Chapter 349: Chapter 80: Blitzkrieg! Klopp’s Ascent! Suarez: I’m Not as Good as Wang Shuo! The Disaster-Plagued Van Gaal

Newspapers everywhere were scrambling to break it down, even inviting pundits to analyze the entire process of Wang Shuo’s goal—dissecting every touch, every change of direction, even every single step.

It was undeniably real!

These words from Suarez made everyone in the Ajax locker room anxious about the upcoming UEFA Europa League Round of 32 knockout match, as they were set to face Wang Shuo and Dortmund head-on.

But the Uruguayan forward didn’t share their anxiety.

On the contrary, he was filled with anticipation.

’As a forward, he wanted to play a match against Wang Shuo and see for himself on the pitch if he was really all that good!’

...

No one knew of the conversation that had taken place in the Ajax locker room in the Netherlands.

While the media and fans across the globe were still marveling at Wang Shuo’s magnificent goal, he and his teammates had already shifted their focus to preparing for the weekend’s match.

This time, their opponent was Bayern Munich at Allianz Arena!

On February 10th, a weekday, the DFB-Pokal quarterfinals kicked off, with Bayern hosting Fiat.

Van Gaal did something completely unexpected.

With Der Klassiker just days away, he fielded a squad of mostly starters against a 2nd Bundesliga team.

And to top it off, their performance was a complete mess!

Goalkeeper: Lensing

Defense: Lahm, Badstuber, Demichelis, Lair

Midfield: Tymoshchuk and Van Bommel as a double pivot, with Ribery, Thomas Müller, and Robben in front of them

Forward: Gomez.

Eight of the eleven starters were regular first-team players.

Just five minutes into the match, Ribery assisted Thomas Müller for the opening goal.

But a mere five minutes later, Fiat leveled the score.

The game remained deadlocked until the 40th minute, when Fiat shockingly pulled ahead.

Bayern went into the second half trailing 1-2.

It wasn’t until the 58th minute of the second half that Robben scored for Bayern, equalizing the match.

Even then, boos still echoed around Allianz Arena.

Van Gaal made two substitutions at once.

The young Alaba came on for Tymoshchuk, and Konstantin replaced Lair, with Lahm moving back to right-back.

It took Alaba just one minute. In the 60th minute, he assisted a goal for Ribery.

In the 64th minute, Ribery assisted Lahm, who added another goal.

4-2. Bayern had completed the turnaround!

Ultimately, Bayern scored two more goals in the 82nd and 89th minutes, ending the match with a 6-2 victory.

But looking at the match as a whole, Bayern’s victory was anything but secure.

After the match, the German media’s assessment of Bayern’s performance was not favorable.

After all, their opponent was Fiat from the 2nd Bundesliga.

More importantly, at such a critical time just before Der Klassiker, had Van Gaal invested too much in the match against Fiat?

Core players like Ribery, Gomez, Thomas Müller, and Lahm had all played the full ninety minutes.

So what about the weekend’s match?

After the match, when reporters posed the question to Van Gaal, the Dutch head coach replied, "I believe the players can overcome it. It won’t be a problem!" 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

But this clearly wasn’t enough to convince everyone.

...

"Van Gaal is hedging his bets!"

In the conference room at Dortmund’s Strobelaler Training Base, Klopp slammed a hand against the tactics board behind him, grabbing the attention of all his players.

"His team is in a very precarious position right now."

"In the Champions League, they only managed to finish second in their group. Next, they have to face Fiorentina from Serie A. The Purple Lily finished first in their group, and they did it by beating out both Lyon and Liverpool with a record of five wins and one loss!"

"In the Bundesliga, Bayern is currently tied with Bayer Leverkusen at 45 points, while we have 54. They’re a full nine points behind us."

"So, Van Gaal is worried. He’s scared. He’s not confident he can mount a comeback in the league, nor is he confident about making a breakthrough in the Champions League. That’s why he’s not willing to give up on the DFB-Pokal!"

"Because that’s the only trophy he’s confident he can win!"

Wang Shuo, sitting across from Klopp, couldn’t help but nod as he listened to the head coach’s speech.

’It’s very likely.’

’Van Gaal’s season coaching Bayern has been one disaster after another!’

’The renowned Dutch manager was brought in with high hopes of reform, only to be met with calls for his dismissal as early as the second matchday.’

’Then there was the falling out with their thirty-million-euro man, Gomez, and his clashes with Luca Tony. Strange rumors were constantly leaking from the locker room.’

’Many people said Van Gaal’s reforms had stepped on some toes in the Bayern locker room.’

’Maybe so.’

’But based on results, Van Gaal’s tenure at Bayern, at least so far, could hardly be called a success!’

’At the very best, he was only slightly better than Klinsmann.’

"I can guarantee that for Matchday 22 of the Bundesliga this weekend, Van Gaal will throw everything he has at us."

"This will be Bayern’s starting lineup."

Goalkeeper: Butt

Defense: Badstuber, Demichelis, Van Bitten, and Lahm

Midfield: Schweinsteiger and Van Bommel as a double pivot, with Ribery, Thomas Müller, and Robben ahead of them

Forward: Gomez or Olic.

Why the "or"?

Because no one can predict who Van Gaal will decide to start.

But the forward position is the only real question mark. The rest of the lineup is pretty much set in stone.

"Our opponent expended a lot of energy in their midweek game, and right after our league match this weekend, they have the Champions League Round of 16 knockout stage."