The knockouts

The MTU cup knockouts were decided and the funny thing is.

We were playing against Barca again.

You may think.

How is that possible? Simple. Barca plays with two teams.

FC Barcelona "Grana", who were in our Group, and FC Barcelona "Blau(blue)", who was in another group.

Anyway, the Blau team was often the weaker side. Till 2023 Barcelona won it 4 times with Grana winning it 3 times and Blau only 1 time.

This means Blau was the clear underdog.

At 13:49(1:49 PM) the game started.

We adopted a common 1-2-1-1 tactic with the goalkeeper in the goal. (counting the goalkeeper as a field player, because he will be substituted often if the team is down by one or two goals.) 

I was in a position like the offensive midfielder on a common football field.

The game started pretty exciting for the around 6,000 viewers in the hall. Yes. 6,000. That's a pretty common number for the MTU Cup. Now you can guess the influence of it. 

Barcelona Blau didn't try their usual passing and possession route but instead tried something more aggressive. Pressure. 

I need to say that's impressive. Why. Because that's risky. They may be underdogs, but if they lose by a high difference, they will be laughed at. The same as the 2:8 that will happen in the future.

Many teams tried a bit of Klopp's pressure style in recent years as he was pretty successful with it. Due to this, many people in this generation know a bit about this style of play. 

But it was perfect.

Do you know how often Lahm played against prime Klopp Dortmund and didn't lose or even win? Often.

Not to mention an inexperienced Barcelona team.

I easily destroyed their advances and got to pass the ball to a few players of ours and farmed a few assists. 

If our efficiency was higher, I could have farmed more, but it was still a satisfying 4:0 as we still kept a bit of energy for the next match.

I assisted for all four.

There wasn't anything special to tell on this game.

I just used Rivellino's vision for a few good passes and used Lahm's experience against pressure play to destroy their offenses.

On the other side, Dortmund won against Benfica Lissabon on penalties. Barcelona "Grana" won against Ajax on penalties. And Eintracht Frankfurt won against Borussia Mönchen Gladbach on penalties. 

All matches were decided through penalties but ours. 

Before our match, the games deciding 7th and 5th place were made.

FC Barcelona "Blau" won against Benfica Lissabon to get place 7 and Gladbach won against Ajax to get place 5.

Before us played Barca "Grana" against Dortmund who had Moukoko.

Barca won 5:4 and Moukoko ended his goals on 28.