Many people can see that Southampton's performance has indeed changed a lot this season, not only in the Champions League, but also in the league. Of course, the biggest change is in the Champions League.
Now Southampton is more confident and performs more stably in the Champions League.
This is not just an accumulation of experience, but their self-confidence has indeed improved.
Even though they were eliminated in the group stage last season, Southampton's confidence has improved so quickly. This is actually because of its outstanding performance in the first two rounds. They scored three goals in both games and beat the opponent to no avail.
With a little temper, under such circumstances, their self-confidence will of course be more easily improved.
However, in Noriya's view, there is another key to being able to do this, and that is that they have a few more truly world-class players in their ranks.
De Bruyne, Suarez, and Lukaku.
In comparison, except for a few players among the previous main players, others are not considered top players.
They can perform very well at the right time, but it is difficult to expect them to be able to turn the tide and stand up at the critical moment.
Now, De Bruyne can stand up at critical moments, Suarez can also stand up at critical moments, and Lukaku is almost there, but he can stand up occasionally.
Ji Ya felt that if Suarez was a player under the age of 23, it would probably cost more than 90 achievement points to set up a personal training plan for him.
This type of player can be retained as the backbone of the team.
When the whistle sounded at the end of the first half, Noriya high-fived the players one by one. If they start with a three-game winning streak, the possibility of advancement will be much greater.
"Don't take the game lightly in the second half. Don't forget that Dortmund was the Champions League runner-up last season. They will not give in easily... So in the second half, we have to better control the midfield, be careful of their counterattacks, and strive to score first. In this case
We can be more secure. Their midfield defense is slightly worse, so we should seize this flaw. Their two central defenders are very defensive, so attack from the side and kill them. No matter how strong the central defender is, it is impossible to continuously attack.
You never make a mistake, do you understand?"
The players nodded one after another. This is the reason. No matter how good the defense is, it depends on the whole team. There is no saying that only two central defenders can form an iron wall.
"Also, after all, the big cross is a guest right back, which is also something we can take advantage of." Noriya finally said.
In the visiting team's locker room, Klopp emphasized that the team should strengthen its defense in the second half, and then asked the players to be patient and wait for Southampton to press forward before counterattacking. This is what they are best at.
"Southampton will not be satisfied with just winning one goal. They will definitely press forward step by step, so we have to withstand their defense. Do you understand? Withstand their offense first, and then we can talk about other things!"
Dortmund's players nodded one after another. They had no doubt about this.
Klopp knows that Southampton is actually waiting for this opportunity, but the opportunities are equal. If they can withstand Southampton's attack, they will have the opportunity to counterattack to equalize the score or even win. If they cannot withstand it, then naturally
Will be defeated by Southampton.
Either win or lose, which is also very satisfying.
Klopp's team has a bit of a bachelor atmosphere. It was like this in Dortmund, and it was also like this in Mainz.
After the players from both sides came back on the field, the second half of the game was indeed different from the first half.
Southampton controlled the ball and attacked, while Dortmund retreated to defend.
Although they were one goal behind, they retreated very resolutely and defended very tightly.
Southampton is patiently controlling the ball to organize the offense, which is already their accustomed tactic.
However, Dortmund's counterattack is still quite threatening. Royce and Aubameyang are very fast, and Lewandowski is a quite comprehensive center. Coupled with Gundogan's dribbling breakthrough and Shaheen's threading, Dortmund
Playing fast break is a complete system, not just relying on one or two people.
A few minutes into the second half, Casemiro was given a yellow card for knocking down the breakthrough Gundogan in the midfield. However, Southampton's offense remained unchanged and continued to initiate possession.
Attack with the ball, even if it means suffering from Dortmund's sharp fast breaks and counterattacks.
Klopp did not look at Noriya, he knew very well that now the two sides were playing a clear game, it was to see whether Southampton would score first by controlling the ball, or Dortmund would score first by counterattack.
Whoever scores first will have an absolute advantage!
"Silly, even if you score first, it's just a draw. I don't dare to bet on this." Ji Ya thought in his heart.
In the final analysis, this is just the group stage, so if you play more freely, there will be no problem.
What's more, Southampton has the initiative in attack, and their probability of scoring a goal is much greater than Dortmund's.
Seeing that Mkhitaryan's breakthrough was not of much use in the face of the opponent's intensive defense, Ji Ya quickly used up a substitution place. Schneiderlin came on and replaced Mkhitaryan, adding Zhong.
Running and receiving ability on the field.
His ability to retreat backwards is very good and he can assist Casemiro very well.
Lukaku broke through and created a corner kick. De Bruyne took the corner kick. Lukaku overwhelmed Hummels in the penalty area and headed the ball to the back point. Schneiderlin, who had just come on, nodded the ball and scored.
When preparing to celebrate, the referee's whistle sounded - Lukaku committed a pushing foul during the ferry, and the goal was invalid.
This episode did not affect Southampton's offense. Soon, their offense came back again. After continuous passes, Ronaldo broke through on the left and passed back. De Bruyne followed up and kept balling.
Directly taking a long shot, the ball hit the intersection of the crossbar and the post and bounced out!
There was a sigh in the stands, and everyone began to feel that something was not good. This meant that they were unable to attack for a long time. If they were unable to attack for a long time, would the opponent counterattack and score a goal?
Facts have proved, no.
The game reached the 76th minute.
Lukaku got the ball from the wing, and then he dribbled the ball toward the baseline and recovered the entire opponent's defense. Then he made an emergency stop and passed the ball to the edge of the penalty area.
De Bruyne caught the ball and made a fake move to shoot. Bender flew to block it, but De Bruyne stopped shooting, then dunked the ball forward and got out of the way.
Bender's defense took another shot before the opponent's two central defenders could interfere!
The shot, which was already in the penalty area, whizzed to the ground and flew into the near corner of the goal. Weidenfeller's save was a step too slow!
Ji Ya waved his fist vigorously.
The one who stands up at the critical moment is the superstar!
