Dominating Football with Perfect Ball Control

Chapter 188: 188. Is it time to rebound?

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

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Match day!

Bundesliga Matchday 3: Bayer Leverkusen vs. Werder Bremen!

Today, Zhan Jun was very excited. He had prepared for a long time and finally got to commentate on a Bundesliga match.

After the World Cup, the popularity of football in China had not yet faded.

Many fans who didn’t usually watch much football had fallen for the ”European Red Devils” due to Belgium’s performance, and gradually became devoted fans of Lance.

What could be more exciting than a 17-year-old teenager fighting alone in the Bundesliga, leading Bayer Leverkusen to a successful comeback, and miraculously winning the championship?

For the new Bundesliga season’s live broadcasts, both CCTV and Sina Sports saw an explosive increase in viewership and the number of viewers in the live stream rooms compared to the same period.

A regular Bayer Leverkusen Bundesliga match on CCTV had viewership comparable to a World Cup knockout match.

Sina Sports’ registered users and active users increased by over 300%!

Lance successfully broke out of the niche through the news broadcast and the World Cup Golden Boot honour, with a popularity comparable to the Houston Rockets in 2004.

As a result, Sina Sports had to assign their ace commentator, Zhan Jun, to commentate on more Bundesliga matches and fewer Premier League matches.

With his earpiece on, sitting in front of the commentary desk, waiting for the director’s signal, Zhan Jun’s familiar voice was heard by netizens across the country through the live stream.

”Welcome everyone to Sina Sports’ Bundesliga live broadcast. The match about to kick off is the Bundesliga Matchday 3’s featured game. Defending champions Bayer Leverkusen will host Werder Bremen, who finished 7th in the Bundesliga last season, at BayArena.”

”After the first two Bundesliga matches of the season, Bayer Leverkusen has one draw and one loss, while Werder Bremen has two consecutive draws. Currently, Werder Bremen is temporarily one point ahead of Bayer Leverkusen in the standings.”

”Both teams’ performances at the start of the new season have been less than satisfactory. Bayer Leverkusen signed players like De Bruyne, Rüdiger, Firmino, Virgil van Dijk, and Harry Maguire in the summer, but unfortunately, they haven’t found their best form yet, and team cohesion still has problems...”

For a while before the match, Zhan Jun was comparing the statistics of the two teams.

Overall, Bayer Leverkusen did not have an advantage.

Werder Bremen’s squad includes veterans like Pr?dl and Fritz, as well as rising stars like Selke and Eggestein, and former Chelsea striker Di Santo.

This team has strong attacking power and is considered a ’wild card’ team.

If Bayer Leverkusen remained in its previous slump, it might be defeated.

Three consecutive matches without a win had made Sascha Lewandowski much more humble.

At the pre-match press conference, Sascha’s statement was very low-key:

”We are currently working hard to adjust our form. For today’s match, I can only say we will try our best. Whatever the result, I believe in the players on the field. I hope we can gel as a team and find suitable tactics as soon as possible.”

Werder Bremen’s manager, Viktor Skrypnyk, appeared more confident.

He responded to reporters in English with a strong Russian accent:

”I believe Werder Bremen is very strong. Playing away against the defending champions today, I believe we can win the match, and by a big margin!”

...

When Chinese fans thousands of miles away and local Bayer Leverkusen fans opened their televisions with trepidation, they never expected that, just as the opposing manager predicted, the match would take a turn for the worse from the very beginning!

”Di Santo!! Attempts to break through from the flank—he’s past him!! Harry Maguire is too slow to turn!!”

”Direct shot inside the box!! Leno couldn’t save it!!”

”Just 8 minutes into the match, Werder Bremen takes the lead away from home! Bayer Leverkusen is temporarily trailing 0-1!”

Watching the slow-motion replay, Zhan Jun frowned.

In today’s starting lineup for Bayer Leverkusen, due to a minor injury to Rüdiger, Harry Maguire and Virgil van Dijk partnered as centre-backs.

Logically, both Maguire and Virgil van Dijk have good physical qualities and defensive intensity, but they were completely outmanoeuvred by Di Santo’s left and right thrusts at the start.

In slow motion, Maguire was faked out, and by the time he turned, his opponent had already created space and shot.

”Look at this defence, it’s like an aircraft carrier turning! Clumsy Harry!”

Zhan Jun was exasperated!

It was even worse than last season’s centre-back pairing, Toprak and Spahi?.

Those two had limited ability and were often prone to errors in high-level matches.

But against mid-table Bundesliga opponents, they could at least guarantee stability.

Maguire’s ability is strong, with a high theoretical ceiling, but his performance today was terrible!

Lance was darting left and right in the front to find opportunities, but how could he play when the backline was in trouble?

The 21-year-old English defender, 194cm tall, with a large head and ears, looked very lost on the field.

The more bewildered he was, the more his coordination with teammates suffered.

”Another counter-attack by Werder Bremen!! Di Santo goes straight through the middle, a beautiful through-ball from Eggestein!! Di Santo receives it!!”

”Virgil van Dijk, his 1v1 defence is very solid, good play!! He tackles Di Santo!”

”A chance for a counter-attack!”

”Switches it to Lars Bender, tries to pass to Lance again... intercepted!! Lars Bender’s passing intention was too obvious!”

”Werder Bremen counter-attacks again... through-ball to Di Santo!! Finds Harry Maguire again!”

”Continuous step-overs, he fakes out Harry Maguire and curls a shot into the far corner!!”

”A sneaky goal!! 23 minutes into the match, Bayer Leverkusen trails 0-2!”

”If they lose to Werder Bremen today, four matches without a win at the start of the season would truly be a disastrous beginning!”

Zhan Jun kept shaking his head.

Was this the Bayer Leverkusen he knew?

It wasn’t like this last season.

In the close-up shots, De Bruyne, Rolfes, Bender, Son Heung-min... the players on the field all looked confused.

Harry Maguire was even covering his face in agony.

Only Lance seemed relatively calm, high-fiving and encouraging his teammates to keep running.

But no matter how hard Lance tried, the team’s low morale was not something he could salvage.

This time, the full-back Alexander-Arnold also let his man go, and the opponent broke through on the right wing.

Di Santo scored directly through the middle, with Harry Maguire watching helplessly as the opponent shot from close range.

”Hat-trick! Bayer Leverkusen trails 0-3!!”

It’s over.

Only two words were in Zhan Jun’s mind. He thought it would be a rebound, but instead, it turned into a rout.

Could it be... that a team like Bayer Leverkusen truly isn’t destined for a dynasty?

Bayern Munich is already leading the Bundesliga with 3 consecutive wins, starting the season 8 points behind Bayern, what kind of championship fight is this!

...

Halftime, in the locker room.

Lance looked at the air conditioning set to a constant 26 degrees Celsius, but the locker room actually felt like below zero, making people shiver.

The atmosphere was too heavy.

The coaching staff was urgently discussing tactics for the second half; no one was trying to lighten the mood yet.

To be honest, even if the little moustache stood up and gave a speech now, it would be useless.

Trailing 0-3, with the team in such a confused state, anything said would be in vain.

Only a goal could help the team regain its form.

But the question was, how to score?

He glanced at his fusion value; unconsciously, it had accumulated to 75%...

That’s right!

New skill!

Bachira Meguru template skill 3!

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Since he couldn’t rely on his teammates for now, he could only give it his all himself!

Fortunately, he brought the Bachira Meguru template today, which supported Lance in a strong solo charge.

Skill 1 was Monster Dribbling, Skill 2 was Monster Passing, what would Skill 3 be?