knife guard

Chapter 368 Huo Village's opponent in the League Cup
On August 31, the first round match of the 0708 UEFA Cup was announced in Monaco. All 80 teams participating in the first round of the UEFA Cup will compete for 40 places in the UEFA Cup group stage through two rounds of elimination.The newly promoted Hoffenheim of the Bundesliga ushered in the first European opponent in its [-]-year history-the Rapid Bucharest team.

It’s Bucharest, but it’s not Star Team, nor Dynamo. It’s Fast. Chinese fans must be very unfamiliar with this name. In the memory of Chinese fans, only Bucharest Star Team still has some impressions. Even Bucharest Dynamo rarely hears it. Say, let alone Bucharest fast.

But German fans must know, because due to the poor record of the Bundesliga in the European League, they are almost overtaken by the Romanian League behind them. Six major leagues.And Bucharest is fast in the Romanian League, Steaua Bucharest and Dynamo Bucharest are also known as the three outstanding players.

Last season, Bucharest quickly reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup, but was eliminated by the same city rival Steaua Bucharest because of fewer away goals.Last season, Rapid Bucharest won the domestic cup championship like Hoffenheim, but Rapid Bucharest did not participate in the UEFA Cup because of the cup championship. They also scored in the top three in the league.

Hoffenheim drew such an opponent and did not disappoint the fans of the club. It is the first time to participate in the UEFA Cup. What kind of opponent do they want to draw?For them who have never played against foreign teams, what kind of opponents can be called underdogs? They are already the weakest.

After the result of the draw was passed to Baden-Württemberg, Hoffenheim's main players and club personnel excitedly talked about their views on the UEFA Cup that will be held 20 days later.

The club's manager Schindelmaiser attended the draw ceremony in Monaco. After the draw, he said that Rapid Bucharest's league is not as famous as the Bundesliga, but they are a strong team and play with passion. Hoffenheim is very happy to play with them. With one group drawn, he believes that it will be a good time for the two teams to meet.

Head coach Rangnick said: "Although Hoffenheim won the first three rounds, they don't have the strength to fight on two fronts, so they don't have much ambition in the UEFA Cup, but as a club for [-] years The first European league game in history, Hoffenheim will not give up easily, he will strive to win."

Li Huan, the core of the team, also said in an interview with the Chinese media, "Although Rapid Bucharest may not be stronger than their opponents in the Bundesliga, their style of play is quite different from that of the Bundesliga teams. They have never had experience in European competitions." Hoffenheim may suffer. But we will win our first European game in the end and we won't get off to a bad start."

The Italian head coach of Rapid Bucharest, Bergdi, did not dare to underestimate the newly promoted player who was still playing in the Bundesliga two years ago. He said: "Hoffenheim has strong financial resources. Their current investment in the transfer market is only surpassed by Bayern Munich. There are stars like Li Huan and Eduardo in the team. They have achieved impressive results in the Bundesliga Bundesliga before, and they even beat the league champions and won the German Cup. Now they are in a very good state and have won three consecutive victories in the Bundesliga. , we have to give them enough respect, but we don’t have to be afraid of them, they are newcomers to the European War after all, and we have more experience than them.”

Germany's other three teams participating in the UEFA Cup are Bayern, Bayer Leverkusen and Hamburg from the Intertoto Cup to the UEFA Cup.Bayern Munich's first UEFA Cup match in a decade will be against Portugal's Billerens, Leverkusen against Portugal's Leiria and Hamburg against Bulgaria's Ritex.

For Bayern Munich, any one of the 79 opponents drawn in the UEFA Cup can be called an underdog. They don't even need to look at the opponent's name. How to overcome the stigma of playing in the UEFA Cup.For the Bundesliga giants, winning the UEFA Cup is also a big shame.

As for Leverkusen and Hamburg, the two mid-range teams in the Bundesliga are basically teams that are unable to win the championship and have no worries about relegation. They still attach great importance to them in the UEFA Cup. Cup to increase the popularity of the team.And in this cup game that the giants don't pay much attention to, a mid-range team like them might be able to win a European championship.

However, the UEFA Cup is still far away. Now the opponents of the four teams in the league are not easy to mess with. Hoffenheim’s opponent is Bielefeld, who is ranked third. Leverkusen is going to challenge Schalke away. 04, Bayern's opponent Hamburg, Hamburg's enemy is Bayern.

In the fourth round of the Bundesliga, Hoffenheim returned to the home court Karl Benz to meet the challenge from No.3 Bielefeld, because Bayern will face the excellent Hamburg team at home this season. Cold, if Bayern can't win, and Hoffenheim may reach the top of the standings as long as they beat Bielefeld, for Hoffenheim, this is a big temptation.

Bielefeld is a civilian team, you can't find a player worth more than 200 million euros in this team, but they are by no means a soft persimmon that is easy to pinch. Both Wolfsburg and Hertha Berlin were punctured.The record of two wins, one tie and four goals put them behind Hoffenheim, beating Bochum and Hamburg.

Bielefeld has been relegated every year. Their experience is that starting from the new season, the players of the rich teams have not woken up from the vacation to grab points. They have only one style of play, which is also the favorite and best of all mid-lower teams. Intensive defense, sudden attack.Their style of play does not pay attention to good looks, survival is their most important issue, just like you can’t say to a beggar, why don’t you shave, take a bath, wear clean clothes, and don’t have three meals a day? Things no one will think about.The reason why Hoffenheim is different from all the mid-lower teams is that they have a huge treasure trove behind them, a rich man Hope who can buy [-] Bayern, otherwise they would have to live with their tails between their legs like Bielefeld , This is why many Bundesliga teams hate Hoffenheim so much.

Facing Bielefeld means that Hoffenheim must practice breaking through the dense defense. Rangnick has no doubts that Middendorp's team will adopt dense defensive tactics when they come to the Karl Benz Stadium. Hoffenheim The offensive power of scoring 11 goals in three games has long attracted the attention of the entire Bundesliga.Middendorp is not blind, how could he not see.

But Rangnick is not worried, because his team still has a lot of experience in breaking dense defenses. In the Bundesliga, almost all the teams they encountered played dense defenses. Hoffenheim's three tall forwards And Li Huan and Eduardo, who are good at breakthroughs, are sharp weapons to break through dense defenses.As long as they play intensive defensive tactics, the difference between a Bundesliga team and a Bundesliga team is not too big, unless their coach is Mourinho or an Italian.

Rangnick is only worried that his team will be influenced by the media these days. The mood of these young people has changed a lot. After coming to the Bundesliga, the media will report on the life of the team and players almost every day, either to praise or criticize , and may spread rumors, which will have a bad influence on the players.Dr. Herman, the sports psychologist of the team, gave psychological counseling to the players before the game. Most of the players are still normal. However, according to Dr. Herman’s reaction, Li Huan’s psychology is a bit different from ordinary people, and he can’t say why. normal or abnormal.However, Herman persuaded Lannik that this may be the characteristic of geniuses, and geniuses are a little different from ordinary people.

Hoffenheim's unbeaten record in the first three rounds and passionate offensive football attracted many fans from the Rhine-Neckar region to watch their game. The tickets were sold out three days ago, and many fans are still online Subscription, which made Rothaus and Schindelmaiser, who had been worried before moving to Mannheim, finally relieved.

The three victories made Hoffenheim fans full of confidence in winning Bielefeld at home. In the survey conducted by "Rhine Neckar", almost 90.00% of the fans believed that Hoffenheim would win easily.The local media of the visiting team was full of pessimism about Bielefeld's away trip. They suggested that Bielefeld should keep the draw and not think too much about winning. Come and see.

Middendorp also expressed enough respect for Hoffenheim. When he left Bielefeld for Mannheim, he told Bild's famous commentator Buster, "Hoffenheim is very strong. They have continued their upward momentum since last season, and the team's strong financial resources have allowed them to continue to repair weak positions in the transfer market. I think they will become the biggest dark horse this season. The achievements are limitless. Li Huan of Hoffenheim is an incredible player. We played against him in the German Cup when he was still in Karlsruhe. I was shocked by his ability. Now, he seems to be He has improved since then, and he will become a world-class player in the Bundesliga. We must pay attention to him in this game, otherwise he will cause us great harm. One point in this game is for us It is also a victory because our goal is really to stay in the relegation."

(End of this chapter)