In the second half, after Lu Wenbin was substituted, Zenit St. Petersburg launched a desperate counterattack.
After all, it was Zenit's home ground, and they were more familiar with playing on this field. Therefore, in the 75th minute, Zenit still scored a goal through the cooperation of the front court.
After that, neither side made any further progress.
Although Zenit scored one goal in each half and won the game with a score of 2-1, the total score of 5-2 in the two rounds still made Zenit lose to Hoffenheim by a large margin and was eliminated.
Hoffenheim eliminated the defending champion Zenit St. Petersburg and advanced to the quarterfinals of this season's UEFA Cup.
Because the team lost the League Cup, Lu Wenbin only received a reward of 40,000 experience points for one goal, and the experience increased to level 16, 166,000/2 million.
That night, the UEFA Cup quarter-finals were all over, and all three Bundesliga teams advanced to the quarterfinals.
Hoffenheim's advancement was expected. After Hamburg was tied 1-1 by Galatasaray at home in the first round, they went to Galatasaray's devilish home stadium in Istanbul, Turkey in the second round and defeated their opponent 3-2 away from home, winning 4-3 on aggregate and advancing.
Werder Bremen won the first leg at home 1-0 against Saint-Etienne, but they drew 2-2 away in the second leg and advanced with a total score of 3-2.
In this way, Bundesliga teams occupy three seats in the quarterfinals, which is also the league with the most teams among the five major leagues. It seems that the probability of German teams winning the championship this season is really high.
However, after the UEFA Cup quarter-final draw ceremony the next day, the German media sighed.
Because the UEFA Cup only draws twice for the knockout stage, in addition to the group stage. The first is the round of 32 knockout stage, which will also determine the matchups for the 1/16 finals and 1/8 finals, so teams from the same country will avoid the draw.
However, when the second draw for the quarter-finals is made, the matchups for the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals will be decided at the same time, so there will be no rule for teams from the same country to circumvent the draw.
So, unfortunately, Hoffenheim and Werder Bremen, both Bundesliga teams, were drawn together, and it is certain that only one team will advance to the semi-finals.
What's even more unfortunate is that Hamburg was placed in the same half as Hoffenheim and Werder Bremen. Even if Hamburg defeats its opponent, it will meet the winner of Hoffenheim and Werder Bremen in the semi-finals. The Bundesliga will definitely not be able to take the championship and runner-up.
This made some German media wonder whether it was a deliberate arrangement by UEFA.
However, whether it was intentional or not, the match schedule has been released and cannot be changed. Hoffenheim, Werder Bremen and Hamburg can only try their best to defeat their opponents and win tickets to the finals.
As for the honor of German football, who cares about it at this moment.
Just three days after the UEFA Cup match against Zenit St. Petersburg, Hoffenheim faced Hannover 96 in the 25th round of the Bundesliga.
Fortunately, this is Hoffenheim's home ground, and after this round of the league it will be the FIFA match day, when national teams from various countries will fight hard for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.
Although Hoffenheim is currently ranked first in the Bundesliga, it is generally believed that it is still due to Lu Wenbin's contribution.
Therefore, there are not many international players in Hoffenheim's squad. Ibisevic, Obasi, Nilsson and others who should have been called up to the national team are still recovering from injuries.
After this round of the league, Lu Wenbin and most other players in the team who do not have national team competition tasks can have a good rest.
So, in the 25th round of the Bundesliga at home against Hannover 96 at 15:30 on the afternoon of March 22, Hoffenheim fielded all its main players and had a fierce offensive battle with Hannover 96, who is currently ranked 13th in the Bundesliga and wants to take advantage of Hoffenheim's defensive loopholes to win an away game.
Just in the second minute of the game, Hannover 96 took advantage of Hoffenheim's unstable defense and scored a goal, leaving the entire Rhine-Neckar Arena silent. The home fans were a little dazed, and only more than a thousand away fans were cheering and screaming wildly.
But just a few minutes later, Lu Wenbin equalized the score with a lob shot from outside the penalty area, igniting the enthusiasm of the home fans.
Then throughout the first half, the two sides were in a stalemate. Lu Wenbin had several shooting opportunities but failed to score due to the opponent's double defense. Hannover 96 also failed to break Hoffenheim's goal.
After a 15-minute break, the two sides changed sides and continued the game.
Shortly after the start of the second half, in the 53rd minute, in a corner kick of Hoffenheim, central defender Jancker jumped high in the penalty area and headed the corner kick from Salihovic into the opponent's goal, and Hoffenheim overtook the score.
However, in the 76th minute, Hannover 96 used a counterattack to send the ball into Hoffenheim's goal to equalize the score.
But the Hannover 96 players were happy for less than 3 minutes, as Lu Wenbin attracted the attention of two or three opponent players and passed the ball to Eduardo, who assisted Eduardo, who had just started again after his suspension, to score a long shot, and Hoffenheim regained the lead.
The score remained deadlocked until the end. After the referee blew the final whistle, the score on the big screen was 3-2, with the home team Hoffenheim in front and the visiting team Hannover 96 behind.
Hannover 96 did take advantage of Hoffenheim's unstable defense and scored 2 goals, but Hoffenheim scored 3 goals.
Among them, Lu Wenbin scored a goal and assisted Eduardo to score a long shot, and another goal was headed in by central defender Yankel in a corner kick.
Hoffenheim once again won all three points with a narrow victory by one goal, which made their competitors even more annoyed, and they felt that Hoffenheim was really lucky.
In this game, Lu Wenbin obtained 1 assist 5000 + 1 goal 10,000 + win 20,000, a total of 35,000 experience rewards, and the experience increased to level 16 201,000/2 million.
After this round of Bundesliga is over, Hoffenheim continued to top the standings with 61 points, followed by Hertha Berlin and Wolfsburg.
Lu Wenbin has scored 38 goals in the Bundesliga, getting closer to bomber Gerd Muller's single-season record of 40 goals.
If he is lucky, in the next round of the league, Lu Wenbin can tie the game by scoring twice, or surpass it by performing a hat trick.
However, we have to wait for more than ten days to watch the next round of the league. We have to wait until the national team's World Cup qualifiers are over.
During the league break, players who have no national team missions continue to train at the training base to enhance coordination and conserve physical strength.
After a break of more than ten days, the league resumed on April 4th, with Hoffenheim away challenging Hamburg.
Considering that the next game is the UEFA Cup quarter-final against Werder Bremen, and it will be an away game.
Therefore, Ralph did not play with all the main players in this league, but a lineup of half main players and half substitutes.
Although Lu Wenbin wanted to score a goal and lead the team to victory, he had bad luck in shooting in an away game, and his substitute teammates were also not strong enough. In the end, Lu Wenbin did not score a goal, and the team lost to Hamburg away from home with a score of 0-1.
Fortunately, the second-ranked Hertha Berlin also lost the game, and Hoffenheim continued to rank first with 61 points and was far ahead of the second group.
As fewer and fewer league games remain, Hoffenheim's 10-point lead over the second group will become increasingly advantageous.
The better news is that Obasi has returned and started recovery training, and he looks good.
If Obasi's muscle strain does not recur, Hoffenheim's offensive strength is still guaranteed.
Next is the first round of the UEFA Cup quarter-finals, and Hoffenheim will go away to challenge Werder Bremen.