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

There are three days left until the second leg of the Champions League qualifiers.

Yan Yuan sat at his desk in his dormitory, his tactical notes spread out in front of him, and his computer screen playing videos of Liverpool's recent matches.

While recording Robertson and Arnold's positioning habits, he mentally simulated various situations he might encounter on the wing.

But more than tactical preparation, he was concerned about his own weaknesses.

He brought up the system interface, and a pale blue light screen unfolded before his eyes, clearly listing his various ability values ​​in the personal attribute panel:

[Technical Attributes]

Ball control: S

Dribbling: B+

Short pass: B-

Long pass: C-

Shot: A-

Header: D

……

His attention lingered on "heading" and "long passes" for a long time.

His heading ability is rated D, which is undoubtedly the weakest of all his technical attributes.

Considering his position is right winger, and Nagelsmann's tactical system does not rely on wingers to win headers, there is little significance in improving this attribute in the short term.

Moreover, heading skills cannot be mastered in three days. Heading requires daily practice of jumping ability, and forcing extra training may actually interfere with other more important training.

"Never mind, let's put this aside for now." He shook his head and turned his attention to another weakness: long passes.

A C-level long pass might be barely enough to play against a mid-to-lower-tier team in the Bundesliga.

However, in the Champions League, especially against a top team like Liverpool, any misplaced pass could be exploited by the opponent for a counter-attack.

In the last match against Werder Bremen, his cross to Gnabry was almost intercepted. If Gnabry hadn't reacted quickly, that scoring opportunity might have been lost.

"We must improve our long passes." Yan Yuan made his decision.

He opened the system store and browsed various training packages under the "Skills Training" category.

[Skills Training Pack]

Basic Long Pass Training (500 points): Suitable for beginner players, improves long pass accuracy by 10%-15%.

Intermediate Long Pass Training (1500 points): Designed for professional players, it improves long pass accuracy by 20%-30% and optimizes pass arc.

Advanced Long Pass Training (5000 points): A master-level training program that significantly improves long pass accuracy (40%-50%) and increases pass variety (such as outside-of-the-foot curves, low ground passes, etc.).

Yan Yuan currently has a balance of over 3000 points, enough to buy an intermediate training pack, but still quite a bit short of an advanced one.

He hesitated for a moment, but after considering the cost-effectiveness, he finally chose the intermediate long pass training package.

While the advanced training pack is more effective, it consumes too many points, and his current long-pass fundamentals are only average and not solid enough. Using the advanced training pack rashly might actually be less effective than the intermediate one.

"Confirm purchase".

[Ding! Consumed 1500 points, obtained "Intermediate Long Pass Training Pack" x1]

Yan Yuan's points balance dwindled instantly, but he wasn't bothered. Points could be earned again, but the chance to qualify for the Champions League only came once.

The instructions for the training package immediately came to mind:

[Intermediate Long Pass Training Package]

Training content:

1. Static long pass practice (30 minutes): Passing from fixed positions, focusing on improving basic accuracy.

2. Long Passing Practice (45 minutes): Simulates running and passing in a match to improve dynamic adjustment ability.

3. Long pass drill (45 minutes): Complete the pass under slight interference to enhance match adaptability.

Expected improvements: Long pass accuracy +25%, pass arc optimized, and foot speed increased.

Specific plan: ...

Yan Yuan carefully read each instruction and already had a plan in mind.

Starting tomorrow, he will practice long passes after regular training, strictly following the system's plan.

Outside the window, the night in Hoffenheim remained quiet and peaceful, but Yan Yuan's heart was already burning with fighting spirit.

Three days later, at Anfield, he must prepare for his Champions League debut.

……

The three training days leading up to the Champions League qualifiers were busier than usual at Hoffenheim's training ground.

Before the morning mist had completely dissipated, Yan Yuan was already on the training field, warming up alone.

He still maintains his habit of arriving early.

Nagelsmann stood on the sidelines. He had also arrived early and nodded to Yan Yuan from a distance, a tacit understanding between them.

During the morning tactics lesson, the assistant coach repeatedly showed Liverpool's defensive weaknesses on a projector.

Yan Yuan sat in the first row, his notebook filled with arrows and symbols.

"Their full-backs like to push forward, but their turning speed is a weakness..." Nagelsmann explained all the key points about Liverpool to everyone, while Yan Yuan heavily underlined the names of Arnold and Robertson.

In the afternoon, during the team scrimmage, Yan Yuan was assigned to the main group and was responsible for the right flank attack.

Uth roamed the attacking third, occasionally turning back to shout at him, "Yan, pass the ball behind the defense!"

Yan Yuan attempted several long passes, some of which accurately found teammates, while others missed their target.

There is indeed a problem with the success rate of long passes.

After training, he stopped Gnabry, who was about to leave: "Sergi, can you help me practice long passes for a while?"

Gnabry was pouring mineral water over his head when he heard this, and shook his wet hair:

"Practicing again? Didn't we already practice this morning?"

"That's only ten passes. Let's practice fifty more." Yan Yuan scooped another ball out of the basket.

"Huh??? Fifty kicks?" Gnabry clutched his chest dramatically. "Yan, are you trying to murder your teammate?"

Yan Yuan tucked the ball under his arm and revealed a sly smile: "You won't have practiced for nothing. I'll teach you that lobbed pass."

Gnabry's eyes lit up immediately.

He still vividly remembers that move: "Is it the one you used in the Werder Bremen game? The one where you flick your leg and the ball flies over the defender's head?"

Yan Yuan nodded. "Yes, that's it. Fifty passes in exchange for one dribbling move, isn't that a good deal?"

"Deal! But let me make this clear first, if I can't teach you, you have to treat me to dinner. I want Chinese food, so you have to help me avoid some bad options," Gnabry said cheerfully.

"Absolutely no problem."

The two walked towards the empty half of the field, laughing and joking.

Ute had already reached the locker room door, but upon seeing this, he turned back. He's been quite ambitious lately.

"Yan, Sergi, are you guys practicing again? Can I join you?"

An interesting scene unfolded on the training field: Gnabry and Uth took turns running to different positions, while Yan Yuan delivered long passes from various angles.

Ute and Gnabry would occasionally give Yan Yuan pointers.

Sometimes it's a low, straight pass; sometimes it's a high, curved pass; and sometimes it's a diagonal pass with a strange spin.

"Yan, your footwork has improved so fast! Your passes in the last game were definitely not as good as they are now," Ute said in surprise as he caught a precise 40-meter long pass.

"I'm purely self-disciplined," Yan Yuan replied, wiping his sweat.

Gnabry trotted over and nudged him with his elbow: "Time to keep your promise?"

Yan Yuan had no choice but to put the ball down and demonstrate the lobbed pass over the opponent using the slowest possible motion:

"The key is that your ankle must be like this at the moment of contact with the ball..."

Gnabry tried to imitate him, but either kicked the ball five meters high or failed to stop it where he wanted it to.

"Damn! This is much harder than it looks!"

"It's okay, take your time. Ask me anything you don't understand," Yan Yuan laughed. "Shall we continue practicing passing?"

"Let's do twenty more kicks then, but this time I'm going to run into even more difficult spots..."

The training on the second day was more systematic.

Yan Yuan strictly followed the plan provided by the system, starting with static long passes and repeatedly practicing the same action at fixed points.

Nagelsmann stopped and watched for ten minutes as he passed by, saying nothing, but patted him on the shoulder as he left.

All of Yan Yuan's extra training was done after he had completed his regular training sessions, and Nagelsmann would try his best to let Yan Yuan arrange his own post-training time.

He knew the child was sensible; he wouldn't practice less, nor would he blindly practice more.

During the afternoon's intra-squad scrimmage, Yan Yuan made three long passes that resulted in assists, one of which directly found Gnabry, who had successfully beaten the offside trap.

"Beautiful! That pass was much better than yesterday's!" Gnabry ran back to give him a high-five after scoring.

Yan Yuan chuckled, panting, "It's still a long way off."

He noticed that Nagelsmann was talking to his assistant coach on the sidelines, and the two of them kept glancing in his direction.

The third day was the last training session before the competition. It was drizzling, but the intensity of the training was not reduced at all.

Yan Yuan's long passes have become much more consistent, and even the slippery grass did not affect his performance.

When Gnabry received the pass from him, he even joked, "Yan, did you secretly switch to a pair of golden right feet?"

"Secret training. If you want to learn, add another fifty passes." Yan Yuan winked mischievously.

"I called you brother, please spare me!" Gnabry made a move to run away, but Yan Yuan grabbed him.

"Hey, don't run away, bro."...

During the tactical drills, Nagelsmann specifically arranged several wing tactics to counter Liverpool.

Yan Yuan was required to frequently switch positions with the midfielders, sometimes cutting inside and sometimes going down the byline.

"Watch your passing timing; Liverpool's defenders aren't handling these changes of tempo perfectly," the coach shouted from the sidelines...

In the locker room after training, Gnabry hummed a song while changing his clothes.

Ute leaned closer and asked Yan Yuan, "Nervous, kid? You're going to Anfield tomorrow."

Yan Yuan, who was tying his shoelaces, said after hearing this, "A little, but mostly excited."

Uth said earnestly, "You will do well. Everyone can see your progress over these three days, especially your passing."

Nagelsmann called out to Yan Yuan, who was about to leave, at the locker room door, intending to give him special treatment.

He handed Yan Yuan a USB drive.

"Yan, this is a brain teaser. It contains an analysis of Liverpool's Robertson, who will be your matchup. Make sure you finish watching it tonight."

"OK, Coach." Yan Yuan took the USB drive.

The coach is so considerate.

On his way back to the dormitory, he brought up the system interface and saw that his long-pass attribute had changed from C- to C.

Although it was only a small improvement, those precise passes to his teammates and the sweat he shed on the training field gave him more confidence for the upcoming games.