Hoffenheim's boss Dietmar. Hopper had a different interpretation of Johnston's words, saying: "If the experience is to stay at the back, Mr. Johnston is right, but Hoffenheim will not do that, we have our own football philosophy, we are not a religious club, our football is to entertain fans all over the world." However, in terms of who will reach the final, I would prefer that the two Bundesliga teams meet in Manchester. ”

Hope's sarcasm about Glasgow Rangers' conservative tactics is well-founded, Glasgow Rangers' defensive performance this season has been outrageous, they have not conceded a single goal since reaching the last 32 of the UEFA Cup, and their usual 541 formation is also the most conservative of all formations. With an excellent defense, Rangers even drew 0-0 with Barcelona, the most attacking team in Europe, in the group stage of the Champions League.

Although the style of play is so conservative and ugly, Rangers fans love their team immensely, because their fans are fanatical Protestants, even their players are basically Protestants, and occasionally non-Protestant players will soon be, because fanatical Rangers fans will boo their non-Protestant players during the game, and they never treat non-Protestant players as part of the team.

Hateley, a non-Protestant who used to join Rangers, recalled, "Let's say I scored in a game and Rangers were 1-0 up, a lot of fans would think it didn't count and the game would still be 0-0. Whether or not to cheer me on at home is a fight for almost every game. I couldn't stay there any longer, so I had to leave. ”

The reason why Rangers and Celtic have hated each other for hundreds of years is because Rangers fans believe in Protestantism, while Celtic fans believe in Catholicism.

In the face of such a fanatical Protestant team, Hoffenheim's players are very worried about being attacked by fans, especially Li Huan, a heretic without any faith, not to mention that British football hooligans have become world-famous, and the Chinese media are deeply worried about this before the game, hoping that Hoffenheim and the Rangers Club must manage the safety of the stadium and fans, and avoid unnecessary accidents.

Li Huan is not worried about this, in recent times, as his influence in world football has grown, the club is ready to equip him with professional bodyguards, but Li Huan refused, he thinks that his job is to make the fans happy, and terrorists and gangsters will not attack him. Similarly, Li Huan believes that whether they are Catholics or Protestants, they are fans during the game, and the fans will not do anything brutal to the stars who give up beautiful games.

Hoffenheim's attack is the strongest, Glasgow Rangers have the best defense, the game between the two teams is considered by the media to be a battle of spear and shield, whoever scores first will have the initiative in the game, and the best one to advance to the final is also very likely to be the first to score the first goal, both the German media and the Scottish media believe that the score of this game cannot be too big, 1-0 or 1-1, and the total score is difficult to exceed three goals.

European bookmakers are cautiously optimistic about Glasgow Rangers, Hoffenheim's home game, Ladbrokes and William Hill have opened a draw, Asian bookmakers are more optimistic about Hoffenheim, Macau's bookmakers offer odds that Hoffenheim will handicap half at home, but they also think that it is difficult to have a big goal in this game, and Hoffenheim is likely to win by a small margin.

After two consecutive wins, Rangnick is in a good mood, he is full of confidence that Hoffenheim will advance to the final, in the pre-match press conference, Rangnick believes that Hoffenheim has not lost their attacking power because of the absence of Demba Ba, they are still capable of hitting the door of any team, although the opponent's defense is strong, Rangnick believes that they will still use attack to solve the battle, Hoffenheim will not betray their style of football.

Glasgow Rangers manager Smith doesn't think Rangers' style of play is ugly, he stresses it's just a matter of style, every team has its own style, just like Chelsea, they are also very conservative, but Chelsea have more and more fans around the world and their influence in world football is growing. The stubborn Scottish boss also quoted an avid Rangers fan as saying, "It's because Rangers play conservatively that's why I love it." ”

On the day of the game, the streets of Mannheim were already filled with Scottish fans in checkered skirts, holding Rangers' flags or scarves in their hands, occasionally shuttling between shops and pubs, occasionally shouting slogans such as Rangers champions to reporters.

In view of the fact that English football hooligans have become famous all over the world, so that even Scottish fans have become the focus of the German police, and there are many rare mounted police on the streets of Mannheim, according to statistics, there are about 7,000 Scottish fans who came to Germany this time, so Karl Benz Stadium has also hired local explosion-proof police to maintain order in the stadium to prevent some unexpected situations that may arise.

In order to support Li Huan and Hoffenheim to win the treble, Liu Yang and Uncle Wang have been promoting and encouraging Chinese and international students in Germany to watch the game and support Li Huan on the court.

Li Bing, Chu Shengnan and Shen Yu were also invited by Liu Yang, and the three of them were very curious about Scottish men wearing skirts, so they readily accepted the invitation and rushed from Munich to Mannheim to watch the game. Li Bing knew that Hoffenheim had entered the final sprint, and Li Huan focused all his energy on the game and training, and had no time to take care of them, so he did not inform Li Huan, and went to the Karl Benz Stadium to watch the game with Liu Yang and Peng Xiaolang's Chinese fan organization on the afternoon of the game.

The Karl Benz Stadium was already full half an hour before the start of the game, and the Hoffenheim results were inspiring and the fans were extremely happy, and the slogans of the Hoffenheim championship were chanting endlessly before the game started.

Hoffenheim's starting lineup in this game is offensive, the goalkeeper is still occupied by the experienced Hildebrand, the four defenders are Li Huan, Simunich, Comber and Ibertsberg, three midfielders, Sarichhovic, Gustavo, Eduardo, three forwards, the in-form Ibisevic as the center forward, Wellington and Obasi are separated on both sides.

Glasgow's No.1 goalkeeper McGregor is still out injured, and he is replaced by Alexander, the only shortcoming in their defence for Rangers.

Their four defenders, Papazi, Cuellar, Weil, and Broadford, and five midfielders are Whitaker, Barry. Ferguson, Gerson, Hendany, McCulloch, lone striker Dachewell.

The referee on duty was Dutchman Alamar.

Glasgow Rangers and Hoffenheim are proud of the league and the League Cup, and the final place in the League Cup is also inevitable, after the start of the game, both sides seem very excited, the difference is that Hoffenheim's excitement is used in attack, while Glasgow Rangers' excitement is used in defence.

Hoffenheim had played against Everton in the Premier League when he was in the group stage of the League Cup, and he was deeply touched by the difficulty of the English team, but today's Glasgow Rangers are even more difficult than Everton, their 541 formation, almost 9 people defending in the back, the players are tall and strong, Eduardo is needless to say, but the not short Sarihovic is almost invisible in the Scottish defenders and midfielders. In addition, the Scottish side play in a simpler and more straightforward way than Everton, and their clearance at the back will not give you a second chance to counter-attack, because when in danger they basically kick the ball out and don't even care where the ball goes.

Rangers' attack is simpler, rarely more than three men per attack, and they don't go through the midfield at all, because their midfielders are defending in the back, basically long passes, kicking to the front, and letting their striker Dacheville chase after them.

Rangnick watched the game and looked at Smith's face, as if Smith's face had been embroidered, and he finally understood why Rangers had not conceded a goal in the previous game, and no one wanted to score their goal unless it was an own goal, or someone who had hit it and changed direction to score. He couldn't believe it was a game played by a century-old club that won the Cup Winners' Cup.

However, Smith seems to regard Rangnick as a frivolous woman, he is very serious, and he adheres to the gentlemanly principle of disrespect, which makes Rangnick even more depressed.

Duan Xuan and Tao Wei looked at each other, and Duan Xuan said: "I finally understand what it means to play simply, this style of play of the wanderer, anyone whose IQ does not exceed 80 will do." The British have always prided themselves as gentlemen, why can they play such reactionary football? ”

Tao Wei shook his head again and again, and said: "Coach Smith is really open, against a team like Hoffenheim, they also put on such a formation, and carry out the defense to the end, you see what is the difference between their offense and a hound catching a rabbit, just kick the ball forward, and then the striker chases it, I doubt they can get a few chances in a game." ”

Duan Xuan said: "They can play to the semi-finals, which means that they can definitely win with this tactic, in fact, although our Chinese players are not short, but their physical fitness is not good, and they can't run fast without physical strength, otherwise this simple style of play is very suitable for them." ”

(To be continued)