Chapter 694: Home Dragon, Away Bug (Second Perspective)

Chapter 694: Home Dragon, Away Bug (Second Perspective)

After the match, coach Schaaf nodded repeatedly in the coach's seat, embracing and patting the heads of the players who were substituted to encourage them.

Goals and victories undoubtedly demonstrated the point, but the impact of De Bruyne's abilities in just over ten minutes was unquestionable.

Werder Bremen's tactical arrangement was very simple. The midfield core was responsible for connecting offense and defense, and controlling the pace of the game. The veteran Fritz was very reassuring, while the addition of the Belgian player strengthened the attacking firepower.

Upfront, Hayirovic, Yellow Tiger, and Selke formed a trident. Strictly speaking, the Chinese youngster couldn't be considered a main attacking player; German striker D-Selke, who stood at 1.95 meters tall, was.

However, as Yellow Tiger gradually showcased his outstanding ability to score from offside steals, Schaaf didn't mind expanding his threat range, using him as the team's spearhead to break deadlocks.

Of course, this was also related to the Chinese youngster's average ability to cross from the wing. He wasn't a pure winger in the strict sense but was more suitable for activity in the center, similar to a shadow striker role.

Although it was just a Europa League qualifying first-leg victory, it still brought a lot of joy to Werder Bremen fans. Watching their past glory slip away step by step, what could be more heartbreaking than this?

They knew that the Bundesliga belonged to Bayern, and they knew that football was becoming increasingly commercialized, with big clubs getting stronger and small clubs weaker. But that didn't prevent them from enjoying the small happiness at the moment.

After the team rested and prepared to travel to Greece, although there were still many problems, such as insufficient squad depth and lack of coordination between new recruits and old players, these could only be gradually improved through continuous training and matches.

Playing at the Trikala Stadium made Werder Bremen experience the power of the iron bucket formation. Although the home team was behind, their calm defense and counterattacks left no loopholes.

After numerous attacks failed to score and they conceded a goal to the opponents, Werder Bremen ultimately lost the game 0-1. However, they advanced to the playoff round with a 2-1 aggregate victory thanks to their victory at home.

"A mess!" On the plane back to Germany, coach Schaaf mercilessly scolded, "Westgaard, do your eyes emit gas? It was so obvious to cover the back post, yet you let someone slip through?"

"I saw that the media gave you a rating of 5 after the match? (1 is the highest, 6 is the lowest). No, you should get a 6 at most!"

"And you, Zlatko, what about your running, what about your midfield connection? A midfielder ranks last in distance covered for the entire match. I think you're eager for another five-kilometer run."

After scoring, the Chinese youngster slid on his knees all the way to the corner flag, while extending his right hand to wave to the fans in the stands, indicating that he was celebrating with them, instantly causing a warm response.

"Let's take a look at the slow-motion replay of this wonderful cooperative goal. De Bruyne suddenly accelerates to shake off the defense, and at this moment, Yellow Tiger also starts moving from the center, intentionally widening the distance from the defenders and making a run towards the back post."

"At this moment, the Belgian had a perfect opportunity to cut inside and threaten the goal, so the defensive attention of Maccabi Tel Aviv was mainly focused on him, rather than the Chinese youngster lurking behind."

"When the ball was passed, both central defenders extended their legs to intercept, but the curved trajectory exceeded their expectations, bypassing the defense and landing accurately at the back post."

"Yellow Tiger's acceleration and run were just right, truly achieving the ball to man connection. Then, he wisely aimed for the far corner in front of the goal, and the goalkeeper had no way to save it."

After the first goal, Caldarella extended the home team's lead with a header, and in the second half, Fritz pushed the ball forward to De Bruyne near the edge of the penalty area, who then accelerated and directly shot, expanding the score to 3-0 with a world-class goal!

In his debut, he contributed one goal and one assist, perfectly answering the call!

After scoring, De Bruyne excitedly jumped a few times, but then there was no follow-up, leaving Yellow Tiger, who came to congratulate him, confused: "Where's your goal celebration? Just like this?"

"But this is the goal that sealed the victory. Shouldn't you make a domineering celebration? "

The Belgian blushed at the words and argued strongly, "It's not necessary, besides, making big movements like that can easily lead to injuries."

"I see, you can't think of any cool moves, right? It's okay; I'll teach you after training, haha." Yellow Tiger mocked.

In the end, the match ended with Werder Bremen winning 3-0.

When the second leg of the playoff round arrived at Maccabi Tel Aviv's home stadium, Werder Bremen couldn't continue their strong performance at home. They conceded two goals in succession to the opponents.

Fortunately, in the second half, Fritz scored a goal by poking in from a corner kick opportunity near the goal line, helping the team stabilize the overall situation. Otherwise, they might have squandered the great situation.

Ultimately, Werder Bremen lost 1-2, but they advanced to the Europa League group stage with a total score of 4-2 over two legs.

"Home Dragon, Away Bug," many netizens commented as such.