Perfect Center

Chapter 144 A tough schedule!
Inside Dortmund's training base.

The wind was blowing, it was the middle of winter.

Dortmund's upcoming schedule is not easy, with two games a week becoming commonplace in February.

An upcoming match is the German Cup quarter-final against Stuttgart.

Stuttgart's former coach Zonik was sacked, and his successor Kramny's performance was quite good. After 20 rounds, Stuttgart ranked twelfth in the Bundesliga.

After all, in the 12th round, Stuttgart only had points and ranked at the bottom of the Bundesliga.

Zonik has another magical move.

After Stuttgart beat Jena 2-0 away and advanced to the next round of the German Cup, the players did not go home to sleep immediately after rushing back to Stuttgart overnight, but were pulled to the training ground for extra training.

Regarding the midnight training, Zoenig said:

"The players can go home and sleep afterwards and have a full day to rest. I would of course rather drive home but we have to do it."

As a result, after completing the last 10 minutes of strength training, the players all went home to sleep...

……

On the training ground, Dortmund players ended the day's training after a relaxed group competition.

Physical trainer Shi Lai walked up to Xia Han, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Xia! The recent schedule is not easy. The upcoming Bundesliga will really need you. You should take a break recently and don't overload your body!"

Xia Han nodded in understanding. He could not participate in the Europa League and had more time to rest. The players participating in the Europa League were resting during the league, and this was when Xia Han's contribution was needed.

Time passes slowly in the monotonous, fulfilling and dull days.

As the pointer moved on its own, Xia Han not only trained and studied, but also played stand-alone games.

After transferring to Dortmund, Xia Han rarely has free time to go fishing, but he still rides his old bike out for a ride and breathes fresh air.

This season, Dortmund made progress on three fronts and its journey to the German Cup was very smooth. It defeated many teams from the German regional and German third divisions along the way!

In the last German Cup match, we beat Augsburg 2-0 without any difficulty and advanced to the quarter-finals!

Wednesday, February 10th.

It’s the day of the German Cup quarter-finals!
Xia Han followed the club and took a bus to Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg in southwestern Germany!

Stuttgart is the state capital and the sixth largest city in Germany. Mercedes-Benz, the sponsor of Stuttgart Football Club, is based here.

Dortmund is about to arrive at the away game, at the Mercedes-Benz Arena, to challenge the Bundesliga powerhouse - Stuttgart!

Stuttgart's recent record is very good. They have won all three games after the Bundesliga winter break and are in very hot form!
On the club bus.

Ginter withdrew his gaze from the window and said, "Stuttgart is also strong. They have won four games in a row before the winter break. Their left winger Kostic is very strong, as well as Gentner and Werner!"

Reus nodded: "Kostic is very good! His corner kicks are very good! Their Ivorian midfielder Ceri Die is also very strong!"

Mkhitaryan took over the conversation and said: "Don't worry, they will most likely rotate their players in this German Cup! They should focus on the league, twenty-four points are not enough!" In the second half of the Bundesliga, Stuttgart's league record was very dazzling, but Zonik's early performance in leading the team was really poor. In the last few rounds of the Bundesliga, Kramny led Stuttgart to escape the relegation zone.

Xia Han closed his eyes and when he opened them, Dortmund's club bus had slowly entered the Mercedes-Benz Arena.

Although the audience capacity of Stuttgart's main stadium is not as large as that of Berlin Olympic Stadium and Westfalenstadion, it can still accommodate more than 50,000 people!

The biggest feature of this stadium is the 18 square meter membrane structure roof at 35-34000 meters from the audience seats. The undulating membrane structure roof, combined with exquisite structure and patterns, achieves a clever fusion of classical beauty and modern beauty.

Tuchel came to the pre-match press conference and he still remained confident about the outcome of the game.

In the 4th round of the Bundesliga, Dortmund faced Stuttgart at home and won 1-. The only thing they had to worry about was the variables at Stuttgart's home court.

After patting Stuttgart's mascot, the crocodile Fritzl, questions from media reporters continued to pour in towards Tuchel.

"Mr. Tuchel, you won the game against Stuttgart at home! Now that you are at the Mercedes-Benz Arena, are you confident that you can come out of this game unscathed and even win?"

"Facing a three-front war, what kind of rotation will you make in this German Cup match? Will you strategically give up the German Cup?"

Tuchel's answer was short and powerful.

"We will win the game! We will not give up the chance of the German Cup! We have the chance to win the championship! More than one championship! This requires the joint efforts of all players!"

Kramny's response was equally simple.

“We’ll probably rotate two or three spots!”

"We will work hard and face this game with all our strength!"

"We have a great record in the second half of the Bundesliga! This gives our players confidence!"

In the players tunnel.

The players from both sides greeted each other in a friendly manner, and there was no grudge between Dortmund and Stuttgart.

Dortmund is aiming for the league title, while Stuttgart escapes the relegation zone with a brilliant record.

There was no tense atmosphere at all in this German Cup quarter-final.

Stuttgart's goalkeeper Langerak just transferred from Dortmund to Stuttgart last summer.

It is worth mentioning that Langerak has played 12 German Cup games with a record of 11 wins and 1 loss!
The only defeat was a 1-3 loss to Wolfsburg in the German Cup final last year. He also played well in the knockout match against Bayern, saving Gotze's penalty.

Xia Han greeted the Stuttgart players politely.

Looking around Stewart's team, I found that not only the goalkeeper position was rotated, but the single arrow center forward was also rotated from the golden reconnaissance plane "Wiltz" to the Ukrainian international Kravitz!

As Kramny said in the pre-match press conference, Stewart made rotation adjustments to two or three positions, and most of the main players still played in this game.

Stewart took a nonchalant attitude towards this German Cup match. Winning and advancing to the next round would be great, but losing was no big deal.

(End of this chapter)