Before the game started, both teams returned to the locker room after warming up.
In the visiting team's locker room, Werder Bremen's head coach Schaff was giving final instructions to the defense.
After the last round of the league, the media was hyping up the fact that Lu Wenbin broke Gerd Muller's 40-goal record.
Before the game started, the media was hyping that Lu Wenbin was about to break the record of 67 goals scored by an individual in a single season in the top five leagues.
Not only Germany, not only Europe, but also many reporters from Asia, America, Africa and Oceania came to this game. It can be said that the whole world is paying attention to it.
The Hoffenheim miracle and Lu Wenbin's superb performance have attracted strong attention from all over the world.
Countless people are looking forward to the 18-year-old Lu Wenbin breaking the record of total goals scored in a single season in the top five leagues in this game, shocking the football world.
No one cared whether Werder Bremen had a chance to come back and advance away from home, except their own supporters.
Therefore, everyone from the head coach to the players of Werder Bremen have been holding their breath these days.
They were able to beat Bayern 5-2 at the Allianz Arena, so why can't they win and advance at the Rhein-Neckar Arena
Everyone admits that Lu Wenbin is very good, but Hoffenheim is not that invincible. Hoffenheim still had draws and losses this season.
After Ibisevic and Nilsson were seriously injured and sidelined, and with Lu Wenbin restricted by the double-man defense tactics first used by Bayern Munich, Hoffenheim should be much weaker now than in the first half of the season.
Even if Lu Wenbin makes rapid progress and his strength improves quickly, he should not be able to make up for the decline in Hoffenheim's overall team strength.
As long as Lu Wenbin can be restricted, the other Hoffenheim players' goal-scoring ability is far inferior to Lu Wenbin, so Werder Bremen may not have the possibility of a comeback away from home.
After all, they drew at home, not lost. As long as they won by one goal away from home, they would be able to win and advance with the advantage of the total score.
As for whether the much-anticipated Lu Wenbin can tie or break the record, what does it have to do with them
Moreover, Schaff believes that the more attention people pay to this matter, the more Lu Wenbin and the entire Hoffenheim team may care about it. They may try their best to assist Lu Wenbin during the game and let Lu Wenbin score goals and break records.
Lu Wenbin may also be more independent. After getting the ball, he will not pass it easily. Even if it is difficult, he will force a shot to try to score a goal.
Since Bayern Munich started the double-man marking tactic for Lu Wenbin, Lu Wenbin's goal-scoring ability has indeed been restricted a bit, but it is still not enough.
Lu Wenbin's goal efficiency in the second half of the season was still terrifyingly high.
Scharf thinks it can go further.
Therefore, in this second round away game, Schaff not only sent captain Bauman and central defender Pledel to closely guard Lu Wenbin and not let him relax for a moment, but also arranged the back line to assist in defense.
When Lu Wenbin is on the left, the left back assists Bauman and Pledel in defense. When he is on the right, the right back assists in defense. When he is in the middle, another central defender assists in defense. When he is in the midfield, two forwards assist in defense.
In any case, we cannot let Lu Wenbin shoot easily. Even if he shoots, we must do our best to interfere with him and make him lose his aim.
This will definitely give other Hoffenheim players open opportunities, but Schaff can't take care of them all. He just needs to limit Lu Wenbin.
What remains is to compare the number of goals scored by Werder Bremen's attacking line and Hoffenheim's other offensive players.
After the final reminder, the staff came to call everyone in.
After the entrance ceremony, group photo, and side selection procedures, at 8:00 p.m. on April 15, the second round of the 2008/2009 UEFA Cup quarter-final between Hoffenheim and Werder Bremen officially began at home.
With two away goals in hand, Hoffenheim naturally deployed a more defensive 442 tactics in this game, using two midfielders, Gustavo and Wolsa, to protect the back line.
The two attacking midfielders are Salihovic and Eduardo, and the forwards are Lu Wenbin and Paljic.
This is also the reason why Schaff dared to let the team concentrate all their efforts on defending Lu Wenbin alone, because Hoffenheim did not have enough manpower in the frontcourt attack.
Lu Wenbin, whose speed has been enhanced, physical attributes have been increased to 18/18 and whose blood has been fully restored, is very able to run. In the 6th minute, he suddenly changed direction to shake off the close defense of Bauman and Pledel and got a brief gap on the right side of the penalty area.
Eduardo, who cooperated well with the team, passed the ball to Lu Wenbin at the right time. Lu Wenbin stopped the ball in the penalty area and then shot immediately.
But at this time, left-back Bernisch, who was on the right side of the frontcourt for Hoffenheim and on the left side of the backcourt for Bremen, appeared next to Lu Wenbin.
Bernish, who had no time to defend, flew in to tackle the ball, and the ball shot by Lu Wenbin hit Bernish's leg and bounced out of the baseline.
Lu Wenbin's shot was blocked.
Schaff secretly clenched his fists as he watched from the sidelines, feeling that his tactics were on the right track.
However, this ball did not arouse the vigilance of Lu Wenbin and head coach Ralph.
Even before this, Lu Wenbin did not score every time he shot, nor did he just shake off the player who was marking him while everyone else watched him shoot and did nothing.
It was normal for people who were close to come over to defend, tackle, block the ball, etc. Neither Lu Wenbin nor head coach Ralph thought that Bremen deliberately added a third person to assist in defending Lu Wenbin.
Lu Wenbin, who had just improved his attributes and wanted to break the record, continued to compete with high morale.
After the corner kick was taken, Hoffenheim's players did not get the first point and cleared it, but Bremen launched a counterattack instead.
Fortunately, when the attack reached Hoffenheim's backcourt, it was intercepted by double defensive midfielders Gustavo and Walsa.
Ten minutes later, Lu Wenbin got rid of Bauman and Pledel and got a chance to shoot, but he was bumped by the right-back Naldo who rushed over from the back and staggered, so he kicked the ball away.
Even if Lu Wenbin's physique is increased to 18/18, he is still not as stable as a rock.
What's more, as a defender, Naldo's physique is not bad to begin with, he is 195cm tall. It is natural that Lu Wenbin could not stand steadily after the deliberate collision.
In addition to these two shots being blocked, in the 19th minute Lu Wenbin ran into an open space and was ready to receive a pass from Salihovic, but before he could even touch the ball, central defender Mertesacker suddenly jumped out and intercepted the ball.
After 20 minutes, Lu Wenbin still hadn't had a threatening shot within the goal frame.
Lu Wenbin felt a little awkward.
Lu Wenbin's strength should have improved after his physique and speed were improved before the game. His physical fitness was also restored to full value, so he should have more opportunities. How come he didn't even have a threatening shot within the goal frame
However, Lu Wenbin just felt unhappy, but did not think about the opponent's targeted tactics.