After being rejected, I became Shi Yijiao

Chapter 172 Set-piece Tactics
The foul also caused some controversy.

Casemiro ran to the referee and complained that Xhaka was the last defensive player. If Vardy was not fouled and went in, it would be a one-shot.

The implication is that Xhaka should be given a red card.

This thoughtful move is to let the card master leave the field in 2 minutes, so that he doesn't even need to take a shower when he returns to the locker room.

But Xhaka pointed to the central defender teammates such as Dominguez and Strands on the side, saying that they were by his side, and even if he was swayed, it could not be an absolute single-handed opportunity.

The two sides quarreled for a while, but the referee still upheld the original verdict.

There is no VAR playback yet, but from the perspective of Pan Yi on the sidelines, it is true that this foul is not enough for a red card.

Xhaka's best choice should also cooperate with his teammates to steal the ball, rather than recklessly shoveling.

But Pan Yi also let Casemiro put pressure on the referee, which is a good thing after all.

In this way, the referee was even more impressed with Xhaka's foul. When the card master makes a move next time, he can take out a card with a brighter color.

As a result, Hamburg won a free kick on the right side of the front field.

Although the position is average, judging from the forces invested by both sides, Hamburg and Borussia both attach great importance to this set-piece.

For Hamburg, except for the goalkeeper Keylor Navas standing in the backcourt, and the two full-backs Ogo and Carvajal standing at the top of the center line arc, all players are ready to participate in the attack.

And Borussia even formed a three-person wall, and then all the players crowded in the penalty area to prepare for defense.

Why both sides pay attention?

From Borussia's point of view, their retro style of play relies heavily on the quality of the pass from both sides to the double center in the positional battle, but the head coach Favre obviously knows that this style of play is also easy to be targeted.

So he put a lot of energy into set-piece drills, and designed a lot of offensive routines for corner kicks and free kicks.

Especially for corner kicks, due to the existence of double center forwards and two 190cm tall central defenders, they pose a great threat in the penalty area.

In fact, in the past four rounds of the Bundesliga, Borussia has scored a total of 6 goals, and 4 of them were scored through set kicks!

While paying attention to set-piece offense, Borussia will naturally guard against opponent's set-pieces and have a systematic set of tactics.

After all, this kind of offensive and defensive training is integrated in the team. When practicing offense, you are also practicing defense on the other side.

From the perspective of Hamburg, Pan Yi has always attached great importance to set-piece tactics, and there will be some whimsy in training for the players to try out.

When he was still in Milan last season, he used the set-piece method he came up with to break the opponent's goal several times.

But this time, both De Bruyne and Sun Xingmin have already stood at the penalty spot on the right side of the penalty area.

De Bruyne is mainly right-footed, while Sun Xingmin can use both left and right feet. Their position at this time is also somewhat parallel to the goal, making it unclear who will take the penalty.

And ahead, all the high points of Hamburg are already in.

Rudiger, Kjaer, Vardy...

The positions between them are also hierarchical, some are at the front point, some are in the middle, and some are close to the penalty spot.

Outside the penalty area, Wu Lei, Makoto Hasebe and others all stood around the top of the arc.

In this way, if you have the ball, you can rush forward into the penalty area and shoot, and if you lose the ball, you can retreat in time to defend.

And Borussia is even more prepared.

In addition to the three-man wall, they passed in a straight line at the front of the penalty area and lined up a line of six players.

Near the top of the penalty area, there is another player who is maneuvering, ready to save the front of the penalty area to intercept the supplementary shots of the people behind Hamburg, and at the same time beware that the kicker from Hamburg will hand the ball directly to the player at the top of the arc. Come and shoot straight.

The tension of the players on the field also spread to the audience and the sidelines.

All fans, coaches, substitute players, and staff watched De Bruyne, the kicker of the free kick, in silence.

With a clear and short whistle, De Bruyne took four or five steps back, then looked up into the penalty area.

When De Bruyne ran forward and seemed to be about to hit the ball, the Hamburg players in the penalty area also moved.

Rudiger, Kjaer, and Vardy started to run backwards.

Obviously, this is to use De Bruyne's right foot to hit the back post of Borussia directly!
Grab the three high points together, and there will definitely be one.

Borussia's defensive players did not dare to neglect, and the players who had lined up in a line also began to move backwards with the three Hamburgers, trying to get stuck in their positions and prevent the opponent from having space to attack the goal with a powerful header.

But at this moment, the accident happened.

When De Bruyne ran to the ball, he didn't stretch his feet, but went directly around the ball and rushed forward quickly!
In an instant, he had rushed behind Borussia's wall of three.

Almost at the same moment, Son Heung-min launched a low ball with his left foot and handed the ball to De Bruyne.

Because the running positions of the Hamburg players in the penalty area attracted the attention of all Borussia players, there were no defensive players in front of De Bruyne at this time!

Borussia's players woke up like a dream: This is a well-designed free kick tactical coordination!

Xhaka in the wall reacted the fastest. He flew over with a flying shovel, trying to block De Bruyne's shot.

But it's too late.

De Bruyne shot vigorously, and the ball went straight to the upper right corner of the goal!
Due to the short distance and the fast speed of the ball, Borussia's young goalkeeper Ter Stegen subconsciously raised his right hand, but was unable to prevent the ball from entering the net.

"The ball went in!!!"

"It was Kevin De Bruyne who scored the goal!"

"Only 2 minutes into the game, Hamburg relied on a clever free kick, and De Bruyne took the lead to break through Borussia Mönchengladbach's goal, [-]-[-]!"

"The midfield commander of Hamburg didn't make pancakes this time, but made one himself and ate one!"

"This free kick tactic is obviously designed and practiced. It reminds me of the scene when Zanetti scored against England for Argentina in the 1998 World Cup."

"Of course, before that, in the American World in 1994, the Swedish team's goal scored by striker Brolin into Romania was a similar tactic!"

"This is Hamburg's 11th goal in five rounds and De Bruyne's first goal in the Bundesliga!..."

The moment Sun Xingmin passed the ball, Pan Yi already had a premonition that the ball was there, and he stood up.

When the whistle of the referee's effective goal came, he even cheered and raised his arms high.

There is no better start than this!
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PS: At the beginning of the month, double the monthly pass!

(End of this chapter)