Hamburg's Bundesliga half-stage title can be said to be convincing, as they are eight points above second-placed Bayern Munich!

Of course, the further widening of the points gap is not because Bayern lost.

Instead, after playing the crucial game against Hamburg, they went to Morocco to play the Club World Cup, so they played one less round in the Bundesliga.

Which Morocco?

It is the place that "Xu Zhimo" Xu Yang said: "I have been to Morocco, where football is very pure"......

In this Club World Cup, Longguo's Changzhou Hengtai also participated as the Asian champion.

They also beat African Champions Cup winners Al Ahly 2-0 in the quarter-finals to reach the semi-finals.

And Changzhou Hengtai's opponent in the semi-finals is Bayern Munich!

But this game shows the gap between Dragon Country football and Europe's top teams.

In the Changzhou Hengtai team, except for Argentine foreign aid Conca, who can hold the ball, the other players are not at the same level as Bayern players.

The scene of the game was also one-sided, and Bayern finally defeated Changzhou Hengtai 3:0 and successfully entered the final.

In fact, if it weren't for Bayern's poor luck and a lot of shots hitting the post, the score would have been even greater.

In the subsequent three or four finals, Changzhou Hengtai lost 2:3 to Atletico Mineiro, the champion of the Copa Libertadores.

This team actually has a lot to do with the Chinese Super League, with coach Kuka, strikers Tardelli and Ferdinando all coming to the Dragon Country later.

And the biggest card in the Atletico Mineiro squad is undoubtedly Ronaldinho, who has returned to his roots at this time.

In the game, Ronaldo also kicked a beautiful free kick to help Atletico Mineiro score.

However, in the 86th minute, substitute Zhao Xuri forced the ball behind him, causing Xiao Luo to fall to the ground.

Zhao Xuri stepped on it with all his strength, and Xiao Luo kicked his leg in retaliation.

Zhao Xuri immediately fell to the ground, and Xiao Luo left the scene red.

This red card has also become a point of impressive impression in this game, at least Pan Yi, as a fan in his previous life, remembers it very clearly.

Bayern came in a little later to face hosts Casablancaraja in the final.

They also won comfortably with a score of 2:0 to win the Club World Cup!

This title, combined with the UEFA Super Cup win over Chelsea shortly after the start of the season, and last season's treble, Bayern have also achieved a five-time title!

Compared with Pep Guardiola's six crowns at Barcelona, in fact, they only lost one German Super Cup title.

And this championship happened to be snatched from them by the hamburger led by Pan Yi......

……

While Bayern was still competing in the Club World Cup, Hamburg was already on holiday.

The holiday is a week off for the players to go home for a nice Christmas and then come back to training.

The combination of work and rest has a good effect!

This is one of Hamburg's strengths over Bayern this season, with fewer games and more time to adjust and rest.

And this holiday, Pan Yi is also more idle than before.

Because he doesn't need to think about reinforcements anymore now!

The current first-team squad is more than enough for him to finish the season smoothly.

The locker room is stable, the players are cooperative, and the atmosphere is positive......

If the team is like this, what more can you ask for?

The only thing Pan Yi has to worry about is that other teams will dig into the corners of the wall during the winter window.

It is almost impossible for Hamburg's players to perform well in the first half of the season, including last season, without attracting the covetousness of other big teams.

Borussia Dortmund's Jurgen Klopp, for example, has publicly expressed his admiration for Mohamed Salah's performances and hopes to have the opportunity to work with him in Westphalia.

And Klopp's appetite is not limited to that, he also thinks that Robertson and Van Dijk in the Hamburg back line are also a good fit for Dortmund.

Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola's admiration for De Bruyne is also well known, and it is not impossible to issue a formal inquiry for Hamburg in this winter window, not to mention that it can also weaken Hamburg and kill two birds with one stone.

Bayer Leverkusen, on the other hand, have always been interested in Son Heung-min and Calhanoglu, and have asked for prices several times since the summer window, but they have all been rejected.

It's not just the Bundesliga teams that are eyeing Hamburg, a supermarket of stars, either.

Ligue 1 giants Monaco boss Claudio Ranieri wants the club to make bids for Jamie Vardy and N'Golo Kante in Hamburg, as the Italian head coach believes they can execute his tactics perfectly.

Real Madrid, on the other hand, are interested in Academy youngster Carvajal and are looking to buy back the high-performing right-back to replace the aging Alvaro Arbeloa.

By the way, they also want to bring Casemiro to the Bernabeu so that they can partner with Luka Modric to form a complementary midfield combination.

Even Changzhou Hengtai of the Dragon Kingdom wanted to risk the world's disapproval and bring Wu Lei back to China......

It's just that Pan Yi believes that the current group of players are willing to follow him and continue to fight.

With the team's momentum so good right now, there's no reason to pass up the opportunity to make a difference here!

After all, they haven't really won a big championship yet!

Of course, if Hamburg do succeed this season, there is a real chance that many players will not be retained.

You can't blame the players for their "lack of affection for the club" or anything.

Ask yourself, if you work in one company for a salary of 5,000, and another company digs you, it will be two or three times or even five times or ten times, can you not be impressed?

And in the world of football, this kind of thing is very common.

It is not uncommon for a player to have a weekly salary of 20,000 yuan in the original club, and after performing well and changing jobs, he directly turned to more than 100,000 yuan per week.

This is not only a matter of money, but also a reflection of the player's own value and status in football.

Not to mention some players such as Carvajal, who joined Real Madrid's academy at the age of 10 and has been a Madridist since he was a child, and his affection for Real Madrid is the deepest.

He left Real Madrid just out of desperation, he just needed more games to hone himself, and the ultimate goal was to get Real Madrid's favor.

In this case, as long as Real Madrid beckons, he won't just go back in a hurry, what can you blame him for at this time?

It's just that the current Pan Yi won't think about these things for the time being.

When these players disperse, he will also consider going to a place that is more suitable for him to build a dynasty.

In the new place, he has money and power, and he can also find a way to win over some "loyal old ministers" to continue to play for him, just like pulling the Milan three to Hamburg this season.

At the moment, what he needs to think about is to train his players better during the winter break and be in better shape to meet the tougher challenges of the second half of the season!

……

A week later, Hamburg began its winter break training camp.

At the beginning, the training was still presided over by the physical trainer Pintus.

It can be seen from the training during the winter break last season that Pintus has changed the team tremendously, so Pan Yi will also be more comfortable to give power to this little bald old man and let him display his talents - that is, toss the players in different ways.

After all, this season is different from last season.

At that time, Hamburg only had to think about the league, and now it is fighting on the third front! And it's all going to be in the sprint.

Especially in the Champions League, Hamburg is about to usher in one game after another that is destined to be fierce.

And if you want to maintain your level of performance in such a fierce competition, it is essential to have sufficient physical reserves.

This period is equivalent to recharging the players, as long as there is enough power, it can ensure a longer standby time, and can also better play the characteristics of these "machines".

Pintus, of course, will not disappoint Pan Yi's expectations.

He had already drawn up a winter break training plan for the current situation and future attrition of the Hamburg players.

And Pan Yi is very relaxed.

He only needs to be responsible for the overall arrangement, and the specific tactical training can also be handed over to Nagelsmann and Inzaghi.

After all, Hamburg's overall framework is now very stable, no matter what kind of tactics are played, the team can be at ease, and the players are basically adaptable.

Of course, if Pan Yi insists on finding fault with his team, or if there is anything that needs to be improved, he can still summarize some.

For example, goalkeeper Navas's position, his reflexes and goal-line skills are absolutely world-class, but his foot skills are indeed lacking, his ability to shoot the ball is average, and his range of motion is not large enough.

Limited by this, some of Pan Yi's advancing tactics in the backfield, including the idea of the goalkeeper playing behind the opponent with a long straight pass, have no way to be practiced.

For example, when changing formations, due to the lack of suitable wingbacks, or the lack of corresponding training for full-backs, Pan Yi sometimes wants to try a more aggressive back three system, but it is difficult to implement.

But these problems are okay at present, and they will not become the weakness of the team for the time being, or the focus of the opponent's attack, so there is no rush to change.

It's just that Pan Yi is a person who likes to study and like to learn and practice all the tactics in the system one by one, and he always wants to do it more perfectly.

Now, of course, he won't be fooling around, which is already the best he can do under the framework of the existing players.

Hamburg is not a big club after all, and it is not a rich club.

If he goes to Munich and tells Bayern that he wants to exchange Navas for Neuer, be careful that Rummenigge will be kicked out with a broom......

These ideas, or Pan Yi's desire to seek further self-breakthroughs, will be talked about when there is an opportunity in the future.

……

The winter break is actually very short.

After playing the first half of the season at the end of December, we will take a week off and start training, which is actually two or three weeks away, and the Bundesliga will start again in late January.

Hamburg didn't make any moves during the winter break, and the other Bundesliga teams are doing the same.

Bayern Munich also did not have any players transferred, but only loaned Kirchhoff, who could not play the ball in the team, to Schalke 04.

Borussia Dortmund bought Jolic from Partizan Belgrade for 2.2 million euros and sold Günther to Galatasaray in Turkey for 2.5 million, and the framework of its main squad has not changed at all.

Bayer Leverkusen moved a little more, and they transferred three players including Brandt, Yoo Seung-woo and Guardado, and maybe Hyypia wants to pick himself up in the second half of the season.

But in the first game of the second half of the season, Bayer Leverkusen took a blow to the head.

They lost 2-3 away to Freiburg, who are in the relegation zone!

Borussia Dortmund, on the other hand, were not in great form either, drawing 2-2 at home to Augsburg.

Bayern Munich won the new Club World Cup by beating Borussia Mönchengladbach and Stuttgart in a week of double-match matches, making it two wins in a row (including a make-up match away to Stuttgart).

Hamburg's opponent in the round of 18 is Schalke 04.

Facing an opponent who had won away in the first round, Hamburg played smoothly at the People's Park and won 2-0.

Pan Yi also expressed satisfaction with this result at the post-match press conference.

He believes that after a month-long winter break, Hamburg was able to perform so well in the first game and he was proud of the performance of his players.

He also thanked Pintus and other members of the coaching staff for their help during the winter training season.

It is precisely because of the joint efforts of the whole team that Pan Yi believes that in the next half of the season, Hamburg will be able to continue this winning streak!

……

In the next two rounds of the Bundesliga, Hamburg really lived up to Pan Yi's expectations.

In the 19th round, Hamburg won Hoffenheim 2:1 away from home.

In the 20th round, Hamburg beat Hertha Berlin 3:0 at home.

Although Bayern Munich also beat Eintracht Frankfurt 5-0 and Nuremberg 2-0, Hamburg's performance is too stable now!

If they didn't make any mistakes, how could Bayern catch up with Hamburg and pull them off the top spot?

After 20 rounds of the Bundesliga, Hamburg is still in first place with a terrifying unbeaten record of 19 wins, 1 draw and 58 points, while Bayern is second with 17 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss with 53 points.

It is appropriate to say "condescension", because Bayern's record is honestly very awesome.

In any previous season, they would have been number one! Even last season when they were almost invincible!

In the same period of the 2012-2013 season, Bayern was in first place with 51 points after 20 rounds, while Hamburg was second with 44 points.

But alas, this season they ran into even more awesome burgers.

This may also be a reversal of the status of the two teams last season.

Compared with these two teams that are crazy about grabbing points, other teams that originally wanted to compete for the championship can only piggyback.

Bayer Leverkusen, 14 wins, 1 draw, 5 losses, 43 points, ranked third;

Dortmund, 12 wins, 3 draws, 5 losses, 39 points, ranked fourth;

Schalke 04, 11 wins, 4 draws, 5 losses, 37 points, ranked fifth.

In other words, from the third place, there is already a 10-point gap from the second-place Bayern, not to mention a 15-point gap with Hamburg.

Therefore, this season's Bundesliga title competition has actually been decided here.

It's either Hamburg, Bayern, and the rest of the teams are obediently fighting for Champions League qualification!

……

Five days after the 20th round of the Bundesliga, the German Cup quarterfinals are the quarter-finals, and Hamburg will play Hoffenheim at home.

This is also another contest between the two teams in a short period of time.

From this game onwards, it was a relatively intensive schedule, and it was also a test for Hamburg and Pan Yi.

On 13 February, the German Cup was played at home to Hoffenheim.

On February 16, the 21st round of the Bundesliga was away to Braunschweig.

On February 20, the Champions League round of 16 will be away to Manchester City!

February 23 Bundesliga 22nd round home against Dortmund!

In other words, Hamburg have four games to play in 10 days, including tough games against Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund.

And in these games, what Pan Yi values the most, and what everyone thinks is the most important, is, of course, the game against Manchester City.

It is definitely very difficult to play this Premier League upstart away, so Pan Yi must also do a good job.

Then, Pan Yi has a general overall operational idea.

Play Hoffenheim with all the main players, then rotate the lineup to play Braunschweig, and finally challenge Manchester City with the best lineup and form!

And when we play Dortmund at the end, we will make arrangements based on the physical condition of the players in the near future.

Under such a strategy, Hoffenheim, the opponent in the German Cup, was a little "unlucky".

In the cheers and cheers of tens of thousands of fans at the People's Park Stadium, Hamburg defeated this tough opponent 2-0 with a goal from top scorer Jamie Vardy in each half and successfully advanced to the semi-finals!

In another German Cup match, Bayern Munich was upset by Kaiserslautern!

The team that once created the miracle of winning the Bundesliga championship by promoted horses is now only a second division team, but they also performed miracles in this game!

After 120 minutes of play, Kaiserslautern stubbornly played to a 0-0 draw with Bayern Munich, and finally won the opponent through a penalty shootout to successfully reach the last four.

Although Guardiola rotated a lot of players in the German Cup, after all, he lost to a German second team, which still made Guardiola a little embarrassed.

In the other two games, Bayer Leverkusen's 2-3 Wolfsburg result, although a bit surprising, was within reasonable limits.

And Eintracht Frankfurt's 1-0 defeat to Borussia Dortmund was understandable.

After the draw for the semi-finals, Pan Yi continued his good luck this season as Hamburg will face Kaiserslautern in the semi-finals.

The other place in the final will be between Wolfsburg and Borussia Dortmund.

The semi-finals will be held on April 16.

……

Hamburg have one more Bundesliga game to play before heading to Manchester.

That was round 21, away to Braunschweig.

This game also has a special meaning for Hamburg.

That is, since the draw away to Borussia Dortmund in the fifth round, they have won 15 consecutive games!

The previous Bundesliga winning streak was set by Bayern Munich in 2005 with 15 consecutive wins!

In other words, if Hamburg can win this game, it will break the record held by Bayern with 16 consecutive wins!

This can be regarded as another riposte to Bayern to break the unbeaten record of old Hamburg in the 80s.

It's just that in the face of a team like Braunschweig that is desperate for relegation, it is an away game, which is actually not easy to play.

And in order to ensure the state of the main players, Pan Yi did not take this record too seriously, and still rotated the players as originally planned.

He doesn't hide his desire to go all out in the Champions League.

Now that he is 5 points ahead of Bayern in the league, Pan Yi's focus will definitely be more on the Champions League.

Of course, the rotation does not mean that Pan Yi does not attach importance to this game.

After all, Hamburg's rotation players are also very combative!

Pan Yi's most successful work in Hamburg this season is to establish an orderly rotation system, which not only allows all players to get full opportunities to play and practice, but also keeps the players motivated.

Some of these players don't even have much playing time compared to the main team.

For example, Paulinho, such as Wu Lei, or Mitrovic, they are all generals who can fight when they are called!

In other words, Hamburg does not have too strict a main substitution in the current lineup.

Hamburg, for example, have played around 30 games this season, with Jamie Vardy starting 18 times as a first-choice centre-forward and Aleksandar Mitrovic starting 12 as much, and the difference between them is not as great as that of other teams.

Therefore, in the face of Hamburg's rotation lineup, Braunschweig, who knew that his strength was insufficient, put on a set of three back midfielders as soon as he came up.

Cheered on by the home fans, they disrupted Hamburg's midfield with an almost butcher-like scramble.

Through this tight defensive tactic, Braunschweig was impregnable at home.

The Hamburg players, who came on as substitutes, did not play very smoothly, and although they took the initiative in the game, they could not find good scoring opportunities.

It was not until the 80th minute of the second half that Hamburg found the back of the net after Braunschweig's exertions.

In the 82nd minute, Lin Zhijian passed the ball with his heel, Mitrovic followed up with a low shot and scored, Braunschweig 0:1 Hamburg!

After breaking the deadlock, the Hamburg players were noticeably more relaxed and more comfortable on the pitch.

Less than 5 minutes later, Mitrovic returned to make a cannon, and Makoto Hasebe, who was inserted in the back row, scored again with a volley!

In stoppage time, Wu Lei also scored a goal, but unfortunately the offside position was blown invalid first.

At the end of full-time, Braunschweig 0:2 Hamburg.

In this way, Hamburg has won 16 consecutive victories, and it has officially broken Bayern's winning streak in the Bundesliga!

And every win they win after that will add one more to that record......

Hamburg secured the record-breaking three points, while Bayern and Borussia Dortmund also won, and both by big margins.

Bayern beat Freiburg 4:0!

They also had some rotation on their side of the Champions League knockout rounds, with Shaqiri netting twice and Pizarro and Dante netting a goal each.

Borussia Dortmund, on the other hand, swept past Eintracht Frankfurt by the same scoreline.

Eintracht Frankfurt, last season's dark horse, seems to have lost its magic this season and has been beaten by Bayern and Dort in a row.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang also scored twice, Robert Lewandowski-Mann also scored a goal and Jojic, who had just joined in the winter window, came off the bench to make a difference.

Bayer Leverkusen lost again!

They lost 1-2 to their direct rivals for Champions League qualification, Schalke 04.

As a result, the competition for next season's Champions League ticket is becoming more and more fierce.

Bayer Leverkusen 43 points, Borussia Dortmund 42 points, Schalke 04 team 40 points, including sixth Wolfsburg 36 points, seventh Borussia Mönchengladbach 34 points, in fact, also have a chance.

But for the current Pan Yi, none of this has anything to do with him.

Or rather, the Champions League seat or something, can't satisfy his appetite.

Hamburg and Bayern still occupy the top two spots in the standings, with Hamburg leading by five points, and the title race has not changed!

And now, Pan Yi can safely set his sights on Manchester......

(End of chapter)