“Mark! Mark! A beautiful Panenka penalty! He’s equalized for Borussia Dortmund again! That’s also his eighteenth league goal of the season! He’s tied with Lewandowski, and the two are neck and neck in the league’s top scorer list!”

The commentator Marcel Reif’s shouts came from the television.

Guardiola’s room fell silent again.

After a while, someone said, “Well, a draw isn’t such a bad result for us either…”

Because Borussia Dortmund was only one point ahead of Bayern Munich, if Borussia Dortmund drew this game, Bayern Munich, having won their game, would surpass Borussia Dortmund again, leading by one point to become first in the league.

And with only two rounds left in the league, even if Bayern Munich only led by one point, it would be impossible to lose the league title.

On TV, Marcel Reif was still saying, “…I think Lewandowski will be very unhappy when he hears this news, because in the recently concluded match against Werder Bremen, Guardiola put him on the bench. Bayern Munich scored five goals in that game, but he had nothing to do with it…”

※※※

When Mark kicked the penalty into the goal, the Borussia Dortmund bench and coaching staff were once again jubilant.

“Twice behind, twice equalizing, Borussia Dortmund has shown great tenacity in this game! Although Zhou Yi didn’t start, Borussia Dortmund’s fighting spirit hasn’t been weakened…” Duan Xin was also happy with Borussia Dortmund’s performance.

As a Chinese commentator, he certainly hoped that Zhou Yi could get adequate rest, while Borussia Dortmund could still win the game, preferably without Zhou Yi even having to play…

Mark finished celebrating and, as he walked back, turned to look at the bench. He saw Zhou Yi and gave him a fist bump.

Zhou Yi naturally saw Mark’s action and responded with a thumbs up.

Mark was showing off to Zhou Yi, and Zhou Yi was praising him with a thumbs up.

The two friends completed their exchange so tacitly from a distance.

※※※

With their spirits lifted by the equalizer, Borussia Dortmund nearly took the lead in the fortieth minute thanks to Mkhitaryan.

Mkhitaryan successfully intercepted the ball in the frontcourt, earning a one-on-one opportunity, but Leno rushed out in time to block his shot for a corner.

Not long after, the first half ended.

“…The first half is over! Bayer Leverkusen is temporarily tied with Borussia Dortmund 2-2 at home!” Marcel Reif said. “With Wolfsburg being held to a 2-2 draw by Freiburg at home, Bayer Leverkusen has a good opportunity to consolidate their fourth place in the league, but they are now tied with Borussia Dortmund. Both teams are probably dissatisfied with this draw. So there will definitely be changes and adjustments in the second half. What we are most concerned about is… will Klopp bring Zhou Yi on during the halftime break?”

Perhaps many Chinese fans hoped that Zhou Yi could come on earlier, but Klopp didn’t plan to do so.

During the halftime break, he praised the entire team in the locker room, believing that they had performed very well, especially in coming back quickly after falling behind twice.

Klopp encouraged the players to continue their efforts in the second half and strive to defeat their opponents.

On the other side, Bayer Leverkusen’s coach, Sascha Lewandowski, was also encouraging his players to fight to the death with Borussia Dortmund in the second half.

※※※

After the second half began, neither team made any personnel adjustments. Zhou Yi remained on the bench, not being substituted.

This made many Chinese fans both disappointed and worried.

Disappointed because they couldn’t see Zhou Yi play, and worried because they felt Klopp was playing with fire too dangerously. If he didn’t let Zhou Yi play in the second half, there wouldn’t be enough time left for Zhou Yi. If something went wrong, even if he wanted Zhou Yi to turn the tide, he might not be able to…

After the second half started, the two sides continued to battle fiercely.

In the forty-seventh minute, Mark fouled Spahic and received a yellow card. In the fifty-second minute, Spahic fouled Mark and also received a yellow card.

In the fifty-fourth minute, Son Heung-min took a long shot from twenty-five meters away from the goal, and the ball was collected by Weidenfeller. Four minutes later, in the sixtieth minute, Son Heung-min again took a long shot from twenty meters away from the goal, but the ball went slightly wide of the post…

As the game approached the sixtieth minute, Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen were still entangled, and the situation remained unclear.

At this time, Klopp finally decided to make his first substitution adjustment.

He asked assistant coach Buvac to call Zhou Yi back.

Zhou Yi had been called to warm up several minutes earlier, but not alone, but with other substitute players.

This kind of warm-up didn’t have any special meaning, but only to prevent the substitute players from sitting on the bench for too long, causing poor blood circulation and their bodies getting cold.

At the same time, this kind of warm-up was of course to prepare for being substituted on at any time. When they needed to be substituted on, they wouldn’t have to warm up specifically again.

Like this time.

Zhou Yi was quickly called back, and the television broadcast captured this scene immediately.

Marcel Reif immediately said excitedly, “Yo! It looks like Borussia Dortmund is going to make a substitution! Klopp can’t hold back any longer. The first person he can think of to change the situation on the field at this time is of course Zhou Yi! After resting for a good half of the game, Zhou Yi is about to come on as a substitute! Will his appearance change the current game situation between the two sides?”

Duan Xin was also very excited: “Zhou Yi is coming on. Whenever Borussia Dortmund encounters difficulties, Zhou Yi is the one who is expected to turn the tide. However, there are not many times like this when he comes on as a substitute to save the team, because most of the time, Zhou Yi starts…”

※※※

As Zhou Yi stood on the sidelines listening to assistant coach Buvac giving him instructions, the players on the field also noticed him.

The Borussia Dortmund players felt a little regretful when they saw that Zhou Yi was about to come on – they still hadn’t been able to defeat this opponent without Zhou Yi.

The Bayer Leverkusen players were a little nervous.

They stepped up their offensive, hoping to rewrite the score before Zhou Yi came on, making it a done deal. By then, even if Zhou Yi came on, facing Bayer Leverkusen, who had shrunk their defense, they believed he would be powerless.

Facing Bayer Leverkusen’s onslaught, how could the Borussia Dortmund players not know what they were thinking?

Of course, at this time, they had to try their best to prevent them from scoring.

Fortunately, Zhou Yi didn’t need to warm up now, saving a lot of time.

Buvac didn’t have many tactical details to explain to him either.

Soon, Zhou Yi appeared on the sidelines, ready to be substituted on.

At this time, the ball happened to fall at the feet of Borussia Dortmund player Yan Min, who directly kicked the ball towards the left wing in the frontcourt. After the ball landed, it flew out of bounds. The game entered a dead ball state, and Borussia Dortmund could make a substitution.

“Borussia Dortmund substitution! Number twenty-three Zhou Yi comes on, number ten Mkhitaryan comes off!”

The fourth official raised the substitution board on the sidelines, and the referee also signaled that the substitution could be made.

“Zhou Yi still came on…”

In Guardiola’s room, someone sighed.

If possible, they hoped that Zhou Yi wouldn’t come on in this game. Although Zhou Yi’s appearance might not necessarily help Borussia Dortmund win, it would at least increase Borussia Dortmund’s chances of winning.

“There are thirty minutes left, not a small amount of time for him…”

Regarding Zhou Yi’s abilities, as Borussia Dortmund’s mortal enemy, the coaches of Bayern Munich usually studied him a lot, so they naturally understood him very well.

They all knew what Zhou Yi’s appearance meant.

He definitely wasn’t going up there to warm up.

※※※

Mkhitaryan was substituted off the field, and he hugged and handed over to Zhou Yi on the sidelines.

After transferring to Borussia Dortmund this season, he only became the team’s starter during the one-plus month that Zhou Yi was injured. At other times, he was Zhou Yi’s substitute.

But now he didn’t have any temper about being a substitute.

Being Zhou Yi’s substitute wasn’t a shameful thing, and it was also something you couldn’t get angry about. Zhou Yi’s performance was so good that it not only convinced his opponents, but also convinced Mkhitaryan, his competitor in the team.

Of course, Klopp didn’t forget to pat Mkhitaryan on the shoulder and praise his performance.

After Zhou Yi came on, he made a gesture of pressing down with both hands to his teammates, signaling to his teammates not to worry and to stabilize.

Although everyone was dissatisfied with a draw, if they had to accept this result, Bayer Leverkusen was clearly more willing to accept it than Borussia Dortmund.

If the situation wasn’t right, Bayer Leverkusen could completely shrink back and play defensive counterattacks.

Anyway, Wolfsburg was held to a draw by Freiburg, which meant that Bayer Leverkusen’s ranking wouldn’t be affected even if they got a draw.

On the other hand, Borussia Dortmund couldn’t accept a draw. If they drew this game, they would be surpassed by Bayern Munich.

So Borussia Dortmund had to win.

If Bayer Leverkusen understood this, they should know how to deal with Borussia Dortmund.

Zhou Yi didn’t want the team to be so eager to attack that Bayer Leverkusen would seize the opportunity to launch a counterattack – Son Heung-min was very active in the counterattacks and had threatened Borussia Dortmund’s goal many times.

Now the score was 2-2, Zhou Yi didn’t need Borussia Dortmund to launch a frenzied barrage of attacks on Bayer Leverkusen’s goal. In this situation, it wasn’t about the quantity of attacks, but about the quality of attacks.

All they needed was one goal.

There were thirty minutes left in the game, enough time to score one goal, so there was no need to rush.