Chapter 57 Chapter 57 Real Madrid and Bayern Munich's mutual respect
Kroos rode his donkey to the training ground every day, thinking he would start a new journey happily. However, good things never come alone. Now that you have a good roommate, how can you have success in both friendship and career? Kroos had just started working at the pharmaceutical factory and injured his ankle when he was called to participate in the German U21 warm-up match. To make matters worse, his good roommate had to rush to school, and the German who was abandoned on the training ground was finally sent home by the good captain Rolfes.
"Are you back?" Cross saw the landlord coming back in a hurry, holding something in his hands.
In order to express his best wishes to his friend, Leandri went to the supermarket and picked the hardest bread, "I hope your body is as hard as iron and won't get hurt."
Cross immediately retorted with reason, "Being too hard without the protection of fat will also cause damage to the body."
Kroos is unable to integrate with Leverkusen's first team for the time being, but this is not a big problem for Labbadia. Leverkusen's performance in the league in the first half of the season can be said to be very outstanding. It is currently ranked fourth in the Bundesliga and the team's lineup is very competitive. At the same time, Kroos' ankle doctor estimates that he will be able to return in about a week, and before the players conquer him through training and performance, he, as a young coach, dares not reuse young players at will.
Leandri would take care of killing and burying his friends every day and would rush to school on a big donkey after training. At first, Kroos could only trouble Rolfes, but within a few days, he found that the diligent college students would continue to return to the base for extra training after class. It would be boring to go back anyway, so with the idea that too much trouble would not be a trouble, Kroos chose to wait at the base for the landlord to finish the extra training and take him back. To be honest, it is still exciting to take a ride on a big donkey.
After the winter break, the first match to start was the German Cup quarter-finals, where the opponent didn't struggle much and was easily won by Leverkusen.
As the BayArena is undergoing drastic construction, dust is flying between the scaffolding. After the New Year, Leverkusen began to rent the Esprit Arena in Düsseldorf for every home game.
I thought the new stadium would give the league a good start, but in the next few league games, Bayer's performance was like a roller coaster.
First, they drew 1-1 with Dortmund, and then lost 2-3 to Stuttgart at home. In this game, Leandri had a hard time saving the ball. There were only two real defenders on the field, Vidal and Sinkevich played as full-backs. No matter how Leandri directed the positioning and called for defense, the opponent still threatened his goal again and again. If he hadn't performed well today, the score might have widened. But in any case, today was the day he conceded the most goals in a single game.
In the 20th round of the Bundesliga, Labbadia realized his mistake and immediately changed his tactics. Although the defense in the backcourt was still unstable, at least he was able to block some balls outside of Leandri's defense. In this match against Hoffenheim, the young men from the pharmaceutical factory washed away the humiliation of the previous round with a 1-4 defeat. The good captain Rolfes also scored a key goal in the game.
After the big win, Leverkusen's form began to decline. First, they drew 1-1 with Hamburg, and then failed to score any goals after Hannover broke through Leandri's goal. Five games have passed since the winter break and Leverkusen's ranking has begun to gradually decline. But they have to cheer up for the next game. Four days later, Leverkusen will face the German Cup quarter-finals, and their opponent is the southern king Bayern Munich.
Speaking of Bayern, they have not had a smooth season this season. Klinsmann took over from Higuain as coach at Allianz. Bayern, which used to dominate the Bundesliga, dropped to 11th place in the league in mid-October last year. The sharp decline in performance has dissatisfied the fans and management. Many fans have listed the Golden Bomber's crimes at Bayern one by one to slap him in the face. For example, when he first took office, he brought 10 assistant coaches, many of whom could not speak German and did not understand the Bundesliga rules. For example, he only gave three minutes for taking photos at the press conference and then kicked all the reporters out of the meeting room. For example, he frequently changed the requirements on where the players slept, and the hotel was always changed. For example, the tactical system was also changed again and again, which made many players in the locker room express their opinions about him. Rummenigge was so angry last month that he threatened him in front of the media that he would have to leave if his performance did not improve.
Klinsmann attaches great importance to this German Cup match. In addition to the team's performance, today is Bayern's 200th German Cup match. At this groundbreaking moment, a large group of Bayern management sat on the sidelines, and Klinsmann repeatedly asked all players in the locker room to go all out and not lose even if it came down to penalties.
But history always has similarities, just like in the 20102 season, Real Madrid played against Deportivo La Coruna at home and was severely slapped in the face in the much-anticipated centenary celebration. Today, Bayern followed suit.
Leandri kept taking a deep breath in the backcourt, feeling like he was still asleep. Oh my God, is this team that is suppressing Bayern our small pharmaceutical factory? We are just a small team that researches and sells drugs and also makes some insect repellents. Looking at this scene, Leverkusen's ball possession rate is completely higher than Bayern's. If this continues, goals may come at any time.
Leverkusen launched a fierce attack from the beginning of the first half. In the midfield duel, Klinsmann's power of reorganization fell into a disadvantage. Although they stabilized the situation in time and launched a counterattack, the overall offensive quality was not to be feared. Leandri, who performed outstandingly, also blocked Altintop's small-angle shot in the penalty area and Ribery's long-range free kick.
When Bayer Leverkusen fans saw so many fans and management from Bayern Munich coming, they were all indignant, thinking that victory in this match was already in their pockets. The game hasn’t even started yet, and you’re already celebrating your 200th German Cup victory, right? Looking at the opponent's situation now, it's just thunder but no rain. The threat of their shots is not as high as Leverkusen. They are all singing the team song crazily to cheer up the players on the field. When Helmes pushed the ball past Lucio's body and sent the ball flying past the goal post, which made Bayern fans break out in cold sweats and sing "After the game starts, there will be only one winner, Bayer", Rummenigge and Hoeness's faces turned pale. At this moment, Real Madrid felt the same way as them.
At the end of 45 minutes, both sides were tied. In the locker room, Labadia was very satisfied with the performance in the first half. He only made some simple arrangements and gave the players time to change into clean jerseys and replenish water.
In the second half, Bayern fans were hoping that their team's form would soar and that Bayern would defeat the Esprit Arena. No one knew what Klinsmann said to the players in the locker room during the half-time break. Now the superstars of the Southern King continued to bombard Leandri's goal with high-level shooting skills. They started to exert their strength from the midfield and backcourt. Klose and Ribery frequently looked for opportunities to shoot, and Leandri made several saves in front of the goal to avoid becoming a background board for the superstars' flashes of brilliance.
Klose's powerful header made Leandri lose the ball, but fortunately he reacted quickly and took two steps forward before anyone else to press the ball under him.
In the 52nd minute, Ribery received a long pass from Ze Roberto in front of the penalty area, and with a light kick of his right foot, the ball curved towards the far corner of the goal. Leandri pushed the ground hard with his left leg, stretching his body in the air, and the ball hit his outstretched arm and bounced out.
In this game that has hundreds of meanings, Bayern's failure to score a goal led to mental problems. In their irritability, they revealed many flaws, which gave Leverkusen the opportunity to score the first goal. As the fans in the stadium rubbed their eyes in disbelief, Leverkusen scored three goals in 15 minutes. Labbadia happily asked the assistant coach to call Kroos to warm up, "Tony, can you show some expression? Hurry up and warm up, the coach said he will let you play in a while!"
Kroos has no chance at Bayern and can only be loaned out, just like Morientes who can't get a starting position in Real Madrid.
In the 72nd minute, Leverkusen still conceded a goal and Bayern got a free kick at 45 degrees in the frontcourt. Oddo ran up and served the ball to the back post, and Lucio headed the ball hard. The speed and coordination were so perfect that Leandri had no time to react at all.
Five minutes later, Labbadia called Kroos to his side and said, "Tony, it doesn't matter if the opponent is Bayern. We are leading. Enjoy the game and have fun playing."
In the third minute of Kroos' first appearance for Leverkusen, he brought down Altintop in the frontcourt and received a yellow card.
Klinsmann: It turned out to be a good idea not to give the youngsters a chance. Their playing style on the field was so rough.
As a result, 10 minutes later, Kroos made a straight pass from the midfield and accurately found Kiessling who was ambushing in the penalty area. The Bayer striker, who was familiar with the saving habits of his old teammate Adler, poked the ball directly with his toes. The waves in the net told the Bayer fans that the score was expanded to 4-1!
Klinsmann: I shouldn't have agreed to loan Kroos to a Bundesliga team!
Bayern experienced the same thing as Real Madrid twice today, suffering a memorable defeat and being stabbed by a young player who was a product of their own youth training system.
Real Madrid said, you are just getting started, we are celebrating our centenary! We were eliminated from the Champions League!
While Bayern fans were whimpering and feeling sad about the failure of their 200th victory on loan, they were looking at the little beet wearing clothes of another team through the handkerchiefs they used to wipe their tears. This is ours! Forget it, it’s just a rental and I’ll be back soon.
This was a buzzer-beating goal, and the head coach didn't even give the player any face and directly blew the whistle to end the game.
Leandri ran from the backcourt to the frontcourt to celebrate with his teammates. How could they not be excited to defeat the arrogant Southern King with such a score? The boys hugged Kiesling, who scored the last goal, and formed a circle with their hands linked. Kroos happened to be next to Leandri, and the Spanish goalkeeper immediately praised his friend, "Your through pass is so cool, you got an assist in your first appearance at Leverkusen!"
Kroos was also very happy. The atmosphere at Bayer Leverkusen was fundamentally different from that at Bayern. There were not so many twists and turns in the locker room. The captain cared a lot about the newcomer, and the older players happily mingled with them every day, not to mention the feelings between the young players.
Kroos grabbed his teammates' arms and said, "We will win many more games together!"
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