The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills

Especially when it came to marking Wang Shuo.

Whether it was Wang Shuo or Dortmund as a whole, Barça was incapable of stopping their running and high-pressure pressing.

The only thing to do was to continuously wear down their opponents’ stamina.

"Klopp is no Mourinho. They won’t adopt a park-the-bus tactic, nor are they any good at it."

At this, a flicker of smug satisfaction crossed Guardiola’s eyes.

"And so far, we’ve never lost to a team that dared to face us head-on!"

In this regard, he and his Barça were absolutely confident!

Since he started coaching Barça, they had only ever lost once in the Champions League—to Inter Milan.

But that was only because Inter Milan had played ultra-defensively.

In this season’s Champions League semifinals, Manchester United played a defensive, counter-attacking game at Camp Nou and managed a 1–1 draw.

But back at Old Trafford, Ferguson thought he could seize the offensive.

The result? Barça beat them 2–0.

Guardiola now felt even more assured and confident about the upcoming Champions League final.

...

After returning to Dortmund from Bremen, the team began to rest and recuperate.

There was a week between Matchday 33 and Matchday 34.

After the match against Frankfurt, the league season would end, and it was another week until the DFB-Pokal final.

After the DFB-Pokal final, it would be exactly one more week until the Champions League final.

So the entire schedule was very favorable for Dortmund.

Of course, the situation was much the same for Barça.

The final round of La Liga was on May 21st, the same day as the DFB-Pokal final.

And at the moment, Barça also held a very comfortable lead in La Liga.

You could say that both teams had ample time to prepare.

But it was also an incredibly tense period.

The day after the Werder Bremen match, Klopp wasted no time in calling a full team meeting.

Dortmund wasn’t really concerned about the Matchday 34 game against Frankfurt or the DFB-Pokal final against Duisburg.

Naturally, the topic of this internal meeting was how to beat Barça.

Klopp, Buvac, and Krawietz broke down the strengths and weaknesses of both Dortmund and Barça, dissecting every detail for the players to see.

Barça loved possession; Dortmund excelled at a fast-paced game.

But it wasn’t that simple.

Klopp posed a few questions to everyone.

"When we press Barça high up the pitch as a unit, can we be sure we’ll be able to stop their incisive Passing?"

If they couldn’t, then when Dortmund pushed up to press, Barça could string a few passes together, tear their press apart, and play the ball directly in behind the defense. That would leave a vast amount of open space for their forwards to run wild.

If that happened, it wouldn’t be a simple matter of losing the final.

They would be utterly crushed!

They might even get blown out by a huge margin!

Because when two high-pressing teams go head-to-head, the loser is guaranteed a miserable defeat!

So, were they confident they could do it?

No one knew the answer.

But in truth, everyone, including Klopp and his coaching staff, felt a deep sense of uncertainty.

And that was just the very first question.

’Even if we’re confident we can pin Barça down, fine. But for how long?’

Barça’s possession-based style already gave them a huge advantage in conserving energy.

’If things get tough, they can just pass it around the back and catch their breath.’

But Dortmund couldn’t do that.

’Without possession, we’d be forced onto the back foot, taking blow after blow. The high-press tactic is incredibly draining. How do we solve that?’

’Pace ourselves?’

’Are you kidding me?’

’You think Barça won’t figure it out?’

’And they’re the ones with the ball!’

Thinking about it was, at times, truly despairing.

From the player roster to the tactical system, Dortmund had almost no advantage.

Many outsiders were saying that for Barça, playing Dortmund was practically a guaranteed win.

Even easier than playing Real Madrid and Manchester United.

At the very least, Mourinho and Ferguson could resort to a defensive, counter-attacking style.

Dortmund didn’t even know how to play that way!

"I think our high press can pin Barça down, especially by strangling them in midfield."

In the midst of the silence, Wang Shuo was the first to voice his thoughts.

Klopp nodded slightly, encouraging him to continue.

"Against Barça, we’re definitely not going to win the possession battle. But we can disrupt their rhythm and force them to enter a war of attrition with us."

"You mean..." Klopp’s eyes lit up.

Wang Shuo shot Uncle Mustache a confident smile. "I can run for a full 90 minutes!"

Barça’s possession game was like Breathing, a steady inhale and exhale.

Wang Shuo’s idea was that when Barça wanted to stop and catch their breath, he could keep running, keep pressing.

Of course, he couldn’t do it alone.

But don’t forget, you get three substitutions in a match.

Plus, with Wang Shuo leading the charge and the team matching his tempo, even if they couldn’t wrest control from Barça, they could at least disrupt their rhythm and drag them into a war of attrition.

By then, who would be more exhausted?

Of course, Wang Shuo wasn’t about to reveal his ace in the hole.

[Domain Skill: Reverser]!

This Domain Skill would only show its greatest effect after the 85th minute.

"Wang, are you confident?" Klopp asked Wang Shuo with great seriousness.

"I’m actually being very conservative."

At this, Wang Shuo broke into a wide grin. "Actually, what I really wanted to say is: against Barça, I can run for the full 120 minutes!"

GASP!

Everyone in the room drew in a sharp breath.

Every single one of them stared at Wang Shuo as if he were an alien.

’That’s just insane!’