"Luca Tony!! He scored the second goal for Bayern! Bayern led Stuttgart 2:1 away!! Now there are less than twenty minutes left before the end of the game! In the battle with Hoffenheim for the winter championship, Bayern Munich is temporarily in the lead! If the score remains unchanged until the end of the game, Bayern Munich will score with Hoffenheim before the start of the game. As long as Hoffenheim loses more than four goals in the next game, the top two in the league will change hands!"

"My God...red card! Odo received the second yellow card for pulling Stuttgart's cacau, and he was punished! The situation is not good for Bayern Munich... Stuttgart's offensive was very strong, and Bayern could only hide in his 30-meter area and could not defend it. Now Odo has been punished again..."

"Klinsmann has learned to be smart. He did not insist on fighting against his opponents like he played against Hoffenheim away. Even though he only leads one goal, as long as he can win, it is enough..."

"Sami Khdira-! Oh! Crossbeam! His long shot that was bound to be made was hit on the crossbeam! Rensin had completely surrendered his gun! In the 90th minute of the game, Khdira's long shot was rejected by Crossbeam..."

"The game ends! The game ends! Stuttgart's unbeaten record against Bayern Munich maintained at home since the 2004-05 season is over! Bayern defeated Stuttgart away with goals from Borowski and Tony, with the score of 2:1! Now the pressure is overwhelmed by Hoffenheim! After being tied by Hoffenheim at home, people once thought that Bayern had lost the winter championship by 99%, but now it seems that hope is back! The competition for the winter championship has reached a white-hot level..."

The day before the game, Bayern Munich and Stuttgart fought fiercely for 90 minutes, and in the end, Bayern Munich defeated Stuttgart 2:1. Before the end of the first half, Stuttgart's midfielder Khedira (sami_khedira) took the lead for the home team. Just three minutes into the second half, Bayern Munich's Borowski equalized the score for the team, and then in the 76th minute Luca Tony scored a goal for the team. Until the end of the game, the score did not change again. Bayern Munich won as he wished.

It was time to win. In the last minute before the end of the game, Khdiraben had a chance to become a hero, but his long shot hit the crossbar... Now Bayern Munich has the same points as Hoffenheim, with three goals less than the goal difference, which is not a huge gap. As long as Hoffenheim loses 0:4 at home, Bayern Munich will become the winter champion, which will bring great confidence to the team, because as long as Bayern Munich wins the winter championship, he will definitely win the league championship. It has never been reversed since the three-point system was implemented.

While singing praises to the team, the Munich media is also looking forward to Hoffenheim making mistakes.

"For Hoffenheim's bad defense line, even if you lose four goals, it's not news..."

"Although Hoffenheim's attack power is the strongest in Germany, their opponent Schalke 04 is the strongest defense in Germany. So I think Hoffenheim's defense line may not be able to stop Schalke's attack, but Schalke's defense line can definitely block Hoffenheim's offensive!"

Munich's media are full of expectations for the next day's match.

※※※In the last round of the league, Mannheim fans were in a very complicated mood. When Hoffenheim moved to Carl-Benz Stadium, it was a matter of decision between clubs, but as fans, they were very disgusted. They never concealed their disgust for this team. Just like the two neighbors were poor, one of them was a little poorer, but one day the poorer man suddenly won the prize of 100 million yuan and became a nouveau riche overnight, installing a new house and buying a new car, and showing off in front of the poor neighbor all day long. Another poor neighbor would naturally have a heartfelt disgust of this nouveau riche.

However, as the Bundesliga season progressed, Hoffenheim won the audience step by step with their own performance, and naturally won the support of many Mannheim fans.

Hoffenheim plays football that makes the whole country look at, much better than their local team Mannheim. People in this city support Mannheim because of tradition, but they like Hoffenheim because Hoffenheim plays well.

Now the last game of this beautiful team in Mannheim has come. After today, if they want to see such wonderful football again, they can only drive to Sinsheim, more than 40 kilometers away. That city is much smaller than Mannheim. As early as the late 1990s, Mannheim had 600,000 people, while Sinsheim had only more than 30,000 people.

When we think of the difference in the size of the cities between the two sides, the Mannheim fans in the stands of Carl Mercedes-Benz Stadium were a little unhappy - in such a small city, only more than 30,000 people could enjoy such passionate football up close, but we had to drive to watch the game... Why didn't that old man Hope choose to acquire Mannheim instead of choosing the hometown team he once played for?

The Mannheims are still unable to completely get rid of the feeling of love and hatred for Hoffenheim.

The game started at 6 pm local time. Since it was winter, the game had not started yet. It was already dark. Carl Mercedes-Benz Stadium turned on the lights and illuminated the grass in the center of the venue to snow-white, while the stands were a little darker.

The noisy stands were a little quieter. The players from both sides warmed up on the court just now, and the fans were very excited. Schalke 04 also has special significance for Rangnick. He once coached in Schalke 04, led the team to play for 44 games and scored 88 points. He is the head coach with the most points per game in Schalke 04's history and the second highest among all Bundesliga coaches. Until now, Schalke 04's fans still miss him, so they played the slogan in the stands: "Ralph, we always love you!"

※※※ Hoffenheim players sat in the locker room. This is their last time using the home team locker room of the Karl Mercedes-Benz Stadium. After the winter break, they will move to the newly built Rhine Neka Stadium. They no longer have to drive more than 40 kilometers to Mannheim before every home game, which feels like playing away games.

Tactics and other things have been finished at the tactical meeting last night. In fact, Hoffenheim's tactics have not changed much in the past half season. At most, it will go from a balanced 442 to a more aggressive 433. The central idea is still "offensive". Any team does not need to spend much time studying their tactics, but studying them thoroughly and successfully dealing with them are two different things. Many teams know how to deal with Hoffenheim, but they eventually lost.

Wolfsburg is the lesson of the past. They know what Hoffenheim's style is and how to deal with it, but in the end they lost in the attack with Hoffenheim.

"We're still offensive, and I don't think you can defend."

As soon as Rangnick said this, a burst of laughter rang out in the locker room. For these players, it would be even more uncomfortable to keep them safe than killing them.

Besides, Bayern Munich had already defeated Stuttgart 2:1 away yesterday. Now the two teams have the same points. Hoffenheim only has three more goals than Bayern Munich, which is not an insurmountable gap. Hoffenheim must win in this game, of course the draw can be done, but it is not a 0:0 draw, but a 4:4 draw.

"Before the game, Bild Bild conducted a survey. Fifty-six-seven percent of people supported us to win the Winter Championship. This approval rating is very high, ahead of Bayern Munich. Think about it, boys. When we just appeared in the First Division half a season ago, how many people would think so? Why do we win this trust from them? It's not up to our performance! What else can we hesitate now? I know that everyone received bad news before the game. Bayern beat Stuttgart away and our Winter Championship became no longer insured, so now you have to use on-court performance to prove who is the better team?"

Speaking of this, Rangnik paused and turned his attention to the team's captain Chu Zhongtian.

"There is another thing... After being promoted to the First Division, the team has not set any new season goals for everyone."

Many people nodded slightly, and Rangnick was right. After the team was upgraded, everyone thought that the club's goal would definitely be relegation in the new season. Unexpectedly, the club did not say that. They did not announce that the team's goal was relegation. Rangnick said more than once in public, "We are not here to relegation." Not only that, there is no relegation bonus. Apart from the points prize, the team has no bonus, no relegation bonus, no European qualification bonus, and no winning prize.

The players didn't know why, but at that time everyone was excited about being able to participate in the Bundesliga, and they didn't take the bonus matter too much.

"But under such circumstances, everyone played a perfect first half of the season, and I couldn't ask for more. At the same time, I also knew that this passion could not last for a long time, and we must have some motivational means. I know that everyone is very concerned about this matter - bonus. Our club is different from other Bundesliga clubs, with only points prizes. But this is not enough. Mr. Hope is not a stingy person. So the club's senior management convened three captains to have a meeting the day before yesterday." Speaking of this, Rangnick pointed to the three captains, Perl Nilsson and Teber.

Everyone also looked at it. Everyone knows this. After the training the day before yesterday, the three captains shouldered the expectations of the players and went to meet with the club's senior management to discuss the bonus issues of this season. So far, the club has no specific statements about the bonus, but the club's general manager, Mr. jochen_a._rotthaus, has said that if necessary, the club is willing to start a dialogue with the players.

Now is the "necessary period". The first Bundesliga winter champion in the team's history is in sight. The team's technical statistics are also among the top in the Bundesliga. With such outstanding performance, the club should obviously express it. As the team's captain, Chu Zhongtian must stand with the players in this matter, otherwise the prestige he had finally established will disappear. So after the game with Bayern, he proposed to the club to negotiate the team's bonus, and it is important to see that the winter break is coming. In order to let everyone have a happy Christmas and let everyone know how much bonus they can get after the season is over.

Asking for bonuses from the club is not considered against the club, and there is no embarrassment. Professional football is a job for players. Since it is a job, you have to get money. In addition to normal salary, it is also essential to motivate players. Relegation teams will set relegation bonuses, and winning teams will set championship bonuses, as well as bonuses for participating in European competitions. Of course, some teams will not set team bonuses specifically, because the situation is different. They are all at the end of the season. According to the team's performance, players will discuss with the club how to pay the bonuses. Different bonuses are also different, and the distribution rules are different for each team.

Before this, Hoffenheim did not have any team bonuses. Each player had his own points prize. Everyone was different. It was determined based on the player's status and role in the team. Among them, Chu Zhongtian, as the highest annual salary player in the team, also had the highest points prize - each point was exchanged for 10,000 euros. The money will be converted into a bonus based on the team's points after the end of the season, and then transferred to Chu Zhongtian's account. If the team has 70 points in the end, it is 70 times 10,000 times 700,000, which is equivalent to 700,000. After deducting taxes, the 700,000 will be included in Chu Zhongtian's pocket.

Hoffenheim's points prize is between 1,500 euros and 10,000 euros, which is not the highest in the Bundesliga, but it is not a small amount. As a newly promoted team, this point prize is very large. In addition to the points prize, after each round of the league, the club prepares the players for equal divisions, and as long as they are selected into the roster, they can participate in equal divisions. There are bonuses for each round of the German Cup, and the amount depends on the strength of the opponent. In the first round, the team defeated Chemnitz, and the club distributed 1,000 euros to each player.

"Now I will tell you the final result of the meeting and negotiations - yesterday Mr. Rothouse told me that if we can qualify for the League Cup after the season, the team will equally share a million prize!"

"Oh! Long live!" The players couldn't wait to cheer.

Rangnick smiled and waved his hand, signaling them not to rush to celebrate. He hasn't finished yet. "If you qualify for the Champions League, it will be two million!"

"Haha! I'm sure!" Someone smiled happily. The team performed so well in the first half of the season, and they all felt that the qualification for the Champions League next season was not enough.

"Finally!" Rangnick raised his voice, and the excited striking comments in the locker room gradually subsided, and everyone was looking at their head coach. "There is another bonus, up to 3.5 million euros!"

Chu Zhongtian clearly heard someone take a breath.

"All you can get about 150,000 each. But... you have to wait for you to win the league championship."

This time, there was no more impatient cheers and discussions in the locker room, and everyone looked at each other. The winning prize was generally established by teams that had the ability to win the championship and wanted to win the championship, but not all teams that had the ability to win the championship would set up winning prizes, and Werder Bremen did not set up a winning prize.

What does the club suddenly decide to set up a championship bonus? I think the team will definitely not win the championship, so I don’t have to spend the money, just treat it as a carrot on a stick?

Obviously not... the club really wants to win the championship!

Rangnick looked at the players who were a little surprised and pointed to Chu Zhongtian with a normal face: "This bonus was proposed by Chu Special to hope that the club will be established."

Everyone immediately turned their attention to Chu Zhongtian.

Per Nilsson and Teber also looked over. They had known it a long time ago, but the prize money Chu Zhongtian said was three million euros... They still remember how surprised everyone was when Chu Zhongtian proposed this award at the meeting. It was inferior to his current teammates... No, there was only one person not surprised - head coach Rangnick performed very calmly.

Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Chu Zhongtian stood up. He felt it was necessary to explain to everyone.

"I remember everyone asked me if what I said was true after I was on TV. I said I was serious, so I proposed to set up a winning prize at the conference. I was not kidding, and I still seriously think that we should win the championship. I know that Bayern won the game yesterday, and as long as we don't lose, the winter championship is still ours. But I think we should win Schalke because we have to take advantage of every opportunity to open the points gap with the pursuers behind. Guys, the competition for the league championship has begun now!"

Rangnick took over Chu Zhongtian's words: "Chu is right. If we want to win the championship, we can't wait until there are ten rounds left in the league before sprinting. That would not work. For teams like Bayern, winning the championship starts from the first round of the league. We were half a season behind them, which is not early. I called Mr. Hope, the boss in the United States. He was very happy that the team had such fighting spirit and ambitions, so he added another 500,000 based on Chu's proposal!" Rangnick stretched out his right hand and showed five fingers.

It seems that the club is coming true... The players couldn't help but talk.

Do we have to win the championship in our first season in the Bundesliga?

Is the Kaiserslautern Miracle really going to be performed again?

"Okay, boys, if you want this prize of 3.5 million euros, then give me the fighting spirit and win the league championship. First, start by winning this game!"

※※※Note: I will post the bonus rules for the Bundesliga teams in the 2008-2009 season to the public version, and I will refer to it when writing the book.
Chapter completed!