Chapter 343: Chapter 79: Unrivaled in Europe! Back-to-Back Braces! A True Leader! He Single-handedly Broke Through a Defensive Line

This led to widespread external concern about Dortmund’s situation.

The second half of the Bundesliga season started earlier this year.

On top of that, Germany’s winter was particularly cold.

As a result, injuries were generally more frequent.

At Dortmund, in addition to the two long-term absentees Kael and De De, the Brazilian veteran Tinga had also strained his adductor muscle in training, essentially ending his season.

Weidenfeller, Sven Bender, and Kuba had also been injured one after another, heavily impacting the team’s starting lineup.

This led many in the German media to believe that Klopp’s team lacked staying power.

By mid-February, the UEFA Europa League was set to resume.

In the draw for the UEFA Europa League’s round of 32, Dortmund was matched against Eredivisie giants Ajax.

Even while competing on a single front, the Bumblebee’s injury list was already growing constantly.

Once the European competition resumed, could Dortmund handle the strain of fighting on two fronts?

...

On the afternoon of February 7th, at Dortmund’s Westfalen Stadium.

It was the 21st round of the Bundesliga, with Dortmund hosting Frankfurt.

The moment Frankfurt’s Alexander Meier came flying out of the penalty area, Klopp, on the home team’s bench, slammed his right fist down, venting his frustration over the conceded goal.

The score on the large scoreboard at Westfalen Stadium immediately changed from 2-1 to 2-2!

And the time on the clock was the 65th minute.

Klopp had every reason to be disappointed with that goal.

Since the winter break, Dortmund’s injury list had begun to grow.

Strictly speaking, this wasn’t an issue unique to Dortmund; other teams were facing similar problems.

But the Bumblebees’ injury crisis was the most pronounced, and therefore, the most scrutinized.

Because of that damned Klopp Syndrome!

For this match, Klopp had put Santana on the bench.

In the previous round, Santana had performed poorly, scoring an own goal and facing a torrent of criticism after the match.

As the team’s head coach, he felt he should stand up and support Santana in a time like this.

So, Klopp temporarily benched him to let him regroup.

The Brazilian center-back had been dealing with some personal issues lately.

Klopp hoped to protect him this way!

With Sven Bender still out injured for this round and Santana not starting, Hummels moved back to a central position.

In midfield, Klopp chose the young Letalek to partner with Shahin.

As a result, Frankfurt scored just eight minutes into the second half.

In the 17th minute, Wang Shuo had won a free kick in the final third, and Shahin assisted Hummels to score.

Then, in the 57th minute of the second half, Wang Shuo assisted Reus, who put them ahead.

But unexpectedly, just eight minutes later, Alexander Meier leveled the score again.

"What an absolutely terrible match!"

Klopp returned to the bench, visibly agitated.

Neither side had made any substitutions so far.

"Defending against Alexander Meier is a real headache," Buvac said, shaking his head in resignation.

The legendary Frankfurt star played as a number 10, or a second striker.

But he was also 1.96 meters tall, powerfully built, and incredibly skilled at making late runs from deep.

In this match, Frankfurt had Little Altıntop playing up front, which gave Meier a great deal of freedom behind him.

Once the center-backs were drawn out of position, Letalek and Shahin were completely unable to stop Alexander Meier.

That was how they had conceded the last goal.

This was Dortmund’s biggest problem right now.

Sebastian Kael was the team’s captain and icon. Both for financial reasons and to maintain stability in the locker room, the team couldn’t sign a midfielder capable of replacing him while he was injured.

They could only look for solutions internally.

Sven Bender was the best candidate.

And he had been performing very well this season.

But then, he got injured too.

Of course, he was almost fully recovered now and was about to rejoin team training.

But during Sven Bender’s absence, the team truly had no one else to turn to.

Kleger wasn’t suited to playing in a double pivot, and having failed to get opportunities with the team, he had requested a loan move to Hertha Berlin.

If he were still here, the situation might have been a little better.

"Our biggest problem is still in the midfield. Foyelner isn’t performing well in the number 10 role," Buvac said, shaking his head.

Back at Mainz, Foyelner had played on the wing.

Now he was back in a central role, but his technical ability wasn’t enough to handle the responsibility.

"So far this season, his pass completion rate in the final third is only 54%," Peter Krawietz said.

"By comparison, Götze’s pass completion rate in the final third is 71%, which is about the same as Foyelner’s overall midfield completion rate."

As the data analysis expert, Peter Krawietz’s numbers were certainly accurate.

Everyone knew that Foyelner came from Mainz, had been brought in by Klopp, and was also on very good terms with Wang Shuo.

He was even on good terms with Buvac and Krawietz.

But his performance was truly less than ideal.

The main reason he was played in this position was the hope that he could provide adequate support for Wang Shuo.

But judging by the passing stats, it looked more like he was holding the team back.

Of course, this wasn’t to say that Foyelner wasn’t trying, or that his performance was terrible.

Not at all.

He averaged 4.9 ball recoveries per game, which was quite impressive even for a midfielder.