The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills-Chapter 91 - 43: Claiming the Top Spot! Not for Sale! He Is Klopp’s Treasure! When You Are Slaughtered by Bayern
"A lot of people are saying we should take a more pragmatic approach against Bayern. That it would give us a better chance."
"Maybe so."
"But I refuse!"
"Because that's not what I want!"
"Bayern is strong. They're the best team in the Bundesliga, in all of Europe. But my team and I will stick to our style and try to beat this powerful opponent our way!"
"Even if we lose, even if we get utterly crushed, beaten black and blue."
"I've always believed that we're bound to win at least once!"
Klopp's words probably didn't resonate much with many of the people present.
Because Bayern was just too strong.
No one likes to lose!
More professional players might have found it easy to accept such a loss.
They might even have grown accustomed to it.
But for Wang Shuo, Klopp's words had truly fired him up.
'Are kings and nobles born to their station?'
The more Wang Shuo got to know Head Coach Klopp, the deeper his impression of the man became.
His face, covered in a thick beard, gave off a rugged and boisterous impression.
But once you got to know him, you could easily see that deep down, Klopp was surprisingly something of a romantic idealist.
Wang Shuo looked up the history of matches between Mainz and Bayern.
In the past three years, Mainz had faced Bayern six times in the league. They had conceded four or more goals in four of those matches, including one match where they let in five.
This meant that despite being far weaker than Bayern, Mainz still insisted on going toe-to-toe with them in an all-out attack!
Wang Shuo figured that if Klopp were even a little less of a romantic, he would never have been able to do it.
What was the result of going on an all-out attack when the disparity in strength was so great?
The 2-5 loss that Hoffenheim suffered against Bayer Leverkusen this round was a perfect example.
But that was Klopp!
As a player, the only thing Wang Shuo could do was give his respect and do his utmost to execute the head coach's tactics.
Fortunately, after the third-round match against Karlsruhe, Wang Shuo had finally saved up enough for another Passive Skill Card.
...
September 13th, 1:30 PM.
Bruch Road Stadium, Mainz.
After a two-week break, the Bundesliga was back in action with its fourth round. Mainz was at home, facing the powerhouse Bayern Munich.
Before the match, the newspaper Bild had dubbed it a 300-million-euro showdown.
This was, of course, a joke.
Because Bayern's squad was valued at 270 million euros, while Mainz's was a mere 30 million.
It was like that classic joke: "On average, Bill Gates and I each make $3,300 a minute."
Mainz stuck with their 4-4-1-1 formation.
Goalkeeper: Wach;
Defenders: Lővér, Nowitzki, Subotic, and Hogland;
Midfielders: Foyelner, Pekovic, Kalhan, and Helle, with Hainauer in an advanced role;
Forward: Wang Shuo.
This had been Mainz's primary starting lineup so far this season.
But Klinsmann had made significant adjustments to the Bayern lineup.
The Bundesliga powerhouse abandoned their usual four-man defense, opting for a three-man back line instead.
Goalkeeper: Lensing;
Defenders: Lucio, Demichelis, and Van Bitten;
Midfielders: Lahm, Ze Roberto, Van Bommel, Schweinsteiger, and Lair;
Forwards: Klose and Luca Tony.
A single look at the starting lineups revealed the disparity in strength between the two teams.
Not to mention, Bayern's bench was filled with stars like German international Podolski and Italian international Oddo.
As soon as the match kicked off, Mainz began to press high, pushing their whole team forward in an aggressive attack.
In contrast, Bayern, the visiting team, seemed to have anticipated Mainz's tactics and patiently controlled the tempo of the game.
Klinsmann's decision to use a three-man defense, combined with a midfield trio of Ze Roberto, Van Bommel, and Schweinsteiger, was also clearly aimed at completely controlling possession.
Mainz, on the other hand, countered with relentless, wide-ranging runs and a high-pressure press.
The first truly threatening shot of the match came in the 20th minute.
Van Bommel took a long shot, but it was saved by goalkeeper Wach.
Four minutes later, Mainz returned the favor.
After finding space upfield to receive the ball, Wang Shuo sent a square pass across the pitch.
Hainauer took a long shot from 23 meters out, but it sailed high over the crossbar.
Shortly after, Bayern missed a scoring opportunity inside the box when Luca Tony failed to get a shot off in time.
The Bayern center forward seemed particularly irritable today.
Italy had lost their national team match, and Luca Tony had faced a wave of criticism before being substituted off midway through the game.
More importantly, in three matches so far this season, Luca Tony had only scored one goal and had no assists.
Just before the end of the first half, Wang Shuo missed an opportunity for a header.
'Physicality, headers, long shots, and my left foot...'
'Headers, in particular, are closely linked to physicality and core strength.'
Wang Shuo knew he still had a long way to go and needed to keep working hard.
The first half ended in a 0-0 draw.
Mainz was on the back foot, but their performance was tenacious. Through their tireless running, they created a lot of problems for Bayern.
Having held the Bundesliga powerhouse at bay, the Mainz players were in good spirits during the halftime break.
Klopp, for his part, was mostly encouraging.
But just seven minutes after the second half kicked off, Lővér fouled Lair on the left flank, giving Bayern a free kick in an advanced position.
Schweinsteiger sent in the free kick from the right. Inside the box, Luca Tony powerfully overpowered Subotic and headed the ball into the net from five meters out.
