Start from 1999

Chapter 114 The Day Without Nick

On Saturday night, the 99th round of the Bundesliga in the 00-13 season was in full swing. Borussia Mönchengladbach played against Stuttgart at home.

The lineup of Borussia Mönchengladbach has changed a lot. Li Yihuan appeared in Nick's position, behind Metzelder, Friedrich, Hausweiler and Sinclair, in front of him were Nakamura Shunsuke, Polster and Jankel, and next to him were Wenhof and Dirks.

The opponent Stuttgart has accelerated the pace of the team's rejuvenation. Under the leadership of the veteran Balakov, the performance this season is quite satisfactory, especially their young goalkeeper Hildebrand played well, which is a solid iron gate for the team.

Although Borussia Mönchengladbach is now the leader of the Bundesliga, without several main players headed by Captain Nick, Stuttgart is determined to take a victory at the Baukaberg Stadium.

But after the start of the game, the Stuttgart players realized that things were not that simple. The Chinese player Li Yihuan played with ease in the midfielder position, not with assists.

In just 8 minutes of the opening, Li Yihuan dribbled the ball in at high speed and was shoveled to the ground by Balakov when he was about to shoot from the penalty area line. Borussia Mönchengladbach got a free kick in an excellent position.

Nick applauded happily in the stands and said, "Well done, little Li! You will become a legend!"

Borussia Mönchengladbach fans also happily shouted Li Yihuan's name. Originally Nick was not there, and Deisler was the core of Mönchengladbach's field, but Deisler became a traitor. Now it is Li Yihuan who enjoys the cheers of Mönchengladbach fans.

It was Shunsuke Nakamura who took the free kick. The Japanese have a good free kick technique. They don't use power to change the angle. Many balls are theoretically dead ends, leaving the opponent's goalkeeper helpless.

The referee whistled, Shunsuke Nakamura glanced coldly at the upper right corner of the Stuttgart goal, and then swung his leg to the bottom of the ball. The ball drew a wonderful arc, crossed the Stuttgart wall, and flew straight to the upper right corner of the goal.

Hildebrand made a save, but the ball flew over his fingertips and into the goal, Borussia Mönchengladbach lead 1-0.

The Japanese star ran to the sidelines excitedly, accepting the worship of the fans. Without Nick, Shunsuke Nakamura also had the confidence to compete for the core position of the team. As a midfielder, Shunsuke Nakamura had more opportunities to directly face the opponent's goal. Shunsuke Nakamura was very confident to become the new banner of Borussia Mönchengladbach.

This mentality has also promoted the performance of Borussia Mönchengladbach players. Everyone hopes to perform well in the 15 league games that Nick is not in and become a symbol of the team.

The Stuttgart players were a little depressed. They thought they had picked up a bargain, but they didn't expect that Borussia Mönchengladbach was still a hard stump. These guys were all vying for the limelight, and their technical and tactical skills were a bit extraordinary. The rest of the game was completely Stuttgart goalkeeper Hildebrand.

In the 13th minute, Li Yihuan made another assist. He passed the ball to Jankel, and Jankel headed back.

In the subsequent corner kick, Janker overwhelmed the opponent's central defender with a header, but the ball was still pushed out of the crossbar by Hildebrandt.

In the 19th minute, Li Yihuan tackled Balakov and made a long pass. Jankel swung the ball with a header, followed by the veteran Polster who followed him and shot from a small angle. The ball was blocked by Hildebrand with his feet.

This situation stimulated the Borussia Mönchengladbach players even more. They continued to strengthen their offense, but the offense was more centered around Li Yihuan and Nakamura Shunsuke.

In the 29th minute, Li Yihuan dribbled the ball forcibly and broke into the penalty area and shot. The ball bounced and rolled towards the back post after three consecutive turns in the penalty area.

"Oh, Maika! Damn the goalposts!"

"Damn, the ball is so twists and turns, but there is no good result!"

"Halo, it's hard to live without Nick!"

Nick was also a little dumbfounded. Borussia Mönchengladbach was unable to expand the score for a long time. It was indeed a little bit of luck, but the situation on the field was still under control. If they continue to play like this, it will be a matter of time before they score.

The progress of the game confirmed Nick's thoughts. Before the end of the first half, Li Yihuan finally scored a long shot in front of the penalty area, extending the score to 2 goals.

During the intermission, Nick also came to the team's locker room to discuss the first half of the game with his teammates.

"Xiao Lizi, your explosiveness is good, but you are not calm enough in front of the goal. If you try to feint more in the second half, the effect may be good." Nick said with his arm around Li Yihuan's shoulder.

"Hey, captain, I want to score goals as soon as possible, but you are right, I was really in a hurry, and the Stuttgart people must look good in the second half!" Li Yi laughed happily.

Carl walks in, looks at Nick, looks at the players.

"Everyone played well. Nick is not here. You didn't let me down. Go ahead, you'll be proud of it!" Carl clapped his hands and was very satisfied with the performance of the players. He was especially satisfied with the role played by Li Yihuan, and his offensive power was no less than that of Nick. However, Stuttgart's offensive strength has not really tested Li Yihuan's defense.

Carl then asked Yankel and Polstador to come out, let Shunsuke Nakamura use more technical control of the ball to control the rhythm, and then called Nick and began to comfort Nick.

"Nick, don't worry, I can understand your mood in the stands, keep fit, wait for the German Cup."

"Hehe, coach, it's okay. I think the team may be able to do without me. Haha, it's only halftime, and the team is leading by two goals."

Nick was in a very good mood, and his speech was a little bit up and down.

Carl said with a smile: "Nick, you are always the soul of this team. Even if you can't play, your spirit is supporting your teammates."

"Haha, I'll beat up any of these boys who dare to be lazy. Now it seems that my threat is still very useful." Nick is very pleased with the success of his teammates. When training together, Nick always threatens his teammates like this. Many teammates have been destroyed by Nick.

The atmosphere in the locker room of Borussia Mönchengladbach is quite harmonious. This team without Nick seems to be on the right path.

After the start of the second half, Borussia Mönchengladbach continued to attack. The team seemed to be practicing the team lineup with Li Yihuan as the core. However, due to the lack of speed in the forward line, Li Yihuan's through assists did not show. However, Li Yihuan's long pass still allowed Janker to show his header skills in the penalty area many times.

In the end, Borussia Mönchengladbach scored two goals in each half and defeated Stuttgart 4:1 at home. Nick watched the game and felt that the situation seemed normal. As long as Li Yihuan played normally, the team's hot state might continue.

However, in the 12th round of the Bundesliga on December 4th, Borussia Mönchengladbach was tied 14:042 by Schalke in an away game. The team’s protection in front of the penalty area still had problems. Li Yihuan’s offense was fine, but as a defensive midfielder, he still failed to prove that he could completely replace Nick.

In the subsequent 15th round, Borussia Mönchengladbach was tied 1:1 by Hertha Berlin at home. After two consecutive draws, the point gap between the team and Leverkusen has been reduced to 4 points.

Without Nick, Borussia Mönchengladbach look like a different team entirely, and there are almost four months to go before this unsettling wait.

(End of this chapter)