At the BayArena, the German Cup semi-final between Hoffenheim and Leverkusen away had just started in the second minute, and Lu Wenbin was preparing to receive a pass from Copado in the midfield.
This is just an ordinary pass transfer. Lu Wenbin cannot shoot from this position. There is no threat. He is just passing the ball to his teammates.
However, the defensive midfielder Rolfes, who was specifically marking Lu Wenbin, didn't care about that and rushed over from the side with great momentum, as if he wanted to knock Lu Wenbin down directly, and he was not going for the ball at all.
Lu Wenbin saw Rolfes's movements out of the corner of his eye and felt that he was not trying to steal the ball, but wanted to hit someone and give him a warning.
Lu Wenbin, whose physique had been increased to 18/18, snorted coldly and did not dodge. Instead, he adjusted his center of gravity and stood firmly on his feet. The moment Rolfes hit him, he used his legs and waist to exert force and pushed back with his shoulders.
The 18/18 physique gives Lu Wenbin the ability to fight physically, and he is no longer as weak as he was in the first half of the season.
Rolfes, who originally wanted to give Lu Wenbin a warning, had an unstable center of gravity while running, but was pushed back by Lu Wenbin after he gained a firm footing.
Under the huge force, Rolfes' body tilted and he staggered to the side, but he was unable to stand and fell to the ground.
However, Lu Wenbin just shook his upper body, then received the pass from Copado and passed it to Paljic, completing a pass and transfer.
Dickenson, the commentator of the German sports TV station that broadcast the game live, was surprised to explain: "Just two minutes into the game, Rolfes was about to collide with Lu, probably wanting to give Lu a warning. Unexpectedly, Lu was still standing firmly, and Rolfes fell to the ground. In the first half of the season, Lu looked so weak, but now he can go head-on with a full-time defensive midfielder like Rolfes, and even knock him down. Lu's physical growth rate is really amazing!"
More than 3,000 away fans came to Hoffenheim for this game and occupied a corner of the stands.
Seeing this scene on the court, everyone burst into laughter, applauding Lu Wenbin and mocking Rolfes's embarrassing appearance.
The Leverkusen fans at home could not bear to watch. They did not expect that the defensive midfielder Rolfes would miss the shot and be knocked down by Lu Wenbin, who did not look tall and strong.
On the court, Rolfes, who was covered in dust and dirt, got up silently. He didn't have the face to deliberately find trouble anymore. He could only concentrate on using real defensive techniques to defend Lu Wenbin.
The game continues.
Although the opponent had two or three people defending him at any time, Lu Wenbin still occasionally got a chance to shoot.
In the 15th minute, Lu Wenbin broke away from the close defense of Rolfes and Friedrich, ran into a gap on the left side of the penalty area, received a pass from captain Salihovic and shot.
However, Leverkusen defender Sinkevich returned to defense in time and blocked the shot, which went out of the baseline.
In the 19th minute, Lu Wenbin had created a better opening in the penalty area, and Rolfes, Friedrich and others were left more than 3 meters behind him.
If he received the ball, there would be no one to interfere with Lu Wenbin's shot.
As a result, Paljic, who had the ball, failed to pass the ball accurately due to interference from the opponent's defender, and the ball went behind Lu Wenbin.
When Lu Wenbin stopped suddenly, turned around and stopped the ball, the path for his shot was blocked, and Lu Wenbin could only pass the ball back to Copado outside the penalty area.
Parjic's passing ability is still slightly inferior to that of midfielders such as Salihovic.
While Hoffenheim continued to put pressure on Leverkusen's goal, Leverkusen, who also wanted revenge, also launched a massive attack on Hoffenheim's defense.
But today, Nilsson was very excited.
He was injured in the match against Leverkusen and was sidelined for two months. Facing his old enemy again, Nilsson's performance was certainly different.
Although he has just returned and is still a little unfamiliar with Yankel's cooperation, his personal performance makes up for the lack of cooperation.
In the 23rd minute, Leverkusen midfielder Augusto tried to dribble past him, but he was tackled to the ground with the ball by an accurate and fierce tackle.
But he made a head-on tackle, and he first tackled the ball, passed it to Gustavo, and then brought down Augusto. It was a standard and beautiful tackle interception.
The referee didn't even whistle for a foul or award a free kick to Leverkusen, and just signaled that the game should continue.
The home fans of Leverkusen booed Nilsson and the referee: they thought Nilsson committed a foul.
But Hoffenheim fans applauded Nilsson's wonderful performance and the referee's decision.
The game continues.
In the 31st minute, Copado broke through Leverkusen's Frings in the frontcourt and was pulled down from behind by the opponent. The referee gave Hoffenheim a free kick in the frontcourt.
This position is about 33 meters away from the goal, which is a little far, but the location is good.
Therefore, Lu Wenbin activated the special skill of the free kick system, and the system took the penalty kick.
The system controlled Lu Wenbin's body to kick the free kick over the wall and head straight for the upper right corner of the goal. It seemed that if no one blocked it, it would go into the goal from the blind spot.
As a result, the free kick was indeed a bit far away, giving goalkeeper Adler enough time to react.
In addition, he predicted and guessed the direction in advance, and arrived at the right side in time to lift the ball upwards. The ball did not go into the goal, but hit the crossbar and bounced back into the penalty area.
The ball that fell into the penalty area caused chaos. Parjic, Demba Ba, Salihovic and others were competing with the opponent's defenders in the penalty area. The ball bounced around in the penalty area without any pattern.
Just when Lu Wenbin couldn't help but rush into the penalty area to grab the ball, the ball suddenly broke out from the crowd and went into the goal.
Then, Demba Ba rushed out of the crowd in the restricted area with his hands raised and celebrated wildly.
It turned out that Demba Ba touched the ball in the chaos and poked it into the goal.
Hoffenheim leads Leverkusen 1-0 away from home and takes the lead.
Although it was not Lu Wenbin's assist, it was his free kick that caused chaos in the opponent's penalty area, giving Demba Ba the opportunity to make a fatal blow in the chaos, so Lu Wenbin also deserves some credit.
Leverkusen would naturally not be willing to fall behind and fail, so they launched a fierce counterattack.
Among them, Leverkusen's forward Kroos, who was loaned from Bayern Munich, performed well and made a significant contribution to Leverkusen's counterattack.
This is a player who was also born in 1990 and is the same age as Lu Wenbin.
If it weren't for Lu Wenbin, Kroos would have been considered a rising star in German football, but now under the shining starlight of Lu Wenbin, young players of Kroos' level don't get much attention at all.
However, this does not negate Kroos's own strength. His performance is still outstanding among his peers.