The boos from the crowd didn't affect Mark's good mood on his first start.
As he shook hands with each opponent, he could even clearly feel Süle deliberately squeezing his hand.
Of course, this wasn't malicious.
After lining up with his teammates for a group photo, Mark completed his pre-match ritual for his first Bundesliga start.
As for the pre-match coin toss, that wasn't his task.
"Hoffenheim and Wolfsburg have both been in excellent form recently, especially Wolfsburg. They've won four consecutive matches since the winter break..."
"And Hoffenheim just drew with Borussia Mönchengladbach away in their last League match. This time, back at home, they're determined to get revenge for their German Cup elimination!"
The live broadcast camera also zoomed in on the blonde-haired Hoffenheim manager on the sidelines:
"Gisdol's first full season as manager, Hoffenheim's performance has been eye-catching..."
Manager Markus Gisdol served as Hoffenheim's youth team coach and Ralf Rangnick's assistant from 2009 to 2011.
After Rangnick's angry resignation in 2011, he briefly went to Schalke as an assistant coach.
Last April, he returned to Hoffenheim.
At that time, Hoffenheim was second to last in the Bundesliga, deeply mired in the relegation zone.
But under his leadership, the team ultimately secured their League status through the relegation play-offs, narrowly avoiding relegation.
In the new season, after solidifying the team's lineup and establishing their tactical system, Hoffenheim achieved remarkable results.
Especially the team's offensive firepower, which was exceptionally fierce!
After twenty-two League matches, they had scored 46 goals, second only to Bayern, who had scored 61 goals!
Unfortunately, their defense was very fragile, also conceding 46 goals.
They conceded an average of more than 2 goals per game!
This is why, despite having one of the best offenses in the Bundesliga, they only ranked tenth in the League.
It can be said that this is a team strong in attack but weak in defense!
Playing at home, coupled with a desire for revenge, Hoffenheim launched a fierce offensive wave from the start.
After just four minutes, they took the lead at home!
Modeste and Rudy played a one-two on the left, getting past Wolfsburg's right-back Ochs, then crossing into the middle.
Firmino arrived in time and sent the ball into the goal defended by Benaglio with a rather stylish volley!
After the goal, the Rhein-Neckar-Arena erupted in thunderous cheers.
"That's it!"
"Kill them!"
However, the home fans weren't triumphant for long.
Speaking of offense, Wolfsburg, who had scored forty goals in twenty-two League matches, was no pushover!
In the thirteenth minute, Hoffenheim midfielder Polanski dallied with the ball in midfield, Gustavo dispossessed him, and passed the ball to De Bruyne up front.
The latter directly turned and threaded a diagonal pass to Perisic surging forward on the left.
"Sword" Perišić dribbled forward, glanced at the center, and then directly crossed with his left foot!
The arcing forty-five-degree diagonal pass precisely evaded the center-back and found the onrushing Dost.
The Dutch striker headed the ball into the goal!
In less than fifteen minutes from the start, both sides had scored a goal.
Just as both sets of fans and commentators thought this would be a thrilling attacking battle, in the next ten minutes, both sides tacitly slowed down the pace of their offense.
It's worth noting that in these twenty-five minutes, Mark, playing as a right winger, mostly made off-the-ball runs and didn't take the ball to dribble past opponents much.
Even when he had the ball, he didn't hold onto it for too long before passing it.
This strange situation made Hoffenheim manager Gisdol on the sidelines frown.
"What's going on?! Why isn't that kid dribbling past people?!"
He had expected that by starting Mark, Wolfsburg would primarily attack down the right, using Mark's excellent footwork to break through the defense.
For this, he had even formulated a targeted defensive strategy for this rising Wolfsburg star during their preparations!
But he never expected that Wolfsburg wouldn't attack down the right?!
Are you playing with me?!
However, he didn't know that this was Wolfsburg's pre-emptive response.
Firstly, Hecking's tactical arrangement was for Mark to take the ball less often on the wing for dribbling and to pass more.
In his first start, Mark was also slowly getting used to the rhythm of playing as a starter.
In previous matches, when he came on as a substitute, the opponent had already been worn down for half the game.
Now, facing opponents with full stamina, he naturally had to play smarter.
Secondly, Hoffenheim, with the home advantage, attacked fiercely, almost suffocating Wolfsburg in their own half.
And whenever Wolfsburg launched an attack, it was always a quick counter-attack from defense to offense.
In the counter-attacking phase, speed was the most crucial factor.
But Mark's speed wasn't fast enough!
Therefore, Wolfsburg's initial point of attack in a counter-attack was usually De Bruyne advancing and distributing the ball.
Or they would directly pass to Perisic on the left, for him to make the breakthrough!
As for Mark, he would diagonally cut into the half-space, helping De Bruyne to draw away defenders.
And watching Mark play so reasonably, rarely taking the ball to dribble past opponents, not only the home Hoffenheim fans but even the away Wolfsburg fans were a bit puzzled.
They all had the same thought:
"Why isn't he dribbling past people today?"
However, they would soon know the answer... In the twenty-fifth minute of the match, Wolfsburg had possession.
De Bruyne received the ball in midfield, and Mark again tucked into the center, after receiving the pass, he tapped the ball to the dropping Dost, and then immediately surged forward.
Dost didn't turn but played the ball back to De Bruyne.
The latter observed the gap between the defensive midfielder and the center-back and delivered a delightful through ball, finding Mark precisely as he arrived at the edge of the penalty area!
"Beautiful combination!"
"Mark has the ball, what will he do?"
And this time, Mark didn't pass immediately, but dribbled with the inside of his foot, heading towards Süle, who was playing as the left center-back in this match.
Looking at the "Leopard 2 tank" blocking his way again, Mark couldn't help but curve his lips.
"It's you again!"
And Süle's extremely serious expression seemed to be answering him:
"This time, you won't get past me!"
Because they were at the edge of the penalty area, Süle didn't dare to recklessly body-check Mark, only adopting a side-on defensive stance.
Mark first feigned a dip of his shoulder with his upper body, shifting Süle's center of gravity.
However, Süle didn't fall for the feint, only retreating with small steps, while keeping his eyes fixed on Mark's legs.
Seeing this, Mark didn't hesitate, pulling the ball with his right foot to the left, feigning a breakthrough to the left.
Then he suddenly accelerated, performed an outside step-over with his left foot, and then flicked the ball to the right with the top of his right foot, slipping past on the right side.
Süle, whose center of gravity had already been deceived, could only stretch his leg back reluctantly, but still couldn't prevent Mark from getting past him!
"Beautiful dribble!"
"Mark is dancing on the field again!"
Süle's backward defensive leg stretch also made Mark think of an England aircraft carrier... "They turn around an aircraft carrier, you turn around a tank!"
After getting past Süle, Mark didn't accelerate into the penalty area to shoot, but looked up to the left, then delivered a low, flat pass with the inside of his right foot, diagonally to the far post.
Perisic then accelerated, forcefully overtaking Hoffenheim's right-back Beck, and took a curling shot as he met the ball