What Is a Destructive Midfielder?
Chapter 19

Bundesliga Debut! A Stunning Arrival!

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28d ago

"Next, let us introduce the starting lineups for both teams."

"Bayer Leverkusen have lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, just like last season! They did not make any major investments in the summer transfer window!"

"Goalkeeper: Leno!"

"Left-back: Hilbert!"

"Centre-backs: Jonathan Tah, Papadopoulos!"

"Right-back: Borges!"

"Double pivot: Bender, Kramer!"

"Attacking midfielders: BellArabi, Çalhanoğlu, Son Heung-min!"

"Striker: Kießling!"

"Hoffenheim have lined up in a 4-3-3 formation!"

"Goalkeeper: Baumann!"

"Left-back: Kim Jin-su!"

"Centre-backs: Süle, Schär!"

"Right-back: Kadeřábek!"

"Defensive midfielder: Schwegler!"

"Central midfielders: Polanski, Jonathan!"

"Left winger: Kurányi!"

"Centre-forward: Zuber!"

"Right winger: Volland!"

By international football positional classifications, there were no such positions as defensive midfielder or attacking midfielder.

It was merely an early mistranslation by translators in the 1980s that caused these two terms to persist in commentary on Chinese television all the way into 2015.

Even when introducing formations, commentators could not simply read from the squad list, because a player's position could only be identified based on their actual positioning once the match began.

Many international technical terms had also acquired ambiguous meanings in China due to translation issues.

Of course.

The fans did not mind.

If standard terminology was used one day, they would find it very unfamiliar.

With a whistle from the referee.

The match officially began!

Hoffenheim had possession.

Zuber kicked off and played it sideways to Kurányi.

Under Kießling's ferocious pressure, the latter hurriedly passed it back to Schwegler.

"Bayer Leverkusen's pressing is far too intense!"

"Every player in their midfield and attack is involved in the high press!"

"Hoffenheim have no choice but to pass the ball back and rebuild their attack from the rear!"

There was little suspense in the match.

In the fifth minute.

Son Heung-min successfully dispossessed Volland in the opposition half.

He quickly slid a diagonal pass into the path of Borges, who had overlapped down the flank.

Borges surged forward alone.

With the ball at his feet, he easily shook off Kadeřábek's challenge.

And charged toward the byline.

He went down and whipped in a cross!

The football curled through the air in a beautiful arc.

Inside Hoffenheim's penalty area.

Kießling leapt high, overpowering two centre-backs!

A thunderous header!

He blasted the ball into the opposition goal!

1:0!!!

"Goal!"

"This is Kießling's favorite way to score!"

"His aerial ability is among the very best in the Bundesliga!"

Kießling slapped his forehead and rushed toward the corner flag, excitedly celebrating with the Bayer Leverkusen fans!

The rest of the match.

Became very simple.

Bayer Leverkusen completely controlled the match.

With Çalhanoğlu orchestrating their play.

They pinned Hoffenheim around their penalty area and laid siege to them!

"Less than twenty minutes into the match, Bayer Leverkusen have already taken six shots! Five have been on target!"

"It has to be said that Çalhanoğlu is the team's attacking core! His command of the tempo while on the ball is top-class, especially his switching of play between the two flanks!"

"This static midfielder with exceptionally powerful control of the rhythm is a perfect fit for Bayer Leverkusen's style of play!"

"Last season, he scored more direct free kicks than anyone else in Europe's top five leagues!"

"The most frightening part is that he is only twenty-one years old, with a bright future ahead of him! It is hard to imagine how high he will rise in the future!"

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[My King Çal is no hype! He'll definitely surpass Xavi and Pirlo in the future!]

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[Look at how elegantly he controls the ball!]

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[The number 10 shirt was actually snatched by that water boy. What a joke. Bayer Leverkusen's executives should get out already!]

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[Don't panic. King Çal will win the number 10 shirt back with his own strength! If the club can't see any commercial returns from Leo Kang, they'll kick him aside!]

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[If BellArabi hadn't been wasting chances like crazy, it would already be 4:0!]

In the thirty-eighth minute.

Hoffenheim finally found a chance to counterattack!

Süle did not allow BellArabi to cut inside and shoot!

He stretched out a foot and calmly won the ball.

Then immediately launched a long-ball counterattack!

The ball sailed across midfield!

The Hoffenheim fans had only sung the first line of their team anthem.

Unfortunately.

Zuber, who tried to storm forward on a long run, could not get past the midfield barrier formed by Bender and Kramer at all.

The gap in strength was right there for all to see.

They did not even get a chance to shoot.

In the forty-fifth minute.

Çalhanoğlu lofted the ball into the penalty area.

Kießling rose high once more.

He did not choose to shoot himself.

Instead, he nodded the ball down.

Son Heung-min's movement was ghostlike.

He shook off his marker and burst into the right side of the six-yard box.

A push with the inside of his foot!

Bang!

Hoffenheim's net rippled once again!

2:0!!!

The entire BayArena.

Was filled with the joy of victory!

In the seventy-eighth minute.

BellArabi, who had wasted countless chances, was brought down by Süle thirty meters into Hoffenheim's half.

He had spent the entire match hurling trash talk at Hoffenheim's defenders.

He had successfully enraged Süle.

And received some harsh payback himself!

The referee immediately blew his whistle and pulled out his foam spray!

Çalhanoğlu stood over the free kick.

And struck it in one smooth motion!

The ball cleared the wall.

And curled viciously into the top-left corner!

3:0!!!

Hoffenheim's sixty-two-year-old head coach, Stevens, angrily took off his suit jacket and flung it hard to the ground.

Schmidt glanced at Leo Kang on the bench.

"Go warm up!"

In the ninety-second minute.

At the final moment of stoppage time.

Leo Kang stood by the touchline near the center circle.

The fourth official raised the LED board.

The long-absent system notification quietly sounded.

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[Ding, mission triggered: Bundesliga debut!]

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[Mission objective: Win over the BayArena with your performance! Begin your legend!]

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[Ding! Detected that the host has less than one minute of playing time remaining. Mission objective modified: Enjoy the atmosphere at BayArena!]

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[Mission reward: Mysterious treasure chest!]

Çalhanoğlu glanced at the LED board.

Then walked straight toward the sideline.

The Bayer Leverkusen fans immediately gave him their warmest applause!

No one cared: Why did he not walk over to the touchline by the center circle and exchange a high-five and embrace with Leo Kang?

"We can see Bayer Leverkusen using their final substitution."

"Number 10, Leo Kang, replaces Çalhanoğlu!"

"This should be a like-for-like substitution!"

"We look forward to this overseas compatriot's Bundesliga debut!"

"..."

"Ah, at this moment, the referee has blown the final whistle!"

"Let us congratulate Bayer Leverkusen on opening their Bundesliga campaign with a victory!"

In China's livestream chat.

The barrage of comments was full of joy.

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[I'm dying! Leo Kang came on, took a few steps, and the match was over!]

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[Isn't that pretty good? Haha, Bayer Leverkusen's executives achieved their commercial goal! It's just rough on the editing guy. No matter how he edits it every day, all he has are clips of Leo Kang juggling the ball on the training ground!]

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[You can't tell someone's level from juggling. The old man guarding my apartment complex could definitely out-juggle the China National Football Team!]

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[Çalhanoğlu must be furious! He's so good, yet his number 10 shirt was stolen by a mascot!]

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