Seven Crowns

The Hoffenheim club's first opponent in the history of the European war is Udinese from Serie A, which is ranked 7th at the end of last season and this season.

Obviously, such an opponent from the top league is much more difficult to deal with than the small league opponents encountered by Schalke 04 and Hertha Berlin.

What's more, Hoffenheim also drew a relatively unfavorable schedule.

On September 18, Hoffenheim will first face Udinese at home at the Karl Benz Stadium, starting the first round of the UEFA Cup third qualifying round of this season.

Then, in less than a week, on September 24, Hoffenheim will go away to challenge Udinese for the second round.

From the perspective of the schedule, it is not very beneficial to Hoffenheim.

However, the German media generally believe that Hoffenheim, which currently ranks first in the Bundesliga and has won four consecutive victories in the Bundesliga, should have no problem beating Udinese, a mid-range team in Serie A, at home.

Especially in the Hoffenheim team, there is Lu Wenbin, a perverted shooter with an extremely high scoring rate and 9 goals in four Bundesliga games. It should not be difficult to use the home court advantage to defeat the opponent.

The difference is only whether you can win a few more goals and make the second round easier.

Therefore, the German media is almost overwhelmingly optimistic about Hoffenheim's home victory over Udinese.

In addition to the reason why their own media supports their national team, there are naturally reasons why Hoffenheim has won consecutive victories in recent games and is in a brave state.

The fans of Hoffenheim also showed 12 points of confidence and enthusiasm, ready to welcome the first European home game in the club's history: although the stadium is on loan.

However, within the team, Ralph, who has coached the top league and has experience in European wars, naturally cannot let the players be influenced by media comments.

Although both are in the top league, Hoffenheim is now ranked first in the Bundesliga, and should be stronger than Udinese, who is seventh in Serie A.

However, this new season of the league has just begun. Who knows if the rankings of Hoffenheim and Udinese will be reversed at the end of the season?

Moreover, football is not guaranteed to win because of strength, especially for Hoffenheim, a recruit who has never had experience in European wars.

According to statistics, the passing and receiving speed of the UEFA Champions League is about 15% faster than that of the Bundesliga. If the Bundesliga teams are not mentally prepared and play the Champions League according to the rhythm of the league, the end will generally be miserable.

Of course, we are not talking about regulars in the Champions League like Bayern Munich. They naturally know how to play in the Champions League.

What I'm talking about here is an inexperienced recruit like Hoffenheim.

Although the UEFA Cup is not as good as the UEFA Champions League, it is also a place where the middle and upper reaches of the leagues of various countries compete. The overall rhythm is also faster than the domestic leagues, and the technical and tactical level is also higher than that of the leagues.

When it comes to the generous bonuses, promotions, and honors in European competitions, players want to gain more fame through European competitions, etc., everyone is obviously more motivated to play in European competitions than in the league.

Therefore, Ralph specifically told everyone in the team that the results in the league must not be used as a reference for the results of the UEFA Cup. No one should have the arrogant mentality that the first Bundesliga home game and the seventh Serie A match will definitely win easily.

Everyone must ignore media comments and maintain a correct attitude. There must be no slack from the first minute to the last minute of the game, whether leading or falling behind.

Ralph's warning had some effect.

The team has indeed had some bad signs recently.

Last season, they beat Bayern Munich to win the German Cup. This season, the Bundesliga started with four consecutive victories and dominated the standings. Some players have the idea that "the top league is nothing more than that".

Ralph's timely warning just made these people correct their attitudes.

...

The day before the game, on September 17, the Udinese team arrived in Mannheim and held a pre-match press conference.

Coach Marino announced the team's 18-man roster.

However, the starting lineup was not announced.

The same is true for Hoffenheim. Ralph also only announced the big list, not the starting list.

Both Marino and Ralph are more cautious, to prevent the other party from knowing the starting list in advance and making countermeasures.

Although everyone knows who the main players of the two teams are, there may still be some slight changes.

On the away game against Hoffenheim, Udinese's coach Marino seemed quite low-key.

Marino commented that although it is the first time for Hoffenheim to participate in the European war, they are strong and currently rank first in the Bundesliga, which is actually the level of the Champions League team.

The goal of Udinese, currently only ranked seventh in Serie A, is to pursue an away draw, or an away goal, and then return to their home court in the second round to decide the outcome.

Marino's words of taking the initiative to show weakness are very appetizing to the German media, and no one thinks there is anything wrong.

It was in such a situation where the opponents took the initiative to show weakness and their own people were full of confidence. On the afternoon of September 18 local time, more than 40,000 Hoffenheim fans flocked outside the Karl Benz Stadium. In the end, only more than 20,000 people were able to enter the stadium.

There's only so much stadium capacity, and the rest of us will have to watch the team's first European game in the piazza or bar outside.

As for Udinese, after all, it is still a lot of inconvenience to go abroad to watch football, so only a few hundred fans came, and they were allocated in a small corner of the stadium stands.

Before the start of the game, the two sides warmed up and returned to the locker room to make final preparations for playing.

Ralph specifically told the team members again, requiring everyone to concentrate, face the opponent squarely, and keep twelve points of sobriety until the end of the game.

On the Udinese side, coach Marino is hurrying to arrange tactics.

In fact, Marino is not as low-key as he showed in the pre-match press conference.

It is impossible for any bloody and ambitious head coach to admit defeat before the game starts.

The only purpose of showing weakness is to paralyze the opponent, make the opponent underestimate the enemy, and see if there is a chance to defeat the opponent.

Of course, Marino did not fully pin his hopes on these off-court tricks.

To beat Hoffenheim, who is currently ranked first in the Bundesliga, in an away game, you still have to think about specific tactics.

Lu Wenbin of Hoffenheim is the killer that Marino must try to contain. If Lu Wenbin is not contained, Udinese will die.

But since Lu Wenbin made his debut, he has participated in so many games in the Bundesliga, Bundesliga, and the German Cup. How many teams have really contained Lu Wenbin's performance?

The only one that could be said to have contained Lu Wenbin's goals in sports games was the opponent Bayern Munich in the German Cup final.

Except for the stunning midfield lob and the free kick in overtime, Lu Wenbin did not score any goals in the penalty area in open play.

Therefore, Marino believes that Lu Wenbin is not really unstoppable. As long as there are methods and tactics, he will definitely be able to contain him!

As an Italian team, defense is integrated into the genes of coaches and players.

Through the full analysis and tactical arrangement of the coaching staff, as well as the team's full targeted training before the game, Marino is full of confidence in this game.