The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills

Chapter 433 - 92: Volley! Suppressing Liverpool! That Uncanny Curve

"It’s like this guy has eyes in the back of his head. How did he see Reus?"

"Just be careful!" Kalg said helplessly.

"And watch out for fouls outside the penalty area. His free kicks are dangerous too."

The Liverpool players all nodded.

Reina quickly threw the ball out, looking to start a counter-attack for Liverpool.

The ball quickly crossed the halfway line and was passed directly to Kuyt up front.

The Dutchman immediately laid the ball off to Gerrard and turned to make a run.

But just as Gerrard began to push forward with the ball, Sven Bender suddenly cut in from the side with a slide tackle, taking down both the man and the ball and leaving Gerrard on the turf.

The ball rolled to Shahin.

The referee didn’t blow his whistle.

Shahin then passed to Schmelzer.

Schmelzer immediately carried the ball at pace down the left flank.

Reus charged forward to join him, and the two executed a one-two along the left flank. Schmelzer then passed it horizontally to Wang Shuo in the left channel.

By the time Wang Shuo received the ball, Kalg, Mascherano, and Daniel Agger had all gotten back into position.

Wang Shuo didn’t continue charging forward. Instead, he dribbled diagonally and passed the ball to Götze at the top of the arc, then quickly made a horizontal run.

Götze returned the pass first-time. Wang Shuo made a sharp turn to burst forward, his first touch taking the ball past Daniel Agger and to his right. From the right side of the D, he hammered a powerful long-range shot.

Wang Shuo put all his power into the shot, and it was right on target.

Unfortunately for him, goalkeeper Reina made a flying dive and tipped the ball behind for a corner with one hand.

"Ten minutes into the match."

"Dortmund is attacking in waves, completely pinning Liverpool in their own half."

"So far, Liverpool’s possession is not even thirty percent, and they haven’t had a single shot."

"The match has been almost completely one-sided."

"In fact, Liverpool haven’t even had a single attack inside Dortmund’s penalty area."

"The Bumblebees are really on fire tonight, and their players have been outstanding."

"Especially Wang Shuo."

"With him spearheading the attack, Dortmund are constantly creating dangerous opportunities."

...

Benitez sat upright in the away team’s dugout.

A notebook rested on his lap, and he was constantly jotting down various pieces of information he deemed noteworthy.

A closer look would reveal Wang Shuo’s name in the most conspicuous spot, circled several times. He was clearly the player Benitez was most concerned about.

"If only Torres were playing... we might not be on the back foot so much!" Assistant coach Mauricio Pellegrino sighed, shaking his head.

"We can’t get any of our counter-attacks going!"

Benitez heard this and shook his head. "The way Dortmund is playing, even with Torres on the pitch, we’d still struggle to create any real threat. Our problem right now is that we can’t get the ball out of midfield."

"Playing long balls from the back to our strikers... even Torres would struggle to find any joy against Subotic and Hummels."

Pellegrino’s expression grew complex upon hearing this.

’On one hand, he knew Benitez was right.’

’But on the other hand, should the manager of Liverpool really be saying something like that?’

’If the players or fans heard him, Benitez would get blasted for it.’

’Pellegrino admired Benitez immensely, but he also thought the tactical genius was hopeless with words, as if he were completely devoid of emotion.’

"Wang Shuo is just everywhere. He’s making Dortmund’s attack more and more threatening. We can’t let this go on," Pellegrino said.

Benitez nodded. "But we’re already defending at full strength. If I have the two holding midfielders drop back to help out, it’ll ruin our entire defensive shape."

Neither Kalg nor Daniel Agger had been able to effectively contain Wang Shuo, which was why he was so active.

Benitez’s reply left Pellegrino speechless.

’As the assistant coach, what more could he say?’

’Wang Shuo is just too good!’

’His individual talent is clearly at the level of a top superstar.’

Just as they were speaking, they saw Dortmund launch another attack on the pitch.

But this time, they attacked down the right flank, not the left.

As Owomoyela pushed forward with the ball, he passed it to Kuba.

As Kuba came under pressure from Lucas Leiva, Owomoyela poked the ball forward to Wang Shuo, who was running over to receive it.

Wang Shuo appeared on the right flank, using his body to shield the ball from Insua. After controlling it and turning, he suddenly accelerated.

The Argentine left-back was pinned and completely unable to move.

"Holy shit, isn’t he supposed to be weak physically?" Pellegrino couldn’t help but jump to his feet and yell.

Wang Shuo charged to the right corner of the penalty area. Facing Daniel Agger, he executed a lightning-fast step-over, burst into the right side of the box, and drilled a low cross in front of the goal.

Götze raced in to meet the cross.

Just as he was about to shoot, Reina decisively rushed off his line. Diving at the attacker’s feet, he managed to block the ball with one hand just in the nick of time.

"Damn it, at this rate, how are we supposed to stop this?" Pellegrino was starting to lose his cool.

It was just too dangerous!

And the situation was indeed perilous.

Then, in the 13th minute, Wang Shuo and Götze completed a beautiful one-two.

With his back to goal, Wang Shuo laid the ball back to Götze, then spun and burst into a sprint.

Götze, on the same wavelength, instantly chipped a pass over the top for him, lofting the ball into the penalty box.