Hoffenheim's first opponent in European history was Udinese, who finished seventh at the end of last season and are currently in seventh place this season.

Obviously, such an opponent from the top league is much more difficult to deal with than the minor league opponents met by Schalke 04 and Hertha Berlin.

What's more, Hoffenheim also drew a home and away, relatively unfavorable schedule.

On 18 September, Hoffenheim will first face Udinese at their home stadium at the Karl Benz Stadium for the first leg of this season's UEFA Cup third qualifying round.

Then, less than a week later, on September 24, Hoffenheim will travel to Udinese for the second leg.

In terms of schedule, it is not very good for Hoffenheim.

However, the German media generally believe that Hoffenheim, who are currently at the top of the Bundesliga and have won four consecutive Bundesliga games, should have no problem beating mid-table side Udinese in Serie A at home.

In particular, Hoffenheim also has Lu Wenbin, a metamorphosis scorer with a high goal rate and nine goals in four Bundesliga games, and it should not be difficult to use home advantage to defeat the opponent.

The difference is just whether you can win a few more balls and make the second leg a little easier.

As a result, the German media is almost overwhelmingly favoured for Hoffenheim's home win over Udinese.

In addition to the reasons why their own media support their own teams, there are naturally reasons why Hoffenheim has won consecutive games in recent games and is in great form.

The Hoffenheim fans also showed 12 points of confidence and enthusiasm and were ready for their first European home game in the club's history: although the stadium was on loan.

However, within the team, Ralph, who has coached in the top league and has experience in European competitions, naturally cannot let the players be influenced by media commentary.

Despite being in the top flight, Hoffenheim are now top of the Bundesliga and should be better than Udinese, who are seventh in Serie A.

However, the new league season has only just begun, and who knows if Hoffenheim and Udinese will be reversed at the end of the season?

Moreover, football is not guaranteed to win because of the strength, especially for Hoffenheim, a new recruit who has never had European experience.

According to statistics, the passing speed of the Champions League is about 15% faster than that of the Bundesliga, and if the Bundesliga team is not mentally prepared to play the Champions League according to the rhythm of the league, the end will generally be miserable.

Of course, this is not a Champions League regulars like Bayern Munich, who naturally know how to play in the Champions League.

This is the egg of an inexperienced recruit like Hoffenheim.

Although the League Cup is not as good as the Champions League, it is also a place where the upper and upper teams of the leagues of various countries compete, and the overall pace is also faster than that of the domestic league, and the technical and tactical level is also higher than that of the league.

When it comes to the lucrative bonuses and promotions and honors of European competitions, players want to achieve greater fame through European competitions, and other factors, everyone is obviously more energetic than the league.

Therefore, Ralph specially told everyone in the team that the results in the league must not be used as a reference for the results of the League Cup, and no one should have the arrogant mentality that the first home game in the Bundesliga will definitely win easily if they play seventh in Serie A.

Everybody, you have to ignore the media commentary, get your attitude right, and never let up from the first minute to the last minute of the game, whether you are ahead or behind.

Ralph's warning did some work.

There have been some bad signs in the team lately.

Last season, he defeated Bayern Munich to win the German Cup, and this season's Bundesliga started with four consecutive wins to dominate the standings, which made some players think that "the top league is nothing more than that".

Ralph's timely warning was just the right thing for these people to put their attitudes right.

……

The day before the game, on September 17, the entire Udinese team arrived in Mannheim for a pre-match press conference, where manager Marino announced the team's 18-man squad.

However, no starting list was announced.

The same is true for Hoffenheim, where Ralph has also only announced the squad, not the starting lineup.

Both Marino and Ralph were cautious to avoid knowing the starting lineup in advance and taking countermeasures.

Although everyone knows who the main players of the two teams are, there may be some slight changes.

In the away game against Hoffenheim, Udinese's manager Marino was rather low-key.

Marino commented that although Hoffenheim is participating in European competition for the first time, they are strong and currently ranked first in the Bundesliga, which is actually the level of a Champions League team.

Udinese, who are currently seventh in Serie A, are aiming for an away draw or an away goal, and then return to their home stadium in the second leg to face it off.

Marino's initiative to show weakness is very appetizing to the German media, and no one thinks there is anything wrong with it.

It was in such a situation where the opponent took the initiative to show weakness and his own people were full of confidence, on the afternoon of September 18, local time, more than 40,000 Hoffenheim fans poured outside the Karl Benz Stadium, and finally more than 20,000 people were able to enter the stadium.

With so much capacity, the rest of the stadium will have to watch the team's first European game in the square or bar outside.

As for Udinese, there are still many inconveniences to go abroad to watch the game, so only a few hundred fans came and were assigned to a small corner of the stadium stands.

Before the start of the game, both sides warmed up and returned to the locker room to make final preparations.

Ralph told the players again, asking everyone to concentrate, face the opponent squarely, and be sure to stay awake until the end of the game.

On the Udinese side, head coach Marino is seizing the time to lay out his tactics.

In reality, Marino was not as low-key as he appeared in his pre-match press conference.

It is impossible for any bloody and ambitious manager to admit defeat before the game has even started.

The only purpose of showing weakness is to paralyze the opponent and make the opponent careless, so as to see if he has a chance to defeat the opponent.

Of course, Marino isn't entirely pinning his hopes on these off-court moves.

To win away from Hoffenheim, who are currently ranked first in the Bundesliga, you still have to think about specific tactics.

Hoffenheim's Lu Wenbin is the killer Marino must think of containing. If Lu Wenbin is not contained, then Udinese will be dead and alive.

But since Lu Wenbin's debut, he has participated in so many competitions in the German Cup of the Bundesliga and the German B, and how many teams have really curbed Lu Wenbin's play?

The only thing that may be called to contain Lu Wenbin's goal in the sports battle is Bayern Munich, the opponent of the German Cup final.

Aside from the stunning midfield lob and the free-kick in extra-time, Lu Wenbin did not score in the forbidden zone in the athletic battle.

Therefore, Marino believes that Lu Wenbin is not really unstoppable. As long as there are methods and tactics, he will definitely be able to contain him!

As an Italian team, the defense is integrated into the coaches and player genes.

Through the coaching staff's thorough analysis and tactical arrangement, as well as the team's full targeted training before the game, Marino is full of confidence in this game.