“Klopp used up two substitutions in one go, replacing Mkhitaryan with Yan Min, and Großkreutz with Reus. Clearly, Dortmund wants to step up their attack, but isn’t it a bit late to be making these changes now? Wouldn’t it have been better to do this fifteen or twenty minutes earlier?” Duan Xin said with concern.

In his opinion, Klopp was being too bold. He was playing around with this kind of rotation even in such an important match, and only making changes in the last fifteen minutes of the game.

If the changes weren't successful in the end, who would be responsible?

Isn't the league a safer bet than the ethereal Champions League? What on earth was Klopp thinking?

Duan Xin just couldn't understand it.

And it wasn't just him, a Chinese guy, who couldn't understand it. Many Germans, including Marcel Reif, couldn't either.

Actually, there wasn't much to misunderstand. Klopp's actions didn't conceal any conspiracy, nor were they a case of "everything is under control."

Klopp was just gambling, like a red-eyed gambler.

He wanted both the league and the Champions League, so he had to gamble, gambling that even after his rotations, he could still beat Wolfsburg at home, and still keep pace with Bayern Munich.

And now, it seemed he still had a chance of winning his bet...

Which was quite in line with Klopp's gambler-like character.

When you don't know how to choose, when you don't know what to give up and what not to, then don't think about who to abandon or who not to abandon. Just gamble.

※※※

After Yan Min and Reus came on, they brought some changes to the team, especially the attacks on both wings became more active, and they helped Zhou Yi share some of the defensive pressure.

In the seventy-ninth minute, Durm dribbled the ball up from the full-back position, and after being blocked by Wolfsburg, he passed the ball to Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi quickly passed the ball to the space on the left, where Yan Min was cutting forward.

Zhou Yi accurately found Yan Min.

After Yan Min stopped the ball, he made a feint to break through, but hooked the ball back with his left foot, and then crossed with his right foot.

Aubameyang jumped up in front of the goal to compete for the ball.

At the same time, goalkeeper Marwin Hitz also came out to get the ball.

The three of them grappled in the air, and Marwin Hitz made a wrong move—even with two people in the way, he still wanted to directly pluck the ball down, instead of punching it out.

As a result, he didn't touch the ball at all.

And Aubameyang, interfered by the other two, didn't head the ball either—the ball hit his shoulder and rebounded to the other side.

Zhou Yi happened to be arriving at that spot, and seeing the ball falling from the air, with people all around, he didn't bother to stop and adjust. He directly swung his leg and kicked the ball!

Zhou Yi's body wasn't strong enough, and his legs weren't long enough, so he couldn't gain much of an advantage in the forest of tall players in the penalty area.

But Zhou Yi's strength was his better overall vision, and his ability to grasp the ever-changing situation on the field was more acute than anyone else's. So, his preemptive kick really got there before everyone else!

The ball he kicked flew straight towards the Wolfsburg goal.

At this time, Wolfsburg goalkeeper Marwin Hitz had just landed and had no time to react—he might not even have known where the ball was...

The ball flew into the Wolfsburg goal under everyone's gaze...

“Zhou Yi! Zhou Yi! What a goal! What a goal! Zhou Yi has given Dortmund the lead!”

After shooting, Zhou Yi turned his head to look at the referee and the linesman, and seeing that they had no objections to his action, he opened his arms and ran towards the South Stand to celebrate the goal.

The other Dortmund players followed him.

Only the Wolfsburg players stayed behind to ask the referee for an explanation—they believed that Aubameyang had fouled the goalkeeper when he was challenging for the header, and that Zhou Yi had committed a foul by stamping.

However, the referee did not accept either of these claims.

At that time, all three players had collided together, and there was Naldo between Aubameyang and Marwin Hitz. If there was any direct physical contact, it was between Hitz and his own teammate Naldo.

As for the alleged stamping foul, Zhou Yi kicked the ball, and there were no Wolfsburg players in front of him, so Zhou Yi's action did not constitute a dangerous play.

So, the goal stood!

After the ball flew into the goal, the Westfalenstadion erupted like a volcano, with deafening cheers and the stands seemed to be shaking.

This goal was really too important for Dortmund.

The TV broadcast quickly gave a close-up of Klopp, who was frantically waving his fists, celebrating the goal with all his might.

This gambler seemed to have been lucky all along...

※※※

After Zhou Yi scored, the TV broadcast showed the latest league standings.

Originally, Dortmund was four points behind leaders Bayern Munich, but now the gap had been reduced to two points again.

As long as Dortmund could hold onto the current score, they could continue to put pressure on Bayern Munich.

However, Wolfsburg wasn't the kind of team to give up easily. They were only one goal behind, not two.

So, after conceding the goal, Wolfsburg still didn't change their strategy, continuing to attack Dortmund's goal and engage in a head-to-head battle.

Klopp didn't substitute Zhou Yi, the goal scorer, even though Zhou Yi had been playing continuously. Klopp was clearly planning to let Zhou Yi play the full game.

Zhou Yi was too important to Dortmund at the moment. If he substituted him, Dortmund's midfield might lose control, and Wolfsburg might equalize in the final moments.

Although Zhou Yi himself wasn't the kind of player who specialized in defense and was good at it, his presence did make Dortmund's defense more solid.

At this time, Klopp could only hope that Zhou Yi's physical transformation after years of training could help him.

In the final moments of the game, Wolfsburg's counterattack was indeed quite fierce. For example, De Bruyne's free kick went high, Perisic's powerful shot from a small angle near the left baseline hit the side netting...

But despite this, Dortmund still withstood Wolfsburg's attack.

And held onto the 2-1 score until the end.

“The game is over! Dortmund has narrowly won this game! They continue to trail Bayern Munich by just two points in the league standings! In a difficult situation, Klopp still insisted on rotating the team for rest. It is unknown whether this arrangement can help the team eliminate Lyon at home in the Champions League in the middle of next week...”

※※※

Dortmund, having won the game, walked to the South Stand and collectively thanked the Dortmund fans for their support.

The Dortmund fans responded with applause and cheers.

Although the process was difficult and dangerous, as long as they could win, it was a beautiful game.

Isn't there a saying?

"All's well that ends well."

On the road to winning the league title, as long as you can get three points, it doesn't matter how you get them.

After this game, Dortmund had to prepare for the Champions League match against Lyon.

Having lost the first leg 1-3, they had to beat their opponents by two goals at home, while also preventing them from scoring.

There was good news for them—Paris Saint-Germain's key player Zlatan Ibrahimović was forced off the field with a muscle strain in the previous Champions League match. Because of this injury, he missed the recently concluded French league match, and was likely to continue to miss the Champions League match against Dortmund.

However, looking at the recently concluded French league match, Paris Saint-Germain, without Ibrahimović and with a large rotation, still beat Lens 3-0 at home.

It could be said that the whole team was in good form.

Facing such a team, Dortmund probably didn't have much confidence of winning.

Not to mention that, immediately after this game, Dortmund would face Bayern Munich away from home. That was the most crucial game of the entire season, and it was bound to affect Dortmund's game against Paris Saint-Germain.

In the post-match interview, Zhou Yi was asked this question.

“Will the game against Paris Saint-Germain affect the league?” Zhou Yi asked to confirm the question, and then shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. The opportunities are equal. We have a Champions League game, and Bayern Munich also has a Champions League game. They also have to face Manchester United at home.”

“But Bayern Munich drew 1-1 away from home in the first leg.” A reporter reminded him. “So they will be relatively more relaxed.”

“I don’t think so. If Bayern Munich really thinks that way, that they drew 1-1 away from home, so it will be easier when they return home, then I will be very happy to see them get eliminated from the Champions League.” Zhou Yi said seriously. “Every game deserves to be taken seriously. We will take Paris Saint-Germain seriously, and we will also take Bayern Munich seriously…”

However, a reporter still raised an objection to Zhou Yi's remarks: "But I'm afraid some people won't think you took Wolfsburg seriously..."

Zhou Yi laughed: "How could that be? I played the entire game, isn't that taking it seriously?"

The reporter who asked the question opened his mouth, but didn't make a sound. He was left speechless by Zhou Yi's question.

Because in fact, everyone generally agreed that as long as Zhou Yi wasn't rotated, it meant that Klopp still wanted to win the game. No matter how high the actual chances of winning were, at least subjectively, it couldn't be said that Dortmund didn't value their opponents...

However, these were all just public opinions and had never been confirmed by Dortmund's official sources. The Dortmund club had never said such a thing. So everyone felt that this was just a tacitly understood unwritten rule.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Yi directly used the media's praise of him to怼 (duì, refute) the reporter today, leaving the reporter speechless.

Watching Zhou Yi's departing figure, some reporters kept shaking their heads.

They still felt that Zhou Yi was just quibbling.

The two games against Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich were very crucial. Maybe next week, they would witness the grand finale of this season.