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Bayer Leverkusen had just completed a six-game winning streak and was aiming for a seventh consecutive win across all competitions. Everyone's morale was high, and the fans were full of confidence.
Before the third round of the Champions League group stage, Bayer Leverkusen's winning streak was unexpectedly broken in the seventh round of the Bundesliga. Freiburg 0-0 Bayer Leverkusen.
Neither team scored, resulting in a goalless draw. All of Germany was in an uproar!
To prepare for their third group stage match against Roma, Bayer Leverkusen cautiously rotated their squad. Several key players were on the bench.
Julian Brandt, Kießling, and Guardado surprisingly earned starting spots after a long time. Especially Guardado.
He was originally a loan player from Valencia, loaned to Bayer Leverkusen for one season, and was supposed to return to Valencia in the summer. However, Valencia had no place for him, and PSV Eindhoven offered to loan him.
The three clubs had almost agreed, but Guardado chose to stay and continue his loan at Bayer Leverkusen. His loan contract stipulated a maximum of 10 appearances, and with Son Heung-min's presence at Bayer Leverkusen, along with players like Lance, De Bruyne, and Julian Brandt, Guardado had almost no opportunities.
A man born in '86, almost 30 years old, in the final peak of his career, not playing as a starter but sitting on the bench—wasn't that a waste of time? But Guardado, with his stubborn South American temperament, dug his heels in.
"What I lost, I will reclaim here!"
His agent couldn't argue with him, and Guardado ultimately chose Bayer Leverkusen. Valencia didn't care anyway; the other party paid 100% of his salary, so it was all the same who he was loaned to.
After waiting several times, Guardado finally got his third chance this season, and his first start. However, a long period without high-level matches meant he was almost ineffective on the left wing, and the left-sided attack completely stalled.
Only Julian Brandt on the right wing could still pose a threat, constantly challenging the Freiburg defence with his speed and dribbling skills.
The home team, Freiburg, was determined to defend staunchly at home, even if it meant sacrificing pride, aiming for one point with an ironclad defence. Bayer Leverkusen, being masters of defensive counter-attacks, found it more prudent to secure one point than to attack and risk conceding a goal on the counter.
Although they were in the relegation zone this season, their goals conceded (ranked from fewest to most) were surprisingly among the top 7, better than Mainz, Hoffenheim, and VfB Stuttgart, and only behind strong teams like Schalke 04 and Borussia Dortmund.
This showed that Freiburg's weakness was in their attacking power, while their defence was quite excellent. Facing a 'turtle shell' defence, the attacking players up front truly had no good solutions.
Time dragged on until the 80th minute, and the coaching staff could no longer endure it. They made three consecutive substitutions.
De Bruyne, Son Heung-min, and Lance, the three 'Divine Generals,' entered the field. They had thought 10 minutes would be enough.
Yet, these three renowned names failed to break through Freiburg's goal. Only Lance's 'shooting an arrow through the gate' from the edge of the box, a volleyed hook that hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced outside the goal line, caused a collective gasp from the crowd... The rest of the shots posed no threat.
Watching the 0-0 score remain fixed after 90 minutes, Lance felt a bit lost.
Bayer Leverkusen escaping with a draw away from home was not necessarily a bad thing; holding onto one point meant Bayern had not widened the gap. Bayern had drawn twice, including a 1-1 draw against Borussia Mönchengladbach,
The point difference between the two teams remained at 6 points. Bayer Leverkusen still held a top-three position in the Bundesliga, belonging to the title-contending group.
But Lance clearly had chances to win; several shots didn't come off. It was impossible not to feel unwilling.
"Lance, cheer up! At least we didn't lose."
De Bruyne was still trying to console him.
"Playing against a relegation team, this should have been a game for us to gain points. I feel it shouldn't have been like this."
"It's mainly my fault. I should have passed that ball earlier... Damn!"
Son Heung-min was also blaming himself. Before the end of the match, Son Heung-min broke through on the left and cut inside. Both Lance and De Bruyne were making forward runs.
Kießling was also pushing up front. A pass to any of them would have been threatening.
But Son Heung-min hesitated at the crucial moment, suffering from decision paralysis when faced with multiple options. On the field, even making the wrong decision is better than hesitating.
The fleeting opportunity was missed; within a mere 0.5 seconds, it was too late to pass. Son Heung-min could only force a cut past the defender and try to shoot himself, but the ball didn't go in.
"If that's the case, I'm also guilty."
During injury time, De Bruyne had the ball on the right wing. He could have made a brilliant pass to Lance.
Lance was making a hidden run behind the defender, who hadn't even noticed. But De Bruyne was so focused on Lance's position that he didn't realise the defensive midfielder marking him had too much physical strength. He couldn't win the upper body challenge and was directly pushed out of bounds by his opponent.
It wasn't even a foul; Freiburg had made a successful defensive play. De Bruyne was also reflecting on his lack of decisiveness and misjudgement of his own ability to compete physically.
Seeing the three of them fall into an argument, each taking the blame, other teammates also joined in.
"Actually, it's my fault. If I had tried harder in the first half, it wouldn't have been so difficult."
"Yes, I'm also responsible. My dribbling was a bit too selfish; I should have looked for my teammates more."
Julian Brandt proactively admitted his mistake. This made Lance look at him with new eyes.
In the past, his older brother would have slickly distanced himself, staying out of trouble, and would never have actively stepped forward to take the blame. It seems Julian Brandt has really matured a lot!
The players were talking back and forth in the locker room. The two coaches, Sascha and Hyypiä, listened in astonishment.
"It seems the speeches we prepared are unnecessary, we even need to comfort them."
"Yes, the players have all grown."
"Oi, why are you getting emotional?"
"I don't know, I'm just very touched!" Hyypiä was almost in tears.
This left Sascha bewildered.
Bad news: Bayer Leverkusen only got 1 point from the 0-0 draw, and the 6-point gap with Bayern remained.
Good news: In the match after the 7th round of the Bundesliga, Dortmund lost 0-1 at home to Hamburg. The original 3-point gap was narrowed to 2 points.
Bayer Leverkusen, in 3rd place in the Bundesliga, was steadily catching up!
Three days later, Bayer Leverkusen's home ground, the BayArena. The 3rd Champions League group stage match of the 2014-2015 season: Roma arrived!
"There's no time to regret the Bundesliga draw; next up on the battlefield is last season's Serie A runner-up, Roma!"
Roma's ability to claim the Serie A runner-up title, besides the decline of the Milan giants, also spoke to their own strong capabilities. They might seem inconspicuous in the Champions League, but teams that underestimate them will suffer.
In the original timeline of the group stage, they faced Manchester City and Bayern Munich, and were double-defeated by Bayern, which we won't dwell on for now. Roma and Manchester City's first encounter was evenly matched, ending in a 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium.
It's worth noting that Manchester City was the Premier League champion last season, having surpassed powerhouses like Liverpool, Chelsea, and Arsenal, and was about to enter its most dominant decade. Roma escaping from the Etihad unscathed was no simple feat.
This season, in their first encounter against Real Madrid, they seemingly lost 2-0 at the Bernabéu. In reality, Roma still put significant pressure on Real Madrid, and the BBC trio almost had to perform beyond their usual level to defeat Roma.
Standing opposite, looking at players like Nainggolan, Pjanić, Strootman, and De Rossi on the field, Lance was ready!
'Wait? Why isn't the Fusion Value moving?'
'I thought if the Bundesliga Fusion Value didn't increase, the Champions League would at least guarantee a 1% increase... It was 83% last time against Real Madrid, and it's still 83% now?'
'What's going on!'