The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills

As the players from both teams walked onto the pitch, the 38,000 Chelsea fans in attendance packed every seat in the stands.

They were all singing at the top of their lungs.

The 3-1 loss away from home in the first leg hadn’t caused the Chelsea fans to lose faith.

They still believed their team was capable of turning it around against Dortmund at home.

Head coach Ancelotti also stood confidently on the sidelines.

He had just returned from shaking hands with Klopp in front of the away team’s dugout.

Now, he was watching the players on the field with a concerned expression, his gaze involuntarily landing on Wang Shuo.

Wang Shuo noticed Ancelotti’s gaze and gave the Italian a slight smile and a nod.

’There’s a saying: you don’t get to know someone until you’ve fought them!’

’Who knows? Maybe they’d end up working together someday?’

Dortmund had miscalculated one position in Chelsea’s tactics and lineup for the night.

Goalkeeper: Cech;

Defense: Ashley Cole, Terry, Alex, and Ivanovic;

Midfield: Essien in a holding role, with Lampard and Ramirez in front of him;

Forwards: Malouda, Torres, and Anelka.

Between his two center forwards, Ancelotti had still chosen Torres.

But unexpectedly, Brazilian center-back Alex had returned from injury.

Without having played in any matches, Ancelotti started Alex, replacing Bosingwa and moving Ivanovic to right-back.

"You need to be careful with that Ivanovic. He’s fast, his defense isn’t bad, and he’s very physical."

Wang Shuo leaned toward Reus, whispering the advice.

Reus nodded seriously.

Bosingwa was much easier to deal with than Ivanovic.

"Don’t worry. Watch my runs and pay attention to my hand signals."

"Okay."

...

At the referee’s whistle, Wang Shuo kicked the ball to Götze and immediately sprinted forward.

Götze passed it back to Shahin.

As everyone expected, Chelsea immediately started pressing Dortmund.

The 3-1 score from the first leg forced them to score as quickly as possible.

Confidence was more important than anything!

Before Torres could close in, Shahin immediately passed back to Hummels behind him.

Wang Shuo glanced left and right. Both Reus and Kuba were making quick forward runs along the sidelines, pushing into the half-spaces.

Upon seeing Hummels receive the ball, Wang Shuo immediately ran horizontally toward the left.

With Reus pushing forward, Ramirez positioned himself a bit wider to guard against Schmelzer near the halfway line.

Everyone knew that Dortmund’s full-backs were excellent at making overlapping runs to join the attack.

But this created a gap between Essien and Ramirez.

Wang Shuo ran into this gap, raising his hand to call for the ball.

Without waiting for Torres to charge him, Hummels sent a low, straight pass directly to Wang Shuo.

Wang Shuo was running from the center toward the left.

As the ball arrived, he was turned sideways. He glanced at the holding midfielder, Essien, then at Ramirez, who was hastily tucking inside.

Near the left sideline, Schmelzer was making a quick forward run.

Normally, Wang Shuo would have immediately passed the ball out to the left flank for Schmelzer’s overlapping run.

But not this time.

Instead of passing, Wang Shuo used his right foot to knock Hummels’ pass forward, then turned, accelerated, and charged ahead with the ball.

He took a long touch, knocking the ball far ahead, and then accelerated to chase it down.

Chelsea’s defensive line was rapidly retreating.

But just as Wang Shuo broke into the thirty-meter zone, with Essien about to close in, he pushed off with all his might.

Domain Skill: Hunter, activate!

Explosive start!

In an instant, Wang Shuo blasted past Essien’s defensive zone, gaining a full body’s length on him.

This left the right center-back, Alex, with no room to retreat. He immediately chose to position himself to block and defend against Wang Shuo.

But at that exact moment, Wang Shuo sent a through ball with his left foot.

The ball zipped right past Alex.

Reus took off at top speed, making a lightning-fast diagonal run behind Alex to catch up to Wang Shuo’s pass.

A collective gasp echoed throughout Stamford Bridge Stadium.

Just as he was about to break through for a one-on-one, Ivanovic caught up and pushed Reus down from behind.

The young Dortmund player didn’t even stumble; he just pitched forward onto the ground.

The referee from Portugal, Benquerenca, immediately blew his whistle!

Although he wasn’t the last man, Benquerenca still waved Ivanovic over and showed him a yellow card.

"Right at the start of the match, Dortmund’s left winger, Reus, has created a free kick opportunity in the left channel."

"Reus is very fast, but Ivanovic is by no means slow either."

"That pass from Wang Shuo was timed to perfection."

"If Ivanovic hadn’t committed the foul in time, that most likely would have been a one-on-one."

"What a shame!"

Wang Shuo jogged over and pulled Reus up from the ground.

"You okay?"

Reus shook his head. "I’m fine. I almost got past him."

"Told you he was fast," Wang Shuo said with a smile.

’Even though I gave Ivanovic a rough time in the first leg, his defending against me was actually quite solid for most of the match, especially in the first half.’

"Are you confident you can shoot directly from this spot?" Shahin asked, jogging up beside them and covering his mouth as he spoke to Wang Shuo.

Wang Shuo took a look. It was about 23 meters out, slightly left of center.

The position wasn’t suited for a left-footer, but it was perfect for a right-footer.