The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills

Chapter 567: Chapter 111: Bicycle Kick! Tying a Legend! Consecutive Hat-tricks! Nesta, Our Duel Is Just Beginning

But this was Italy!

"Alright, we’ll use a 4-3-1-2 formation. The backline will be our main defensive line. For the three defensive midfielders, we’ll put Kevin Boateng and Flamini on the wings to protect the flanks."

"We’ll have Van Bommel play centrally. He’ll form an iron cage with Nesta and Thiago Silva to trap Wang Shuo inside, neutralizing any threat he poses to our goal!"

Tassotti’s proposal made Allegri’s heart race.

"We’ll put Siedorf at attacking midfield, with Ibrahimovic and Robinho as the two strikers."

Pirlo’s absence due to injury did have some impact on AC Milan’s midfield.

But Allegri had always felt that Pirlo wasn’t a good fit for the current AC Milan.

As for Tassotti’s suggestion, he found it refreshingly brilliant.

"It’s feasible. Get on it right away. Work with the coaching staff, study the opponent’s game footage, and refine the tactical details. We’ll find time to discuss it again and try to squeeze in some practice on this targeted defensive strategy."

"Understood!" Tassotti agreed.

After seeing his assistant coach out, Allegri finally let out a small sigh of relief.

Dortmund was putting immense pressure on him.

And Wang Shuo was a thorn in his side!

...

In February, there was a national team training camp scheduled between the 21st and 22nd rounds of the Bundesliga.

Many international players left to play for their countries.

After playing the 22nd round of the Bundesliga on February 12th, Dortmund was scheduled to travel to Milan on the 15th for an away match against AC Milan.

This was a top-of-the-table clash between the leaders of the Bundesliga and the leaders of Serie A!

Moreover, it was Dortmund’s first Champions League knockout stage match in many years, so Klopp and the management were taking it very seriously.

The schedule was tight, and their 22nd-round opponent, an away game against Kaiserslautern, wasn’t particularly strong.

Therefore, Klopp told Wang Shuo in advance to focus all his energy on preparing for AC Milan.

He wouldn’t be playing in the Kaiserslautern match unless the situation turned against them.

And in fact, the match went quite smoothly.

Dortmund took the lead in the first half.

Sven Bender scored a goal for Dortmund.

It was his first goal of the season.

After that, the team continued to have things their way.

In the second half, Klopp started making substitutions, resting players for the midweek Champions League match.

But unexpectedly, the turning point of the match came in the 85th minute.

Subotic committed a foul during a defensive play, received his second yellow card, and was sent off with a red card.

By that point, however, Dortmund had already used two of their substitutions.

The score was 1-0 in their favor.

So, Klopp substituted Santana for Götze to strengthen the defense.

But just then, in the 90th minute, Dortmund’s goal was breached.

1-1!

In the end, Dortmund drew with Kaiserslautern in their away match.

Their winning streak came to an end at 21 matches!

Wang Shuo, sitting on the bench, found it hard to believe.

Everyone had imagined many ways the team’s winning streak might end.

After all, it was impossible to keep winning forever.

But no one could have imagined it would end like this.

...

「The evening of February 15th, at Milan’s San Siro Stadium.」

The first leg of the Champions League round of 16: Dortmund, away, against AC Milan.

Flags waved and war drums thundered.

From the first minute of the match, the South Stand of San Siro Stadium was like an Icelandic volcano, constantly erupting with scorching lava.

Not even the night rain in Milan could extinguish the fans’ passion.

Wang Shuo looked up at the oppressive night sky over San Siro, raised his hands, and wiped his face hard. His hands came away covered in water.

He couldn’t tell if it was sweat or rain.

His damp jersey clung tightly to his body, the yellow and black fabric covered in bits of grass and dirt. His shorts were even filthier.

He turned his head to look at the time on the scoreboard.

minutes played, and the score was still 0-0!

Those two crimson Arabic numerals were like a pair of mocking smiley faces, making Wang Shuo feel a mix of shame and anger.

It was a merciless taunt to Dortmund for their relentless bombardment throughout the match!

From the very first minute, Dortmund had launched a fierce offensive against AC Milan.

For over half an hour at the start, AC Milan hadn’t even managed a single shot.

This team of old-timers from Serie A simply couldn’t adapt to Dortmund’s high-tempo, torrential offense and their physically demanding high-press tactics.

They just couldn’t keep up with the pace.

But Serie A teams have their own way of dealing with opponents.

In their 4-3-1-2 formation, they had turned their own 30-meter zone into an impenetrable fortress.

No matter how Dortmund attacked, they couldn’t make a dent in it.

The Bumblebees’ fast-paced transitions from defense to attack and their frenetic high-press were rendered completely useless against this iron wall.

Attack after attack ended in them returning empty-handed.

Meanwhile, AC Milan’s confidence grew with every defensive stop.

The fans in the stands grew more and more energetic with their cheers.

In a San Siro Stadium that could hold over 75,000 fans, aside from the 5,000 away fans who had followed Dortmund, the vast majority were Milan supporters, all cheering wildly for their team.

Every successful defensive play was met with increasingly thunderous cheers.

This was their highest praise and affirmation for Milan’s ironclad defensive line, formed by Antonini, Nesta, Thiago Silva, and Abate.

And whenever Wang Shuo got the ball, he would be met with a deafening wave of boos from the stands.

From the moment Wang Shuo stepped onto the pitch, they hadn’t stopped booing him.