After returning to the hotel, Ralph and the coaching staff studied Barcelona's starting lineup over and over again, but still felt at a loss.
Apart from relying on Lu Wenbin's personal outburst, Hoffenheim really finds it difficult to compete with Barcelona with the entire team.
Barcelona's fierce attack is not a reckless attack. Their defense is more advanced than ordinary defense, that is, ball possession defense and on-the-spot counter-attack.
Generally speaking, thanks to their excellent short passing, Barcelona will have more than 60% of the ball possession time in most games, and in some games it may even exceed 70%.
The ball was at the feet of Barcelona players most of the time, and the opponents couldn't get the ball, so naturally they couldn't shoot.
If Barcelona loses the ball, they will immediately counterattack, including Henry, Messi and others in the frontcourt. Even if they can't grab the ball, they will delay and interfere with the opponent's attack.
Even if they can get the ball, Barcelona will not attack easily, they will keep passing the ball.
If there is no good opportunity, they will not shoot easily, even if they pass the ball back in the backcourt.
They will keep passing the ball slowly until the opponent becomes careless and has an opening, then suddenly speed up and deliver a fatal blow through a change of rhythm.
The key is that even if the opponent is fully focused and not careless or has gaps, Barcelona has a way because they have too many superstars and too many attackers who can solve the battle alone.
Including Messi, Henry, Ibrahimovic, they are all dribbling maniacs.
Messi once dribbled past five players in a row, Ibrahimovic once dribbled past six players in a row, and Henry once made a long run from the backcourt to the opponent's penalty area and successfully shot.
It is possible for all three of them to have a flash of inspiration and resolve the battle alone.
Coupled with the assists and through passes from Xavi, who is known as the world's No. 1 midfielder, the match against Barcelona was simply hopeless.
If you focus on marking Barcelona's stars, they will use their overall tactics to destroy you. If you keep your defense intact and hold your ground, they will use the stars' personal abilities to break through you and shoot successfully.
If you want to take care of both, you won't have enough manpower.
That's what's so despairing about playing against Barcelona.
After discussing with his coaching staff for a whole night, Ralph felt that the only thing Hoffenheim could rely on was Lu Wenbin's outburst.
In addition, there is one thing that can be used, that is, Ibrahimovic just transferred to Barcelona at the end of July. He is new to the team and may not be familiar with the cooperation with Messi, Henry and Xavi.
Moreover, Ibrahimovic is naturally unruly.
Ibrahimovic does not submit to anyone except his idol Ronaldo, let alone Messi who is 6 years younger than him.
In Ibrahimovic's eyes, Messi may just be a little kid.
Even if Messi won the treble, the Champions League Golden Boot, the Champions League Best Player, and this year's Ballon d'Or and World Footballer of the Year, Ibrahimovic would not take it seriously.
Being a newcomer and having personality issues, Ibrahimovic should be more isolated on the field. Hoffenheim can intercept and counterattack based on this.
In addition, assistant coach Matthews also suggested that the players, especially Lu Wenbin, be interviewed by reporters before the field adaptation training tomorrow morning to compliment Ibrahimovic, so that he would become more conceited and less likely to cooperate with Messi and Henry on the court.
Ralph accepted the assistant coach's advice.
Therefore, the next morning, when everyone set out for the St. Louis II Stadium for stadium adaptation training, Ralph first gave some instructions to Lu Wenbin and others, and Lu Wenbin and others took it to heart.
Before the training started, Lu Wenbin, Eduardo and others deliberately walked to the sidelines to sign autographs and take photos with Hoffenheim fans who had traveled a long way to watch the team's peak showdown with Barcelona.
The reporters on the sidelines naturally seized the opportunity and rushed forward to ask Lu Wenbin and others about their opinions on Barcelona.
Hoffenheim's players followed the coach's instructions and avoided talking about the entire Barcelona team, and only praised Ibrahimovic.
Lu Wenbin said: "Like Ibrahimovic, our idol is Ronaldo. Ibrahimovic is so tall, but he can dribble past opponents flexibly. I admire him deeply. Especially the goal he scored when he dribbled past six players at Ajax. I was amazed and felt inferior to him. I was stunned!"
Lu Wenbin's words greatly excited the reporters.
When the two armies were facing off, Hoffenheim's first core player Lu Wenbin actually admitted that he admired Ibrahimovic and was amazed by his dribbling skills and felt inferior to him
Is this an admission that he is not as good as Ibrahimovic
Although everyone knows this is the truth, everyone is still excited when it comes from the mouth of a European Golden Boot winner.
In the morning, we will have pitch adaptation training with Hoffenheim, and in the afternoon, we will have training with Barcelona.
In the afternoon, after Barcelona's players arrived at the stadium, Ibrahimovic was surrounded by reporters and conveyed Lu Wenbin's words.
When Ibrahimovic heard what Lu Wenbin said from the reporters, he accepted it calmly with a smile on his face.
Ibrahimovic smiled and said, "Lu is right. Both he and I have the same idol as Ronaldo. Although my dribbling skills are better than Lu's, I also admire Lu's goal efficiency. I think Lu is one of the most efficient forwards in the world. However, his dribbling skills are really terrible among the top forwards. If he is willing to learn, I don't mind passing on some of my experience to him."
The reporters were stunned.
The arrogant Ibrahimovic also has times when he admires others, and is willing to become friends with Lu Wenbin and teach Lu Wenbin dribbling techniques
It seems that Lu Wenbin's goal efficiency really makes Ibrahimovic have to admit defeat.
Of course, it is also possible that Lu Wenbin was the first to express his admiration for Ibrahimovic's dribbling skills, and Ibrahimovic reciprocated by expressing his admiration for Lu Wenbin's goal-scoring efficiency.
I think if Lu Wenbin expressed disdain for Ibrahimovic's skills first, Ibrahimovic would not pay any attention to Lu Wenbin.
For a moment, Ibrahimovic, who had just transferred to Barcelona, actually felt a sense of sympathy for his opponent, Lu Wenbin, who was about to play against him!
As for his teammates Messi and Henry, Ibrahimovic didn't talk about them at all. He just announced that he came to Barcelona to lead Barcelona to win more championships and create greater glory.
Ibrahimovic wants to be the core person wherever he goes. He can't play football in cooperation with others.
As long as he is on the court, the ball in the front court must be given to him. If he is not given the ball, he will lose his temper and go on strike.
I don't know if Barcelona considered all this when they bought Ibrahimovic. Perhaps they thought that the temptation of the Champions League title would allow Ibrahimovic, who had never won the Champions League trophy, to change himself and play with Messi, the real core of Barcelona.
Lu Wenbin naturally never thought that his few compliments to Ibrahimovic following the coach's instructions would have such an effect, and even the always arrogant Ibrahimovic would admit that he admired Lu Wenbin's goal efficiency.
Lu Wenbin was also a little amused.
I just hope that my compliments can make Ibrahimovic more unique on the court and achieve the coach's preset goal.
It would be even better if Ibrahimovic could have conflicts with Messi and Henry over ball possession on the court, thus destroying Barcelona's offensive system.
(The first update will be on May 13th, please give me your monthly votes and recommendation tickets!)