Chapter 35: The Champions League Approaches? Is the First Opponent an Israeli Team?
Page (1/3)
Two straight league victories, along with ten goals scored and a full seven-goal difference.
Meanwhile, Bayern Munich had unexpectedly been held to a draw by Borussia Dortmund in the second round.
So, without the slightest suspense, Old Ma’s Schalke 04 had firmly taken its place at the top of the league table.
With the league campaign progressing smoothly, Old Ma naturally turned his attention to Schalke’s upcoming Champions League group-stage opener.
Although he had missed out on the Bundesliga title the previous season, Old Ma had enjoyed spectacular luck in the Champions League draw, landing what was, by any measure, an unbelievably favorable group.
Group A: Inter Milan (Italy), Werder Bremen (Germany), Tottenham Hotspur (England), Twente (Netherlands)
Group B: Lyon (France), Benfica (Portugal), Schalke 04 (Germany), Hapoel Tel Aviv (Israel)
Group C: Manchester United (England), Valencia (Spain), Rangers (Scotland), Bursaspor (Turkey)
Group D: Barcelona (Spain), Panathinaikos (Greece), Copenhagen (Denmark), Rubin Kazan (Russia)
Group E: Bayern Munich (Germany), Roma (Italy), Basel (Switzerland), CFR Cluj (Romania)
Group F: Chelsea (England), Marseille (France), Spartak Moscow (Russia), Žilina (Slovakia)
Group G: AC Milan (Italy), Real Madrid (Spain), Ajax (Netherlands), Auxerre (France)
Group H: Arsenal (England), Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine), Braga (Portugal), Partizan Belgrade (Serbia)
Of all eight groups, Schalke 04’s Group B was unquestionably the most ideal.
Schalke had avoided every traditional powerhouse from the Big Five leagues.
As for Lyon and Benfica, although both teams were formidable, Old Ma was confident that, with Schalke’s current squad, they could take down both sides and claim first place in the group.
And Hapoel Tel Aviv?
What the hell kind of team was that?
Old Ma had never even considered the possibility of Hapoel Tel Aviv posing any threat. In fact, he was already thinking about crushing them by a huge margin in the opening match and padding Schalke’s goal difference.
“Boss! For the league match this weekend... who should we put out?”
The Champions League would begin in midweek the following week, so the weekend league fixture would obviously require some rotation among the starters.
The problem was deciding exactly whom to rotate, and Old Ma found himself hesitating.
Raúl absolutely had to rest. Huntelaar had not played that many matches and could continue to start. Then there was Lin Hao...
Old Ma was unsure whether he should keep letting Lin Hao play every minute. He was still young, after all, and at present Lin Hao was the true core of Old Ma’s tactics.
If he got injured in the league, or suffered some kind of physical setback...
“Boss, according to the fitness department’s report, Lin Hao’s physical reserves are rated A-plus! I don’t think there’ll be any problem with him playing. After all, our opponent in the first Champions League group match isn’t exactly a strong team!”
Just as Old Ma was wondering whether to keep Lin Hao in the lineup, Milner reminded him of the fitness report.
When Old Ma heard that Lin Hao’s reserves were still rated A-plus, he stopped hesitating and wrote Lin Hao’s name straight onto the starting lineup for the third league round that weekend.
..........................
September 11, 2010.
After seven days of rest, the highly anticipated third round of the Bundesliga officially kicked off.
Page (1/3)
Page (2/3)
At the Veltins-Arena, Schalke 04 welcomed their third league opponent: the village club that had once created the miracle of winning the halfway title—Hoffenheim!
In the 2008–09 season, Hoffenheim, newly promoted to the Bundesliga for the first time, continued the astonishing momentum of their three consecutive promotions in their debut top-flight campaign.
With their outstanding attacking trio of Vedad Ibišević, Demba Ba, and Chinedu Obasi, Hoffenheim drew with Schalke 04 in the seventeenth round and finished the first half of the season with thirty-five points. They became the second newly promoted side in Bundesliga history, after Kaiserslautern, to be crowned autumn champions.
Ibišević had been even more spectacular, scoring eighteen goals in seventeen rounds and finishing as the league’s top scorer at the halfway stage.
Back then, Hoffenheim had been like the whirlwind created by Jeremy Lin in the NBA, leaving the entire world astonished by this village-level club.
But top-flight football was ultimately a game that could only continue with vast financial resources. Hoffenheim, short on funds, managed to shine for only half a season before beginning to sink.
During the winter break, Ibišević tore his cruciate ligament in a friendly against Hamburg, ending his season. The injury to their superstar striker made it impossible for Hoffenheim to maintain their first-half frenzy, and they suffered the bitter taste of twelve consecutive matches without a win.
When the season ended, they had finished only seventh and missed out on European football.
Then, in the 2009–10 season, Hoffenheim managed to remain in the top five during the early stages of the campaign.
However, the club was once again ravaged by injuries and suspensions. Over the seventeen matches in the second half of the season, Hoffenheim won just four. By the end of the campaign, they had fallen to a disappointing eleventh place.
And so, the Hoffenheim that had once amazed the entire world had completely turned into Bundesliga fodder.
With Hoffenheim’s miracle long gone, Old Ma, preparing for the Champions League, fielded a mostly reserve side at home, consisting of only Lin Hao, Huntelaar, and a handful of regular starters.
Before the match, having learned that Schalke 04 had sent out a partially rotated lineup, Hoffenheim’s legendary manager Ralf Rangnick began wondering whether he might be fortunate enough to steal three points at the Veltins-Arena.
But once the match actually began, poor Ralf Rangnick realized that even Schalke 04 at half strength was beyond comparison with this Hoffenheim side, which no longer possessed its once-glorious attacking trio.
Just four minutes into the match, Lin Hao received Baumjohann’s angled through ball and used a flawless turn to slice straight through the center of Hoffenheim’s defense.
With his attacking attribute now raised to eighty-two, Lin Hao was under virtually no pressure when facing a weak side like Hoffenheim.
After carrying the ball past Hoffenheim midfielder Tobias Weis and advancing deep into their half, Lin Hao found himself about to be caught between two defenders. He decisively squared the ball across the field, sending it to Huntelaar, who had spent countless hours with him recently practicing precisely this kind of pulling-and-supporting combination.
After all that hard work, Huntelaar was not about to let the opportunity slip away again.
His right foot tensed. As the ball arrived, Huntelaar unleashed every ounce of strength he possessed and smashed Lin Hao’s pass.
“Bang!”
The shot exploded toward the far corner of Hoffenheim’s goal like a cannon shell.
Even though Hoffenheim goalkeeper Daniel Haas threw himself at it with all his might, all he could do in the end was watch helplessly as the ball tore into the back of his net.
“Whistle!”
The referee’s whistle rang out, and the entire Veltins-Arena became a sea of celebration!
1–0!
The goal had come so easily that Old Ma, on the touchline, excitedly raised both arms into the air.
As for what was happening on the pitch...
Page (2/3)
Page (3/3)
Huntelaar, who had finally received Lin Hao’s first assist, immediately rushed over to Lin Hao and gave him an emotional embrace.
As he hugged Lin Hao, Huntelaar found himself wishing that Lin Hao were Dutch as well.
Then, in the Dutch national team...
He had clearly invited those three bastards out to have fun so many times, yet they still refused to bring him into their circle...
After falling behind right from the opening minutes, Ralf Rangnick, who had initially hoped to take advantage of Schalke’s weakened lineup, immediately accepted reality.
He no longer dared to engage Schalke 04 in an open attacking battle and quickly restored the 4–5–1 formation he had relied upon most heavily over the previous two seasons.
But even after drawing his formation all the way back, Ralf Rangnick’s team still could not withstand Schalke 04’s relentless bombardment.
The forty-first minute!
After holding out for a long time, Hoffenheim’s goal was breached once again.
This time, the scorer was Schalke’s tireless workhorse, Baumjohann, who had carried over his explosive form from the previous match.
It was not a header. This time, Baumjohann received Lin Hao’s headed knockdown and calmly stabbed the ball into the net at the far post.
“Thank you, Lin! Ha-ha! Tonight, I’m taking you to Stary for a proper night out. Everything’s on me!”
As a tireless workhorse, Baumjohann had scored twice in two consecutive matches.
Naturally, he was thrilled after scoring and immediately invited Lin Hao back to his favorite haunt to relax and enjoy themselves.
But Lin Hao, who now had a release point on the level of a supermodel, could hardly be expected to go to that guy Baumjohann’s...
After all, as a traditional Chinese man, Lin Hao was still... very, very concerned about his personal safety.
Who knew what sort of place that was...
............................
3–1!
That was the final score of the third Bundesliga round.
Schalke 04 had stylishly secured their third victory of the season at home!
Although Lin Hao had not scored in the match, he had delivered two assists. Through some strange twist of fate, he had climbed to the top of the Bundesliga assist charts while playing as a center forward.
This miraculous assist-leading striker had suddenly unleashed a brand-new tactical storm upon world football: a mutated version of the withdrawn number nine.
And at the heart of that storm stood the undisputed wonderkid of the new Bundesliga season, Lin Hao, a phenomenon from a football desert.
............................
P.S. The readership and收藏 numbers are so disastrously low, and even the recommendations have disappeared. Everyone, don’t waste your monthly votes or anything like that! Five thousand words delivered!
Page (3/3)