Although Messi was not a player known for his speed, that did not mean he was slow.
On the contrary, Messi was very fast. Especially before his major injury, when his explosiveness declined, he had absolutely been a speedster down the wing!
It was simply that his almost unbelievable dribbling and breakthrough ability made people instinctively overlook his pace.
And now, in the race between Lin Quan and Neuer, Lin Quan's speed advantage quickly became apparent.
Neuer's long legs gave him a greater stride length, but Lin Quan's blistering cadence of four steps per second allowed him to cover almost one extra step more than his opponent every second!
It was like Su Bingtian and Bolt on the track. Su Bingtian had a smaller stride but a faster cadence, while Bolt had a longer stride but a slightly slower cadence.
That meant Su Bingtian held the advantage before seventy meters, while only after seventy meters could Bolt use his stride advantage to catch up and overtake him.
There were less than twenty meters between the two footballers, a distance that was clearly more favorable for Lin Quan, whose cadence was faster.
In the stands, more than fifty thousand Bayern fans seemed like ducks being choked. They stretched their necks, mouths hanging open, yet not a sound came out.
They shouted in their hearts: Neuer, run faster! Faster!
But unfortunately, no matter how hard they shouted, they could not change what was happening on the pitch.
With his quicker cadence, Lin Quan reached the ball first.
Neuer was a step late. Seeing that Lin Quan had already collected the ball, he immediately launched himself into a vicious sliding tackle, intending to end the attack with a foul.
Since they were outside the penalty area, he could not simply use his hands to touch the ball.
And one-on-one against Lin Quan, he was not confident he could stop him.
So a sliding tackle was the most suitable choice at that moment.
Lin Quan knew his opponent would not let him through easily, so as he touched the ball, he lightly flicked it up with his toe. The football flew over Neuer's head.
Lin Quan himself then sprang lightly over Neuer's outstretched tackling legs.
He evaded the tackle!
When he received the ball again, an empty net lay before him.
The fierce sprint just now, combined with his duel against Neuer, had drained a great deal of Lin Quan's stamina.
He was still more than thirty meters from goal, and worried that with his stamina fading, a direct shot might go wide.
So he gave up on the long-range attempt and dribbled straight toward Bayern's goal.
That move enraged the Bayern fans in the stadium. They felt the opponent was deliberately humiliating them.
So they mercilessly showered Lin Quan with boos.
Lin Quan was not disturbed by the jeers. In his view, wasn't it perfectly natural for an attacking player to be booed by the opposing fans?
He casually carried the ball into Bayern's half, stood on the goal line, and gently pushed with the inside of his foot. The football rolled into Bayern's net.
After scoring, he happened to see Lahm, who had tracked back, just entering the six-yard box.
Lin Quan raised an eyebrow at him.
"What was it you said just now? Could you say it again?"
Seeing the other man's arrogant expression, Lahm was so furious his lungs nearly exploded. He raised his fist and was about to go at him.
Werder Bremen's players immediately rushed over and shielded Lin Quan behind them. Their captain, Fritz, even began shoving Bayern's players.
A fight?
Come on!
Who was afraid of whom?
Seeing a full-blown brawl about to erupt, the referee immediately rushed over.
He decisively produced his yellow cards, giving one each to Werder Bremen's captain and two Bayern players.
Three yellow cards in quick succession immediately cowed the other players, especially those already carrying a booking. At that moment, none of them dared pick up another.
Lahm calmed down as well. He had never been the kind of player who was easily impulsive.
But Lin Quan had truly provoked him today, causing him to lose his cool for a moment.
And this yellow card made him realize that he had acted too rashly.
For a defender, carrying a yellow card greatly restricted their defensive movements and made them reluctant to foul carelessly.
That would weaken their defensive ability, and opponents would target that weakness.
Therefore, unless it was tactically necessary, defenders could not pick up cards lightly.
Yet because of a moment of anger, he had forgotten that. He really should not have.
In the box, Hoeness and Rummenigge both looked rather unpleasant.
In their eyes, Lin Quan's actions just now had absolutely been a provocation toward Bayern Munich.
But with Guardiola right there, they could not make a scene and could only swallow their anger.
Seeing the constipated expressions on their faces, Guardiola could not help secretly laughing.
"The ball is in! In the forty-sixth minute, Werder Bremen's number 10, Lin Quan, has scored his second and changed the score again!"
"This Chinese-heritage youngster has breached Bayern's goal twice in his debut appearance. Lin Quan's performance in this match has truly been eye-catching!"
"Yes, seeing him reminds me of Messi at the 2005 Youth World Championship. As long as he can maintain this kind of form, his future will be limitless!"
After seeing Lin Quan's second goal, He Wei and Xu Yang completely cast aside their doubts about him and began to speak highly of his future.
"With the second half halfway through, the score is now 2:1, a very unfavorable scoreline for Bayern.
It is almost certain that after scoring this goal, Werder Bremen will execute their defensive tactics even more resolutely.
For Bayern Munich, breaking through the opponent's goal will undoubtedly become far more difficult!"
Xu Yang added from beside him, "And if they continue to press forward, the gaps at the back can easily be exploited by their opponents, leading to goals like this!"
"But Bayern has no other choice. Not only must they keep attacking, they also need to find a way to breach the opponent's goal twice in the remaining fourteen minutes. Otherwise, even if they equalize, they will still have to face a Penalty Shootout!"
"Indeed. Telekom Cup matches have no extra time, and that rule is extremely unfavorable for Bayern."
Even the commentators understood this, so Bayern's coach certainly could not have failed to see it.
He immediately made tactical adjustments, instructing his players to attack more often down both flanks and use their individual ability to break the deadlock.
After Ribery came on, Bayern's attack was no longer limited to the right side. They could now open up the game from the left as well.
And compared with the Lone Ranger Robben, Ribery preferred passing to his teammates.
Several of his crosses after breaking through to the byline posed a tremendous threat in front of Werder Bremen's goal.
But the team's center forward, Gomez, was in truly dreadful form today. Other than his shot in the first half, his remaining attempts were all wildly off target, and he completely failed to show the level he should have.
In the forty-eighth minute, Gomez went down injured during an aerial challenge with defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos.
After checking the player's injury, the referee signaled for the stretcher to come on.
Gomez also gestured toward the bench for a substitution. Clearly, he could not continue.
When it rained, it poured. The team was behind, and their starting center forward was injured as well.
The spectators at the stadium all began to worry.
Could Bayern really lose their first match of the new season?
Before you continue