The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills

However, judging by Torres’s performance after Drogba was subbed off, it was still far from ideal.

"Actually, I don’t think we need to guess what kind of tactics Chelsea will use, or what lineup they’ll field."

After the coaching staff finished, Wang Shuo offered some ideas of his own.

As the team’s star player, he often had to be bold enough to voice his opinions.

Otherwise, how could the others work with him?

"What do you mean?"

"Our biggest problem right now is that away goal."

As Wang Shuo said this, he noticed Reus, sitting beside him, looked a little crestfallen.

He had already apologized to everyone in the locker room after the match.

But the goal was a reality.

"If we can score before Chelsea in the away match—even score right at the kickoff like they did—then whatever tactics or lineup they use will become meaningless, won’t it?"

Wang Shuo had a point, and everyone nodded in agreement.

But the key was how to do it.

"We have a 3-1 lead from the first leg at home, a two-goal advantage. Normally, at Stanford Bridge, Chelsea will surely go all out, launch an aggressive attack, and try to score as quickly as possible, maybe even level the aggregate score."

At this point, Wang Shuo held up a copy of the British Daily Mail.

It was an article he’d seen online and printed out.

"The British Daily Mail mentioned that in the ’03-’04 season, Ranieri’s Chelsea played Monaco. After returning home, they quickly scored two goals and had already turned the tie around."

"I made a point to look it up. The aggregate score was 3-3 at that point, and Chelsea were actually ahead on away goals."

"But just one minute later, Morientes assisted his teammate Ibarra, who scored. Then, after halftime, Morientes scored one himself. The match ended in a 2-2 draw."

After the first leg, many issues had become very clear.

For example, Chelsea’s aging squad, their weak midfield, and their likely tactics for the second leg.

"With a 3-1 lead from the first leg, they’ll definitely think we’ll be a bit more conservative in the return match. At the very least, they’ll expect us to weather their initial storm, right?"

Everyone nodded again.

"So, let’s do the exact opposite. We’ll go on an all-out attack from the kickoff, even if it means trading blows. We’ll catch them completely by surprise!"

Wang Shuo’s proposal was certainly interesting.

It suited both Dortmund’s style and current situation, and it was right up Klopp’s alley.

Given Dortmund’s young squad and the players’ temperaments, if they really tried to sit back and counter-attack, they might not be able to hold the line.

"How would you do it?" Klopp asked, smiling at Wang Shuo.

"It’s simple. They’ll definitely focus all their defensive attention on me. I’ll drop deep to pull their defenders out of position, and then Reus and Kuba can make diagonal runs in behind from the wings at full speed."

"Between me, Götze, Shahin, and even Subotic and Hummels from the back line, we can definitely get the ball to them."

At this, Wang Shuo chuckled. "If it doesn’t work the first time, we’ll try a second. If not the second, then a third. We’ll hammer them for a few minutes. I refuse to believe that Chelsea back line can hold out."

The reaction in the locker room to Wang Shuo’s proposal was somewhat polarized.

Many thought it was feasible, but others felt it was too risky.

’We’re already up 3-1 from the first leg. Why be so reckless in the return match?’

"If our opening blitz fails, Chelsea’s counter-attack will be swift. Torres is very good at that kind of direct, head-on attack," Subotic objected openly.

He was Wang Shuo’s close friend, but more importantly, he was the team’s center-back.

"Then we’ll just press them hard in the midfield and final third. If we don’t let them pass the ball out, it won’t matter how good Torres is on the counter."

As he spoke, Wang Shuo reached out and clapped Reus firmly on the shoulder.

"Marco, don’t you want to score against Chelsea and redeem yourself?"

Hearing this, Reus’s eyes instantly lit up, and the way he looked at Wang Shuo changed completely.

He understood. In an opening blitz, Wang Shuo would naturally be the biggest threat.

But Wang Shuo was using himself as bait, with the goal of letting Reus score.

In the first leg, Bosingwa had been complete trash on his side of the field.

At that thought, Reus felt a surge of gratitude toward Wang Shuo.

"I agree with Wang Shuo’s suggestion! I’ll put the ball in Chelsea’s net myself!"

Reus said through gritted teeth.

"That away goal we conceded... I want to win it back myself!"

A fire reignited in the young Dortmund player’s eyes, his voice filled with determination.

Hearing this and seeing the reactions of the other players, Klopp made an immediate decision.

"Then it’s settled. We attack like that for the first five minutes. You have five minutes, tops. After that, we change tactics!"

With the head coach’s decision made, everyone began to discuss the five-minute blitz.

They discussed what to do after the five minutes—if they scored, and if they didn’t...

Klopp even decided to dedicate two training sessions specifically to drilling this play.

The weekend league match?

’We’ve already clinched the title, who cares about the league anymore?’

In the end, Dortmund drew 1-1 away against Hamburg.

Kuba came on as a substitute in the last 20 minutes of the second half and scored for the team just before the final whistle.

And Wang Shuo?

He didn’t even travel for the away game this time.

...

「The evening of April 12th, Stamford Bridge Stadium, London.」

The second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals: Dortmund playing away against Chelsea.