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8.19 Alemannia Aachen vs. Stuttgarter Kickers
Prestige Cup Qualifying Round, First Leg
We begin on the road this time, and they haul out the same 5-2-3 formation. Why not, when it worked the first time ... except they're going to find it a lot harder to get corner opportunities this time.
G - Komolong
D - Ortag/Jager/Doringer/Weibenfels/Naegeli/Schulte
M - Zeitz/Hirsch/Fetscher
F - Jedin
Our first time going with a 6-3-1 this season, but we won't be helped by any additional forwards in this matchup. Fetscher is in there due to his youth and a decent mid option to get in the way of theirs.
Alemannia goes for the corner play anyway, and their shot gets through Doringer though Komolong easily knocks it aside. We have a slight edge at both spots, Ortag intercepts the kick and then possession gets traded around a lot. Eventually a yellow is handed out to Schulte, a rare foul on us but it wasn't a blatant one. The end result of all that was another save and failed corner kick. Under pressure for the entire half pretty much, we didn't crack.
Second-half kickoff was our chance, as is often the case on the road. Our only fatigued player was Ortag but we have nobody to put on for him so he'll have to muddle through. Jedin split their defense as before, but Pluntke made a fine interception on a decent shot attempt. After their latest haul down the near flank, Weibenfels moved out to make the tackle following a bit of deliberation on my part. It worked out as he made the play, then survived a tackle attempt. They got more aggressive, and earned themselves a red card for their trouble. A free-kick deep in our end ... 80 minutes off the clock. There wasn't time for anything but a desperation loft downfield. It didn't connect, so we positioned for defense and Doringer knocked aside their last-ditch shot from range.
Alemannia Aachen 0, Stuttgarter Kickers 0
We'll have a chance to win it at home. I think our chances are about even of doing so, assuming the same matchups.
Levels - Zeitz(13), Weibenfels(10), Schulte(8), Naegeli(6)
Didn't note the star awards. We do have some business to attend to now though.
Zeitz has become our first Defensive Midfielder(DM). This is not a small thing. He gets 100% defence against passes going through his tile, intercepts all passes within 2 tiles, and +1 level to the Intercept talent(counters Layoff Pass & Long Pass). His defense attribute isn't high enough to get a lot of pass interceptions in adjacent areas, but even so he will make it more difficult on the opponent to get the ball to their central forwards.
Zeitz is up to level 15 now.
Schulte and Naegeli are now Amateur Defenders(D). That'll make them significantly more valuable and shore up our flexibility on the back line.
** Glory - 76(+4)
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