After the match began, Dortmund, as usual, planned to use their High Press and relentless running to deal with Werder Bremen.
But to their surprise, their opponents showed no fear at all and actually went toe-to-toe with them.
The tempo on the pitch was blisteringly fast. The ball rarely stayed at either side's feet for more than ten seconds before being won back.
This unexpected development made Klopp unable to sit still.
He looked doubtfully toward Werder Bremen's bench and saw their Head Coach, Thomas Schaaf, sitting there calmly, showing no reaction whatsoever to what was happening on the pitch.
It seemed this was their tactical arrangement!
They wanted an all-out attacking battle?
Heh, Werder Bremen's players probably did not know how the word "death" was spelled!
Any team that dared trade attacks with Dortmund would end up in a miserable state.
With that thought, Klopp gestured to the players on the pitch, telling them to further increase the tempo.
Didn't the other side want to trade attacks?
Then he would grant them their wish!
When Schaaf saw Dortmund's players speed up, rather than looking nervous or worried, he revealed a smug smile.
Klopp had taken the bait, just as expected!
Speed up?
That was exactly right!
Today, Schaaf had made several adjustments to the starting lineup. He removed Sokratis Papastathopoulos from the back line and replaced him with Lukimya, while young prospect Füllkrug came in up front.
The two shared several traits: they were tall, physically strong, and highly aggressive in challenges.
Clearly, bringing them on was meant to improve the team's physicality and pressing ability.
Werder Bremen's players were indeed not especially strong technically. They could not compare with Bayern Munich.
But was Dortmund really any better?
Dortmund's strong results came from the sheer aggression of their style. They ran all over the pitch as if pumped full of adrenaline, charging and crashing about, relying on the stamina and drive of young players to simply run other teams into the ground!
When it came to technique alone, could Dortmund compare with Bayern Munich?
Yet Dortmund had beaten Bayern three times last season, which was enough to show just how ruthless the tactical system Klopp had tailored for Dortmund truly was!
If they had to play at that intensity for the entire match, even if Werder Bremen fielded nothing but young players, they definitely could not outrun Dortmund.
But they only needed to fight for the opening five minutes. During those five minutes, Werder Bremen's players could absolutely keep up with Dortmund's tempo.
Thus, after Dortmund increased the pace, the situation on the pitch did not change.
Dortmund still could not hold onto the ball, and neither could Werder Bremen.
Both sides committed frequent fouls in midfield. Players from each team were sent tumbling left and right, and even Lin Quan was brought down twice in just two minutes.
As the chief contributor to Werder Bremen's win over Bayern Munich in the previous match, Lin Quan's threat was obviously well understood by Dortmund's players.
So Dortmund marked him tightly and challenged fiercely, using physical contact, fouls, and every other possible method to deny him a comfortable touch.
Lin Quan rubbed his sore calf, unable to stop himself from complaining inwardly:
What kind of football match was this?
It felt more like Spanish bullfighting!
In this fast-against-fast contest, Dortmund, who were more coordinated and more accustomed to this style of play, seemed to be gradually gaining the upper hand.
In the third minute, Bydgosczy carried the ball to the edge of the penalty area.
Just as he raised his foot to pass, Werder Bremen center-back Lukimya stepped up and used his physical advantage to shove him aside, winning the ball from his feet.
After making the interception, Lukimya immediately passed to captain Fritz. Dortmund's midfielders instantly swarmed Fritz.
Fritz did not dare hold the ball. The moment he received it, he sent it on with one touch, passing to Elia on the flank before the Dortmund players closing him down could even raise their feet.
Elia sprinted forward with the ball, charging into Dortmund's half.
Seeing the opposition launch a counterattack, Dortmund's players needed no reminder. The whole team rapidly dropped back in defense, moving in perfect coordination like a machine!
What outstanding tactical discipline!
On the touchline, Coach Schaaf looked at Klopp with some wariness.
Who knew what method that guy had used to turn such a group of young men into an iron-blooded army?
After Elia sprinted forward with the ball for more than ten meters, Dortmund fullback Kirch stopped him.
At the same time, two Dortmund players closed in from his left and behind him, preparing to swarm him.
This was Dortmund's tactical style: using more aggressive running to create numerical superiority in local areas, then pressing the ball carrier in numbers anytime and anywhere.
If you could not outrun them, you could not launch a counterattack. Once you were trapped by their swarm, unless you possessed Messi's dribbling and take-on ability, you would definitely be dispossessed.
Elia naturally did not have that kind of ability, so he did not dare dwell on the ball. He immediately passed to the advancing De Bruyne.
Before De Bruyne even received the ball, an opposing player was already rushing at him.
He spotted the pressing player, so he combined the receiving and passing motions into one, sending the ball to striker Arnautovic before the opponent could block it.
That was a beautiful piece of play.
Dortmund's players really could run.
But no matter how well they ran, people could never move faster than the ball.
So while they pressed Elia and De Bruyne, the number of defenders around Werder Bremen's other players naturally decreased.
"Great ball!"
"No wonder he was a highly rated prospect sought after by a Champions League-winning team. De Bruyne handled that ball brilliantly!"
In the CCTV commentary booth, De Bruyne's clever chipped pass had both escaped the opponent's press and found a teammate in space.
He Wei could not help praising him.
Xu Yang beside him added:
"Let me explain something for the viewers here. De Bruyne was a midfielder Chelsea bought from Genk for eight million pounds during this year's January Winter Break.
He is only twenty-one this year, still very young, with enormous room to develop. If he grows into his potential, perhaps he could even succeed Lampard someday!"
But He Wei said, "Lampard is a box-to-box midfielder. De Bruyne looks more like an attacking central midfielder, and perhaps he can also play on the wing. In terms of defensive ability and midfield coverage, he cannot compare with Lampard. The two may not really have a successor relationship."
Inside the penalty area, after receiving the ball, Arnautovic held off Dortmund defender Hummels's challenge and laid the ball back to the teammate arriving behind him.
Nineteen-year-old prospect Füllkrug was like a tank charging at full speed. He broke free from the attentions of his marker outside the penalty area, then threw himself into a close-range sliding shot and sent the ball into Dortmund's goal.
The shot came too quickly. Dortmund's goalkeeper had no time to make a save and could only watch the ball fly into the net.
The score became 1:0, and only four minutes had passed since the opening whistle!
At that moment, the vast Westfalenstadion seemed to have been placed under a silencing spell, instantly falling into dead silence.
The Yellow Wall fans were dumbfounded, scarcely able to believe their own eyes.
Only four minutes into the match, and their team was already behind at home?
PS: The previous two chapters were transitional chapters, and everyone said they were not enough to read, so I'll add an extra chapter first!
Also, to encourage everyone to cast more recommendation votes, here is another bonus chapter rule for recommendation votes:
For every cumulative 1,000 recommendation votes, there will be one extra chapter!
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