Legend of Fengshen

Chapter 117

The match between Schalke 04 and Bayer Leverkusen started at 2:23 pm local time on February 3 in Germany. Zhang Yuan did not play. Slomka adjusted the formation to 442. This formation is relatively balanced offensive and defensive. At Verkusen's home court, he needs to be careful.

Skibe’s formation today is still their customary 442. There are two midfielders in the midfield. Left back, Castro right back, midfielder two full-backs are Barnetta and Schneider, and forward Kisling is partnered with veteran Barbarets.

As for Schalke 04, Slomka only adjusted Zhang Yuan alone, Kobiasvili retreated to play the left midfielder, Ernst played the right midfielder, and Jones and Rakitic played in the middle. The 04 of Erke 442 is a parallel position, unlike Leverkusen with two midfielders.

A common style of play of Bundesliga teams is to make full use of the two sides, pass the ball, and the high center forward competes for the top, so many teams have forwards with excellent header ability. This is how Leverkusen play, Schalke 04 also played in the same way. Kisling was about the same height as Kuranyi, and his header ability was very good.

Leverkusen has two defensive midfielders not because they played in the Europa League in the middle of the week and had to adopt a defensive strategy against their rival Schalke 04, but because Skibe's tactical settings have always been like this, and their defensive midfielders are not only tall, The technical ability is also good, and he can also do a good job in organization and can wait for the opportunity to advance.

The referee blew the whistle, and the two sides officially kicked off the game. Both teams have experienced European competitions in the middle of the week. It is impossible to say that physical fitness has no effect on them. In fact, both teams played very well. Poor, Leverkusen, which has the advantage of the home court, has a certain advantage, but Schalke 04 frequently uses foul tactics, which makes it difficult for Leverkusen's offensive to be effective, and rarely reaches Schalke 04's penalty area Inside.

Zhang Yuan also looked drowsy on the bench. He is now thinking about Slomka's tactical arrangement. He thinks that Slomka has expected it. This game has obviously strengthened the strength of the midfielder. Limiting Leverkusen's two wings and pursuing a decent draw may be the goal of the head coach.

This is indeed Slomka's idea. The bench lineup is not thick enough, and everyone's physical fitness is a problem. If you can score a point at Leverkusen's home court, it is also a good deal.

As a result, the first half of the game was such an ugly one. Leverkusen had a possession rate of 54%, and Schalke 04 reached 46%. Within the range of the goal frame, but Schalke 4 did not shoot, and the fouls reached 04 times.Leverkusen also fouled a lot here, with 20 fouls in the first half.

Just looking at this data, everyone knows that it is hard to think about it. In the first half, Leverkusen fans booed Schalke 04 frequently. The reason is of course because of Schalke 04's frequent foul tactics.

At halftime, Slomka replaced Asamoah and replaced him with Lovenkrantz. Like Zhang Yuan, Asamoah has a large range of activities in each game and consumes a lot of energy. In the first game, Slomka decided to replace with a new force. Lowenkrantz did not have many chances to play in Schalke 04. The arrival of Zhang Yuan further reduced his chances to play. Today, he managed to get a chance as a substitute. Presumably he should work hard, and Slomka just needs his hard work.

Leverkusen did not make any personnel adjustments for the time being. In the second half, the two sides changed sides and fought again. The situation still did not get any better, but everyone restrained a little in terms of fouls.

In the 63rd minute, Leverkusen finally made a substitution. Skibe replaced Babarec with the main striker Jekas. Babarec was 36 years old, and he was tired from half-time running. , although Yekas played the game in the middle of the week, it is also a good choice to attack the opponent's defense in the remaining 10 minutes. Yekas' speed and technique are not bad, and he can compete with Kisling in the front line. Good complement.

At home, Skibe still wants to win this direct competitor.Slomka completed the second substitution as early as the 53rd minute. Schneider replaced Rakitic. Rakitic could hardly hold on, so he hadn't played 10 minutes in the second half. Slomka had to replace him.

Schalke 04 replaced the main core, but Leverkusen replaced the main forward.

The head coach thought well, but the players on the field may not be able to execute well. Zhang Yuan sat on the bench and saw that the situation on the field was still unchanged. Leverkusen did not have any decent opportunities at all. Although several shots were within the range of the goal frame, it was not difficult for Neuer at all.

Then in the 85th minute of the game, Leverkusen's corner kick was cleared by Bolton, and Lovenkrantz grabbed the ball in the frontcourt, but he couldn't control the ball well and was cut off by Sarpe. After Sarpe cut off, he passed Schneider directly. Schneider made a cross from the right. Friedrich scored a wonderful long-range shot before the corner kick had time to return to his own half. This goal also helped Lever Couson took a 1-0 lead.

Slomka, who thought it would end in a draw, completely collapsed, while Leverkusen wildly celebrated this hard-won goal, and the fans in the stands cheered enthusiastically.

After the goal, Slomka replaced Kobyashvili with Altintop Jr. It was time to play a three-forward tactic. He wanted to make a gamble in the last few minutes and use the punch to see if the forwards in the team could catch him. Live the opportunity.

However, Skibe saw Slomka's desperate tactics and immediately made personnel adjustments. Braque replaced Schneider. Braque is a central defender. He obviously planned to defend Schalke 04 in the last few minutes to ensure Three points in hand.

In the end, Leverkusen struggled to defend the victory. Schalke 04 unfortunately ushered in a two-game losing streak in the league. Jones was sent off at the last moment.

For this defeat, Schalke 04 was not satisfied from top to bottom. After the match in the Bayer Arena, there was even occasional singing of "Slomka dismissed" from the phalanx of Schalke fans.

Slomka was dissatisfied with the poor performance of the team's substitute players. "The players who came off the bench didn't help us," Slomka said. "Lovenkrantz's poor pass led to the goal and Streiter wasted a good chance to score. "

Neuer said to reporters: "I guess he wanted to cross, I tried everything, but I couldn't touch the ball."

Neuer and Leverkusen's goalkeeper Adler are in a competitive relationship. Both of them are under the investigation of the national team coach Loew. Such a shot went into his goal, which is naturally unacceptable to him.

Not only the fans are dissatisfied, the last time Slomka's own incident has caused dissatisfaction among some fans and club executives. In the Bundesliga next weekend, Schalke 04 will usher in a peak match against Bayern at home, and then they There will also be an away game against Porto, which puts tremendous pressure on the club's top management. "It was a bad game with a bad result," said Schnudsenberg, the club's vice-chairman, after the match against Leverkusen. And no matter how optimistic I am, I dare not say that we can knock out Porto, but if we do, it will be a chance for us to regain our confidence." Spending 600 million euros in winter transfers to bring in several attacking players In the future, Schnussenberg expects the team to perform better. "I don't know why Zhang Yuan didn't play this game. His performance on the court has always been outstanding and he is a very threatening player! Next we need to change!" Schnussenberg asked why Zhang Yuan didn't I really don’t know the reason for playing. He felt a little uncomfortable. If you don’t have a good striker, Zhang Yuan performed the best among the few players transferred during the winter break. He then said that he will play against Slomka. Have a good talk.

Zhang Yuan didn't care about the vice chairman's post-match talk. He thought Slomka had done a good job leading the team, so what else did he want?The strength of the team is roughly like this. There are several teams in the Bundesliga that are very close in strength. The competition for the qualification for the Champions League is extremely fierce. No one wants to lose to a competitor, but Schalke 04 does lack a little luck.

After this round of competition, Schalke 04 still has 35 points and ranks fifth, but the gap with Bayern Munich has widened to 9 points, the gap with Werder Bremen is 5 points, and the gap with Hamburg and Bayer Leverkusen. The gap is 3 points, and Karlsruhe behind has 33 points, Schalke 04 is only 2 points ahead.

On March 3, that is next Saturday, Schalke 1 will play against Bayern Munich at home. A bunch of competitors are fighting, and this time they have to face Bayern Munich again.

There is no need to repeat the power of the Bundesliga's class bullies. The main reason is that their lineup is thick, and the strength of the substitute lineup is also strong enough. The gold medal striker Miroslav Klose transferred to Bayern and the Italian striker Luca Toni formed an impressive team. The timid striker combination, one is the Bundesliga Golden Boot and the other is the Serie A Golden Boot.

What's more, they also have a strong midfielder. The French player Franck Ribery is a sharp attacker in Bayern's midfielder. He is also a very good midfielder with good organization and passing ability.

Judging from the cards, there is no doubt that Bayern Munich is much stronger, but this is not the reason for Schalke 04 to disarm. Schalke 04, who have lost two games in a row, desperately needs a victory.

(End of this chapter)