When Leverkusen scored their seventh goal of the game in the 81st minute, the commentators and neutral spectators went crazy.
7 goals were scored in one game, and both sides took the lead, equalized, led again, and equalized again repeatedly. It really made one's adrenaline rush!
Just when Leverkusen supporters and neutral spectators were extremely excited, Leverkusen head coach Labbadia walked to the sidelines after celebrating the goal and made a gesture to the players on the field to retreat and defend.
After the goal celebration, it was already the 82nd minute and Labadia wanted to maintain the one-goal lead until the end of the game.
However, Labbadia's approach was proved to be wrong after the game.
Originally, the players on the Leverkusen field were fighting fiercely and wanted to fight Hoffenheim to the end, but they did not expect that the head coach would ask them to retreat to defend and want to maintain the one-goal lead until the end of the game.
Isn't this showing weakness first
Perhaps Labbadia's idea was not to show weakness, but to retreat strategically, but to the Leverkusen players on the field it seemed like a sign of weakness.
Instead of taking advantage of the loopholes in the opponent's defense to continue attacking and expanding the lead, they actively retreated to defend. This is the first way to show weakness!
As the Chinese saying goes, it is now the case that the brave will win when two meet in a narrow road. Leverkusen head coach Labadia did not consider the emotions of the players on the field and made a wrong decision.
As a result, the Leverkusen players suddenly felt a little discouraged and confused.
Of course, no matter how confused they were, they were the leading side after all and would not collapse. They would still faithfully carry out the coach's tactical tasks and try to maintain the one-goal lead until the end of the game.
On Hoffenheim's side, after seeing the opponent retreat, the defense line that had been shot like a sieve finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, with a wave of Ralph's hand, everyone pressed forward as a whole and launched a fierce attack on Leverkusen's goal.
Even central defenders Jancker and Komper moved to the center line.
In the 83rd minute, Hoffenheim won a free kick. Lu Wenbin's free kick hit the goal frame, but was saved by goalkeeper Adler, causing sighs from the stands.
In the 85th minute, Salihovic's long shot from outside the penalty area hit a Leverkusen player and refracted, avoiding Adler's save, but was cleared by the full-back Carteri who was standing at the back post with a header on the goal line.
After Leverkusen gave up the attack and their momentum faded, they were almost besieged by Hoffenheim in their own half, and they couldn't counterattack even if they wanted to.
Hoffenheim continued to attack. No one was willing to lose the game after scoring three goals.
Through continuous attacks and pressure, Leverkusen players finally made a mistake in the 90th minute.
In the 90th minute, Lu Wenbin received a pass from Salihovic on the penalty area line and took a step into the penalty area, preparing to shoot, but was tackled by Friedrich on the side and knocked down in the penalty area.
Friedrich didn't catch the ball, but instead tackled Lu Wenbin to the ground.
Lu Wenbin's fall made Hoffenheim players and fans feel anxious, fearing that serious injuries similar to those of Ibisevic and Nilsson would occur.
If Lu Wenbin is seriously injured and leaves the field, it will be a bigger blow to the team than the injuries of Ibrahimovic, Nilsson and others.
As a result, the excited Eduardo and others almost had a conflict with Leverkusen players.
Fortunately, after the referee awarded a penalty and gave Friedrich a yellow card, Lu Wenbin got up from the ground, stretched his legs and feet, and signaled to his teammates that he was fine.
However, the Leverkusen people refused to give in.
Being awarded a penalty at this time is simply a death sentence for Leverkusen!
Friedrich and Leverkusen players put pressure on the referee, saying that Lu Wenbin fell on the penalty area line, not inside the penalty area, and this ball should not be a penalty.
However, the referee insisted that Lu Wenbin was tackled by Friedrich after he had dribbled the ball into the penalty area, so it was undoubtedly a penalty.
Moreover, the referee showed a yellow card to the Leverkusen player who put pressure on him, and reached into the butt bag containing the red card, indicating that he would directly show the red card if he attacked him again.
As a last resort, the Leverkusen players could only disperse in anger, and Labbadia's rage on the sidelines was useless.
His defensive tactics led to the team being besieged by Hoffenheim and making big mistakes, but it was too late to regret.
Then, Lu Wenbin on the court picked up the ball, put it on the penalty spot, and prepared to take the free throw himself.
Other teammates would not compete with Lu Wenbin, as Lu Wenbin was now the undisputed number one penalty taker for set pieces. Not to mention that this was a penalty he personally created, the penalties created by others were also taken by Lu Wenbin.
After the referee blew the whistle for a penalty kick, Lu Wenbin's 20/20 shot went straight into the dead corner at the bottom left of the goal, and Adler even missed the direction.
In the 90th minute, Hoffenheim once again tenaciously equalized the score, and the score between the two sides became 4-4.
There was no one sitting in the entire Rhine-Neckar Arena. No matter whether it was the spectators or the high-ranking club presidents, managers, etc., everyone stood up, applauded, cheered, and screamed. The whole stadium was like boiling water.
The commentators in the commentary booth also shouted:
"The ball goes in! The penalty goes in! Lu scored twice to equalize the score for Hoffenheim!"
"A miracle, Hoffenheim fell behind four times and equalized the score four times!"
"It was a crazy game, with both teams scoring a total of 8 goals! Those who watched this game today are in luck!"
"The game was about to end, but the opponent scored a penalty. Leverkusen's supporters must be very disappointed!"
Indeed, not only Leverkusen fans, but also the players on the field felt very frustrated.
The victory that was about to be achieved turned into a draw, and 3 points turned into 1 point, which naturally made people very unhappy.
However, they didn't know that Hoffenheim, which was completely excited, was not satisfied with even 1 point. They had not stopped attacking. They didn't want 1 point, they wanted victory and 3 points.
After scoring the goal, Lu Wenbin didn't even celebrate. Instead, he rushed into the goal, picked up the ball and ran towards the center line. On the way, he simply high-fived his teammates to celebrate, and then put the ball back into the center circle, signaling Leverkusen to kick off quickly.
The Leverkusen players, who were already somewhat discouraged by Labbadia's defensive tactics, were now even more demoralized after Hoffenheim equalized the score.
In the last few minutes, Leverkusen still had no decent attack. After the game resumed, they were quickly intercepted by Gustavo, and then were besieged by Hoffenheim in their own half.