May 12th, 7:45 PM. Hamburg Northern Bank Stadium.
The UEFA Europa League final: Dortmund versus Liverpool.
This wasn’t just a final between the Bumblebees and the Red Army; it was a continuation of the age-old rivalry between England and Germany.
According to UEFA regulations, although the Northern Bank Stadium could hold 57,000 people, the standing terraces on the north side had to be converted into seating for European matches. This reduced the capacity to 51,500.
Dortmund and Liverpool split half of the tickets, with each team receiving an allocation of about 13,000.
Of the remaining half, a portion was given to sponsors as complintary tickets, while the rest were sold to the public.
Most of the fans who bought these tickets were German, predominantly Dortmund supporters.
So, as the two teams walked onto the pitch led by Italian referee Nicolai Rizzoli, the chants of "BVB" clearly drowned out the support for Liverpool.
However, the scene Wang Shuo had been hoping for—fans of both teams singing "You’ll Never Walk Alone" in the stands—did not materialize.
It seed they were all intentionally or unintentionally avoiding the song.
’I wonder if the fans will sing it later, during the match,’ he thought.
’It would be best if the players had their match on the field, and the fans had a "match" of their own in the stands.’
Although Wang Shuo had appeared very wary of Liverpool at the press conference after his contract renewal a few days ago, he was actually quite relaxed about this final.
It wasn’t just him; the coaching staff, led by Klopp, was also very confident about this final.
A major reason for this was that Liverpool’s star striker, Torres, had undergone knee surgery in April to be fit for the South Africa World Cup, ruling him out for the rest of the season.
According to Kicker Magazine’s assessnt, Liverpool losing Torres was equivalent to Dortmund losing Wang Shuo.
This was also why Liverpool had struggled through both legs of their match against Fulham.
Goalkeeper: Reina;
Defense: Insua, Daniel Agger, Kalg, Glen Johnson;
Midfield: Lucas Leiva and Mascherano as a double pivot, with Benayoun, Gerrard, and Maxi Rodriguez in front of them;
Forward: Kuyt.
Dortmund also lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Goalkeeper: Weidenfeller;
Defense: Schlzer, Humls, Subotic, and Owomoyela;
Midfield: Shahin and Sven Bender as a double pivot, with Reus, Götze, and Kuba in front of them;
Forward: Wang Shuo.
In the player tunnel earlier, Wang Shuo had spotted Gerrard.
He was a player Wang Shuo admired greatly, and he had made a point to chat with him for a bit.
But once the teams dispersed to their respective sides, Wang Shuo did a few jumps in his own half and ran a quick sprint to thoroughly warm up his body.
Weidenfeller won the coin toss against Gerrard, securing the kickoff for Dortmund.
Returning to their half, he imdiately gathered all the players.
"Wang, you do it!"
Weidenfeller nodded at Wang Shuo.
As the on-field captain, Weidenfeller had to admit that Wang Shuo had more charisma and influence.
The teammates were more willing to listen to Wang Shuo, and they respected what he said.
"You all rember the boss’s plan from the past few days, right?"
Everyone stood in a circle, shoulder to shoulder, their heads bowed together.
"Yeah," everyone answered in agreent.
"Sa as always. Right from the start, we have to seize the initiative and put Liverpool under intense pressure!"
At this, Wang Shuo deliberately paused, letting everyone hear the chants from the overwhelmingly nurous BVB fans in the stands.
"Trust , brothers! Tonight, we’re bringing the UEFA Europa League trophy back to Dortmund!"
"And tomorrow morning, we’re taking this trophy, along with the Bundesliga championship shield, to Borsigplatz to celebrate!"
"Yeah!"
"One, two, three!"
"Let’s go, Dortmund!"
...
Wang Shuo and Götze stood in the center circle, ready for kickoff.
Reus and Kuba were positioned on the wings, standing right near the touchlines.
The mont the whistle blew, they would sprint forward at top speed.
Shahin would launch a long ball directly in behind the defense.
Whether they could launch the first attack was uncertain.
But the ball would definitely end up in Liverpool’s half!
This was the opening tactic Klopp had planned before the match.
The reason was simple: Liverpool seriously lacked pace.
It was a fact that sounded unbelievable but was objectively true.
Kuyt, Benayoun, Maxi Rodriguez, and Gerrard were not fast players.
It wasn’t that Liverpool had no fast players. For example, the Dutch forward Babel had decent pace.
Before the match, Klopp had predicted two possible starting lineups for them. One had Babel starting, with Kuyt playing on the right wing.
The other had Kuyt starting at center forward.
Perhaps because Babel had perford poorly this season, Benitez had more faith in Kuyt.
Kuyt was definitely a good player—a real workhorse.
To use stats from the ga Football Manager, he would have 20 Work Rate, 20 Teamwork, 20 Determination, 20 Stamina, 20 Professionalism, and 20 Sportsmanship.
This prolific goalscorer from the Dutch league transford into a right winger after moving to the Premier League, becoming a hardworking bee who toiled without complaint and always gave his all.
A player like that would be loved by the manager of any team.
For instance, Olic was greatly admired by Van Gaal at Bayern.
But regardless of whether Babel or Kuyt started, it couldn’t hide the weaknesses in Liverpool’s lineup.
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