Before today's training, Chu Zhongtian met head coach Rangnick outside the training ground again.

"Good morning, Chu." Rangnick greeted Chu Zhongtian.

"Good morning, Ralph."

"There are five days left to play, how do you feel?" Rangnick cared about Chu Zhongtian's condition because he didn't play in the last league against Bielefeld.

"I feel good, Ralph."

"Well... Chu, as the captain, what do you think about the current situation in the team's locker room?" Rangnick refers to the team's enthusiasm that he expected. The match against Bayern Munich has not started yet, but it seems that everyone feels that they have won, full of confidence.

Rangnick was full of worries about this. He believed that his players were fooled by Bayern Munich, and they easily provoked them and lost their calmness. They might make some wrong judgments during the game. Even the captain Chu Zhongtian said such words in front of the camera, and he had to worry as the head coach.

Unexpectedly, Chu Zhongtian laughed easily: "I think this is good."

"Very good?" Rangnick asked in surprise. "Are you sure? What's the good thing?"

"At least before the game, we were full of fighting spirit, Ralph. I think fighting spirit is essential before the game against Bayern Munich, because many opponents will give up their plans to resist because they are too strong."

"But that's obviously their psychological warfare strategy." Ralph Rangnick pushed the glasses frame that slid down from his nose.

Chu Zhongtian said: "Yes, they are fighting psychological warfare."

Rangnick suddenly slapped his forehead when he heard his answer: "I almost forgot, you are the one who has seen their move. Last season's League Cup..."

He refers to the match between Metz and Bayern Munich in the 8th final of the League Cup last season. Bayern Munich did not take Metz seriously in that game, but in the first round of both sides, Bayern Munich was tied 1:1 by Metz at his home court, and Chu Zhongtian scored a goal to equalize the score and a world-wide wave. In that game, Rangnick sat in the stands at the Allianz Stadium and was deeply impressed by Chu Zhongtian's performance.

Later, after finding that Metz was difficult to deal with, the local media in Munich began to make extra moves. They seized the opportunity of Ribery and Chu Zhongtian having dinner with him and spread rumors, interfered with Metz's morale, and wanted to influence Metz's core Chu Zhongtian.

As a result, Chu Zhongtian was not affected at all and led the team to eliminate Bayern Munich. That game made Rangnick determined that he would bring Chu Zhongtian to Hoffenheim no matter how much money he spent.

Chu Zhongtian nodded. "Yes, so I think it's okay. Such psychological warfare will only arouse our fighting spirit. If we were a team like Schalke 04 or Wolfsburg, we might be disturbed by their attacks. But we are Hoffenheim and Ralph. We are promoted players, and even if we lose to them at Allianz Stadium four days later, we will not be criticized."

Rangnick slapped hard. He felt that what Chu Zhongtian said was really right. The core of his team had such a mentality, so he felt relieved.

"You said that, should I guide the players to think so?"

Chu Zhongtian smiled: "That's your job, Ralph. I'm just a player."

Rangnick looked at Chu Zhongtian and then curled his lips: "No, you are a coach, the coach on the field. Chu, have you ever considered being a coach after retirement? If you want, Hoffenheim is quite suitable for you."

Chu Zhongtian was stunned for a moment. He had never thought about being a coach. Now he just wanted to play his own football and run his business well. After all, he was no longer making money for himself. He also maintained a large team of agents and paid them a salary every month. If the business was not well run, these people would be unemployed.

He shook his head. "Honestly, Ralph, I really didn't think about this. Retirement as a coach is too far away for me..."

Ralph Rangnick also realized that it was inappropriate to talk about this topic now: "It's really too far away. You are only twenty-five years old now..."

"It's not yet full." Chu Zhongtian corrected the head coach's mistake, "Strictly speaking, it's twenty-four years and three hundred and sixty-four days."

"It's tomorrow..." Rangnick laughed and reached out to touch Chu Zhongtian's head. "Say it in advance, happy birthday. The club will give you a gift tomorrow, haha!"

If it weren't for talking about his birthday with Coach Rangnick, Chu Zhongtian really didn't take his age to heart. The outside world was not very clear about Chu Zhongtian's age. Some people said Chu Zhongtian was twenty-four years old, some people said Chu Zhongtian was twenty-five years old, and some people thought Chu Zhongtian was like a twenty-seven-year-old man. They must have speculated on Chu Zhongtian's age based on his performance on the court. Chu Zhongtian's performance on the court seemed more mature than his actual age. This is related to the fact that he has experienced many things since he was a child and has been to many places, and it has a lot to do with him having been alone outside.

I didn't expect to be twenty-five years old...

Should I think I am still very young or I feel that I am no longer young? Chu Zhongtian thought to himself.

When the media reported on their birthday, many people would suddenly realize that Chu Zhongtian was twenty-five! At the age of twenty-five, he was still playing in a team of newly promoted teams that could not even participate in the League Cup. In the eyes of many people, this must be a typical example of self-deprecating degeneration...

Yesterday Emily called to greet him in advance and asked him about his birthday and when she asked him what birthday gift he wanted, he said he was casual because he didn't have anything he wanted.

Now, he doesn't want to be casual. He must have a meaningful birthday. He doesn't care what birthday gifts others want to give him. He wants to give himself a good birthday gift.

※※※

The "gift" in Rangnik's mouth was a birthday cake. Before the next day's training, Ibisevic and Per Nilsson were lifted out, and asked him to blow out the candles, and then everyone divided them one by one. However, most of the cakes were not eaten, but were all smeared on Chu Zhongtian.

Salihovich was very excited. After smashing the cake in his hand, he also snatched the ones from his teammate Weis. Weis was very aggrieved: "I want to eat..." Salihovich didn't care about that much. Who asked Chu Zhongtian to steal his core position? Although he now admits that Chu Zhongtian does better than him, the opportunity for revenge in front of him cannot be let go like this!

As a result, before the training began, Chu Zhongtian had to go back to the locker room to take another shower and change to the training uniform.

"Okay, wait for me! I will remember which day your birthday is!" Chu Zhongtian pointed at his teammates and said viciously before leaving.

But he was covered in cakes and cream all over his body, and the chocolate looked so funny that his words were not as impressive as they were, so everyone responded to his counterattack declaration with a burst of laughter.

Other members of the coaching staff such as Rangnick stood beside him and witnessed the scene.

Assistant coach Zeidler touched Rangnick: "Everyone is quite relaxed. It doesn't look like he wants to play against Bayern Munich."

"What do you think it should be like, Peter?" Rangnick asked.

"Don't get me wrong, Ralph. I think this is good. I don't want to see our players frown or chatter like a nervous one. In that case, we don't have to go to Allianz Stadium and Bayern has beaten us."

"The atmosphere of the team has always been pretty good. I had worried that the match against Bayern would have attracted so much attention and the pre-game verbal battles would have affected them. Now I feel relieved." Another assistant coach Tomislav Marichi also said. "I played in Wolfsburg before, but even such a team would inevitably be a little nervous before the match against Bayern..."

Rangnick listened to his colleagues' comments, and his mouth always had a smile.

After communicating with Chu Zhongtian, he found that if he kept a low profile, it would be a blow to the morale of the team's locker room. Because the players would also feel that the head coach did not trust them. Therefore, he had to be tough when facing Bayern Munich, so that the players could not be able to get support from the coaches, so that they could play to their best level when they played against Bayern.

So when facing Bayern Munich's provocation, he also showed his tough side: "I don't think Bayern Munich can win easily. Of course I respect them, but I believe in my team more. If Bayern thinks they can win easily, then try it!"

This sentence received a good response from the players as soon as it came out. This was what Chu Zhongtian told Rangnick. In the locker room, during training, everyone would talk about the statement of head coach Rangnick. Many people think that the head coach is a pure man, and some people feel the trust from the head coach.

Communicating with Chu Zhongtian every day is an important way for Rangnick to understand the team's dynamics. From Chu Zhongtian, he can know the latest situation inside the team and know what he has done before. If it is good, he must persist, and if it is bad, he must avoid it.

He listened to Chu Zhongtian's opinion and showed his tough side in front of the powerful Bayern. The effect was immediate. The atmosphere in the locker room was better and the team's fighting spirit became stronger.

But winning is not enough to rely solely on fighting spirit and spirit, but also requires specific tactics.

When Chu Zhongtian changed his clothes and walked out of the locker room again, training was about to begin.

Assistant coach Marichi took the players to warm up, while Rangnick and other coaches began to place training tools, football, pyramids, and sign poles...

After the warm-up, the players gathered together and formed a circle to listen to the head coach's speech. He wanted to arrange the specific content of today's training class.

The first sentence of Rangnick surprised everyone.

"Chu, in the game against Bayern, you play on the right forward."

Even Chu Zhongtian was stunned. Although he was a versatile player and could play or make guest appearances in many positions on the central axis, he had never tried the right forward...

"So starting today, in the training class, you should train according to the requirements of a winger."

"But..." Chu Zhongtian wanted to refute, but he didn't quite understand what the head coach intended to let him hit the right forward.

Rangnick looked at him and asked, "Frank Ribery, are you familiar with me, Chu?"

Chu Zhongtian nodded: "It's very familiar." He is so familiar that he can't be familiar anymore. Although Ribery is now more powerful than before, he knows his characteristics very well. It can even be said that now he and Ribery are in the same team as Ribery, without having to practice before the game. He can play exquisite cooperation with Ribery. The tacit understanding between them has surpassed football and reached the level of friendship.

After answering this question, he suddenly realized.

Seeing the changes in his expression on his face, Rangnick knew that he had thought it through clearly, so there was no need to waste time explaining here. The place to explain to the whole team was when watching the video. Now? Go to train!

※※※

On the evening of December 5, Hoffenheim's away game against Bayern Munich has attracted global attention.

According to the data announced by the official Bundesliga website, the latest statistics have been made, so far, 167 countries around the world have confirmed that they will broadcast live. The title of the Bundesliga official website is a striking "New Record!" The number 167 has broken the Bundesliga record of live broadcast by 160 countries in Bayern vs. Schalke on March 1, 2008. Even the United States and France have sent crews to Allianz Arena for the first time to report on the spot. A station ticket with an original price of 15 euros has been hyped up to 100 euros.

After the training, Chu Zhongtian rarely met a German couple. They came to Chu Zhongtian to sign Hoffenheim's jersey. This was a jersey I just bought and had not even pulled off the label. After communicating with them, Chu Zhongtian learned that their son was a Hoffenheim fan and was currently a teacher in a university in the United States. His students actually asked him to introduce Hoffenheim to them. For this reason, the couple came to buy some Hoffenheim jerseys and peripheral products and sent them to the United States for their son to show them to the people there during class, and at the same time introduced them to what kind of place Hoffenheim is and what kind of football team there is.

Chu Zhongtian sighed when he saw the couple off - Hoffenheim's influence had actually affected the United States... I wonder if Emily's mother's resentment about choosing this small team has been reduced a little?

There is a lot to be hyped in this game. The battle of verbal before the game is on the one hand, and the comparison of key players between the two sides is on the other hand.

Before the game, the media always likes to bring out a lot of data to show their profession and explain problems. For example, Bayern Munich has been unbeaten in nine rounds so far, and no one can match in the Bundesliga. Eleven people scored goals, which is the most offensive firepower in the Bundesliga. They won 55% of the fight in the first fifteen rounds, and are the highest in the Bundesliga. Klinsmann advocated "speed up the pace of the game and pass one kick" has achieved results, with an average of 467 passes and 718 touches per game, the highest in the Bundesliga. The forward is in good shape, Tony scored consecutive goals in the past four rounds, and Kloser scored in four games in the last six rounds.

Hoffenheim has super scorer Ibisekic who scored 18 goals in 15 rounds, while Bayern Munich's three major strikers scored 16 goals in total. Rangnick coached the team to achieve five wins, four draws and three losses in twelve matches between the Bundesliga and Bayern, and is a veritable "Bayern nemesis". Hoffenheim's 20% shots were converted into goals, and such a high success rate ranked first in the Bundesliga. Hoffenheim's 44 goals and 278 shots are also the highest in the Bundesliga. Hoffenheim won as long as the first goal match this season, which is unique in the Bundesliga.

In addition, because the two teams have many huge differences, most German media set the meaning of this game is also very interesting - the teenager David challenged the giant goliath. This is a biblical story. Goliath is a powerful giant, and David is just a teenager who grazed sheep. But in the story, David used his wit to incredibly defeat the invincible giant Goliath.

This metaphor from the German media is quite vivid and profound.

To prove that this is indeed a duel between David and Goliath, the media also listed relevant data specifically:

Hoffenheim has only 3,272 long-term residents, but Munich has more than 1,310,000 people.

The Hoffenheim Club has 1,800 members, while Bayern Munich has 147,072 members.

There are 57 fans in Hoffenheim, and Bayern Munich have as many as 2,437.

This season's package sales result Hoffenheim sold 14,500 sets, while Bayern Munich had 37,000 sets.

Bayern has won the Bundesliga championships twenty times and the German Cup fourteen times, and has won the Champions League four times, once the League Cup, once the Winner Cup, and twice the Toyota Cup. Hoffenheim is still blank in both domestic and international honors.

The club participated in the Bundesliga games, Bayern Munich had 1,481 games, while Hoffenheim had only 15 games.

In terms of German international appearance record, Bayern Munich has trained 77 German internationals in succession, playing 1,604 games for Germany, while Hoffenheim has only one game with pitiful one.

Media reports that Hoffenheim's salary budget is only 27 million euros, while Bayern Munich is more than 80 million.

In terms of media, Bayern Munich has been "bombed" by countless TV stations, radio stations, websites and five daily newspapers, including the famous gossip "Munich Daily", "Munich Evening News" and "Pictures-Munich Edition". Only one local media "Rhine-Neckar" is concerned about Hoffenheim.

There are a total of 178 staff members working for Bayern Munich Club, while Hoffenheim has only 18 people...

No matter from which perspective, Bayern Munich can be called the giant Goliath in front of the weak Hoffenheim.

So can Hoffenheim become David, the sheep-herding boy who defeated the giant Goliath?

Or will it be Bayern defending Goliath's glory and dignity?

There are four days left before the answer is revealed.
Chapter completed!