The day before the match against Benfica, Borussia Dortmund announced the 18-man squad for the next day's UEFA Cup match, and Cheng Hai was on the list, so there was no surprise.

The next day, on matchday, in the evening, two hours before the game, Dortmund presented Jurgen Klopp's starting line-up to the media.

Not to the surprise of the media, Cheng Hai did not appear in the starting list, and it seemed that he still had to sit on the bench and wait for the second half to come on as a substitute.

Benfica's head coach learned about Dortmund's starting lineup from the media, and was not surprised, feeling that this was the way Cheng Hai, who was lacking in physical fitness, should play.

After the first round, they have been using Cheng Hai's second-half substitute appearance as a countermeasure for targeted training.

The tactics in the first half were the same as in the first leg, trying to score goals and erasing or even surpassing Borussia Dortmund's away goal advantage.

Then, wait for Cheng Hai to come on in the second half and then switch to defense.

It's just that, even in the first half, they will be very careful not to press as boldly as the home.

They will only attack on the premise of being as safe as possible and strive for away goals, but they will not blindly pursue goals, but let their defence be porous and be discovered and exploited by Dortmund.

After all, they are the ones who are leading now, and they are two goals ahead and have the initiative to advance.

Although I don't dare to say that I will definitely win, Benfica is still relatively confident in advancing to the quarterfinals.

Soon, the seats at Westfalen Field were slowly filling up, and the players from both sides began to warm up before the game.

However, just as the warm-up was coming to an end, Dortmund's starting striker Lewandowski seemed to twist his foot, but was quickly lifted off the pitch by his team-mates and did not attract the attention of the Benfica coaches who were warming up in the other half.

In fact, Lewandowski's twisted foot was premeditated and injured, but it was just to give the media and fans a "legitimate reason" to suddenly change the starting player after the game, so as not to be criticized for being immoral.

Soon, when it was time to play, the starters of both sides left the locker room and came to the players' tunnel, leading the little caddie to get ready to play.

At this time, Benfica's players were surprised to find that Lewandowski, who was supposed to start on Dortmund's side, was missing and replaced by Cheng Hai.

Everyone whispered a lot of chatter, and immediately a staff member next to him quickly ran out of the aisle and went to the bench to report to the head coach.

Benfica's head coach heard that Dortmund's starting striker had changed, from the original Lewandowski to Cheng Hai.

He suddenly realized that he had been tricked by Klopp, and his heart was furious.

However, at this time, it was too late for him to make corresponding player changes according to Cheng Hai's starters. He could only tell the starters to shrink the formation in the first half, not to attack easily, and to prevent Cheng Hai after the team completed the appearance ceremony.

With a two-goal lead, as long as they can withstand Cheng Hai's attack, it is also possible to win the final victory and advance to the quarterfinals.

It's just that this is a bit of a big test for Benfica's starters.

After all, these starters were sent for the purpose of Cheng Hai's half-time non-play, and the tactics of the drill were not for the purpose of defending Cheng Hai.

This is a great challenge for the players in Benfica's starting line-up to adapt to this sudden change.

While the Benfica coach and players were making intense tactical adjustments, the commentators, who had the final starting line-up list and were broadcasting the starters of both sides, were also surprised.

Everyone said:

In a surprising scene, Dortmund's starting striker Robert Lewandowski did not qualify for the final list, and I don't know if it was because of the sprained injury in the warm-up just now. Lewandowski was helped down by his team-mates, and it may have been a sprain that prevented him from starting the game. ”

"Borussia Dortmund's starting striker was Cheng Hai, a supertalent who has now made a name for himself in Europe, and ushered in his first start for the club."

"Cheng Hai's start was very surprising, and I don't know if he can stick to the first half for at least 46 minutes without cramping and going down."

"If Cheng Hai can insist on playing the first half, he will be able to rely on the halftime to fall into a deep sleep and recover quickly, just like he did when the national team played the Asian Games and the Asian Cup, and he can play for another one or two minutes in the second half."

"In this way, Cheng Hai's appearance is almost tripled, and maybe we can see Cheng Hai score a hat-trick."

"However, at this time, compared to us, the most surprised and angry should probably be the players and coaches of Benfica!"

"Cheng Hai's start definitely disrupted their tactics and response measures for this game."

"I'm willing to bet Benfica never expected them to be the subject of Cheng Hai's first start in his club career."

"It was clear from their starting line-up that they were going to play with the same idea as in the first leg, preparing to try to score in the first half, extend the aggregate score and score away goals, and then bring on defenders after Cheng Hai came off the bench in the second half."

"As a result, Cheng Hai's unexpected start has completely disrupted Benfica's pre-match arrangement, and I don't know if they can cope with this unexpected scene."

Regardless of whether Benfica can cope with it or not, the more than 80,000 Hornets fans at home are very excited and happy to see it.

Seeing that it was not Lewandowski who was leading the caddie to start, but Cheng Hai, who had scored 38 goals for the team in 31 games at the club this season and had started so far, everyone was excited.

From the moment Cheng Hai left the players' tunnel and stepped onto the court, the fans in the stands did not stop shouting and singing for him.

Cheng Hai's start made the game enter a climax before it started.

Commentators, fans, journalists, teammates, opponents, etc., countless people are looking forward to what Cheng Hai's first start of his club career can show.

Cheng Hai himself was quite excited.

Although the physical trainer had clearly told him that it was very risky to play at least 46 minutes in the start, and there was a possibility of cramps or even injury, Cheng Hai didn't care.

After the national Olympic team and the national team, he finally achieved his goal of starting at the club.

You must know that after the first leg of the match with Benfica, he was also criticized by the media and fans, and he had long had an urge to score crazy goals to eliminate Benfica and prove himself.

And Klopp's decision is exactly what he wants.

He can't wait to start the game, to score more goals and make big news when he starts for the club for the first time and maybe has 60 or 70 minutes of playing time.

At 20:00 on the evening of March 16, 2011, with the referee's whistle, the second leg of the 2010/2011 UEFA Cup quarter-final Dortmund vs Benfica officially began at the Westfaren Stadium.

At the beginning of the game, Dortmund, who were playing at home, pressed forward under the leadership of Cheng Hai and Barrios and began to bombard Benfica.

Cheng Hai's speed, physique, off-ball running, point grabbing, bounce, header, breakthrough technique, etc., did pose a great threat to Benfica, forcing them to shrink their formation and concentrate on defending to avoid being scored by Cheng Hai.

Even the two strikers almost retreated to the outside of the box to participate in the defense.

However, Benfica's starting line-up for this game was not prepared for the sake of defence.

Despite the defensive nature of the game, the counter-attacking focus is also very large, after all, they also want to score away goals.

Therefore, whether it is the two strikers, or the forward midfielder and the wing-back, they are all players who are stronger in attack than in defense.

The tactics practiced a few days ago were also based on the defensive counterattack played without Cheng Hai in the first half, rather than being pressed by Cheng Hai to defend with all his might like now.

However, the players and tactics of this lineup have been drilled and coordinated, but their defense is full of holes.

Although it can be a headache to defend densely on the pitch at times, as Dortmund did against Benfica in the last game.

But in this game, Benfica's dense defense did not have the defensive effect it should have, because their starters and tactical drills and tacit cooperation were not in place.

Just two minutes into the game, Benfica's defence was fatally flawed.

Borussia Dortmund sent the ball wide in a positional attack, and Grosskloitz made a one-two with Barrios to break the wall and beat the full-backs before smashing the line.

The Benfica full-back, who hurriedly made up for the past defense, rushed up and was broken through by Grosskloitz with a smash, and then cut inside with the ball.

The central defenders who were originally defending Cheng Hai and Barrios in the penalty area had to separate one person to intercept Grosskloitz's in-cut, and then the midfielders who returned to defend defended Cheng Hai wandering in the penalty area.

But Cheng Hai's off-ball running and point-grabbing ability are too thief.

And the coordination with Grosskloitz was also very skillful, the two barely made eye contact and gestures, Grosskloitz dodged a pass gap by smashing the ball and changing the tempo, and then passed the ball into the gap in front of the small penalty line.

Because Benfica's midfielder's ability to make up for the defense could not keep up with Cheng Hai's ability to grab points, he was a step slower, and Cheng Hai rushed to the route where the ball rolled first, and a flying shovel shot shoveled the ball towards the goal before the Benfica player cleared the foot.

The shot on the line of the small penalty area was so close, and Cheng Hai tried his best to control his foot to hit an angle even if he was tackling between the lightning and flint.

Although the angle was not too tricky, because of the distance and speed, he finally avoided the ten fingers of goalkeeper Edel Bate and scurried into the goal from the right side of Bate's body.

In fact, at this time, some commentators had just finished reading the starting list of the players on both sides, and were discussing Cheng Hai's first start of his career with the guests, but they didn't expect Cheng Hai to score.

Then, the commentators on the commentary seat suddenly became excited and shouted loudly:

“Tooooooooooooooor……”

"The ball is in!"

"Oh my God, it was Cheng Hai who started the club game for the first time!"

"It's too fast, just 2 minutes into the game, Cheng Hai scored a goal!"

"Dortmund have already made it 2-3 on aggregate, and with just one more goal, Dortmund will be able to beat Benfica on 3-3 aggregate and advance to the quarter-finals."

"The situation has become extremely unfavorable for Benfica!"

Indeed, amid the frantic celebrations of the Dortmund players and fans, Benfica, from the players to the coaches, became extremely depressed.

In the usual two-legged knockout round, the first leg has a two-goal lead, and the second leg, even if it is away, has a much higher chance of advancing than the opponent.

Unexpectedly, Dortmund broke Benfica's goal in the opening 2 minutes by suddenly changing the starters and using Cheng Hai's offensive ability. Now, the game situation is indeed extremely unfavorable for Benfica.

With only one goal off the aggregate score and Dortmund scoring an away goal, it would be as long as Dortmund scored one more goal and the tide of promotion would be immediately reversed.

Therefore, when Cheng Hai and his teammates celebrated, Benfica's players looked a little overwhelmed.

On the one hand, he was a little confused by Cheng Hai's goal so quickly, and on the other hand, he was really confused: he didn't know how to play next when he was only one goal ahead.

Benfica's head coach was actually a little confused, and he didn't know what to do since he saw Cheng Hai replace Lewandowski's debut.

It's the same at this time, wanting to keep a one-goal lead and attacking to score away goals, so the manager doesn't know what to do.

Fortunately, the referee forced him to make a choice.

In the absence of protests from the players in Benfica, Cheng Hai and others celebrated for more than half a minute, and finally the referee couldn't stand it anymore and took the initiative to intervene, ending Dortmund's crazy celebration, letting them return to their own half and let Benfica open the middle circle.

Seeing the referee beckoning the Dortmund players to go back and start the game soon, Benfica's coach was distracted and gave instructions to the players to continue defending, hoping to keep the score of a 3-2 lead of one goal.

If they can keep this score until the end, then Benfica can still advance to the quarterfinals.

So, after the game restarted, Benfica continued to shrink their formation and concentrate on defending in the hope of holding on to the aggregate score of 3-2.

At the same time, Cheng Hai's performance of scoring in the opening 2 minutes also made Benfica's players elevate him to the point where he had to be desperately targeted.

As a result, no matter inside or outside the penalty area, Cheng Hai usually has one or two people around him to keep an eye on him, and there are people not far away who are ready to make up for the defense at any time.

As long as Cheng Hai gets the ball, he will generally be surrounded by three or four people.

In such a situation, no matter how strong Cheng Hai's physique and breakthrough skills are, it is difficult to break out of the encirclement and score in the penalty area.

Cheng Hai was closely guarded by the other party.

But will Cheng Hai only operate in the middle lane?

No, it won't!

Cheng Hai can also change sides, and he can also make crosses, and he has many skills!

Seeing that he couldn't break through in the middle, and his ground passing skills were not good, Cheng Hai naturally began to switch positions with teammates Mario Gotze and Grosskloitz, and after breaking through from the side to the bottom line, he made a bottom cross.

There were three or four people attacking from the middle, but there were no people on the wings.

On the side, Cheng Hai's speed and breakthrough skills are simply like a fish in water.

doesn't need the cooperation of teammates, as long as one or two people don't grab at the same time, if they come one by one, Cheng Hai is simply outstanding.

For a while, the speed is eaten raw, the ball is divided for a while, Matthews feints for a while, and the croquettes for a while, Cheng Hai's breakthrough on the side is like entering a no-man's land.

Although sometimes even if the breakthrough is successful, the bottom cross cannot be grabbed by teammates, but the number of times is too much, and there is always a successful one.

After all, Barrios is the team's second-highest scorer and is also quite good at fighting for the ball and heading in the box.

After failing to make a few low crosses, in the 13th minute, Cheng Hai finally completed the breakthrough on the side against the last full-back, Ceará.

Moreover, when he broke through, Cheng Hai also used the "rainbow over" that made the fans boil.

The previous times Ceará was suddenly about to collapse by Cheng Hai's Matthews feints and croquettes, so this time he concentrated on paying attention to the changes in Cheng Hai's feet.

Unexpectedly, Cheng Hai suddenly made a rainbow pass and picked the ball over his head with his back heel.

Annoyed and angry, Ceara wanted to push Cheng Hai to the ground directly, but Cheng Hai's strong physique and full balance made his plan fall through.

Cheng Hai successfully broke through Ceará in the excited cheers of the Hornets fans in the stadium and crossed the bottom.

Cheng Hai's full-value crosses and long passing skills in the air make every pass he passes very threatening.

It's just a matter of whether teammates can perceive Cheng Hai's passing intentions, run in time, grab the landing point and head the goal.

After a few failed crosses, this time Barrios cooperated with Cheng Hai's cross to the point, appeared in time for the ball to land, carried the collision of one of the opponent's central defenders, jumped high, and put the ball into the goal.

Barrios' header was too close to the goal and so powerful that goalkeeper Bate could do nothing but watch the ball go into the net.

When Barrios' header put the ball into the Benfica goal, the entire Westfaren Stadium instantly boiled, and countless people clapped their palms hard, shouting excitedly with all their strength, venting the excitement in their hearts.

Because, this goal means that Dortmund have equalized the aggregate score of the two sides to a 3-3 draw, and Dortmund also has an away goal advantage.

It is the existence of this away goal that allows Dortmund to eliminate Benfica and advance to the quarterfinals with the advantage of more away goals in the case of a 3-3 draw.

In other words, when Cheng Hai assisted Barrios to score Dortmund's second goal of the game, the situation of the game between the two sides has changed fundamentally.

Now, it can be said that the laggard has become Benfica, not Dortmund.

You know, the second round was only 13 minutes old.