At center-back, he chose the young Brazilian, Sidinei.
The 19-year-old stood 1.85 ters tall but was incredibly strong, and was surprisingly even more cumberso than the 1.88-ter David Luis.
In fact, his technical profile was very similar to the 1.92-ter Luisao.
Furthermore, neither of them could match David Luis in terms of individual skill.
This was the price Benfica paid for the first leg!
Having lost Córdoba on the left, Jesus moved the faster, more agile David Luis to the left flank.
This was specifically to guard against Dortmund’s right flank, Kuba’s side of the pitch.
In the center, it would be business as usual.
Luisao and Harvey Garcia would control the space, while Sidinei would tightly man-mark Wang Shuo.
Having made adjustnts on defense, Jesus also made changes on offense.
They adopted the tactic of an opening blitz.
Jesus hoped to disrupt Dortmund’s rhythm with this approach.
Incidentally, the referee for this match was Keppers, an international referee from the Netherlands.
Before the match began, he had already made it very clear to both team captains that he wanted to see a fluid, exciting ga.
After kickoff, the more technically skilled Benfica took control of possession and went on the attack.
Just three minutes in, Aimar drew a foul from Schlzer after a dribbling run through the center.
But Keppers only called the foul, giving neither a card nor a warning.
The stadium erupted in thunderous applause.
Benfica, however, seized the opportunity to launch wave after wave of attacks.
First ca a free kick from Carlos Martins, followed by a shot from Di María from a tight angle.
From the resulting corner, David Luis sent a header wide amidst the scramble in the box.
Jesus’s strategy for this match was to steal the ho-field advantage.
Weren’t Dortmund known for their opening blitzes, for their first-half dominance?
So Benfica would leverage their technical superiority to launch their own blitz, preventing Dortmund from playing to their strengths!
This not only made the Dortmund fans in the stadium anxious, but all the Bumblebee fans watching the live broadcast were just as frantic.
As the match progressed, everyone realized that Benfica’s opening onslaught showed no signs of letting up.
Nearly twenty minutes in, Dortmund still hadn’t managed a single shot.
However, Klopp’s team was defending well, remaining organized and thodical.
Benfica created several dangerous situations, but they were all ultimately just close calls.
Take the 20th minute, for example.
As Aimar broke through the center, he suddenly slid a through ball forward.
Di María broke into the left side of the box and, under pressure from Subotic, unleashed a shot with his left foot.
But he had forced the shot, and the ball flew well wide of the goal, not even troubling the side netting.
This sumd up the effectiveness of Benfica’s blitz.
It looked impressive, but posed no real threat, let alone creating any clear-cut chances to score.
’Why did I feel that Dortmund was hitting their stride this season, that we were constantly improving and playing with ever-increasing confidence?’
The start of this match was the perfect proof!
When the team had their backs against the wall, completely suppressed by the opponent’s technical superiority, Dortmund didn’t panic.
On the contrary, with Wang Shuo up front, Shahin in the midfield, and Humls at the back, the three of them ford a spine that controlled the team’s tempo and stabilized the ga.
Dortmund were masters of the opening blitz.
So, the Dortmund players knew better than anyone that after a prolonged, high-tempo blitz, the pace of the ga was bound to slow.
In the 22nd minute, as Shahin pushed forward from the left side of midfield to support the link-up play between Götze and Reus, Schlzer suddenly made a high-speed overlapping run down the left flank.
Reus spotted his teammate’s run and quickly played the ball out to him.
Schlzer ran onto the pass, brought the ball under control, and glanced upfield.
Wang Shuo had his hand raised, calling for the ball.
Schlzer whipped in a diagonal cross with his left foot, sending the ball straight into the penalty box.
Under pressure from Ramirez, Schlzer’s cross ca in a little high.
As soon as the ball left his foot, everyone thought the chance was gone.
The whole world knew Wang Shuo was terrible with his head.
But Wang Shuo sprinted forward anyway.
As he sprinted, he turned his head to watch the cross from Schlzer, judging its trajectory.
[Insight], [Eagle Eye], and [First Move] not only allowed him to clearly track the ball’s flight path in mid-air, but also gave him a perfect understanding of every defender’s movents around him.
While moving at high speed, he was also fighting to get the first move, ready to secure the best position at a mont’s notice.
The mont he judged where the ball would drop, he charged toward the spot.
Boosted by [Swift], he darted ahead of Sidinei and seized the first move.
Based on his read of the play, he knew it would be impossible for him to bring the ball down.
So, in an instant, he channeled all his strength into his legs. Using the montum from his sprint, he pushed off with all his might, launching himself straight into the air.
In mid-air, still boosted by his National Level [Foundation], he controlled his core muscles. Aided by his National Level [Coordination], he steadied his body and adjusted his posture to face the incoming ball.
Sidinei, like everyone else, thought Wang Shuo was absolutely terrible with his head.
They all instinctively assud Wang Shuo would try to bring the ball down with his feet or his chest.
By the ti Wang Shuo leaped into the air, a split-second ahead of him, Sidinei had already lost his chance.
His own jump, which followed, was little more than a desperate attempt to put Wang Shuo off.
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