Chapter 321 I don’t know my left foot, but I can know my outer instep!
April 8th.
The people of Leicester suddenly discovered that the tranquility of the entire city was broken.
Whether on the street or in the hotel, there are many "outsiders"
And these outsiders speak an incomprehensible language.
However, when they saw the Dortmund jerseys they were wearing and the yellow and black scarves on their hands, the Leicester people understood.
After all, the highly anticipated first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals will be held at the King Power Stadium.
Fans from both sides also gathered in this stadium, which can accommodate more than 30,000 people.
And Dortmund fans who have been to the Westfalenstadion also feel the "enthusiasm" of the Blue Fox fans
"Welcome to stay in front of the TV on time to watch the 2015 ~For the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals in the 2016 season, we will set our sights on Leicester’s King Power Stadium”
"Let's take a look at the starting eleven of both sides."
"Leicester City adopts their usual tactical formation of 4231. The goalkeeper is Kasper Schmeichel, four The defenders are Simpson, Morgan, Huth and Fuchs"
"The two defensive midfielders are Drinkwater and Kante"
"The left and right wingers O Albrighton and Mahrez, with Ling Feng in the middle and Vardy at the front"
"On the visiting team Dortmund's side, there have been two position changes compared to the league. ”
Dortmund's tactical formation changed from the 433 used in the previous round of the league to 4231.
As for the goalkeeper position, it is the veteran Weidenfeller who has been competed by Swiss goalkeeper Burki this season, and his playing time has dropped sharply.
In such a crucial and important game, Tuchel still chooses to trust the experienced veterans.
On the back line of defense, the two full-backs on the left and right are still the classic combination of Piszczek and Schmelzer.
These two were also the starting full-backs when Klopp led Dortmund to win the Bundesliga championship and reach the Champions League final!
However, due to Subotic being affected by injuries and Tuchel's emphasis, Dortmund's central defender partners this season have been Greek international Papasopoulos and captain Hummels most of the time.
As for the defensive midfielder, it is the partnership of Weigel and Svend.
Tuchel did not choose the regular main player Gundogan or another midfielder Castro, but chose Svend, who has a stronger defensive ability.
Obviously, this midfielder combination was specially prepared for Ling Feng.
Gundogan's role in Dortmund is to serve as a midfield commander, connecting and connecting the frontcourt and backcourt through passing and running.
However, when Weigel is on the court, if Gundo is placed, there will be some overlap.
The roles of both of them are organizational midfielders.
If the two of them play together, it will only blur the command of the ball in the backcourt.
This season, the young midfielder Weigel, who just transferred from 1860 Munich, is one of the biggest discoveries of Dortmund and even the Bundesliga!
This 20-year-old young man, after joining the Hornets, quickly occupied the team's main position and became an important hub for the team in the midfield and backcourt.
So far this season, his passing success rate is as high as 90, making him the player with the highest passing success rate in the team!
Whether it is connecting short passes or scheduling long passes, this twenty-year-old genius midfielder has shown a maturity that belies his age.
Some German media even dubbed him the "New Busquets"
With Weigel on the court, the team does not have to worry about the ball in the midfield and backfield.
However, Weigel's shortcomings are very obvious, including his thin body, slow speed and average defensive ability.
The other two midfielders Gundogan and Castro have average defensive abilities.
In order to prevent Ling Feng from crossing the entire midfield line in one go, Tuchel chose Sven Bender, a defensive midfielder with excellent defensive ability, to protect the midfield and mark Ling Feng. peak.
In front of the two defensive midfielders are three players with outstanding offensive talents:
Germany's most handsome "Little Rocket" Reus is on the left. Shinji Kagawa, the best player in the Bundesliga half-time, is in the center, and Armenian football king Mkhitarya is on the right.
And "Gabonese Supercar" Aubameyang is at the front!
In terms of the team's offensive firepower alone, Dortmund is definitely no less than Leicester City.
The frontcourt quartet composed of Mkhitaryan, Reus, Aubameyang, and Shinji Kagawa, judging from the data alone, is comparable to Lingfeng, Vardy, Mahrez and Orr. Compared to Brighton’s Blue Fox Quartet, they are no less impressive!
Especially in the Europa League, Dortmund, which has always held high the banner of offensive football, has shown superior offensive firepower.
Although their performance in the group stage was average, they only qualified for second place in the group.
But after entering the knockout rounds, the Hornets quickly found their winning rhythm.
Defeated Portuguese Super League giants Porto 3-0 in two rounds!
Bloodbath the White Hart Lane youth army five to one!
Scoring eight goals in four games and conceding only one. Dortmund, which missed the Champions League last season, showed the style of a strong Champions League team in the Europa League!
In the Europa League, Aubameyang scored ten goals, Royce scored eight goals, and Mkhitaryan scored six goals. The three of them jointly contributed a terrifying 24 goals. ball!
However, facing the most powerful team in the entire Europa League, Leicester City's soldiers were not weak at all.
Since they are unbeaten in 20 games at home in all competitions this season, the Blue Fox's King Power Stadium can truly be called the devil's home stadium of the Premier League!
So, according to the pre-match predictions, Leicester City has a winning rate of 40% and Dortmund has a winning rate of 30%.
Since both sides are teams with excellent offensive firepower, the probability of a tie is only 20%.
Many football experts and commentators believe that this is definitely an offensive battle!
The Dortmund fans who came from afar believed that the team could defeat this little-known Premier League leader on the road.
Facts have proved that in two rounds of European competitions, the team that plays first before home has a certain advantage.
Play away games first, you can take advantage of the away game first and observe the opponent's tactics.
After returning to the home court, the home team will have a more intuitive understanding of the visiting team, and can conduct more targeted defenses and drills to gain an advantage in the home game.
Play away first, then home. If you win a big away game, you can rotate at home to preserve your physical fitness; if you perform poorly at home, you can go all out to win at home.
However, in Ling Feng's view, it doesn't matter whether it is guest first and then host, or first host and then guest.
As long as they defeat their opponents in both rounds, they will advance to the semi-finals!
Besides, if you take the lead in defeating your opponent at home in the first round, you will have a huge psychological advantage when going to the away game.
Especially for Leicester City, a team that focuses on defensive counterattacks, it is even more crucial!
If they win at home and keep a clean sheet against their opponents, when they go to the "devil's home stadium" Westfalenstadion, they can defend pragmatically and then wait for opportunities to use counterattacks to completely end the suspense of the game. !
Rather than being forced to attack, thereby exposing weaknesses in a tight defensive formation
Ranieri also believes that the schedule of first home and then away is beneficial to the team.
So, before he was about to go on the field, he conducted a pre-match mobilization in the locker room:
“Don’t think about the second round first! This is our home court, and we have to win. Defend the honor of this city and this stadium!”
. . . Standing in the player tunnel, players from both sides were ready.
With the singing from the stadium echoing in his ears, Ling Feng, who was wearing a white team jacket, followed his usual practice and turned his head generously to observe his opponents.
This is his first clash with Dortmund.
However, he is familiar with many players in Dortmund's team.
From goalkeepers to forwards, they are all stars we have seen on TV!
The moment he saw Royce, the latter seemed to feel his slightly hot gaze and glanced at him.
When their eyes met, Ling Feng couldn't help but smile, and immediately sighed in his heart:
Bayern's Royce is really handsome!
In football, there are many handsome guys with outstanding looks.
Among them, Royce's charm is that in addition to female fans, he is also very lethal to male fans.
Of course, he is not only handsome in appearance, but also his persistence for Dortmund, which is what male fans recognize as truly handsome!
When all the familiar teammates around him left, he always stuck to the Yellow and Black Legion.
This loyalty is definitely one of the few and rare qualities in the increasingly commercial world of football!
My eyes wandered over the Dortmund players, and they also paused for a moment on Weigel.
Compared to other Dortmund players, this young player's fame and achievements are not great.
However, the reason why he noticed Weigel was because some German media pointed out before the game that in this game, Dortmund’s talented midfielder Weigel and the Blue Fox star Ling Feng Counterpoint will be a highlight.
The two certainly have some similarities.
First of all, both of them were players born in 1995.
Secondly, both of them have excellent passing and sorting abilities.
Although personal data, team status and honors won are not at the same level.
However, the maturity and overall view of the two on the court that belie their age are impressive.
Being able to become the midfield brain of a team at the age of twenty is also rare in football.
However, Ling Feng couldn't laugh or cry at this view.
What level can you compare to me? !
Whether it is in terms of strength or fame, Weigel is not qualified to compare with him, or even to compete with him!
Moreover, in the competition, the one who really faced off against Ling Feng was not Weigel, but Sven Bender!
When he saw Sven Bender following him closely, Ling Feng knew that Tuchel had given the German international the responsibility of tracking him.
However, he didn't care at all.
With the increase in game experience and the confrontation with major Premier League stars, Ling Feng has a clear understanding of his current ability and level.
In his opinion, except for Kante and Yaya Toure in the entire Premier League, no one can restrict him in the defensive midfielder position!
As for Sven Bender, let alone guarding himself, there is still a question mark whether he can keep up with him.
. . .
Five minutes before the game, the Blue Fox, who took the first kick off, did not rush to attack, but firmly controlled the possession of the ball.
And Dortmund, who was playing away from home, was not polite at all and pressed forward directly!
Even though Klopp has left the team, his influence on the Dortmund team's tactical style is still deeply engraved in the blood of every Dortmund player.
They are used to pressing forward, forcing their opponents to make mistakes, and then playing quick passes and cuts on the spot.
However, at the King Power Stadium, the Hornets quickly felt this trick and it didn't seem to work!
Because, no matter how they press in the frontcourt, the Blue Fox will pass the ball to Ling Feng as much as possible, and then let him distribute the ball.
No matter how much Dortmund players harass and press, Ling Feng will not lose the ball.
However, Dortmund's players are also well prepared.
How could Ling Feng become the leader of the Premier League and the absolute core midfielder of the Three Lions if he had no strength? !
It doesn't matter if you can't grab Ling Feng's ball.
The key is to restrict him and prevent him from handling the ball so calmly!
The method adopted by Dortmund is an old routine used by most teams to target stars, arranging one person to specifically mark them!
And this person is Sven Bender.
It is worth mentioning that when Bender was following Ling Feng, he always followed him on his right side as much as possible to guard against his dominant foot.
Because, as we all know, Ling Feng rarely uses his back foot to complete passes and dribbling.
So, in Tuchel's view, as long as Bender continues to follow Ling Feng, interfere with him and prevent him from easily handling the ball with his right foot, he can restrict the Blue Fox to a certain extent. Core play.
However, he overestimated Bender's ability and underestimated Ling Feng's strength!
Facing Bender's follow-up defense, he immediately noticed that his opponent was guarding his right foot.
This is not surprising.
As the star player of the Blue Fox, his playing style and habits have long been magnified and studied by all opponents under the microscope.
When facing a top star like Ling Feng, almost all opponents will ask to defend his dominant foot when assigning defensive tasks.
However, this defensive strategy did not work against Ling Feng.
Because, just like Robben cutting in with his left foot, no one can prevent him from making soup!
Moreover, even if he doesn't make soup, he still has a way to break through Bender's defense.
When the game came to the twelfth minute, Ling Feng caught the ball in the midfield and turned around. Then he saw Bender in front of him on the right, standing sideways and ready.
Seeing this, Ling Feng smiled slightly, feinted his upper body to the right, and started to break through to the right.
This action indeed tricked Bender into moving to the right, blocking his soup-making route.
And this is the result Ling Feng wants!
Indeed, he doesn’t know his left foot.
However, this does not mean that he does not know how to instep!
I saw him kicking his left foot without hesitation, swinging his right leg violently, and hitting the bottom of the ball with a bang with the instep of his outside foot.
The next second, the ball shot out, flew past Bender's right side, and flew forward.
What? !
When Bender suddenly looked back, he realized that the arc of the instep of his foot went straight through, drawing a graceful arc turning outward in mid-air, directly penetrating the entire midfield, just in time to land. Behind the ribs of center back Papasopoulos and left back Schmelzer!
Mahrez, like a blue ghost, stepped in from behind, stopped with his left foot, and got a perfect opportunity to face the goalkeeper alone in the penalty area!
(End of this chapter)