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Many fans had just opened the elevator and hadn't reacted yet. Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 Borussia Dortmund!
"What's going on?"
"Did I read that wrong? What exactly happened?"
"I just got here, how did they score?"
"Who scored? Was it Lance?"
Both Bayer Leverkusen fans and fans from the East were puzzled, and they all posted questions on social platforms like Twitter, Weibo, and forums. Fortunately, the Bundesliga broadcast was considerate enough, repeatedly replaying Lance's goal from less than a minute into the game. Mainly, it was because Lance's goal was beautiful enough.
Time rewound to one minute earlier.
...
The moment Lance stepped onto the field, he still had a final moment to adjust his equipment template for the day.
"Please choose your hero"!
Actually, there wasn't much to choose from, just two heroes going back and forth, the remaining heroes had to wait for a new version, and who knew when that would come! As for today's match, Borussia Dortmund excels at high-pressing and attacking, and is good at using a 'mad dog' style of running to expand their defensive range.
Given that, they had to be crazier than Borussia Dortmund! When it came to 'craziness,' the [Bachira Meguru] template was certainly crazier.
Equipped Template: Bachira Meguru (Fusion Value 23%)
Skill: Beast Dribbling
Skill: Unlocked (Unlocks at 25% Fusion Value)
Rage Value: 99%
Assisting Character: Nagi Seishiro - S (Fusion Value 100%)
Assisting Status: On
Before the opening whistle, Lance quickly switched his equipped template. He glanced at the Fusion Value; the second skill was about to unlock! This was good news for Lance, but unfortunately, his first Bundesliga season was about to end, and to accumulate 100% Fusion Value to summon a new template, he would probably have to wait until next season.
"Wait? What the hell is 99%?"
Lance only noticed this bug when the whistle blew! Generally speaking, the starting Rage Value is 0%, gradually accumulated through tackles, confrontations, goals, successful dribbles, successful passes, and other means. This was the first time he had seen 99% Rage at the start.
Was it because of his obsession with the Champions League after being eliminated by Real Madrid? Or was it a system bug? Lance was unsure for now, and he didn't have time to think about it in detail. Bayer Leverkusen had won the coin toss and taken the kickoff first.
When Eren Derdiyok passed the ball, Borussia Dortmund players were already pressing frantically. Marco Reus, Robert Lewandowski, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan formed the first defensive chain, while İlkay Gündoğan, Sven Bender, and others behind them were also pushing up aggressively.
Borussia Dortmund's overall formation was like a storm, overwhelmingly enveloping the Bayer Leverkusen players. Lance didn't dare to be slow, quickly passing the ball to Lars Bender, who then passed it back to the center-back, Emir Spahić, who in turn passed it back to the goalkeeper.
Lewandowski, leading the forward line, chased all the way into the penalty area, pressuring Bayer Leverkusen's backline passing routes. As long as they forced the goalkeeper to clear the ball with a long kick, Borussia Dortmund's defensive objective would be achieved.
According to Jürgen Klopp's tactics, the aim was to restrict ball distribution from the midfield and defense, preventing them from easily passing to Lance, and striving to pin Bayer Leverkusen in their own half with a dense numerical advantage in local areas. This was Borussia Dortmund's high-pressing style.
Fortunately, Bernd Leno had experienced the big battle against Real Madrid, and his psychological fortitude had already improved significantly. He didn't rush to clear the ball with a long kick, but instead calmly dribbled the ball with his foot to evade Lewandowski, and then threaded a pass to Lars Bender.
Lars Bender received the ball, turned, and looked up to see his twin brother, Sven Bender. The German central midfielders, the Bender twins, were each serving their own club; on the battlefield, there was no longer any brotherly affection, only enemies.
Sven Bender defended very seriously, his attention always on the ball. But Lars Bender was the older brother after all! His technique had always been slightly better than his younger brother's since childhood, and he knew Sven Bender's defensive habits like the back of his hand, able to guess them with his eyes closed.
Indeed, Lars Bender deliberately feigned a weakness, pretending to take a heavy touch forward, baiting Sven Bender to come up and defend. Sven Bender was also well aware of his brother's little tricks; cautiously, he didn't stick out his foot to tackle immediately, but merely stuck close to cut off his opponent's running path and restrict passing lanes.
According to Lars Bender's dribbling direction, he was surrounded by Borussia Dortmund players, the only passing option was blocked; his brother had cornered himself.
"Admit it, Onii-san! You have no chance!"
"No, no, no! My foolish Otouto. You underestimate our team's Lance too much!"
In a seemingly hopeless situation, Lars Bender boldly made a pass, a through ball to the front!
"Nani?"
Sven Bender's heart tightened, and he turned back in surprise. A black figure had already cut in diagonally, receiving the ball amidst the heavy encirclement!
"Lance!!"
Gündoğan and Borussia Dortmund captain Sebastian Kehl, both simultaneously surrounded Lance. Meanwhile, Reus and Mkhitaryan were not idle; they also converged from the flanks. This was Klopp's strategy, everyone was a defender, wearing down the opponent with their running!
Lance was easily surrounded by four players, and there were no viable passing options around him; almost all were blocked. This was also the reason for Sven Bender's surprise: How could his brother believe Lance could create a threat?
After the pass, Lars Bender merely smiled faintly. Just watch! Just watch Lance perform!
In the crowd, Lance intentionally bumped into Gündoğan before receiving the ball. Fortunately, Gündoğan, despite his seemingly sturdy build, was not actually very strong, resulting in an even collision with Lance. If it were a strong black player, Lance wouldn't dare to bump casually.
[Rage Value 100%]!
The moment he received the ball, his instep touch turned into a toe-poke, flicking the ball over his head. He turned and bypassed Gündoğan! By the time Gündoğan realized it, it was too late. In the moment of startled astonishment, a whoosh of wind brushed past him; when he tried to grab Lance, he had already slipped away!
Kehl converged, and the ball conveniently dropped. Under the full-rage [Beast Dribbling] state, Lance's various senses were infinitely magnified! His body first surged past Kehl's block, and with his heel, like kicking a shuttlecock, he lightly hooked the ball just before it landed, bypassing Kehl again!
He dribbled past two players in one second!
"OHHHH—Lance's dazzling show!"
The German commentator, Mehmet Scholl, a recognized Lance fan, was extremely excited! The effortless and nimble performance allowed Lance to easily cut through Borussia Dortmund's midfield blockade!
When Mats Hummels stepped up to press, he was again nutmegged and toyed with by "Nutmeg King" Lance! He took big strides, dribbling the ball and surging into Borussia Dortmund's penalty area!
Lance lifted his foot and unleashed a powerful shot! Goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller was caught off guard; his flying save couldn't touch the ball! The moment the ball violently struck the net, the number on the big screen had just ticked to 00:39!
The same as the number on Lance's back!
...
Seeing such a spectacular replay, the late Bayer Leverkusen fans were truly beating their chests in frustration! They would never dare to miss another second from now on, otherwise, they might very well miss Lance's brilliant goals!
After dribbling past three players and penetrating the penalty area, Bayer Leverkusen led Borussia Dortmund 1-0! However, Borussia Dortmund then began to exert pressure, and their high-pressing tactics trapped Bayer Leverkusen in their 30-meter zone, unable to cross midfield.
The match constantly swung back and forth in a tense offensive and defensive struggle, and after 45 minutes of the first half, neither side managed to score.
"First half ends!! These 45 minutes flew by! Both teams displayed high-level Bundesliga football, with exciting offense and defense. Unfortunately, apart from Lance's goal less than a minute into the game, neither side scored. Home team Bayer Leverkusen is currently leading, let's see if the Yellow and Black's youthful storm can break through Bayer Leverkusen's defense in the second half!"
"Oliver, what do you think?"
The guest commentator, German legend Oliver Kahn, frowned slightly.
"It's clear that in the last 10 minutes of the first half, Robert Lewandowski was already very threatening. Borussia Dortmund had 3 consecutive shots on target, which were all saved by the goalkeeper. While goalkeeper Bernd Leno played very well, it also indirectly shows that Bayer Leverkusen's defensive line is gradually crumbling under high pressure."
"In the two-legged match against Real Madrid, it was defensive errors that unfortunately led to the team's elimination in the semi-finals. If Borussia Dortmund continues to apply pressure in the second half, Lewandowski, including Reus and Mkhitaryan, are very likely to create scoring opportunities, the match is still hard to predict..."