Looking at the black-haired teenager in front of him, Alaba admitted he had been a bit careless just now.
He hadn't expected the kid to have so many feints when dribbling, and for them to be so convincing!
Generally speaking, right-footed players playing on the right wing would break through to the outside, then use their speed to create distance from their marker.
But this kid didn't play by the rules!
At this moment, he couldn't help but recall the scouting report on Marc from the pre-match tactical briefing:
"This kid has excellent footwork, lots of feints when dribbling, but he's not fast, and his physical confrontation is poor..."
"When defending, don't fall for his feints, then use your body to jockey for position!"
Soon, the two met for their second one-on-one on the wing!
And this time, Alaba still guarded the outside.
Mark simply dribbled forward to meet him, and with each step, his entire body posture had a mysterious rhythm.
Sometimes he'd drop a shoulder, sometimes take a small shuffle step, his feints constantly shifting between real and fake, and with such large movements that it was impossible to predict his breakthrough direction.
Unsure of when to tackle, Alaba just retreated with small steps, his center of gravity remaining steady.
Seeing this, Mark smiled inwardly:
"You think I can't get past you just because you're standing still?"
No sooner said than done!
Mark quickly performed two step-overs, then once again dropped his shoulder, feigning a breakthrough to the outside.
Seeing this, Alaba frowned.
"You think you can get past me with the same trick?!"
"No way!"
The next second, Mark didn't disappoint him, once again pushing the ball with the outside of his left foot, looking to break through on the left.
Alaba, having anticipated Marc would do this, also turned his body early, moving towards the inside while not forgetting to stick out his right foot to intercept the ball's path.
However, just as Alaba thought he had intercepted it, he didn't expect that Mark had already anticipated his anticipation!
Twisting his left ankle, he smoothly pulled the ball inwards, and the ball just slipped between Alaba's legs!
A nutmeg!
"What?!"
As Alaba was internally astonished, Mark had already glided past him!
Fortunately, Alaba reacted quickly, immediately turning to chase back, then with a large stride and a powerful shoulder charge, he directly knocked Marc down from behind.
As Mark fell heavily onto the turf, the referee's whistle also sounded!
Beep!
Alaba didn't explain to the referee, but simply went over and patted Mark, apologizing before retreating.
Mark didn't mind, he just adjusted his socks and stood up.
He dribbled past opponents to break through their defense.
Alaba fouled him to stop him from doing so.
They were both just doing their jobs for their respective teams.
In Mark's opinion, as long as it wasn't a malicious foul, it was acceptable.
This breakthrough on the wing also earned Marc applause from the home fans.
"Facing Bundesliga hegemon Bayern Munich, Mark, who just came on as a substitute, showed no signs of stage fright."
"Alaba could only stop him with a foul..."
Indeed.
In two one-on-one situations on the wing, Mark used his brilliant footwork to get past Alaba, a top Bundesliga full-back.
The first time, it nearly led to a goal;
The second time, he won a set-piece opportunity for his team.
It could be said that Mark completely dominated his one-on-one duels with Alaba!
And such a stunning performance left Löw and Flick looking at each other in the stands, their eyes filled with surprise:
"Hans (Flick), is this his first Bundesliga season?"
"To be precise, including this time, he has only played seven times in the Bundesliga. Six of those were as a substitute, contributing a total of three goals and four assists."
Hearing these statistics, Löw's eyes widened, and he asked again:
"He's never been selected for Germany's youth teams before?"
"That's right."
"Then where did this kid suddenly come from?!"
Although Mark's performance exceeded the expectations of the national team coach and assistant coach.
However, this localized one-on-one victory could not change the overall situation of the match.
The set-piece taken by R. Ricardo was headed clear out of the penalty area by Jérôme Boateng, who won the first ball.
Thiago chested the ball down, then immediately turned and sent a low through ball down the right wing!
Robben, who had surged forward, stopped the ball with the top of his foot, then immediately dribbled at high speed along the wing!
Reaching Wolfsburg's half, facing the young center-back Knoche who remained in defense, the Little Flying Dutchman merely feigned a move, and then directly entered the world-famous "Robben Corridor."
After cutting inside, he arrived at the edge of the penalty area, and Robben immediately unleashed a curling shot!
Fortunately, this shot didn't fully curve, and Benaglio made a diving save, pushing the ball out for a corner, barely defusing this attack.
Robben, who had once again narrowly missed a goal, angrily threw his hands up, cursing in Dutch at the sky.
"This is Robben's fifth shot of the match!"
"It's just a shame he's still a bit unlucky in front of goal..."
In this match, because Wolfsburg was pressing high and their formation was pushed forward, he had more opportunities for counter-attacking cut-ins and shots.
However, his shot conversion rate in this match was quite ordinary.
Nevertheless, compared to the listless Ribéry on the other side, Robben could be said to be the most threatening player for Bayern in this match.
It's worth mentioning that the most terrifying aspect of Bayern's wing duo is that even if one is out of form, the other has enough individual ability to tear open defenses and create danger.
Seeing Robben in such good form, Guardiola on the sidelines took advantage of a dead ball situation to come to the touchline and quietly instructed Lahm, who was about to take a throw-in:
"Philipp (Lahm), have Arjen (Robben) and Franck (Ribéry) switch positions!"
As the head coach gave the instructions, Robben and Ribéry also switched positions on the field.
Robben moved to the left, and Ribéry moved to the right.
After more than half the match, Guardiola naturally saw that Wolfsburg's right flank was a weak point.
Whether it was the right winger Mark, whose defensive tracking ability was average, or the right-back Ochs, whose skill level was ordinary, both were exploitable areas.
Coupled with Robben's excellent breakthrough form in this match, using Robben's individual ability to suppress Wolfsburg's right-wing attack was a good strategy.
And this change had an immediate effect!
As Robben moved to the left to receive the ball and break through, Marc, who had been very active in attack, had no choice but to track back to his own half, joining Ochs and Gustavo in a zonal defense against Robben.
And as Bayern shifted their main attacking direction to the left, Marc's touches on the ball also decreased.
He appeared on camera more often as a desperate figure assisting in defense.
Even so, his appearance still allowed Wolfsburg to regain some initiative to a certain extent.
Mark could control the ball in the final third, create fouls from opponents, and also create more space for De Bruyne.
As Mark held the ball on the wing, Bayern's fierce offensive also slowed slightly.
Just when everyone thought this match would end with a score of one to three, a sudden change occurred!
In the eighty-seventh minute, Wolfsburg finally gained possession.
Bayern didn't press too much, allowing Gustavo to pass the ball to Marc's feet on the right wing.
Facing Alaba's defense again, Mark feigned a breakthrough, but instead flicked the ball directly to De Bruyne, who was making a diagonal run down the wing.
De Bruyne carried the ball forward, went directly to the byline, and in two large strides, arrived at the right side of the penalty area.
He glanced at Dost in the center and chose not to deliver a low cross, but instead sent in a high cross.
The ball traced a beautiful arc in the air over Volkswagen Arena, sailing over the heads of Bayern's two center-backs, Dante and Jérôme Boateng, and arriving in the far post area!
"De Bruyne... cross!"
"Back post!"
Perisic, making a late run, outjumped Lahm to complete a diving header!
However, Neuer was Neuer for a reason.
The moment De Bruyne crossed the ball, he had already moved early, positioning himself near the post.
With a double-handed block, he directly denied this powerful header!
The ball rebounded, landing precisely on the six-yard box line.
However, the next second, to the surprise of both Bayern players and fans, a green and white figure, like a ghost, charged directly into the penalty area!
His flowing black hair, moving with the wind, and the number 45 on his back, all indicated the identity of the person.
It was Mark!
...
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