"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Sky Sports for the second round of the Bundesliga season..."
"Wolfsburg is hosting visiting Frankfurt at home..."
"First, let's take a look at the starting lineups for both teams..."
As the song "Grün-Weiße VFL" echoed through the Volkswagen Arena, both teams lined up and emerged from the player tunnel.
As the first home game of the new season, the stands were already dyed green.
It's worth mentioning that many fans in the stands were wearing Mark's new number ten jersey.
More than half of them were young girls.
No other reason than Wolfsburg's darling being handsome and playing with flair...
Because its emblem is a soaring eagle, Frankfurt is also known as the "Frankfurt Eagles."
However, at this time, Frankfurt was not yet the Bundesliga powerhouse that would win the Europa League ten years later.
Last season, due to competing in both the League and the Europa League, Frankfurt finished thirteenth in the League, considered a mid-table team that secured relegation early.
This season, they lost two key players in the summer transfer window: their midfield core Rode, who moved to Bayern on a free transfer, and full-back Sebastian Jung, who transferred to Wolfsburg.
Although they also made significant signings, bringing in Swiss striker Seferović from Real Sociedad, Medojević from Wolfsburg, and Makoto Hasebe from Nuremberg.
However, the team's overall strength was still somewhat affected.
Nevertheless, due to the good transfer relationship between the two teams, Wolfsburg did not go all out from the start of the match.
It wasn't until the twentieth minute that Wolfsburg broke the deadlock! Mark's breakthrough on the left wing earned a set piece, and Ricardo Rodriguez's cross assisted Naldo's header into the net!
With the score changed, Wolfsburg, playing at home, continued to control the situation on the field.
Compared to Wolfsburg, whose main lineup was intact and tactical system further optimized, Frankfurt had no chance whatsoever playing away.
In the thirty-seventh minute of the first half, the Martin connection appeared again!
De Bruyne suddenly drove the ball forward through the middle and then delivered a surgical through pass.
Mark used his Speed to accelerate from the left, overtaking Frankfurt's right-back, took the ball in stride, and after entering the penalty area, curled a shot into the far corner to score!
After scoring the goal, Mark turned around, pointing with both hands at De Bruyne, who had delivered the excellent pass.
"This is De Bruyne and Ryan's second connection this season!"
"Their chemistry is getting better and better!"
"We can see from this goal that the moment De Bruyne received the ball, Mark had already started his run forward."
In the first half, Wolfsburg completely suppressed Frankfurt amidst the cheers of their home fans.
And during halftime, Hecking was also satisfied with his disciples' performance: "Well done!"
"Keep it up!"
"We don't just want to win, we want a big win!"
As the first home game of the season, and against a relatively weaker opponent like Frankfurt, Hecking naturally hoped to present the fans with a spectacular victory!
In the second half, after the teams switched sides, Wolfsburg continued to control the situation on the field, using Mark's deterrent power on the wing to create a strong side, and then passing the ball to De Bruyne to deliver a killer pass.
This style of play was impossible to defend against!
In the fifty-eighth minute, Wolfsburg scored again!
Mark broke through with the ball on the left, drew defenders, and then passed horizontally to De Bruyne, who was supporting in the middle.
The latter immediately delivered a through pass, finding Dost in the penalty area.
The latter turned and unleashed a powerful shot, extending the lead to three goals!
By this point, the outcome of the match was largely decided.
When the game reached the seventy-third minute, seeing that they were already three goals ahead and Frankfurt had virtually no chances, Hecking substituted Mark, bringing on new signing Hunt.
On one hand, it allowed Mark, who participated in the World Cup in the summer, to rest;
On the other hand, it was also to see how well Hunt adapted to the team.
However, after Hunt came on, perhaps eager to perform, or perhaps his playing style simply required more possession, he took away a lot of ball possession.
In terms of playing style and role, his function somewhat overlapped with De Bruyne's.
Upon seeing their lack of coordination, Hecking made timely adjustments, having De Bruyne and Hunt switch positions.
De Bruyne, now on the left wing, reduced his ball possession, using his off-the-ball runs to attract the attention of opposing defenders.
However, often when he found space in the middle, Hunt chose to shoot from long range instead of making reasonable passes.
Moreover, his passing accuracy and power were significantly inferior to De Bruyne's.
The previously very fluid attacking play suddenly became constipated.
As the attack failed to suppress Frankfurt, the away team also used several counterattacks to threaten Wolfsburg's goal.
In the eighty-fifth minute, Frankfurt seized a counterattack opportunity, and their center forward Meyer successfully beat the offside trap, scoring a goal back!
Seeing this, Hecking quickly substituted Arnold and brought on Malanda to strengthen the midfield defense.
Finally, Wolfsburg defeated the visiting "Frankfurt Eagles" Frankfurt three-one at home, thanks to De Bruyne's outstanding performance!
And in the short twenty minutes that Hunt was on as a substitute, Hecking also identified the problem.
Hunt is also an attacking midfielder, who likes to have the ball and shoot from long range.
His organizational ability can only be described as average.
Most importantly, with his entry, the team's attacking core, De Bruyne, suddenly had much less possession.
Moreover, the team's threatening attacks also decreased.
It was evident that the two were incompatible.
Of course, this wasn't a problem.
Because the team originally signed Hunt to be De Bruyne's rotation, as well as a substitute winger.
And the Man of the Match for this game was naturally De Bruyne, who provided two assists.
In an interview, De Bruyne also spoke highly of his teammates.
Especially Mark!
"He's an absolute genius! I've never seen anyone his age play with such maturity and ease."
"I'm very happy to be able to fight alongside him..."
"We are a very good pair..."
With the victory over Frankfurt at home, Wolfsburg secured two consecutive wins at the start of the new League season, ranking second in the League, only behind Leverkusen on goal difference!
However, what no one expected was that in another highly anticipated match kicking off later, Bayern, visiting Schalke, produced an upset:
Bayern was held to a one-all draw by Schalke's full-force defense at home, ending the match in a tie!
As a result, Bayern only managed one draw and one loss in the first two rounds, struggling to secure a win!
It should be known that such a poor start to the League season is rare in Bayern's history.
Of course, only getting one point in two rounds.
This was also a disgrace for Guardiola, a world-renowned coach.
However, Guardiola himself was very clear that the team's inability to win was not due to problems with his tactics, nor was it the players' fault.
It was the team's injury crisis!
As the largest supplier of National Team players for Germany's World Cup victory, Bayern was initially affected by the World Cup, with several key players sidelined due to injuries.
Many times, what stops a powerhouse is not another, stronger powerhouse.
But injuries, as fierce as a tiger!
Therefore, many times, teams will try to sign as many players as possible to deal with unforeseen injury situations, increasing squad depth.
However, ambitious players sitting on the bench for too long will become dissatisfied with the team's arrangements, and may even cause trouble.
So, how to lead the team to victory while keeping both starters and substitutes happy, and minimizing injuries, is an art and a science!
Of course, as the world-renowned coach who led Barça to a sextuple, Guardiola is definitely a master of management.
And when Bayern went two rounds without a win, public opinion formed two major camps:
One side sympathized with Bayern's injury situation and continued to support the strongest club in the Bundesliga;
The other side believed Bayern deserved it, seeing it as retribution for their dominance in the Bundesliga!
And Bayern's slump was good news for all teams aiming for the League title this season.
However, everyone knew that with Bayern's squad, it was impossible for them to slump for long.
Once they recovered, they would continue to dominate the Bundesliga as usual!
On the evening of the day all Bundesliga second-round matches concluded, the German Football Association also announced the new National Team roster.
The roster included eighteen World Cup winning members... but the names of the three veterans, Lahm, Klose, and Mertesacker, who had announced their retirement from the National Team, were no longer there.
Instead, it featured Mario Gómez, Rüdiger, and Reus.
And with Captain Lahm's retirement from the National Team, "Little Pig" Schweinsteiger officially took over as the National Team captain, continuing to lead German Team.
A few days later, the team would face their World Cup final opponent, Argentina, in a friendly match in Düsseldorf.
Of course, this match would certainly not be as intense as the one held in Brazil in mid-July...
Before reporting to the National Team, Mark first went to a photography studio in Berlin.
Seeing the girl wearing his brand's baseball cap and T-shirt, Mark walked up and greeted her: "Hey, Esther, long time no see!"
The girl smiled sweetly at him: "Yes."
The reason the two were here was actually to shoot promotional stills and commercials for their personal brand.
As for the models, it was him and Hisch.
Following that, the two, who hadn't seen each other for a long time, also chatted about their recent situations.
It's worth mentioning that Mark's personal brand baseball caps and T-shirts were designed by an Italian graffiti artist found by Raiola.
The ML brand logo was also printed on the baseball caps and T-shirts in a graffiti style, giving it a very artistic feel.
As for the production line, they collaborated with a niche domestic brand, sharing the factory line in Norway.
After finishing the promotional stills and commercials, Hisch was about to ask Mark to dinner.
But learning that Mark still had to deal with personal brand matters, she had to give up.
After agreeing to meet next time, Mark and Raiola drove back to Wolfsburg together.
And in the car, there was an additional person: a thin Asian face wearing glasses.
"This is Steven Chen, the operations director of the ML brand."
"Hello."
"The promotional photos and commercials will be uploaded to the website tomorrow, and then on September 7th, when you go to receive the Fritz Walter Gold Medal, remember to wear your T-shirt and baseball cap."
Hecking paused, then turned to look at the Asian man beside him: "It's your turn, Steven."
Nodding, the latter immediately spoke: "Boss, our online website is ready. After your public appearance, we will hold a pop-up event in Wolfsburg, where a group of dancers will wear the brand's products to create buzz..."
"With your fame and popularity, Boss, we plan to open three exclusive stores in Wolfsburg within six months, and then achieve a turnover of... within a year."
Along the way, the young brand director fully laid out the brand's positioning and development direction.
Halfway through his explanation, Mark couldn't contain his curiosity and immediately asked in fluent Chinese: "By the way, Steven, are you Chinese?"
Hearing this, Steven Chen was first startled, then his eyes lit up: "I am Chinese. Boss, you speak Chinese?"
"Yes, didn't Mino tell you I'm half Chinese, half German?"
"He did, but I didn't expect you to speak... so fluently?!"
"Haha, where are you from?"
"I'm from Fujian..."
"My dad is from Guangfu..."
Chatting all the way, they unknowingly returned to Wolfsburg.
Looking at the moonlight outside the window, Mark suggested they go to his usual Chinese restaurant for dinner.
Hearing this suggestion, Raiola immediately raised both hands in agreement!
Subsequently, the three arrived at Xingsheng Restaurant in the northern district.
This was a hidden gem of a small restaurant Mark had discovered while strolling through the city earlier.
The Chinese restaurant was run by a husband and wife.
The owner was from Sichuan, and the proprietress was from Chongqing.
This restaurant specialized in modernized Sichuan cuisine.
The spiciness of the dishes was acceptable even to Mark, who had a Guangfu palate.
So, Mark sometimes came here for a change of taste, and occasionally brought teammates like De Bruyne and Malanda to patronize it.
Over time, he had become quite familiar with the owner.
Seeing Mark bring two new friends, the owner quickly came over to greet them.
After sitting down and ordering, the owner suddenly remembered something and asked: "Oh, by the way, Little Mark, our dog just had a litter of puppies. Do you want to take one home to raise?"
Before his rebirth, Mark had a dog.
Mark was naturally very interested in this suggestion.
Then, he followed the owner to the dog house behind the restaurant.
Looking at the completely black dog mother in the dog house, and several pitch-black puppies, Mark realized that these were actually very rare Five-Black Dogs among Rural Dogs!
"Are you really giving me one?"
"Don't be so polite. You're such a good person, you'll definitely treat it well. Besides, finding a good owner is also a blessing for the puppy."
Come for a meal and get a free Five-Black Dog?
What a steal! What a steal!
...
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