After Paris Saint-Germain was removed from the list, I led England to victory!

When the whistle blew for halftime, Yan Yuan remained seated in the stands.

While the surrounding fans got up to buy beer or go to the restroom, he kept his head down and quickly sketched on the tactics board.

He gained a lot from watching the first half of the game; Liverpool's defense on the left flank was indeed as Nagelsmann had predicted.

Robertson's forward runs are extremely wide, but he has a fatal habit when chasing back: he always subconsciously blocks the inside, leaving the outside corridor open.

Yan Yuan highlighted this point in his notes.

The stadium's big screen is replaying key moments from the first half.

When Yan Yuan looked up, he saw Bauman's heroic save from Salah's one-on-one chance.

On the sidelines, Nagelsmann was calling Kramaric and Gnabry aside, his fingers constantly tapping on the heat map on his tablet.

On the other side, Klopp put his arm around Arnold's shoulder and encouraged him loudly. The young Arnold was very excited, and his back was completely soaked.

Just two minutes into the second half after the break, Liverpool nearly extended their lead.

Mane made a sudden stop and change of direction on the left wing, shaking off Vogt, and then delivered a low cross to the edge of the six-yard box.

Firmino's shot was extremely difficult, but Baumann practically poked the ball out of bounds with his fingertips. Yan Yuan heard a collective gasp behind him.

"That Brazilian's adjustment before the shot was too subtle; it completely fooled our center-back," a bespectacled elderly fan murmured nearby.

Yan Yuan nodded silently and wrote down in his notebook, "Firmino's tendency to feint and then cut inside the penalty area is obvious."

He had barely finished writing when Hoffenheim launched a sharp counterattack.

Gnabry's moment to shine arrived. After receiving the ball, he made a through pass into the right side of the penalty area and unleashed a powerful shot that flew into the far corner, but the linesman had already raised his flag.

Offside! The cheers that had just erupted in the stadium instantly turned into boos.

"Why! Why is it always small clubs like ours that are targeted?!"

"Is the referee blind? This wasn't an offside goal!!"

"Corrupt referee!!!!"

From the stands, Hoffenheim fans could be heard constantly grumbling.

"I could see with my heel that the ball was not offside." Nagelsmann also complained to the referee. They were already at a disadvantage, and then a goal was disallowed. The fourth official had to come over and remind him to calm down.

Klopp then took the opportunity to call Arnold to the sidelines and quickly gave him a few tactical instructions.

Three minutes later, the young English star found Mane with a precise cross, but unfortunately, Mane's volley was saved by Baumann once again.

The commentator exclaimed.

"Liverpool's right-wing attack is like it has a positioning system installed. Youngster Arnold has already delivered five key crosses tonight. He is too crucial."

Yan Yuan's telescope closely followed Robertson's movements.

When Milner received the ball on the left wing, the Scottish full-back did not blindly push forward as he had in the first half, but instead maintained a reasonable distance from the three center-backs.

Yan Yuan immediately realized that Klopp must have adjusted the defensive strategy at halftime.

In the 66th minute, Hoffenheim missed another golden opportunity.

Kramaric broke through on the left and crossed the ball, giving Gnabry a golden opportunity near the penalty spot, but his shot went over the crossbar.

Upon seeing this, Nagelsmann smashed his water bottle on the ground, the splashing water startling the players on the bench who scattered in fear.

Four minutes later, Liverpool's Salah had a half-chance in the penalty area on the right, but Baumann made another brilliant save.

However, Yan Yuan noticed that this shot stemmed from Nordtveit's mistake in pressing forward, as he rashly left the defensive zone, resulting in a huge gap in the central defensive line.

This mistake quickly led to disaster.

In the 74th minute, Milner crossed the ball from the left wing, and Nordtveit inadvertently poked the ball into his own net while attempting to clear it.

A fatal, classic own goal.

The entire stadium fell into a deathly silence, except for the Liverpool fans in the away stands who were celebrating wildly.

"To make such a disastrous mistake under such high pressure! Nordtveit's performance tonight was a nightmare! This is just adding insult to injury for Hoffenheim, and their Champions League journey doesn't look smooth at all," the commentator exclaimed.

Of course, it's already quite an achievement to be drawn against Liverpool.

Nagelsmann, his face ashen, grabbed Nordtveit's arm as the young coach walked past the coaches' area with his head down, practically yelling at him:

"Tell me, Nordtveit! What the hell were you thinking?! Did you need to use the outside of your foot to handle that kind of cross?!"

Nordveit lowered his head and dared not retort, but was pulled back onto the field by Vogt's kind words.

Yan Yuan had never seen Nagelsmann lose his composure like this.

What worried him even more was that the Hoffenheim fans in the stands began to boo sporadically.

The elderly fan who had enthusiastically taken a photo with him during halftime was now covering his face in frustration.

Although Uth pulled one back in the 87th minute, it was too late.

In stoppage time, Hoffenheim's relentless attack failed to change the score.

When the final whistle blew, Liverpool players high-fived each other in celebration, while Hoffenheim players either slumped on the grass, unwilling to get up for a long time, or stood with their hands on their hips, facing criticism from the fans.

Yan Yuan closed his notebook, which was filled with notes, feeling as heavy-hearted as if he had participated in the competition himself.

His notes were professional and detailed, ranging from the timing of Liverpool's full-backs' overlapping runs to Salah's usual footwork when cutting inside, and the positioning flaws in the Reds' defense during set pieces.

But at this moment, the loss in the game has cast a shadow over all these analyses.

As I left, I could hear the murmurs of the surrounding fans:

"Nordveit's own goal was so amateurish, I could have done better..."

"Gnabry wasted at least three excellent chances today..."

"The goalkeeper was our only bright spot tonight."

"We should at least get a draw in this home game..."

In the tunnel after the game, Yan Yuan climbed down from the stands and caught up with his team, greeting them one by one with high-fives. He happened to run into a dejected Nordtveit.

The center-back, who had made a grave mistake, had bloodshot eyes. When he saw Yan Yuan, he managed a bitter smile: "Yan, I hope your notes don't contain too many of my mistakes."

Yan Yuan didn't know what to say, so he could only pat him on the shoulder.

As Nagelsmann walked toward the players' tunnel, Yan Yuan took a deep breath and stuffed his notebook into his backpack.

The second leg at Anfield will be an even tougher battle, and he must learn every lesson he can from this defeat.

……

The post-match press conference was packed with reporters, and flashbulbs were constantly going off.

Nagelsmann sat alone behind the long table, his face still somber, but he had regained his composure.

A bottle of mineral water sat in front of him, his fingertips tapping lightly on the table as he awaited the first question.

"Coach Nagelsmann, what do you think was the key reason for tonight's loss?" a reporter from Kicker asked first.

Nagelsmann took a deep breath, his voice low but clear: "The responsibility lies with me. Our tactical setup was flawed, especially in defending against Liverpool's crosses from the flanks."

Nordtveit's own goal was just the result; the real problem was that we didn't adjust in time during the game.

"What is your assessment of Nordtveit's performance?" a reporter from Bild asked.

Nagelsmann looked directly at the reporter and said,

"He is our key player, and mistakes are part of football, but as a coach, I should have anticipated Liverpool's cross threat and responded accordingly. That was my oversight."

Reporters bombarded him with questions, but Nagelsmann did not shirk any responsibility, nor did he even mention any individual player mistakes.

When asked about the possibility of a comeback in the second leg, he simply replied, "Anything is possible on the football field, but we need to solve our own problems first."

As the press conference drew to a close, Nagelsmann suddenly stood up and bowed slightly to the camera: "I want to apologize again to the Hoffenheim fans. Tonight's performance did not meet your expectations, but we will do our best to make up for it in the second leg."

This unexpected move silenced the scene for a moment, before the flashbulbs went off again.

The atmosphere was somber on the team bus after we got back.

The players sat in twos and threes, and no one dared to speak.

Nordvert sat alone in the back seat, his forehead pressed against the car window, his eyes vacant. The own goal had hit him hard.

Yan Yuan found a seat by the window, opened his notebook, and began to review his notes from the evening.

Suddenly, the seat next to him sank.

Nagelsmann sat down. He didn't say anything, but simply reached out and took Yan Yuan's notebook, and began to flip through it.

The car was so quiet you could hear the pages turning. Yan Yuan held his breath, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the coach's brows, which sometimes relaxed and sometimes furrowed.

Nagelsmann suddenly pointed to one of the pages,

"Yan, here, did you notice that Arnold observes the goalkeeper's position before crossing the ball?"

Yan Yuan nodded: "Yes, Coach, I have to thank you for giving me the binoculars. He made three crosses in the first half, and each time he would first look at Baumann's position before deciding on the arc and landing point."

Nagelsmann's lips curled into a slight smile: "Very good, even our analysts missed this detail."

He flipped through a few more pages. "Your record of Robertson's command of the defensive line is also very accurate... He does deliberately lag behind when creating the offside trap."

The bus drove smoothly through the night, and although the interior remained quiet, Yan Yuan felt the tense atmosphere ease somewhat.

Nagelsmann took out a pen from his suit pocket and wrote a few lines in the blank space of his notebook: "When Liverpool's midfielders track back, Henderson habitually moves to the right, which creates an opening on the left flank."

He whispered, "Pay attention to this next time, if we can move quickly..."

Yan Yuan took notes carefully and added his own observation: "Also, Coach, when Mane is off the ball, he will deliberately move towards the center, leaving space on the wing for Robertson to make runs."

Nagelsmann raised an eyebrow at him. "You even noticed that?"

This time he was genuinely surprised.

Nagelsmann leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh. "Honestly, your notes are better executed than some of our players."

These words made Yan Yuan's ears burn. He scratched the back of his head and said, "Coach... this is just what I should do..."

The two flipped through the pages, with Nagelsmann occasionally adding tactical points and Yan Yuan offering his observations. They were constantly exchanging their post-match insights.

For a fleeting moment, Yan Yuan already felt like he was becoming a teaching assistant.

After discussing the notes, Nagelsmann's furrowed brows completely relaxed.

He closed his notebook and said.

"You know what, Yan? I was planning to smash something when I got home tonight." He rarely joked like that.

"But I feel much better now because you really learned something. Your notes are very professional, which made me feel much better."

Yan Yuan didn't know how to respond, so he could only nod and say, "Thank you, Coach. I will continue to watch more games."

The team bus pulled into the training ground, and the players disembarked one after another. Before standing up, Nagelsmann patted Yan Yuan on the shoulder:

"You'll be starting next Saturday in the Bundesliga opener against Werder Bremen. You're given the chance, so get ready. I need you to create threats on the right wing."

"I will definitely prepare seriously, Coach!!" Yan Yuan could hardly contain his joy. He had thought that his next start might be more than a month away, but he didn't expect it to come so soon.

On his way back to the club, Nagelsmann thought a lot.

"This kid's game reading ability is terrifying, and his performance on the field is also fantastic. Perhaps... I really should give him a chance in the second round?"

Klopp can trust Arnold, so I should trust Yan Yuan too.

But in the end, he just shook his head and suppressed the thought for the time being.

It's not the right time yet; we need to see how he performs in the next round of the Bundesliga.

Yan Yuan's notes took away some of Nagelsmann's disappointment. Although the bitterness of losing still lingered, at least tonight, he saw the possibility of the future in a 17-year-old boy.

This is even more precious than victory.