Champion’s Heart

In terms of paper strength, Dortmund's opponent Ajax in this game is not as good as the Ajax team that won the league championship last season.

In the transfer market, captain Vertonghen moved to Tottenham Hotspur, veteran Oyer retired, and the experience of the defense line has declined. At the same time, the departure of versatile midfielder Lodeiro, forward Blikin who played a role as a firefighter last season, and even Aissati, who was the savior in key championship stages, has also reduced the thickness of the team's lineup a lot. Other loan players such as Sneijder Jr., Castiglione, and Svetanic were completely transferred, and the depth of the bench has not been strengthened.

In terms of signings, Ajax seems to lack enough sincerity to attract outstanding players in the Netherlands. Last season's Eredivisie assists leader and newly promoted international player Nasin, who was once very close to the club, was eventually snatched away by PSV Eindhoven, a bitter rival. It only cost more than 4 million euros, which was a very failed signing for Ajax, who had spent 16 million euros to buy Soleimani.

In terms of strength, Ajax is indeed the weakest team in this group, and it is not the weakest. Among the thirty-two teams in the entire Champions League, Ajax's strength can only be ranked second. In the middle and lower reaches, they may not be able to qualify if they switch to other groups.

Yes, they were the Eredivisie champions last season. But the gold content of this Eredivisie championship is not very high.

Last season they defended the league championship, but their total points did not reach more than 80 points, and the team once collapsed in the middle of the league. They were able to win the league championship except for a wave of fourteen when they were nearly ten points behind in the league points. In addition to winning streak, it also depends on the premature withdrawal of major competitors from the championship ranks. Today's Eredivisie league has dropped significantly both in terms of attractiveness and competitiveness. This is the current situation of many second-tier European leagues.

But their unconvincing performance in the domestic league does not mean that their performance in the Champions League is unsatisfactory.

Last season's Ajax would have been able to advance to the knockout round of the top 16 if Zagreb had not let Lyon go in the group stage. After going to the Europa League, there was also a highlight moment of defeating Manchester United away from home.

Therefore, if you underestimate this team because Ajax is weak on paper and its performance in the league is unconvincing, you will probably be unlucky.

After all, Ajax has won the Champions League four times in history, and they have the Champions League gene in their bones. This is tradition, and tradition often plays a vital role in some very critical times.

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At 7:45 pm on September 18th, Dortmund's Champions League group match against Ajax began at home, and at the same time, Real Madrid's home game against Manchester City also kicked off at the same time.

In fact, everyone is more concerned about the home game between Real Madrid and Manchester City.

After all, it was a powerful conversation in this group. Manchester City won the Premier League championship last season and, with the help of petrodollars, became an upstart in the Premier League. Now what they want to do is become an upstart in the Champions League. Real Madrid, as a representative of the traditional power of the Champions League, has the highest record of winning the Champions League nine times in Europe.

The collision between these two teams is obviously more interesting.

However, in China, the home game between Dortmund and Ajax was broadcast live on the free CCTV5 sports channel, while the game between Real Madrid and Manchester City was broadcast on Fengyun Football Channel, which requires payment.

Obviously, CCTV knows which game is the most attractive in China. The showdown between the old and new players in the Champions League between Real Madrid and Manchester City is full of gimmicks, but there is not a single Chinese player in this showdown full of gimmicks.

Zhou Yi, who was not even included in the squad for the last round of the league, appeared on the starting list this time.

After the game started, Ajax's tenacity was a bit beyond everyone's expectations.

Frank de Boer's team did not choose to play against Dortmund. They chose a more pragmatic style of play on the road - defending.

They did not bother to personally defend Zhou Yi, the core of Dortmund, but withdrew all their players to the thirty-meter area to set up buses. No matter how Dortmund passed the ball outside, their defense was like a wall. Like a wall, it stands tall and motionless.

This is something that Dortmund didn't expect before the game. Whether it's head coach Klopp or the players, they all feel that Ajax won't be able to defend so thoroughly if they want to defend and counterattack, right?

Generally speaking, this desperate defensive tactic is either a numerical disadvantage in the game, or the strength gap is really big. But this game has just begun. Ajax has not been punished for passing the ball, and with the strength of Ajax, it will not be that weak. After all, it is also the champion of a country's league, and it is European. Traditional wealthy family.

So who would have thought Frank DeBoer would go so far?

Klopp did make some preparations after De Boer's bold words before, but he never imagined that Frank De Boer's so-called pain was to let Dortmund play against a wall...

Zhou Yi kept passing the football outside the 30-meter area of ​​Ajax, while observing the changes in Ajax's defense.

No matter how he passes the ball, Ajax's defense is very complete and there are no blind spots.

Zhouyi occasionally chooses to take risks with through balls, but the effect is not good. There are people everywhere in the Ajax penalty area. Whether it is Lewandowski, Reus, or Gotze, it is difficult to stick to them. What a good chance to get a shot in person.

And because Ajax put too much thought into defense, they made no achievements offensively and could not even threaten Dortmund.

So until the end of the first half, the score was 0:0.

Not to mention that there were no goals, and the scene was really not exciting enough, which made it very difficult for the Chinese fans who stayed up late to watch the game.

He Ping and Xu Yang also mentioned this when discussing the first half in the studio behind the halftime break: Every game in the group of death is very critical and important, and points cannot be lost easily, so starting from the group stage It was right to pay so much attention to the result of the game from the beginning. Looking at Ajax's posture, they must hope to draw with Dortmund in the away game. This is a very pragmatic result. So the scene does not look intense enough and not entertaining enough. But that's it The normal situation of a death group is that we cannot simply think that a strong dialogue means a wonderful game. In fact, it may be the complete opposite...

Xu Yang also agreed: Yes, for example, the finals of any competition are a showdown between strong players, but the results are often not beautiful. The finals have been unnamed since ancient times.

That's right. In another match in this group, Real Madrid and Manchester City also played 0:0 at home. In the two games in the group of death, there were no goals and they seemed to be evenly matched. I think this is enough. It shows how dead this group is...

The TV broadcast entered the commercial break. Xu Yang and He Ping turned off their microphones. He Ping stood up and said, Go to the toilet.

After saying that, he yawned.

Xu Yang also stood up: I'll go too.

In fact, commentators work very hard. Staying up late to commentate on games is very harmful to the body. Even if the commentators can sleep during the day and get up to work at night, this kind of reversed day and night life will still cause great harm to the body.

In fact, competitions like the World Cup and European Cup are pretty good. Because for such a game, the broadcast agency in China will definitely ask the commentators to go to the front to commentate on the game live, without staying up late.

In the toilet, two people stood in front of the urinal, conveniently side by side, and chatted about the first half that had just ended. Unlike what they said in front of the camera, the private communication was a bit personal and small. Complained.

I feel like this game is going to be 0:0. Ajax defended too thoroughly and really didn't want to attack at all! He Ping said. I wonder how many people will fall asleep watching it...

There is no way, there is still a gap in strength. It is also 0:0 next door. This game in the group of death is very difficult to play.

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The halftime break passed quickly, and the players from both sides changed sides to fight again, without anyone making any personnel adjustments.

The game was not much different from the first half. Dortmund just strengthened its long-range shots.

It's obvious that players are taking more long-range shots.

Long shots are indeed the way to deal with dense defenses.

But it may not be the most effective method.

By the 70th minute, the score had not changed. Dortmund's number of shots has increased to thirteen, while Ajax has only four. The number of shots on goal between the two sides is also completely different. Eight of Dortmund's thirteen shots were on target, while Ajax had only one.

The difference is very obvious.

But Dortmund, who shot eight times within the goal frame, failed to score. This has to be said that Ajax's goalkeeper Vermeer performed very well in this game.

In the 73rd minute, Klopp made the first substitution adjustment of the half game. He replaced Kuba with Croatian midfielder Ivan Perisic.

Ten minutes of the game passed quickly. Dortmund's number of shots increased to 19, and Ajax shot one more. But the score was still 0:0. Dortmund's indiscriminate bombardment around Ajax's goal failed to change the score.

After the game entered eighty minutes, the end of the game was not far away, and the players' mentality also experienced some changes.

Dortmund became a little impatient, while Ajax saw hope of drawing Dortmund away from home.

Frank DeBoer made his substitution for this game just after the 80th minute, replacing forward Babel and replacing him with a young defender, Hoel Feltman. This is to further strengthen the defense and repair the wall that withstood Dortmund's artillery fire for 80 minutes to prevent it from collapsing at the last moment. I have to say that Frank DeBoer was well prepared and planned to hold on to the end in this game.

Marcel Leif did not expect Dortmund to fail to win Ajax at their home court, and he had to lament that this was the group of death. A true group of death, no team can be underestimated.

Ajax is the weakest team in this group, but looking at their performance in this game, who would dare to think that they are the target of points? (To be continued)). If you like this work, you are welcome to vote at Qidian.com (). Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile phone users please go and read. )