Chapter Forty-Eight: Snow Battle!
The rhythm of the Russian football team song is really good, and if you are interested, you can listen to it.
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"The starting line-up sent by Coach Frastimir Petzela for this match is goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafev No. 16, left winger Predrag Vadedenovic No. 24, striker Aleksandar Krzhakov No. 11, midfielder Andrei Arshavin No. 10, midfielder Vladislav Radimov No. 2, midfielder Olekosand Spivak, midfielder No. 7 Sergiyi Vasaralovich, and defender No. 5 Alexy Ignin. No. 3 centre-back Martin Horak, No. 18 centre-back Valentin Filatov, No. 17 left-back Milan Udjestica. β
"On the Mainz side, goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is the No. 1, center forward Wang Zhen is the number nine, left winger Ben Alfa is the first to be the left, right winger Michael Hanke is the first to be the fourteenth, midfielder Nigao Karankica is the first to be the eldest, the midfielder is Rorick Kana to the sixth, the midfielder is Frank Ribery to the seventh, the midfielder is Zvezdan Misimovic to the eighth midfielder, the right back is Link at the second right, the fifth central defender is Spasoye BrajΔ, and the left-back is the eighth left-back Michael Schutte."
"Zenit sent out a 442 that is not commonly used in the league, and it seems to have been prepared specifically for Mainz, while Klopp still maintains a 343 formation."
"This season, Frastimir Petzela, determined to break the Moscow team's monopoly on the Russian Premier League, suffered a serious injury wave in the first half of the league, which affected Zenit's league performance this season, but in the League Cup, they are still a strong team! Won in the first round against AEK Athens and in the last game, Portuguese side Guimaraes. β
"Coincidentally, AEK Athens is a club of the Turks despite being a Greek team, while Mainz beat Turkish side Beckitas in their last game, and the two sides have stepped on the Turkish team to meet."
In this game, Klopp still chose to attack, however, he promoted Ben Arfa from midfield to winger, this game is limited in the field, and the speed is unlikely to play, Klopp hopes to use Ben Alfa's nose in front of goal.
"We noticed that the midfielders in Zenit's squad are almost all versatile players who can make changes at any time without affecting the lineup, which means that Klopp will be tested tactically in this game."
After the opening, almost everyone, including Zenit's players, couldn't stand it too much, and basically ran to warm up.
Zenit players are indeed used to living in Russia.
But are they really used to playing official games in the cold?
No, they are not a Moscow team, they haven't been through so many European games, so they have a holiday every winter.
Although St. Petersburg is the northernmost city on the Eurasian continent, it does not reach below zero until November.
Mainz, on the other hand, is still playing in the league in Germany during the coldest months of February.
After the opening five minutes, smoke began to rise from the players on both sides.
After everyone's activity started, they also started to run non-stop, constantly looking for opportunities.
The Russian players are indeed physically strong, and Arshavin is the thinnest of their team.
In the midfield scramble, Mainz did not take advantage of anything.
The situation is exactly the same as Klopp's analysis when discussing tactics with Wang Zhen, Arshavin bites Ribery to death.
Arshavin's marking and tackling ability is almost the same as that of a professional midfielder, and he is even strong in the Russian Super League, with his explosiveness, speed, and endurance being extremely strong in all aspects.
This is also an important reason why he is called a genius.
It is impossible for Ribery to rely on speed to eat Arshavin, and it is also a little difficult to use technology to harden, after all, the weather is cold and the movements are not easy to control.
Similarly, when Zenit attacked, Ribery clung to Arshavin and was equally entangled.
On the field, the effect of football not going to this side road is formed.
After Alpha advances, it is basically impossible to connect smoothly on the left side, so Mainz's attack can only go to the central axis.
As soon as the football goes to the central axis, the problem comes out.
Wang Zhen couldn't get a header in the front court.
I have to say that Klopp's tactics have rarely been restrained.
If this game is played in Germany, without the weather and turf, the Mainz midfield is more efficient and only needs to be a little higher to increase the threat geometrically.
Chongqing Sports commentary has a vicious vision: "The Tsar and Scarman have canceled each other out, it seems that Zenit has made up his mind from the beginning to fight with Mainz to fight a whole wing, but Zenit's left wing configuration is worse, this situation continues, it is Mainz who suffers, see if Klopp will make adjustments." β
Sure enough, in the twelfth minute, Ribery ran directly to the middle to ask for the ball, and Arshavin followed directly.
As a result, Misimovic was squeezed to the right flank, and correspondingly, No. 7 Sergij Vasalovich naturally moved to the left.
In the fifteenth minute, the ball went on both sides again, this time Mainz's ball went forward from the right and Link stepped up to assist.
While Ribery and Arshavin were tangling with each other, Misimovic fought all the way down the right flank.
Left-back No.17 Milan Ugersdica ran frantically to block it, but was a step too late.
The ball flew high and appeared over the penalty area.
Wang Zhen found the right position and jumped directly, but he stumbled, didn't touch the ball at all, and didn't even jump up.
Wang Zhen lowered his head and stepped on the area with his heel, and heard a click.
"M's, that's okay?"
There was no snow at all, and the area of the small exclusion zone line was directly frozen.
Just when the two sides were fighting to the death, Klopp raised his hand and caught the raindrops.
There weren't too many seats at Petrovsky Stadium, but there were still a lot of people.
The pitch temperature was noticeably warmer than outside.
As soon as the snow flakes flew into the course, they immediately turned into water droplets and turned into ice rain.
The snow is fine, the ice rain is the most annoying, everyone on the court is playing with their cuffs tightened, if it is rained, it is easy to have problems.
But Klopp's worries were unnecessary, and gradually, the droplets turned into snowflakes.
"It's starting to snow over St. Petersburg and the Zenit fans are singing."
ΠΠΎΠ»Π΅Π»ΡΡΠΈΠΊΠΈΠ€ΠΠΠΠΠΠ’, Zenit fan.
The name of their anthem is Zenit Fans.
"Decades ago, the brave warriors fought Germany in the bitter cold, and the bitter cold defeated the Germans, but failed to defeat the warriors of St. Petersburg, and now the sky is beautiful, and it is snowing, and we will win!"
The sound of the on-site commentary made the Zenit fans louder.
Unlike the usual club anthem, it is slow when sung by the crowd, resulting in a heavy and noisy sound.
Zenit's team song is smooth and fast-paced, so it sings very clearly and clearly, making people feel that their voices are very loud.
The Mainz fans who fought with the team did not show weakness at all, and also sang "We are just a carnival club".
Under the stimulation of the other party, the singing voices of both sides became louder and louder.
I don't know if it's because of the team song, the action on the field has increased in vain.
In less than three minutes, people were overturned in a row.
The referee couldn't bear it anymore and issued two yellow cards in a row, one for Link, who kicked Arshavin during a tackle, and one for Misimovich, who knocked Misimovic out of the touchline on the spot.
(To be continued.) )