When the opponent goes a step further and starts sending people to closely guard Lu Wenbin, the opponent's defensive strength in other places will inevitably weaken, and Lu Wenbin can also start to help his teammates run and create space for other teammates to shoot.
This is the tactical change that Ralf made, not only to ensure more variety in the league, but also to retain some hope for the team's away challenge to Udinese in the second round.
After adjusting and redefining Lu Wenbin's position, the team conducted two days of adaptive training, and Lu Wenbin began to increase his running range in the midfield and frontcourt.
Although this increased Lu Wenbin's physical energy consumption, everyone was happy to see that Lu Wenbin's number of shots increased greatly, and the number of shots and goals hitting the goal frame also increased.
Then, on September 21, Hoffenheim faced Dortmund at home in the fifth round of the Bundesliga.
In addition to Dortmund's desire to avenge their elimination at the hands of Hoffenheim in the quarter-finals of the German Cup at the Westfalen Stadium last season, this match was also hyped up by the media in China and South Korea as an East Asian derby.
Because in Dortmund's lineup, there is a main player of the South Korean national team, Lee Young-pyo.
After helping Tottenham Hotspur win the English League Cup last season, Lee Young-pyo moved to Dortmund this summer and quickly secured his position as the main left-back.
When Lee Young-pyo was in Eredivisie PSV Eindhoven, he was rated by his former head coach Martin Jol as one of the best left-backs in the Eredivisie. At his peak, he could dominate the entire wing by himself, being able to attack or defend. He was an outstanding representative of the Korean football spirit of never giving up.
However, Lee Young-pyo, who was born in 1977, is already 31 years old this year and is no longer physically able to attack or defend.
But his defensive strength and experience are still very outstanding, otherwise he would not have secured the starting position just after transferring to Dortmund this year.
At the same time, Lu Wenbin is also the undisputed main force and the first core of the Hoffenheim team. Lu Wenbin is a forward and Li Rongpyo is a defender. The two must have many confrontations on the court.
Therefore, it is not surprising that China and South Korea have hyped it up as the East Asian Derby to attract fans and increase ratings.
Both of them deserve such a label in terms of status and strength. It is not like the previous East Asian derby which was just a wolf in sheep's clothing.
Under the attention of countless fans from China and South Korea, at 16:00 on the afternoon of September 21, with the referee's whistle, the 5th round of the 2008/2009 German Bundesliga season Hoffenheim's home game against Dortmund officially began.
In this game, Dortmund absorbed Udinese's experience in defending Lu Wenbin. They no longer focused on defending Lu Wenbin alone, but consciously cut off the ball path between Hoffenheim teammates and Lu Wenbin in advance to prevent them from passing the ball to Lu Wenbin.
Dortmund's defense is naturally stronger than those mid- and lower-level Bundesliga teams, and its defense against Lu Wenbin is still somewhat effective.
However, Hoffenheim, who had been well prepared and had trained secretly for two days, immediately changed their formation without Ralph's reminder, and Lu Wenbin's position began to become erratic.
Lu Wenbin appeared on the left, then on the right, and then ran to the midfield. Within 40 meters in the frontcourt, Lu Wenbin's figure was everywhere.
Although running like this consumed a lot of physical energy, Lu Wenbin successfully broke free from the cage of Dortmund's organization and got a lot of opportunities.
Dortmund, which is good at playing offensive football but not good at defense, had no way to deal with Lu Wenbin, a free man whose position was erratic.
In the 6th minute, Lu Wenbin had a chance to shoot outside the penalty area, but the shot was slightly off the goal.
However, Lu Wenbin was not upset and continued to run in the frontcourt looking for opportunities.
In the 15th minute, Lu Wenbin replaced Salihovic and received a pass from Baker on the wing of the frontcourt. He then made a two-pass wall pass with Demba Ba to pass Li Rongpyo.
Afterwards, Lu Wenbin cut inside and shot before the opponent's central defender could grab the ball.
The ball fell into the corner of Dortmund's goal like a precise cruise missile. Although goalkeeper Weidenfeller made a save, he didn't touch the ball in the end and could only watch the ball go into the net.
Hoffenheim 1-0 Dortmund.
In the following time, Lu Wenbin had several free kick and shooting opportunities, but he missed the goal in the end.
It was not until the 43rd minute, when the first half was about to end, that Lu Wenbin, who rarely dribbled past opponents in the Bundesliga, received a pass from Eduardo, and suddenly broke into the penalty area with two consecutive dribbles in the corner of the penalty area, knocking down Li Rongpyo, and then successfully shot before the opponent's defender blocked the ball.
The ball hit the post and went into the goal. Weidenfeller failed to catch the ball again and Hoffenheim led 2-0.
It’s not that Li Young-pyo failed to successfully defend Lu Wenbin, but Lu Wenbin scored two goals in the end, and both were related to him being broken through.
In the so-called East Asian Derby, Lu Wenbin can basically be declared the winner.
Whether Koreans admit it or not, this is the fact.
Less than two minutes after Lu Wenbin scored the goal, the referee blew the whistle to end the first half.
When he came off the court, Lu Wenbin, who had scored twice in the first half, was sweating profusely, gasping for breath, and looked a little tired.
The UEFA Cup match against Udinese required more running than the Bundesliga, and the pressure was also very high. However, Lu Wenbin played the entire game and scored a goal.
It has only been three days since the last League Cup match. Lu Wenbin did not have enough rest. He also changed his playing style and increased the running range and distance, which naturally made him more tired.
Therefore, when the team was already leading 2-0, in order to allow Lu Wenbin to save more energy for the second away game against Udinese, Ralph replaced Lu Wenbin during the half-time break.
For Lu Wenbin himself, he has already scored two goals, and even if the team loses in the second half and has no winning experience, he can still be promoted.
Therefore, in order to save more energy for the League Cup game, Lu Wenbin had no objection and calmly accepted the decision of being substituted by the head coach.
In the second half, after Lu Wenbin, the most threatening player, left the field, Dortmund finally invested more manpower in the attack, and finally their forward Valdes successfully scored a goal.
However, Hoffenheim's Ibisevic received the ball in the penalty area and turned around to shoot in the 77th minute.
Finally, at the end of the game, the score between the two sides was 3-1. Hoffenheim defeated Dortmund at home and achieved five consecutive victories in the Bundesliga. Lu Wenbin also scored twice in just 45 minutes in the first half.
Neither Hoffenheim nor Lu Wenbin collapsed because of the loss in the first round of the League Cup, which disappointed many media who wanted to see Hoffenheim make a fool of themselves.