Chapter 374: Chapter 84: A Surprise! A European Do-or-Die Battle! The Turin Massacre! The Old Lady’s Elegy! The Bundesliga Can Finally Hold Its Head High

After Dortmund drew Juventus from Serie A in the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 draw, Chairman Laubal, accompanied by Watzke, Zorc, and others, came to the Strobelaler that very afternoon.

Their purpose was quite simple: to rally the team.

After losing 1-2 away to Schalke 04 in the last league match, and thus losing the Ruhr Derby, Dortmund was under immense pressure. Even Klopp took a lot of heat.

The main criticism was his decision to substitute Wang Shuo midway through the match, which led to the team’s collapse in the second half.

But Klopp also vented his frustrations at the post-match press conference.

If he didn’t rotate his squad, everyone would criticize him for being too hard on Wang Shuo, for resting so many players but never Wang Shuo.

He was being overworked at such a young age.

But after he did rotate, they lost the game, and he still got criticized.

What a dilemma!

In this round of matches, Bayer Leverkusen drew 0-0 at home against Cologne, while Bayern won 1-0 at home against Hamburg.

So, after 24 matches, Dortmund still had 58 points.

Bayer Leverkusen now had 52 points, and Bayern Munich had 51.

In other words, Dortmund’s lead had been cut to six points.

Laubal and his group had come to the Strobelaler to encourage the players. They wanted them to remain focused for the rest of the season, to keep up the effort, and to strive to finish the season with their lead intact.

With only 10 rounds left, the team couldn’t afford to keep dropping points.

In addition, Laubal also mentioned the UEFA Europa League.

"Actually, there’s something we’ve never mentioned to you all, but the head coach knows about it."

As soon as Laubal finished speaking, everyone in the conference room was surprised.

"Before this season, we at the German Professional Football League held a meeting internally. We all reached a consensus: we have to fight for European competition points!"

"Especially when facing teams from Serie A. We must give it our absolute all!"

Why?

It only took a moment for Wang Shuo to understand.

According to UEFA regulations, European competition points are calculated based on performance in European competitions over the past five seasons.

It’s not just clubs that have points; leagues have them too.

The purpose of club points is obvious—they’re used for seeding. For example, the seeding for the Champions League group stage is based on these European competition points.

Take Arsenal, for example. Don’t be fooled by the fact that they finish fourth every year and haven’t won a trophy in years. They make it to the Round of 16 every year, so their European competition points are rock-solid. They’re always a top-seeded team!

You had to hand it to Wenger. With his economics background, he was a real master when it came to playing the numbers game!

So what about the league’s European competition points?

Their purpose is to determine the number of qualification spots for European competitions.

Among the top leagues in Europe right now, the Premier League and La Liga are in the lead. There’s no doubt about that.

Currently, Serie A is ranked third, and the Bundesliga is fourth.

So, is there any difference between third and fourth place?

The answer is yes. The third-ranked league gets four spots in the Champions League, while the fourth-ranked league only gets three.

And note, those four spots mean three teams go directly to the group stage, and one enters the qualifying rounds.

The three spots mean two go to the group stage, and one enters the qualifying rounds.

What does this mean?

Money!

For a Bundesliga team, one qualification spot means an income of at least ten to twenty million euros.

At this moment, Wang Shuo also realized that Klopp was dead set on winning the UEFA Europa League this season—not just for himself, but for Dortmund, and even for the entire Bundesliga.

Also, of the Bundesliga teams participating in European competitions this season, apart from Mainz who were eliminated after finishing last in their group, VfL Wolfsburg was still in the UEFA Europa League, and Bayern was still in the Champions League.

In other words, of all the Bundesliga teams that entered European competitions this season, only Mainz had been knocked out so far.

All the teams were consciously trying to rack up European competition points.

If they could secure them, everyone stood to benefit.

This was the consensus!

And Laubal was also the chairman of the German Professional Football League!

Understanding this, Wang Shuo realized that Dortmund would definitely have to go all out against Juventus in the upcoming match.

The reason was simple.

This match was a do-or-die battle!

If Dortmund won, Juventus and Serie A would get fewer points.

And vice versa.

If they could fight hard enough this season, then starting from the 11/12 season, the Bundesliga would overtake Serie A to become the third-ranked league, securing four Champions League qualification spots.

Whether it was league strategy or club strategy, none of it really had much to do with the players directly.

Therefore, to motivate the players to give their all, the club had to offer a sufficiently generous reward.

Laubal’s visit was precisely to promise a hefty bonus, hoping everyone would give it their all.

The UEFA Europa League wasn’t actually that profitable, nowhere near the Champions League, but the bonus the club was offering for winning it this time was equal to the bonus for winning the Bundesliga.

For the players, that was a pretty good deal.

...

"Wang Shuo."

After the meeting, just as the players were about to scatter, Klopp called Wang Shuo over.

Many of them stopped in their tracks when they heard the call. Seeing that Chairman Laubal wanted to talk to Wang Shuo, they immediately guessed what it was about.

"Hello, Chairman."

"Wang, I’ve watched all of your home games this season. You’ve performed very well. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen such a surprising young talent like you in the Bundesliga, here at Dortmund!"

Laubal looked like a kind and approachable old man, but his words carried a certain authority.

"Thank you, Chairman."

"I recently saw in the papers that you changed your agent?" Laubal asked tentatively.

Wang Shuo smiled and shook his head. "No, Thomas was the one who discovered me. I would never change him."