Chapter 237: Season reimbursement, Europa League quarterfinals!
“The game is over!”
The next second the whistle sounded at the end of the game, all the Blue Fox players raised their arms and cheered.
The home victory over Wolfsburg not only means that they remain unbeaten at home.
It also means that they have taken a solid step towards advancing to the Europa League quarterfinals.
As for Ling Feng, what makes him proud is that he actually became the winner in his first head-to-head confrontation with De Bruyne!
Who is De Bruyne?
This Belgian who blushes when playing football is the future number one attacking midfielder in the world!
Even if he has not yet reached his peak, Ding Ding is now the core midfielder of the "European Red Devils" and one of the most outstanding young midfielders in Europe!
Doesn't his victory over De Bruyne mean that he is already stronger than De Bruyne at this stage? !
Indeed, he can do everything De Bruyne can do, such as organizing attacks, passing threatening balls, and shooting long shots from outside the penalty area.
However, what he can do, such as beating people on the wing and breaking through the defense, De Bruyne cannot do.
Except for the fact that his long-range shots are one level behind De Bruyne, Ling Feng is not bad at all in terms of other abilities.
There are even some places where he is better than De Bruyne.
And now Ling Feng can be called an enhanced version of De Bruyne!
Thinking of this, Ling Feng couldn't help but feel excited.
However, after the brief excitement and excitement, he soon realized that this was just the beginning.
Beating De Bruyne, who has not yet reached the peak of his career, is worthy of celebration.
However, he should not be complacent about it.
If you can't surpass De Bruyne, who has not yet reached his peak, with the help of system plug-ins, then you, a reborn person, are too useless!
De Bruyne is definitely not the first superstar he has defeated, nor will he be the last!
As my thoughts were turning, a somewhat unfamiliar voice came to my ears:
“Hey!”
Looking around, what caught my eye was Tintin’s face turned red from exercise!
Facing Ling Feng’s slightly confused eyes, De Bruyne said in very fluent English:
"You played great!"
At this time, De Bruyne is in the rapid rise of his career.
Whether it is in the Bundesliga or Wolfsburg, he is a well-deserved star.
After his phenomenal performance in the Bundesliga and leading his team to defeat the Bundesliga giant Bayern, De Bruyne's self-confidence can be said to be through the roof!
Before the game, even though the head coach repeatedly warned and emphasized many times, he was quite afraid of Ling Feng, his opponent.
However, he still firmly believes that under his leadership, the team will definitely be able to defeat Leicester City.
However, the process and result of the game made De Bruyne somewhat unexpected.
Especially Ling Feng's performance shocked him even more.
After seeing this black-haired kid four years younger than himself playing football, De Bruyne suddenly realized.
It turns out that the reason why Ling Feng won the European Golden Boy was not due to media hype, but his true strength!
Although in this game, whether it is personal performance or team performance, the Leicester City played by Ling Feng is better than the Wolfsburg he leads.
However, De Bruyne still believes that when he returns to Wolfsburg's home court, he will lead the team to achieve a reversal!
As the world's number one offensive midfielder recognized by fans in the future, De Bruyne has the determination to climb up and the arrogance of not admitting defeat.
So, he chose to step forward and challenge Ling Feng as soon as the game ended:
“However, I will not lose to you in the second round! ”
As soon as these words came out, Ling Feng couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.
In his impression, De Bruyne, who plays for Manchester City, is a humble and interesting person.
Of course, beneath the face that resembles the anime protagonist, there are also moments of bad temper.
For example, the famous "letmetalk" and the classic scenes of "angry against Guardiola".
Nevertheless, such sharp words of declaration of war did refresh Ling Feng’s understanding of Ding Ding for the first time.
It also made him realize that the person standing in front of him was not the Ding Ding in the live TV broadcast and interview, but a living De Bruyne!
And now De Bruyne is just a popular player in the Bundesliga who is only 23 years old.
He is not the future King of Blue Moon, the world’s No. 1 attacking midfielder whose edges have been smoothed out by Happy Boy over and over again.
Therefore, for a confident Belgian genius who just joined Wolfsburg and claimed that Wolfsburg is just a springboard for him to join a giant, such a statement is not too surprising.
After all, if you are not energetic, can you still be called a young person? !
Faced with De Bruyne's challenge, Ling Feng just smiled, stretched out his right hand and said:
"First of all, thank you for the compliment. Your performance was also very good. Then, I I will try my best to defeat you again!"
Looking at Ling Feng's outstretched right hand, De Bruyne hesitated for a moment, then extended his right hand and gave it a firm shake.
"We'll see!"
With these words, De Bruyne turned and left without hesitation.
Only Ling Feng, who showed a smile, was left standing there.
. . .
For Leicester City, beating Wolfsburg three to one at home is exciting good news.
The gap of two goals seems to indicate that they have half a foot in the Europa League quarterfinals.
But before the Blue Fox fans could be happy for a few days, a sudden bad news was about to break up:
In the league match with Hull City three days later, Leicester City, although they were rotating, relied on the contributions of Ulloa and Ling Feng who came back to win the game 2-0.
However, the team's main defensive midfielder "Drinking Brother" Drinkwater suffered a leg injury during a fierce confrontation and left the field directly.
After the game, the team doctor diagnosed that Brother Drinking Water had a strained hamstring and would need at least two months of recovery!
And it is already mid-March.
This means that Brother Drinking Water will be reimbursed for the season!
You know, Drinkwater is the team's unbeatable main force in the defensive midfielder position.
This taciturn old man used his active running and interception to cover the entire midfield and build a solid barrier in front of the defense.
This season, even if Pearson performed a relatively reasonable rotation, both the main player and the substitutes got corresponding playing time.
However, perhaps the two-line competition schedule is too intensive, coupled with the high-position pressing tactics adopted by the team, which consumes too much physical energy of the players.
So much so that he was unable to adapt and recover in a short period of time, resulting in injuries.
Moreover, no one can predict when injuries will come.
Football is inherently a confrontational sport.
What's more, in a top league like the Premier League, the competition is fierce and the intensity of the game is high, so the risk of injury is even greater.
Originally, the team had some injuries.
For example, goalkeeper Ben Hamer suffered a broken finger during training, team captain Morgan suffered a groin strain, fullback Konchesky and center back Upson suffered a hamstring strain.
Now including Brother Drinker, who has just been retired for the season, the number of injuries in Leicester City has reached five.
But Leicester City’s injury situation is quite acceptable.
According to the real-time injury list compiled by the Premier League's official data team, among the Premier League teams this season, the one with the most serious injuries at this stage is the "Magpie" Newcastle.
A total of ten players are unable to play due to injuries! No Premier League fans are surprised that Newcastle is ranked first.
Newcastle's tactical style of play is iron-blooded at best, and rough (dirty) at worst.
The confrontation is fierce and intense, with all kinds of fouls flying everywhere, muscles clashing, and it is normal to be easily injured.
In addition to Newcastle, there are also several clubs with serious injuries such as Liverpool, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, and Queens Park Rangers.
Seven or more players have been injured and unable to return in a short period of time.
It is worth mentioning that the current injury conditions of Chelsea and Manchester City, the two major championship contenders, are very good!
In the former, only Mikel was troubled by a knee injury.
The latter has all players intact, with no injured in the first team.
In fact, these two teams have also suffered injuries before.
Before Christmas, Chelsea's striker Costa suffered an injury and rested for nearly two months.
In addition, after entering the second half of the league, the state has declined somewhat.
Otherwise, Costa would have long distanced himself from Aguero on the scorer list.
As for Manchester City, injuries are mainly concentrated on the front line.
Before the winter window, Aguero, Dzeko, and Jovetic were all lying on the hospital bed. At one time, the 18-year-old Pozo was even considered to be promoted to the starting lineup.
However, the lineups of these two giants are deep enough, and other players also have enough strength to help the teams win.
Therefore, even if injuries occur at the key position of the forward, it will not have a big impact on the record.
In the eyes of many people, in the last nine rounds of the league, the suspense of the Premier League championship continues.
Of course, for Leicester City, the Premier League championship has nothing to do with them.
After all, compared with Chelsea and Manchester City, which have deep enough benches, the thickness of Leicester City's lineup is simply not worth mentioning.
Originally, the loss of the main central defender and captain Morgan has already caused new problems in the defense of the team that has just improved.
Fortunately, the central defender has enough personnel reserves to last for a while.
However, in modern football, the importance of the midfielder to the team is self-evident.
The main defensive midfielder Drinkwater will be reimbursed for the season.
This means that the team lacks Brother Drinking Water's sweeping and interception in the midfield, and there will inevitably be a void in the middle defense.
This sudden injury casts a shadow over the team's future.
The team’s top priority is to think about a very important question:
Who can take Drinkwater's place?
Especially in the upcoming second leg of the Europa League quarter-finals, who will form a defensive midfield partner with Cambiasso? !
The team currently has three midfield substitutes, Andy King, Marty James, and Nick Powell.
The playing styles of the first two are both offensive and defensive. Powell is more of an organizational midfielder.
But the defensive abilities of the three of them are not as good as Brother Drinking Water.
You know, even the water drinker can't guard De Bruyne.
The other starting midfielder, Cambiasso, is also older and has awareness and experience, but he can't beat the time.
He couldn't keep up with De Bruyne's rhythm at all, and many times he could only use fouls to stop Tintin from advancing.
As for the central position, once a foul is committed, it will give the opponent a very good set-piece opportunity.
After repeated research in the tactical meeting, Pearson, who was racking his brains, slapped his head and suddenly thought of a good idea!
"We let Ling retreat to the midfield, can't we do that?!"
This season, Ling Feng has also retreated to the midfield and partnered with Cambiasso as a defensive midfielder, and the effect is also good.
With his extraordinary speed and explosiveness, as well as his excellent defensive positioning and anticipation, coupled with his significantly enhanced confrontation ability after gaining muscle, Ling Feng is fully capable of playing the role of defensive midfielder.
If Ling Feng's position is moved back, they can put Lingard in the attacking midfielder position, allowing him to link up with his teammates through excellent off-the-ball running.
The most important thing is that after Ling Feng retreats to the midfield, he can face De Bruyne, Wolfsburg's most threatening player.
Judging from the last game, as long as De Bruyne is guarded, Wolfsburg's offensive threat will be reduced by almost 70%!
On March 20, Leicester City came to Wolfsburg in Lower Saxony with a three-to-one home score advantage.
In the Volkswagen Arena, they faced Wolfsburg, who had the advantage of home court and planned to attack with all their strength!
Except for the suspended Gustavo who was replaced by youngster Arnold, Wolfsburg still has the strongest lineup!
However, Leicester City’s formation for this game exceeded everyone’s expectations.
Also includes opponents.
Wolfsburg coach Heijing was very surprised by Leicester City's tactical change of withdrawing Ling Feng to the midfielder position.
You know, Ling Feng is the core of Leicester City's offense.
If you move him further away from the goal, the offensive threat will definitely be greatly reduced.
Does it mean that they don’t plan to attack? !
And after the game started, he found that he guessed correctly!
In this game, Leicester City actually gave up the very aggressive high-position press and instead contracted the defense, with all players retreating to their own half and launching a defensive counterattack!
Pearson gave Ling Feng only one task.
That is to target De Bruyne!
Under the premise of restricting De Bruyne, consider the offense again!
And Ling Feng completed the tasks assigned to him by the head coach very well.
For ninety minutes of the game, plus stoppage time, he followed De Bruyne closely.
Under his nugget-style personal defense, De Bruyne was unable to calmly take the ball to organize an offense, nor could he easily get rid of his defense.
Because Ling Feng's speed and burst are faster than him.
Once he gets the ball, Ling Feng can always follow him, interfere, and then wait for the opportunity to steal.
Although it is impossible to steal the ball from De Bruyne every time.
However, it very effectively restricted the personal performance of the Wolfsburg core, thereby greatly weakening Wolfsburg's offensive threat.
In the end, Leicester City finally tied with Wolfsburg, which has the second most offensive power in the Bundesliga, with a score of 1 to 1 at the Volkswagen Arena!
And with a total score of four to two, they eliminated Wolfsburg and successfully advanced to the Europa League quarterfinals!
(End of this chapter)