Next, Hoffenheim began to change its tactics. Eduardo, Salihovic and Paljic no longer passed all the offensive opportunities to Lu Wenbin. It was Lu Wenbin who completed the final blow.
As long as they get the chance, they can also shoot themselves!
In the 35th minute, Salihovic made a fake move to pass the ball to Lu Wenbin but then he dribbled the ball and prepared to break through from the opposite direction. Bernisch, who had lost his balance, had no choice but to commit a tactical foul to pull Salihovic down.
While Bernisch received a yellow card, he also gave Hoffenheim a free kick.
However, Lu Wenbin's free kick went wide of the goal and did not go in.
In the 38th minute, Eduardo and Salihovic completed an exquisite two-pass combination outside the penalty area, and Eduardo broke into the penalty area and shot.
The ball evaded the goalkeeper Wiese's save, but hit the goalpost, bounced back into the field and was cleared out of the penalty area by the full-back Naldo with a big kick.
Although the ball did not go in, it made the entire Werder Bremen team nervous.
Obviously, Hoffenheim has discovered Bremen's tactic of focusing on defending Lu Wenbin and adjusted the focus of its attack.
For a moment, Werder Bremen's defense began to become unstable.
Fortunately, Bremen is leading in the overall score and they have the upper hand.
Therefore, the three midfielders Ozil, Cunha and Frings can often retreat to participate in the defense and stop Hoffenheim's attack.
From the time the tactics were changed until the 44th minute, Lu Wenbin did not get any chance to shoot except for a free kick that did not score and a few ordinary passes outside the penalty area.
Therefore, Bremen gradually became complacent and relaxed their defense of Lu Wenbin.
As a result, in the 45th minute, Lu Wenbin, who was originally on the wing, suddenly changed direction and shook off Bauman and went straight into the penalty area. Paljic passed the ball to him at the right time. Lu Wenbin made a gesture of shooting directly without stopping the ball while running, which caused everyone in Bremen to be nervous.
Not only was Pledl, who was following Lu Wenbin closely and pulling Lu Wenbin, but another central defender Mertesacker and full-back Naldo also left other Hoffenheim players behind and rushed towards Lu Wenbin. Goalkeeper Wiese also nervously rushed to the near end of the goal on Lu Wenbin's side.
Everyone thought that as long as Lu Wenbin touched the ball, it would be a shot, so they tried their best to save the shot and block the hole.
However, after Lu Wenbin's foot landed, he did not shoot. Instead, he steadied his body and shook his ankle, passing the ball to the other side of the penalty area.
Eduardo, who cooperated well with the opponent, appeared on the path of the ball, pushed the ball into the goal without stopping.
Wiese, who tried to rush back, was out of reach and could only watch the ball go into the net.
In the last minute before the end of the first half, Hoffenheim scored a goal with Lu Wenbin assisting Eduardo, tying the score to 1-1 and the total score to 3-3. Hoffenheim had the advantage of away goals, and the game situation favored Hoffenheim again.
Hoffenheim celebrated enthusiastically for a while before the game resumed.
However, before Werder Bremen completed a complete attack, the referee blew the whistle to end the first half.
During the half-time break, Ralph made more detailed tactical arrangements.
Because the situation is in Hoffenheim's favor, Hoffenheim still needs to try its best to stabilize its defense in the second half and prevent the opponent from scoring.
At the same time, we must be flexible and maneuverable in offense.
Just like in the last period of the first half, Lu Wenbin had no chance and Eduardo and others broke through and shot.
When Lu Wenbin has the chance, he will pass the ball to Lu Wenbin, but when Lu Wenbin feels that the chance of scoring is slim, he can attract the opponent's attention and then pass the ball to other players to complete the shot and score.
On the other side, Shaf could only continue to let his players keep a close eye on Lu Wenbin.
Even though he knew that his opponent knew his tactics and had made targeted arrangements, he could not change because Lu Wenbin's threat was too great.
Schaff could only ask the players to run more and the midfielders to retreat to participate in defense. Moreover, because the situation was not favorable for Bremen, the midfielders were also responsible for attacking.
This requires a high level of running ability, but Schaff has no choice but to arrange it this way. Whether the players can complete it is not something he can control.
After a fifteen-minute break, the two sides changed sides and continued the game.
Werder Bremen, who were at a disadvantage, could only continue to attack, but the backcourt also gave Hoffenheim more opportunities.
In addition, with two or three people guarding Lu Wenbin, Eduardo and others had more opportunities.
Within the first 20 minutes of the second half, Eduardo, Salihovic and Baker had three consecutive chances to shoot, one of which hit the goal frame and almost resulted in a goal.
As a result, everyone unconsciously relaxed their vigilance against Lu Wenbin and focused their attention on Eduardo and others.
But in fact Hoffenheim's tactics are flexible.
Seeing that the defensive pressure on Lu Wenbin has been reduced and he has a chance to receive the ball, Eduardo and others will pass the ball to Lu Wenbin.
In the 69th minute, Lu Wenbin received the pass from Salihovic in the penalty area with Pledel and Bauman behind him.
Then Lu Wenbin pretended to turn around and shoot, which not only continued to attract the attention of Bauman and the other man, but even the goalkeeper Wiese was attracted by Lu Wenbin and moved nervously to the near end of the goal.
As a result, Lu Wenbin knocked the ball with his heel after completing a half turn and passed it horizontally to the middle of the penalty area.
Center forward Paljic shot the ball before Mertesacker could clear it, and Lu Wenbin's wonderful heel pass went into the goal.
Lu Wenbin assisted and scored twice, and Hoffenheim reversed the lead over Werder Bremen with a score of 2-1 in this game and 4-3 in the overall score.
Bremen blocked Lu Wenbin's shot, but couldn't prevent him from attracting the opponent's attention and assisting his teammates.
After falling behind in the overall score, Bremen had to strengthen its attack.
Now, if they can score one goal, they will not only tie the total score, but also eliminate Hoffenheim's away goal advantage, dragging the game into overtime or even a penalty shootout.
Hoffenheim also felt insecure about the 2-1 score and continued to pursue goals when they had opportunities.
Lu Wenbin, who assisted and scored twice, was naturally the focus of Bremen's defense, giving Eduardo and others many offensive opportunities.
However, their shooting accuracy is indeed far from enough.
In the next 10 minutes, Salihovic and Paljic each had a shooting opportunity, but neither hit the goal frame.
The biggest threat to Hoffenheim is still Lu Wenbin.
Therefore, in the 82nd minute, when Lu Wenbin received the pass from Salihovic and shot, it once again caused tension in the entire Bremen defense line, and goalkeeper Wiese was attracted to the near end by Lu Wenbin again.
As a result, Lu Wenbin passed the ball to the corner in the same way, and Gustavo suddenly came in and shot the ball into the goal from the top of the penalty area without stopping.
Lu Wenbin did not score any goals or break any records under Werder Bremen's three-man defense tactics, but he completed a hat trick of assists, helping the team lead Werder Bremen 3-1 and 5-3 in the aggregate, basically securing the victory.
In the next few minutes, Werder Bremen launched a desperate counterattack and scored a goal in the 91st minute of stoppage time, but it was of no avail.
In the end, Hoffenheim defeated Werder Bremen 3-2 at home and 5-4 in two rounds, advancing to the semi-finals of this season's UEFA Cup.
Many people were disappointed that Lu Wenbin did not score any goals or break any records, but his performance of assisting and performing a hat trick still made people marvel at his performance.
In addition to scoring goals, Lu Wenbin can also use his attractiveness to create opportunities for other teammates and assist them in scoring.
This is much more difficult to defend than a simple goal-scoring machine.
Even if other opponents follow Werder Bremen's example and use three-man defense to completely prevent Lu Wenbin from scoring, it is estimated that the team will find it difficult to win.
Because Hoffenheim has other people, Lu Wenbin can also assist.
Lu Wenbin has already completed the nuclear weapon on the court that breaks the balance, leaving his opponents with no way to start.