Chapter 563 Champion
The main reason why Heynckes changed the formation to double center forwards in the away game and let Klose partner with Su Dong was that he saw the weaknesses in Arsenal's defense, especially the lack of defense against high balls.
Chelsea once used Drogba to suppress Arsenal's central defenders, and Liverpool once used the combination of Crouch and Torres to suppress Arsenal's defense, both of which achieved quite good results, which made Heynckes see an opportunity.
Klose came on and took down Modric, which certainly made Bayern's midfield more passive, but it also made Bayern's forward line more aggressive, which was completely in line with the team's strategic goal away from home, which was to strive for away goals.
If we say that in the first ten minutes or so, Arsenal's opening attack put Bayern at a disadvantage and the players lost some confidence, but with Su Dong's goal, Bayern players gradually regained their confidence.
Klose's main task on the court is to share Su Dong's pressure so that he can devote more to offense.
After gradually getting into the game, the German striker ran very actively and performed very lively.
In a quick counterattack after Bayern intercepted the ball in the backcourt, Schweinsteiger dribbled straight to the left side of the frontcourt and passed the ball to Ribery. After getting the ball on the left side of the penalty area, the French scarface tried to break through Kolo Toure but failed, so he stopped and dribbled the ball, took a step back, and suddenly kicked a cross.
Su Dong quickly advanced along the middle and saw Ribery's cross. He quickly suppressed Senderos in the penalty area and tried to stop the ball with his chest, but unexpectedly, Klose was too desperate. He suddenly rushed forward, jumped high, and headed the ball, but the ball hit Gallas and bounced out of the penalty area.
When he landed, the German center noticed Su Dong and immediately realized that he had ruined Su Dong's good fortune, so he quickly waved his hand to apologize.
He was really hot-headed just now and didn't notice that Su Dong had already secured his position.
Before Su Dong could pay attention, he saw the ball fall outside the penalty area. After Schweinsteiger stopped the ball with his chest, he was looking towards the penalty area. Su Dong immediately pointed to the right side of the penalty spot towards him.
After stopping the ball, Schweinsteiger made a direct pass to the right side of the penalty spot.
Su Dong ran over quickly and kicked the ball to stop it before Senderos.
The Swiss center back was originally blocked by Su Dong behind him. When he saw the ball passed towards his defense area, he immediately wanted to grab it. However, he didn't expect that Su Dong was tall and had long legs, so he got there first and stopped the ball.
After seeing Su Dong stop the ball, Senderos immediately blocked it, but Su Dong stopped the ball with his right foot and immediately moved the ball a small step to the right, but Sylvester immediately rushed over to block it.
Su Dong reacted quickly, suddenly kicked the ball to the left with his right foot and turned around.
Senderos clearly saw Su Dong dribble the ball and turn around, so he immediately stuck to him and tried to steal the ball, but Su Dong knocked him away with his shoulder, and the Swiss center back involuntarily took a small step back.
With the space created by this small step, Su Dong quickly moved the ball to the left and kicked a curved ball with his left foot, heading straight to the left side of the goal.
Almunia had been changing his position according to the position of the ball. When Su Dong rushed to the right side of the goal to receive the ball, his entire position was on the right side, but Su Dong suddenly dribbled the ball to the left and kicked a curve ball with his left foot. This made Almunia helpless despite his hard sideways dive.
The ball almost stuck to the inside of the left post and went straight into the goal.
Two to one!
"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!"
"In the 37th minute, Su Dong scored another goal for Bayern, 2-1!"
"Bayern reversed Arsenal away from home!"
After Su Dong scored a goal, he clenched his fist and cheered on the spot.
Senderos stood behind Su Dong, bent over and panted, looking at Su Dong in disbelief.
Su Dong is taller than him, but much more flexible than him.
In front of Su Dong, whether it was physical strength, speed and explosiveness, or footwork and flexibility, Senderos was completely defeated.
It was a feeling of frustration that was even more desperate than when facing Drogba.
Senderos even felt a sense of fear in his heart. He was afraid that his defense zone would be completely destroyed by Su Dong.
If this is really the case, then the main position that he has worked so hard to wait for will be completely away from him.
The fear made him tremble.
…
"Senderos has been completely beaten to a pulp."
Arsenal assistant coach Pat Rice shook his head to remind Wenger.
Senderos is undoubtedly a young central defender with great potential. His physical condition and technical indicators are very promising, and he even has a lot of blood in his body. However, facing Su Dong's repeated destruction, he seems to be losing confidence.
There is also Drogba from Chelsea, who is also an accomplice of Su Dong.
How could such a talented central defender be tortured like this? Wenger was also very helpless and sighed softly.
Although he didn't want to accept it, he had to admit that Senderos was the biggest hidden danger in Arsenal's defense today. Both of Su Dong's goals came from him.
It is even foreseeable that Bayern will continue to focus on this point.
If Arsenal lose, it would be unfair to put all the blame on Senderos, but the Swiss centre-back is definitely one of the main reasons.
Especially his weakness when facing Su Dong.
"Let Gilberto Silva prepare, let him play in the second half, and we will defend!" Wenger decided to take drastic measures.
Damn it, I can't provoke you, but can I avoid you? Just when Wenger decided to make a substitution during the halftime break, something unexpected happened on the field again.
…
Fabregas made a long pass, trying to pass to the left to Hleb.
The Belarusian players have a very large range of activities, and they often even run to the right. At this time, they took a breath on the left and reacted a little slowly, so Lahm quickly rushed forward and headed the ball directly into the midfield.
Mascherano kicked the ball to the front right before Diaby.
Robben was outside Arsenal's 30-meter area, with his back to the direction of attack. After seeing Mascherano's lob pass, he cushioned the ball with his left foot and sent it to the front, then turned around and sprinted forward at top speed.
Outside the penalty area, Su Dong used his body to hold Senderos behind him.
The Swiss center back did not make any move behind Su Dong. He only dared to block him and prevent him from turning around easily.
But when Su Dong stopped the ball, Robben rushed past him quickly, and Sylvester followed Robben closely.
Su Dong had no chance to pass the ball. After seeing Robben passing by, he quickly turned around and dribbled the ball to the right side of the penalty area.
On the right side outside the Arsenal penalty area, Su Dong successfully turned around and took the ball directly facing Senderos.
In the penalty area, Robben originally made an oblique run to the front of the small penalty area, but after seeing Su Dong moving to the side, he immediately retreated, paying attention to staying in an offside position, sending a signal to Su Dong.
Su Dong took the ball and faced Senderos. He saw the nervousness of the Swiss central defender, but did not give the opponent too much time to think. After turning around and taking a look at Robben, Su Dong suddenly paused, then started at the fastest speed and rushed to the baseline with the ball.
After an abrupt stop, Su Dong suddenly started again, quickly leaving Senderos behind, and passed a low ball with his right foot to the front of the small penalty area.
Robben moved forward at the fastest speed and pushed the ball into the lower right corner with his left foot in front of the small penalty area.
Almunia can't do anything!
Three to one!
After Robben scored the goal, he jumped up excitedly and rushed towards Su Dong to celebrate with him on the sidelines.
Senderos stared at Su Dong who was celebrating with his mouth wide open, and his worry grew even more.
He didn't know if he would still be unable to stop the fight next time.
…………
…………
The first half ended with a score of 1 to 3.
According to international practice, the home team is in front and the visiting team is behind.
No one expected that Arsenal, playing at home, would lose three goals in the first half. This really surprised everyone. You know, before this game, the Gunners had been unbeaten in ten Premier League games and performed very well.
But after watching the first half, everyone fell into deep doubts again.
Is it that Arsenal is too weak? Or is it that Bayern is too strong? No one knows the answer.
But Wenger made a substitution at halftime, with Gilberto Silva replacing Senderos.
The substitution was seen as evidence of Wenger's utter disappointment with the Swiss centre-back, with Eboue withdrawn to the back line, Diaby moved to the right and Kolo Toure returning to the centre to partner with Gallas.
Although it was still a 4-5-1 tactic, the loss of Senderos, a tall center back, had a huge impact on Arsenal, and the Gunners clearly focused more on defense in the second half.
In the 70th minute of the second half, after receiving a cross from Marcelo on the left, Sudong headed the ball from the front of the penalty area to the back post. Klose quickly moved and, with no one guarding him, headed the ball into the goal from close range, scoring another goal for Bayern.
Arsenal then brought on Walcott.
It was this outstanding little tiger who quickly attacked Marcelo from behind on the right side, broke through Bayern's defense with a quick and sharp counterattack, and sent the ball into the penalty area, where Adebayor easily shot into the goal.
2 to 4! After that, both teams got another chance, but neither of them seized it.
Bayern finally reversed Arsenal 4-2 on the road with two assists and two goals from Su Dong, and won the away game in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 knockout match.
…
After the game, Bayern players celebrated wildly at the Emirates Stadium.
Especially when we got to the locker room, everyone was excited and cheering wildly.
Everyone knows that a 4-2 victory away from home and four goals means they will advance early.
Although Heynckes, Kahn and others have been constantly reminding the players to be cautious and not to be blindly complacent, everyone knows that being reversed by Arsenal is a very low probability event.
In Schweinsteiger's words, "This is the first time I have truly felt that we have what it takes to win the Champions League. This is what it means to be a champion!"
Everyone agreed with this.
Before, everyone had enough confidence in the team’s strength, but they didn’t know how strong it was.
But tonight, at the Emirates Stadium, the 4-2 comeback against Arsenal gave everyone huge confidence.
Heynckes is right, Bayern has been reborn!
(End of this chapter)
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