Chapter 231: Fearless
A few days after the break against Borussia Mönchengladbach, Hoffenheim host fifth-placed Bayer Leverkusen at home.
There is no doubt that this is a strong clash between two strong teams at the top of the table.
This, combined with the absence of Hoffenheim Ibisevic and Obasi, undoubtedly adds a lot of variables to this game.
Even if Eduardo returns, there are still many media who believe that Hoffenheim will face great difficulties in this game.
As can be seen from the last game in which Hoffenheim were held to a draw by Borussia Mönchengladbach, the absence of Ibisevic and Obasi has dealt a serious blow to Hoffenheim's attacking line.
When Bayer Leverkusen arrived in Rhine-Nekar County for the pre-match press conference, head coach Labadia also publicly called out, saying that Borussia Mönchengladbach could draw Hoffenheim, and that Leverkusen's goal was to win against Hoffenheim.
The whole Hoffenheim team didn't take Labadia's big words to heart.
After all, Hoffenheim is only missing two people, Ibisevic and Obasi, and it is not the whole team that has collapsed.
The main striker Eduardo returned, and the top scorer Lu Wenbin performed normally, no matter how you look at Hoffenheim, he will not be afraid of Bayer Leverkusen at home.
Lu Wenbin also wants to lead the team to a big win in a strong dialogue to tell the world that Hoffenheim have the ability to continue to soar in the second half of the season until they finally win the championship.
However, it may really be that Lu Wenbin and Hoffenheim's performance in the first half of the season was too dazzling, and God was jealous and couldn't stand it.
Therefore, when Hoffenheim's home match against Bayer Leverkusen started at 20:30 on the evening of February 13, the scene on the field gave the whole Hoffenheim team another heavy blow.
Less than 10 minutes into the game, neither team had scored a goal, and Hoffenheim's main centre-back, No.24 Per Nilsson, was injured while defending opposition striker Kiessling.
Nelson made a tackle on Kiessling, who broke through with the ball, and Kiessling jumped to dodge, losing his center of gravity and stepping on Nelson's ankle as he fell, causing Nelson to be injured and drenched in blood.
After an initial diagnosis after the team doctor took care of the injury, Nelson suffered a serious ankle injury that required surgery and a minimum of two months of non-play.
When they saw Nelson covered his face and being carried down on a stretcher with tears in his eyes, the faces of Salihovic, Eduardo, Baker and others were extremely heavy.
Many male fans in the stands of the Rhein Neckar Arena held their heads, gritted their teeth, and looked desperate. Many female Hoffenheim fans covered their mouths and couldn't help crying.
In the first half of the season, almost no one in the team was injured, and as a promoted horse, he won consecutive victories on three fronts of the Bundesliga, German Cup, and League Cup, and the whole world was exclaiming the Huocun miracle.
Who knew that Hoffenheim would suffer such a series of heavy blows from the beginning of the winter training camp?
First, the main center Ibisevic was seriously injured and reimbursed for the second half of the season, then Eduardo was suspended, and then Obasi suffered a repeated muscle strain and became a stubborn disease.
When Eduardo returned from the ban in today's strong conversation with Bayer Leverkusen, just as Hoffenheim was about to regain his strength and play a big game with his opponent, the team's backbone and main central defender Nelsson left the field with a serious injury and will be out for at least two months.
It was as if there was a force in the shadows that was stopping Hoffenheim's progress.
Deackenson, the German sports TV commentator on the commentary seat, shook his head and sighed: "Hoffenheim's main central defender Nelsson left the field with a serious injury, and their backline is facing collapse. I don't know why, since the beginning of the winter training camp, Hoffenheim's players have seriously injured three main players in less than a month: Ibisevic, Obasi, and Nilsson, and they are all the most important positions. With 14 league games to go until the end of the season, Hoffenheim's lead in the table doesn't look so secure now. ”
Other commentators also commented on the situation on the pitch and sighed about Hoffenheim's prospects for this game and the second half of the season.
Indeed, Nelsson left the field with a serious injury and immediately reflected on the score in the following game.
After Nelsson's departure, Ralph had to replace No. 5 Comper, who had been playing at right-back but was squeezed out of the main position by Baker, and let him partner with Jankel in a centre-back combination.
However, after being squeezed out of the main position by Baker this season, Comper has not played many games, let alone the central defender position that he is not good at?
In the forward line, Lu Wenbin and Paldjic cooperate awkwardly, which greatly affects the acquisition of shooting opportunities, not to mention the combination of central defenders who need more tacit cooperation to defend together and not allow mistakes.
Just minutes after the restart, in the 17th minute, Bayer Leverkusen striker Vidal took advantage of a hole between Yankel and Compel to send a through ball.
Bayer Leverkusen striker Yerkas was successfully countered offside and fired a shot after receiving the ball on the line of the big penalty zone, and the ball flew past the onrushing Ozcan and into the back of the net.
The referee then circled his finger and blew the whistle for the goal.
Bayer Leverkusen opened the scoring in the 17th minute as Hoffenheim trailed 1-0 to Bayer Leverkusen at their home stadium at the Rheins Neckar Arena.
Goalkeeper Ozcan made a save, but the distance was too close to have no effect, and finally he could only kneel on the ground and turn his head to look at the ball that flew into the goal, and then pounded his hands on the ground to express his helplessness.
Jankel, the main central defender who failed to stop the opposing striker Yekas, also looked helpless, he looked at Comper, but he couldn't say anything.
Comper, who was hit by a straight plug from his opponent and lost the ball, kept his head down, not knowing what he was thinking.
Maybe he was annoyed by his mistakes, maybe he was annoyed by the team's luck, or maybe he was annoyed that the coach shouldn't have sent him to play at centre-back.
Hoffenheim, both on the pitch and in the stands, looked dead as the Bayer Leverkusen players and more than a thousand visitors cheered and celebrated.
Including the Hoffenheim players on the field, many people are wondering if God is stopping Hoffenheim's progress and not wanting Hoffenheim to win the Bundesliga championship and stage a miracle of being promoted to win the championship.
This kind of thinking will undoubtedly discourage some people who believe in God, lose their fighting spirit, and lose the strength to resist.
Only Lu Wenbin was not discouraged.
If there is anyone on the field who does not believe that God is stopping Hoffenheim, it is undoubtedly Lu Wenbin, who has a football championship system.
Even this kind of plug-in system can be obtained by Lu Wenbin, which player in this world has his luck, and which team has the luck of the team he plays?
Perhaps, the heavy blows and difficulties currently faced are just a test of God for Lu Wenbin and Hoffenheim, the promoted horse.
They won the first half of the season so easily that God will have to test Hoffenheim's willpower to see if they can withstand it.
If Hoffenheim collapses and gives up resisting, they deserve to lose the game, and they deserve not to win the Bundesliga title in the current good situation.
Therefore, Lu Wenbin did not lose his temper and admit defeat.
He ran back to his goal from the front, picked up the ball in the goal, and beckoned his teammates to cheer up as he ran towards the halfway line.
Lu Wenbin loudly encouraged everyone, the team is only one goal behind now, they will definitely be able to equalize, and they will definitely be able to reverse the victory.
They won the half-marathon championship and created the world-famous Huocun miracle, and they were Hoffenheim without any worries and fearlessness.
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