The away loss to CSKA suddenly cast a shadow on Hoffenheim's prospects.

In the last round of the group stage, they have to face Manchester United at home. The opponent is too strong and they have a strong desire to win. So the last game they tied Manchester United at Old Trafford was completely worthless. It cannot be said that they once won Manchester United in the most difficult home court in Europe, so they can beat Manchester United even better at home. Football is not a math problem, it cannot be so simple addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, which is more important than mutual victory or loss.

As for what the opponent's game will be like, Rangnick doesn't care at all and can't care. No matter what the opponent plays, he will win the game with the safest. So after returning to Hoffenheim after playing against CSKA Moscow, Rangnick announced to the whole team that their goal for the next Champions League group stage is to win.

When he said this word, Hoffenheim players were not surprised because they were already very clear about the current situation. Apart from winning, they really couldn't find any way to ensure that their team qualifies.

Although you can still participate in the Europa League in the third group, who is willing to play in the Europa League after participating in a Champions League?

Besides, the first Champions League trip in Hoffenheim Club's history is that no one wants to end in the group stage. UEFA named them the biggest dark horse of the Champions League this season, which still satisfies the vanity of many players. If this biggest dark horse is eliminated in the group stage, wouldn't it be useless?

Therefore, it is not controversial to defeat Manchester United at home and ensure qualifying is the team's only goal. There is no dispute that anyone will worry about whether Hoffenheim can defeat Manchester United during training and in the locker room. This is not a question of whether it can be done or not. It is a question of whether they must win. If they cannot win, it depends on others' expressions. In the last game, CSKA Moscow challenged Besiktas away. For CSKA Moscow, "away game" may be their only unfavorable factor. But in terms of desire to win, CSKA Moscow is stronger than Besiktas, and CSKA in terms of team strength is also better, so CSKA's chance of defeating Besiktas is also higher, which can be seen from the odds offered by the bookmaker.

Similarly, in Hoffenheim's home game against Manchester United, the odds are more optimistic about Manchester United.

Although Manchester United plays away, they are stronger than Hoffenheim in overall strength and must win.

The media have been singing praises for dark horses before, but whenever dark horses meet traditional wealthy families, everyone will continue to be optimistic about the wealthy families.

If a dark horse wants to win the complete recognition and respect of everyone, there is only one way to become a powerful man.

Just like the peasant uprisings were all for the sake of being emperors in the end.

Chu Zhongtian observed from this detail that he believed that Hoffenheim was indeed more ambitious than Metz. When Metz played football, whenever he encountered a strong team, everyone was worried that he could not win, and there was a kind of pessimism and early surrenderism in private. However, after a season of training, this team did not have such a situation. Everyone was full of fighting spirit for the last round of the group stage to play Manchester United, and even wanted the game to come sooner.

In order to prepare for this game, Rangnick also decided to give up the league temporarily. After losing to Wolfsburg 1:2 and tied with Cologne 2:2, Hoffenheim's league ranking has dropped to third place, but the top four points with the largest gap is only four points, not much. Rangnick has never considered defending the Bundesliga champion. His goal this season is to qualify for the Champions League next season, and at the same time try to go further in the Champions League this season.

Therefore, the two league games before the final match with Manchester United became the warm-up match in Rangnick's eyes. On the one hand, it is used to adjust the status of the main players, and on the other hand, it is necessary to be careful not to let the players get injured in the game.

Under such circumstances, Hoffenheim lost 2:3 to Dortmund, and it would not be surprising to draw Hamburg 0:0.

In fact, it was pretty good to draw Hamburg 0:0. In that game, Rangnick sent a huge number of substitutes. The main players either served as the bench or did not follow the team to Hamburg at all. In the end, they were able to not concede a goal away from home and score a point. Rangnick was already very satisfied.

In the last game against Dortmund, Hoffenheim lost and lost. Not only did he lose to Dortmund, who had always been biased against Hoffenheim, but forward Wellington also slapped the football in the hands of Dortmund goalkeeper Weidenfeller in the game because of a dead ball, causing Weidenfeller to cover his face with both hands and fall to the ground in pain and was sent off by a red card.

The whole game was full of gunpowder, with small movements and black feet on both sides everywhere. Hoffenheim fans in the stands were attacking Dortmund's goalkeeper Weidenfeller with lighters and coins, while Dortmund's fans kept shouting Hope and insulting his private life. In addition, the referee of the law enforcement game was the young referee Kempt, who was only 26 years old, and had no experience in how to effectively control the scene.

In order not to let his players get injured, Rangnick had to replace the main core players while falling behind. Ibissevic, Salihovic and Chu Zhongtian were replaced one after another within five minutes. This was equivalent to admitting defeat in advance.

Faced with an opponent like Dortmund, Rangnick couldn't even admit defeat. Who made both sides fight so fiercely?

If he wins a league game but loses all the Champions League games this season, Rangnick will definitely not be able to forgive his original decision.

※※※As soon as the match with Hamburg ended, the media turned their attention to the Champions League.

In the Champions League this season, the German team did not make a good move. The group stage was played until the last round, but none of the three teams representing Germany could ensure that they qualify.

Bayern Munich in Group A is considered a representative of German football, symbol and totem, but their experience in the group stage was also very bumpy. The second round of the group stage was tied 0:0 by Juventus at his home court, and lost 1:2 away to Ligue 1 team Bordeaux in the third round. In the fourth round, he lost 0:2 to Bordeaux at his home court, and in the fifth round, they defeated Juventus at his home court, and they retained hope of advancement. The situation in Group A is now like this - Bordeaux is the leader with thirteen points, and after beating Juventus at home in the last round, he has already determined to qualify early. Juventus ranked second in the group with 8 points, and Bayern Munich has third in the group with 7 points. In the last round, they must defeat Juventus away to advance to the knockout stage.

Needless to mention the situation of Group B where Hoffenheim is located. It has been analyzed before and it has become a mess.

The situation in Group G where Wolfsburg, runner-up last season, is also very chaotic. So far, there is one round left in the group stage, Sevilla ranks first, Urzicheni from the Romanian League, second in the eight-point group, Wolfsburg is third in the seven-point group, and in the end, Scottish's Glasgow Rangers' close in two points. In addition to Glasgow Rangers having been confirmed to be eliminated, the remaining three teams have hope to compete for the two places to qualify in the Champions League group. In the last round, Wolfsburg faces Urzicheni at home, which is a decisive battle that decides who can qualify. If Wolsburg wants to qualify, it must defeat his opponent.

The situation in the last round of the three German teams was very bad, so the German media would pay so much attention. They were worried that the German team would be wiped out in the Champions League group stage this season, which was simply a shame for German football... But if you analyze it carefully, you will find that although these three teams all qualify for critical situations, the degree of crisis is different, and there are priorities.

Bayern, who has changed his new coach, started the season with a bad start and even ranked 11th in the league for a while, but then they returned to normal and gradually caught up. Currently, they are only two points away from Hoffenheim, ranking fifth in the league. Now they are challenging Juventus away, and Juventus' performance in the league is not very good, so Bayern Munich still has hope.

The same is true for Wolfsburg. In the last round, he faced Urzicheni at home. This is not a traditional strong team, and winning at home is not without hope.

The most dangerous thing is Rangnick's Hoffenheim. Although he is playing at home, he has to face Manchester United, who is eager to win and has strong strength.

So no one is very optimistic about Hoffenheim. Analysts believe that Hoffenheim does have the potential to become the biggest dark horse in the Champions League this season, but they did not seize the opportunity themselves. They were tied by Besiktas at home and lost to CSKA away, which led to the current situation of qualifying in such a precarious situation.

Otherwise they should have been the team in the group's first outing line.

For Hoffenheim, the good news is that although the A H1n1 flu, commonly known as the "swine flu", has been identified by the WHO as a global outbreak, all the main players are in good health and can play in the life-and-death battle with Manchester United in the middle of the week. The bad news is that all the members of Manchester United are healthy and can play against them.

※※※For Chu Zhongtian, Metz is like a dream that has gradually faded away. This name appears less and less frequently in his life. Only the champagne in the wine cabinet at home still occasionally reminds him of those unforgettable years.

Since he left Metz, this dark horse that had won the UEFA Cup and defeated AC Milan in the UEFA Super Cup has fallen apart. This is the only end of the team whose boss has no money. Because they have no money, they need to make a living by selling young and excellent players, otherwise they will not be able to keep up with the pace and fall behind in the fiercely competitive football field.

After Chu Zhongtian left, head coach Fernandez lasted for a season, but Pjanic was too young and his performance was not stable enough to completely replace Chu Zhongtian's role.

So that season, Metz did not win the UEFA Champions League, did not qualify for the newly reorganized Europa League, did not win the league championship, and of course, did not relegate. Fernandez announced before the end of the season that he would bid farewell to Metz after this season. He and Ligue 1 youth guard Ausser even signed a contract in advance, and waited for the end of the season to execute. He took over Ausser's godfather Guy Lu's class, which was heavy. After he left, Metz also fell apart in the summer before the start of the 2009-10 season.

First of all, of course, the scorer Ibissevic followed Chu Zhongtian's footsteps to Hoffenheim, followed by another young star in their team, Jeremy Menez, transferred to Roma, with a transfer fee of 15 million euros. Mid-back Proman followed his mentor Fernandez to Aussel, with a transfer fee of 8 million euros. Matthew Valbuena was bought by Marseille for 10 million euros, and Obertan joined Manchester United for an extremely low price of 3 million yuan. Central defender Traore also transferred to Paris Saint-Germain for 3 million euros. His partner Rodriguez went to Eindhoven in the Eredivisie, and the transfer fee was only 3.5 million euros.

Metz's club chairman Molinari sold all the players from Metz's most glorious era at the price of selling cabbage. It is easy to imagine what the team's performance is. Although it is less than half this season, Metz is already in the relegation zone. If nothing unexpected happens, the team will return to the second division after the end of this season.

Metz fans are now popular while missing the glorious years when Fernandez and Chu Zhongtian were both present, while scolding the club chairman.

Although the "best Metz in history" is gone, many of the players she trains are still developing in professional football.

Last season, the Bundesliga championship battle was a confrontation between former Metz players.

And this time, three players who once played for a team will meet again as enemies.

When Obertan transferred to Manchester United for 3 million euros, many people in the football world were surprised. Because Obertan just shined in the Toulon Cup and won the title of Most Valuable Player in the Toulon Cup. Mes actually sold him at such a cheap price... No one knows what the inside story of this deal is, but Obertan got what he wanted to join Manchester United.

Unexpectedly, he just joined Manchester United, but he was unable to make a debut due to a spinal injury and had to rest for three months before returning.

In this Champions League match with Hoffenheim, he was selected to the roster and will go to Hoffenheim with the team. There, he will meet his teammates who were once in the same team, Chu Zhongtian and Ibisevic.

※※※ "I know Manchester United has many fans in China, but I will still try my best to win this game." Chu Zhongtian was interviewed by Chinese reporters. As the match day approached, everyone's attention to this game was gradually increasing. These days, there are more and more media reporters outside the Hoffenheim training base. Everyone will be surrounded by several reporters after the training and ask various questions about Manchester United.

Chu Zhongtian just answered a very idiotic question from a reporter, and another reporter rushed up and asked: "If the group cannot qualify, what do you think..."

"Then let's talk about it when I haven't qualified."

After saying that, he lined up the reporters and walked towards the lounge.

As soon as he returned to the locker room, he heard his teammate Ibissevic's complaint: "Manchester United! Manchester United! Manchester United! I have all my ears... Why are they clearly here to interview us, but they are so concerned about Manchester United?"

"Ha!" Chu Zhongtian laughed.

"Oh, Chu, are you here? I believe you have been asked a lot of questions about Manchester United, right?"

Chu Zhongtian nodded: "It's normal. The media always pays more attention to strong teams. If we play against Real Madrid, the media will only pay attention to Real Madrid."

"I'm just unhappy anyway..." Ibisevic muttered. "I want them to regret why they didn't care about us before the game..."

"Then defeat them!" Chu Zhongtian patted Ibisevic's back hard, then walked into the bathroom.

Ibisevic turned his head and looked at his back, waving his fist: "Of course!"

In the bathroom, Chu Zhongtian lets hot water fall from his head, washing away the sweat and mud on his body. It rained in Hoffenheim during training today, and the venue was a little muddy.

He once said in an interview with reporters after he tied Manchester United away and said that this was not Hoffenheim's ultimate goal. In his heart, the ultimate goal is of course the Champions League championship, but he was not arrogant enough to think that they could win the championship this season. This season he just wants the team to work hard to move forward, and go further than how far it can go, even if it is only one step further.

Now he is facing such a situation.

Judging from the current situation, Hoffenheim is likely to stop in the group stage and be forced to play in the Europa League, which is the League Cup.

This is the so-called "how far you can do" distance.

Chu Zhongtian wanted to let the team go further. His first time participating in the Champions League, he only played in the group stage, which made him feel very unwilling. People say that the real Champions League starts from the knockout stage, and he also wants to see the performance of the major powers in the knockout stage.

He has never played in the Champions League final, but this game is very similar to the Champions League final for him. Whether it is Hoffenheim or Manchester United, they must win this game. What is it not the final? Whether it is the group stage or the knockout stage, there is more than one game, so those who lose in this game can still win back in the next game. And that situation does not exist in this game. If you lose, you may bid farewell to the Champions League this season. Only if you win can you go further and continue to move forward. In addition, as the final opponent, Manchester United obviously has more weight than Besiktas and CSKA, and more like a team participating in the Champions League final...but the teams participating in the real finals are competing for the Big Ear Cup, while they are competing for the qualifying spots.

As the game day approached, Chu Zhongtian had no other thoughts in his mind. He now had a thought - to win the game at all costs, and it didn't matter if he was injured and was out of the game for two or three months.

Most of the time, he was very calm on the court and had a big view. But at this time, he just wanted to let his blood surge and let him go back to the wild in such an important game. The last time he was tied by Manchester United at the last moment of the away game, he was always worried. The huge disappointment and pain hit him, and it took him a whole day to recover. He didn't want to taste this feeling again in a short time.

Hot water kept pouring on his head, as if the blood was gathering there. As the blood gathered upwards, his palms clenched into fists.

I want to win Manchester United, more than anyone else!

(To be continued)
Chapter completed!