladaptation, they emerged suddenly after the new century and became a team that should not be underestimated in Spanish football.

In the 2004-2005 season, he achieved the best record in history in La Liga, ranking third in the league, second only to Barcelona and Real Madrid.

It is unbelievable that Villarreal, who participated in the UEFA Champions League for the first time, performed amazingly in the 2005-2006 season.

However, the rise of Villarreal is a bit late, and their home court, the Love Song Stadium, is not big.

The Love Song Stadium can only accommodate 24,000 people, which is nearly 60,000 people less than the 83,000 people that can accommodate the Westfalenstadion, and is even smaller than the home courts of many Bundesliga teams.

The huge contrast makes Dortmund fans not have much fun playing.

So in adapting to the venue yesterday, the Dortmund players were a little confused.

On the day of the game, the Love Song stadium looked full of seats with more than an hour before the game started.

Due to the limited capacity of the stadium to accommodate fans, the home team has limited tickets for the visiting team, only 2,000.

But Dortmund fans have always been very passionate and excited. Even if the number is too small, they can still overwhelm the Villarreal fans who are playing at home.

This situation was reflected when the two sides entered the field to warm up.

The Dortmund players wearing black away jerseys warmed up as Tang Zheng entered the field, and the Villarreal fans from the stands wanted to give the visiting team a bad start.

As a result, the 2,000 Dortmund fans suppressed the boos of the 20,000 Villarreal fans with their hysterical shouts.

As the captain, Tang Zheng quickly found the area where the Dortmund fans were. He gave a high thumbs up towards the two o'clock direction in front of the player tunnel to praise the fans of the visiting team who came with the team.

"Aww-"

Tang Zheng's performance this season is obvious to all, Dortmund fans burst into even louder cheers after seeing his actions.

German Sky commentator Marcel Leif, who is adjusting the headset, said with a smile: "Dortmund can perform so well this season. I think apart from their own strong strength, it also has something to do with the almost crazy shouts of the fans..."

Just as Tang Zheng was about to warm up with physical coach Oliver Bartlett, a palm was placed on his shoulder.

Instinctively, he turned his head and looked over, it was a familiar face.

Compared with two years ago, this familiar face is no longer young.

"Hey, Mateo, long time no see." Tang Zheng stretched out his right hand with a smile, and patted Musacchio's outstretched hand vigorously.

"Yes, long time no see!" Musacchio punched Tang Zheng in the chest.

"You guy, you really can't change the habit of eating shit, you always like to hit your chest."

"Pfft~"

This pair of friends who have known each other since the River Plate youth team is like going back to three and a half years ago...

Practice together, work hard together, vividly.

"Don, I will definitely beat you!" After a few jokes, Musacchio said very seriously.

"I hope your dreams come true!" Tang Zheng said with a shrug.