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Chapter 445 The only shining point
"If it takes three to four years to build a mature and competitive team, then it may only take two to three months to destroy a team that was originally very promising." - Non-famous football writer Guo Nuru said.

After October, Hoffenheim's misfortune did not end. The league results fluctuated. What made Rangnick even more troublesome was that injuries that hadn't happened in the previous seasons began to appear frequently, and it could even be said to be a major outbreak of injuries.

On November 11th, in the No.[-] round of the Bundesliga, Hoffenheim drew [-]-[-] with Leverkusen at home. Baker sprained his ankle during the game and had to rest for a week.

On November [-]th, in the fourth round of the Champions Cup, Hoffenheim, who was short of major generals, suffered another defeat at the Bernabeu. They lost to their opponents [-]-[-] and continued to be at the bottom of the group.

"Now Hoffenheim shouldn't think about the league title and the Champions League. For them now, the most realistic goal is to maintain a threat to the top three in the league and at least qualify for the Europa League." Players will not be injured, but they ignore the European Cup, Copa America, Olympic Games and other national team competitions this summer. The players have not been able to get a good rest. At this time, it is very important to introduce qualified substitute players, but they did not do so. Instead, they let go of Eduardo, who is a very important part of the offense. Encountering the current predicament, it is entirely the fault of the club's own decision-making mistakes."

Rangnick was also devastated by extensive injuries. He and his Hoffenheim had never encountered such a situation in the past few seasons. Consulting the medical team, Dr. Becks gave the answer: "Because most of the players participated in the national team in the summer, the rest time was too short.

Rangnick has no good solution to this situation. His main lineup is enough to rank among the best in Europe, but the substitute players are generally relatively young, and the opportunities to play are not too many. After several important players are injured, he is also a clever woman.

The only thing that comforts him is that Long Bisheng is still in excellent form. In the [-]th round of the league, he scored nine goals, accounting for two-thirds of the team's total goals. At the same time, with the absence of Ibisevic and Marin, he had to take on more offensive responsibilities, which greatly improved his ability to deal with various situations.

With such an all-conquering center forward, as long as Marin and Ibisevic come back, Hoffenheim will still have a strong competitiveness in the league.

What he has to do now is to try not to be separated by the teams in front of him in the league. At the same time, he must grasp the last straw in the Champions League and strive to qualify in the group. After the winter break, the players will have enough time to rest, and then work hard to catch up in the second half of the season. There is still a dozen in the league.

In the No.12 round of the league, Long Bisheng scored his tenth league goal, and Trazino also scored. Hoffenheim defeated the newly promoted Kaiserslautern [-]-[-] away, and kept the fifth place in the league.

In the second round of the German Cup, Rangnick once again dispatched all the substitutes. As a result, a group of young players were quite competitive. At home, they beat Stuttgart [-]-[-] to break into the next round. Two new aids Heubach and Brosinski scored two goals.

However, in the No.13 round of the league, Hoffenheim suffered another defeat. They lost to Schalke Zero Four at home without temper.

Just as the team has the inertia of winning when it is playing well, and it can win even if it is not playing well, it will also have the inertia of losing if it loses too much-losing frequently will keep the morale of the team low.

Perhaps it was the championship last season that took away Hoffenheim's luck. Hoffenheim has not been able to find the opportunity to restore morale.

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"What's the current ranking in the league?"

Ning Xi asked Long Bisheng.

Long Bisheng smiled bitterly: "Seventh, there is already a [-]-point gap from Wolfsburg at the top of the list, and Bayern is also [-] points away."

"Actually, this number is not too difficult to catch up to, is it?" Ning Xi glanced at Long Bisheng, and then said, "Last season, you were at most [-] points behind Leverkusen, but in the end you won the championship one round ahead of schedule."

"That's because we were not pulled too far in the previous games. We ranked sixth when the league was halfway through. The top five teams got together to give us a chance. At that time, we had Marin, Ibisevic, Baker... They were all there and performed well. We were able to win 80.00% of the league in the second half. Now, only [-] rounds of the league have passed, and we are [-] points behind. If we win, the gap will widen, and there is really no hope, even if we catch up in the second half of the season, we can only fight for the Champions Cup qualification." Long Bisheng continued to smile bitterly. In fact, at the training ground of Hoffenheim at this time, the expression of wry smile was the most common expression displayed by the players.

"Then do you regret it?" Ning Xi suddenly asked, "I regret that I didn't choose to leave in the summer and stayed in Hoffenheim. It just happened to be the time when Hoffenheim's most injuries broke out in the four years since it entered the Bundesliga... In fact, Hoffenheim's main lineup is top-notch in Europe. Unfortunately, the strength of the substitute players is really not good."

"The players are very tired." Lu Xiaoshan, who was sipping juice next to him, suddenly said: "I can feel it when I give them a massage... But it's no wonder that Hoffenheim's main lineup is basically all international players. Summer either participated in the European Cup or the America's Cup, or participated in the World Cup Asian qualifiers. If you don't have a good rest in the summer, of course you will lack physical fitness. If you lack physical fitness, the chance of injury will be much higher. The reason why Big Brother Long is rarely injured has a lot to do with his excellent physical fitness and abundant physical fitness , Good physical fitness, when you do some dangerous moves, you won’t be unable to do what you want, and you won’t be injured. But Hoffenheim is really unlucky. It’s rare to have extensive injuries in the first two months of the season. It’s usually concentrated in the second half of the season. It can only be said that whether it’s Big Brother Long or Hoffenheim, this season has not been favored by God.”

"This is a big reason. Li Jie and I actually had a good rest in the summer. We started resting in mid-June, but those who participated in the America's Cup and European Cup didn't rest until mid-July, and the pre-season training began in early August..." Long Bisheng nodded to Lu Xiaoshan, and then turned to answer Ning Xi's question: "I regret it, but I don't regret it. It's not that the team has too many injuries. , I feel that the more I play, the better."

This is not Long Bisheng's arrogant words. Over the past month, although Hoffenheim has few victories and many failures, no one can block Long Bisheng's light on the field. It can't stop the attacks of Ronaldo, Kaka, Benzema, Higuain and other offensive players.

"It's just... what's the use of my performance alone? There are too many teams that have the top scorer but miss the European competition. I would rather not get the top scorer, and I hope to win another championship. However, my teammates... are a little disappointing. If Marin is here, if Ibi is here, we will not lose so many games." Long Bisheng's sigh became heavier. He began to feel the responsibility on his shoulders. It is the most helpless, Riva in Cagliari, Batty in Florence, and Silermo in Newcastle in the early stage are not the case. Although they have received the most praise, they are still more eager for honor.

Riva spent his whole life in Cagliari. As the top striker of that era, he didn't have any personal honors. After so many years of ups and downs with Fiorentina, Batistuta finally left Viola in pursuit of the championship.Is it Riva, Batty or Shearer?
"Actually, Hoffenheim has a good chance right now. If they can beat Ajax at home, then the hope of entering the next round of the Champions League will be greatly increased. In the second half of the season, Hoffenheim still has hope. If there is hope, there is still motivation." Ning Xi thought to herself.

(End of this chapter)