Alright, so today’s match between Leverkusen and Gladbach got me pumped. Woke up at 7 AM scratching my head about how to tackle their lineup predictions. Grabbed my phone first thing – big mistake.
Rookie Error Phase
Checked football Twitter trends straight away. Saw people screaming “Wirtz injured!” and “Hofmann out for months!”. Almost panicked and started writing based on that hot garbage. Thank god I stopped myself before hitting publish.
Getting Serious Part
Opened four tabs at once:
- The Leverkusen official website team news section
- Gladbach’s press conference notes
- *’s injury report page
- My own Excel tracker from last five matches
Took me thirty minutes just cross-checking everything. Xabi Alonso’s pre-game comments helped a ton. Dude basically hinted Florian Wirtz would start despite rumors.
Spreadsheet Madness
Started plugging names into my formation template. Changed it five times:
- First put Hradecky in goal automatically
- Then remembered Kovar started last two matches
- Drove myself nuts over Frimpong or Tella for wing
Gladbach’s lineup felt like solving a puzzle. Koné returning meant three possible midfield setups. Ended up making three different lineup drafts like an over-caffeinated maniac.
Finally settled on my prediction after seeing team buses arrive live. Posted it with shaky fingers checking seven times. Now crossing fingers the managers don’t do last-minute chaos substitutions.
