Julian Nagelsmann stood in the technical area at Old Trafford, gazing intently at the pitch.
Previously, when Hoffenheim played Manchester United in Germany, he had successfully disrupted Man United's attacking system by cutting off Ling's connections with his teammates.
But today, his tactics failed to achieve the same effect.
The main reason was Ling's rapid switching of roles.
Dropping deep to organize play, acting as a midfield pivot, breaking through defensive lines, making penetrating runs into the box... Ling did it all.
Though it was evident Ling wasn't yet fully proficient as a pure playmaker, his disruption of Hoffenheim's defensive third directly led to the collapse of their entire defensive structure.
The key issue was that Hoffenheim's players simply lacked the elite individual quality of Man United's squad.
Their current achievements relied heavily on well-coordinated teamwork.
But against a player like Ling, teamwork alone wasn't enough.
In less than 15 minutes of play, Man United had created three scoring opportunities, with two shots on target.
If not for goalkeeper Oliver Baumann entering "burst mode" to make spectacular saves, the scoreline would likely have already changed.
However, with the current trend of the match, conceding a goal was only a matter of time.
In the 19th minute of the first half, Ling switched from a lateral run to a vertical one, deceiving Kasim Nuhu, who was tightly marking him.
Riyad Mahrez promptly curled a cross into the right side of the penalty area.
Peter Drury: "Mahrez whips it in... LING IS THERE! A thunderous volley! It flies past Baumann into the top corner! An absolute rocket from the young captain!"
Jim Beglin: "What a beautiful goal! Ling needs to push harder this season! After winning the Premier League Golden Boot last season, he should aim for the Champions League Golden Boot this time around."
Peter Drury: "Manchester United take the lead, which should make the rest of the match much easier for Mourinho. Hoffenheim's attack isn't particularly potent today, with their only notable outlet being Joelinton. By the way, with this goal, Ling's Champions League tally has now reached five, temporarily placing him fourth in the scoring charts. Ahead of him are Mo Salah with six, Robert Lewandowski with six, and Lionel Messi with seven."
Since Manchester United gained a one-goal lead, they unsurprisingly shifted to a defensive counter-attacking strategy.
Nagelsmann's 3-4-3 formation suddenly revealed its flaws.
Due to insufficient protection on the wings, Mahrez and Marcus Rashford were able to threaten Hoffenheim's goal easily after receiving the ball on the counter.
Seeing this, Nagelsmann waved his hand decisively from the touchline, signaling his players to press forward aggressively, using their collective movement to compensate for their lack of individual ability.
It was a classic German high-pressing tactic.
In this aspect, German coaches like Jurgen Klopp, Thomas Tuchel, and Nagelsmann have all learned from the godfather of the Gegenpress, Ralf Rangnick.
In fact, if you look closely, Nagelsmann can be considered a disciple of Tuchel, as the two once worked together at Augsburg.
This tactic has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that it can cover some players' weaknesses, reducing individual focus to strengthen the whole.
The downside is the extremely high demand on physical fitness, which often leads to large-scale injuries.
It's worth noting that this kind of injury crisis can lead to a team's collapse and is a recurring nightmare for every Premier League coach, with Arsenal being the most representative example.
Sky Sports recently compiled injury statistics for all Premier League teams over the past six years.
In the end, Arsenal came out on top with a staggering total of 10,285 days lost to injuries.
But can Manchester United fare much better? No, they can't.
Manchester United ranks second with 9,600 days lost, while Liverpool is third with 8,044 days.
The team with the fewest injuries, surprisingly, is Chelsea, with only 4,559 days.
Mourinho has been thoroughly frightened by injuries during his career and would rather bear the media's criticism for being pragmatic and conservative than experience the feeling of a late-season squad collapse.
Although currently only Victor Lindelöf is injured at Man United, who knows when an injury wave might hit?
Jim Beglin: "I noticed Manchester United has ten matches scheduled in December alone—Champions League, English League Cup, FIFA Club World Cup, and Premier League—including tough opponents like Arsenal and Liverpool. Their schedule over the next month is extremely tight, and they must secure victories with minimal energy expenditure."
Peter Drury: "As long as Manchester United secures a victory in today's match, I believe Mourinho will most likely abandon the final Champions League group game. Currently, Man United absolutely won't let Ling play every minute, though I believe he still has high hopes of winning that Golden Boot."
...
The first half concluded quickly.
After halftime, Hoffenheim returned with relentless attacks, sparing no effort.
With only four points currently in the group, they had to win today's match to keep their hopes of advancing alive.
Meanwhile, in another Group F match, Shakhtar Donetsk faced Lyon away from home. Lyon launched fierce attacks throughout the first half but failed to score, yet they dared not change their tactics recklessly.
Although Shakhtar no longer had any hope of advancing, they still maintained high morale.
Perhaps this is the resilience of the underdog. It could be said that whoever advances from Group F depends entirely on Man United's disposition today.
After all, if Hoffenheim could pull off a win at Old Trafford, Man United would have to battle fiercely in the final round.
Hoffenheim continued to intensify their attacks in the second half, but the players' stamina was rapidly declining, and their pressing after failed attacks wasn't as effective as before.
The pace of the match instantly quickened. Manchester United gradually reduced their midfield possession and began using diagonal long passes from the wings, relying on absolute speed to spread their attacking lines.
In the 81st minute, just after Hoffenheim made offensive substitutions, they delivered a poor-quality corner kick into the United box.
Eric Bailly headed the ball clear, and Nemanja Matić executed a superb overhead long pass.
The ball flew directly over the midfield, dropping perfectly toward Hoffenheim's exposed defensive third.
Peter Drury: "Matić clears... Ling is onto it! He accelerates like a sports car! He is one-on-one with Baumann! He enters the penalty area... AND HE SLOTS IT HOME! Clinical! Devastating! Manchester United double their lead, and Hoffenheim's European dream turns to dust!"
Nagelsmann's Champions League dream shattered as he slumped dejectedly on the coaching bench.
The Hoffenheim players lost their spirit, and the score remained unchanged at 2-0 until the final whistle.
As for Lyon, they drew 2-2 with Shakhtar Donetsk.
Man United currently led the group with 13 points, while Lyon ranked second with 8 points. Regardless of the final round's results, both teams had already secured advancement to the knockout stages with one round to spare!