Dominating Football with Perfect Ball Control

Chapter 80: 80. The most powerful devil’s home field in Europe!

Check out advanced Chapters on P@treon: [email protected]/CosmicKaminari

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”Holy crap! It’s this lively?”

Ever since Lance became a professional player, he had experienced several famous home stadiums in Europe.

For example, Manchester United’s Dream Theater, Old Trafford, and Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena.

The feeling of these two giants’ home stadiums was indeed extraordinary.

Playing as an away team there, one could feel a palpable pressure coming from all directions, making it hard to breathe.

The reason why giants are giants is that their glorious historical heritage gives their home fans enough confidence and self-assurance.

This confidence and self-assurance would also be reflected in the match through the atmosphere, becoming a continuous source of courage and motivation for the home team, and creating immense psychological pressure for the away team.

Just like Liverpool’s home ground, Anfield, the entrance to the player’s tunnel reminds opponents: ”This is Anfield.”

The invisible contest had already begun from these details.

Lance had also heard the legend of Westfalenstadion, rumored to be one of the most terrifying Devil’s Home Stadiums in Europe.

He had thought, at most, it would be on the same level as Manchester United’s Dream Theater.

With over 70,000 people in Old Trafford, the overwhelming boos could overwhelm anyone.

However, upon truly arriving at Signal Iduna Park, which fans habitually call ”Westfalenstadion,” Lance finally understood the meaning of a Devil’s Home Stadium.

”Whoa! How many people are in this stadium again?”

”What?”

”I said, how many people are in this stadium!”

”Over 81,000, I guess...”

Even Captain Simon Rolfes secretly gasped, his face pale.

During the pre-match warm-up training, with still an hour left until the match, the four stands were already filled with yellow and black clad fans.

”Heja BVB! Heja BVB!”

”Heja Heja, Heja BVB!”

Uniform chanting, a well-trained fan base.

Lance truly felt the power of Europe’s largest ”Devil’s Home Stadium”!

He had to shout just to talk to Captain Rolfes earlier, otherwise, he wouldn’t be heard at all.

In comparison, the BayArena, which only accommodates over 50,000 people, seemed a bit shabby.

Accompanying Bayer Leverkusen were also 2,000 away fans, gathered in the away stand, trying to make some noise and cheer for Lance and his teammates.

As a result, one could only see the fans singing, but what they were singing was completely drowned out by the sound from the home stands.

If it were just like this, it probably wouldn’t be enough to be called a ”Devil’s Home Stadium.”

The moment starting player Lance followed the team out of the player’s tunnel, the enormous display in the South Stand, with its powerful impact, from his eyes to his soul, left Lance in awe!

This was Westfalenstadion’s most famous TIFO culture.

Facing them was a giant skull, dozens of meters high, topped with Borussia Dortmund’s yellow team crest.

Below it was a large line of text: ”Welcome to Hell!”

Lance could even feel that Son Heung-min in front of him was so shocked by this scene that his legs felt a bit weak, and his body swayed slightly.

Goodness! Starting with a mental attack, huh?

...

On the coaching bench, Sascha Lewandowski and Sami Hyypi?’s brows were filled with worry.

At the pre-match press conference, they had been full of confidence when facing the media.

But privately, they were very uncertain.

”Can the lads hold up? After all, it’s Westfalenstadion.”

”They should be able to, right? It’s not their first time playing Borussia Dortmund, including Son; he played Borussia Dortmund several times when he was at Hamburger SV, so he should be quite used to it by now.”

”What about Lance? This kid is playing Borussia Dortmund away for the first time.”

Sascha was most worried about Lance.

Generally, prodigies from other teams might perform brilliantly in ordinary matches, but often, in tough battles, they still rely on veteran players to carry them.

Sascha feared that Lance would be intimidated by this home stadium and unable to display his full potential.

Hyypi?, however, smiled: ”After all this time, you still don’t understand Lance. He’s a typical showman. The bigger the occasion, the better he performs.”

”Let’s hope so.”

Beep—

As the two were chatting, the pre-match ceremony had already concluded.

Home team Borussia Dortmund won the coin toss and kicked off first, Bayer Leverkusen needed to temporarily withstand the opponent’s offense.

...

”CCTV5, CCTV5, dear viewers, this is the live commentary of the 2013-2014 Bundesliga Matchday 15 focus battle.”

”Third-placed Borussia Dortmund is hosting second-placed Bayer Leverkusen.”

”Wearing yellow jerseys and black shorts is Borussia Dortmund, and wearing red away jerseys is Bayer Leverkusen...”

CCTV5, of course, would not miss such an important match.

At 22:00 prime time, CCTV5 broadcasted this Bundesliga highlight on time.

Many fans had been waiting for this ”Battle of the Top Two” for a long time.

Many ”ten-year Bayer Leverkusen fans” came uninvited, nervously watching the television screen.

As strong as Lance is, Bayer Leverkusen’s overall strength on paper is really not as good as Borussia Dortmund’s.

In the eyes of domestic fans, this was definitely a tough battle!

Borussia Dortmund did not go all out on offense at the start; they were still very wary of Bayer Leverkusen’s sharp counterattacks.

So Borussia Dortmund temporarily passed the ball around the center circle, trying to find an opening.

Commentator Duan Xuan took the opportunity to re-announce the starting lineups for fans who had just tuned in.

”Let’s first look at Borussia Dortmund’s starting lineup.”

”Jürgen Klopp has deployed his classic 4-3-3 formation.”

”Goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller;”

”Four defenders in a line: ?ukasz Piszczek, Neven Suboti?, Mats Hummels, Marcel Schmelzer;”

”Midfielders: Sebastian Kehl, Sven Bender, ?lkay Gündo?an;”

”Forward combination: Marco Reus, Robert Lewandowski, Henrikh Mkhitaryan.”

”Due to core player Mario G?tze’s departure to Bayern Munich last season, Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s arrival this season has compensated for the creativity in the attack.”

”Whether he and Robert Lewandowski can form a good chemical reaction today will be the focus of Borussia Dortmund’s offense.”

”Now, looking at Bayer Leverkusen, Chinese-German youngster Lance continues to start.”

”At 16 years old, he is already the top scorer in the Bundesliga, with 15 goals, far surpassing Robert Lewandowski’s 10 goals, a significant lead.”

”Looking at Bayer Leverkusen’s lineup, they are still in a 4-4-1-1 system.”

”Goalkeeper Bernd Leno;”

”Defenders: Giulio Donati, Emir Spahi?, ?mer Toprak, Sebastian Boenisch;”

”Midfielders: Robbie Kruse, Lars Bender, Simon Rolfes, Son Heung-min;”

”The forward combination is Stefan Kiessling, partnering with Lance.”

Today’s guest is Coach Gong Lei, who is very optimistic about Lance’s performance.

”For Lance’s age, to score 15 goals in 14 Bundesliga rounds, he is absolutely the top priority of Bayer Leverkusen’s offense.”

”His creativity is what Bayer Leverkusen currently lacks the most, and the chemistry he has shown with Son Heung-min is also crucial.”

”Jürgen Klopp will definitely make adjustments to counter the strong left-wing attack...”

Coach Gong hadn’t finished his analysis when a change suddenly occurred on the field.

A shot from Marco Reus was saved by the goalkeeper, and Bayer Leverkusen immediately launched a counterattack.

Simon Rolfes was just about to turn and pass the ball to Son Heung-min on the left wing, but the moment he kicked the ball, he regretted it.

Borussia Dortmund’s high press was quite deadly; Sven Bender intercepted the pass and sent a through ball to the front!

”Sven Bender, ?lkay Gündo?an!! Beautiful!!”

”Gündo?an’s lob pass!”

”Robert Lewandowski—”

The match was only in the 3rd minute when Robert Lewandowski, holding off Emir Spahi? in the box, shot and scored!

”That’s a goal!! A dream start for Borussia Dortmund! Leading 1-0!”

”Robert Lewandowski’s goal! That was too easy, wasn’t it?”

Duan Xuan was stunned.

Oh my! What’s going on! Can Bayer Leverkusen’s midfield and defense still hold up?

After the goal, Jürgen Klopp passionately ran 30 meters to celebrate, showing how much pressure he was also under.

The director then focused the camera on Lance’s face.

After conceding the goal, the young man’s eyes still held a resolute gaze.

Perhaps the director was conveying a concept to fans worldwide: ”If Bayer Leverkusen wants to turn this around, this man might truly be the key!”