News of Hamburg's four-game winning streak in the Champions League group stage returned to Germany, and the most unhappy one was Leverkusen's head coach Hyypia.
He is the person who is most often compared to Pan Yi recently!
And what people fear most is comparison.
Comparing one person to another can make a person angry to death.
Compared with Hamburg's group of death, Leverkusen's Champions League Group A is actually not that easy to play.
The Premier League giants Manchester United, Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk, and La Liga's Real Madrid.
Hyypia's team also performed well in the first four rounds. In addition to losing to Manchester United 2:4 at Old Trafford in the first round, they defeated Real Sociedad 2:1 in the subsequent games. , defeated Shakhtar Donetsk 4:0 at home, and then went to the ice and snow in Ukraine to draw their opponent 0:0 away.
A record of 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss also allows Leverkusen to firmly hold on to group leader Manchester United, and has a good chance of qualifying.
Originally, such results were considered good, but the problem was that the performance of burgers during the same period was really excellent!
They actually qualified two rounds early in the group of death!
Therefore, when the German media reported at length about Hamburg's qualifying in the Group of Death, they often included a few words dissing Leverkusen, which made Hyypia feel irritated.
"Leverkusen's team foundation is much better than Hamburg's, but this season Hamburg under the leadership of Pan Yi has played football beyond this era."
"Hyypia once won the Champions League as a player, but it is obvious that his coaching talent is far inferior to that of the amateur player from Dragon Kingdom."
"It seems that Leverkusen's performance in the Champions League is not as good as Hamburg. And Hyypia, who is currently troubled by locker room issues, can he give Pan Yi enough counterattack in the Bundesliga?"
That's right, in the 12th round of the Bundesliga, Leverkusen is about to face off against Hamburg!
They are now 6 points behind Hamburg. In fact, if they can defeat their opponents at home, they still hope to take this opportunity to return to the championship.
"I have watched Hamburg's recent games and they are indeed a difficult opponent. They are aggressive in the frontcourt, creative in the midfield, solid in defense in the backcourt and have good assist ability..."
In the Leverkusen director's office, sporting director Rudy Voller was discussing countermeasures with head coach Hyypia.
Voller was a well-known German international forward in his player days. He represented the German team in three World Cups and three European Cups, and helped the Federal Republic of Germany national team win the 1990 World Cup.
In this World Cup, what impressed Voller most was not the sharp striker he formed with Klinsmann.
But in a strong duel with the Dutch team, Voller clashed with Rijkaard of the opponent, spat at each other and were both sent off.
Some people say that this "offset" is actually beneficial to the West German team. Voller sacrificed himself, competing for the offensive and defensive hub of the opponent's midfield, and also destroying the complete Dutch Three Musketeers.
Therefore, Voller must be credited with the West German team's championship!
After retiring, he also became the head coach and led the German team to win the runner-up place in the 2002 World Cup.
Yes, it was the German team that was defeated by Alfredo Ronaldo.
Although he is now an executive at Leverkusen, he still talks about team tactics with coach Hyypia, who just became a regular this season.
"It's not surprising that their players are playing well after a year of running-in." Hyypia shook his head, "But in the case of third-line combat, their players are always guaranteed to be in a very good state. This is really It’s not easy.”
Worrall nodded, agreeing with Hyypia's words.
Anyone who has played professional football or coached professional football knows that it is very difficult to keep players in a high level.
Just like Leverkusen now, Kiesling, the Bundesliga golden boot who performed well last season, has fallen into a sluggish state and has been without goals in several games.
Therefore, Hyypia decided to put Kiesling on the bench in the last round of the game. As a result, the ball was still not won, and the players even had objections.
This is also because apart from Kiessling, Leverkusen currently has no good forwards.
During the summer window, Hyypia took a fancy to Son Heung-min of Hamburg, but as the director, Woller made several offers to Pan Yi but was ruthlessly rejected.
Although there is indeed a relationship between direct competitors, after all, the transaction was not completed, which objectively caused Leverkusen's current weak attack situation. Therefore, whether it is Hyypia or Voller, they still have some feelings for Pan Yi. Sharing grievances.
"Last season Hamburg held us down and finished second. I really thought it was just an accident." Voller said, "This season they will be distracted by the Champions League, and they are still in the group of death. I thought they would After being squeezed in the Champions League, it would affect the performance of the Bundesliga. I didn’t expect..."
Everyone has seen the reality. Hamburg is now making great strides in the third-line battlefield and has achieved jaw-dropping results.
So for this point, Woller could only accept it.
"Their ability to break through in the group of death was largely due to the fact that their opponents did not play conservatively, thus falling behind in the confrontation with Hamburg." Hyypia analyzed, "They played the most difficult game. One game was an away game against Ajax. At that time, De Boer resolutely played defensive counterattack, allowing Hamburg to find no openings for offense."
Woller raised his eyebrows: "You mean, you found a way to deal with them?"
Hyypia nodded: "Yes, that is to deploy a targeted and intensive defense, use the switching between 4 and 5 defenders to suppress Hamburg's sudden advance in the midfield, and then patiently look for opportunities."
"But we are at home..." Worrell hesitated.
Bayer Leverkusen fans in Germany are also known for their passionate enthusiasm. They often hope that the team can use sharp offense to tear apart the opponent's defense.
If the bus is placed in front of the home fans, it will definitely cause some dissatisfaction.
"Winning is the last word," Hyypia said. "We are a little weak now, and this style of play can just use our strengths and avoid our weaknesses. As long as we can win Hamburg and continue to remain competitive for the championship, the fans will definitely not say anything. .”
Woller nodded slightly: "You are right. As long as you can win against a tough opponent like Hamburg, it's not too late for the fans to be happy. But, you are really sure..."
Hyypia gritted his teeth again and said harshly: "Don't worry and wait, we will make Pan Yi and his burgers look good at the Bayer Arena!"
…
November 9, Bayer Arena.
In the 12th round of the Bundesliga, Hamburg challenged Leverkusen away.
When the players from the two teams were brought onto the field by the referee, the entire Bayer Arena boiled crazily.
If it was two years ago, such a duel would never have attracted such attention from Leverkusen fans.
They only have Bayern and Dortmund in their eyes!
But that all changed last season.
In front of Leverkusen, in addition to Bayern and Dortmund, there is another burger!
And it was the emergence of this Hamburg that pushed Leverkusen to the fourth position in the league, forcing them to play in the Champions League play-offs.
This play-off match was also extremely dangerous.
When facing the Greek team Thessaloniki, Leverkusen was tied 1:1 at home, and then narrowly defeated their opponent 3:2 on the road, barely squeezing into the Champions League.
Therefore, Leverkusen fans have an inexplicable hostility towards Hamburg.
It's like a student who was always ranked third in the class, but suddenly a transfer student who studied well came and pushed him to the fourth position. From then on, he missed the podium.
In addition, Hamburg's performance this season is even stronger than last season. When I came to the Bayer Arena today as the top player in the Bundesliga, Leverkusen fans are of course even more eager for their home team to defeat Hamburg!
And Leverkusen head coach Hyypia also made harsh words at the pre-match press conference, saying that he would defeat Hamburg at home to prove that Leverkusen still has the strength to win the championship!
Compared with Hyypia's high profile before the game, Pan Yi seems to be much more low-key.
He just said some official polite words that would be said at the press conference, such as "will take the opponent seriously", "Leverkusen is an opponent worthy of respect", "we will go all out" and so on.
The only valuable statement was that Pan Yi said that even if Hamburg is on the road, they will stick to their own style of play, which is to use offense to suppress the opponent as much as possible, and then score goals.
A reporter asked Pan Yi what style of play he thought his opponent Leverkusen would adopt. He smiled and said:
"You have to ask Hyypia about this. But no matter how he plays, our established tactics will not change."
…
After the game started, everyone discovered that what Pan Yi said was true.
He has arranged a main lineup of 433, and the starting players are also in the best condition currently.
Forward: Son Heung-min, Vardy, Salah.
Midfielder: Kante, Casemiro, De Bruyne.
Defenders: Robertson, Rudiger, Van Dijk, Carvajal.
Goalkeeper: Navas.
Compared with the ecstasy formation that he often engaged in last season, Pan Yi has obviously become much more "honest" this season.
And this also proves Hamburg's growth in strength this season.
Pan Yi no longer bothers to engage in those off-board moves!
It’s a bright card, it’s a hard anus, what can you do to me?
Leverkusen, on the other hand, arranged a 451 formation that was a bit surprising.
There is no suspense that the goalkeeper is Leno.
On the back line, Donati, Toprak, Spasic and Bonisch lined up.
The biggest variable is in the midfield.
These five midfielders do not have an attacking midfielder, but use three midfielders with two midfielders.
Rolfs and Emre Can formed a double defensive midfielder, with Castro, Hegler and Sam in front of them.
At the front is Australian forward Kruse.
It can be said that this is a more defensive formation than 4141!
It almost feels like 10 people defending and 1 person attacking.
When seeing this starting lineup, Pan Yi already understood Hyypia's intentions.
That is, even at home, at the Bayer Arena, he has to lower his body to play defense.
This pragmatic attitude is somewhat similar to that of Hyypia when he played as a central defender.
But Pan Yi is not afraid either.
Since this season, how many teams have shrunk their heads when they see Hamburg?
And the buses he demolished and the turtles he trampled were not just one or two.
…
So, as soon as the game started, the court entered a situation that everyone was familiar with.
Hamburg attacks, Leverkusen defends.
Hamburg's pressing attack from the beginning was threatening.
In the first minute, Salah tried to break into the penalty area from the right, but after being blocked by the Leverkusen defender, Kanter missed a long shot from the outside.
Then Hamburg continued to maintain pressure on Leverkusen, pressing high in the frontcourt with great intensity.
Everyone could see that Hamburg wanted to seize the initiative from the start.
Leverkusen seemed to be happy with this. Instead of competing with Hamburg, they stayed steadily inside and outside the penalty area.
Their players strictly abided by the defensive counterattack tactics deployed by head coach Hyypia, and from the opening stage they showed a starting point of retreating to intensive defense in their own half.
Especially after entering the position, Leverkusen's defensive line was compressed very obviously, and through the active retreat of the midfielder players or the central movement of the full-backs, the four defenders were changed to five defenders or even six defenders. position, forming a chain defensive layout in front of the goal.
This kind of defensive line with a large number of people showed great confidence when dealing with Hamburg's frontcourt pressure. After all, there are many points for the ball, so it is not easy to be crushed.
After this situation lasted for a few minutes, sporadic boos began to erupt from the visiting team stands at the Bayer Arena, including some home team stands.
The fans know football, and they immediately saw that Leverkusen was going to set up a bus!
But Hyypia remained unmoved and continued to let the players implement the established tactics.
At least now it seems that this tactic is effective!
He increased the strength of the defensive line by adjusting the players' positions. Leverkusen's self-conceding defense seemed to destroy the team's original formation, but the team's defensive division of labor and position changes became more flexible and changeable. .
On the one hand, the defensive midfielders who actively retreat are obviously targeting Hamburg's midfielders who are good at forward penetration, such as Kante and De Bruyne.
This kind of defense of standing in advance to deal with the opponent's advance is quite a bit "waiting and waiting".
On the other hand, Hamburg center Vardy's flexible movement and wide range of activities are a notable feature of the team on the offensive end.
Therefore, after other players filled in the central defender area, Leverkusen's two central defenders were effectively protected. Naturally, they dared to leave their original positions and completely defend against Vardy, even if they were far away from their own penalty area, they would never let the defender pass. Players are comfortable holding the ball and participating in the organization.
It is precisely because of this that, more than ten minutes after the start of the game, despite Hamburg's aggressive offensive, they were never able to hand the ball over to Vardy comfortably, including the wingers on both sides having difficulty moving into the penalty area.
This resulted in Hamburg's shots often being far away from the goal, often deflected or easily picked up by Leverkusen goalkeeper Leno.
And it's not just on the defensive end, Leverkusen also has obvious tactical designs on the counterattack end.
Among them, forward Kruse's speed and breakthrough have become the team's biggest reliance on counterattacks.
The Australian is as lethal as the sprinting style of football in rugby, repeatedly creating threats on both wings on his own, and thus driving the entire Leverkusen attack.
In the 14th minute of the opening, it was he who tore through Hamburg's defense with an unreasonable breakthrough from the left. Unfortunately, Sam, who was connecting from behind, had too much distance to stop the ball. His final shot from the right side of the penalty area was snatched away by Robertson in time. Successfully blocked.
"I didn't expect that Leverkusen's defensive counterattack was something." Hamburg assistant coach Nagelsmann muttered on the sidelines.
Inzaghi also nodded: "Indeed, the defensive awareness and positive attitude of their players on the field are really good. This intensive and united defense really poses a big problem for us..."
Pan Yi smiled and said: "Then it depends on how long they can guard it."
He knew what was going on.
Leverkusen's style of play is indeed good, and it is indeed a bit of a threat on counterattack, but it is a pity that their players lack shooting skills and scoring ability, which can only make the team achieve nothing.
Moreover, Pan Yi can also allow Kanter to increase the running distance on both sides to assist the defense of the two wings, and also reduce the intensity of the opponent's side counterattacks to a certain extent.
This is Pan Yi's request for Kanter in the midfield position.
Unlike the "pseudo winger" who is more offensive-oriented, Kanter is now a typical B2B midfielder, or "all-around midfielder".
This type of duty involves running without the ball most of the time, requiring the ability to travel between the two teams' penalty areas.
When attacking, like a shadow striker, he can go behind and score a goal, or get a second penalty ball outside the penalty area and shoot from a long distance;
When defending, like a defensive midfielder, he must be able to immediately return to the midfield to stop the opponent's attacking midfielder from advancing and complete defensive coverage.
Therefore, for players who are qualified for this role, they must have excellent endurance and be able to run back and forth on the court. At the same time, they must have the same sense of goal scoring as a forward, and they need strong confrontation and position selection abilities when defending to ensure that they can delay the opponent. The attack starts in the midfield.
Obviously, whether it is Pan Yi's previous life or now, Kanter is the most suitable candidate for this role.
After all, he is a man who can cover 29% of the earth!
Therefore, with him dispatched, Leverkusen's counterattack is bound to be greatly interfered with.
In addition, Leverkusen's defensive strategy places high demands on the tacit understanding and complementary movement between players. Their players' personal abilities and the team's defensive standards will inevitably expose various problems.
As long as Hamburg, which has possession of the ball across the board, constantly looks for the home team's defensive gaps and out of position while maintaining a steady rhythm, and taking the opportunity to give its opponents a fatal blow through sudden acceleration and key through passes, it will soon defeat Lever. Cousin's seemingly solid defense fell apart.
This doesn't even require Pan Yi to make on-the-spot adjustments.
Hamburg's players have experienced this and have seen it a lot, and they will naturally know what to do.
Sure enough, in the 33rd minute of the game, Son Heung-min suddenly sent a through ball after retreating. Leverkusen's defensive players obviously overlapped in position. This allowed Vardy, who quickly intervened, to get a single chance, but it was a pity that he finally pushed the ball. Above the beam.
After that, Salah suddenly entered the penalty area. After receiving De Bruyne's through ball, he actually used a "Bergkamp-style spin pass" to get rid of the defense. However, the final stab was missed by the home team goalkeeper Leno. resolve.
Although there is no goal yet, it is obvious that after experiencing the discomfort of facing Leverkusen's chain defense in the opening stage, Hamburg players are getting better.
But time also passed quickly.
The display above the court had already reached the 45th minute, and the fourth official on the sidelines also played a sign of 1 minute of stoppage time.
The entire first half of the game went very smoothly, with neither side committing too many fouls or delaying time. This 1 minute was already considered quite a given.
At this time, Hamburg launched another attack.
Salah dribbled the ball on the right, deceived Bonisch with continuous changes of direction and rhythm, and then tried to pass the ball across to find Vardy.
But today Vardy was always heavily guarded. Before he could stop the ball, Spasic stepped forward to clear the ball.
The ball flew over the center line and fell to the outside of Hamburg's thirty-meter area.
Van Dijk rushed forward and headed the ball back to midfield.
After De Bruyne grabbed the spot, he stopped Van Dijk's header with his chest, and quickly sent a ground ball to the feet of Kante in front.
Kanter stopped with his right foot, glanced ahead, and then quickly sent a long overhead pass.
The ball flew over the heads of many players, crossed Leverkusen's defense, and landed at the edge of Leverkusen's penalty area.
Salah, who had been hovering near the opponent's defender after cutting inside, suddenly changed direction and drove straight into the penalty area as quickly as possible.
The Egyptian winger's speed advantage was fully demonstrated at this moment.
At this time, Leverkusen fullback Bonisch saw that something was wrong and made a flying tackle to keep the ball - and the man as well.
Salah fell to the ground in pain, and the referee's whistle sounded.
Free kick.
At this time, the time has reached 46 minutes, and the stoppage time has also been used up.
But as usual, this free kick still has to be taken.
This was Hamburg's last offensive opportunity in the first half.
I saw De Bruyne walking in front of the ball, but first glanced at the referee, and then seemed to say something in his mouth.
Seeing the referee nodding to him, De Bruyne stepped forward to hold the ball, and then just picked it up!
This is a quick free kick!
The ball flew directly over the heads of several Leverkusen players who were a little overwhelmed, and fell in the direction of the goal behind them.
Son Heung-min on the other side was already plugging in at high speed!
He already understood the intention of this super midfielder's brain the moment De Bruyne pressed the ball, and it started almost at the same time!
He rushed into Leverkusen's penalty area at lightning speed, caught up with De Bruyne's light pass, and when it bounced off the ground, he hit a shot directly near the small penalty area line. Push.
Leno was obviously helpless against this close shot, and he didn't even react to the development of the ball!
"Goallllllllllllllllllllll!!!!!!"
“Hamburger scored!!!!!”
"Taking advantage of a quick free kick, Hamburg took the lead over Leverkusen at the last second before the end of the first half!"
(End of chapter)
