The God of Football starts with passive skills

Chapter 87 Super Shooter! Two Historical Records! Punching Müller, Kicking Klinsmann! That first touch was absolutely brilliant!
Westfalen Stadium, afternoon of February 20.

In the 27th round of the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund will host the undefeated Bayer Leverkusen.

Heynckes once again deployed his signature 4-4-2 formation in this match.

Goalkeeper: Adler;

Defense: Kadlec, Hyypiä, Friedrich and Daniel Schwab;
Midfielders: Toni Kroos, Vidal, Castro, and Augusto;

Forwards: Kiessling and Helmes.

Borussia Dortmund, playing at home, continued to use their 4-2-3-1 formation.

Goalkeeper: Weidenfeller;
Defense: Schmelzer, Santana, Subotic and Owomoyela;

Midfield: Feulner and Kehl form the double pivot, with Reus, Götze and Kuba in front;

Forward: Wang Shuo.

At the Westfalenstadion, Borussia Dortmund fans created a tremendous atmosphere.

However, it was the away team, Bayer Leverkusen, that started the match with momentum.

After a week of adjustment and preparation, the pharmaceutical company is clearly in better form than Borussia Dortmund.

Moreover, their play is more targeted.

From the very first minute of the match, Leverkusen took the initiative and launched an attack.

Not long after the start of the game, Leverkusen midfielder Castro delivered a through pass that found Kiessling in the penalty area with pinpoint accuracy.

The latter successfully broke the offside trap inside the penalty area and took a shot, which was saved by the onrushing goalkeeper Weidenfeller.

But soon, Leverkusen launched an attack down the left flank. After a series of passes with his teammates, Toni Kroos delivered a precise diagonal cross, finding Helmes in the penalty area.

The latter headed the ball towards the goal.

Weidenfeller made another spectacular diving save, tipping the ball over the crossbar with one hand!

The entire stadium was cheering for Weidenfeller.

In the 18th minute, it was still Leverkusen. After Augusto broke through on the right wing, he sent a cross into the penalty area.

Helmes at the near post failed to get into position in time, allowing the ball to be passed to the wrong player.

But Kiesllin appeared in time in the middle lane.

With Subotic marking him closely, Kiessling, who had no shooting angle, opted to pass the ball back.

Vidal surged forward and unleashed a powerful shot.

Unfortunately, the Chilean midfielder tried to shoot towards the bottom right corner, but his shot went wide.

Leverkusen pressed their advantage and continued their relentless attack on Dortmund.

Meanwhile, the more than 8 Hornets fans in the stands kept cheering for their team.

"Leverkusen's opening was very targeted."

"The match has been going on for almost 20 minutes now."

"But Dortmund has only had one shot so far, and it was a long-range shot."

"Dortmund were indeed at a disadvantage in midfield today."

"Perhaps this is related to Klopp rotating midfielder Sahin."

“Foylner has always played as a number 10, but he was put in a deep midfield position for this game.”

"But the most important team is still Leverkusen."

"Heynckes' team is undefeated so far."

"They are the only undefeated team in Europe's top five leagues, and their fighting spirit is extremely high."

……

In Wang Shuo's view, Dortmund's start today was not bad.

The reason they lost control of the game was largely due to Leverkusen's very active start.

Heynckes must have practiced the opening stages extensively, which is why his play was so targeted.

If it weren't for Dortmund's Santana and Subotic combination effectively limiting Leverkusen's two strikers, their goal would probably have been breached much earlier.

Of course, Weidenfeller was also in good form today.

That's the difference between being prepared and not being prepared.

Wang Shuo is no longer a novice.

He knew very well that if Leverkusen failed to seize the initiative at the start, it would be Dortmund's turn to make their move once Leverkusen's pace slowed down.

They can't maintain this high-pressure state throughout the entire game.

Through Leverkusen's high-pressure pressing, Wang Shuo also sensed Dortmund's progress.

If it were the first half of the season, he would be very worried that the team would concede goals.

Moreover, there is a high probability that they will concede a goal.

However, as the season progressed, as the team's tactics and skills became more cohesive, as the players performed better and better, and especially after the team occupied the top spot for a long period of time, everyone built up their confidence.

Dortmund played with increasing confidence and fighting spirit on the pitch.

The cooperation is getting better and better.

Putting everything else aside, how long has it been since the media and fans mentioned Dede?
Schmelzer has completely established himself at left-back and is performing better and better.

His late runs into the box are Dortmund's attacking weapon!
Reus in the forward line goes without saying, and Götze's performance was also outstanding.

More importantly, everyone's cooperation is becoming more and more seamless.

After 20 minutes, Leverkusen finally slowed down the pace of the game.

With the pressure eased, Dortmund regained their composure and began looking for opportunities to capitalize.

In the 29th minute, when Wang Shuo saw the team launch an attack from the right flank, he immediately retreated and ran towards the right side.

Kyle delivered a through pass to Wang Shuo.

But at that moment, Wang Shuo had Hyypia behind him and Kadlec beside him, so he had no chance to turn around.

So, without stopping the ball, he passed it back to Kuba.

After passing the ball back, Wang Shuo immediately turned his head and glanced at the center lane.

Reus has appeared in the middle of the field, bringing right-back Schwab with him.

Götze also appeared in the middle, slightly behind, ready to move forward at any time.

Unfortunately, when Kuba received the ball on the right sideline, he failed to rush forward in time. Otherwise, once a breakthrough was formed on the right flank, there would have been two supporting players in the middle.

Wang Shuo also made a timely forward run to the right side of the penalty area to receive the pass.

But now, Kuba had no chance and passed the ball back to Kyle.

Wang Shuo immediately called out to Kyle, turned his back to the direction of the attack, stretched out his right hand, and pointed to the left flank.

This is exactly what Kyle was thinking.

After receiving the ball, the captain passed it to Feulner.

Feulner, a winger by trade and also capable of playing the number 10 position, controlled the ball and took a step forward before seeing Schmelzer make a rapid run down the left flank and immediately delivered a through ball.

Leverkusen's right-back Schwab was pulled to the center by Reus, causing the entire defensive formation to tilt to the left, leaving the right side completely open.

When Kyle passed the ball to Feulner, Wang Shuo had already turned and started running forward.

He glanced at the middle of the road again.

Reus also made a forward run, but at the near post, while Götze was in the middle, positioned slightly further back.

Wang Shuo made a decisive move and quickly rushed into the restricted area.

Hypia clearly focused his attention on Wang Shuo.

Therefore, after entering the penalty area, Wang Shuo deliberately slowed down and moved closer to the center.

But Hyypia still dared not let his guard down.

He turned to look at the right side, made sure he saw the situation clearly, and then quickly looked back at Wang Shuo, afraid that someone might have been missed.

At the same time, when Feulner made a through pass behind the defense, Schmelzer made a high-speed overlapping run down the flank, and near the left sideline of the penalty area, after glancing at the center, crossed the ball with his left foot.

It was a low, flat shot that landed right at the near post.

Reus was sandwiched between Schwab and Friedrich, making it impossible for him to reach the ball.

Götze, positioned in the middle near the penalty spot, was slightly behind.

After the soccer ball lands, its speed increases.

Without being touched by anyone, it quickly dropped from the near post to the far post along the penalty area line.

The moment Schmelzer crossed the ball, Leverkusen's penalty area was in a bit of chaos.

Hypia glanced back at the spot before quickly turning back to look for Wang Shuo...

Wait, where's Wang Shuo?
Hypia was horrified when he couldn't see anyone.

Taking advantage of Hyypia turning around to observe, Wang Shuo suddenly started his run and quickly cut diagonally into the right post of the goal from behind him.

Hyypia reacted quickly, but was a step too late.

Just as the ball reached the far post, Wang Shuo arrived at the perfect moment.

Almost at the same time, Hyypia reached out and tugged at Wang Shuo's jersey across the chest.

It loosens as soon as you pull it.

It happened in an instant, the movements were incredibly skillful, it was definitely something he had done countless times.

Wang Shuo was pulled until he lost his balance.

But the ball has already arrived.

At that moment, Wang Shuo poured all his strength into his left foot, barely supporting his body and slowing his fall. At the same time, he used the advantage of [coordination] to kick out with his right foot.

The ball was moving too fast.

The football touched the inside of Wang Shuo's right foot, and without even needing to exert any force, it bounced off a wall and landed near the goalpost.

Almost at the moment Wang Shuo fell to the ground, the football rolled across Leverkusen's goal line.

Adler was positioned on the left and was completely unable to prevent the flanking maneuver from the back post.

“GOALLLLLLLLLLLL!!!”

Goal!

"In the 29th minute, Dortmund broke through Leverkusen's goal!"

"Wang Shuo's late run at the far post opened the scoring for Dortmund!"

"1 to 0!"

"Heynckes was absolutely right before the match. To beat Dortmund, we had to stop Wang Shuo from scoring!"

"From the slow-motion replay, we can see that Hyypia even went so far as to foul, but Wang Shuo was still able to put the ball into the goal!"

"That's the power of a super shooter!"

After scoring, Wang Shuo jumped up from the ground, turned around and rushed to the stands to interact with the fans.

Meanwhile, the Dortmund fans in the stands gave Wang Shuo a tremendous round of applause and cheers!
……

After scoring the first goal, many things became much easier.

Leverkusen began to attempt a counterattack.

But in the 39th minute, after Dortmund won the ball back in their own half, Kehl sent a long diagonal pass to the left flank once again.

Schmelzer continued to surge forward at top speed.

This time, however, Wang Shuo appeared in the middle, between the two center-backs, Hyypia and Friedrich.

Moreover, he deliberately slowed down to avoid going offside.

The moment Schmelzer delivered the cross, he suddenly accelerated, instantly leaving Friedrich and Hyypia behind, rushing to the edge of the six-yard box, and before Adler could reach it, he tapped the ball into the Leverkusen goal.

This time, Wang Shuo did not fall to the ground.

After scoring, he quickly turned and ran, heading straight for Schmelzer, who had provided two assists.

Overjoyed, Wang Shuo jumped onto Schmelzer and waved his arms wildly.

"Dortmund scored two goals in just 10 minutes!"

"Moreover, the two goals were almost identical, both originating from Leverkusen's right flank, with left-back Schmelzer making a quick forward run and delivering a cross that helped Wang Shuo score!"

"2 to 0!"

"Leverkusen clearly underestimated Dortmund's full-backs' late runs into the box."

"Their defenders were mostly tied down by Reus and Götze."

"Augusto on the right flank wasn't very willing to track back, which meant that Schmelzer was often left unmarked on that side."

Wang Shuo enthusiastically pulled Schmelzer to celebrate, introducing his teammates to everyone.

This is also Klopp's tactical strategy.

Wang Shuo's presence makes Dortmund's attacking play much more diverse.

If the opposing team doesn't keep a close eye on Reus and Götze, then Wang Shuo can coordinate with them.

Once the attackers in the frontcourt are marked, the defenders' side will be wide open.

Previously, it was Owomoyela on the right wing.

However, this player is indeed a bit old, and he started to lose his stamina in the second half of the season.

Meanwhile, Schmelzer on the left wing gradually demonstrated excellent mobility and attacking prowess after establishing himself.

I must say, Dortmund's style of play is really hard to defend against!
Do not believe?

Just six minutes later, Leverkusen launched an attack, but the shot posed no threat.

On the contrary, Dortmund launched another attack from the left flank.

Leverkusen reacted quickly this time.

Schmelzer was blocked on the left flank, Reus ran over to support him and then passed the ball to Götze.

Götze, without stopping the ball, passed it directly to Wang Shuo on the left side of the penalty area.

Wang Shuo also didn't stop the ball, and directly passed it back to Götze, who was making a lateral run.

According to Wang Shuo's instructions, Götze would send the ball back into the penalty area so that he could shoot again.

Unexpectedly, Götze took a long-range shot himself.

The shot was saved by Adler.

Wang Shuo gave a wry smile, but when he turned around and saw Götze grabbing his hair in frustration, he immediately ran over.

"It's alright, there's still a chance!"

As he spoke, he patted Götze on the shoulder as a sign of encouragement.

If you haven't scored twice yourself, you should understand if your teammates want to score.

But the third goal of the match didn't come until the 78th minute of the second half.

And it wasn't Götze or Reus who scored.

This corner kick was created when Kuba and Owomoyela combined on the right flank.

Subotic headed the ball into the net at the far post, sealing the score at 3-0!

Bayer Leverkusen's unbeaten run has come to a complete end!

Their unbeaten run ended at 27 games!
……

The moment the referee blew the final whistle, the entire Westfalenstadion erupted in jubilation!
More than 8 fans stood up from their seats, cheering and shouting at the top of their lungs.

After 27 rounds of matches, Borussia Dortmund continues to lead the Bundesliga standings with 67 points.

Bayer Leverkusen, who are in second place, only managed to get 58 points after losing this game.

Bayern Munich only managed to get 57 points.

In other words, Dortmund has once again widened the points gap to 9 points.

With seven rounds remaining in the league, a nine-point lead is already very significant!
When captain Kyle led the players to the sidelines to thank the crowd, the entire stadium was already singing "We Are the Champions" and celebrating the team's championship victory ahead of schedule!

Bayern Munich suffered a defeat in Frankfurt, while Borussia Dortmund thrashed their title rivals Bayer Leverkusen 3-0.

This gives everyone at Borussia Dortmund full confidence in winning the Bundesliga title this season!
When Wang Shuo was thanking the crowd in front of the South Stand, he noticed that several fans in the front row were holding up signs with the handwritten Arabic numeral 35 on them.

This made Wang Shuo very happy, and he specially walked to the iron fence to thank the fans loudly.

Since he broke Dortmund's record for most goals in a single season, Dortmund fans have been displaying the new record on handwritten placards after each game.

"I heard that several fan clubs are organizing to put up another giant TIFO in the South Stand during the penultimate round of the season, just to celebrate your league goals this season."

When Wang Shuo returned, Royce said with great envy.

As a die-hard Dortmund fan, he desperately hopes that Dortmund fans will also create such a large TIFO just for him.

"Now, everyone is expecting you to score more goals; you're just five goals away from being as good as Gerd Müller."

As a staunch supporter of Wang Shuo, Feulner was also very proud of his friend.

With seven rounds remaining in the league, Dortmund has to juggle both the Europa League and the Bundesliga, making it difficult to score five more goals.

However, given Wang Shuo's goal-scoring efficiency this season, it's highly likely.

"The media outside is in complete chaos right now."

Subotic was referring to a dispute between media outlets supporting Wang Shuo and Borussia Dortmund, and those supporting Bayern Munich.

But don't assume that this is the media's stance.

The fact is that Bild can publish two completely contradictory articles at the same time, written by two different journalists and commentators.

Ultimately, it's all about gaining traffic.

As for why Wang Shuo, Borussia Dortmund, and Bayern Munich have caused such a big controversy recently, it's quite interesting.

In the Bundesliga, Wang Shuo scored twice in this match, bringing his total to 35 goals.

He is just 5 goals away from Gerd Müller's record of 40 goals in a single Bundesliga season, the highest ever achieved by a single player in the league.

This legendary record, once considered unattainable by countless people, is now feeling threatened.

So Bayern's supporters began to feel uneasy.

Coincidentally, Wang Shuo has scored 13 goals so far in the Europa League.

This does not include the preliminary rounds; statistics start from the official matches.

Everyone knows that the Europa League was formerly known as the UEFA Cup.

In the history of the UEFA Cup, the player with the most goals in a single season is Jürgen Klinsmann.

In the 95/96 season, this "Golden Bomber" who played for Bayern Munich scored 15 goals in the UEFA Cup.

Borussia Dortmund have now advanced to the quarterfinals.

If Wang Shuo scores two goals in the two-legged tie against Benfica, he will equal Klinsmann's record for the most goals in a single UEFA Cup season.

Both of these records are held by Bayern Munich!

As a result, Bayern's supporters were not happy.

The controversy began after Dortmund defeated Juventus.

At the time, Bayern supporters believed that the current Europa League, with its group stage format, would have more matches than the old UEFA Cup.

Dortmund supporters immediately retaliated.

There are definitely more matches now.

Borussia Dortmund played 6 group stage matches and 4 knockout stage matches in the Europa League this season, but Wang Shuo only made 8 appearances.

Wang Shuo did not play in the last two group stage matches.

Klinsmann played all 12 matches back then, and each match lasted a full 90 minutes.

In comparison, Wang Shuo's current goal-scoring efficiency is higher than Klinsmann's back then!

More importantly, was the UEFA Cup of that year really that prestigious?

Klinsmann failed to score a single goal in both legs of the semi-final against Barcelona.

The UEFA Cup final that year was a two-legged affair, with Bayern Munich defeating Bordeaux of Ligue 1 5-1 on aggregate. Klinsmann only managed to score the fifth goal when his team was leading 4-5 on aggregate.

Furthermore, although Klinsmann scored 15 goals that year, he had 0 assists.

What about Wang Shuo?
In addition to 13 goals, he also had 7 assists.

Putting everything else aside, isn't this performance better than Klinsmann's?
Needless to say, the Dortmund fans' counterattack immediately provoked a backlash from Bayern supporters.

The two sides started arguing, and it escalated over time.

Whether it's Gerd Müller's Bundesliga record or Klinsmann's UEFA Cup record, they are both historical achievements for Bayern Munich!
This is also the foundation that Bayern Munich is very proud of!
But now, they are both shaken and threatened!

In this situation, the two sides naturally argued fiercely.

"Punch Müller, kick Klinsmann!"

As a die-hard Borussia Dortmund fan, Reus's stance is unwavering.

"Wang, keep going! We'll do everything we can to help you achieve this goal!"

As he spoke, Reus turned to look at Götze.

"Mario, like that long-range shot you just took, you should pass the ball more often in the future. We need to help Wang score more goals and crush Bayern!"

Götze nodded in agreement with a very serious expression.

He was indeed a bit reckless at the time.

If Wang Shuo ultimately fails to surpass Gerd Müller by just one goal, he and all Borussia Dortmund fans will be extremely disappointed.

Next season?

Who knows what will happen next season?
Putting aside everything else, look at how Wolfsburg, who were unstoppable last season, have been beaten this season.
Currently ranked 8th in the Bundesliga.

In this round, they were thrashed 5-1 by Hertha Berlin at home!

Grafite and Dzeko were unstoppable last season, scoring goals like crazy, but what about now?

Both players and teams experience fluctuations in their form.

……

Since obtaining the God of Football System, Wang Shuo can clearly feel himself improving every day.

Especially after obtaining the national-level [Foundation], he began to constantly study and familiarize himself with this passive skill.

Previously, his physical strength was very weak.

Therefore, when he plays football, he is used to avoiding defenders.

This also allows him to fully utilize his running ability.

What now?
It's actually quite weak.

But I'm not so wary anymore.

Sometimes, Wang Shuo would even actively seek out physical confrontations.

Of course, how to fight back is also a skill.

For example, when facing short but fast and agile defenders, he would adopt a relatively simple and direct approach.

With the support of a national-level foundation, he has advantages in terms of confrontation, exertion, and positioning.

When facing tall, strong defenders, Wang Shuo would employ a different tactic, exploiting their lack of agility. This was exemplified by the match on the afternoon of March 27th, when Dortmund visited the Berlin Olympic Stadium to challenge Hertha Berlin.

When facing domestic national team center-back Arne Friedrich and Czech national team center-back Roman Hubnik, Wang Shuo adopted a strategy of using speed to overcome slowness.

However, the opposing team's two center-backs did a good job of linking up defense, preventing Wang Shuo from seizing the opportunity to score.

However, as his competition experience grew and he encountered more and more opponents, Wang Shuo's ability to adapt to changing circumstances also improved.

Especially when the score was still 0-0 in the 74th minute.

The team launched an attack down the right flank, with Kuba, Götze, and Owomoyela all on that side.

Wang Shuo also immediately ran to the right from the penalty spot.

Hertha Berlin's left center-back is Roman Hubnik.

He is 1.85 meters tall and weighs 85 kilograms.

This player is characterized by his extremely strong physique, possessing muscles that Wang Shuo finds incredibly enviable.

But after about an hour of competition, Wang Shuo was certain that his turning and movement agility were relatively poor.

Wang Shuo's positioning wasn't just random running around.

He passed the ball to Götze after seeing that Kuba was unable to break through on the right flank.

So he sped up and ran towards Hubnik.

Wang Shuo faced away from the direction of the attack, his legs firmly planted on the grass. He leaned back, using his back to block Hubnik, thus securing his position, and raised his hand to call for the ball.

Götze saw Wang Shuo's run and movement and immediately sent a pass.

After Wang Shuo held off Hubnik, his body was able to keenly sense the Czech center-back's movements and intentions.

He was trying to block me from turning around!

Alternatively, force yourself to turn outwards to reduce the threat.

As one of the most dangerous strikers in the Bundesliga, Wang Shuo's high frequency of movement is something that all defenders are very wary of.

Once he gets the ball, he could commit a foul at any moment if you're not careful.

Therefore, inside the penalty area, none of the defenders dared to make any moves when facing Wang Shuo.

As the ball approached, Wang Shuo secretly turned his head and glanced at the goal.

Czech goalkeeper Drobny was not positioned right next to the goal line, but rather slightly outside the right post.

Once Wang Shuo had seen all of this clearly, he immediately made a judgment in his mind.

He has the ability to get a shot off against Hubnik!

Wang Shuo's continuous observations also made Hubnik feel like he was facing a formidable enemy.

Just as Götze passed the ball, Wang Shuo gave Hubnik a boost with his right shoulder.

The Czech center-back immediately realized that Wang Shuo wanted to stop the ball and turn towards his right shoulder, which is the central direction.

So he immediately began to fight back, trying to block Wang Shuo.

But at that very moment, the ball arrived!
Wang Shuo suddenly turned to his left and, with the inside of his right foot, flicked the ball past Götze's pass.

Just after turning around, Wang Shuo used his right foot to push the ball forward again.

Immediately afterwards, he exerted force with both legs and leaped forward, passing by Hubnik.

After rushing over, the ball was on his right foot. Wang Shuo chased after it and, without the slightest hesitation, unleashed a powerful shot with his right foot.

At this moment, he fully utilized his national-level foundation, with his power flowing freely throughout his body.

Wang Shuo had complete control over how and where to exert his force.

The shot was a bit far and the angle was off, but Wang Shuo put all his strength into the ball.

The addition of "swiftness" and "coordination" makes his movements even more rapid and fluid.

Hubnik's reaction was undeniably swift.
Realizing he had been tricked, he immediately turned around and chased after Wang Shuo.

As soon as he turned around, he realized the danger and immediately threw himself out, sliding to the ground to block Wang Shuo's shooting angle as much as possible.

But Wang Shuo's shot was too fast!

Moreover, it didn't travel on the ground, but went directly to the upper left of goalkeeper Drobny.

The Czech goalkeeper is a right-footed player, and his left hand can only be raised symbolically to block.

But Wang Shuo's shot was so fast and accurate that it was impossible to stop. It almost grazed the underside of the crossbar and went into Hertha Berlin's goal.

"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!"

"In the 74th minute, Borussia Dortmund, who had dominated the entire match, finally broke through Hertha Berlin's goal!"

"Wang Shuo remains Dortmund's top striker!"

"This is a very rare goal, and also very unusual for Wang Shuo!"

“We all know from the past that Wang Shuo is not good at physical confrontation.”

"But when facing the tall and strong Hubnik, Wang Shuo not only engaged in physical confrontation, but also turned and fired a shot."

"That was a truly spectacular goal, and one that really tested a lot of skill!"

"1 to 0!"

……

However, not all defenders are one-trick ponies with obvious weaknesses.

After a 1-0 away win against Hertha Berlin, Borussia Dortmund traveled to Portugal to face Benfica away.

As a result, in this match, Portuguese coach Gabriel Jesus assigned Brazilian center-back David Luiz to specifically mark Wang Shuo.

This guy with the afro is really difficult to deal with.

Not only does he resort to dirty tricks like Brazilians, but his physical abilities are also incredibly strong.

He is excellent in physical confrontations, kicks very aggressively, and most importantly, he is very fast and agile.

Moreover, he is the kind of center-back who can both press high and recover defensively.

His footwork is quite good, somewhat reminiscent of Lucio.

Dortmund had a dream start to this match.

Just seven minutes later, Wang Shuo and Reus combined on the left flank, creating a free kick.

Sahin assisted Hummels to score a header, giving Dortmund a very good start.

But after Benfica stabilized their position, Wang Shuo also began to feel the pressure.

Especially David Lewis.

Veteran coach Jesus's game strategy is to defend and counter-attack.

But the "cage" he arranged for Wang Shuo was very targeted.

Defensive midfielder Javi Garcia is also very strong in physical duels, and the sweeper is Luisio.

The two of them were responsible for positioning themselves, like the ground and the ceiling, sandwiching Wang Shuo in the middle.

David Lewis was responsible for sweeping and close protection, specifically following Wang Shuo.

Once Wang Shuo was neutralized, Dortmund's attack lost its threat.

Players who had previously performed well, such as Götze, Reus, and Kuba, all went silent.

With their attack lacking firepower and conceding too many goals, Benfica capitalized on a counter-attack in the 24th and 43rd minutes, with Aimar and Di Maria assisting Cardozo to score, giving them a 2-1 lead in the first half.

This is a rare occurrence for Dortmund: winning the start but losing the first half.

So much so that when they returned to the locker room during halftime, everyone felt a little out of place.

……

"Marcus."

In the bustling away team locker room, Wang Shuo had just sat down when he called over team doctor Dr. Marcus Braun.

The latter immediately handed over his work to his assistants and walked over quickly.

Wang Shuo pointed to his right calf.

Marcus Braun followed Wang Shuo's gesture and noticed that the yellow sock on his right calf was stained red with blood. He cursed angrily, "Damn it!"

"Peter, Peter!"

Marcus Braun's urgent shouts instantly silenced the previously noisy locker room.

Everyone turned to look at Wang Shuo.

It was only at this moment that they realized Wang Shuo's right foot was injured and bleeding.

"Your Majesty, what's going on?" Subotic asked with concern.

"Yes, what happened?"

When were you injured?

"Which bastard is it?"

"Damn it, that's too much!"

Wang Shuo felt a warmth in his heart from his teammates' concern. He smiled slightly and shook his head, saying, "It's nothing. It was just that when I fell in the first half, my shin guard got scratched by the cleats."

As Marcus Braun took off his socks, everyone noticed that the blood had dried.

The wound was on one side of the shin guard, a long, bloody gash that looked rather frightening.

"Damn it, those sons of bitches Benfica's defenders, their tackles are really dirty!"

"That defensive midfielder from Real Madrid, and that Brazilian named David Luiz, both have very aggressive moves, and they also have a lot of dirty tricks. I got kicked by him too, directly in the calf."

Wang Shuo remained calm despite listening to his teammates' insults.

He discovered that, even with the assistance of passive skills such as [Regeneration] and [Foundation], [Damage Reduction] could not actually prevent him from getting injured.

Of course, this is also very normal.

Every professional athlete's legs are covered in injuries.

But there is one good thing.

[Shengxi] even has the effect of removing scars.

So, despite playing football for so long, Wang Shuo's legs are still so fair and delicate.

But it is precisely because of this that the bloody gash looks even more shocking, adding to the severity of the situation for no reason.

Actually, the wound had already stopped bleeding and wasn't deep after being cleaned.

"That guy was a bit too rough, and he even showed his studs, but thankfully he's not seriously injured," Marcus Braun said.

After treating his wound, Wang Shuo thanked him, and Braun went to treat other people.

Sitting in his seat, Wang Shuo couldn't help but recall the first half of the game.

David Lewis made a deep impression on him.

I never expected to encounter such strong players in European competitions!
There's always someone better!

In the previous group stage matches, Dortmund faced Rapid Vienna, Celtic, and Hapoel Tel Aviv.

Their abilities are not particularly outstanding.

In the knockout stage, they will face Ajax and Juventus.

Both of these traditional powerhouses are not as strong as they used to be.

Especially Juventus.

Despite his impressive name, Cannavaro is actually quite old.

Boxing is afraid of young people.

On the football field, older players are at a significant disadvantage.

Of course, after the match, Wang Shuo even went out of his way to exchange jerseys with Cannavaro.

But facing Benfica was the first time Wang Shuo had encountered a truly strong team among Europe's elite.

David Lewis turns 23 this month, and he's truly exceptionally talented!
Then there's the match at the end of August last year, when Dortmund suffered a humiliating 0-5 defeat to Real Madrid during their centenary celebrations.

Pepe and Ramos also gave Wang Shuo a lot of trouble.

Are all the defenders of top European teams this fierce?

Wang Shuo felt a sense of crisis!

He felt that he was really not strong enough!
Despite his dominance in the Bundesliga, the Bundesliga is actually not that great these days.

At the very least, Wang Shuo has never encountered a center-back who can compare to Pepe, Ramos, or even David Luiz.

Subotic, Hummels, and Santana are considered very strong center-backs in the Bundesliga.

But after actual combat, Wang Shuo can confirm that none of them are as good as David Lewis.

This is just the center-back of a Portuguese league powerhouse.

Next, we'll face Premier League giants, as well as Serie A, Ligue 1, and La Liga giants.

Perhaps because he came from a country with a weak football tradition, or perhaps because he came from a mountain village, Wang Shuo found himself to have a very serious sense of crisis.

But he happens to be a stubborn Virgo.

Therefore, Wang Shuo's approach was simple and direct: to continuously make himself stronger.

Getting stronger and stronger!

"It seems I need to change my plans!" Wang Shuo thought to himself.

He originally wanted to accumulate some passive points to quickly upgrade [Breathing] to the world level, unlock the domain skill, and see how much the improvement would be and how much help it would bring.

But it seems he can't afford to worry about that for now.

This season, Borussia Dortmund aims to qualify for both the Bundesliga and the Europa League.

After meeting David Lewis, Wang Shuo now has a very urgent need to improve his skills as soon as possible.

Only by becoming stronger can we bring him more security!
"Dude, what's wrong?"

While Wang Shuo was thinking, Subotic asked with concern.

Others were also concerned about Wang Shuo.

Klopp is a very charismatic head coach, and he creates a very good atmosphere in the locker room.

The relationships between people are quite good.

At least they're not the kind of office workers who cooperate on the field but go their separate ways off the field.

"Pass the ball to my feet more often in the second half!" Wang Shuo said.

Everyone was taken aback, but they all immediately nodded in agreement.

"Wang, the second half depends on you!" Weidenfeller said.

Incidentally, Kyle is injured again.

It's still the same old muscle problem; I'm currently missing training.

Therefore, the captain's armband for this game was once again worn by Weidenfeller.

While everyone was talking, Klopp quickly walked into the locker room.

As Uncle Beard walked, he clapped his hands vigorously, attracting everyone's attention.

"We're going to launch a counterattack in the second half!"

"We need to try and score another goal in this match, or at least leave Portugal with a draw!"

……

"The difficulties that once brought us disaster will, in turn, inspire us and make us stronger!"

David Lewis always kept this in mind.

It wasn't said by any Brazilian celebrity or writer.

He is from the legendary Brazilian captain Cafu, and he was speaking in France after losing the final in 1998.

David Lewis has always lived by this principle.

No matter what difficulties he encounters, he will bravely move forward and face them head-on.

This is also his style on the field.

Wang Shuo is indeed a very difficult guy to deal with!
So far in this match, Benfica has received three yellow cards: Luisio, Javi Garcia, and David Luis.

All three yellow cards were issued because of Wang Shuo.

During halftime, head coach Jesus specifically reminded them to be careful with their movements.

But David Lewis was not afraid at all.

After the start of the second half, he continued to chase Wang Shuo.

Whenever Wang Shuo tried to get the ball, David Luiz would rush over immediately.

Whether it's physical confrontation or grabbing and kicking, he will do everything he can to cause trouble for Wang Shuo.

They might even say some trash talk.

To David Lewis’s great surprise, none of this worked on Wang Shuo.

Wang Shuo is like a guy who never loses his temper, always remains calm and rational, and always makes the right judgments.

This made David Lewis realize Wang Shuo's strength.

But it also excited him!

He enjoys challenging strong opponents!
At the start of the second half, Dortmund attacked fiercely, but still failed to break through Benfica's goal.

joke.

As a renowned Portuguese coach, Jesus is best known for his ability to develop defenses.

David Luiz has made great progress under his management and is the best center-back in the Portuguese league this season.

After Dortmund launched a series of attacks, the Bundesliga team, as rumored, gradually slowed down its offensive and began to falter.

Their style of play is very aggressive and threatening.

But there's too little physical strength!

They wouldn't even last 90 minutes!
The change in rhythm is very noticeable when the time increases from 60 minutes to 70 minutes.

Dortmund is finished!
Di Maria, Aimar, and other forwards began to exert their strength.

In the 70th minute, Jesus made a substitution.

Forward Nuno Gomez replaced right-back Pereira.

At this point, Benfica's defense consisted of three players.

Coentrán, David Luiz, and Luiz O.

However, Ramirez, playing on the right flank of the midfield, actively tracks back to defend, which somewhat compensates for the weakness in the right flank defense.

Everyone at Benfica knew Jesus's intentions perfectly well.

He was not satisfied with the 2-1 score and wanted to take advantage of home field to further extend the lead.

Because the second leg, a week later, will be played at Westfalenstadion!

Dortmund made no substitutions.

David Lewis's task remains the same: to follow Wang Shuo.

This guy can run really fast.

When others slowed down, Wang Shuo started running even faster and more.

In the 79th minute, Dortmund intercepted the ball on the left flank, and Schmelzer launched a counter-attack.

Ramirez followed closely behind Schmelzer.

Javi Garcia, Luio, and others all moved toward this side.

But David Lewis had his sights set on Wang Shuo.

He noticed that Wang Shuo also wanted to move to the right flank.

But then he changed his mind at the last minute.

David Lewis understood the situation at a glance.

Schmelzer and Reus were on this side, and Götze also went over there.

Three players, plus Sahin supporting from the left side of midfield.

At the very least, there are enough people.

David Lewis realized this and immediately focused all his attention on Wang Shuo.

He believes in his Benfica teammates!
And indeed, Benfica once again thwarted Dortmund's counter-attack down the left flank.

The ball cannot be moved out from the left flank.

David Luiz noticed that Wang Shuo was constantly observing the left side, and he immediately realized that Luiz had left the penalty area and was a bit too far away from him.

The entire left side of the penalty area is now empty.

Wang Shuo wants to take advantage of this?
David Lewis had just noticed when he saw Wang Shuo run to the left, still raising his hand to ask for the ball.

The Brazilians were taken aback, but immediately followed.

Schmelzer chipped the ball over the defenders and into the left side of the penalty area.

But David Lewis stayed right behind Wang Shuo, giving him no opening whatsoever.

Moreover, these high balls that are lobbed are difficult to receive.

David Luiz stayed close to Wang Shuo, blocking him from the goal.

But as the ball came down, Wang Shuo, in his rapid movement, stopped the ball with the inside of his left foot and immediately stopped and turned around.

David Lewis vowed that all his attention was focused on Wang Shuo.

He immediately noticed Wang Shuo stopping the ball, and he also stopped abruptly as well, immediately closing in to try and prevent him from turning around.

But he was still a step too slow.

Wang Shuo moved very quickly.

But most importantly, that first touch was absolutely brilliant!

When the ball hit the inside of his left foot, it bounced almost without any rebound, as if all its force had been dissipated, and it fell straight down. This provided Wang Shuo with great convenience for his next move after stopping and turning around.

David Lewis came up, but he was still too slow.

After Wang Shuo turned around, he took a step laterally towards the penalty spot in the middle.

David Luiz was shocked and immediately realized something was wrong. He took a step forward and saw out of the corner of his eye that Coentrao was coming to block him. He gritted his teeth and immediately made a sliding tackle from the byline.

He wasn't trying to tackle.

Instead, he had to use his body to block Wang Shuo's shot.

He guessed it right!

Wang Shuo cut inside and took a step, then immediately shot.

But he was still too slow.

The ball had already been shot before he could block it.

An incredibly fast ground slash!
The football has nestled into the right side of Benfica's goal!
2 is better than 2!

(End of this chapter)