Dortmund's tactic was a double-edged sword.
It could hurt the opponent, but it could also hurt themselves.
With so many players pushed up,
they left a huge amount of space behind them.
If Atlético managed to hit them in behind, Dortmund's back line would be in serious danger.
But if Dortmund worried too much and held back,
they would never produce this kind of wild, overwhelming pressure, and they would not have achieved such brilliant results over the past two seasons.
And in this season,
luck seemed especially kind to Dortmund.
In the 9th minute,
Dortmund scored.
The man who helped them score was Godín.
It was an own goal.
When Götze broke down the left and whipped a powerful left-footed ball into the box,
Godín, trying to clear it, accidentally kicked it into his own net.
"Aaahhh... Godín! The Uruguayan is so unlucky..."
Spanish commentator Mario held his head in both hands.
"To concede first at home, Atlético are in real trouble now...."
In the media area,
the Spanish reporters were also frowning.
"This..."
"An own goal..."
"That's a huge blow to morale, isn't it..."
They murmured among themselves.
In the commentary box,
German commentator Schmitz raised both arms and shouted:
"Dortmund lead! Götze's cross forced Godín into the own goal. Dortmund had a bit of luck, but the most important thing is that they have scored an away goal! Not only have they taken the lead, they have also neutralized Atlético's away-goal advantage!"
"Dortmund have an away goal too!"
Inside the CCTV studio in China,
He Wei shook his head slightly.
"Götze's return really is crucial. He beat his man on the left and caused Godín's own goal with the cross..."
"You can only say Godín was unlucky there. He had to deal with that ball, because if it slipped through him, Lewandowski behind him would have had an open chance to finish..."
...
While Dortmund were celebrating,
Shane Carter was already gathering his teammates for a quick talk.
"It's fine. They've just had a bit of luck. We keep dropping back and defending. When they push up, the space behind them is where we can hurt them!"
Shane said.
"But they're leading now. Will they still push up?"
One player asked in doubt.
"They will. Definitely," Shane said. "They won't dare sit deep and defend, and they probably don't even want to. That's not their style. Besides, if we had scored this early and had attacked this strongly from the start, I wouldn't choose to sit back either. At a time like this, if they keep attacking and score again, they'll almost seal the tie. That's a huge temptation for them!"
Shane's words made his teammates trust him quickly.
Everyone felt he had a point.
Up to this point,
Dortmund's tactic was clearly working.
And since it was working,
they would not change it lightly.
Besides, they were riding high now.
At a moment like this, if you told those players to go back and defend,
many of them probably would not even listen.
"Remember, the space behind them is our opportunity. But..."
"Our chances won't be many. If we waste them, they'll become alert to it!"
Shane said.
Griezmann and Costa both understood what he meant.
"Don't worry, I won't waste my chance!"
Griezmann promised.
So when Dortmund's players finished celebrating and returned to the pitch,
Atlético's players already knew exactly what to do next.
.....
After the restart,
Dortmund, with their whole team fired up, indeed did not pull back after taking the lead.
Klopp could not possibly force his squad to retreat into defense when the whole team was in such an emotionally charged state.
Right now Dortmund were full of energy and confidence.
If Atlético could not withstand their attacks,
and if Dortmund scored again in the short term,
then the side leading 2-0 away from home would begin to see the final on the horizon.
That meant,
for Atlético,
the key was still defense.
They absolutely could not allow Dortmund's already wild momentum to become even wilder.
But Shane could also see that.
Dortmund were attacking like crazy,
but they were not the kind of team that forgot how to defend just because they wanted to attack.
Their tactics were indeed aggressive, but also mature.
Shane got a few chances on the ball.
He saw the space behind,
and Griezmann and Costa made their runs too.
But Dortmund's players were clearly wary of that.
As soon as Shane received the ball, someone was there to mark him and block the space for a forward long pass.
He could get room to play sideways or backward,
but the forward ball was tightly sealed off.
Shane thought for a moment.
Breaking through them with a simple long ball did not seem easy.
That did not mean it was impossible.
It just meant waiting for the right moment.
But Shane did not want to wait.
That felt too passive.
What if Dortmund scored again while he was waiting?
That was absolutely possible.
So,
rather than wait passively,
it was better to strike first.
...
How do you defend Shane Carter?
On that point,
Klopp had clearly done his homework.
Wherever Shane received the ball,
there were always two Dortmund players nearby to contain him.
Before the match,
Klopp had emphasized one thing more than anything else: how to defend Shane.
Again and again, he stressed the same point:
do not let Shane turn and face the goal.
That was when Shane was most dangerous.
No matter where it happened,
that remained true.
After Dortmund had attacked for a while,
the ball came back to Atlético.
Dortmund kept using a high press.
This kind of system was physically demanding,
but Dortmund's young players were in excellent condition.
They always pressed collectively, wave after wave, like the tide.
In that situation,
their opponents also had to spend a lot of energy.
That was part of Dortmund's plan too:
raise the intensity and wear you down physically.
And Dortmund's fitness was excellent.
Faced with that kind of relentless pressure,
Atlético's players did not panic.
They only needed to pass the ball to Shane.
As the core,
Shane's presence did more than just help tactically.
Mentally,
he gave Atlético's players a sense of dependence, so that when facing such violent pressure they would not feel lost.
Shane Carter.
He was their direction of the pass.
And in this situation,
it was up to Shane to decide how Atlético could make his teammates feel calm...
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