After returning from Manchester, Southampton took a little rest and began to prepare for the game against Dortmund.
In the last round, Dortmund defeated Marseille in an away game, even when the main goalkeeper and head coach were unable to play. It proved that Marseille may indeed be weak, and it also proved that Dortmund is indeed very strong. The previous loss to Naples should have been an accident.
Something went wrong.
Although Southampton defeated Naples 3-0 in the last round, it does not prove that Southampton can defeat Dortmund at home.
Moreover, there are six games and three home games. In the first three rounds, we only used two home games against two strong teams. If we cannot win this game, the subsequent games will actually be very difficult.
"Piszczek can't play, which is a bit good for us, but they have Grosskreutz in the midfield. Cross is a rare all-rounder who can play in any position, so the right back will not become their weakness.
On the field, their midfielder is very technical, Gundogan, Sven Bender, Shaheen... but the running is a bit poor. Reus on the wing should pay attention, this is the source of Dortmund's frontcourt offense.
And Lewandowski, he is always a dangerous guy, but it doesn’t matter, we are stronger than them, let them see what a top offense is!”
Noriya shouted in the locker room, pumping his fists, and the players also pumped their fists.
"Three consecutive wins! Three consecutive wins!"
Yes, three consecutive wins is the result they most want to obtain. Although the strength of this group seems to be very close, three consecutive wins may not give them much advantage in advance, but getting three points is better than just one point!
In the loud cheers of the fans at St. Mary's Stadium, the players of both sides appeared, and the head coaches of both sides also appeared...
"You didn't impose an additional suspension. UEFA is so merciful." Noriya said as he shook hands with Klopp.
"We were wronged for those two red cards. One game suspension is enough!" Klopp said.
"It doesn't matter, it would be best if all of you can play, so that you can know that our Southampton is invincible!" Ji Ya said.
"Then we'll see." Klopp said equally viciously.
"I heard that Ji Ya and Klopp have a good relationship. Why are they so incompatible now? But it's normal. There are no friends in the stadium. They may go for a drink after the game, but at this time they will definitely fight to the death...
Both sides played all their main players in this game. Southampton even sent out most of their substitutes in the last away game against Manchester United for this game! Otherwise, they would not have played against Manchester United away from home.
draw……"
The Manchester United fans who were innocently shot began to curse - what do you mean? Can Southampton's main force definitely defeat us?
"Southampton's starting lineup...goalkeeper Navas, defender Clyne, Luke Shaw, Font, Otamendi, midfielder Casemiro, Mkhitaryan, De Bruyne, forward James James
Rodriguez, Lukaku, Suarez! Dortmund's starting lineup has not changed much. Goalkeeper Weidenfeller has returned to the main goalkeeper position after his suspension. The right back is 'Big Cross' Groske.
Leutz, left back Schmelzer, center backs Hummels and Subotic, midfielder Sahin, Sven Bender, Gundogan, Aubameyang and Reus on the wings, forward Le
Wan Tu Qian!"
Players from both sides were scattered on the field and began to prepare for the game. From the formation point of view, the two sides seemed to be relatively close, with almost a four-three-three formation. However, it is obvious that Dortmund's two wings are closer to the wings, while Southampton's two wings are closer to the wings.
Dun's two so-called wings can actually be played in the middle.
Their wing is driven by the forward assists of the full-backs. Ronaldo and Lukaku are very flexible in their positions. They can be on the wing, organize in the middle, or grab points in the penalty area.
Klopp will naturally not fail to notice this, but Dortmund's defense is still very strong, especially the two central defenders. They are both tall players with good movement at their feet. They are excellent in frontal confrontation and side movement. He also does not
Too worried about Southampton's attack.
He just feels that Southampton's defense is a bit difficult to deal with now.
After Casemiro became the main force, his sweeping and ball-taking in the midfield can very well reduce the burden on the defense, and the cooperation between the two central defenders Fonte and Otamendi is getting better and better.
This made Southampton's defense improve really quickly.
We have only conceded three goals in the league so far. This is simply not like Southampton in the past two years...
The characteristic of Southampton's first two years is that they scored a lot of goals and conceded a lot of goals.
But this year it’s like a completely different team, scoring a lot of goals and conceding fewer goals!
The reason for this is not only the better protection of Casemiro in the midfield and the better performance of the central defender, but the most critical reason is the change of tactics and the addition of a player who seems to have nothing to do with defense.
De Bruyne.
His ability to pick up the ball, control the ball, distribute the ball, and pass the ball in the midfield allows Jiya to use ball control tactics more boldly. The ball control tactics are actually also a tactic that depends on the players. If Guardiola is in Barcelona, if not he has
With a midfielder like Habaib, it is still difficult to successfully implement his ball-control tactics.
It is not because of the ball control tactics that made Habaib successful, but because of Habaib's existence, the ball control tactics became so advanced that they could sweep across Europe in a period of time.
The addition of De Bruyne provides Ji Ya with such confidence.
So Klopp saw this and arranged for midfield interference in this game - although Dortmund's midfielders are all relatively technical players, they are all running actively and their defensive ability is not bad.
.
Interfering with De Bruyne, trying to gain an advantage in the midfield, disrupting Southampton's offense, and thus taking advantage of the entire game.
Klopp has been preparing for this game for a long time.
It has to be said that the effect of such tactics was immediate. After strengthening the pressure on De Bruyne, De Bruyne reduced the number of times he took the ball in order to avoid mistakes. Southampton's offensive operation began to become somewhat inadequate.
.
After gradually taking the initiative in the midfield, Dortmund began to strengthen the pressing in the frontcourt.
It was through a pressing that Dortmund scored in the 18th minute. Royce stole the ball from Mkhitaryan in the frontcourt, and then quickly passed the ball to Lewandowski in front, who had his back to the penalty area.
Get the ball, and then quickly distribute the ball. Gundogan, who follows up, gets the ball and shoots hard from the top of the penalty area!
The ball flew into the blind corner of the goal. Although Navas made a save, he still seemed a step too slow!
