Bayern Munich's dense defense was used more skillfully and tacitly than in the first leg of the semi-finals.
Apart from Lu Wenbin, other Hoffenheim players had little chance to shoot.
Not to mention that Lu Wenbin's judgment is average, his vision and passing attributes are not high enough, and he rarely sees gaps and passes good balls.
Even if Lu Wenbin occasionally got lucky and passed a good ball, his teammates did not have Lu Wenbin's shooting ability. Even if they shot, none of them hit the goal frame.
In the 27th minute, Lu Wenbin broke through two Bayern players, attracted the double-team of three or four opponents, and passed the ball to the empty space on the other side of the penalty area. As a result, Demba Ba shot the ball into the air without any interference.
His teammates couldn't score, and Lu Wenbin wasn't much better off. From time to time, the commentators in the commentary booth could be heard sighing at Lu Wenbin's failed shots.
You know, a super giant like Bayern Munich has a lot of star players in reserve. Not only are the offensive players shining, but the defensive players are also very strong, and there are a lot of them.
It is really uncomfortable when they put aside their face and gather heavy troops in the backcourt for intensive defense.
The overall strength coupled with the outstanding individual performance of the stars made it impossible for Lu Wenbin, who had previously been able to kill anyone in his way, to break through Bayern's wall.
Breaking through dense defense is always a world problem, and breaking through the Bayern defense line composed of powerful star players such as Demichelis, Van Buyten and Van Bommel is even more difficult.
Hoffenheim can only continue to strengthen its long-range shots and set-piece tactics.
Fortunately, after a week of targeted training and preparation, the players of this starting lineup have become more patient than in the first round and are much better at seizing opportunities.
In the 36th minute, Lu Wenbin took the ball outside the right corner of the penalty area and broke through two defenders, but did not shoot rashly. Instead, he passed the ball to the right.
Although Lu Wenbin's passing technique was not good and his pass was not so perfect, the empty right side allowed right-back Baker, who was advancing to participate in the attack, to easily receive the ball.
After receiving the ball, Baker took two steps toward the baseline, then kicked the ball to the middle without waiting for Demichelis to rush over to defend.
This is a standard tactic of breaking through the middle to attract the attention of the opponent's defense, then dividing the ball to the side, and then the wing player goes down the bottom to make a cross, and the center follows up to compete for a header.
In fact, Hoffenheim has used this tactic several times in this game. Although it failed to result in a goal, at least the ball was passed in.
Because when Bayern faced Lu Wenbin who was dribbling through with the ball, only two or three people could surround him, and the others had to pay attention to the backup defense, so they could no longer take care of the wing.
This left the Bayern defense relatively empty when Lu Wenbin passed the ball, giving Baker a relatively relaxed environment to calmly receive the ball and cross it.
The defensive intensity faced by Lu Wenbin who passed the ball was immediately reduced a lot. After all, it was impossible for Bayern to have several people surrounding Lu Wenbin who was running without the ball. They had to defend the player with the ball first.
In this attack, after Lu Wenbin passed the ball to the wing, Demichelis had to leave the penalty area and go to the wing to defend Baker.
If Baker is not defended, he may cut into the penalty area and shoot, which is more dangerous than his cross.
Then, when Demichelis was halfway through his run, Baker kicked.
Demichelis jumped but failed to clear the ball, so he could only turn his head and look towards the middle, hoping that his teammates would clear the ball like they did in the previous times.
However, this time Beck, a German international, made a good pass without any interference.
The ball began to fall after passing over Demichelis' head and landed in front of the penalty area.
After passing the ball to the wing, Lu Wenbin first ran to the middle of the penalty area, led Van Buyten and Van Bommel who were guarding him a few steps to the middle, and then suddenly turned around and rushed to the front of the small penalty area.
This is the routine that we have practiced in training this week, but during the game, sometimes we are unable to coordinate well due to limitations in the tacit understanding and passing ability among teammates, so the effect is not shown.
But this time Baker and Lu Wenbin cooperated well, the landing point of the ball and Lu Wenbin's running position matched perfectly, and Baker's passing speed and height were just right.
Although he was defended by Van Buyten, Van Bommel and others, and was bumped by Contento in the small penalty area when he was about to reach the goal, Lu Wenbin still occupied the position with his strong physique, jumped lightly, and headed the ball towards the goal when Baker passed it.
The ball was headed by Lu Wenbin, and after a deflection, it flew towards the blind corner above the near end of the goal.
Because the distance was too close, Butt, who was standing at the near end, could only raise his hand reflexively, but still failed to prevent the ball from entering the net.
Lu Wenbin's header went into the goal over Butt's left hand.
At the same time, Lu Wenbin was knocked down and fell out of the baseline by Van Bitten who was chasing him and jumping to compete for the header.
However, Lu Wenbin, who had zero risk of injury, fell to the ground without any injury.
As he fell to the ground and watched the ball fly into the goal, Lu Wenbin rolled on the ground, then turned over and got up, excitedly running along the billboard to celebrate.
He finally broke through Bayern Munich's iron wall.
The Hoffenheim commentator Kaster in the commentary booth also roared: "Tooooooooooooooooor..."
Commentators from other TV stations also excitedly explained loudly:
"The ball goes in, the ball goes in!"
"In the 36th minute, Lu scored a header to equalize the total score for Hoffenheim!"
"The total score between the two sides was tied at 1-1, and Lu scored his 22nd goal in the Champions League!"
"As expected of a super striker who set the Champions League single-season goal record, Bayern Munich's intensive defensive tactics were broken by Lu after 36 minutes!"
"From these two games, Lu's heading skills seem to be much better than before!"
“Yeah, that’s the feeling!”
"Lu is still making rapid progress!"
Amid the commentators' excited commentary, tens of thousands of Hoffenheim fans in the stands also cheered and screamed excitedly.
Although Bayern Munich's 541 defensive counterattack did not look good on the field, it was very effective and made everyone in Hoffenheim feel the pressure.
They lost the first round with zero goals and did not score until the 36th minute in the second round. This is hard to imagine in this season's games where Lu Wenbin started.
Now, it has appeared in front of every Hoffenheim fan, making them extremely anxious.
Although they can use booing to deal with Bayern Munich players, this trick has little effect on the battle-hardened Bayern stars.
The victory or defeat of both sides still depends on the game.
Now, Lu Wenbin finally scored a goal in the 36th minute, giving Hoffenheim the lead and equalizing the total score. Everyone can finally breathe a sigh of relief and celebrate wildly.