The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills-Chapter 209 - 60: Game-Changing Upgrade! Mainz’s Most Powerful Weapon! We Will Take Down Bayern
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As preparations for the DFB-Pokal final began, there was one question that needed to be addressed first.
How should they play against Bayern?
Even if Pekovic returned from injury, and even if all the Mainz players were back in top form, could Klopp’s team last for the full 90 minutes?
The answer was obvious.
By the 60th minute, or the 70th minute at the latest, their stamina would definitely give out.
What would they do then?
"For this DFB-Pokal final, we don’t have 90 minutes!"
Klopp set the tone for the matter right at the start of the team’s tactical meeting.
"If we can’t build a big enough lead within 60 minutes, we will definitely lose this match."
Everyone present knew why.
The problem was, Bayern was so powerful that beating them in 90 minutes was already an incredibly difficult task for Mainz.
Was it even possible to settle the match in 60 minutes?
"We have no choice. This is our only path. What can we do? We’re the weaker team," Klopp said with absolute resolve.
The strong have the luxury of choice; the weak have no escape.
Klopp’s choice was not surprising in the least: an all-out attack from the start.
This was Mainz’s specialty, their ace in the hole.
But the fatal problem was that Klinsmann, no matter how clueless, would surely know and anticipate Mainz’s tactics.
Wang Shuo now understood what it meant to charge straight at a tiger, knowing full well it was there.
Because they had no other choice, they had to burn their bridges.
Klopp began to focus on how to use their opening blitz to establish dominance on the pitch.
And, more importantly, how to convert that dominance into goals.
The former wasn’t difficult; the true challenge lay in the latter.
Based on their performance throughout the season, Klinsmann would almost certainly stick with a 4-4-2 formation.
The goalkeeper would probably be Butt.
Lensing, once hailed by all as Kahn’s successor, had now been completely cast aside.
He was even rated lower than Craft.
The veteran Butt, on the other hand, had claimed the starting spot.
The back line, from left to right, was currently Lahm, Demichelis, Lucio or Van Bitten, and Oddo.
The Argentine Demichelis was quite an interesting player; he faced a lot of criticism and had made many mistakes.
But Klinsmann had always entrusted him with great responsibility.
In contrast, Lucio and Van Bitten were often rotated for one position.
There had been constant rumors that Lucio would be leaving Bayern this summer.
The midfield was the most predictable part of the lineup.
The two defensive midfielders would be Van Bommel paired with Schweinsteiger.
Ribery would be on the left, with Hamit Altıntop or Jose Sosa on the right.
The veteran Zé Roberto was a very mobile and versatile player. He could play in Ribery’s position, Lahm’s position on the left, either of the two defensive midfield spots, or even fill in as a right midfielder.
If Bayern changed formation to use a number 10, he could even play as an attacking midfielder.
The crazy thing was, this Brazilian player seemed to get better with age, and his performances were ridiculously good.
And there was no need to even mention the two forwards.
Luca Tony was a definite starter, with the other spot going to either Klose or Podolski.
It was a completely asymmetrical match.
Ribery’s valuation on the German transfer market was 50 million euros.
The entire Mainz squad was worth only 30 million euros combined.
How could they even compare?
So, after analyzing all these aspects of Bayern, Klopp shook his head.
"Right now, almost everyone out there is saying we don’t stand a chance."
After saying this, Klopp himself started to laugh.
"When I look at Bayern’s starting lineup, even I think to myself, how can we win? What do we have that can beat them?"
This was what most of the Mainz players were thinking at that very moment.
In Germany, when you faced Bayern, you’d already lost half the battle in morale before the match even started.
There was really nothing to be done about it!
"We have no advantages. In terms of players, tactics, squad depth—what can we possibly bring to the table to beat Bayern?"
In his heart, Wang Shuo agreed with Klopp’s assessment, but at this moment, he had to refute it.
So, he stood up directly from his seat.
"We’re hungrier than Bayern!"
Wang Shuo said this loudly, and the room fell silent.
Klopp gave Wang Shuo an appreciative glance.
He had spoken with Wang Shuo before, hoping he would be the one to step up at this moment.
"That’s right! We are hungrier than Bayern!"
"That is our greatest weapon as we step into the Olympic Stadium Berlin!"
"And that is why we will win!"
"Why?"
Klopp stared at the players before him, almost grinding his teeth.
"Because in the entire German Football Scene, no one is hungrier than us!"
"Because when we were still in the 2nd Bundesliga, this hunger is what drove us all the way here!"
Wang Shuo clapped his hands forcefully.
The other players around him also began to clap enthusiastically.
A wave of thunderous applause filled the meeting room.
Klopp’s motivational speech could stir the players’ emotions, but a match couldn’t be won on passion alone.
So the team needed a very detailed plan for how to play, how to attack, and how to defend.
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「May 30th」
The vast city of Berlin was brimming with the atmosphere of the final.
Even though it was just the DFB-Pokal final.
But in Germany, any match involving Bayern drew immense attention.
Before the match, the management of the Olympic Stadium announced that all 73,000 tickets had been sold out.
Walking through the streets of Berlin, you could see fans wearing the two teams’ jerseys everywhere.
