Chapter 635: Someone Asked Grandmaster GG for Advice; It's Time to Show His Skills

Chelsea (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: Édouard Mendy

Defenders: Reece James, Zouma, Thiago Silva, Chilwell

Midfielders: Kanté, Jorginho, Mount

Forwards: Odoi, Abraham, Werner

Head Coach: Lampard

Chelsea's formation against Dortmund today is basically no different from last time.

As the home team, however, Dortmund has made much bigger changes today.

"Hiss... Dortmund is playing with three defenders today too?"

"In my memory, Dortmund has only played with three defenders once this season."

"Yes, that was the last match against Cologne."

Judging from the previous match against Cologne, Dortmund's three-defender tactic still has significant flaws, and not the kind that can be completely resolved in a short time.

Logically speaking, Dortmund should be more conservative today, but for some reason, Escrivá is being so bold.

Could it be...

Dortmund has already mastered the correct way to play with three defenders?

Never mind, let's observe first!

"Hummels, distribute from the back!"

"Ooh! Hummels' distribution is absolutely beautiful!"

"Looking for Tang Ye!"

The ball flies up from the back; Tang Ye and Kanté are entangled, both prepared to fight for the lower ball.

Reece James comes over to help but gets blocked by Reus.

Tang Ye versus Kanté!

With his back to Kanté, Tang Ye feels the Chelsea defensive midfielder's chest pressed against his own as the two push and shove.

Kanté is naturally no match for Tang Ye.

He extends his foot to stop the ball!

A feint to move left!

Then switching to the right!

Using the feint to create distance, Tang Ye begins looking for help from his teammates.

No rush; he passes back to Bellingham, and the instant the pass is completed, Tang Ye turns and surges forward.

Bellingham delivers the pass!

Bang!

Kanté tries to intercept in the middle, but Bellingham anticipated this, so his through-ball is incredibly fast.

Kanté stretches out his foot but fails to touch the ball.

Now it's Tang Ye with the ball!

"Wow!!!"

Roars of surprise erupt from the stands as Tang Ye leaps, letting the ball roll beneath his feet.

Controlling that first touch is crucial.

Find the opportunity!

Slap!

The pass goes forward to Haaland; the Dortmund striker receives with his back to goal, holding off Zouma's charge.

Then to Sancho!

"Sancho has reached the byline; let's see how Dortmund handles this attack!"

"Chilwell's defensive awareness is excellent! Yes, he can't give Sancho the chance to cut inside!"

Since the defender denies the cut inside, Sancho can only go down the line.

Behind him is Pogba, ready to support!

A pass back.

Seeing Pogba receive the ball, Tang Ye decisively charges into the penalty area; a second later, Pogba adjusts and whips a 45-degree cross directly into the box.

Here it comes!

"Block him!"

Tang Ye shouts, reminding Haaland to drag the defenders away, which the latter indeed does.

Thiago Silva and Zouma's attention is entirely drawn by Haaland, while Kanté also moves into the box to mark Tang Ye.

Just as Kanté approaches, Tang Ye suddenly pulls to the right.

Chest control!

Bang!

It looks like a control, but in reality, it isn't.

Seizing the moment of control, Tang Ye engages his core and chests the ball over to Haaland.

!!!

The goalkeeper senses something is wrong; almost simultaneously, Haaland bends his knees and launches a powerful header.

"Gooooooal!!!!"

"Goal! It's a goal!"

"Haaland!"

"Haaland scores!"

【Mission Progress: Assist Haaland (7/10)】

It was only the 6th minute of the first half, and Dortmund had secured their first goal of the match.

A dream start!

Although he had anticipated Dortmund scoring first, he hadn't expected the goal to come so quickly.

After all, Chelsea was no weak team!

"Roar! Haaland!"

Tang Ye and Haaland ran out together.

Reaching the sideline, Haaland sat on the grass and began to meditate.

Oh?

This was the first time Tang Ye had seen Haaland perform this celebration; moving to the empty spot beside Haaland, he squatted on the grass and mimicked Haaland's movements.

"Haalandddddd!!!!!!!"

Boom! Boom!

Boom-boom-boom!

Live Match Report: 7th minute, Tang Ye in the penalty area, chest pass, Haaland heads it in, Dortmund 1:0 Chelsea!

"Fuck!"

"Fuck!"

Lampard cursed twice, extremely dissatisfied, summoning Kanté and Jorginho.

"If we're defending, then defend decisively! Why are you standing aside instead of blocking his position?"

"I was afraid he'd fake a move."

Kanté touched his nose, his expression awkward.

He knew that the team's conceded goal was partly his fault.

"Exactly, he might fake a move, but that's not the issue; he's already inside the penalty area, so you must block his position! What you're doing is handing him a passing opportunity!"

"... Sorry, Mr."

Kanté lowered his head.

The tactic Dortmund suddenly unveiled today indeed left Chelsea somewhat unsettled.

It was a simple principle.

Dortmund this month was not on the same level as Dortmund two months ago; if Chelsea continued to approach this match with their previous attitude, they would likely suffer losses, and significant ones at that.

They were already trailing.

That was the fact!

"Nice, Erling!"

Reus punched Haaland's muscular arm, celebrating the first goal.

"We still need to attack down the left, switching between the center and the left flank."

"Best to avoid the right side."

Tang Ye covered his mouth and quietly shared Ji De Xiang Fa with his teammates.

The right-back responsible for defending that flank was Chilwell; this player's counter-attacks were exceptionally strong, which was precisely why Tang Ye preferred not to attack down the right.

Any mistake by Sancho resulting in a turnover would allow Chilwell to immediately launch a counter-attack against their opponents.

The defender on the right side was still Pogba; if Pogba happened to be out of form as well, the situation would be disastrous.

"It's fine, just stay steady."

Reus emphasized.

"..."

Time slowly ticked to the 17th minute of the first half, and the possession statistics fans had been waiting for finally appeared.

Dortmund: 41%.

Chelsea: 59%.

In the Fan Fan Dejia, Dortmund's possession rate was generally advantageous because teams like Dortmund and Bayern Munich were in the top tier of strength in the Fan Fan Dejia, with a significant gap separating them from the teams below.

But in the Champions League, it was different.

When the strength gap was narrow, Dortmund usually couldn't secure a possession advantage; this wasn't only due to Tang Ye restructuring the team's system but also because Bellingham loved making forward runs.

"Actually, I think if Bellingham could learn ball control from Tang Ye, I would be very optimistic about this kid's professional prospects, because currently, Bellingham's playing style requires top-tier ball control skills to support it!"

Mastering ball control could make one incredibly strong.

But ball control happened to be the hardest skill to learn; Bellingham couldn't possibly possess ball control on the level of Tang Ye or Hazard in such a short time.

In the 25th minute, Reece James dribbled at tremendous speed toward the baseline, while Guerrero was retreating.

Additionally, attentive fans noticed that Reus dropped very deep whenever James attacked.

This was likely Escrivá's adjusted summary based on the previous match.

Snap!

James held off the pressure and passed the ball forward to Kanté, who was making a run.

Kanté's running coverage successfully created an opportunity for Chelsea!

First run toward the baseline, then cut inside once reaching the appropriate distance.