Chapter 1 The Beginning

After Zhou Yi came on, Borussia Dortmund did indeed defend patiently as he directed, not rushing to launch an attack.

If Bayer Leverkusen desperately attacked, Borussia Dortmund could take the opportunity to launch a counterattack.

However, Bayer Leverkusen was not stupid either. Seeing Zhou Yi come on, head coach Sascha Lewandowski immediately ordered the team not to attack strongly.

To avoid being ambushed by Borussia Dortmund.

Zhou Yi's ability to seize opportunities is very strong.

The Bayern Munich coaching staff watching the game in Munich breathed a sigh of relief at this scene.

It would be good if Bayer Leverkusen could defeat Borussia Dortmund, but if they couldn't win against Borussia Dortmund, forcing a draw would also be a good thing.

※※※

On the field, the battle between Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen changed. Instead of back-and-forth shots, it became a tug-of-war in the midfield, and the number of shots decreased.

However, this tug-of-war was not the result of evenly matched strength, but a tug-of-war deliberately controlled by Borussia Dortmund.

After Zhou Yi came on, he quickly took over Borussia Dortmund's midfield, and then he led the Borussia Dortmund players to slow down, not rushing to pass the ball forward.

Sometimes he would tentatively pass the ball forward, but if he encountered Bayer Leverkusen's tenacious resistance, he would immediately have his teammates pass the ball back and reorganize the attack in the backcourt.

In this slow rhythm, Borussia Dortmund suddenly changed the rhythm in the sixty-eighth minute.

When Zhou Yi got the ball in the middle of the backcourt, he passed the ball forward, and then he quickly moved forward himself.

Next, with Zhou Yi as the core, Borussia Dortmund passed the ball three times and two times, and then hit the ball to the thirty-meter area of Bayer Leverkusen.

"Borussia Dortmund is accelerating!" Marcel Reif reminded.

When Zhou Yi got the ball again, although he was looking at Mark's side, he passed the ball under his feet to the left, which was completely opposite.

Yan Min inserted into the left rib and received the ball, which directly formed a one-on-one!

Facing Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Leno, who attacked, Yan Min chose to chip the ball.

This was a very smart approach, but the height of his chip was not enough, and the ball was blocked by Leno with his hand!

Bayer Leverkusen defender Spahic, who returned to defense, kicked the ball directly out of the baseline with a big foot—Borussia Dortmund's sudden acceleration just now caused him a lot of pressure. In this case, he simply didn't bother to consider the situation behind him, and prioritized kicking the ball out first!

But in fact, there were no Borussia Dortmund players behind him. He could have stopped the ball, then turned around and kicked the ball forward with a big foot, and could have launched a counterattack by the way.

As a result, Bayer Leverkusen's counterattack opportunity was wasted by Spahic in a panic.

After goalkeeper Leno got up, he spread his hands at Spahic, not very satisfied with his handling just now.

"Spahic's clearance is actually not a problem. Of course, if he was a little calmer, there would actually be a better way to handle it. After Zhou Yi came on, the mentality of the Bayer Leverkusen players has undergone some very subtle changes..." Duan Xin's saying this will definitely make some people think that he is trying everything possible to praise Zhou Yi from various angles.

But in fact, what Duan Xin said makes some sense.

After Zhou Yi came on, the mentality of the players on both teams underwent very subtle changes.

The Borussia Dortmund players showed more confidence and composure.

And the Bayer Leverkusen players were a little anxious.

※※※

Borussia Dortmund's corner kick was taken, and Leno punched the ball out of the penalty area with both fists before Hummels.

Zhou Yi had been waiting at the second landing point. Facing the flying ball, he didn't make any adjustments and directly swung his foot to volley!

The ball flew straight to the upper left corner of the goal, which was a place that Leno couldn't take care of at all.

Fortunately, the ball was blocked by Bayer Leverkusen player Son Heung-min with his leg halfway through...

Although it didn't result in a goal, it also scared the Bayer Leverkusen fans quite a bit.

"Zhou Yi volleyed directly—the ball seemed to have hit Son Heung-min's body and changed direction and flew out... What a close call!" Marcel Reif exclaimed. "Borussia Dortmund has won another corner kick!"

With two consecutive corner kicks, Borussia Dortmund actually formed a suppression of Bayer Leverkusen at this time.

The previous stalemate seems to have been broken...

This time, Borussia Dortmund didn't kick the ball directly into the penalty area.

When Sahin went to take the corner kick, Zhou Yi also ran to the corner flag area.

When Sahin saw him coming, he knew that he was going to take a tactical corner kick.

So he placed the ball, raised his arm, made a secret signal to take a tactical corner kick, reminding his teammates in the penalty area to cooperate, and then kicked the ball to Zhou Yi.

After Zhou Yi got the ball, he dribbled back, and the Bayer Leverkusen players also pressed out.

Two Bayer Leverkusen players came to press Zhou Yi.

Seeing this, Zhou Yi passed the ball back.

He didn't pass the ball to Bayer Leverkusen's penalty area, but passed it back.

As if this corner kick didn't exist.

The advantage of doing this is that you can keep the ball in your own hands.

What Borussia Dortmund needs is to control the ball, so that they can constantly launch attacks that threaten Bayer Leverkusen.

And constantly passing the ball back can also make the rhythm change a bit, pull apart Bayer Leverkusen's formation, and at the same time paralyze them and make them have the idea of relaxation.

Zhou Yi has been turning his head to observe Bayer Leverkusen's movements.

After seeing that the formation has been pulled out, he signaled his teammates to pass the ball to him.

He turned around and launched an attack again, rushing towards Bayer Leverkusen's position.

※※※

Under Zhou Yi's leadership, Borussia Dortmund slowly gained the upper hand.

When the game entered the seventieth minute, Bayer Leverkusen coach Sascha Lewandowski made adjustments, completely abandoning the practice of tug-of-war in the midfield with Borussia Dortmund.

All-round contraction.

He has already begun to plan to defend for a draw.

It is obvious that Borussia Dortmund has the advantage on the field. If he does not make adjustments, he is afraid that Borussia Dortmund will seize the gaps in the defense and make a big fuss...

Despite this, Borussia Dortmund's offensive continued unabated.

In the seventy-eighth minute, Yan Min broke through on the left wing again and won a free kick for Borussia Dortmund.

Sahin went up to take the free kick.

Hummels and Sokratis ran to the front of the goal, ready to compete for the header.

Zhou Yi didn't go up to join in the fun, he was still standing outside the penalty area, waiting for a possible second landing point.

Some conflicts occurred between the players of both sides in front of the goal when they were fighting for position.

Hummels and Toprak grabbed each other, Toprak hugged Hummels, Hummels wanted to push him away forcefully, the entanglement and struggle of the two people attracted the attention of the referee.

He blew his whistle to pause, then ran into the penalty area and ordered Toprak and Hummels to separate.

Hummels complained to the referee that Toprak was hugging him, while Toprak complained to the referee that Hummels was pushing people.

The referee gave them both a verbal warning and then withdrew from the penalty area.

Although the two people still have some physical contact, it is within an acceptable range. It is impossible to allow players to not have any physical contact in the penalty area...

Next, Sahin prepared to take the free kick. After his run-up, he kicked the ball into the penalty area with one foot.

Hummels suddenly shook off Toprak's marking and ran forward towards the ball, he planned to head the goal!

How could Toprak let him shake himself off so easily, naturally he was following closely.

Hummels jumped up, and he also jumped up.

Under his interference, Hummels didn't hit the ball squarely, but he still grazed the ball, causing the ball to change direction and fly towards the goal.

Leno made a save, but because Hummels didn't hit the ball squarely, he just grazed it. So the trajectory of the ball was different from what Leno had expected at the beginning. His hands didn't come in handy, but he stubbornly blocked the ball out with his feet!

It's just that this one can't block the ball very far, and the ball is still spinning in the penalty area.

In the melee, the ball rolled out and fell at the feet of Son Heung-min, who was returning to defend in the penalty area.

Son Heung-min directly swung his foot to kick the ball, wanting to clear the ball out with a big foot. At this time, don't think about launching a counterattack or anything, being able to kick the ball away from the dangerous area first is the most important thing.

He kicked the ball solidly.

But the ball did not fly out of the penalty area.

Because at the same time as he kicked the ball, Zhou Yi, who was previously outside the penalty area, had rushed in, heading straight for him and the ball under his feet.

When he saw Son Heung-min about to kick the ball, Zhou Yi reflexively jumped up and turned around at the same time. He didn't know if Son Heung-min was going to clear the ball, but he believed that when Borussia Dortmund's two central defenders were both in front of the opponent's goal, he must not let Son Heung-min kick the ball out.

This is out of the instinct of an experienced and thoughtful player.

So the ball that Son Heung-min kicked out with a big foot hit Zhou Yi's back like this.

With a muffled sound!

The ball bounced back and went straight to Bayer Leverkusen's goal...

Son Heung-min used all his strength to clear the ball. After this rebound from Zhou Yi, the ball speed was even faster.

No one in front of the goal reacted, including goalkeeper Leno. He had just climbed up from the ground and could only watch helplessly as the ball suddenly flew towards his goal again, and he himself was completely powerless...

In the end, under everyone's surprised eyes, the ball was blocked into the goal by Zhou Yi's back!

"This..."

The Bayern Munich coaching staff looked at the TV screen, dumbfounded. They really couldn't have imagined that Borussia Dortmund could have such luck...