72 Fighting Barcelona

After returning from Liverpool, Yang Cheng began to prepare for the final competition for the Bundesliga championship, because with the end of the Cup of Winners, Kaiserslautern ushered in three decisive matches in which the championship belonged.

We challenge Mainz away, Wolfsburg at home, Hertha Berlin away, and Hertha Berlin away. All of the opponents in the three games were direct opponents of Kaiserslautern's championship and promotion to the first place. In addition, the points have been shortened to 7 points, so we may capsize in the gutter at any time, and we will be careless for a moment.

Fortunately, with Fanny's enlightenment, Kaiserslautern has two major strikers, Marshall and Fanny, and with wing stars such as Denilson, Desler, and Fritz, Kaiserslautern's offense is invincible in the German Second Division.

On March 23, Kaiserslautern challenged Mainz away, and Yang Cheng rotated the team, while Lucio, Kyle and Luis Hutt replaced Bremer in the back line. In the midfield, Yang Cheng used Deco to replace the starter of the recent consecutive games in Perron.

Although the team's starting lineup changed drastically, the players' state and strength should not be underestimated. Mainz was at home but launched a defensive counterattack. Kaiserslautern took the lead and played offensive football. In the 25th and 68th minutes, Marshall and Barack laid the advantage of the game for Kaiserslautern.

2:0 away defeat to Mainz, Kaiserslautern won two consecutive league wins.

A week later, the team welcomed Wolfsburg at home. This time, Yang Cheng did not hold back and sent all the main players to play, and knocked down his main competitors cleanly and 4:0. Wolfsburg was completely smoothed out by the Red Devils in this game, while Marshall further established his throne as the scorer in the German Second Division with his hat trick in this game.

With the power of three consecutive wins in the Bundesliga, Kaiserslautern entered the April schedule.

On April 6, he challenged Hertha Berlin away.

In order to prepare for the away game to challenge Paris Saint-Germain on the 10th, Yang Cheng rotated the game again, and finally unfortunately tied with Hertha Berlin 1:1 away.

But on April 10, Yang Cheng led the team to Paris to challenge Paris Saint-Germain away.

Paris Saint-Germain, who is at home, has shown the power of defending the champion, and also hopes to rely on its home advantage to crush this weak team from the second-level German league, especially Joel Butz, who even shouted the slogan of ending the battle in the first round.

However, in the game, Kaiserslautern, who has always been known for his 343 offensive football, suddenly changed to 451. The defense line was Bremer, Kosch, Kyle and Clemens Fritz from left to right. Gattuso served as the right forward, Nedved, Peron and Barack were lined up in the midfield, Denilson was more forward and more free, and Marshall was at the front alone.

Yang Cheng's sudden change of formation caught Joel Butz off guard because according to the information he had collected before, Kaiserslautern's tactics have always been mainly 343, but now it has transformed version 451 of the change of formation 442, which is indeed a bit surprising.

At the beginning of the game, when the roster was announced, the outside world was shocked by Yang Cheng's tactics. After all, Kaiserslautern has not played such tactics this season. Although there were strategies to change the formation in major competitions before, few achieved results.

Amidst the doubts, only Yang Cheng himself knew that in the super coach assist system, the running-in degree of the first formation 343 reached 74 points, and the running-in degree of the 442 arranged before and often practiced in training also reached 63 points, so it is no problem to use it in the competition.

Besides, the tactical formation has changed, but Kaiserslautern's bones are still the same as Yang Cheng instilled in his heart.

As the game progressed, everyone gradually discovered something that Kaiserslautern's tactics restrained Paris Saint-Germain's starting lineup.

Originally, in this set of tactics, Lai Yi and Leonardo on the wing were the most threatening players, but now Yang Cheng is specifically targeting this point, focusing on attacking the wing and using Denilson to restrain Leonardo. With Denilson's personal ability on the wing and the support of Bremer and Nedved behind him, Leonardo did not dare to take the initiative.

In the middle, Gattuso, Veron and Barackza tightened the camp. While joining forces to freeze Lai, they cut off the connection between Paris Saint-Germain's midfield and backcourt. In addition, Kyle, who can be up and down, Kaiserslautern arranged heavy troops in the middle.

Clemens Fritz on the right cooperated with Gattuso to control the offense and defense on the right, and even frequently rushed forward to create murderous intent, making Paris Saint-Germain's offense seem so worried.

Under this set of tactics, Paris Saint-Germain's offense has been unable to open up the situation. Instead, Kaiserslautern, who relied on the sidelines, has relied on the recent form of Denilson. The latter has brought great danger to Paris Saint-Germain on the left and middle. His personal breakthrough is almost unpredictable.

In the 62nd minute of the second half, Kaiserslautern intercepted the ball and counterattacked. Peron made a long pass and found Denilsen on the left. The Brazilian made a beautiful cross after passing. Olaf Marshall beat Paul Legon in the penalty area and scored a header, 0:1!

This score was maintained until the end of the game. Kaiserslautern relied on his bold team change with targeted tactics and unexpectedly surprised the away game, temporarily leading Paris Saint-Germain 1:0. This result immediately made Red Devils fans excited, but since Dortmund and Schalke 04 both won both in the Champions League and the League Cup, Kaiserslautern's victory did not cause much riot.

Back at Kaiserslautern, the team immediately defeated the visiting Leipzig 4-1 at home after a rotation. Dutch scored twice again, showing his outstanding goal-scoring state, especially the confidence he showed in the game, which made Yang Cheng absolutely reasonable for his future.

Every forward must develop this confidence through continuous goals. Only by gaining this confidence can they dare to shoot boldly in the game. Now Fanny is walking on such a path. As he becomes more and more confident, his performance will get better and better.

However, in the 26th round of the league, in the away game against Gutslo, Yang Cheng rotated most of the team's main lineups in order to prepare for the European Cup against Paris Saint-Germain at home. In the end, he was forced to draw by the conservative Gutslo 1:1 away. Deco scored a winning goal, and Fanny's continuous goals were temporarily ended.

But it is gratifying that Kaiserslautern, who returned to home, returned to his familiar tactics of 343, and with two goals from Marshall and Perron, he defeated Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 at home. Lai scored an equalizer for Paris Saint-Germain in the first half, but at the beginning of the second half, Perron's direct free kick once again surpassed the score.

After the two rounds, Kaiserslautern eliminated Paris Saint-Germain with a total score of 3:1, and incredibly entered the European Cup finals.

In Fiorentina, although Purple Lily fought tenaciously in the first round and tied the powerful Barcelona 1:1 away with the goal of the God of War Batistuta in the 65th minute, Bati received a red card at the last moment and had to miss the second round, which led to Rui Costa's solemn defeat at Barcelona 0:2 at home, and tragically left the European Cup of Winners with a total score of 1:3.

In this way, the two teams in the 1996/97 European Cup final were born, Kaiserslautern from the German Second Division, against the super giant Barcelona from the Spanish League One. The time was scheduled on May 14, and the final was held at the Dekuip Stadium in Feyenoord, Rotterdam, Netherlands.

In other words, from the second leg of the semi-finals to the finals, it only took 20 days in total. Judging from the preparations, it was indeed a bit too hasty, especially facing Barcelona, ​​where superstars gathered.

Sitting on the sofa in his office, the TV in front was playing the game between Barcelona and Florence again and again.

Although many people in the outside world think that Barcelona was tied by Fiorentina at home in the first round, it was very embarrassing, but in fact, those who have really watched the game and understood the two-round knockout confrontation know that Fiorentina seemed to have taken advantage of the first round, but in fact it laid the foreshadowing for the second round.

Barcelona, ​​who plays at home, are undoubtedly powerful. Ronaldo, Figo, Enrique, and Guardiola are all the top stars in today's football world. The offensive combination composed of them is undoubtedly the most terrifying thing in today's football world.

"If I remember correctly, Barcelona's number of goals in La Liga this season will exceed 100, and it seems to be 102!" Yang Cheng said to himself with a wry smile.

Think about it, in the 2009/10 season, after Real Madrid bought many superstars such as Ronaldo, Kaka, Alonso, Benzema, Pellegrini's team scored 102 goals in La Liga, and the competition in the La Liga at that time was far inferior to that now.

It is conceivable that the team's offense is powerful.

Of course, although Barcelona has a strong offense this season, there are many loopholes in defense. At least the reason why Bobby Robson's team is now 8 points behind Real Madrid is because Capello knows how to defend better than Robson.

However, in Spain, fans agree more with Robson and disdain Capello's football style.

When Kaiserslautern faces Barcelona, ​​defensive counterattack is a must. When playing against such a Barcelona team, it is definitely a lamp in the toilet and seeking death. But the key is how to defend and how to counterattack!

Just when Yang Cheng was having a headache, the office door was knocked.

"You're really here!" Paul Bayer and Tim Hank walked into the office one after another.

They came to Yang Cheng and sat down. They saw the video of Barcelona's game being played repeatedly on TV, as well as a frown Yang Cheng.

"It's already past 7 o'clock, aren't you going to eat?" Tim asked with a concern.

"Oh, damn it!" Yang Cheng patted his forehead hard, "I just watched the video and forgot the time."

The three of them immediately laughed.

From the moment I heard that the winners' Cup finals were against Barcelona, ​​Yang Cheng looked worried.

It is easy to understand, because nowadays, few people in the world will be optimistic about Kaiserslautern, unless they are teams that want to make a big splash and bet on Kaiserslautern to the end.

"Although most media are singing tragic songs to us now, no one praises us!" Paul Bayer saw that Yang Cheng was in a bad mood and deliberately changed the topic.

"Oh? Singing praises?" Yang Cheng found this word very interesting.

"At least we have defended the tradition of the Cup of Winners again and rejected the defending title of Paris Saint-Germain!"

Yang Cheng was stunned at first after hearing this, but soon burst into laughter, diluting some of the pressure brought by Barcelona's strength. However, the giant Barcelona was always the shadow that was entrenched in Yang Cheng's heart.

In the history of the Cup Winners, there have been six championships last season that have reached the finals of this season, and the intention to defend the title has happened, but no team has ever successfully defended the title, and Paris Saint-Germain this season is no exception.

In fact, Yang Cheng knew that even without the appearance of Kaiserslautern, Paris Saint-Germain would not have beaten Barcelona, ​​because this is almost one of the most powerful teams in football today. Needless to say, just think about it, what a grand scene it would be for Ronaldo, Figo and Guardiola to gather together to have a team.

"Although the pot-making maker Ranieri's Fiorentina's record this season is not good, it is still one of the strongest teams in the Serie A. Batistuta and Rui Costa's cooperation is even more perfect, but they still lose to Barcelona. This cannot be said to be just because of a red card from Batistuta!"

You should know that in the second leg, Ronaldo scored a goal first at the beginning, but the call was invalid. Otherwise, the result of this game should be a 3-0 victory. Although Fiorentina's defeat came from Ranieri's conservative style, Barcelona's strength is unquestionable.

Another point is the league schedule and the influence from Real Madrid.

The first leg was between the 32nd and 33rd rounds of La Liga. In the 32nd round, Real Madrid unexpectedly tied by a weak team at home. This was definitely a godsend opportunity for Barcelona, ​​which was widened by Real Madrid. Therefore, in the mid-week match against Fiorentina, Barcelona seemed a little distracted, and their minds were all put on the away game to challenge Atletico Madrid on the weekend.

As a result, the first leg was tied, but Barcelona narrowed the gap between itself and Real Madrid from 9 points to 7 points. The Barcelona people saw hope of turning defeat into victory.

However, in the next two rounds of the league, Barcelona unexpectedly lost to Valadolid away, while Real Madrid was tied by Valencia away. The gap between the two teams widened to 8 points. With 7 rounds left in the league, the gap is no longer enough.

In addition, the La Liga was suspended for two weeks, and Barcelona began to devote all their energy to the Cup of Winners, so the second round of victory over Purple Lily appeared.

"I saw the schedule of La Liga. On May 11, Barcelona welcomed Real Madrid at the Camp Nou Stadium in the 37th round of La Liga. The current difference in points between the two teams is 8 points. As long as the two teams do not continue to widen the score gap in the 36th round, Barcelona will definitely do their best in this game!"

Paul Bayer pointed to a La Liga schedule in front of him and introduced the situation of the La Liga to Yang Cheng.

With 3 points in a game, as long as you win Real Madrid at home, the gap between Barcelona and Real Madrid will narrow to 5 points, and there are 6 rounds left in the league, and everything is possible!

When Yang Cheng thought of this, he couldn't help but begin to agree with Paul Bayer's analysis.

"In the 38th round, on May 17, Barcelona will challenge Celta away. As long as the situation in the 37th round is slightly tilted towards Barcelona, ​​Bobby Robson will have no reason to give up this game. By then, the mid-week Cup final will definitely be affected!" Paul Bayer continued to analyze.

"But with Real Madrid's momentum this season, it is unlikely that Barcelona will overtake. Will they really affect this nearly sure final for the unknown situation?" Tim Hank felt that Bobby Robson was unlikely to be like this.

But Yang Cheng suddenly laughed and said with great certainty: "Yes, I will definitely do it!"

Others may not know the grudges and entanglements between Barcelona and Real Madrid, but Yang Cheng knows it clearly. Although the hatred between the two teams has not been completely intensified, the importance of the century derby is self-evident. Coupled with the influence of league points, Bobby Robson will definitely do his best in the home game against Real Madrid.

This is the opportunity for Kaiserslautern!

When Yang Cheng thought of this, he felt relieved. The feeling that he was almost breathless just now was relieved.

Being a head coach is indeed abusive, especially in terms of pressure and attack on the head coach. If Yang Cheng is just a fan, he will think that if Kaiserslautern plays Barcelona, ​​if he loses, he will be injured and uncomfortable, but his life will continue and his life will continue as usual.

But being a head coach cannot do it, because this game is related to the efforts and hard work of every player on the team for a season. They put all their hopes on Yang Cheng. Yang Cheng's decision may at any time reject their efforts throughout the season.

It was only at this time that Yang Cheng could understand why there were often so many players who left the team that had treated him well. The reason was just because they could not win the championship. If there was no one who had experienced it personally, it would be impossible to understand that kind of frustration.

Now Yang Cheng wants to prevent this frustration from coming to his team as much as possible!

At the same time, he also had to start thinking about how to develop a training and game plan for the team in the next 20 days to the final against Barcelona. He even decided to use the achievement points in the super coach assistance system and make every effort to adjust the players' state and morale so that they can reach a complete peak state when facing Barcelona.
Chapter completed!