With a fierce nickname, a yellow jersey with a sense of surname, and a romantic love song stadium, this is La Liga powerhouse Villarreal.

Villarreal and Hoffenheim had almost the same experience, and in 1923 the small town of Villarreal, with only 48,000 people, had the team of the same name. Like Hoffenheim, Villarreal spent most of their time in the lower leagues until May 1997, when they welcomed a historical figure——— Fernando? Royg.

Roig is the owner of a toilet manufacturing company who, like Hope, loves sports and football. After announcing the purchase of Villarreal, Roig vowed to make the team a La Liga title contender, and it was widely believed that he was just too conceited. At the time, the club was heavily in debt and the team was struggling to retain qualification in the second division, with the stadium being played at Dietma in Hoffenheim. Hope Field is even smaller, with a capacity of only 3,500 people.

Ten years on, Roig's rhetoric has become a reality, and Villarreal has become a strong contender for the La Liga title and the last four of the Champions League. The old Love Song Stadium has been transformed into a modern stadium with a capacity of 22,000 people.

This similar experience gave the Hoffenheim players who had arrived from Germany a very close feeling, and they felt as if they were at war with another self.

There are only two high-end hotels in this small town, Hoffenheim is staying at the Palace Hotel, Villarreal is very small, and the Palace Hotel is only a little more than 20 minutes away from the Love Song Stadium, which is very convenient.

The arrival of Hoffenheim has livened up the Mediterranean town, with more than 4,000 German fans, hundreds of journalists, and many Spanish fans coming to Villarreal from Valencia, most of whom want to see the World Footballer of the Year with their own eyes. Of course, there are also many enthusiastic Spanish girls who have made a special trip to see the amorous Li handsome guy.

Since Li Huan's many girlfriends were exposed on this Valentine's Day, Li Huan has added the nickname of an amorous son in addition to Xiao Li Feidao, and the amorous son came to the love song court, such a romantic thing has unlimited lethality to women.

To the disappointment of female fans, Li Huan has always lived in a simple house, unless he goes to the Love Song Stadium to train, the fans have the opportunity to see him, fortunately, although Li Huan has very little time to come out, fans want to take photos and sign autographs, he never refuses, but the premise is that the fans must avoid the sight of the two expressionless bodyguards.

On the eve of the game, Rangnick and Manuel Pellegrini attended a press conference, both of whom are academic coaches, and the press conference took place in a mild, almost bland atmosphere, without the tension of Mourinho's presence.

The managers of both sides were cautiously optimistic about this game.

Rangnick said: "The Englishman says that we and Villarreal are two teams that have no foundation, but it's because we don't have that that we make every win so great.

It's our first Champions League knockout game and we don't have any experience to draw on, so luckily it's two games and even if we make mistakes, I have a chance to make amends. So we're not afraid of the knockout rounds, Villarreal are a great team, well, they're as great as Hoffenheim, they reached the last four in their first Champions League game in '06, it's a great record and we want to be as successful as they are.

It's going to be more difficult away from home but we're in form, we're not going to be conservative and I promise the fans it's going to be a good game. ”

With a smile on his face, Pellegrini said: "Hoffenheim and Villarreal are two very small cities. In general, it is difficult for such a team to make it to the main stage of the Champions League, let alone the knockout rounds. I believe that the most important thing for us to succeed is to get the balance right.

Balance is the most important thing in football, and only a team that has a balance between attack and defense will be able to win. Last season's champions were Manchester United, not Chelsea, because Manchester United were more balanced in attack and defence than Chelsea.

We have Capdevilla at the back, Senna, Rossi and Pire up front, that's our balance, Hoffenheim don't have any superstars other than Li Huan, and Ruud van Nistelrooy hasn't fully integrated into the team, but their three lines are very even, which makes them difficult to deal with. This is also the key to their success.

It's going to be a tough game for sure, but we're going to have the last laugh because it's a love song ball game. We had 48,000 fans behind us. ”

After the speeches of the head coaches of both sides, they answered questions from reporters from various countries, and the press conference was announced. When questioned by reporters, the Chilean engineer revealed that Villarreal will not make a specific arrangement for the current World Footballer of the Year, and that the Spanish team's enemy in the game is the ball and not the player.

The Hoffenheim and Villarreal match was scheduled for the second match, and after dinner that day, Rangnick gathered the players in the hotel conference room to watch the match between Lyon and Barcelona at home, with Marco in charge of the video, and Rangnick wanted the players to learn more about the La Liga team from this game.

Before the start of the game, all the Hoffenheim players felt that Barcelona would definitely win, and that Barcelona were at least a step stronger than Lyon, not to mention that they also had superstars such as Messi, Eto'o, Thierry Henry and Xavi, each of whom had the ability to change the outcome of the game in an instant.

Even Li Huan can't remember whether Barcelona won or lost this game, but the elimination of Lyon is certain. He remembers that this season Barcelona won an unprecedented six crowns and won all the titles.

However, just six minutes into the game, Lyon scored, it was a surprise goal, Juninho Jr. took a free-kick on the left side of the box, everyone thought he would pass the ball, but Juninho shot the goal, Valdés fell in the fall, and Juninho Jr. was perfected.

Seeing Juninho's free kick goal, Hoffenheim's players all looked at Li Huan, who is also a famous free kick master, who became famous earlier than Li Huan, but now he is suppressed by Li Huan's little Li Feidao.

Li Huan touched his nose and said with a wry smile: "Don't look at me, I am not sure of the ball in this position, and I need the cooperation of the goalkeeper." ”

Everyone laughed, there really weren't many goalkeepers like Valdés who were stupid and naïve.

Rangnick smiled and encouraged: "Actually, Lee can try to shoot from a free kick in different positions. ”

Li Huan nodded, smiled but did not speak, he was not sure of shooting in this position, but if the opponent's goalkeeper relaxed his vigilance, he would definitely not let it go.

At the end of the game, Thierry Henry equalised for Barcelona and the two sides ended up in a 1-1 draw. But in the game, Lyon played even better, which can be described as brave, and Barcelona is a mess, if it weren't for Lyon's poor ability to grasp opportunities, Barcelona would not have been able to get out of the way.

After watching this game, Rangnick immediately analyzed the tactics of Lyon for the players through video.

"I heard that Lyon had watched the video of Espanyol winning Barcelona last weekend over and over again before the game, and it can be said that Lyon played very smart and targeted, hoarding five players in the midfield, cutting off the connection between Xavi and his teammates, forcing Messi to leave the right side to find the ball, using Benzema to press Alves and not dare to rush forward easily, and abolishing Barcelona's strong right attack. Strengthened the midfield tackles, successfully stopped the penetration of short balls that Barcelona are good at, and narrowed the distance between Eto'o and the penalty area. ”

"Of course Villarreal is not Barcelona, but they are also a team that likes to possess the ball, we can learn from Lyon and use fast runs to cut off the connection between Villarreal players, don't Spanish teams like to pass? We isolate them and let them break through. That's the key to winning tomorrow. ”

Rangnick's words were full of vigor and inspiration, as if Lyon was commanded by him, but Vanney and Arshavin were a little reluctant to speak, because they had just joined the team and were unwilling to participate in the team's tactical design like Li Huan and Eduardo.

Rangnick did find a way to deal with the Spanish team, but he didn't know that it would not be easy to complete his intentions, just like in last year's European Championship, Russia faced Spain twice, they must have known Spain's weaknesses, and they would not have developed a style of play, but both times they were beaten by Spain.

When Rangnick watched Barcelona and Lyon in the evening and studied how to deal with Villarreal, they didn't expect Manuel Pellegrini to do the same, they borrowed from Lyon.

The knockout stage is different from the group stage, everyone is very cautious, and the other games are also uneventful, Inter Milan and Manchester United drew at home, but Inter's draw is ugly, pressed by Manchester United at home, their Champions League weakness has been terminally ill, even Mourinho can not change.

Arsenal beat Roma 1-0 at home, but it wasn't much better than a draw, and they had to go to Wolves' den to play, and the only consolation for Arsene Wenger was that they didn't concede a goal.

Atletico drew at home to Porto, but a 2-2 draw at home in the knockout rounds was already bad, with only 20 per cent of the chances of progress.

At 7.45pm the next day, the second match of the Champions League knockout round also kicked off, and Hoffenheim continued their magical journey in the Champions League at the Love Song Stadium.

Villarreal's nickname comes from the Beatles' songs, but the Love Song Stadium is not because of the love song, but from the name of the stadium in the neighborhood. The Love Song Stadium is located on Labrador Square at an altitude of 50 meters, and the beautiful Mediterranean Sea is 5 kilometers away, and you can smell the salty and humid air of the Mediterranean Sea from the course.

Spain is close to the Mediterranean, the temperature at the end of February is already above freezing, much warmer than Germany, and the weather is sunny, for Hoffenheim, who has just experienced two battles of wind and snow, it is like coming to heaven in such a game.

The attendance rate in La Liga is not as high as in the Bundesliga, and the number of people in the Love Song Stadium is generally between 15,000 and 17,000, but today because of Hoffenheim's relationship, the number was full, and the commentator at the scene said that there were at least 3,000 fans outside the stadium without tickets.

Ten minutes into the game, when the players from both sides had just finished warming up and were going back to the locker room to change clothes, and the two commentators from the court station had already got the starting lists of both sides, and they were introducing them to the fans. Today's commentary is Tao Wei of the Bundesliga and He Wei of La Liga.

"Villarreal's starting lineup today is goalkeeper No. 13 Diego López, four defenders/No. 4 Godin, No. 20 Fuentes, No. 21 Bruno, No. 3 Capdevilla, four midfielders No. 7 Pire, No. 11 Ibargasa, No. 8 Cazorla, No. 19 Senna, and two forwards No. 16 Llorente and No. 22 Rossi.

It's a four-four-two formation, and Pellegrini is obviously faithfully practicing his balance theory, with two full-backs, one good at assisting, one good at defending, four midfielders, two attacking and two defending, and even the two forwards are one high and one fast, one in the air and one on the ground. "La Liga's commentator He Wei is proficient in business and has his own understanding of the team's tactical play, which is much better than the other baked cakes in the imperial court.

Although Tao Wei's ability is average, because of Li Huan, he has studied Hoffenheim very thoroughly, and he is speculating about Rangnick's tactical arrangement today while introducing the lineup.

"Needless to say about goalkeeper Hildebrand, as any Hoffenheim fan knows that this is the only fixed position. The back four were Ibertsberg, Compaq, Jaisler and Li Huan, with veteran Simunic unable to play due to the flu and Jaisler taking his place. Compaq and Jaisler are relatively young, and they don't know if they can stop Llorent's onslaught.

The midfielder is still a single back Gustavo, two attacking midfielders Saarihovic and Arshavin, it seems that Rangnick's words before the game are not a bluff, he is going to play against the opponent today, but instead of Eduardo, on Sarichovich, obviously worried about Eduardo's midfield defensive ability, Sarihovic is better defensively than Eduardo, and the attack is stronger than Weiss, and he can make the midfield more balanced.

The three strikers are Demba Ba, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Obasi, and there is no problem with Demba Ba and Ruud van Nistelrooy, two high school forwards, playing together, but why did Obasi be sent again. The forward position was the strangest arrangement of the day, I don't know what Rangnick had in mind, and the position of the three of them will be known when the players come out later. After introducing the lineup, the two commentators began to talk about today's referee on duty, British Michael. Riley, they all think that it is good for Hoffenheim for English referees to officiate the game, and that the Bundesliga style of play is closer to the Premier League, while La Liga does not like too much physical contact. An English referee is obviously much more lenient in his decision.

Soon there was a round of applause from the pitch and the Villarreal and Hoffenheim players, led by referee Riley, walked out of the tunnel.

The players from both teams looked in good spirits as they walked to the pitch and applauded the fans in the stands, although the Hoffenheim players were a little nervous.

This is Hoffenheim's first Champions League knockout game, and La Liga is a team they have never played before, so it is inevitable that there will be some nervousness in the constant chanting of the visiting fans.

It was Villarreal who kicked off first.

As soon as the ball was played back from the centre circle, Hoffenheim's three strikers rushed across the half-court to put pressure on the player with the ball. The midfielders and defenders are also on the front, and at this time, Rangnick's arrangement in the forward line is also clear. It turned out that Ruud van Nistelrooy was a decent centre-forward, while Demba Ba and Obsi were separated from each other and became left and right wingers.

At this time, even He Wei saw Rangnick's intentions, he frowned and said: "Judging from Rangnick's starting lineup, his tactical purpose is not clear, he wants to attack and defend, and Demba Ba's effect as a winger is not necessarily better than that of Saviola." ”

Tao Wei said: "It's true that Rangnick's arrangement today is nondescript, if you really want to attack, you will send the strongest Eduardo, and if you want to defend and counterattack, you will simply go to the double back, such a seemingly balanced lineup is probably also the most characterless and mediocre lineup." ”

He Wei said: "La Liga teams are not afraid of such a characterless lineup and style of play. ”

Soon a minute passed, the ball was still at Villarreal's feet, Hoffenheim were aggressive up front, but Villarreal's pass was faster and more accurate, and the three strikers alone could not force them to kick them wide. Instead, Villarreal quickly poured the ball into the Hoffenheim half with a good and fast pass.

This was no surprise to Hoffenheim, with only Ruud van Nistelrooy remaining up front with Demba Ba and Obbasi quickly following up and cutting through Villarreal's players along with the three midfielders.

Attacking with three strikers and defending with five midfielders, it completely cut Villarreal's forward attack and left them on their own. That's what Rangnick asked for tactically last night.

And Villarreal is obviously very targeted today, they use Llorent to suppress Gustavo and central defenders, use Rossi to contain Li Huan, and the midfield uses Pire, Ibargasa, and Cazorla to carry out rapid passing penetration, and Senna is a contact point in the back. When he can't play, pass it back to him and let him choose the direction of attack again.

Hoffenheim's outflanking and cutting in the midfield is invincible in the Bundesliga, even Bayern was cut by Hoffenheim's midfield, but in the face of Villarreal it lost its effectiveness, Pire, Ibargasa and Cazorla kept running, the ball kept flowing between them, and it really didn't work to hit the backfield.

No matter how fast Sarihovic, Demba Ba, Obasi and Arshavin fight, no matter how fierce they fight, they can't break the ball and can only passively chase the ball, just like the remake of the game between Germany and Spain in last year's European Championship final.

(To be continued)