Chapter 866: Counterattack

"Mr. Kuhn, it's great to see you again at Volkspark Stadium!"

Yang Huan was on the chairman's stand, personally greeting Claude Michael Kuhn as he walked out of the elevator.

This white-haired old man had a smile on his face, and anyone who saw him could sense his happiness.

In recent years, Kuhn has rarely appeared at the Volkspark Stadium, especially in the past one or two years. The team's performance has been getting worse and worse. He even used poor health as an excuse and stayed in Switzerland more often.

But now, as soon as Khoff and others stepped down, he immediately returned to the Volkspark Stadium. This coming and going is indeed enough to arouse people's imagination. Does anyone really believe that it is just because of the north-south showdown between Hamburg and Bayern Munich?

What’s even more interesting is that some people have noticed that almost all the fan representatives of the Hamburg team, as well as those political and business celebrities who have connections with Hamburg, appeared in the chairman’s stand of the Volkspark Stadium this time.

What does this mean?

This almost represents their support for Yang Huan!

In the chairman's stand, the host and guests exchanged pleasantries and soon found a seat to sit down.

Because the players of both teams have finished their rest and returned to the court.

Yang Huan also got the starting lineups of the two teams as soon as possible.

"It seems that Bayern Munich is sure to win this time!" Kuhn glanced at the roster and said with a smile.

Alexander Otto also nodded, but his tone was a little unconvinced, "Who said it wasn't true? If we weren't sure of winning, how come they deployed a three-back tactic when we were second in the league?"

Bayern Munich's starting lineup in this game is a bit like a 3341 formation.

The goalkeeper is Reina and the defense is Dante, Javi Martinez and Boateng.

The three midfielders are Thiago, Xabi Alonso and Lahm.

In the frontcourt, Lewandowski is the spearhead, with Ribery and Robben on the left and right flanks, and Thomas Muller in the middle.

Anyone who sees it can tell that this tactic is mainly based on offense.

The midfield combination of Thiago, Xabi Alonso and Lahm is good at ball possession.

As for the frontcourt, Ribery and Robben fly on both wings, which is also the high-end configuration of Bayern Munich this season.

The only bigger problem is Lewandowski.

After the Bundesliga striker moved from Dortmund to Bayern Munich this season, he has not yet been able to integrate into Bayern Munich's tactics. However, with Lewandowski's ability, who dares to underestimate him?

The fact that such a player can appear on the court is itself a great deterrent.

Tuchel's Hamburg deployed a 4-3-3 formation.

The goalkeeper is Oblak, the defense from left to right is Ostrolek, Emre Can, Alderweireld and Dickmayer, the three midfielders are Krassi, Weigl and Badley, and the front trident is Douglas Costa, Aboubakar and Kingsley Coman.

Compared with Bayern Munich's lineup that is clearly inclined towards offense and full of firepower, Hamburg's 433 formation does not have too many surprises, and even the starting lineup is expected to be guessed by others.

This is also the reason why Yang Huan is not very optimistic about the future prospects of Hamburg.

To put it bluntly, Hamburg now only has one starting lineup. Once injuries occur or the team's tactics are restrained, Hamburg's overall strength will be greatly affected.

As for young players such as Godino, Hoiber, Kimmich, Sussex, Sane and Januzaj, they have potential and good strength, but they are still a little bit young when it comes to playing against strong opponents.

After all, Tuchel is not a god.

As a head coach, it is quite difficult to adjust a main lineup from a lineup with major changes in almost every position in just one summer preparation time.

What's more, Tuchel is also actively giving young players opportunities to perform.

Young players like Godino, Hojbjerg, Januzaj and Sane have each made several appearances.

Young central defender Jedvaj even started one or two games. All this proves that Tuchel is willing to bring in new players to enrich the team's tactics, but all this requires more time and cannot be achieved overnight.

"Bayern Munich does have this strength, and they have the confidence!" Yang Huan said lightly.

The dominance created by long-term dominance in the Bundesliga is not something that any ordinary team can possess.

Moreover, in many crucial moments of the game, this dominance often brings a bonus aura to the team.

This is not fantasy or science fiction at all, but a strong self-confidence.

In fact, at the beginning of the game, Bayern Munich actively launched an offensive. With the three midfielders consisting of Thiago, Xabi Alonso and Lahm, they firmly controlled the game and took the initiative.

Hamburg launched active pressing and oppression from the very beginning, and was not afraid of Bayern Munich's powerful offensive firepower at all. Instead, they still adopted the high-position defensive tactics that the team used and insisted on in the past.

This is also the foundation for An'an to survive.

Because Hamburg's tactics are based on a high-position system. If they retreat, not only Bayern Munich, but even a Bundesliga relegation team would be able to defeat Hamburg.

Therefore, no matter how big the difference in strength is, Hamburger has to push forward.

The two sides were in a head-on confrontation, and the game was intense from the very beginning, which was very exciting and thrilling.

Bayern Munich firmly controlled the ball, while Hamburg used active running and pressure to curb Bayern Munich's attack. Therefore, the game pace was very fast and the ball changed hands back and forth.

"Tuchel is really a very capable head coach. His defense is well organized and his targeted tactics are also good." Kuhn had only watched the game for less than a few minutes but he was already praising him with great appreciation.

As an old fan who has watched football for decades, he can always see the tricks quickly.

"Yes!" Yang Huan nodded. "The three midfielders are still mainly defensive. Krassi and Badelli both attach great importance to protecting the ribs when defending. Weigl is not the kind of defensive midfielder who stands in position. He prefers to stay close to his teammates. The three midfielders form a wall. Bayern Munich can't break into the penalty area at all."

After the opening, Bayern Munich attacked several times. Although they were able to enter the 30-meter area basically every time, it was difficult to pass the ball into the penalty area because Hamburg was well protected on both sides.

Lewandowski was in poor form and Thomas Muller was not good at dribbling. The flanks were an important means for Bayern Munich to attack in the 30-meter area. Therefore, Tuchel focused on pinching the flanks to block Ribery and Robben.

Even though these are two superstars, if it's a one-on-two situation, they don't stand much chance.

Speaking of which, Bayern Munich's midfield is also quite interesting.

The combination of Thiago, Lahm and Xabi Alonso did have excellent control, but they failed to attack from behind.

Therefore, Tuchel's move pinched Bayern Munich's ribs, and half of their attack was destroyed.

It can also be seen that Hamburg's tactics were well-rehearsed. The players cooperated skillfully, were well organized, and advanced and retreated in moderation, without any signs of panic.

That's why Kuhn said that Tuchel is a very good head coach.

"Then shall we continue to defend like this?" asked Alexander Otto.

Yang Huan glanced at him. This guy has been watching football for decades, but has not made much progress.

"It's not that simple, Guardiola will adjust quickly."

"What should we do then?" Alexander Otto asked again.

"Just let it sit cold!" Yang said with a laugh.

Kuhn nodded and sighed, "Yes, we are not as skilled as the enemy, so we can only passively respond to their moves. However, adjusting tactics before a battle is a double-edged sword. It may hurt the enemy, but it may also expose our own weaknesses."

"That's right, so we can only wait."

Guardiola made his first on-the-spot adjustment in about the tenth minute.

After the adjustment, there was a very interesting change, that is, Lewandowski moved closer to the right to look for Robben, while Thomas Muller moved to the left to cooperate with Ribery.

The purpose of this adjustment is to give full play to the players' individual ability advantages and break through Hamburg's flank defense.

It’s true that Guardiola’s adjustment made Bayern Munich’s attack threatening.

They attacked Hamburg's penalty area twice in succession, and Robben's shot went wide once.

Another time, Thomas Muller's shot was caught by Oblak.

Although they failed to score a goal in both times, they created enough threats and also woke up Hamburg's players, realizing that they were not as skilled as their opponents.

Whether in terms of overall strength or overall tactics, Hamburg has a considerable gap with Bayern Munich.

But just as Bayern Munich's offensive was gaining momentum, Tuchel immediately made adjustments.

But unlike Guardiola's adjustments which achieved immediate results, Tuchel's adjustments were like a drop in the ocean, with no end in sight.

Bayern Munich once again attacked the front of Hamburg's penalty area.

Ribery got the ball, but was trapped by Dickmayer and Badelj at the same time. He wanted to pass the ball to Thomas Muller, but Alderweireld suddenly rushed forward and intercepted the ball.

Weigl, who had been stationed at the top of the penalty area, suddenly rushed forward. There was not even a single player in the entire front middle of Bayern Munich, so the ball was taken by Weigl.

As soon as he got the ball, Weigl made a diagonal pass.

The whole process was not actually fast, but because Thomas Muller and Lewandowski both moved to the flanks, there was no one in the middle of Bayern Munich's frontcourt at all, and they were able to counterattack Hamburg on the spot after losing the ball.

Weigl's pass went directly across the midfield and landed on the left side of the frontcourt.

Douglas Costa rushed forward quickly, facing the incoming ball, and kicked the ball in front of him with his left foot.

At this time, he had already entered the 30-meter area of ​​Bayern Munich, but he was not in a hurry at all.

Jerome Boateng came closer, but did not get close to him immediately, but kept a certain distance.

Douglas Costa dribbled the ball forward, but not quickly, waiting for his teammates in the middle and right to catch up.

Coming to the left side of Bayern Munich's penalty area, the Brazilian finally decided to go for it.

He was seen dribbling the ball and preparing to cut into the penalty area, attracting Boateng to steal the ball. With a skillful and dazzling bicycle move, he tricked Boateng into kicking the ball, and then he dribbled the ball to the end line.

This beautiful breakthrough allowed Douglas Costa to shake off Boateng, catch up with the ball, and make a cross, sending the ball into the penalty area.

The ball landed right in front of the small penalty area, an area that the goalkeeper had the most difficulty controlling.

However, rushing up from behind like a rampaging tank, Abubakar crashed into the Bayern Munich penalty area, got ahead of Javi Martinez, jumped high and headed the ball into the goal.

The ball hit Abubakar's head, turned in another direction and hit the Bayern Munich goal.

At this moment, everyone in the entire People's Park Stadium was stunned!