Chapter 696 The Big Three of World Football

After a narrow 3-2 win over Bordeaux away from home, Su Dong won unanimous praise from the media and fans.

With the injuries of Ribery and Robben, Bayern's two flanks fell into trouble again, and Su Dong's importance was further highlighted. Everyone once again realized that Su Dong was the most indispensable player of Bayern and the most core combat force, especially when the game was in a difficult situation.

Although Blanc's Bordeaux lost at home, they won unanimous recognition after the game.

The French media even believed that Bordeaux's ability to force the defending champion Bayern into this situation can be considered a victory to some extent. After all, in the past two years, there have been very few teams that have been able to force Bayern to this point.

In the post-match press conference, Blanc was dissatisfied with the loss of the game. He believed that the victory should have belonged to Bordeaux because Bordeaux played better throughout the game, especially after Thomas Muller's red card.

This is exactly what Heynckes wanted to react to. He accused the referee of being too lenient towards the home team, not protecting Bayern's players well, and not controlling the game well, which resulted in the game being intermittent and unsmooth, and the situation being out of control.

In fact, this is not the first time that Danish referee Hauge has caused controversy.

This time, Bayern was given two red cards, which once again sparked controversy among the media and fans in Germany and France.

The German media accused Bordeaux of being too rough and barbaric and playing destructive football, and the referee was too biased towards the home team by giving Bayern two red cards; the French media believed that Bayern deserved the red card and criticized Hauge for several controversial decisions in the game, believing that if Hauge had enforced the law fairly, the victory should have belonged to Bordeaux.

The media on both sides were in an uproar, but there was one point on which they were rarely united.

Su Dong's performance was indeed outstanding! Both goals were quite exciting, especially the second one. After continuously dribbling past the opponent, he volleyed with his left foot. The quality of the finish was very high, and Bordeaux really lost their temper.

Bordeaux goalkeeper Carasso said in an interview with French media after the game that he had never thought that Su Dong could shake off the defender in this way. "At that time, I was completely stunned."

Central defender Siani praised Su Dong's physical confrontation, saying that he tried his best but still couldn't stop Su Dong. Instead, he was knocked off balance. "He is like King Kong, he can't be shaken."

Bayern giant Beckenbauer praised Su Dong in his column, believing that he once again demonstrated the value of a world-class superstar.

"As I said before, Su Dong is the undisputed world number one superstar. The more critical the moment, the more valuable he can play. I believe that this year's World Footballer of the Year and Ballon d'Or are both his.

Interestingly, the day after Bayern defeated Bordeaux, French Football magazine announced the 30-man shortlist for the 2009 European Golden Ball Award as scheduled. Bayern had six players on the list, making it the team with the most nominees.

They are Sudong, Ribery, Robben, Schweinsteiger, Lahm and Lucio.

This is basically in line with outside speculation.

As Bayern successfully defended their title, the value of the team's stars is getting higher and higher, especially superstar players like Ribery and Robben, who are basically regulars on the Ballon d'Or candidate list.

However, everyone knew that if nothing unexpected happened, this award should still belong to Su Dong.

The top three are basically Su Dong, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

The situation in which the Big Three dominate world football is becoming increasingly clear.

Next we will see who will fall behind first.

Everything that rises must fall, this is the law.

Among the three giants, Su Dong is the oldest, but he is only 25 years old and seems to be far from the age of decline.

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Returning to Munich from Bordeaux, France, Bayern welcomed Frankfurt at home.

This is the tenth round of the Bundesliga.

Not only that, in the knockout match of the German Cup round of 16 next Wednesday, Bayern will challenge Frankfurt away.

The two matches were scheduled together, which can only be said to be a coincidence.

Before the game, Bayern received good news that Robben returned from injury.

However, to be on the safe side, Heynckes did not include him in the starting lineup.

There is no doubt about the strength of Robben and Ribery. The biggest problem is that they are too fragile and have too many injuries, which has seriously limited the development height of their careers.

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At home, Bayern encountered stubborn resistance from Frankfurt.

In the first half, the home team had an overwhelming advantage, but failed to break Frankfurt's goal.

Until the end of the game, Schweinsteiger and Marcelo formed a cooperation on the left side. Marcelo broke into the penalty area from the left side and shot. The ball hit the opponent's defender's leg and bounced back.

Su Dong quickly moved in from behind, seized the opportunity, and shot the ball into Frankfurt's goal, making it one to zero!

After the second half, Sudong received a cross from Lahm on the right and headed the ball to create a scoring opportunity for Thomas Muller. The Bayern youngster calmly seized the opportunity and extended the score to 2-0.

Afterwards, Robben came on as a substitute, but Frankfurt seized the opportunity to counterattack. Lahm made a mistake in marking and Meyer shot in front of the goal, pulling a goal back for Frankfurt.

But in the 88th minute of the second half, Thomas Muller sent a high ball into the penalty area. Su Dong overpowered his opponent and headed the ball to the right. Robben, who was unguarded, stopped the ball with his chest and easily shot it into the goal.

Three to one!

Bayern eventually defeated Frankfurt 3-1 at home.

With two assists and one goal, Su Dong was once again elected the best player of the game.

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Three days later, the German Cup round of 16 knockout stage.

Compared with before, Bayern made a decisive change in its formation, letting Klose and Su Dong partner as double strikers, while Robben still sat on the bench.

As a result, Bayern had a big explosion in this game.

Fourteen minutes into the game, Toni Kroos assisted Klose to score.

Five minutes later, Thomas Muller assisted again and Klose scored again, making it his second goal.

In the 29th minute, Klose intercepted the pass from the opponent's defender and returned the favor by giving Thomas Muller a goal.

Bayern led 3-0 in the first half.

Su Dong played very easily throughout the game and did not deliberately pursue goals.

But in the 52nd minute of the second half, Thomas Muller intercepted the ball in the frontcourt and made a wonderful pass. Su Dong moved easily, received the ball and shot lightly, securing the victory for Bayern.

Subsequently, Su Dong was replaced by Robben.

Bayern finally won 4-0 away from home against Frankfurt and successfully advanced to the quarterfinals of the German Cup.

This time, Bayern had good luck in the draw and drew Fürth from the German Bundesliga.

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The continuous battles forced personal coach Nuno Cruz to step in again and prevent Su Dong from starting.

He suggested to Heynckes that Su Dong should be a substitute again.

In recent times, Bayern has indeed used Su Dong too frequently, even playing in the German Cup.

Of course, this is understandable. Ribery and Robben were both absent due to injuries. After Robben came on as a substitute in two consecutive games, he was unable to play in the match against Stuttgart because of muscle soreness after the game.

Coupled with other injured players such as Olic, Bayern's current wave of injuries is very severe.

So, in the 11th round of the Bundesliga, in the away game against Stuttgart, Heynckes fielded a double striker combination of Klose and Thomas Muller, letting Su Dong sit on the bench to conserve his energy and prepare for the Champions League in the middle of the week.

But the result was somewhat regrettable. Heynckes' adjustments were barely feasible against mid- and lower-level teams, but against Stuttgart, Bayern completely lost their flanks and were attacked from the start.

The midfield composed of Toni Kroos, Schweinsteiger, Modric and Mascherano has more than enough control and is good at defense, but they are seriously lacking in means of attacking from the flanks.

Klose and Thomas Muller in the frontcourt are also known for their positioning, and it is difficult to break through the opponent's defense in a local area.

The zero-0 stalemate continued into the second half.

In the 65th minute, Heynckes could no longer bear it and finally replaced Klose with Su Dong again.

After the substitution, Bayern changed back to a 4-3-3 formation, with Toni Kroos playing as left winger.

After a brief run-in, this formation change took effect. In the 83rd minute, Toni Kroos made a long pass, transferring the ball from the left to the right. After Lahm got the ball, he made a diagonal pass at a 45-degree angle to the front of the penalty area.

In front of the penalty area, Su Dong quickly inserted himself, blocked the defender with his body, and shot from close range, scoring a goal for Bayern.

One to zero!

This goal lasted until the end of the game!

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Three days later, in the fourth round of the Champions League group stage, Bayern played against Bordeaux at home.

Ribery and Robben were out due to injuries, Lucio and Thomas Muller were suspended due to red cards, Olic and other injured players have not yet returned, and Bayern really couldn't spare any manpower all of a sudden.

Although Su Dong assisted Toni Kroos to score a goal in the game, he ultimately failed to prevent Bordeaux from scoring.

The score was one to one, and the two sides finally shook hands and made peace.

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After four rounds of matches, Bayern had three wins and one draw, basically securing first place in the group and qualifying.

Juventus, thanks to two wins over Zurich, ranks second in the group with seven points, while Bordeaux ranks third with five points.

If there is no suspense about the first place in the group, then the battle for the second place has just begun.

Bordeaux can also play a game against Zurich, and also have a home game against Juventus, so they even have a slight advantage in the competition.

Juventus regretted losing points at home against Bordeaux.

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This weekend, in the twelfth round of the Bundesliga, Bayern will host Schalke 04 led by Magath at home.

In the 14th minute, Su Dong received a pass from Schweinsteiger and volleyed the ball in the penalty area, breaking Schalke 04's goal and scoring the first goal for Bayern.

Pepe then scored from a corner kick.

Although Schalke 04 scored a goal in the second half, Bayern eventually defeated Schalke 04 2-1 at home.

After this game, the European league was suspended again.

Bayern finally got a chance to catch their breath.

(End of this chapter)