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It is well known that, no matter what competitive sport, playing at home always provides a certain advantage.
In football, the home advantage is even more pronounced.
The greater the disparity in fan support, the more the home team's morale and form will significantly improve, whilst the opposing team's players will be correspondingly weakened.
With this ebb and flow, even if there's a significant difference in strength between the two sides, a league Two team could still defeat a Premier League team at home.
I'm looking at you, Manchester United!
Therefore, in the league and Champions League, home and away factors are usually taken into account, typically involving two-leg matches.
If it's a single-elimination final, it's usually held at a neutral venue.
The German Cup, however, determines home and away through a draw, and it's a single-elimination knockout tournament.
Unfortunately, in today's important semi-final, Bayer Leverkusen drew an away game.
"Heja BVB! Heja BVB!"
"Heja Heja, Heja BVB!"
Lance was already visiting Westfalen for the third time.
Last season, he defeated Dortmund here.
In the first round of the new season, Bayer Leverkusen lost to Dortmund here again.
Westfalen, the 'Devil's Home Ground' with the largest capacity and most fervent atmosphere in all of the Bundesliga, truly gives a suffocating feeling from all angles.
"Lance! What did you say?"
"What? Speak louder, I can't hear you!"
"Didn't you just talk to me?"
Walking onto the pitch, Lance and Son Heung-min were less than a metre apart, yet both had to shout to hear each other.
The deafening roar from the stadium was like standing in front of concert speakers; their eardrums were almost shattered.
Yellow and black banners fluttered in the stands, and over 80,000 fans created an overwhelming presence.
His teammate, Kießling, looked pale, his breathing even a little difficult.
"You alright?"
"Don't worry, I'm fine!"
Scanning his teammates, Lance felt that today's match would not be easy.
"For this German Cup semi-final, Bayer Leverkusen has decided to rotate its starting lineup."
"Starting goalkeeper Leno."
"Defenders: Donati, Spahić, Antonio Rüdiger, Boenisch."
"Midfielders: Jens Hegeler, Lars Bender, Julian Brandt, Son Heung-min."
"Forwards: Kießling, Lance."
"De Bruyne, Rolfes, Maguire, Antonio Rüdiger, and Kimmich are all on the bench."
"Centre-back Van Dijk is temporarily out due to a muscle strain."
"It is currently uncertain whether he will be able to play in the Champions League semi-final against Barcelona in four days."
Seeing Bayer Leverkusen's rotated lineup, their core defensive midfielder, Lars Bender, the team's vice-captain, was still playing with an injury today.
His calf muscle strain had not fully healed, and he specifically received a pain-blocking injection to play today, in order to compete on three fronts.
Such an injection can temporarily suppress the pain of an injury, numbing the local area.
However, this is not conducive to injury recovery.
"...There's no choice; Bayer Leverkusen needs to pay a certain price for their ambition."
"At least one of the midfield screens, Lars Bender or Rolfes, must be on the pitch to ensure intensity."
"As for the attacking problem, that will probably all fall to the miraculous Easterner."
"Compared to the thinly-stretched Bayer Leverkusen, Dortmund can focus on the German Cup, and they have fielded all of their main players."
German TV commentator Scholl couldn't help but worry for Bayer Leverkusen when he saw this starting lineup.
Weidenfeller
Piszczek, Neven Subotić, Hummels, Schmelzer
Kehl, Sven Bender, Gündoğan
Mkhitaryan, Aubameyang, Reus
This was clearly a lineup capable of contending for the title!
Bayer Leverkusen was bound to face a tough battle!
From the very first second the whistle blew, Dortmund displayed what it meant to be a 'Yellow and Black Storm'.
"Dortmund, pushing forward very quickly!"
"Mkhitaryan! Through ball into the channel!! Aubameyang—"
"The shot inside the box goes just wide."
"High press... winning the ball in the attacking third! Gündoğan!! A long-range shot!!"
"That shot is saved by the goalkeeper!"
"Less than a minute into the game, Dortmund has already threatened the opponent's goal, earning a corner kick."
Just as Dortmund's core player, the handsome blonde Marco Reus, stated in an interview before the match:
"Unfortunately, we were defeated by Bayer Leverkusen in the league and lost our hope of winning the title."
"But we will get our revenge in the German Cup."
"This season, we must at least win one trophy for our fans!"
When core players like Götze and Lewandowski left one after another, Reus became the one who stayed loyal to Dortmund, and he was fighting desperately for Dortmund.
"Reus… is very active today!! Dribbling, attempting to break through!"
"He's past him!! Inside the box... cuts in and shoots directly!!"
"That shot!"
"Marcoooooo Ruuessss!!"
"Only 5 minutes into the game, Reus's curling shot from the edge of the box eludes the goalkeeper's grasp!"
"Dortmund leads 1-0 at home!"
Was Reus on a cheat code?
That shot left Lance stunned.
This guy was a tragic hero of German football; a prodigy whose career was marred by injuries.
Every time he was on the verge of becoming a world-class player or joining the Germany Team for the World Cup, he would suffer a major injury.
When Reus was healthy, no one dared to underestimate his power.
He almost single-handedly tore through their right-flank defence.
After celebrating, Reus walked to the centre circle with the ball, and happened to notice Lance's gaze.
Reus didn't provoke; he just smiled and nodded at Lance.
He had revealed multiple times in the media:
"...If there's any player in the Bundesliga I admire or appreciate, it can only be Lance."
"His playing style and those spectacular goals always challenge my perception."
"He is a truly pure player, a dancer on the pitch."
"I believe this young man will shine even brighter."
This guy!
Lance didn't know whether to cry or laugh, getting encouraged by an opponent after being scored on.
Since that's the case...
"Right, guys, let's get one back!"
"Attack! Attack!"
Lance's suggestion was met with an enthusiastic response from his teammates.
Good, they're fired up!
Though he didn't know what they were fired up about!
Beep!
As soon as the referee's whistle blew, whilst the TV broadcast was still replaying Reus's brilliant goal, Bayer Leverkusen had already quietly launched an attack.
Lance kicked off, passed back to Lars Bender, and then turned and surged forward.
Kießling, Son Heung-min, and Julian Brandt simultaneously charged forward with Lance, and in an instant, they were all sprinting at high speed towards the opponent's goal.
"This kid, he's really reckless!"
Vice-captain Lars Bender chuckled wryly.
Lance was full of mischievous ideas, always aggressive, and loved to seek fortune in danger.
"Then let's go mad with you lot!"
Lars Bender held off Gündoğan's tackle and sent a long pass forward!
Kießling leapt high, using his height advantage to head the ball down to Lance.
Neven Subotić rushed forward to double-team him.
Who knew that Lance, with his back to the goal, would use the outside of his right foot to subtly flick the ball backward, like deflecting a thousand pounds with an ounce of force!
Monster Passing!
Today, he was equipped with the Bachira Meguru template!
Driven by the intuition of the monster within him, he went completely wild!
"Damn it!! Do you think I'm Superman?!"
To give himself an early lead, Lance's pass was a bit too strong.
Son Heung-min gritted his teeth and sprinted with all his might, overtaking Piszczek on the outside.
His height of over 180 cm meant Son Heung-min lost some of his delicate footwork, but his explosiveness and physicality greatly increased.
"That shot!!! Son Heung-min!!!"
Just as the ball was about to go out of bounds, Son Heung-min swept it back from an extreme distance with a low kick, delivering a cut-back pass.
Before the Dortmund players could react, Lance appeared in the most desperate position!
The top corner of the penalty area!
"Oh no!!"
Dortmund coach Klopp's heart twitched; he didn't even have time to worry.
Lance had already unleashed a powerful shot!
The position was exactly the same as Reus's just now.
If Reus's shot was elegant and nimble, Lance's shot was pure, unadulterated violence!
Tiger Shot!
He built up power for 2.5 seconds during his run-up.
Goalkeeper Weidenfeller seemed to have a hallucination, as if he saw a primordial giant Tiger pouncing, and as his body trembled, the ball violently struck the net behind him!
"OHHHHHHH—"
"Laaaance—"
"Just 1 minute after conceding, Bayer Leverkusen equalises!!"
"1-1!!"
"Are they that resilient?"
Dortmund's home ground, the 'Devil's Home Ground' that even Bayern feared, had instead become Lance's domain!