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Chapter 122 The Second Half Begins

2月6日，门兴格拉德巴赫主场迎来了下半程的第一场比赛，对手是第一回合9球痛宰过的乌尔姆队。门兴格拉德巴赫17轮比赛13胜4平积43分至今保持不败，而乌尔姆队则反过来了，17战4胜13负积12分排在倒数第一，两队之间纯粹属于首尾之战。

Before the game, the media agreed that Borussia Mönchengladbach would win easily, and Borussia Mönchengladbach fans also firmly believed that the team would slaughter Ulm again.

The process after the start of the game seems to confirm this point. The Ulm team has completely become a training partner for Borussia Mönchengladbach's run-in team. Whether it is passing or speed, Ulm can't keep up with Borussia Mönchengladbach.

But Ulm's defense is very tenacious. Whenever the goal is about to fall, someone will always stand up and destroy the ball and roll across the goal line.

In the 6th minute, Ortega's tricky through ball penetrated Ulm's defense. Larsson turned around and volleyed from the far corner to make the opponent's goalkeeper raise their hands to surrender, but the ball was destroyed by Ulm's No. 3 player Gail on the goal line.

In the 9th minute, it was Larson's arc ball in front of the penalty area. The trajectory of the ball was very tricky, but it was still headed away by the opponent's Gail.

In the 14th minute, Jankel's powerful header was blocked by the opponent's goalkeeper with his face.

After 15 minutes, the score on the court was still 0:0, which made Nick in the stands a little upset. If they can't win the bottom team, Borussia Mönchengladbach is likely to be tied by the overwhelming Leverkusen.

Coach Carl then walked to the sidelines and started gesturing to the players, telling them not to worry.

Although the opponent is a weak team, Karl knows that haste makes waste. As long as he calms down and scores a goal, the goals will come in a steady stream, and Ulm can't stop it.

Ortega then began to control the rhythm. The Argentine's foot skills were elusive, constantly attracting Ulm's defensive firepower, which gradually increased the space in Ulm's backcourt.

In the 22nd minute, Ortega sent a direct pass from the right, Dex followed up and swept towards the goal, Larsson made a touch forward, and the ball quickly rushed into the far corner, 1:0, Borussia Mönchengladbach finally broke the deadlock on the field.

Larson excitedly rushed to the stand where Nick was standing and raised his index finger, indicating that he had scored the first goal. There are still 10 promises of 9 goals. Larson is very satisfied that he can score in the first league game.

"Hey, the old demon is really strong, and the feeling in front of the goal can't be described." Nick was so impressed, Larson often scored some incredible goals.

When the score was opened, Ulm completely lost their composure. Although this was the territory of the Bundesliga leaders, they still bravely pressed out, hoping to equalize the score.

This made Li Yihuan and the others happily fight back.

The ending can be imagined, Ulm's slow defense line was pierced four times by Borussia Mönchengladbach, Li Yihuan, Jankel, Ortega and Malouda each scored a goal, the score was 5:0, Ulm was double-killed by Borussia Mönchengladbach this season and conceded 14 goals, completely powerless to fight back.

After the game, Karl was very satisfied with the performance of the team. Several newly joined players performed well, and the team returned to the winning track.

However, in this round of the league, the attack power of Leverkusen and Bayern is more rapid and terrifying.

Leverkusen bloodbathed Duisburg 7-0 at home, Schneider was radiant, staged a hat-trick and also staged a hat-trick of assists, Leverkusen continued to maintain pressure on Borussia Mönchengladbach, they were only 2 points behind.

Bayern beat Hamburg with 6 goals in the away game. Ballack also staged a long-range hat-trick. Hamburg didn't even have a decent attack in the whole game. Such strength is really frightening.

The Bundesliga has now basically formed a three-legged situation of Borussia Mönchengladbach, Leverkusen and Bayern. The three teams have already left the second group far behind, and the fourth Hertha Berlin has only 28 points.

On February 2, there was a focus battle in the 10th round of the Bundesliga, and that was Bayern's home game against Leverkusen. If Bayern wins, it will tie the points gap with Leverkusen.

Nick also sat at home watching the game.

The progress of the game surprised Nick. In a game that was supposed to be evenly matched, Bayern beat Leverkusen all over the place.

Although within 10 minutes of the opening, Leverkusen succeeded with a header from Berbatov in the penalty area, but Bayern then scored 4 consecutively, and Ballack became the director. Under his planning, Bierhoff staged a header hat-trick, and Elber also scored a goal.

Nick has no objection to Bayern's victory, because in this way, Borussia Mönchengladbach is likely to widen the points gap with No.2.

But when he watched the score broadcast after the game, he realized that Borussia Mönchengladbach lost 0:2 to Frankfurt in the away game!
Chinese player Yang Chen became Borussia Mönchengladbach's nemesis. He scored twice with a head kick and let Borussia Mönchengladbach suffer their first defeat of the season. Although Frankfurt left Schneider this season, they are now ranked 22th with 8 points, which surprised many players.

This made the media who sang praises for Borussia Mönchengladbach after the last round lamented that Borussia Mönchengladbach couldn't do without Nick.Throughout the game, Borussia Mönchengladbach played chaotically without a core. Although Ortega's ball control was still excellent, Frankfurt used a fierce press on him, which made Borussia Mönchengladbach's offensive rhythm unsustainable.

The fast breaks on the two flanks were also heavily defended by the opponents, and there were also many fouls in Frankfurt. Except for the goalkeeper, all 11 players in Frankfurt got yellow cards. Even the Chinese player Yang Chen also got a yellow card for shoveling his compatriot Li Yihuan behind his back in the 77th minute of the game.

In the game highlights of the second day, Nick found out that Borussia Mönchengladbach actually had quite a few chances. They played against Frankfurt all the time. However, after being counterattacked twice by Frankfurt, the players became impatient and repeatedly missed good opportunities in front of the goal. Even Larson missed two single chances.

"Fuck, I couldn't grasp such an opportunity, and I was forced to be approached by Bayern." Nick yelled at the TV, and his teammates were too weak. Could it be that he couldn't do without himself?

Just when the players were still rejoicing that the team still had a 2-point lead, the 20th round of the Bundesliga started again. The Mönchengladbach game was the latest, so they soon knew the results of the two competitors.

Bayern defeated Unterhaching with 2 goals in the away game. Elber scored a goal on the left and right sides of the penalty area, and Bayern won the victory.It is worth mentioning that the Chinese player Li Yi repeatedly used his speed to attack Bayern's defense during the game, and Anderson and Link each received a yellow card. However, under the strict marking of the opponent, Li Yi failed to get a good shot.

Leverkusen defeated Stuttgart 1-0 at home. Fryer scored a free kick 1 minute before the end of the game. Leverkusen scored all 3 points.

The two teams have surpassed Borussia Mönchengladbach by 1 point in the first game, which put great pressure on the Borussia Mönchengladbach players.

On February 2th, Borussia Mönchengladbach challenged Munich 14 away. In order to cheer up his teammates, Nick also came to Munich with the team. Eto'o, who had lost his crutches, also came to the scene and sat with Nick to watch the game.

"Captain, we should be able to win this game, right? The strength of 1860 Munich has plummeted, and it seems that it is only a little higher than the relegation zone." Eto'o is quite optimistic about the prospect of the game.

Nick said with a smile: "That's right, Samuel, this game should be able to rebound. Ariel has gradually improved. In the first two days of training, he often scored some long-range shots. I am very optimistic about him."

But the progress of the game made Nick and Eto'o very angry. Only 5 minutes into the game, Borussia Mönchengladbach was counterattacked by Marx, a veteran of Munich 1860, and fell into a backward situation early.

"Fuck, what happened? Is this a goal loss?" Eto'o has also learned Chinese swear words now. Seeing that Max broke through the defense line in a 1v3 situation, Eto'o almost jumped out of anger. Fortunately, he realized his foot injury and held back.

Nick's face was livid. It seemed that he was not on the field, and the defense lacked a commander. Edmilson's ability to intercept was strong, but his ability to organize the defense was not good.

Then Borussia Mönchengladbach attacked Munich 1860 for 40 minutes, but failed to equalize the score. Instead, before the end of the first half, Marx counterattacked and scored again. In the first half, they fell behind by 2 goals.

Nick and Eto'o then entered the locker room, and after Carl spoke, Nick began to get angry at his teammates.

"What did you do? You can't play football anymore, right? Is it interesting to keep pressing your opponent? You have no space, how can you run? How do you pass a threatening ball? How do you score? Now the opponent leads by 2 goals, and will definitely continue to play defense.

Karl nodded and said: "Nick is right. We had to play like this in the second half. The opponent's penalty area is too dense. Carsten, you use your header and physical advantages to play for your teammates. If you have a good opportunity, you can also choose to attack, okay?"

Yankel panted heavily, and said in a low voice: "Okay, I know how to do it."

After the start of the second half, Borussia Mönchengladbach changed the game in the first half and started to play a slam, but it was not a slam in the traditional sense. Most of them passed the ball within a space of 20 meters, which also caused some confusion for the Munich 1860 players.

In the 58th minute, Ortega sent a deciduous ball from the left side of the penalty area. Yankel changed his usual style and did not use a header. Instead, he blocked the position and shot a volley without waiting for the ball to hit the ground.

Seeing such a goal, Nick couldn't help applauding loudly, cheering for his teammates loudly in the stands.Eto'o was also happy: "Hey, Carsten didn't catch the ball, did he?"

With the revelation of this goal, Borussia Mönchengladbach began to play more easily, and some passes and receptions began to become freehand.

In the 65th minute, Li Yihuan suddenly tapped his heel after continuously changing direction from the left, followed by Malouda who made a fake shot and made a real pass. The ball fell on Jankel's head again. With a flick of his bald head, Larson, who was lying in ambush, stretched out his foot like a ghost, and the ball flew into the goal again. 2:2, the score was equalized.

"Okay, this ball was played really smartly, with more changes, this is the goal. Samuel, it seems that the reversal is very promising!" Nick stood up and applauded, Eto'o nodded again and again.

Now Borussia Mönchengladbach's momentum is coming up, and this game is very hopeful to be reversed.

However, 1860 Munich then stepped up their marking on Jankel, and at the same time further strengthened their marking on the second point. The game began to become a game of passing and destruction. Anyway, the players of Munich 1860 kept kicking their feet.

The final score was 2:2. After Borussia Mönchengladbach scored 1 point in the away game, they won 14 wins, 4 draws and 1 loss with Leverkusen and Bayern with 46 points. Borussia Mönchengladbach has a dominant goal difference and temporarily ranks at the top of the list. The real championship battle may only begin now.

(End of this chapter)