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Chapter 357 Helpless home court

The game was played very hard.

In recent years, the performance of Serie A teams in the European arena is not very good, and the football they play is not beautiful as always. However, Serie A teams have such characteristics.

With Fiorentina's fierce backcourt pressing, it is difficult for Hoffenheim to play the smooth frontcourt and short pass attack in the league. Needless to say, Fiorentina's four defenders can be the main defenders in Serie A. The defensive ability is quite good. Lorenza, but Jovetic, who has grown up, can fully fill his vacancy, and Gilardino, who is getting more and more mature, can pose a huge threat to Hoffenheim's defense even if he is just in front alone.

Eduardo's pass was blocked by Zanetti, and Donadelle immediately passed the ball to Li Fang who was on the right. Li Fang saw Simunić coming up to defend him, so he didn't choose to pass the ball.

Although his dribbling ability is not outstanding, Li Fang's speed is still quite fast. Jovetic stopped the ball under his feet, dodged Gustavo's one-up grab, and then immediately passed a diagonal pass to Li Fang who was sprinting on the side.
Simunić was desperately chasing back, but Li Fang's sprint without the ball was obviously not something he could easily catch up with. During the run, Li Fang caught up with the ball, and then immediately kicked up while running and passed the ball into the penalty area!
Li Jie and Gilardino jumped up at the same time. He was taller than Gilardino, but he was not very familiar with Li Fang's cross. Gilardino took the lead and shook his head first!

Hildebrand leaped forward and lifted the ball out of the baseline with one hand.

Li Jie glanced at Li Fang from a distance: "This guy, the arc of the cross is bigger than in training! I won't be fooled next time!"

Li Fang didn't know what the teammates of the national team were thinking. He ran straight to the corner, put the ball on the corner, and then began to look at the situation in the penalty area.

This corner kick was also very good, but Hoffenheim had a lot of players in the penalty area, and Fiorentina did not have players with particularly good height and header skills. This time, another central defender Comper jumped high in the penalty area and headed the ball.

This series of attacks made Hoffenheim fans really nervous. Serie A teams are like this. Maybe they are pressed and beaten most of the time in the game, but once they seize the opportunity of counterattack and frontcourt positioning, they can always have an explosion during that time. This is also the most troublesome point for teams in other leagues.

Although Fiorentina's backcourt pressing and solid overall area defense made Hoffenheim's offense far from the smoothness of the usual game, Rangnick did not want to change his tactics. In his opinion, if he gave up his best tactics because of the opponent's characteristics, he would have already lost before the game even started.

Hoffenheim's players gritted their teeth and attacked, but in the current situation on the field, Hoffenheim's players also began to consciously adjust their offensive methods. The number of passes was not so many, and it was not that complicated.

Although Fiorentina's four defenders are all over 1.8 meters tall, their two central defenders are only about 1.8 meters tall, which is a bit shorter than Long Bisheng and Ibisevic. In the case of a lot of trouble in penetrating short passes, the tactic of using long passes seems to be more effective.

However, Long Bisheng in the penalty area feels different. Although the opponent's two central defenders are not as tall as him, the stalking and ubiquitous small movements bother him. When you get the ball, there will always be someone behind to harass you. He was forced to take off at a place far away from the goal. When he was jumping, there would always be someone around to interfere with him, and the others would keep a close watch on his teammates who might ferry him. When he couldn’t give the ball to his teammates accurately, Long Bisheng could only choose to swing his head to attack the goal. Unfortunately, at a place far away from the goal, Long Bisheng’s head-swing attack did not pose too much threat to the French goalkeeper Frey.

The high-altitude pass had little effect, and the ground penetration couldn't get in. When Hoffenheim passed the ball back and forth outside the 30-meter offensive area, the Fiorentina defenders ignored it.
What makes Rangnick most upset is that under the pressure of Fiorentina, Hoffenheim's turnover rate is astonishingly high. There are several times when there are mistakes when passing the ball.

But Lannick can also see that the many mistakes are not because the players are not in good condition or poor performance, but because Fiorentina's pressing and positioning are too good. Under the leadership of Prandelli, Fiorentina's overall strength has risen rapidly. Maybe there are no outstanding superstars among them, but they are a complete team!

The first half ended with Hoffenheim's lingering attack and Fiorentina's resolute counterattack. Hoffenheim shot six times, Fiorentina shot four times, and both sides hit three times within the goal frame. From the perspective of the excitement of the game, this first half is definitely not a first half that can make neutral fans feel wonderful.

But the fans of both sides don't think so, this first half made them feel very nervous.

Maybe it was what Rangnick said in the locker room. After the second half started, Hoffenheim’s offense became more violent. Although a home goal of [-]-[-] was not an unacceptable result, for Rangnick, he didn’t want to bet on the away game. The Frankie Stadium is not so easy to conquer, and the Fiorentina fans are also known for their fanaticism. Playing on that field is not so pleasant.

Hoffenheim's offense began to increase more personal dribbling breakthroughs. Eduardo, Marin and Salihovic's personal dribbling skills are all very good, which makes Fiorentina's defense more difficult, because they not only have to cut off the passing routes between Hoffenheim players, but also prevent the opponent's dribbling breakthroughs.

However, Frey's performance today was too good. Salihovic once almost got a one-handed goal, but his shot was blocked by Frey's legs, and then Ibisevic's header was miraculously saved by Frey with one hand.

Long Bisheng’s performance today was a bit silent. He didn’t get too many opportunities in the penalty area where the opponent was heavily defending. After pulling out of the penalty area a few times, his breakthrough was blocked by a very stable Italian defender.

Li Fang also often returned to the defense to help defend. In several confrontations with Long Bisheng, he used his experience to break the ball at Long Bisheng's feet. On the football field, Li Fang would not be so polite.

After Li Fang stabbed the ball off his feet again, Long Bisheng had no choice but to return to the penalty area. Prandelli's tactical arrangements were very reasonable. Long Bisheng felt that he could not exert all his strength, and played extremely awkwardly.

This is another hurdle for the dragon to win. He has to learn how to play his own level after the opponents in the top games become familiar with him. Prandelli has studied him thoroughly.

Long Bisheng's performance is also a microcosm of the Hoffenheim team. Prandelli obviously has much more experience in European competitions than Lennick. Fiorentina, who has not missed a European game in the past five or six years, also has much more experience than Hoffenheim.

The breakthrough by Eduardo and others outside the penalty area was just scratching the surface. The long pass could not gain an advantage in the penalty area, and the long shot also lacked a little luck in front of the opponent's iron barrel formation. In the second half, Hoffenheim's advantage became more and more obvious, but they did not get too many good opportunities.

Seeing that there was not much time left in the game, Rangnick had to let the players focus more on defense. After all, if the home team conceded a goal, the loss would be too great. A zero-to-zero draw is better than a one-to-one draw.

"It seems that we can only decide the outcome in an away game." Rangnick gritted his teeth and looked at the field. He now realized that his European experience was still much worse than that of an old fox like Prandelli.

But looking at the current situation, playing away may not be a good choice. After all, back to Frankie, Fiorentina's offense will definitely be much more violent, and then Hoffenheim's offense will encounter much less difficulties!
(End of this chapter)