In the 97-98 season, Kaiserslautern won the Bundesliga in his second season as Bundesliga champions, becoming the first team in the world to win the second division in the following season.

Since then, the myth of Kaiserslautern and its creator, Otto Rehhagel, have become world-class myths, and as long as there is a civilian team that counterattacks, everyone will associate it with Kaiserslautern.

The Kicker has provided a comprehensive report on Cologne's dark horse journey in the German Cup this season, and the analysis is mainly due to three reasons.

The ability of the manager, Stevens is a capable manager.

Podolski is ahead of the level of the Bundesliga and he is completely the best player in Germany.

The other is Tang Zhenglong.

"Kicker" defines Tang Zhenglong as a magical player, an atypical striker, a striker who can always score goals, but is incomprehensible.

However, "Kicker" also emphasized that in general, Tang Zhenglong is still a player at the level of the German Second Division, and after the team is promoted next season, Tang Zhenglong is likely to be unadaptable, and in the face of stronger opponents, good luck will often disappear.

*****

Schalke 04.

The Bundesliga powerhouse, known as the cradle of German youth training, is very good in the youth of this team, and in addition, their results in the Bundesliga in recent years have also been very good, especially in 2001, when they were only 20 seconds away from the championship.

Here's the thing.

In the 2000-2001 season, Schalke performed well throughout the season, becoming the team with the most goals and the fewest goals conceded in the Bundesliga.

In the final round, Schalke also won the match, and the Bayern Munich vs Hamburg match was held at the same time, and Hamburg still led 1-0 until stoppage time.

But on 94 minutes, the referee awarded Bayern a free-kick in the box, and Anderson's goal levelled the score, and Bayern smashed Schalke 04 (62 points) with 63 points.

Schalke fans feel very unhappy when they think about 2001, which was the closest they came to winning the Bundesliga.

And the worst thing is that this scene has been ridiculed by Dortmund, the sworn enemy of the same city.

Want to win the Bundesliga? Dream on, this is Dortmund's merciless mockery of Schalke.

The biggest dream of the fans is for the team to reach the final of the German Cup this season, so that they can face Bayern Munich.

At least most people feel that Bayern should have no problem beating St. Pauli in the other half of the zone to reach the final of the German Cup.

Only when Bayern Munich are trampled under their feet in the final of the German Cup will Schalke fans feel a little better.

Head coach Rangnick has reduced the intensity of training in the past week to allow his team to face the German Cup with a relaxed mentality, and he believes that the main reason why Cologne can become a dark horse is that they are barefoot and not afraid to wear shoes.

In a word, it's a matter of mentality, so he also has to adjust his team's mentality.

Rangnick is a very low-key manager, with a pair of glasses and looks like a university teacher.

And Schalke's manager Asauer is a veritable big mouth, every time Schalke plays, Aschor always wears sunglasses and watches the game on the bench with a cigar in his mouth, just like the boss of the team.

And as long as anyone dares to say bad things about Schalke, then he will fight back immediately, especially Dortmund, who is basically his biggest enemy.

As the team practiced, Asor paced slowly over and Rangnick said hello.

Assholl took out a cigar and put it in his mouth, but did not light it, because Rangnick was a non-smoker, and he hated smokers.

"Ralph, you should know what the team needs most right now?"

"I know, Champion."

Asauer nodded, "But it's not enough, in Germany we have two mortal enemies, one is Dortmund and the other is Bayern Munich." ”

'We have a chance to play Bayern in the German Cup final, are you confident of beating them?'

Rangnick was stunned, what are you kidding, now the semi-finals are not over, how do you know that we will definitely advance, this mentality is the reason why Dortmund lost to Cologne, arrogant!!

"Mr. Manager, I think let's focus on the match against Cologne first, the final is on April 29th."

Asauer smiled, "An academic like you is the most troublesome." ”

Rangnick, like Jose Mourinho, is an academic coach, not the kind of player who dominated when he was young and then turned into a coach after retiring.

"What is Cologne? I've seen their previous games and it was all luck, the game against Bayer Leverkusen was a controversial penalty. ”

"When it comes to the semi-finals, quality is more important." Asauer stretched out his fist.

Rangnick doesn't like this attitude, no matter what level of team the opponent is, respect comes first, but the arrogant Asauer obviously doesn't know this, and what's worse is that Asauer doesn't even respect the manager.

As we all know, in European football, the powers of managers and managers are strictly separated, and a notable feature is that managers do not come to the bench.

But Schalke is an exception, and Asauer sits generously on the bench in the most prestigious position on the bench every game, which has led to Rangnick's lack of face.

"Mr. Manager, I think arrogance is a team's worst enemy."

Asauer simply lit the cigar and took a deep breath, "Cool." ”

"Ralph, you don't smoke or drink like this, what fun is there in life." After saying that, Asauer laughed.

Asauer walked straight to his players and began his impassioned speech.

"Lads, I've got a €5 million prize ready, do you want to take it?"

"Of course."

"Okay, just kill Bayern for me in the final, then the money is yours, find a girl, and go to the island for a good vacation."

The players were happy.

"But we haven't made it to the final yet." This was said by the slightly honest Asamoah, an immigrant from Ghana who later became a German citizen.

Assholl laughed, "Gerald, I tell you, a successful person must be arrogant, otherwise you don't deserve to enjoy everything in this world." ”

Rangnick is getting stupid, idiot, if football is just a slogan, then a madman would be the best fit to be a manager.

In the end, Assholl felt that it seemed that Cologne should still be mentioned, so he smiled and said: "Cologne, let's beat them 3-0, don't make them too faceless." ”

"Hahaha." The players laughed again.

Asauer left as soon as he finished speaking, and Rangnick quickly followed, saying: "Mr. Manager, you can say anything within the team, but please don't say that kind of thing in front of the media, we will be very passive. ”

Asauer smiled and patted Rangnick, "I still say the same thing, learning to smoke and drink bars, life will be a lot more fun, you are just too restrained." ”