In the Bundesliga, many seasons actually follow the same plot: Bayern leads all the way and then wins the championship.
In the past two seasons, with Dortmund disrupting the situation, it became a battle between two teams at the front, and then Dortmund won the championship.
As for the remaining Bundesliga teams, their strengths are actually relatively close to each other, and it is difficult to say whether they will win or lose.
For example, newly promoted Eintracht Frankfurt, which has been making great progress since the start of the season.
They lost to Monchengladbach 0:2 in the 7th round, then turned around and defeated Hannover 96 3:1 in the 8th round, but then lost 1:2 to the recently defeated Hannover 96 in the 9th round.
Nice Stuttgart.
If you insert Hamburg's record against these teams into it, you will find that there is a chain pattern between them, and it is impossible to figure out who is stronger and who is weaker from the numbers.
It is precisely because of this that the teams below Bayern in the standings have always been entangled, because it is very likely that the result of one round of games will lead to a reshuffle of the teams on the list.
Now after nine rounds, the first place is of course Bayern, which has maintained a complete victory, with 27 points.
Ranked second is Schalke 04, which has recently won three consecutive victories, with 6 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss, totaling 20 points.
Then there is Frankfurt, with 6 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses, with 19 points.
Although Hamburg has been in poor form recently, it can still rank fourth with 17 points with a record of 5 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses, and still has not fallen out of the Champions League!
Ranked fifth and sixth are Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen, who both have 15 points, with the same record of 4 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses.
In other words, in the tenth round of the Bundesliga, Hamburg faced Bayern Munich at home. Although there was a 10-point difference in points, it was still a showdown between first place and fourth place.
And for coach Heynckes, this can be regarded as a battle of revenge!
After all, just over five months ago, Pan Yi's AC Milan defeated Bayern in the Champions League final and won the championship!
And he did it in front of tens of thousands of Bayern fans at the Allianz Arena.
But this time, it is obvious that almost everyone is optimistic that the old coach can succeed in revenge.
After all, although Pan Yi is still the same Pan Yi, his opponent is no longer the same opponent.
How can Hamburg's strength be compared with AC Milan?
Not to mention that AC Milan was in great shape at that time. They remained undefeated in the league and won the championship early. They also defeated strong opponents in the Champions League.
Now Hamburg has only achieved a mediocre record of 1 win, 2 draws and 1 loss in the past four games, and its opponents are also teams that are in the relegation zone.
Therefore, although Hamburg is playing at home, everyone generally believes that Hamburg will definitely lose this game!
…
At this time, in the head coach's office, Pan Yi was watching the game with other members of the coaching staff.
This was a strong dialogue between Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen at home in the last round.
After sweeping Dusseldorf 5-0 to win eight consecutive games, Bayern, which returned home, encountered many difficulties in this game.
For a long period of time, Bayern was unable to deal with Leverkusen's tight defense, and the 1:1 score remained for a long time.
It was not until the 86th minute that Bayern won the game with a corner kick opportunity and Mandzukic's header.
Therefore, this game is still of great reference value for the Hamburg coaching staff led by Pan Yi.
From Pan Yi's perspective, Leverkusen's tactics can be said to be a success, but they can also be considered a failure.
The reason why it is said to be successful is because their tactics are right.
Their interim coach Sami Hyypia was Liverpool's iron-blooded central defender captain during his playing days and is well versed in defense.
When facing Bayern in the away game, Hyypia knew that the opponent's main offensive point was in the rib area after Robben cut in, so he arranged a targeted 4321 formation to mainly defend the middle.
And this formation was obviously successful in the early stages of the game.
They not only defended Robben, but also used their own forward Keesling's ability to grab points to score the first goal.
But why is it said to have failed?
That's because there is a certain gap between Leverkusen's own strength and Bayern, and at the same time, the active defense in the first half also led to excessive physical exertion.
This put them in trouble early in the second half, before Robben broke free and scored the equalizing goal.
At this time, Heynckes still had cards in his hand.
He even replaced Robben, who had scored a goal but was very exhausted due to fighting for too long, and moved Alaba to the left wing position to continue attacking Leverkusen's right wing.
In the end, Alaba took a corner kick and took it himself, allowing Mandzukic to score the winning goal.
Here you can see the gap in lineup depth between the two teams.
Leverkusen's right wing was almost destroyed, but Hyypia didn't have anyone suitable to replace him.
This is why he wanted to buy Carvajal at the beginning of the season - the original main player, Croatian international Joel Luka, eventually left the team, which made Leverkusen's already poor right wing even worse.
But tactically, Leverkusen also has some issues that can be discussed.
They pounced too hard in the early stage and were too obsessed with hitting Bayern's center during the counterattack, making it difficult to reorganize their defensive formation after losing the ball.
After Heynckes changed his formation, Hyypia's response seemed sluggish, and he couldn't figure out a way until he was overtaken.
This is the importance of on-the-spot command.
A slight hesitation and a slight failure to respond in time will often lead to irreversible consequences.
After watching the video, Pan Yi indicated that everyone could share their opinions first.
Nagelsmann believes that Leverkusen's game set a good example for Hamburg on how to limit Robben's inward cuts.
At the same time, there is a bad example, that is, while ensuring the intensity of the pressing, we must also pay attention to the reasonable distribution of physical energy.
"I think we can do better than Leverkusen." Nagelsmann finally said, "After the first few rounds of rotation, our players' physical condition will be better, and now they are playing better on the court.
Smarter."
"But we still can't ignore Robben's offense." Inzaghi also said, "Leverkusen paid a high price to defend Robben in the first half. They accumulated a large number of personnel at the front of the penalty area.
The rib area prevents Robben from cutting in, but it also leaves a lot of space on the wing, allowing Bayern's full-backs to assist and kick the ball."
Pan Yi nodded.
Of course he knows that to defeat Bayern, the most important thing is Robben's defense and the restrictions on Bayern's tactical system.
Milan did this in the Champions League final and won in the end.
For Pan Yi, whether it is a strong attack by a center like Mandzukic, Thomas Muller's weird movement, or Kroos's push from the middle, he has a way to contain and resolve it.
But Robben, who is currently at the peak of his career, is still the most troublesome and difficult to defend in this Bayern lineup.
Sometimes you seem to have guarded him, and you did guard his first, second, and eighth inside cut.
But as long as there was a slight slack, Old Man Luo cut inside, Old Man Luo shot, and Old Man Luo scored!
Not to mention the price of being empty in other positions in order to guard Robben.
Leverkusen is a lesson learned from the past.
Of course, sometimes if you want to guard against Robben, you don't necessarily have to start with Robben himself.
Just cut off his teammates' passing lanes and leave him alone.
How can Old Man Luo cut inside without the ball?
This brings us to the clichéd midfield control again.
"Everyone, this is our breakthrough."
After listening to the discussion of the coaches present, Pan Yi pointed to the two chess pieces in the middle of the tactical board.
"Whether we can defeat Bayern depends on whether we can suppress the performance of their midfielders and break the integrity of their tactical system!"