The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills

At this thought, Wang Shuo suddenly felt he had been too complacent.

Compared to a workaholic demon like Ronaldo, who trained extra even on the night he won a championship, what reason did he have to rest?

’Right, I’ll train a little longer!’

’Besides, Lina isn’t home tonight!’

...

In the week-long break between Matchday 30 and 31 of the Bundesliga, Dortmund focused on adjusting their form and recovering their stamina.

They also worked on helping Gundogan integrate into the team.

The main focus was on practicing set plays involving Gundogan and getting used to his Passing style.

At the same time, it was a chance for everyone to adapt to each other’s playing habits.

After Shahin’s serious injury ruled him out for the rest of the season, it meant Gundogan would have to shoulder the responsibility for the upcoming crucial finals.

The team also had to make corresponding adjustments and changes.

The guy was born in October 1990; he was only 20 years old.

What?

Wang Shuo was also 20?

There was no comparison!

Wang Shuo was already a superstar who’d been famous for years!

In the Bundesliga Matchday 31 away game against Borussia Mönchengladbach over the weekend, Klopp implemented a massive squad rotation, resting almost every player expected to start in next Wednesday’s Champions League semifinal at the Bernabéu.

That even included goalkeeper Weidenfeller.

As a result, Borussia Mönchengladbach scored a goal in the 35th minute.

In the 64th minute of the second half, Gundogan came on as a substitute.

Klopp also made a series of substitutions.

Finally, in the 79th minute, Lewandowski scored a goal for the team.

The assist came from Foyelner.

In the end, the two sides shook hands on a 1-1 draw.

However, even with that one point, Borussia Mönchengladbach was still ranked 17th in the Bundesliga, deep in the relegation zone.

After playing Borussia Mönchengladbach, Dortmund returned to their training ground to rest and regroup.

On the evening of April 26th, the team departed from Dortmund for Madrid.

The distance was considerable, and it was a Champions League semifinal, so Dortmund splurged this time, chartering a private jet to fly directly from Dortmund Airport to Madrid.

The hotel the team checked into was also located in the heart of Madrid, not far from Bernabéu Stadium.

But somewhere along the line—whether at the airport, the hotel, or some other point—something went wrong, and their flight time and hotel details were leaked.

As a result, when Dortmund arrived at the Madrid airport, they were met with a collective protest from over a hundred Real Madrid fans.

They finally managed to get on the team bus, only to be surrounded by Real Madrid fans again at the hotel entrance.

Fortunately, the hotel staff promptly called the police and had security come out to maintain order, clearing a path for Dortmund’s bus. But after all the trouble, by the time they finished checking in, it was already past midnight.

As the Dortmund players tried to sleep, the Real Madrid fans outside were still making noise.

The clamor lasted all night.

The next morning, during the team’s final pre-match meeting, Klopp was still uncertain about Real Madrid’s starting lineup.

Real Madrid’s main tactic this season was a 4-2-3-1 formation.

So far this season, aside from Barça, Real Madrid hadn’t really faced any particularly strong opponents.

But after that shocking 5-0 disaster at Camp Nou that stunned the world, Mourinho had mostly used a 4-3-3 formation whenever he played against Barça.

When Real Madrid played a 4-2-3-1, it was usually Harvey Alonso and Khedira partnering as the two defensive midfielders.

But in a 4-3-3, they could push a center-back like Pepe or Albiol forward into the number 4 position, a holding midfielder role.

By pushing a center-back forward, they added a sweeper in front of the defensive line to protect the center.

In the 1-1 league draw against Barça, Albiol played the number 4 role; in the King’s Cup final, it was Pepe in that position.

So, would they do the same when playing against Dortmund?

Because Barça’s most dangerous threat, Messi, was now playing as a forward, active in the central area.

And Dortmund’s Wang Shuo was the same.

It wouldn’t be out of the question for them to replicate the tactics they used against Barça in the King’s Cup final.

"But in last weekend’s La Liga Matchday 33 game against Valencia, Mourinho fielded a full reserve lineup. Benzema ended up scoring a hat-trick, and Kaka scored twice and had two assists. They’re both in excellent form."

In that match, Real Madrid thrashed Valencia 6-3 in an away game.

All three of Valencia’s goals were scored after they were already down 5-0.

It’s worth noting that Real Madrid used a 4-4-2 formation in that match, with Benzema and Higuain as a pair of strikers and Kaka playing in the number 10 role.

All the other positions were filled by reserve players, except for goalkeeper Casillas.

Valencia was no weak team; they were currently third in La Liga, behind only Barça and Real Madrid.

With Higuain and Kaka in such great form, it wasn’t impossible they would play at the Bernabéu.

But on the other hand, Real Madrid’s squad was simply too powerful.

Just imagine, they could field a pure reserve lineup and still thrash the third-place team in the league like that in an away game.

So what would happen back at their home stadium, facing Dortmund?

Wang Shuo couldn’t help but remember that 5-0 loss from two years ago!

But he wasn’t afraid.

Every time he thought about that match, he felt more motivated than anything else!