After the winter break, the Bundesliga powerhouses almost took a collective break, Borussia Dortmund drew with Bayer Leverkusen, Schalke 04 was beaten by Hannover 96, Bayern lost away to Hamburg, and Wolfsburg, who had just risen to second place, were also held to a draw by Cologne. Only Stuttgart and Hoffenheim emerged victorious.

The German media is now criticizing Klinsmann's Bayern, in their opinion, the rise of Hoffenheim should have been the heyday of the Bundesliga, if Bayern was not messed up by Klinsmann, Bayern and Hoffenheim are two powerhouses, Bremen, Schalke 04, Hamburg, Stuttgart constitute a strong second group, this is the great cause of Serie A that year. And now the pattern of Hoffenheim's dominance is even crazier than when Bayern was in the past, which is also not conducive to the development of the Bundesliga.

It was the best game for Hoffenheim, who beat Ivbus for their 15th consecutive game, and second-placed Wolfsburg were 10 points off them, so there were no major surprises and they were all but secure to the title. Once they have won the league, they can put all their energy into the Champions League and try to go further.

The most important problem for Hoffenheim now is the integration of Ruud van Nistelrooy, who scored a goal in the first game, which sounds wonderful, but the players of Rangnick and Hoffenheim understand what is going on, how many chances Li Huan and Arshavin have created for Ruud van Nistelrooy, and in the words of Demba Ba, even if it is Haas and Ozakán (goalkeeper) who are on the top of the attack, it should have scored.

Demba Ba was not happy about bringing in Ruud van Nistelrooy, and during his injury and Obasi went to the Olympics, Ibisevic suddenly rose to become Hoffenheim's strongest striker, the absolute main force, and he was a little sour in his heart.

However, he and Ibyshevic have worked together for two years, although it is not a good relationship, it can be regarded as a relationship, after Ibisevic was injured, he thought that he would become the absolute main force, with the help of Li Huan and Arshavin such assisters, it is not hopeless to get the top scorer in the Bundesliga, but now that Vanney is here, his position is not so solid, and the king of the small penalty area is not in vain.

In public, Demba Ba can't and doesn't dare to say anything, but among the players, there is a lot of irony in his tone. Rangnick also knows this, but no matter what Demba Ba thinks, the team must buy people, at the beginning of the season he set the goal for Hoffenheim to be in the Champions League quarterfinals, with the defeat of Inter, the league is far ahead, Rangnick has secretly adjusted the target to the semi-finals, and even the final.

If you want to go further, a striker who destroys the city is a must, and you can't rely on defender Li Huan to score a goal every season to win, not to mention that Rangnick has other plans in his heart, so there will be the arrival of Vanney.

Rangnick also did not intend to let Vanney and the whole team cooperate very well in this short period of time, it is simply impossible, Vanney is the king of the small penalty area, his biggest threat is in the penalty area, and Hoffenheim has Li Huan, the **OSS of the side assist, Rangnick has a quick plan, that is, let Li Huan and Vanney run in tacit understanding, one pass and one grab, which can bring out the characteristics of both of them.

After the training of Cartbus, Li Huan and Vanney always go together, and after returning home, Rangnick will also edit the video of the game between the two of them, so that they can watch each other and become familiar with each other's way of kicking and passing.

Li Huan also took the initiative to contact Fanny to help him integrate into the team, after training, when the players occasionally went out to club, Li Huan also called Fanny, and the two quickly became familiar with each other, and the good relationship off the field also greatly promoted their cooperation on the field.

After a week of training, in the 19th round away to Borussia Mönchengladbach, Rangnick unexpectedly put Ruud van Nistelrooy in the starting line-up, forming a double center forward with Demba Ba, turning the usual 433 into 442. It shows Rangnick's importance to Vanney and his eagerness to integrate into the team.

Of course, Borussia Mönchengladbach's poor quality is also a big reason why Rangnick dares to do this.

At the start of the season, Meier's Borussia Mönchengladbach was hailed as the best promoted horse to compare with Hoffenheim, and as a team that competed with Bayern Munich in the 70s, Borussia Mönchenbach's resume is full of accolades. Striker Neuville and midfielder Marin were named in Loew's German squad, while Neuville and Flender combined for 33 goals last season. Such a team cannot help but be looked up to.

However, after 19 rounds, Borussia Mönchengladbach firmly occupies the bottom position of the standings, more stable than Hoffenheim, and has recently lost all of the league and has become the biggest relegation favorite in the Bundesliga. With a 10-point lead over the second place, it's no surprise that Rangnick wants to use them to hone in the lineup.

In anyone's opinion, there is no suspense in this battle even away. The pre-match media and fans were focused on whether Ruud van Nistelrooy could score again and whether Hoffenheim could break Bayern's record of 15 consecutive Bundesliga wins.

But at the Prussian Park Stadium, which can accommodate 50,000 people, Hoffenheim is in trouble.

As Borussia Mönchengladbach's manager Meyer said before the game, we have lost five in a row and it is time to bottom out.

No one took Meier's words to heart at the time, but when half-time came, almost everyone remembered the words of Borussia Mönchengladbach's third coach of the season.

In 45 minutes, the score was 0:0. In the eyes of the fans, it should never be the score between Hoffenheim and Borussia Mönchengladbach. Four or five goals in 45 minutes were not too many, but the bright red electronic scoreboard clearly drew two circles.

The on-site commentator was excitedly reviewing the situation of the first half of the game, "...... Borussia Mönchengladbach is not at all like the bottom team, winning only three games, they have been very effective defensively, and Hoffenheim's two centre-forwards have been cut off from each other in any way.

Our foal Marin was very good, he completely overwhelmed Eduardo, and the tall Hoffenheim midfielder looked very clumsy in front of Marin, who is 1.69 meters tall.

The old demon knife Neuville is strong today, he and the 1.95 meter Flender suppressed the assists of the Hoffenheim defenders, so that the pressure on his back line has been greatly reduced, football is a game of offense and defense, play a good attack, the opponent will have no time to attack you with a backhand. Of course, the best performance was still the backline, they withstood the impact of Ruud van Nistelrooy and Demba Ba, allowing Li Huan and Arshavin to fight separately......"

In the dressing room, Rangnick was discussing with the players the surprise of the first half, the first time in 19 rounds that Hoffenheim did not score in the first half, even since last year, Hoffenheim have rarely failed to score in the half, this situation can only show that Hoffenheim's attack is wrong.

"Double center, 442, this style of play is not good, everyone is not familiar with it, it is normal not to score." Demba Ba's face was dissatisfied, and between the lines he was implicitly demonstrating that Ni was the culprit for not scoring a goal, but he said it in German, which Vanney didn't understand.

Rangnick was originally facing away from Demba Ba, but then he turned around sharply and said to Demba Ba, "Is this your understanding of the game?" ”

Demba Ba was taken aback and reluctantly said: "Yes, we ran too little in the front court, and we didn't cooperate at all." ”

"Today's weather is also a problem, the snow is too heavy and it's frozen. It's harder to cooperate than when you were in Cottages. Li Huan's pants and socks were soaked and covered with mud, but Li Huan's expression was not as impatient as his teammates.

Arshavin rarely speaks in the locker room, but today he played very unhappily, was stared at by the opponent, and couldn't help but start a jail, saying: "It's not all about the weather and the field, the opponent cut us apart." There is a lack of connection with each other, and it is difficult to break through individually in such a venue. ”

Rangnick is dissatisfied with Demba Ba for a reason, the opponent in this game according to the situation of the field, adopted the tactic of cutting and surrounding, so that Hoffenheim's frontcourt players lost contact, which is the reason for Hoffenheim's abnormal play, but Demba Ba deliberately ignored the existence of Van Nistelrooy, and did not take the initiative to cooperate with Van Nistelrooy. Rangnick has been coaching for so many years, and there is no place to see it.

But now Rangnick can't say it directly, and when everyone finished talking about their opinions, he said slowly: "Overcome difficulties, strengthen running, Gustavo, you move a little more against Marin, don't let him be so active, Li Huan, you don't have to pass without threatening the ball, cross when you have the opportunity, we have two center forwards, and the advantage in the penalty area is greater than the original." ”

Rangnick's request was very targeted, and everyone had no disagreement about it, but there was no goal at half-time, and their interest was not high, Rangnick saw this, and said: "No matter how difficult the game is, we have to overcome it, what breaks Bayern's record, these are all false, even if we can't win this game, it's not a big deal, the important thing is that we have to play our true level." Okay, I won't say more, everyone listen to music and relax. ”

In the home team's dressing room, Meyer was also cheering for his players, and he was very happy with the performance of the players in the first half, but he also knew that the most difficult was in the second half, and Hoffenheim would never be willing to be forced to draw by the bottom team.

"Don't be afraid, play like in the first half, cut them all apart, let them fight separately, be decisive at the back, the field is not good, it is easy to make mistakes that are difficult to control. Even a point from Hoffenheim would be a big win for us, remember that 15 teams haven't picked up a point from them and we've gone five games without a point. If you want not to be relegated, you have to start with this one. ”

(To be continued)