Chapter 84 Pursuing Victory: Winning the Championship

During the intermission, the atmosphere in the locker room of Schalke's home team was very active.

"Haha! We are the ones leading, and there are more than one! I can't believe it, it's Manchester United!"

As soon as Kristajic entered the locker room, there was a burst of yelling. Although it was exaggerated, it still attracted many people's support.

"Hey! I'd like to see the expressions of the reporters now, it must be more exciting than seeing God himself!" Hewedes imagined.

"That's not because of the existence of Zhou!" Rakitic added next to him.

"Yes, yes, yes! Zhou, you are amazing!"

Although Zhou Tiancheng maintained his superficial modesty, he secretly gave Rakitic a look of "you are very promising".

...

"Okay, guys, everyone did a good job in the first half, but in the second half, they will definitely be crazy. We have to do a good job of defending." Slomka then looked at Zhou Tiancheng: "Zhou, in the second half, you You need to change your position and play as a central defender."

"Huh? Boss, are you sure you want me to play as a defender in the second half?" Not only Zhou Tiancheng was surprised, but everyone was also surprised. This is too harsh, it's a rhythm that doesn't want to attack at all.

Slomka didn't change his face, and asked instead: "Why, is it difficult? Didn't you perform well as a central defender when you played Liverpool? Besides, I have specifically learned from Norbert, this is your old profession, no As for the habit of playing in midfield, have you lost your housekeeping skills?"

Zhou Tiancheng wasn't worried, he felt that Slomka was too cowardly, offense is the best defense, if it's just because he doesn't want the opponent to score away goals, he should put all his strength on the opponent in the second half.

However, as a player, although he has complaints in his heart, he can't say anything, he can only do his best to do his own thing.

Returning to the field in the second half, Manchester United took the lead in making a second substitution adjustment.

Giggs came on, replacing Park Ji-sung. It is enough to prove that Park Ji-sung's performance in the first half did not meet Ferguson's expectations. In the second half, Manchester United must strengthen their offense, and it is logical to replace Ryan Giggs with a stronger offensive attribute.

The broadcast camera also gave Park Ji-sung a shot, sitting on the bench with a dejected look on his face.

"Ryan Giggs is here! Sir Alex Ferguson actually left a lot of backup players, and now almost all the core players are on the field, Giggs, Scholes, Cristiano Ronaldo, Rooney, Berbatov, enough to shake The midfield of any defensive line in Europe, scoring away goals... No, there is hope for an equalizer, or even a comeback! Schalke's defense is far from worthy of their midfield strength."

Seeing that Manchester United gradually returned to the strongest lineup, Bob Clem became a little more confident.

But Slomka's strategy in the second half was very firm, and he retreated across the board.

After Zhou Tiancheng retreated, the defense was only the first adjustment. At the same time, Slomka also replaced Rakitic with Kobyashvili, and the positions of Asamoah and Farfan were changed from wingers to wingers. avant-garde.

The original 4-3-3 offensive formation was changed to 5-4-1.

Many people are not used to Schalke's subversive changes, and they are more worried. Duan Xuan euphemistically said: "Is Slomka too confident in his defense? I wish Schalke good luck..."

Obviously, Duan Xuan is not optimistic that Schalke can withstand Manchester United's strong attack for 45 minutes. Although Zhou Tiancheng's offensive and defensive abilities are excellent, his personal ability is far less effective on the defensive end than on the offensive end.

After Giggs came on the field, he and Ronaldo switched left and right sides. Giggs's dominant foot is left foot, while Ronaldo is right footed. They switch to their dominant foot side. The wing attack is not just cutting inside This is an option.

In the second half, Manchester United almost dominated the offense.

This situation is not difficult to foresee. The home fans were all sweating. Under such a fierce offensive, if Schalke is scored first, it may really open a Pandora's box. Once a link cannot withstand the pressure, the following The whole trend of the game may have to be changed.

Fortunately, Manchester United's offense in the first half of the second half was dominated by Ryan Giggs' cross from the side. Zhou Tiancheng firmly controlled the high point, and Berbatov did not get any advantages at all.

In the last half hour, Manchester United made a fruitless cross from the wing and began to use their bottom-of-the-box routine. Ronaldo frequently played a dragon on the side, and then looked for opportunities to pass to the center to complete the connection with Rooney.

This routine seems to be very simple, but because Ronaldo's personal ability is too strong, the left-back Bordon and Hewedes can't hold back together. He got a chance, but under Zhou Tiancheng's active interference, he didn't align his sight properly.

Bob Clem was very pleased: "It's beautiful! Cristiano and Rooney have cooperated many times. From these cooperations, it can be seen that their tacit understanding is still there. Some media's so-called deep conflicts between the two are completely false and have ulterior motives!"

However, after consecutive wonderful cooperation, the two of them did not communicate with each other with any gestures, and each walked away silently, which seemed to prove that the situation was not as Bob Clem said...

Until the stoppage time of the audience, the score remained unchanged. There was a wave of people on the scene, and cheers filled the entire stadium. For the fans, they saw two different faces of Schalke 04 in these two halves: in the first half, Schalke, just like before, showed invincible domineering, and in the second half, Schalke showed Toughest defense in recent seasons.

Both offensive and defensive, domineering and tenacity coexist, this kind of Schalke, let Shark fans who are over 60 years old and stick to their lives in the stands cry. It can only be seen, and this is actually a memory half a century ago.

For a while, I dreamed back to my childhood.

...

With Ronaldo's set kick being blocked by Neuer, Manchester United didn't even get a corner kick. Rossetti didn't give time anymore and whistled to end the game.

The defending champion returned home with two goals in an away game, and within ten minutes after the game, it became the headline news covering the mainstream sports media in Europe.

And this victory greatly boosted Schalke's morale. Then they returned to the league and faced Borussia Mönchengladbach in the away game. They only need to win to win the championship.

This time, Schalke 04 did not repeat the mistakes made two seasons ago. Although Borussia played very tenaciously, Marko Marin took the lead in the first half, but in the second half, Zhou Tiancheng first assisted Kuranyi to score the goal in the 54th minute. The set kick sealed the game.

The moment the final whistle blew, everyone on the coaching bench of Schalke rushed into the field in one go, embracing the kneeling players passionately.

For every Schalke person, only they themselves know what weight this long-lost champion has.