With so many fans coming, the team naturally cannot weaken their momentum and let their supporters be laughed at by local fans in Udine.
Therefore, at the pre-match press conference held that afternoon after arriving in Udine, Ralph strongly announced that Hoffenheim was here to create that 5% miracle and to turn the tables.
The team that advances to the group stage of this season's UEFA Cup must be Hoffenheim, not Udinese.
Ralph's declaration was naturally ridiculed by the Italian media, who ridiculed it as a stubborn act.
Even the German media, although they would not discredit their own team in front of foreigners, the disbelief in their eyes was obvious.
If Hoffenheim is eliminated in the end, it will prove that Ralph's words are just empty talk. Then not only the Italian media, but also the German media will definitely bombard Ralph and Hoffenheim.
When a reporter relayed Ralph's declaration to Udinese coach Marino, Marino smiled nonchalantly and said:
"Ralph is just cheering himself up! The final result of the game will tell him that this is Italy, this is Udinese!"
Obviously, Marino's response was more domineering and more in line with everyone's predictions for the game.
"This is Italy, this is Udinese!"
In just a few words, it fully expresses the confidence of Marino and the Udinese club.
They also have the right to be confident.
Not only do historical statistics give them confidence, they also have confidence in their own defense.
Even though Lu Wenbin scored twice in 45 minutes in the last round of the Bundesliga and his running range increased greatly, the Italians did not think that Lu Wenbin's ability had improved and that he could break free from the Italian-style chain defense and zone defense.
They will only confidently believe that the Bundesliga's overall defensive ability is not good enough and Dortmund's tradition is not to play defense.
It is no big deal for Lu Wenbin to score in the Bundesliga, just like he had scored in the previous few rounds of the league.
In this game, they will continue to use Italian-style defense to prove to everyone that Lu Wenbin is a top scorer in the Bundesliga, but not in European competitions!
On the evening of September 24, just before the game started, Hoffenheim completed the pre-match warm-up and returned to the locker room to change into official jerseys, ready to play in the game.
At this time, captain Salihovic stood up and signaled that he had something to say.
Everyone fell silent and listened to Salihovic's speech.
Salihovic looked around and asked everyone, "Did you see the more than 2,000 Hoffenheim fans who were assigned to the corner during the warm-up just now?"
Lu Wenbin and others nodded and replied, "I see!"
Salihovic nodded and said, "Yes, I saw it too! We all saw it!"
"I hope everyone understands how we were underestimated by all the media before the game. Including our own media in our country, they all thought that we were doomed to fail as representatives of Germany."
"No one except the media in Sinsheim cheered us on and encouraged us to pull off a miracle in the second leg and beat Udinese to advance to the group stage."
"Under such circumstances, it is really rare that so many fans came with the team and cheered for us even though they knew the chances of advancing were slim, especially for a country club like us from the village of Hoffenheim."
"If we lose this game, not only will we become a real laughing stock, but these fans who came with the team will also become the laughing stock of fans of other teams."
"But if we win today, eliminate Udinese and advance to the UEFA Cup group stage, it will not only slap the faces of those media who were pessimistic about us before the game, but also allow these lovely fans to walk out of the stadium and return to Germany with their heads held high."
"I hope that everyone in the team will try their best to win today and not have to think about the next round of the Bundesliga."
"Even if we are exhausted, we must lie down after completing defense, passing or shooting. Let us use practical actions to prove to everyone: Hoffenheim can create a miracle and eliminate Udinese!"
The captain's words made everyone excited. They gathered together and shouted the slogan "Create a miracle, eliminate Udinese", then walked out of the locker room with their heads held high, waiting to enter the stadium.
In the player tunnel, Udinese players looked at Hoffenheim players who were holding their heads high and looking straight ahead, but they thought they were too nervous and laughed at them in their hearts.
The Udinese players are in a very relaxed mentality.
They beat Hoffenheim 2-1 away from home, so can they really make a comeback at home
Historical facts have told us that the probability of that happening is extremely small. In any case, Udinese players do not believe that Hoffenheim can turn the tables.
At around 7:50 p.m., the referee team brought out the starting 11 players of both teams.
After taking photos, shaking hands and choosing sides, at 8:00 p.m. on September 24, with the referee's whistle, the second leg of the third qualifying round of the 2008/2009 UEFA Cup between Udinese and Hoffenheim at home officially began.
In this game, the starting lineups of both teams were exactly the same as in the previous game, even the positions did not change.
Everyone thought that Lu Wenbin would retreat to the midfield like he did in the second half of the previous game, so that he could at least get some opportunities to get the ball and shoot.
Unexpectedly, Lu Wenbin's position is still on the forward line.
This makes Udinese's coaches and players feel more at ease.
Lu Wenbin, who plays as a winger on the forward line, has fewer routes to receive the ball than midfielders, making it easier for Udinese players to defend. They are more confident in intercepting the ball passed to Lu Wenbin by Hoffenheim players and denying him the chance to shoot.
However, after 10 minutes of the game, both the Udinese players on the field, the Udinese coach Marino on the sidelines, and even the Italian commentator and Udinese fans in the stands were a little surprised.
Because Udinese's defense line, which adopted the same defensive strategy as in the previous game, failed to defend Lu Wenbin this time.
In just 10 minutes, Lu Wenbin received the ball twice, one of which was a shot, but it was saved by the quick-reacting goalkeeper Handanovic.
However, this phenomenon is not normal.
Referring to the first round of the match between the two sides, Lu Wenbin should not have received the ball so quickly, twice, and one of them resulted in a shot.
What's going on
The Udinese players on the field did not let down their guard consciously. They executed the same defensive method as in the first round, and executed it 100% without any slacking.
Although they are relaxed and confident, it does not mean that they will let down their guard against Lu Wenbin, who scored a goal in the first round and scored twice in the last Bundesliga game.
Under such focused defense, Lu Wenbin, who had almost no performance in the first half of the first round, now received the ball twice within 10 minutes and had a shooting opportunity once. This is too abnormal.
However, because the time was too short, no one has figured out what was going on, including Udinese head coach Marino.
Marino planned to observe for a while to see what caused his team to fail to defend Lu Wenbin, and then make corresponding adjustments.