Misfortunes Never Come Single

Having secured a hard-fought win against Münster, Werder Bremen was filled with excitement over their regained victory.

With four consecutive wins in various competitions since the start of the season, Werder Bremen now faced Augsburg, a Bundesliga team, in the next round of the German Cup.

Despite being a Bundesliga team, Augsburg was currently ranked 16th in the standings, in the relegation zone. For teams fighting against relegation, securing survival in the league takes precedence, while cup matches are expendable.

Therefore, the Werder Bremen team was full of confidence.

They felt that playing against Augsburg might actually be easier than playing against Münster.

There is a saying that goes, "Fortune does not favor one forever."

In the fifth round of the league, Werder Bremen faced SC Freiburg away. Werder Bremen was currently ranked third in the standings, while Freiburg was in eighth place.

Based on both teams' rankings, it seemed that Werder Bremen had the advantage. However, the unexpected result of the match was that, when the final whistle blew, the score was 2-1, with the home team leading and the visitors trailing.

This defeat marked Werder Bremen's first loss in the Bundesliga this season, ending their three-game winning streak.

It seemed like Werder Bremen was cursed in this match; they hit the woodwork four times and had two goals disallowed for offside.

After the match, the players felt extremely frustrated. They had absolute control of the game, yet they couldn't score. Even when they did, the goals were disallowed.

In this match, Lin hit the woodwork once and had a goal disallowed for offside, ending his streak of scoring in four consecutive games.

But to him, whether he scored or not didn't matter much. As long as the team won and gained points, everything else would be fine.

What he found hard to accept was that he didn't score, and the team didn't win either.

After this match, the media's attitude towards Werder Bremen changed immediately.

They had previously praised them, believing they could be a dark horse in the league and create chaos for the top teams. Now, they were criticizing them.

The media criticized Werder Bremen for depending too much on Lin and De Bruyne for their attack. Once these two players were restricted by the opponents, the team lost its attacking threat.

Additionally, they believed that Coach Schaaf's reformation of the team's defense line was a failure.

This season, Werder Bremen had conceded 8 goals in 5 rounds, with an average of 1.6 goals per game, ranking third from the bottom among the 18 Bundesliga teams.

Their weakness in defense and strength in attack hadn't improved.

Although Werder Bremen was currently in a good position in the league standings, if they couldn't address these weaknesses in the team, they wouldn't go far in the league.

Normally, if they had only lost one match, the media wouldn't criticize Werder Bremen so harshly. What prompted this was the fact that Werder Bremen's next opponent was the Bundesliga powerhouse, Bayern Munich.

Bayern Munich was in top form this season, having achieved a 3-0 victory over Wolfsburg in the previous round, securing five consecutive wins at the beginning of the season.

If Werder Bremen hadn't lost this round's match, there might have been a chance for them to compete with Bayern Munich after securing four consecutive wins. However, after their early defeat, the morale compared to Bayern Munich had already deteriorated.

Adding to this, there was a huge gap in strength between the two teams, which almost no one believed Werder Bremen could win against Bayern Munich at home.

This season, Bayern Munich had become even more formidable with the addition of Martinez, making their strength even more formidable.

They had achieved a perfect record in the league, the Champions League group stage, and the German Cup, with no losses so far.

Any team that faced Bayern was unable to withstand their luxurious midfield and attacking lineup.

Given Werder Bremen's current form, it's hard to imagine how they could defeat such an unbeaten force!

However, not everyone supported Bayern. Borussia Dortmunds fans hoped that Werder Bremen could defeat Bayern Munich at home and end their winning streak.

In this round, Borussia Dortmund faced the newly promoted Eintracht Frankfurt away. Although Frankfurt was a newly promoted team, they were a surprise package, especially given Borussia Dortmund's poor form this season.

Therefore, both sides attached great importance to this match and didn't dare underestimate the other.

However, it turned out to be a wild match. Borussia Dortmund and their opponent Engaged in a fierce battle in Frankfurt.

Reus, Gotze, and Lewandowski all scored, helping Borussia Dortmund take the lead three times, but Frankfurt managed to equalize each time.

The final score was 3-3, which was a disappointing result for both sides.

Before this game, Frankfurt had been closely chasing Bayern Munich, but after this draw, Bayern pulled 2 points ahead.

Dortmund only got 1 point, with a total of 6 points from 5 rounds, lagging 9 points behind Bayern.

If they still want to compete for the championship, besides avoiding mistakes in their upcoming matches, they need to keep winning and hope that other teams in the league can help them stop Bayern from scoring.

If not, even if they directly defeat Bayern in a tough match, it won't completely close the gap between the two teams.

In the league, there are not many teams capable of posing a threat to Bayern, aside from Dortmund, Schalke 04, and Borussia Monchengladbach.

Borussia Monchengladbach is an odd team; their strength is not exceptional, but they always play exceptionally well against Bayern Munich.

Every time they face Bayern, the players perform beyond their usual level, hence the saying "foals eat, sleep, and beat Bayern."

As for Werder Bremen, Dortmund believes that some of their players pose a significant threat and might be able to create miracles.

To inspire Werder Bremen to give their all and challenge Bayern, Dortmund's players openly supported Werder Bremen on social media.

Lewandowski tweeted, "Werder Bremen's counterattack is sharp. We've suffered losses at their hands before. When facing Bayern Munich, they will definitely continue to use this tactic. I don't think Bayern's defense can stop their counterattacks!"

Götze believed, "Werder Bremen's player number 6 (De Bruyne) is an outstanding midfielder. His creativity and vision will help Werder Bremen win."

Reus didn't make a public statement but privately messaged Lin, asking, "How many goals do you plan to score against Bayern Munich?"

Upon seeing Reus's message, Lin was a little surprised; he didn't expect Reus to contact him proactively, nor did he anticipate such high praise from Reus.

However, Lin is not the type to be easily daunted, so he replied, "I'll score as many as I can. Don't worry, we, Werder Bremen, will definitely give our all when playing against Bayern Munich!"

Upon seeing Lin's reply, Reus couldn't help but smile. He liked the response. But then, Lin replied, "Of course, it's the same when playing against Dortmund!"

Reus's smile instantly froze.

Because of the defeat and the impending clash with strong opponents, the atmosphere within Werder Bremen was very serious before the start of the sixth-round league matches.

Coach Schaaf had been somber for the past few days, not showing much smile.

Several assistant coaches were the same, looking worried and clearly lacking confidence for the upcoming matches.

This season, Bayern Munich's front-line attack was extremely formidable, including players like Robben, Ribery, Mandzukic, Gomez, and Thomas Muller. Each of them had very strong scoring abilities.

Meanwhile, Werder Bremen was a team with poor defense, which almost couldn't contain the opponent's attacks.

If they couldn't restrain the opponent's attack, did that mean they had to focus on attacking?

After the addition of Martinez, Bayern's midfield became even more powerful, not only supplying more ammunition to the team's forward line but also effectively intercepting the opponent's attack in midfield.

Faced with this upgraded version of Bayern Munich, could they really win by attacking?