On the evening of February 23, People’s Park Stadium.
Hamburg's home game against Dortmund has come to an end.
The fourth official on the sidelines also raised his sign, indicating four minutes of additional time.
On the field, Hamburg is attacking.
Hasebe Makoto got the ball in the middle and distributed it to the left.
After receiving the ball, Wu Lei drove straight in, trying to break through the defense on the left side of the penalty area and shoot inside.
But Dortmund's Greek central defender Papastathopoulos has blocked the angle, leaving him no room to move.
So Wu Lei chose to drive toward the baseline to seek the possibility of a cross.
But Schmelzer, the opponent's experienced left back, also rushed over. When Wu Lei passed the ball, he stretched his legs to block it and knocked the ball out of the baseline.
Hamburg received a corner kick opportunity on the left side of the frontcourt.
"The game has entered the second minute of injury time."
"Hamburg youngster Calhanoglu came to take the corner kick, and Mitrovic and other tall players in the penalty area also entered, ready to fight for the ball."
"Dortmund was facing a formidable enemy. They were obviously very wary of Hamburg's corner kick attacks. Klopp also stood up and shouted at his disciples."
"And the camera shows the home team coach's command area... uh... there is no one here. Hamburg coach Pan Yi is sitting in his seat, eating spicy strips comfortably."
"Well, he really doesn't need to be nervous. After all, the score is already 2:0..."
Yes, Hamburg are already two goals ahead.
In this game, Hamburg once again demonstrated their advantage in physical reserves.
After rotating most of the lineup, facing Dortmund who had to use all the main players to fight against Hamburg, they played very easily in the first half.
Kanter and Wu Lei, who have performed well recently, helped Hamburg score two goals and lead 2:0 in the first half.
In the second half, the two sides started a fierce battle in the midfield, and the situation remained stalemate until now.
So for the coaches on both sides, the current mood is of course very different.
Klopp was so anxious that he wished he could go up and use two flying kicks to help Dortmund get two goals back in four minutes, or even score three goals.
After all, although Dortmund is getting further and further away from the championship, they still have to fight for the fourth place!
Two strong rivals, Bayer Leverkusen and Schalke 04, have been entangled with the Hornets in the standings and may squeeze them out at any time.
It would be really dangerous if we lose again in this game.
Pan Yi, on the other hand, was just strolling around, as if this game had nothing to do with him.
Today's tactics were appropriate and the players played well. He didn't need to interfere with the players' decisions on the court at all. He also believed in the judgment of his players on the court.
What's more, Hamburg players have never let up at the last moment of the game in these two seasons.
Not to mention that you have to lose the chain twice in a row to lose!
The probability is almost zero.
…
Calhanoglu raised his right hand high and looked directly in the direction of the goal.
In the penalty area, all Hamburg players noticed his gesture.
Dortmund's players were visibly more nervous.
The ball is coming!
They all know that if they want a miracle at the last moment to avoid losing, they must defend the corner kick and then wait for an opportunity to score a counterattack goal.
Then take advantage of the opponent's unstable position and score another one...
It's difficult, but not impossible.
I think back to Manchester United's 1999 Champions League final, when they were defeated by Bayern. Until injury time, they were still one goal behind.
It was also in the first minute of stoppage time that Manchester United got a corner kick and caused chaos in the penalty area.
Giggs, who was on the line of the penalty area, met the ball and fired a volley with his right foot. Without using any force, the ball came to Sheringham outside the small penalty area.
Sheringham turned 180 degrees and shot the ball into the lower right corner of Bayern's goal!
After trailing for 84 minutes, Manchester United equalized in the first minute of injury time.
Then United got another corner kick.
This time Beckham took a corner kick. Sheringham jumped high in front of the center and hit the ball. The ball changed direction and fell in front of Solskjaer at the back point of the small penalty area.
Solskjaer used his "big toe" to volley the ball into the goal, overtaking the score and bringing the Champions League title back to Old Trafford, completing Ferguson's triple crown.
so……
While the Dortmund players were still imagining the recurrence of such a miracle, the ball had already been kicked out.
Calhanoglu quickly ran forward, put his left foot on the ground, and quickly kicked a curve ball with his right foot.
The ball bounced up at a very fast speed, drew an elegant arc in mid-air, and flew towards the penalty area.
In the penalty area, players from both teams moved quickly, and the scene became a mess, interfering with each other.
But none of them touched the ball.
The ball is like this...
It spun directly into the back corner of the goal!
Dortmund goalkeeper Weidenfeller was disturbed by the crowd of people in front of the goal and did not have time to make a save.
"The ball is in!!!!!!"
"In the 92nd minute, Hamburg scored another goal!!!"
“Calhanoglu’s unexpected corner kick went straight to the goal!”
"It's so beautiful! No one thought he would choose this way to take the corner kick."
"This was a shot! A sneak attack on the 33-year-old goalkeeper. Weidenfeller was also careless and didn't make the save."
After Calhanoglu scored, he also rushed out of the stadium excitedly and ran all the way, roaring constantly to vent his inner excitement.
Although it is just a goal that is the icing on the cake, Calhanoglu is a substitute after all and has relatively few opportunities to make contributions. Of course he will be very happy to score such a wonderful goal that reflects his intelligence and footwork.
All the surrounding Hamburg players followed him and celebrated this wonderful goal with him.
3:0!
The burgers absolutely killed the game!
…
Shortly after the goal, the referee blew the whistle to end the game.
Pan Yi also stood up easily and went to shake hands with the visiting team's head coach Klopp.
When Calhanoglu scored just now, Pan Yi didn't even stand up!
The victory in this game once again consolidated Hamburg's lead in the standings, and also pushed Dortmund downwards. This must be very uncomfortable for Klopp.
Of course Uncle Zha's face didn't look very good when shaking hands, but he still congratulated Pan Yi in a graceful manner and then left in a hurry.
In fact, in his heart, he was a little confused.
Just a year and a half ago, he was the Bundesliga champion and Hamburg were a relegation team.
When facing Hamburg, Dortmund looked down on Hamburg like a strong team.
but now?
Hamburg won the Bundesliga title with great momentum, while Dortmund is a team struggling for a Champions League spot.
What makes Klopp even more sad is that his team has no chance in a direct dialogue with Hamburg!
Both the scene and the 0:3 ending seemed to tell him that Dortmund is no longer the same team as Hamburg...
This was the reality that hurt him the most.
Therefore, in Klopp's heart, Pan Yi is no longer his enemy.
Only those who are close in strength and competitive can be called enemies!
Can you imagine a Bundesliga 3 team claiming Dortmund as their enemy?
Hamburg has become the team that Dortmund wants to look up to, and there is no direct competition between them anymore...
…
March 1, the 23rd round of the Bundesliga.
Hamburg defeated Werder Bremen 1:0 in the away game and scored another three points economically.
Vardy scored the only goal of the game on a blitz one minute into the second half.
March 8, the 24th round of the Bundesliga.
Hamburg plays Frankfurt at home.
Since the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 will be held 4 days after this game, Pan Yi also sent in most of the rotation players.
This game was also a tough one. Frankfurt, which is striving to enter the European theater, burst out with huge energy in this game. In the 29th minute, center back Madlen scored a header, leading Hamburg in the away game. .
Hamburg did not equalize the score until Calhanoglu's free kick in the 72nd minute.
The winner was decided at the 88th minute of the game.
Wu Lei's inward shot after sprinting from the left hit the opponent's defender, Medlen, who was also the hero of the goal, and bounced into the Frankfurt goal.
Hamburg luckily won, taking all three points!
After 24 rounds, the gap between the top two Bundesliga teams and those behind them has widened again.
From the 22nd to the 24th round, Bayern Munich also achieved three consecutive victories, so the points gap with Hamburg is still 5 points.
They won even more easily than Hamburg, 4:0 Hannover 96, 5:1 Schalke 04, and 6:1 Wolfsburg!
Three games with a 13-goal margin and a total of 15 goals scored!
It can be said that if it were not for the existence of Hamburg, Bayern this season would still be invincible at least in the Bundesliga...
But the four armies behind them fought to bring them down.
Except for Dortmund losing to Hamburg and Schalke 04 losing to Bayern, which is normal, the worst one was Leverkusen.
After their four-goal defeat to Chelsea in the Champions League, the team's morale seemed to have been greatly affected.
Returning to the domestic arena, Leverkusen first lost to Wolfsburg 1:3, then lost to Mainz 0:1 at home, and finally drew with Hannover 96 1:1, two losses in three games. One draw, no victory.
This performance has also allowed their points to be overtaken by Schalke 04.
In the current standings, Hamburg is first with 70 points, Bayern is second with 65, then Dortmund is third with 48, Leverkusen and Schalke 04 both have 44 points.
As the battle progresses, the points gap between the top two and those behind has formed a huge, unbridgeable gap.
…
The Champions League has entered the knockout stage. The two sides will have a total of two home and away matches. The side that wins by the total score will advance.
Winning two consecutive games certainly guarantees promotion, but usually the team that wins the first game will start to think, should I use defense to consolidate the existing victory in the next game, or should I just treat it as another normal professional game?
And what if the first game was won on the road and two away goals were scored?
This is the topic discussed by major European media before the game between Hamburg and Manchester City.
They are all guessing what kind of strategic thinking Pan Yi will use to deploy the tactics of this game.
Due to the away goals rule, Hamburg can even advance to the Champions League quarterfinals if it loses 0:1 at home!
In this case, if Pan Yi chooses a more conservative tactic and chooses to play Manchester City's defensive counterattack, it seems to be a good method.
After all, Hamburg's counterattack has always been very sharp, and even if the counterattack fails to score, or even a goal is scored by Manchester City, Hamburg can still ensure promotion.
And what if Pan Yi chooses to play offensive tactics and attack Manchester City?
The risk is actually quite high.
A game that is open and closed will always result in more goals.
And these goals will not be evenly distributed between the two teams.
It is possible that when the performance of both sides is similar, due to luck and other factors, the goal will be scored by both sides, which will form a weird big score event.
How can Pan Yi ensure that Hamburg is the lucky side in this game?
What's more, in the away game against Manchester City, Pellegrini's team has proved that they can suppress Hamburg on the scene, at least before 60 minutes.
If Dzeko and Aguero make a splash, not to mention that Hamburg will only lead by one goal. Even if they lead by two or three goals, they may not be guaranteed to win.
On the football field, really anything is possible!
Faced with such a discussion, Pan Yi only made one response:
"Fans come to the People's Park Stadium to watch football because they hope to see a wonderful game. Therefore, we not only want to win, but we also want to win beautifully!"
…
For the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 on March 12, Pan Yi had a choice, but Pellegrini did not.
He must win!
He also made adjustments to the lineup.
Peigong no longer used the 4411 from the first round, but instead used a 4231 that looked more balanced.
In terms of personnel, Aguero appeared at the center position and served as a single arrow.
Behind him, Nasri is on the left, David Silva is on the right, and Yaya Toure is pushed forward in the middle.
This versatile Ivorian midfielder was truly omnipotent at his peak, so in this life-and-death battle, Pellegrini also hopes to use his offensive strengths to break Hamburg's goal.
Tonight, it was Milner and Fernandinho who partnered with the double defensive midfielder.
On the back line, there are Kolarov, Lescott, Kompany and Zabaleta.
Goalkeeper Joe Hart.
Although Kolarov was badly beaten in the second half in the first round, for Pellegrini, who was striving to regain the score, choosing the Serbian with stronger offensive ability seemed to be an unavoidable choice.
He had to take this risk.
Although judging from the situation in the past two years, teams that play against Hamburg at the People's Park Stadium often do not end well, but he must do so.
Only by attacking can it be possible to score goals.
Only if they score more than two goals can Manchester City have a chance to enter the Champions League quarterfinals!
And this is what Manchester City executives and fans are most looking forward to.
Otherwise, the Chilean engineer has reason to believe that even if he can win the Premier League championship, his coaching position will not be so secure...
Pan Yi also made some small adjustments to the starting lineup.
Forwards: Wu Lei, Vardy, Salah.
Midfielder: Kante, Paulinho, De Bruyne.
Defenders: Robertson, Van Dijk, Rudiger, Carvajal.
Goalkeeper: Navas.
This is not a criticism of Manchester City, but a choice based on the recent status of the players.
Wu Lei's recent performance has been extremely good, while Sun Xingmin has been a bit quiet. In addition, Wu Lei also performed well in the last round against Manchester City, so he was allowed to start.
Paulinho's starting lineup is similar.
Of course, using Paulinho also shows Pan Yi's attitude, that is: Want to play against me? Come here!
…
However, Paulinho still cannot completely replace Casemiro's role.
In the defensive midfielder position, Paulinho is sometimes a little impatient in handling the ball, and there is still a certain gap compared with his fellow Brazilians in defensive positioning and coverage.
No, only five minutes into the game, Manchester City took advantage of Paulinho's dribbling error in the midfield to steal the ball, and quickly counterattacked directly into Hamburg's 30-meter area.
Yaya Toure took the ball in stride, and after seeing many Hamburg players in front of him, he distributed the ball to the left.
Kolarov here has already stepped in at the right time. He rushed up quickly and made a straight curve ball with his left foot, sending the ball to the center of the small penalty area.
At this time, Aguero had flexibly inserted into the front point, avoided the defense of Rudiger and Van Dijk, and hit the goal with his head from close range!
Although Aguero is only 173cm tall, his scoring and heading are also world-class.
The ball was hit very hard, and although Navas fought hard to save the ball and did touch the ball, he still could not prevent it from entering the net.
The score became 0:1!
Manchester City got off to a fantastic start!
Fans at the People's Park Stadium were stunned by such a scene.
Although if this score remains until the end, Hamburg will advance, but after all, it has only been five minutes!
If you lose the ball so quickly, how can you ensure that you don't lose the ball later?
Isn't it really going to be reversed by Manchester City? ?
The commentator also criticized:
"There seems to be a problem with Hamburg's starting lineup today. The defense in the midfield is not strong enough."
"Is Pan Yi's formation too overwhelming? It's understandable that he wants to play a beautiful offense in front of the home fans, but shouldn't he prioritize defense and win this game?"
"The opponent is Manchester City! This is a team with world-class stars like Aguero and Yaya Toure! If we don't play more securely, how can we defend them?"
"In the first round, Hamburg relied on its excellent defense to withstand Manchester City's attack in the first 60 minutes, and then launched a counterattack in the last 30 minutes and finally won."
"And today, Pan Yi immediately showed his intention to confront the opponent... Could it be that the many praises he received from the media recently made him a little carried away."
"Judging from such a bad start, it is possible for Manchester City to score more than one goal and then complete the reversal and advance!..."
…
But Pan Yi was not in a hurry, nor did he make any adjustments.
He just stood on the sidelines with his hands on his psoas and watched the game calmly.
It's normal to fall behind, especially when facing a strong team like Manchester City, and it's even more normal to concede a goal.
Didn't they score the first goal against Frankfurt at home a few days ago?
But this time it all depends on whether the players can keep their composure and implement the tactics used in training.
Pan Yi believes that there is no problem with his tactics, and he also believes that there is no problem with his players!
At this time, Manchester City continued to attack fiercely.
Because one ball is not enough!
Hamburg also refused to give up an inch of ground and attacked Manchester City's defense whenever they had the opportunity.
Both sides come and go, and exciting scenes continue.
In the tenth minute, Salah dribbled the ball from the right and was blocked by Kolarov before passing it back to Paulinho, who had already come forward.
Paulinho glanced ahead and made a long pass to Wu Lei on the left front.
Wu Lei kept the ball coming and swept the ball in front of the goal with a powerful pass that seemed to be a shot.
At this time, Vardy was seen diagonally entering the penalty area from the right rib, and before Kompany and Lescott were in place, he easily pushed the ball with his right foot and sent the ball into Manchester City's goal.
"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!"
"The tenth minute! After just five minutes, Hamburg managed to equalize the score! Vardy!"
"The score is now 1:1! Well, I apologize for my criticism of Pan Yi just now. He always slaps him in the face so quickly!"
"Maybe the goal conceded just now was just an accident. Hamburg is going to use this kind of offense to suppress Manchester City's offense!"
"From this point of view, this game is destined to be an exciting game! Both teams are playing very open and are actively looking for offensive opportunities."
"It's just that the situation is now unfavorable for Manchester City. They have to score goals."
"If they can score another goal, the total score will come to 3:3, and the two sides will enter 30 minutes of overtime."
"Of course, Hamburg obviously don't want this to happen. They are also attacking constantly, and it seems they want to use more goals to extinguish Manchester City's hopes..."
…
Both sides scored a goal each within ten minutes, but neither side had any intention of stopping, but continued to attack.
While eager to regain the disadvantage in the score, at the same time he didn't want to back down in front of the home fans, so he was tough and no matter who was cowardly, he would be a grandchild!
But as time went on, Hamburg's advantage in midfield control gradually became apparent.
Compared with Manchester City's Milner and Fernandinho, De Bruyne and Kante, plus Paulinho, have obvious advantages in technology and interception.
When the rhythm of both sides is full, Hamburg's passing success rate will be obviously higher in the midfield passing and cutting cooperation.
Manchester City's mistakes seemed to be too many. After being intercepted by Hamburg many times, they seized the opportunity to attack.
In the 24th minute, Milner picked up the ball near the center circle and was intercepted by Kanter. Hamburg immediately launched a counterattack.
Kante quickly handed the ball to De Bruyne's feet. Manchester City immediately put pressure on the Hamburg brain, and many players came over to encircle and suppress him.
But after De Bruyne received the ball, he made a slight adjustment and directly passed the ball to his right.
Salah quickly moved forward and stopped De Bruyne's long pass with his chest. Before the opponent's Kolarov could get close to him, he quickly moved the ball inward, preparing to cut in and shoot.
This action attracted the attention of Manchester City's defense, but Salah did not choose to shoot, but gently picked up the ball.
At this time, Vardy, who was originally in the middle, suddenly made a diagonal pass to the back point while driving forward, caught up with Salah's cross, and headed the ball directly into the Manchester City goal with a header. Right.
Goalkeeper Joe Hart was positioned to the left and was out of reach of the goal.
"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!"
"In the 24th minute, Vardy scored another victory! This time he scored Manchester City's goal with a header!"
"2:1, Hamburg reversed the score again!"
"Pan Yi's offensive tactics are showing their effectiveness. Hamburg can score more goals than Manchester City!"
"The game has been less than 30 minutes, and both sides have already scored three goals! This is a feast for the fans, but Manchester City is even more uncomfortable."
"They are already behind 2:4 in the total score. That means they have to score at least two more goals to turn defeat into victory!"
"But in front of Hamburg like this, scoring two goals is easier said than done? What's more, Hamburg may score another goal! After all, the game time is still more than an hour!"
"But if I'm just an ordinary fan, I'm really looking forward to seeing what wonderful performances the two sides will have..."
(End of chapter)
