Sitting on the bus to Westfalen, Snuffy felt a little nervous. He looked at De Bruyne, who was staring blankly beside him.
"Kevin, how did you feel when you first played at Westfalen last year? I heard the stadium atmosphere there is particularly oppressive. Is that true?"
Facing Snuffy's question, De Bruyne thought for a moment and did not immediately give an answer.
"Last year, I played two games at Westfalen, one in the Bundesliga and one in the German Cup semi-final. Unfortunately, we lost both."
"The stadium atmosphere is indeed very oppressive, but compared to the discomfort of losing, I think this pressure is not worth mentioning."
"No matter what stadium, no matter what opponent, I want to win."
"Kevin, that's not really like you," Snuffy said, a little curious to hear such words from De Bruyne, who was usually not so expressive.
"I just want to win!"
After hearing De Bruyne's words, Snuffy thought about De Bruyne's recent experiences.
It was well known that De Bruyne, a young talent from Belgium, who had performed excellently for several consecutive years at Genk in the Belgian League, was bought by Chelsea.
Then he was loaned to Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga. In his season at Werder Bremen, De Bruyne played almost every game and performed outstandingly! Just when he thought he would be heavily relied upon when he returned to Chelsea next season...
In the first half of the 2013-2014 season, Mourinho only gave him three appearances for the entire half-season before discarding him, deeming him an unnecessary member of the team.
Therefore, in the second half of the season, Wolfsburg bought De Bruyne. And De Bruyne, with his excellent performance, became the attacking core of Wolfsburg.
Everyone knew that De Bruyne had a fire in his belly. He wanted to prove himself to Chelsea and to Mourinho, to prove that he was an indispensable midfield talent.
Coupled with the recent incident of being cuckolded by his national team teammate Courtois, De Bruyne was even more determined to play better and achieve success to vent his frustration.
He was probably one of the players in the team who most wanted Wolfsburg to achieve something this year.
Thinking of this, Snuffy, who was focused on winning the championship for his system reward, felt that De Bruyne must also have a strong desire for the championship.
"Kevin, what do you think about our prospects this year? Can we win a championship?"
"Championship?! The chances in the Bundesliga are slim. Bayern Munich has been undefeated for 15 consecutive League rounds this year, leading us, who are second in the League, by seven points. Our chances in the Bundesliga are pitifully small. We can only try for the German Cup and the Europa League. The most likely is still the German Cup! After all, we reached the semi-finals last year."
"Of course, Snuffy, if you can play as well in every round as you did in the last, our chances of winning the championship will greatly increase."
"But honestly, the championship is still very far away from us, Snuffy, don't put too much pressure on yourself."
After speaking, De Bruyne patted Snuffy's shoulder, put on his headphones, and began to rest with his eyes closed.
To play as well in every match as in the last—hearing this, Snuffy's conviction grew stronger. 'I will,' he thought, 'I will definitely play even better than last time.'
After several hours of travel, the team bus finally reached its destination, a five-star hotel less than three kilometers from Westfalen Stadium.
After getting off the bus, Snuffy took his luggage to his assigned room and found himself sharing with the team's veteran captain, Naldo.
After putting down their luggage and having a simple dinner at the hotel restaurant, head coach Dieter Hecking called everyone for an hour-long tactical meeting.
At the meeting, Dieter Hecking told Snuffy that he would substitute him into the game in the second half, but would give him at least 30 minutes of playing time.
Snuffy was somewhat excited to receive the head coach's assurance of playing time. After the meeting, he went to the hotel's gym for extra training. Earning a skill point for every eight hours of training made Snuffy always seize every moment to train diligently.
At 5 PM the next day, they boarded the bus outside and began their journey to Westfalen Stadium.
As they approached the stadium district, groups of Borussia Dortmund fans, dressed in yellow and black team uniforms, stood on both sides of the street, loudly singing their team anthem at the Wolfsburg bus.
In the plaza surrounding the stadium, countless Borussia Dortmund fans had dyed everything within sight yellow and black.
Looking at Westfalen Stadium right before his eyes, Snuffy sighed, "Borussia Dortmund is playing so poorly this season, yet the fans' atmosphere is still so fervent!"
"After all, it's Borussia Dortmund," De Bruyne beside him couldn't help but exclaim, "They have the most passionate fans in all of the Bundesliga."
"Someday, we will also have fans like this, who will support us unconditionally and cheer us on with such passion!"
On December 17th, at 7 PM, Borussia Dortmund and Wolfsburg appeared at Westfalen Stadium. This world-renowned 'Hell Stadium' had not become desolate due to the team's poor performance; instead, it exuded a fierce, fervent atmosphere.
The fervent fans let out earth-shattering roars, and all the fans in the stands raised their hands to cheer for the team. This was Borussia Dortmund's last home game of the first half of the season. Including this match, only two rounds remained in the first half of the season.
At this time, nearing Christmas, if Borussia Dortmund could not win this final home game, it was believed that all Borussia Dortmund fans would not be in a good mood for the holidays.
"Good evening, everyone. Matchday 16 of the Bundesliga kicks off today, and we follow the camera to Westfalen Stadium.
This season, Borussia Dortmund seems to have lost its former edge. Borussia Dortmund, which contended with Bayern Munich for two championships and two runner-up finishes in the past four years, is now still in the lower-middle ranks of the League table.
After losing Lewandowski this season, the purchased Immobile is clearly completely unable to replace Lewandowski's position, and Reus's injury has also brought huge losses to the team.
In this last home game before the New Year, can Borussia Dortmund deliver a New Year's blessing to their fervent fans at Westfalen Stadium? Let's wait and see.
Their opponent is Wolfsburg, who are second in the League table. Although they are seven points behind Bayern Munich, I believe they will still win every game for the championship. Let's look at Borussia Dortmund's starting 4-2-3-1:
Goalkeeper: Langerak.
Defenders: Durm, Hummels, Subotić, Schmelzer.
Midfielders: Großkreutz, Kehl, Gündoğan, Sven Bender, Aubameyang.
Forward: Immobile.
Wolfsburg's starting 4-2-3-1:
Goalkeeper: Benaglio.
Defenders: Sebastian Jung, Naldo, Knoche, Ricardo Rodriguez.
Midfielders: Vieirinha, De Bruyne, Gustavo, Perišić, Guilavogui.
Forward: Dost.
Let's look forward to an exciting match from both teams."
As soon as the match began, Borussia Dortmund's players launched a frantic assault on Wolfsburg's defense.
The double pivot of Guilavogui and Gustavo was almost nonexistent under the relentless onslaught of Aubameyang and Großkreutz.
The shattered midfield defense was unable to provide cover for the backline.
Immobile easily received a pass from Aubameyang with his back to goal. As he turned to shoot, he was disrupted by Jung, who had come over to cover, and his shot flew out of bounds.
Dieter Hecking watched the precarious defense at the start of the game, furious and shouting loudly from the sidelines.
"Where are your brains?! I told you so many times, Borussia Dortmund will attack frantically at the start. Compact defense! All of you, fall back and defend! Their big man's footwork is average, mark Aubameyang's breakthroughs and Gündoğan's late runs!"
Immobile, who had just transferred to Borussia Dortmund this year, had by now become a well-known flop throughout the Bundesliga.
As the striker replacing Lewandowski, he had only scored two goals in the past 15 Bundesliga League matches, a performance that could only be described as disastrous.
And Aubameyang, the extremely fast winger, was one of the few bright spots for Borussia Dortmund this season.
Before Wolfsburg's defense could fully stabilize, Klopp, who was directing from the other side of the field, also waved his hand, directly pushing Sven Bender and Kehl forward.
They completely abandoned the midfield, rushing directly into Wolfsburg's 30-meter area. This instantly caused Wolfsburg's defense to completely collapse.
In the 8th minute of the match, Gündoğan played a through ball to Immobile. After receiving the ball, Immobile, with his back to goal, leaned on Naldo, took the ball to the left, squeezed past Naldo with his body, and before Knoche could press, passed the ball to Aubameyang, who was unmarked and making a diagonal run into the six-yard box.
After receiving the ball, Aubameyang gently prodded it, and the football slipped under Benaglio's armpit, who had dived out, and into the net.
Only 8 minutes into the first half, Wolfsburg's goal was breached.
"GOAL!!!!! Aubameyang scores! After nearly half a season, Immobile finally gets his first assist in the Bundesliga. Borussia Dortmund shows their most insane performance at the start of the match! This is the Borussia Dortmund we know!"
As the live commentator shouted, the fervent Borussia Dortmund fans erupted in deafening cheers.
After conceding the goal, Wolfsburg's players calmed down, solidified their defense, and began to launch limited counterattacks.
"After the initial intense assault, Borussia Dortmund's players are clearly starting to tire, and they've begun to retract their formation. Now it's Wolfsburg's turn."
Just as Wolfsburg's players on the field were preparing to use offense to turn around the unfavorable start, an unexpected event occurred.