Among the fans in his previous life, Mark once heard a saying about Bayern.
As the saying goes, if you meet Bayern, don't fight back; lose by three goals and walk away smiling!
This was a jest about Flick's quintuple-winning Bayern team in 2020.
And this season's Bayern, which gifted Barça a bottle of '8-2, was no less formidable!
As the season progressed, the Bayern players gradually adapted to Guardiola's tiki-taka system, and the team's offensive firepower also took a step up from the beginning of the season.
Especially in the last ten Bundesliga matches, there were as many as six games with a net win of four goals in a single match!
A 7-0 away sweep of Werder Bremen, a 5-0 bloodbath against Frankfurt and Hamburg, a four-goal victory over Hannover and Freiburg, a 5-1 against Schalke... it was brutal!
Therefore, even though Wolfsburg scored first, the Bayern players and coach didn't take it seriously at all.
Guardiola didn't even get up from the bench, he just frowned and said something to his assistant coach.
And such confidence came from their own powerful strength!
Soon, Bayern retaliated:
In the twentieth minute, Ribéry broke through on the left, creating a corner kick opportunity.
Kroos's corner kick flew directly into the penalty area where players from both sides were clustered.
Amidst the chaos in front of the goal, the ball was flicked by Dante, who jumped high at the near post, and it landed right in front of the goal.
Shaqiri, the "Swiss Messi," cleverly reacted first, tapping the ball into the net!
It only took seven minutes for Bayern to equalize!
And next, the field became the stage for the Little Flying Dutchman's performance!
"Robben takes the ball and advances... Rodriguez is defending him..."
"A forceful breakthrough, Rodriguez is a bit slow to keep up, his hand is on him..."
"Beautiful! He's past him!"
Although he was over thirty, Robben's physical condition remained excellent.
The young Rodriguez simply couldn't keep up with Robben's dribbling rhythm in front of him, couldn't even hold him back, allowing Robben to complete an inside cut and shot from the wing.
And sitting on the bench, watching the entire process of Robben "taking the ball - accelerating - cutting inside - shooting" on the right wing, Mark couldn't help but recall that classic quote:
"The whole world knows Robben is going to cut inside, but they just can't stop him!"
Fortunately, Robben's shooting accuracy was still being adjusted; two consecutive shots failed to hit within the goal frame.
What surprised everyone was that in the first half of the match, Wolfsburg actually played back and forth with Bayern!
Both sides had attacks and defenses, and there were also shots on target.
Unfortunately, neither side capitalized on their opportunities.
The key was that Wolfsburg, playing at home, pressed high in the front field, making it relatively difficult for Bayern to play the ball out from the back.
The Bayern players and coach didn't expect Wolfsburg to dare to push their formation so high against them?!
Clearly, the Wolfsburg coaching staff, led by Hecking, had also carefully analyzed and studied Bayern's tactical approach.
Against Bayern's tiki-taka style, the only way to break the deadlock was high pressing!
Only by pressing high in the front field, regardless of fatigue, could they force opponent players into passing errors and win back possession.
Otherwise, with possession constantly controlled by Bayern players, they would only be passively defending, constantly led by the nose.
However, high pressing in the front field is effective when there is sufficient stamina.
But when physical exertion is immense and the distance between players cannot be maintained, the effectiveness of the press will significantly decrease.
And as the opponent passes the ball out, it becomes even easier to exploit the huge space left behind after the formation pushes forward!
But from the look of the game, Wolfsburg did very well, at least in the first forty-five minutes.
The cost, however, was a rapid decline in player stamina.
"Hoo-ha... hoo-ha... hoo-ha..."
Back in the locker room, Mark saw his teammates all panting and covered in sweat.
Especially De Bruyne, his entire face was flushed red.
Looking at it this way, if he had started, he definitely wouldn't have lasted half a game before being exhausted.
In that case, the team's pressing tactics would certainly collapse on their own.
"Guys, I'm proud of your performance!"
"The opponent is Bayern Munich, and you haven't fallen behind at all!"
"In the second half, we continue to press!"
"Just one goal, and we have a chance to win this match!"
That being said.
However, in the second half, Wolfsburg wanted to maintain the same intensity of pressure as in the first half.
But as time went on and stamina declined, the frequency and intensity of Wolfsburg players' pressing visibly decreased.
Bayern gradually took control of the game.
Bayern was able to calmly pass the ball to both wings, where Ribéry and Robben would then initiate individual breakthroughs.
It's just that Ribéry's desire to break through wasn't high in this match; he focused more on linking play with the ball.
And Robben forgot to wear his shooting boots, so he couldn't score the second goal.
And at this moment, perhaps seeing that they couldn't break the deadlock, or perhaps noticing that Wolfsburg's pressing intensity began to drop, Guardiola decisively chose to make substitutions!
He brought on Mandzukic and Thiago for Shaqiri and Rafinha!
And the two substitutions had an immediate effect!
Mandzukic could play both centrally and on the wing.
In the middle, he could hold off center-backs and lay off the ball with his back to goal; on the wing, he could interchange positions with Robben, immediately adding variation to Bayern's front-line attack.
And Thiago's ability to receive and escape with the ball in midfield was extremely strong, giving Bayern an additional outlet for playing the ball out from the back, allowing them to extract the ball from Wolfsburg's high press more easily.
By delivering the ball to the midfield and front third, Bayern's attacking players could fully exploit the huge spaces left behind by Wolfsburg's pushed-up formation!
In the fifty-eighth minute of the match, Wolfsburg's midfield and front line had just completed a wave of high pressing but failed to win possession, and they intended to ease up slightly.
It was this gap, where there was no immediate pressure, that allowed Bayern to play the ball out from the back to the midfield.
"Alaba takes the ball, passes it to Thiago..."
Thiago performed a pull-back and turn, easily shaking off the charging Gustavo.
He looked up ahead and saw Wolfsburg's center-back Naldo pushed up, and he immediately delivered a perfectly weighted through-ball.
The ball passed right by Naldo's feet and arrived at the feet of Müller, who was making a diagonal run behind him!
"Beautiful through-ball!"
Müller carried the ball into the penalty area, and facing the rushing Benaglio and the tracking Knoche, he directly pushed the ball to his left with his right foot, beating the goalkeeper, and followed up with a big stride, sweeping it in with his left foot.
Under the gaze of the Wolfsburg fans, the ball rolled into the empty net, a step ahead of Knoche!
With just a simple pass and run, and a through-ball, Bayern had already sliced through Wolfsburg's defense!
And seeing Müller's goal, Mark on the bench also had sparkling eyes:
"It's you, 'Second Kid'!"
Müller's speed wasn't fast, his footwork wasn't exceptionally delicate, but every single action he made was perfectly executed.
Including his first touch, then shifting the ball to the left to beat the goalkeeper, and finally the weak-foot shot—all were so simple and efficient!
Just from that, one could see how solid Müller's fundamentals truly were.
It's worth mentioning that after Müller's goal, the live broadcast camera also showed Germany's national team coach, Löw, in the stands.
His scouting targets for this match were naturally German internationals like Müller, Kroos, and Jérôme Boateng.
Just as Mark was marveling, the assistant coach's voice already rang in his ears:
"Mark, go warm up!"
Upon hearing this, Mark's eyes lit up, and he immediately sprang from his seat.
The chance to go head-to-head with Bayern's superstars had arrived!