There is a belief called football

Chapter 372 Five vs. Five Midfield

Ever played Go?
When playing Go, when you encounter an opponent stronger than yourself, you will have a feeling that it seems that there are roads everywhere, but you can’t go out. Every step is suppressed by the opponent, and in the end you find that you are all surrounded.

The situation in Dortmund is almost like this now. Juventus' five major midfielders have strong personal abilities. They can basically intercept the pass of Dortmund's midfielder, of course it is a short pass close to the ground.

Klopp stood on the sidelines and kept observing the game on the field, turning his head to the left for a while, and turning his head to the right for a while. Today's Dortmund's style of play is a bit like the Premier League's "Hull City", basically all high balls.

There is a joke in the Premier League, if you have cervical spondylosis, then go to a "Hull City" game, because the ball is flying in the air, and you watch the whole game with your head up.

Now Klopp will not make personnel changes for the time being. He keeps whistling and asks the players to stand in their positions. Klopp hopes to return to the locker room with a ball advantage and then make the deployment for the second half.

"Allegri" at Juventus is not in a hurry at all. Time is Juventus' friend. As time goes by, Juventus' advantage will definitely become bigger and bigger.

At the end of the first half, as "Klopp" wished, the Dortmund players walked off the field with a one-ball advantage, but when they left the field, if you just looked at their expressions, you would think that Juventus was leading. The Dortmund players were panting heavily, looking like tired dogs.

*****
In the locker room, Klopp did not speak immediately. He asked everyone to drink some water first, and asked the physiotherapist to massage and relax the trident in the frontcourt and Hummels in the back line. After a 5-minute rest, Klopp began to talk.

"We played well in the first half, Li Qiao's goal was beautiful",
But the players did not give Klopp an enthusiastic response. Everyone knows that the scene is very passive, and there is a feeling of being pinched. This feeling is very uncomfortable. Even if the score is temporarily ahead, it cannot relieve the depression in the players' hearts.

"Coach, if this continues, our physical fitness will not be as good as Juventus in the second half," Subotic said.

Klopp nodded, "I know, but we don't have a high center forward. We were behind in the last game. I sent "Hummels" to play the center forward, but we are ahead in this game. I will not take risks. Except for "Hummels", no one in our team can play the role of fulcrum in Juventus' penalty area."

"Coach, let me try," Li Qiao said.

Klopp smiled. He appreciated Li Qiao's courage, "Joe, you have not been trained as a center forward, which means you don't know how a center forward should handle the ball."

Hearing this, the fool also knew what to do, "Hummels" volunteered, "Coach, let me go, put on "Papa", and I will go up and play center."

Klopp put his hand on the shoulder of "Hummels" and said: "Sit down, I have already figured out a way, but...".

"what"?
"It just takes an adventure."

Although Klopp has pointed out that there will be risks, the players still look forward to it.

"Well, in the second half, I want to put Royce and Aubameyang back in the midfield. We play a 451 formation, 5 vs. 5 in the midfield, and maybe we can limit the opponent."

"That's a great idea, what's the risk"?Everyone thought.

This idea looks great, but most people can’t see it. The problem with this move is very big. The reason why Juventus did not attack in the first half was actually because they were afraid of Dortmund’s trident. Dortmund’s Li Qiao, Reus, and Aubameyang are like "nuclear deterrence".

In the second half, if Royce and Aubameyang retreated, although the midfield was strengthened, the deterrence in the frontcourt was gone. Klopp didn't know which was more important, but he knew that doing so would be risky.

Klopp also told everyone his own thoughts. After hearing this, the players also understood that the current situation is very delicate. Should they take risks?No one knows.

"That is to say, the key to this method is whether Li Qiao alone can maintain the pressure on Juventus' defense," Hummels said.

"Don't worry, Coach, I won't run to death, and I'm not afraid of getting tired," Li Qiao said.

After hearing this, Klopp was very relieved. For a talented and hardworking person like Li Qiao, which coach would not like him?

"Then it's settled like this," Klopp finally made a decision.

*****
At the beginning of the second half, both sides did not make substitutions, and the formation of "Dortmund" has undergone obvious changes. "Allegri" was happy when he saw it, "Isn't Klopp helping me?"
He waved his hand to signal the midfielder to press forward, and now there is no need to have any fear of "Dortmund".

In the second half, Dortmund kicked off, but the five Juventus midfielders wrapped Dortmund like dumplings. Soon, the ball fell to Juventus.

The ball missed, but "Allegri" applauded vigorously, and at the same time turned around to look at "Llorente" on the bench proudly, "I still have a big killer in my arsenal. Let's see how I beat Dortmund in the second half."

In the first 5 minutes of the second half, Juventus showed an overwhelming advantage. Klopp frowned and shook his head from time to time, but he could not change at this time.

In the frontcourt, Li Qiao was alone after the second half started. He was running around alone. When the ball was in the left half, he would run to the left.

"What is this kid doing? Are you stupid? Why are you running around when you have no chance of getting the ball?"Chiellini thought.

After a few minutes, the situation did not improve. Li Qiao even wanted to go back to help defend. He looked at Klopp, but Klopp did not express his opinion.

What is Klopp thinking?
He has seen the World Cup, so he feels that Li Qiao is fully capable of fighting alone. As long as Dortmund can pass the ball to Li Qiao once, then Li Qiao will let Juventus know that he is afraid, and the opponent will not dare to press like this.

After 10 minutes of fighting, Juventus did not score. It seems that "Dortmund" is still very durable. "Allegri" is also quietly watching "Klopp". Seeing the latter's pensive look, Allegri thought: "What is this bearded man thinking?"
Following Klopp's eyes, Allegri saw Klopp looking at Li Qiao, "Hehe, you think he is Messi", Allegri thought to himself.

But as Juventus' offensive slowed down, Allegri was also reflecting on why he won't score in the second half?

After thinking about it, Allegri had a little clue. In the second half, Juventus pushed all Dortmund's midfielders into the penalty area. It seemed that they had a great advantage, but there was only so much space in the penalty area. The more people there were, the less space Juventus had to attack.

Thinking about this clearly, Allegri waved his hand back and retreated a little to give the opponent room to come out.

When Juventus changed formation, Dortmund's "Hummels" saw an opportunity. After he got out of the penalty area, he made a long pass. At a distance of nearly 60 meters, the ball was looking for Li Qiao.

Because Li Qiao has been preparing, when the ball flew over, Li Qiao was fully prepared. He was running towards the ball, but Juventus had three players in the backcourt. Three top central defenders faced one Li Qiao. What is Li Qiao's chance?
Chiellini, Bonucci, and Barzagli did not go towards the ball, but surrounded Li Qiao. While watching the direction of the ball, Li Qiao also noticed the position of the Juventus defenders.

"This ball can't stop", Li Qiao thought to himself.

The situation is obvious, as long as the ball is stopped, not to mention Li Qiao, even the omnipotent alien "Ronaldo" in the "Barcelona" era probably has nothing to do.

But this time the counterattack was too fast, Dortmund had no one in the frontcourt, Li Qiao could only rely on himself, so what should we do?
The only reasonable action is to shoot directly, there is no other way.

After making up his mind, Li Qiao observed Buffon's position for the last time, and then concentrated on watching the ball.

At this time, Buffon in front of the goal was not nervous. He moved to the small penalty area line, the purpose was to wait for "Bonucci" to steal the ball, and then he could respond. The only person in the audience who could think of Li Qiao at this time was "Klopp". He knew that Li Qiao would do that, for sure!
*****
When Li Qiao took the ball, Buffon was stunned for a moment, "This ball is too difficult", and then he realized that he was standing too far forward. When he just moved his feet, what he saw was nothing but the ball that had already entered the net. At this time, even the world-class Buffon was stunned, "What's the situation?"
The key to shooting is decisiveness, because Li Qiao has only one choice, so when he shoots, he is very decisive and has no distractions, so the instep completely covers the ball, the ball is drawn hard, with a strong drop, just like that, the ball is scored, Dortmund leads 2-0 in this game, and the total score becomes 3-1.

When leading by 1, Dortmund fans didn't dare to celebrate, but now, they released, the huge "TiFo" rose again, the audience turned high, all teammates rushed to hug Li Qiao, Hummels said: "Joe, we have been beaten for so long, your goal has made our efforts not in vain."

"The Italians think they can beat us Germans with more midfielders? Just dream," Weidenfeller said.

But Li Qiao was most grateful to Klopp. He looked at Klopp from a distance, and Klopp understood it with a look. Uncle Zha gave Li Qiao a thumbs up, and Li Qiao would smile heartily, with a very handsome expression.

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(End of this chapter)