Although Wolfsburg played as the away team, they took the initiative and suppressed Borussia Dortmund with their offensive.
However, as Wolfsburg's formation pushed forward, more gaps would inevitably be exposed behind them.
Borussia Dortmund, on the other hand, used a simple long-pass tactic to launch a highly threatening counterattack:
In the twenty-eighth minute of the match, Hummels got the ball in the backfield and suddenly sent a long overhead pass, finding the surging Immobile!
After shaking off Naldo, and before De Vrij could react, he passed the ball to Aubameyang, who was open on the right… "Aubameyang… shoots!"
"Woah!"
"Benaglio made a brilliant save!"
After parrying the ball out for a corner, Benaglio immediately got up from the ground and shouted to his teammates: "Don't give them the first touch!"
"Ricardo (Rodriguez)! You're too far up, fall back a bit!"
Hearing this, Rodriguez, who was out of position due to pushing up to assist, nodded, indicating he understood.
As a Bundesliga giant that had won the Bundesliga title twice and reached the Champions League final, Borussia Dortmund, no matter how bad their record was, still had some fight left.
In the next ten minutes, Borussia Dortmund's several counterattacks exploited the space behind Wolfsburg, repeatedly advancing into Wolfsburg's heartland and taking shots.
If Immobile's form hadn't been so poor, they might have equalized long ago.
Seeing the unfavorable situation, Hecking on the sidelines couldn't help but stand up from the bench and wave to his players on the field: "Fall back appropriately!"
"Don't push up too much!"
With a wave of Hecking's hand, Wolfsburg's formation retreated slightly, and the situation on the field also changed.
Borussia Dortmund gradually regained some initiative on the field, able to organize attacks more calmly.
However, after losing Reus and Mkhitaryan, the team's offensive capability was very worrying.
Wolfsburg only needed to maintain their formation and not press forward easily; Borussia Dortmund simply couldn't do anything to them.
As the game became less intense than at the beginning, the away fans noticed that their number ten seemed to have been quiet for a while.
In this match, Mark still had the most touches on the left wing for the entire team.
However, due to Borussia Dortmund's heavy presence on the right, which included Aubameyang dropping back to defend, Sven Bender assisting from the wing, and Schmelzer forming a triple encirclement, the space left for him to break through was very narrow.
No matter where he received the ball, Sven Bender would immediately mark him closely.
As the younger of the Bender brothers, Sven Bender was an intercepting defensive midfielder.
Although he didn't have many offensive attributes, he had excellent stamina and a large coverage area, making him most suitable for sweeping the midfield.
He was also very effective at limiting the opponent's key players.
However, he was up against Mark, who was infinitely close to the peak Ronaldinho!
With long-term practice of Coach stance training (stance training) and Horse stance (Horse stance), as well as specialized training designed by his fitness coach, his balance and physical confrontation abilities had significantly improved.
Whenever Bender tried various pulling and tugging fouls from behind, he still couldn't stop Mark from getting the ball.
After getting the ball, Mark didn't immediately turn and dribble past, but passed it out at the first opportunity.
Seeing this, many Borussia Dortmund fans felt that Mark was completely restricted by Bender and began to mock him: "Heh heh, you're so great, you've been frozen out, haven't you!"
"Aren't you good at dribbling? Why aren't you dribbling anymore?"
On the surface, Mark, Wolfsburg's explosive winger, seemed to have been completely neutralized by Borussia Dortmund's focused defensive strategy.
However, only Mark himself knew that he was deliberately lulling his opponent into a false sense of security!
Every time he passed the ball, it was to make his opponent think he was scared and didn't dare to forcefully turn and dribble in a crowded defense.
Then, when the opponent thought he really wouldn't try to break through, he would suddenly accelerate and catch them off guard!
And this trick, he had learned from Barça's tiki-taka tactic.
Barça's tiki-taka tactic is to first constantly confuse the opponent with a large number of short passes, and then suddenly accelerate the rhythm, a penetrating through ball or a perfectly coordinated one-two pass, directly breaking through the opponent's entire defense!
It's like how Messi often strolls around on the field.
Of course, strolling is not just strolling.
While strolling, he constantly observes the situation on the field and makes harmless runs.
Then, when the opponent starts to ignore him, he suddenly accelerates, receives the ball, dribbles past, and finishes!
This is also a manifestation of top players using their brains to play football on the field!
While running is very important in football, reading the game is even more important!
Only by reading the game and knowing the opponent's weaknesses and gaps can one control the game and defeat the opponent—soon, Mark's deceptive tactic paid off:
In the forty-third minute of the match, Wolfsburg had possession and attacked.
Gustavo got the ball in midfield and, seeing Mark drop back on the left and signal for the ball, he passed it without hesitation.
Although for the past ten minutes or so, Mark had immediately passed the ball after receiving it, completely lacking his usual fearless dribbling and breakthroughs.
However, Gustavo still firmly passed the ball to him.
In Hecking's tactical system, Mark was the absolute first choice for midfield distribution!
If Mark and De Bruyne asked for the ball at the same time, Gustavo would still pass the ball to Mark without hesitation.
No other reason, just because he never lost the ball when he had it!
As Mark stepped forward to receive the ball, Sven Bender perhaps thought Mark would pass it immediately, and thus did not mark him closely at first.
The next second, he saw Mark drag the ball and smoothly complete a turn.
"Hmm?"
"He actually didn't pass it back directly, but turned?!"
As he wondered internally, he couldn't help but Speed up, rushing towards Mark!
However, facing the aggressive Sven Bender, Wolfsburg's number ten once again displayed his exquisite technique:
He pushed the ball with his foot, and it passed right between Sven Bender's legs!
Feeling a chill between his legs, Sven Bender instinctively reached out to pull Mark, trying to prevent him from accelerating.
However, Mark pushed off the ground and accelerated, darting past him at an even faster Speed!
"A beautiful nutmeg!"
"Lane easily got past Bender!"
With Mark's sudden acceleration, Borussia Dortmund's entire defensive formation was instantly disrupted!
And De Bruyne in the middle seemed to have anticipated Mark's idea and immediately surged forward.
Sure enough, the next second, Mark passed the ball to him, coming to receive it in the center!
"K!"
Accompanied by a shout, De Bruyne played the ball first-time without stopping it, sending a through ball with moderate power!
The ball perfectly split the center-back and the full-back, appearing right on Mark's diagonal run!
Mark took a touch with his foot and smoothly carried the ball into the penalty area!
With just a simple one-two passing combination, Mark and De Bruyne, Wolfsburg's twin stars, had sliced through Borussia Dortmund's entire defense!
Facing Langerak, Mark's expression was stern; he unhesitatingly leaned his body to the left, raised his left hand high, and with the instep of his right foot, "thumped" the middle of the ball!
The next second, the ball shot out, drilling straight into the near corner of the goal!
Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Langerak didn't even have time to make a save, only instinctively raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.
Accompanied by the abrupt halt of the home crowd's cheers, the sudden roars of the away fans once again dominated the entire Westfalen Stadium!
"GOAL!!!"
"Absolutely brilliant!"
"This is a tacit agreement (tacit agreement) understanding between Wolfsburg's twin stars!"
"With just a one-two wall pass, Mark, like a sharp sword, pierced through Borussia Dortmund's heart!
"
"A fatal blow!"
"Mark continues his red-hot form in the League!"
After scoring, Mark ran to the sideline camera, pointed at his temple, as if saying: "Playing football requires brains!"
Then, he didn't forget to perform his signature celebration, snapping his fingers, caring for no one!
As Mark extended the lead to two-nil, the morale of Borussia Dortmund's players plummeted.
Fortunately, there was little time left in the first half.
The referee soon blew the whistle, signaling the end of the first half.
Both teams' players quickly left the field and returned to their locker rooms.
The home fans, who had been supporting their team with unreserved shouts and cheers, also felt somewhat disheartened.
They hadn't expected their team to not only concede goals repeatedly to Wolfsburg at home, but also to appear completely outplayed and led by the nose.
What happened to this Borussia Dortmund team, which once contended with Bayern for the championship and almost reached the pinnacle of Europe?
After a brief halftime break, the second half began with a change of ends.
For Borussia Dortmund, Klopp swapped Schmelzer, who was playing as an auxiliary right-back, with Drmic, who was on the left.
This change was clearly intended to strengthen the attack!
Wolfsburg, with a two-goal lead, continued to control the initiative on the field.
Compared to the first half where Borussia Dortmund repeatedly exploited the space behind them, in the second half, Wolfsburg leisurely controlled possession, enticing Borussia Dortmund to push up, and then counter-attacked quickly to exploit the space behind Borussia Dortmund!
Perhaps due to that goal in the first half, Mark felt a gaze filled with resentment and anger coming from behind him at the start of the second half.
That was Sven Bender's gaze!
If looks could kill, Mark would have been killed hundreds, even thousands of times by Bender!
Because of the second goal conceded in the first half, Sven Bender took responsibility for being out of position when marking and apologized to his teammates in the locker room during halftime.
Although Klopp and his teammates didn't blame him, instead comforting him and giving him a chance to redeem himself.
However, Sven Bender still felt very guilty.
Therefore, at the start of the second half, whether Mark had the ball or not, Sven Bender stayed tightly by his side, his eyes constantly fixed on Wolfsburg's number ten, not daring to look away for a moment.
Seeing this scene, the commentator for this match also expressed his opinion: "Borussia Dortmund's emphasis on Lane is still not enough."
"In the first half, Bender just lost focus for a moment, and Lane completed a brilliant combination goal with his teammate."
"Top players often only need a tiny bit of space to create danger and change the course of the game…"
Although possession increased significantly in the second half.
However, without the explosive winger Reus and the attacking midfielder Mkhitaryan, Borussia Dortmund, relying solely on Gündoğan, couldn't organize a very effective attack.
Moreover, with Wolfsburg's formation retreating, the vertical space for Aubameyang to sprint was not large.
Therefore, they could only push their formation higher, increasing the number of attacking players in the front to strengthen their offense.
However, such a choice was a double-edged sword.
Pushing the formation forward would only expose more space behind them.
But Klopp had no other choice!
Because they were already two goals down; losing by one goal was a loss, losing by two goals was also a loss, and losing by three goals was an even greater loss.
Continuing to defend had no meaning!
"Attack!"
"Press them!"
With Klopp's wave of his hand on the sideline, Borussia Dortmund's players also began to push forward desperately.
And seeing the players start running actively, the home fans also cheered with all their might, letting the mighty shouts once again envelop the entire Westfalen Stadium.
Feeling the echoing shouts, the Borussia Dortmund players, as if injected with adrenaline, began to push forward frantically.
"Kehl gets the ball… passes to Gündoğan."
"Gündoğan plays a one-two with Immobile… shoots!"
"Gündoğan's long-range shot from outside tested Benaglio…"
"Wolfsburg's long pass… Hummels clears the ball before Dost can reach it…"
"Sven Bender gets the ball, passes to the surging Schmelzer…"
"Cross!"
"Oh dear, under De Vrij's interference, Immobile's header lacked power…"
Although they had only scored a paltry seven goals in seven home games this season.
However, Borussia Dortmund, attacking desperately, was still one of the most potent attacking teams in the entire Bundesliga!
Watching Borussia Dortmund press hard, Mark also retreated to his own half to assist in defense.
And under his restraint (qiānzhì), right-back Drmic also dared not easily push up to assist the attack, only staying in the backfield to protect the space behind him.
With their full-scale press, Borussia Dortmund indeed created many dangerous opportunities.
Unfortunately, Wolfsburg's defense was no pushover either.
Compared to the all-around Lewandowski, Immobile was more of a poacher-type striker.
Positioning and poaching were his strengths.
But playing with his back to goal?
One could only scoff.
Therefore, he couldn't hold off Wolfsburg's center-backs and then lay off the ball for his teammates.
Without a center-forward capable of playing with his back to goal, and unable to penetrate Wolfsburg's defense through the middle, most of Borussia Dortmund's attacks had to develop from the wings.
Their most threatening shot was still Gündoğan's through ball from the edge of the box, with Aubameyang forcefully outpacing the defender to get a poked shot away.
Unfortunately, though powerful, the angle was too central, and Benaglio punched it clear with both fists, defusing the danger.
As Borussia Dortmund surged forward, Hummels, the commander in the backfield, even pushed past the halfway line!
Looking at the large open space behind Hummels, Mark couldn't help but feel a ripple in his heart: "If an overhead long pass goes through there, that would definitely be a game-killing opportunity!"
Before he finished speaking, a familiar shout suddenly came from diagonally behind him: "L!"
"Run!!!"
Hearing this, Mark's eyes lit up, and he immediately sprang into action