Lin Hai Ting Tao

Chapter 784 Tempest

Klopp's substitution of Aubameyang had an immediate effect. After witnessing Aubameyang's unreasonable speed, Bayern Munich not only curtailed their attacks on the right flank but also faced a counteroffensive onslaught from Dortmund on the left.

Guardiola saw it too. First, Xhaqiri, who had been running for nearly seventy minutes, was losing stamina. He couldn't gain an advantage in a speed contest with Aubameyang, nor could he play a significant role in the team's defense.

If Aubameyang continued to charge like this, Bayern Munich's right flank defense might collapse.

So he quickly made an adjustment, replacing Xhaqiri with "Schweini" Schweinsteiger. Schweinsteiger is a versatile midfielder who can play as a defensive midfielder or a right midfielder. Fresh off the bench, he was full of energy and, while not fast, could use his experience and positioning to curb Aubameyang's speed.

After Schweinsteiger came on, the situation gradually became balanced. The score remained unchanged, and the game stalemated.

The game passed through a quiet ten minutes – relatively quiet, compared to the back-and-forth goal-scoring action before. This ten minutes was indeed quiet, as neither side scored, and there were few threatening shots.

As the game entered the seventy-ninth minute, the end was approaching, and Bayern Munich had less and less time to equalize. If Dortmund could hold onto their one-goal lead until the final whistle, they would lift the German Super Cup for the season, defeating Bayern Munich for the third time in three months, and snatching a championship from Bayern Munich's hands for the third time.

Bayern Munich was naturally unwilling to accept such an outcome, and they launched an even more frantic attack on Dortmund's goal.

In the eightieth minute, Alaba, after receiving the ball in the attacking third, cut inside from the wing to the center, and then suddenly lofted a through ball!

The ball soared over Dortmund's defense, plummeting into the space behind them!

It was a blank area between the defenders and the goalkeeper. Thomas Müller emerged from the crowd like a ghost, turned, and swung his foot, blasting the airborne ball directly at the goal!

Dortmund's defenders turned their heads to see Thomas Müller's shot. They only saw Müller behind all the defenders when he shot, and they assumed that Müller was offside, so they raised their arms.

But neither the referee nor the linesman signaled anything, and while they were raising their hands, the ball had already been blasted toward the goal by Müller!

Weidenfeller reflexively reached out to block it and grazed the ball, but the ball still flew towards the goal!

However, Weidenfeller's touch played a crucial role. The ball eventually struck the top of the crossbar and bounced out of bounds!

Westfalenstadion erupted in gasps. Thomas Müller didn't clutch his head in regret for not scoring. He pointed at the corner flag and appealed to the linesman, believing that Weidenfeller had definitely touched the ball, otherwise, how could it have hit the crossbar so perfectly?

But the linesman ignored him, and the referee didn't gesture for a corner kick.

This made Müller very unhappy. He ran towards the referee and tried to appeal, but the referee had already turned and run away before him.

Slow motion showed that Müller wasn't just talking nonsense. The edge of Weidenfeller's hand did graze the ball, causing a very, very subtle change of direction, and it was this subtle change of direction that caused the ball to hit the top of the crossbar instead of the bottom and bounce into the goal…

"Thomas Müller's shot... From Alaba's through ball to his decisive insertion and then the turnaround shot, it was all done in one go, perfect, except that Weidenfeller touched it at the end... What a pity! This should have been a corner kick, but the referee didn't indicate it. Of course, we all need the help of slow motion to see it clearly. It's understandable that the referee and linesman didn't see it clearly… It's just a pity for Bayern Munich, what a beautiful attack!" Marcel Reif genuinely felt sorry for Müller's shot. If it had gone in, the two sides would have been back on the same starting line. With ten minutes left in the game, it would have been a catalyst to send the game directly into a fever pitch.

What a pity, what a pity…

※※※

Faced with Bayern Munich's aggressive attack and the fact that there were only ten minutes left in the game, Klopp didn't choose to defend desperately for ten minutes to protect the one-goal lead like other teams. Instead, he took the opposite approach – continuing to attack Bayern Munich! Using an even more frenzied attack than Bayern Munich to curb Bayern Munich's attack.

This is quite in line with Klopp's style. After all, he's a madman, and sometimes you can't judge him by common sense…

But his crazy move just happens to work very well for Dortmund.

When other teams launch a fierce attack against Bayern Munich at the end of the game, they are likely to be riddled with holes by Bayern Munich. But Dortmund's doing so can really curb Bayern Munich's attack…

In the eighty-third minute, Bayern Munich was constantly passing the ball in Dortmund's half, looking for opportunities. As a result, they passed the ball to Zhou Yi's feet!

Zhou Yi didn't hesitate. After getting the ball, he immediately sent it forward to Mark, who was at the front.

After Mark received the ball in the center circle, he turned around. At this time, almost half of Bayern Munich's backfield was empty – because Bayern Munich had been in an attacking state before, and their players had no time to retreat.

Mark saw Aubameyang charging forward at high speed on the right flank. The Gabonese striker was very fast, so Mark knew what to do. He passed the ball diagonally forward, passing it twenty meters in front of Aubameyang.

Aubameyang accelerated and sprinted towards the ball!

"Mark passes the ball... Aubameyang! Three-on-two in the frontcourt! This is a counterattack opportunity for Dortmund!"

Amid Marcel Reif's exclamations, Neuer decisively abandoned his goal and charged towards the ball.

Aubameyang was also accelerating and finally reached the ball first with his speed advantage, but at the same time, he was very close to Neuer. He shot!

A low shot, but the ball was blocked by Neuer's foot and flew out of bounds…

"Neuer! He made a subconscious save! Very critical! He kept hope alive for Bayern Munich! If Aubameyang could have been more calm when handling the ball and used a chip shot instead of a push, he might have scored… You have to know that there was an empty goal behind Neuer!"

The ball flew out of bounds. Aubameyang was still regretting wasting this opportunity. On the sidelines, right-back Piszczek, who had rushed up, had already thrown the ball into the field. The one receiving the ball was Zhou Yi – Dortmund's speed in attack is not only reflected in their sprinting speed, but also in their refusal to waste any time…

And Bayern Munich was obviously prepared for this. At the same time as Zhou Yi received the ball, Alaba stuck to him from behind.

On the other hand, Aubameyang was still not very adapted to this characteristic of Dortmund and stood on the sidelines looking detached, not involved at all…

At this time, the ball had been thrown to Zhou Yi. Zhou Yi, who was on the outside of the penalty area with his back to the direction of the attack, was already stuck by Alaba. It seemed that it would be good enough for him to protect the ball, and he shouldn't even think about organizing an attack.

But Zhou Yi didn't intend to protect the ball, nor did he want to stop the ball. He directly hooked the ball behind him with his foot!

The ball flew over the heads of him and Alaba and into the penalty area.

At the same time, Reus, who had been on the wing before, suddenly accelerated and rushed over. He brushed past Zhou Yi and Alaba, inserted into the penalty area, and then received the ball hooked over by Zhou Yi in the penalty area.

Zhou Yi's hook pass and Reus's sudden diagonal insertion were completely unexpected by Bayern Munich players, so much so that no Bayern Munich player interfered when Reus received the ball.

Van Buyten was the one who rushed up to intercept Reus after Reus received the ball, but Reus passed the ball horizontally, a backwards pass!

This pass once again exceeded Bayern Munich's defensive expectations. The ball was passed to Gündoğan, who had been in excellent form in this game and already had a goal. Gündoğan, winning the ball, unleashed a furious shot!

The ball flew towards the far corner. Neuer threw himself sideways and blocked the ball!

But the ball didn't fly to the baseline but bounced back into the penalty area. At the far end, Dortmund's left-back Schmelzer had also arrived in the penalty area. He rushed towards the ball and swung his foot to shoot directly!

The ball rolled towards the far corner along the grass!

Neuer, who had just completed a save, struggled to get up and threw himself behind him again. At the same time, center-back Boateng also slid back, intending to clear the ball.

But neither of them could touch the ball. The ball brushed past them, brushed past the goal line, and rolled out of the baseline next to the far post…

Reus, who passed the ball, Gündoğan, who took the first shot, and Schmelzer, who took the second shot, all held their heads in their hands, feeling very regretful and a little unbelievable that this ball didn't go in…

At the same time, Yan Min in the box made the same action, his eyes wide, unable to believe that this storm-like attack had failed to score a goal…

He even wished he could rush onto the field to compete now. With that opportunity just now, he might have been able to score…

But while he felt regret, he was not without gain from watching the game from the sidelines. Through observation in the box, he gradually saw some clues.

This should be a very typical Dortmund football style. It is faster, more confrontational, and the attack is as dense as a torrential rain than when they competed with Chongming in the Shanghai Stadium with 80,000 people. Opponents may not be able to breathe. But Bayern Munich can still share equally with such Dortmund for more than 80 minutes, which also shows that Bayern Munich is really strong. This is the highest level of duel in German football.

You know, the Bundesliga is not the highest level league in Europe. So how magnificent should the world outside this world be?