On April 7, Ralph led the entire Hoffenheim team to Bremen.
However, when attending the pre-match press conference, Ralph was not in a good mood and looked a little worried.
Because it was raining in Bremen, and it wasn't just a drizzle. Playing in the rain certainly wouldn't put people in a good mood.
We can only hope that the rain stops by the time of the next day's competition.
As a result, the rain did not stop when the competition was approaching the next day, and it was moderate to heavy rain, but it was not so heavy that the competition could not be held.
There are too many issues involved in cancelling a European match and rescheduling it. Unless it is really a factor beyond human control, it is generally not allowed to stop the game.
This moderate to heavy rain is not enough to stop the game, so the game still has to go on as scheduled.
Also because of the rain, although it was a European match, the seats at Weser Stadium, the home stadium of Werder Bremen, were not even full.
The Weser Stadium, which can accommodate more than 40,000 people, only had about 20,000 people in it, and everyone was carrying a raincoat or an umbrella. The stands were colorful, but not very pretty.
Neither Werder Bremen nor Hoffenheim actually want to play in the rain.
Of course, relatively speaking, a rainy game is more disadvantageous to Hoffenheim, who has always insisted on ground attack, playing offensive football, and playing away.
Fortunately, according to the weather forecast, it would probably rain today, so Ralph did not play the 433 attacking formation, but chose the 442 double defensive midfielder formation.
The two defensive midfielders protected the unstable back line, and they had to focus on defense first and then try to win away from home. The frontcourt depended on Salihovic, Eduardo, Lu Wenbin and Paljic to fight hard.
At 16:00 on the afternoon of April 8, the first leg of the 2008/2009 UEFA Cup quarter-finals, Hoffenheim's away challenge against Werder Bremen, officially began.
Heavy rain not only causes blurred vision and distorted movements, but also makes the playing environment on the field extremely harsh, which has a great impact on passing, receiving the ball and shooting.
In the 9th minute, Lu Wenbin got rid of the central defender Ploedel and Bremen captain Baumann who were defending him in Werder Bremen's penalty area and got an open opportunity. Eduardo also saw Lu Wenbin's position and passed the ball to him at the right time.
As a result, the ball got stuck in the mud halfway and was kicked away by Bremen defender Bernisch.
Lu Wenbin was ready to shoot without stopping the ball, but it was useless. He could only shake his head helplessly and continue the game.
In the 17th minute, Lu Wenbin got another good chance.
Full-back Baker made a cross from the bottom, Paljic competed for a header near the penalty spot, and Lu Wenbin suddenly changed direction outside the penalty area to shake off the defender, ran to the penalty area line and prepared to receive Paljic's header and volley the ball.
As a result, Paljic missed the header and Lu Wenbin lost control of his body and slipped, falling into the mud, which caused applause and laughter from the Bremen fans in the stands.
Of course, the heavy rain not only affected Hoffenheim, but also Werder Bremen who played at home.
Not only Bremen fans laughed at Hoffenheim players, but Bremen players themselves also made a lot of jokes.
In the 4th minute, Werder Bremen striker Pisano tried to cycle into the penalty area, but the ball suddenly stopped in the water.
Pisano rushed into the penalty area himself, but the ball was easily poked away by center back Komper.
In the 21st minute, Bremen midfielder Ozil was ready to receive a pass from midfielder Diego Cunha and took a long shot without stopping.
As a result, the ball did not roll to the position he wanted to kick at the speed he expected, and he kicked it wrong. Not only did he fall backwards to the ground, but he also kicked the ball directly to the corner flagpole.
As the game progressed and mistakes continued to occur, everyone wisely gave up ground passes and started to make bold passes from the bottom and high balls.
However, relatively speaking, because this is Werder Bremen's home ground, they have more time to conduct advance adaptive training and adapt to the rain game.
In the 37th minute of the first half, Werder Bremen defender Mertesacker intercepted Eduardo's dribbling and started a counterattack, then passed the ball to Brazilian midfielder Cunha near the center line.
Cunha made a cross from the bottom of the wing, Bremen striker Rosenberg followed up in the middle, grabbed the first point in the penalty area, and headed the ball into Hoffenheim's goal with a diving header.
Werder Bremen led Hoffenheim 1-0 at home. More than 20,000 Bremen fans watching the game in the rain gave warm applause and cheers. Many people even threw away their umbrellas and enjoyed the thrill of scoring a goal in the heavy rain.
However, Hoffenheim is no pushover.
Although Hoffenheim's main tactic is ground attack, they are not completely incapable of headers. Center forwards Ibisevic and Paljic are used to compete for headers at such times.
Moreover, Lu Wenbin is now 178cm tall. Although he is more than ten centimeters shorter than the defender Ploedl and Bremen captain Baumann who are closely marking him, Lu Wenbin still has 19/19 off-ball running and a 17/18 physique.
As long as he judges the landing point correctly, Lu Wenbin may be able to grab the first point in advance, and use his already very good physique to stand at the landing point of the ball and head the ball in.
In the first 40 minutes, Lu Wenbin's shots in open play and free kicks all missed.
But in the 41st minute, Lu Wenbin finally sent the ball into the opponent's goal with a header.
It was Eduardo's cross from the bottom, and Paljic got the first point, but his position was a little forward, and even if he raised his head, he couldn't head the ball towards the goal.
Therefore, Paljic tilted his head and headed the ball to the right side of the small penalty area.
Lu Wenbin in the penalty area took the lead with his sensitive off-ball running and stood at the landing point of the ball. Then he used his 17/18 physique to withstand the impact of Pledel and Bauman, jumped up and headed the ball towards the goal.
The ball finally went into the goal through the gap between the goalkeeper and the goalpost.
Then, Lu Wenbin, who was in the air, was knocked off balance by Pledel and Bauman, and fell heavily on the muddy grass when he landed.
But it doesn’t matter anymore because the ball has already been headed in by Lu Wenbin.
Even the experienced commentator Dickenson shouted "Toooooooooooooooooooor..." and then explained in amazement:
"Lu scored a header to help Hoffenheim tie the score 1-1 away from home. Lu Wenbin, who has always been regarded as not good at heading and physically weak, actually withstood the impact of Ploedel and Baumann and scored a header in this rainy game, which is really surprising. Bomber Gerd Muller said it well, Lu is still growing and constantly giving us greater surprises."