In the post-match interview area, Mark Lane, who was once again named Man of the Match, accepted questions from reporters.
"Congratulations, Mark Lane. A wonderful game, wasn't it?"
"Yes..."
"If you were to rate your own performance, out of ten, what score would you give yourself?"
"I'd say seven."
"In this game, you neither scored nor assisted. Is that why you only gave yourself a seven?"
Upon hearing this, Mark Lane raised an eyebrow and couldn't help but inwardly grumble, "You know the answer, why ask?!"
Of course, what he thought in his heart couldn't be said directly.
He had to change his rhetoric:
"Of course not! Every minute I'm on the field is for the team's victory!"
"As for giving myself a seven, it's because I feel there are still areas where I need to improve."
After the interview, Mark Lane returned to the locker room and shook hands with his teammates one by one.
At the same time, his teammates also acknowledged and praised his performance in this match:
"That 'elastico' of yours was so cool!"
"Great play!"
"Well done!"
In this match, Mark Lane maximized his tactical role.
His dribbling on the wing provided the team with a reliable method to break through the opponent's defense.
Moreover, he could also draw defensive attention from other teammates, thereby creating more space.
He even managed to create two to three set-piece opportunities per game for the team!
Unbeknownst to anyone, this eighteen-year-old youth had already become an indispensable presence in the team!
Everyone knew that this young man was Wolfsburg's big baby!
Caligiuri and Vieirinha, who had lost a lot of playing time to him, had to be polite to this young man on the surface, no matter how unwilling they were inside.
However, despite his eye-catching performance in this match, which tied the Bundesliga record for successful dribbles in a single game in a single season,
He still didn't make it to the front page of major media outlets the next day.
Because a later match stole all the headlines:
Defending champions Bayern Munich lost zero to three at home to Borussia Dortmund!
Yes.
Bayern, who had secured the League title seven rounds early, actually lost to their arch-rivals Dortmund at the Allianz Arena!
Furthermore, this was Guardiola's first consecutive League defeat since 2011, and his biggest loss in over three hundred official matches as a coach!
Such explosive news naturally became the focus of German media attention.
For a time, various speculations filled the air.
Logically, given Bayern's strong form this season, and playing at home, even Dortmund might not have been able to leave the Allianz Arena unscathed.
But not only did they not win, they lost by three goals!
And didn't even score a single goal?!
Some believed Bayern was playing a long game:
Others thought Dortmund's tactics simply countered Bayern;
Some even believed it was a fixed match!
Regardless, for Wolfsburg, this was bad news.
It was important to remember that in three days, Wolfsburg would face Borussia Dortmund again.
And it would be in a crucial German Cup semi-final match!
Sweeping their arch-rivals Bayern away on their home turf would surely boost the morale of Dortmund's players.
This was definitely not a good thing for Wolfsburg, who were about to face them.
However, fortunately, most of Dortmund's key players played the full ninety minutes in that match, and would surely be physically exhausted.
This meant that for Wolfsburg, who had rotated their squad in advance, it could somewhat be considered a strategy of resting and waiting for the fatigued opponent.
On the eve of the German Cup semi-final against Borussia Dortmund, Mark Lane also opened his system panel:
[Name: Mark Lane]
[Age: 18]
[Height: 177]
[Weight: 67]
[Preferred Foot: Right]
[Club: Wolfsburg]
[Owned Cards: Samba Elf, Super Sub]
[Attributes: Ball Control S, Shooting D, Passing D, Defense D, Physical C]
[Rating: Starter for lower-tier teams in the top five Leagues]
[Assignable Points: 8]
Completed the [Dribbling] match task against Augsburg. Gained one potential point;
Completed the [Dribbling] match task against Werder Bremen. Gained one potential point;
Completed the [Assist] and [Dribbling] match tasks against Frankfurt. Gained two potential points;
Completed the [Assist] and [Dribbling] match tasks against Borussia Dortmund. Gained two potential points;
Completed the [Dribbling] and [Man of the Match] tasks against Nuremberg. Gained two more potential points.
Adding up to a total of eight assignable potential points!
Considering that most technical attributes could be improved through training and didn't require wasting potential points,
He focused on attributes that couldn't be significantly improved later, such as [Explosiveness] and [Speed].
It was important to remember that with his current speed and explosiveness, he was still a noticeable distance from the peak Ronaldinho.
This was why, although he could dribble past most defenders in the Bundesliga,
He still couldn't reach the level of the peak Ronaldinho, where dribbling was as simple as breathing!
Mark Lane's current situation was like a master of external martial arts who had mastered various external moves but whose internal strength was only average.
External martial arts were his foot skills;
Internal strength was the physical quality that supported his technical movements!
So, after careful consideration, he ultimately decided to allocate all his potential points to the [Explosiveness] attribute, increasing it from 80 to 84 points!
His allocation strategy was very clear.
First, raise [Explosiveness] and [Speed] to 90, which would be sufficient for basic use.
Then, he would make targeted allocations based on his needs!
April 15th.
Weather: Clear. Location: Westfalenstadion. The first German Cup semi-final match was about to kick off!
The opposing teams were Borussia Dortmund and Wolfsburg, who had just drawn two-two at this stadium ten days prior!
In this match, goalkeeper Weidenfeller, who had been injured in his arm, made a swift return.
In the starting lineup, there were two changes compared to their last encounter.
Firstly, Sahin replaced Kirch, partnering with captain Kehl in defensive midfield, which was also the defensive midfield combination that defeated Bayern.
Secondly, young Durm started as the right-back.
As for the original starting left-back, Piszczek, he moved to the left wing!
Since Big Cross Großkreutz was provoked by Mark Lane and received a red card in their last encounter, Klopp benched him for this match to cool down.
And in this crucial semi-final match, which was about the championship, Klopp preferred to temporarily play Piszczek on the left wing rather than let Big Cross Großkreutz start again.
Of course, placing Piszczek on the left was also to counter Mark Lane, Wolfsburg's strong point of breakthrough on the right wing!
Klopp's open scheme naturally couldn't escape Hecking's notice.
After the starting lineups of both teams were announced, Hecking, upon realizing this, immediately swapped Mark Lane, who was originally starting as the right winger, with Caligiuri, the left winger!
Therefore, when both teams' players stood in their respective halves and saw that Mark Lane had actually moved to the left wing, Klopp couldn't help but twitch his mouth and glance at Hecking not far away:
"Damn it, you cunning old fox!"
And Hecking, seemingly sensing Klopp's gaze, turned his head and gave him a slight smile:
"If you have a good plan, I have a counter-strategy!"
"Who's afraid of who?!"