"Ricardo Rodriguez is stepping up to take this set piece..."
"The cross is in!"
The ball traced a beautiful arc in the air, flying straight toward the space above Chelsea's penalty area.
Inside the box, the two center-backs, Naldo and De Vrij, were jostling for position with Terry and Cahill.
At the far post, Mark was entangled with Ivanović.
Even under pressure from Terry, Wolfsburg's tallest aerial threat, Naldo, leaped high and got a flick on the ball.
The ball redirected, flying right toward the far post of the goal.
At that moment, Mark used a screen from Gustavo to break free from Ivanović's marking!
"The chance is here!"
He met the ball with a header—thump!—and the ball flew straight toward the top of the goal...
Clang!
The ball struck the top of the crossbar and flew out of bounds for a goal kick.
"Wow!"
"So close!"
"Just five centimeters off! Mark almost became the hero again!"
Witnessing Mark miss the equalizer header, a collective sigh erupted from the stands of the Volkswagen Arena.
Many fans held their heads in their hands, looking on in disbelief.
They hadn't expected Mark to head the ball over while completely unmarked!
Even Mark himself was dissatisfied with the result, frowning and shaking his head.
However, as a winger who had never specifically trained for headers, one couldn't ask for too much in terms of heading ability.
The fact that he could shake off Ivanović's tight marking and reach the spot was already an over-performance!
After all, he wasn't Cristiano Ronaldo...
Following that, Wolfsburg continued to launch wave after wave of fierce attacks at home.
But Chelsea, defending with everything they had, was like an impregnable fortress; no matter how Wolfsburg attacked, they couldn't break down the door!
They even left huge gaps behind them because their formation was pushed too far forward, which the opponents exploited!
In the 78th minute, during a Wolfsburg offensive turn.
De Bruyne drifted to the right wing to receive the ball, and after a wall-pass combination with Perišić, he found space to cross.
He sent in a curling cross that bypassed Cahill at the near post and entered the box.
However, it was headed away by a deep-lying Terry, falling right in front of the defensive midfielder, Matić.
The Serbian iron man controlled the ball with his chest, looked up to scan both wings, and then sent a through ball to Willian, who was surging up the right!
Because Ricardo Rodriguez had pushed up to assist the attack, there was no one to stop Willian ahead!
Willian accelerated with the ball, quickly reaching the right side of the edge of the penalty area, and then sent a low cross straight in!
Costa, making a central run, arrived just in time and slotted it home; the ball shot out and went straight into the top corner.
Because the distance was so short and the ball Speed so fast, Benaglio couldn't stop the ball from flying over his head even with his hands up, as it slammed into the net!
With a simple and efficient counter-attack, Chelsea extended their lead again!
This also highlighted the vulnerability of Wolfsburg's backline.
As the formation pushed forward, the space behind the defense became as vast as an ocean!
Against a team like Chelsea that specialized in counter-attacks, it was practically a guaranteed hit every time!
"It took Chelsea only fifteen seconds from the clearance to the goal!"
"This goal perfectly demonstrates Chelsea's counter-attacking Speed!"
Watching helplessly as his team's defense was torn apart by a counter-attack and conceding again, Mark couldn't help but furrow his brows.
Facing this Chelsea side in peak form, he felt for the first time like he was punching cotton—there was nowhere to apply his strength.
Even when facing the Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, he hadn't felt this kind of frustration.
"As expected of a Premier League powerhouse! As expected of Mourinho!"
As Chelsea extended their lead, the originally aggressive Wolfsburg felt like they had a bucket of cold water poured over their heads.
A one-goal deficit could be equalized with a little more effort.
But a two-goal deficit was enough to make people want to give up.
However, the Wolfsburg players hadn't given up yet!
After the restart, the Wolfsburg players in green shirts and white shorts continued to push their formation forward in a fierce attack.
The home fans weren't discouraged either; they sang the team song in unison to cheer on the trailing team.
Unfortunately, against a Chelsea side defending with everything, even Wolfsburg, the most prolific offense in the Bundesliga, found it difficult to find a clear-cut chance.
With a wave of Hecking's hand, Mark swapped sides with Perišić and moved to the right wing.
Facing the younger Azpilicueta, Mark played even more simply.
When he got the ball, he would just use his Speed to beat him, and once he opened up space, he'd send in a 45-degree cross!
Or he would play pass-and-move combinations with De Bruyne, trying to reach the byline as much as possible for a cutback cross.
Unfortunately, Chelsea, having learned their lesson, protected the edge of the box very well this time.
They gave no space for De Bruyne or other Wolfsburg players to make late runs for long-range shots.
Thump!
De Bruyne's long shot from the edge of the box was blocked by Terry once again.
As the ball went out, the referee looked at his watch and blew the final whistle!
~~~~~~
"The match is over!"
"Chelsea has defeated Wolfsburg away from home!"
"It was a brilliant contest..."
Thanks to a brace from the "rugged beauty" Costa and a goal from Hazard, Chelsea defeated Wolfsburg 3-1 at the Volkswagen Arena, avenging their first-round home loss!
In their two head-to-head meetings, both sides took one win and one loss, essentially ending in a draw.
As a team whose squad strength and market value couldn't compare to their opponents, being able to hold the unbeaten Premier League leaders Chelsea to a draw across two legs was enough to prove this Wolfsburg team's strength.
Unfortunately, on a tactical level, Wolfsburg was completely outclassed by Chelsea.
In this match, Mourinho had fully learned from the first-round loss and implemented a zonal marking system against Mark.
Besides creating targeted strategies to limit the opponent's core player, he also had a clear understanding of the game's progression and adjusted his tactics at any time.
In contrast, Hecking relied more on the players' performance on the pitch, and his tactical instructions were not very clear.
Furthermore, he didn't target the two core players, Hazard and Fàbregas, enough to provide sufficient restriction.
From this, it was evident that the level of the two coaches was indeed quite different.
While losing to the Premier League leaders Chelsea was not shameful.
However, this defeat was a blow to Wolfsburg's momentum and morale.
Most crucially, it affected the team's chances of qualifying for the Champions League knockout stages!
Because, in the other match of the same group that ended at the same time, Sporting CP had defeated Maribor 3-1 at home!
As a result, Chelsea had 10 points after five matches, basically securing a qualifying spot.
Sporting CP had 8 points, sitting in second place in the group.
As for Wolfsburg, they were in third with 5 points.
With this defeat, Wolfsburg's qualifying situation suddenly became precarious.
In the final group match against Maribor, even if they won, they would only be level on points with Sporting CP.
And they would be kept below Sporting CP due to goal difference!
In other words, for Wolfsburg to qualify, they had to win the final round.
And they would have to score five or more goals to overtake Sporting CP on goal difference and qualify as group runners-up!
While not impossible.
However, this requirement was very harsh and difficult to achieve.
Returning to the dressing room, the Wolfsburg players also learned of the team's current difficult qualifying situation.
Many players couldn't help but think to themselves: "If we had won this match, we would have basically qualified..."
The Champions League was a grand stage that many professional players dreamed of.
If they could stay on this stage longer, not only would the team gain more exposure and prize money, but the players themselves could attract the attention of more top clubs.
Many players had used the Champions League platform to realize their dreams of moving to the top five Leagues or "marrying into" a giant club!
For example, the current midfield core of Wolfsburg, De Bruyne.
It was during the Champions League group stages while playing for the Belgian team Genk that De Bruyne performed exceptionally well against Chelsea, leading to Chelsea noticing and signing him.
It was just that De Bruyne's career at Stamford Bridge was not smooth, and he was eventually sold by the Blues to Wolfsburg.
Of course, without that period of stagnation at Chelsea, there wouldn't be the De Bruyne of today...
After attending the press conference, Hecking returned to the dressing room and felt the low spirits emanating from his disciples.
In the dressing room, no one spoke; they were all silently digesting the loss and the cruel reality that they likely wouldn't qualify from the Champions League group stage.
"Guys, losing this match doesn't mean we should be dejected!"
"Heads up!"
Hearing their head coach's words, the Wolfsburg players looked up in unison.
"There's always a reason for a loss. It's a fact that we didn't play well enough at home."
"Whether it's the coaching staff or the players, everyone shares the responsibility."
"However, what we need to do next is go back to the training ground and take the positive things from this failure!"
Although in terms of tactical theory and level, Hecking was far behind Mourinho.
However, his management skills were very good.
He was especially good at uniting players and maintaining a good dressing room atmosphere, making sure the team's efforts were directed toward the same goal and their hearts were aligned.
And with Hecking's wave of comfort, everyone's mood after the loss eased significantly.
However, the news of Wolfsburg losing at home and losing the initiative to qualify had already become a trending topic in Germany!
As the unbeaten leaders of the Bundesliga, how could they struggle to even qualify from the Champions League group stage?
This also caused many media outlets to be quite surprised.
Many Bayern fans and Wolfsburg haters began to pop up on social media: "See, I told you Wolfsburg would definitely fall behind..."
"They can't even get out of the Champions League group, what a joke..."
"This is the strength of the Bundesliga leaders?"
Indeed.
This season, four teams represented the Bundesliga in the Champions League: Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Wolfsburg, and Leverkusen.
Except for Wolfsburg, the other three teams had all secured their qualifying spots after five rounds of group matches.
Only Wolfsburg was the embarrassment.
However, the funniest part of this result wasn't that Wolfsburg fell behind, but that these three Bundesliga teams that qualified from the Champions League group stage—except for Dortmund—had all been defeated by the Wolfsburg that failed to qualify!
This left fans of other Leagues completely bewildered:
Is the level of the Bundesliga too high, or is the level of the Bundesliga too low?!
Actually, a record of one win, two draws, and two losses in five matches wasn't considered bad for a Wolfsburg team returning to the Champions League after several years.
One had to know that in this Wolfsburg squad, only a few people like Olić, Gustavo, Perišić, and Benaglio had actually played in the Champions League before.
As a "Champions League newcomer" whose main players were mostly young men in their twenties, Wolfsburg's journey in the Champions League this season started high and ended low.
Starting from the first round when they pulled off an upset by beating Chelsea away, everyone thought Wolfsburg was not only going to be a dark horse in the Bundesliga but also run rampant in the Champions League!
However, in the following two Champions League group matches, while their momentum in the League was strong, Wolfsburg was held to a draw by Maribor and lost at home to Sporting CP.
Of course, Wolfsburg's unbeaten record in the League this season had, to some extent, raised fans' expectations for the team.
Now, the result of basically being unable to qualify from the Champions League made them feel a huge sense of disappointment.
And Bild provided a sharp analysis and evaluation of Wolfsburg's Champions League journey: "This is the consequence of insufficient squad depth and playing on two fronts!"
"It's clear that Wolfsburg's focus is still on the League; they rotated their squad in three Champions League matches..."
"In the Champions League, which is filled with strong teams, Wolfsburg's competitiveness is still lacking."
"In the final round against Maribor, it's almost impossible for them to advance."
"However, fortunately, if they drop into the Europa League, there aren't many teams that can stop this Wolfsburg side..."
And the article in Bild also woke up the Wolfsburg management, as well as the players and fans.
Looking at it from another perspective, not qualifying was also a good thing.
Because with Wolfsburg's squad strength and depth, even if they qualified from the Champions League group, they wouldn't go far.
They would likely be knocked out in the first round of the knockout stages.
However, if they dropped into the secondary Europa League as the third-placed team in the group, the situation would be different!
Compared to the Champions League, which was full of strong teams, the opponents in the Europa League were definitely a level lower.
Although there were also teams dropping down from the Champions League, as well as strong teams already participating like Inter Milan, Tottenham, Napoli, and Sevilla.
But at least there was some possibility of challenging for the title...
Of course, although qualifying was now only a theoretical possibility.
However, they still had to wait until after the sixth round of matches to be certain.
One had to know that the opponent Maribor also had two points.
If Maribor defeated Wolfsburg at home, then the team taking third place in the group wouldn't be Wolfsburg, but Maribor!
Given that they were held to a draw by Maribor at home in the first leg.
In the second leg at Maribor's home, they had to defend their spot in the Europa League Round of 32 with a victory!
.....
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