When Lei Yu and Arshavin reached an agreement, he not only kept Dortmund's midfield in order, but also messed up the Gunners' midfield with his deft running and interweaving.
Throughout the first half, the camera almost revolved around him, which also allowed many Chinese fans who stayed up late to watch the game to come into contact with this German youth known as "Super Mario" for the first time.
Before the end of the first half, Benayoun was once again intercepted by his opponent in the midfield.
After getting the ball, Gotze glanced up and immediately handed the ball to Grosskreutz who came in from the wing.
Sagna, who was originally planning to step forward to help his teammates, stopped suddenly, turned around and rushed towards Grosskreutz.
Due to the sharp turn, his pace was obviously much slower.
After receiving the ball, Grosskreutz quickly looked up and looked around. Before Sagna returned to his side, he found Lewandowski in the middle in time.
The latter pushed with his right foot and made a straight pass.
Szczesny became anxious now and shouted: "No. 9! Watch that No. 9!!!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Grosskreutz swung his right leg and the ball flew over everyone's heads and flew to the other side of the court.
Everyone's eyes slowly descended as the ball fell, landing on Dortmund's No. 26 player.
This is another Polish player on the Dortmund team, playing as a right back.
Everyone's attention was focused on the midfield and left wing just now, so when Piszczek received the ball, there was only a large open space in front of him.
Piszczek certainly wouldn't waste this opportunity.
When Gibbs rushed forward and tried to grab the opponent's jersey with his hands, he found that he could no longer stop his opponent from advancing and could only watch as his opponent entered the penalty area diagonally.
Seeing this, Koscielny in the middle hurriedly stepped forward to cover his position, while Lewandowski also moved laterally to open up space for his teammates to shoot.
Piszczek simply pushed and dunked and then forced Koscielny away. After creating a slight gap, he aimed a pocket shot at the far corner of the goal.
Szczesny, who had just moved from the other side of the goalpost, saw this and jumped with all his strength. When his body stretched to its maximum, the touch of leather finally came to his fingertips.
He pounced!
"boom!"
The ball that Szczesny pounced on hit the goal post and bounced back. Many people did not react to the sudden change.
Except Gotze!
When Super Mario was captured by the camera again, he still appeared at the most critical point!
"It's Mario!!!" the commentator shouted excitedly.
Gotze jumped high, stretched his right leg, and barely blocked the bouncing ball with the arch of his foot.
Looking at Szczesny struggling to get up in front of him, he glanced at Mertesacker who was crashing into him from the distance. The moment he landed on the ground, his toes trembled and he didn't even stop the ball.
Okay, so I just passed it across.
In a hurry, he saw the ball slowly rolling toward him from the crowd. Lewandowski, who had just stopped running, did not expect it.
He stopped in time as he ran across the road, and used his calves to kick forward without any room to swing his legs.
Naturally, there was little power in such a shot, and it was blocked by Koscielny who jumped forward and fell to the ground to block it.
Arsenal escaped disaster.
"Ouch~~~" There was a sigh in the stands.
"It's really too dangerous! There are dangers in front of Arsenal's goal."
"First, No. 26 Piszczek, the right back, broke into the penalty area and shot. Then the ball was blocked by goalkeeper Szczesny and bounced to the goal post. As a result, the Arsenal players did not even react and the ball was rushed in.
Gotze in the penalty area."
"Arsenal's protection of the second spot was really untimely!"
"Lewandowski didn't expect that his teammates would pass the ball over at this time. His shot was slightly less powerful and was blocked by Koscielny's sliding tackle."
"Fortunately, the Arsenal players still maintain the usual hard work of Premier League players, otherwise Dortmund might have expanded their lead by now."
"If Wenger doesn't make timely adjustments during the midfield, Arsenal may be beaten by their opponents again in the second half when the players' energy is exhausted!"
He Wei's words caught the fans' attention.
This is not alarmist!
Although Dortmund is not Manchester United, Signal Iduna Park is ten times scarier than Old Trafford. It has always been called the most terrifying devil's home stadium in the world!
All 25,000 fans in the South Stand were standing to watch the game, creating huge momentum from time to time.
In such an environment, a timid person might be so scared that his legs would go numb, let alone play football!
After preventing the opponent's counterattack, Arsenal's Sanchez tried his best to dribble the ball forward.
It's not that he doesn't want to pass, it's that he can't see his teammates responding to him while dribbling the ball.
In order to ensure possession of the ball and keep the ball as far away from his own goal as possible, he rushed into the enemy's position like a lone warrior.
Seeing this, even Robin van Persie and Walcott stopped and stopped following together.
Sure enough, three or four meters behind the center line, Sanchez was knocked to the ground from the side by Kyle who came over, taking the football away from his feet.
At this moment, the referee's three whistles announced that Sanchez's mission for this trip had been achieved.
The Dortmund players walked toward the tunnel with dissatisfaction.
Walcott stepped forward and pulled Sanchez up from the ground.
At this moment, the panting Brazilian reluctantly extended a thumbs up, then shook his head and smiled self-deprecatingly.
"He nnd, I finally gave my account in the first half!"
...
During halftime, Wenger was like a real university professor, laying out tactics on a small blackboard in front.
"Here... Benayoun is going to pass like this; here... Robin is going to run like this!"
No matter how vivid the professor's lecture is, it is still "paper teaching".
The Arsenal players understand Wenger's tactical intentions, but the problem is that they and the team really do not have the ability to control the game like Barcelona.
In response, all members sat silently, listening to Wenger's teachings.
Seeing the players acting like this, the professor gradually understood everyone's mood.
After briefly assigning tasks to a few people, he beckoned Boulder to his side, and the two came to a corner to talk privately.
"Boulder, do you think we still have a winning chance in this game?"
As Wenger's assistant, Bould instantly understood the coach's thoughts.
The translation of Wenger's words is, "On the premise of maintaining strength in the away game, can we strive for anything more?"
There are many reasons to maintain strength, such as the group stage and away games; ways to maintain strength are also to ensure that the main players are not injured and to ensure that the main players have sufficient strength to cope with the next league game; as for "striving for more", such as a goal
, or a draw.
In short, Wenger's coaching staff did not regard winning this victory as its main goal from the beginning.
It's enough if you can play on a par with your opponent and the score is roughly close.
If the opponent is not defeated immediately after the opening, then all subsequent tactical arrangements will be based on the four words "preserving strength".
After checking the information, Boulder said softly: "According to the analysis of the first half, if we can defend for another 20-30 minutes and at least two defenders can still run, we can try harder."
The word "fight" in Boulder is also very humble. It refers to both a draw and a goal, and it also refers to causing the opponent to receive more yellow cards and put in more physical effort.
After hearing the assistant coach's answer, Wenger also thought for a moment.
He glanced back at the players in his locker room and then made a decision.
"Okay, then we will hold on for another 25 minutes. If the score is still the same at that time, the proud Germans will definitely pay the price!"