In the entire Wolfsburg squad, Marc was not the only one who had been tempered by the World Cup.
Following his adaptation last season and the tempering of the World Cup, De Bruyne became increasingly integrated into the Wolfsburg team.
Especially when he had teammates like Marc who could attract the opponent's defense, he played even more effortlessly.
Initially, he only thought Marc was a flashy player with showy footwork but little substance.
However, after personally witnessing Marc's astonishing growth, while happy for his friend, he also harbored a competitive pride, wanting to measure himself against him.
You all say Marc is a genius.
But speaking of genius, I, Kevin De Bruyne, am also a genius who joined Premier League giants Chelsea at the age of twenty!
And as the midfield core of Wolfsburg, if he didn't continue to improve, he would fall behind Marc!
Compared to the mediocre performance of Gaudino, De Bruyne was clearly one of the best players on the field.
In the first half, his passing accuracy reached ninety-five percent, delivering as many as three key passes!
Both goals were closely related to him.
Furthermore, his repeated runs and attacks initiated from midfield were one of the important reasons why Wolfsburg was able to suppress Bayern's midfield.
In the second half, fueled by De Bruyne's activity, Wolfsburg continued to completely dominate Bayern.
Marc also repeatedly delivered crosses from the right, attempting to link up with Dost in the center.
In his view, the sooner Dost found his form, the more beneficial it would be for their title contention.
After all, Olić was getting old, and Dost was bound to get more playing time this season and was an offensive weapon the team relied on.
Unfortunately, under the tight marking of Javi Martínez, Dost was always just a bit unlucky in his attempts to score.
Even so, Dost gave Marc a thumbs-up and praised his passes every time.
By the sixty-fifth minute, Wolfsburg still led two goals to nil.
Seeing the team's clear advantage, the coach Heijin took the opportunity to substitute new players, letting them go up and find their rhythm.
He first substituted the starting right-back from last season, Ochs, replacing him with Sebastian Jung, who had transferred from Frankfurt.
Then he substituted center-back Tim Klose, replacing him with the Netherlands center-back De Vrij.
In Heijin's view, Sebastian Jung and De Vrij were bought specifically to be starters.
And the two of them did not disappoint him!
Jung was already a top-tier Bundesliga full-back at Frankfurt, capable of contributing both offensively and defensively, and had been selected for the German National Team.
Compared to Ochs, who was strong in attack but weak in defense, his offensive and defensive capabilities were more balanced, and he possessed an accurate cross.
As for De Vrij, he was a deep-lying center-back with excellent positional awareness and predictive ability, perfectly complementing the aggressive pressuring style of Naldo.
Whenever the ball reached Lewandowski, Naldo immediately stepped up to mark him tightly, and the space left behind was instantly filled by De Vrij.
The reason Wolfsburg conceded too many goals through the middle last season was that after Naldo pressed forward, players including Klose and Knoche failed to hold their positions and were too slow to turn, often being beaten by a burst of Speed and a change of direction.
De Vrij, however, performed more steadily.
When facing Speed-type forwards, he would not mark tightly but instead conceded some space, relying on predictive interceptions and positioning.
The combination of the two made it difficult for Lewandowski to get comfortable shooting opportunities inside the box.
With the introduction of the two new signings, Wolfsburg's defense became even more solid.
Jung's overlapping runs and assists on the right side, combined with Marc's attacks, repeatedly challenged Bayern's left flank, causing Juan Bernat considerable distress.
Facing the team's predicament, Guardiola had no intention of making further substitutions.
In his view, a non-essential match like the German Supercup was simply for testing tactics and evaluating new players.
Rather than substituting more starters, he preferred to let the current players finish the entire match!
As time ticked away, the referee finally blew the full-time whistle, accompanied by the loud singing echoing throughout the Volkswagen Arena!
"The match is over!"
"Let's congratulate Wolfsburg on winning this year's Supercup title!"
Wolfsburg defeated Bundesliga overlords Bayern Munich with a score of two goals to nil at the Volkswagen Arena, claiming the club's first ever Europe Supercup!
[Ding] [Congratulations to the host for completing the seasonal mission — German Supercup Champion] [Reward: Three Potential Points!]
Accompanying the pleasant system prompt ringing in his mind, Marc flashed a brilliant smile and high-fived De Bruyne in celebration: "Mate, another championship!"
"Hahahaha!"
Perhaps for Bayern and Guardiola, who win titles every year, this championship was worthless.
Or perhaps several key players had not trained with the team for long due to the World Cup.
That was why Guardiola chose a semi-starting lineup and stubbornly insisted on letting the starters play the full ninety minutes.
However, this was nothing more than the arrogance of giants and famous coaches.
It must be known that in the cruel world of football, most professional players never touch a championship trophy throughout their entire careers.
Even within this Wolfsburg squad, there were many players who had never lifted a championship trophy.
Although this German Supercup was neither the Bundesliga title nor the Champions League title.
It was still a championship!
Moreover, it was achieved by defeating the Bundesliga overlords, Bayern.
The significance was maximized!
More importantly, this match ended Wolfsburg's embarrassing seven-game losing streak against Bayern Munich in official competitions!
For Wolfsburg, who aimed to compete for the title this season, this was a good start.
A winner's mentality is precisely built up through victory after victory and championship after championship!
To truly pull Bayern down from the throne of Bundesliga dominance, they must accumulate experience from every single victory.
And this Supercup championship would be the first step they took toward challenging and ultimately breaking Bayern's dominance!
After the match, the Wolfsburg players lifted this first title in club history under the gaze of tens of thousands of spectators at the Volkswagen Arena!
However, just four days after lifting the German Supercup, Wolfsburg faced their German Cup first-round match.
Having won the cup last season, the team was no longer so desperate for this trophy.
Thus, after deliberation between Heijin and the coaching staff, they decided to use the German Cup as a proving ground for the reserves.
Unexpectedly, facing the 2. Bundesliga team Darmstadt, Wolfsburg, playing a full reserve lineup, suffered a shocking zero-to-one upset loss away from home!
Originally, they were still thinking about how to prioritize the three competitions: the League, the German Cup, and the Champions League.
Now, they were eliminated directly in the first round, so they no longer had to worry about fighting on three fronts.
They had just secured the club's first German Supercup title, and immediately after, their journey in the German Cup came to an end.
Of course, for Wolfsburg, who still had the Champions League to contend with this season, an early exit from the German Cup might not necessarily be a bad thing...
...
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