Lin Hai Ting Tao
Chapter 1035 Conflict
Miracles do happen. In last season's league match where the two teams competed for the league title, Borussia Dortmund created a miracle in the final moments.
But that was a situation where the score was tied; whoever scored would win.
If Borussia Dortmund had been down by two goals at that time, it probably wouldn't have been possible to create a miracle.
As the game time ticked away second by second, the opportunities for Bayern Munich were dwindling. They had to consider how to accept the reality of being overtaken by Borussia Dortmund for the second consecutive season.
Bayern Munich's substitute players were still standing on the sidelines, but they weren't shouting anymore. Instead, they watched the field blankly, with their hands clasped in front of them. They knew it in their hearts.
The noise in the stands was also quieter than before, with some fans covering their mouths with their hands, unable to make any sound. They also knew it in their hearts.
Guardiola stood motionless on the sidelines, his face frozen, looking like a statue. He probably knew it too...
On the Borussia Dortmund side, they weren't shouting "Come on" either. The players were still standing on the sidelines, but they were hugging each other, with joy on their faces, as if victory was already within their grasp.
However, Klopp was much calmer than them, still wearing a serious expression on his face as he stood on the sidelines, nervously observing the development of the game.
On the one hand, the game hadn't really reached the end yet, and it was too early to be happy. On the other hand, Klopp didn't want his optimistic emotions to affect the players on the field, causing them to relax as well.
Bayern Munich's offensive continued, but they could only use long shots and crosses from the wings to attack, which was very inefficient and didn't produce much of an effect.
As time passed, Bayern Munich's players became increasingly impatient.
Toni Kroos received a yellow card for a foul while trying to win back the ball.
However, Mark also received a yellow card for deliberately delaying the game.
After Borussia Dortmund took the free kick, they didn't play it forward, but passed it to Zhou Yi's feet, allowing Zhou Yi to control the tempo.
Seeing Zhou Yi with the ball, Rafinha charged aggressively. He first crashed into Zhou Yi from the side, causing Zhou Yi to lose his balance.
However, even after losing his balance, Zhou Yi still managed to hook the ball to his side, preventing Rafinha from intercepting it.
Rafinha was unwilling to let Zhou Yi go so easily. At this point, his goal was probably no longer to intercept the ball. He raised his hand and forcefully pushed the unbalanced Zhou Yi to the ground, reaching for the ball with his foot.
But at this moment, the referee Zwayer's whistle had already sounded—Rafinha foul!
The fallen Zhou Yi rolled with the momentum and got up from the ground, then shouted back at Rafinha: "What are you doing? Is this playing football?!" He questioned Rafinha loudly.
Rafinha was already on edge, otherwise he wouldn't have pushed Zhou Yi to the ground so violently, almost like wrestling.
Seeing that Zhou Yi dared to question him, he became even more infuriated.
Today, Zhou Yi was completely Bayern Munich's nemesis. He scored three goals, caused Neuer to get injured and be substituted, delayed time by proposing on their turf, and now he even dared to question him?
He had wanted to mess with him for a long time!
So, with his blood rushing to his head, Rafinha reached out and grabbed Zhou Yi's neck, then forcefully pushed Zhou Yi to the ground.
This time, Zhou Yi didn't get up, clutching his neck as he lay on the ground.
Seeing Zhou Yi being pushed down a second time, especially with his neck grabbed, how could Borussia Dortmund's players tolerate it?
Aubameyang fully utilized his speed advantage, rushing up immediately and pushing Rafinha backhand. Then, Sven Bender, with his hands behind his back, charged from the other side. Seeing Rafinha being pushed over by Aubameyang, he immediately turned sideways and used his shoulder to hit Rafinha, who was retreating, hard again.
If it hadn't been for Captain Lahm who came up in time next to Rafinha, he might have been knocked to the ground as well.
More Borussia Dortmund players were still running up, wanting to make trouble for Rafinha—how dare you bully our core player, our hero? Kid, you're looking for death!
Fortunately, Bayern Munich's players also surrounded them. Lahm took the opportunity to pull Rafinha behind him, while Schweinsteiger and Lahm cooperated tacitly to squeeze in and separate the two sides.
Yan Min was a little late to arrive, and he was so angry that he jumped up over several people, pointing at Rafinha's nose and cursing loudly in German: "You son of a bitch, come out and I'll fight you one-on-one!"
Some Bayern Munich players also couldn't stand the fact that the Borussia Dortmund players were bullying the few, so they came up to defend Rafinha...
"A conflict has broken out between the two teams! There are pushing and shoving actions... but this was caused by Rafinha. He was really too irrational. Pushing Zhou Yi down was already a foul. When Zhou Yi got up to reason with him, he even grabbed Zhou Yi's neck and pushed him to the ground again... what on earth was he thinking!" Duan Xin considered that Bayern Munich also had many fans in China, so she said this quite euphemistically.
But on the Chinese internet, those fans weren't so polite.
"Rafinha is scum!"
"If you can't afford to lose, you push people, trash!"
"I have a mmp to say to Rafinha!"
"Trash! Unworthy to stay on the field, get out of here!"
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During the conflict between the two teams, time continued to pass. It was the ninety-seventh minute of the game, with only two minutes left until the end. At this time, the players from both teams were still entangled together, not separated.
If this continued, even if the game resumed, there wouldn't be much time left for Bayern Munich... The score was still unchanged, and this conflict could basically declare that Bayern Munich had lost this game.
Looking at the performance of the Bayern Munich players, they probably didn't care much about winning or losing anymore. Having lost the game, they just wanted to vent their anger on the Borussia Dortmund players. Since they couldn't win against you in football, they would win back in another way.
This time, Borussia Dortmund seemed more restrained. Apart from the initial aggressive search for Rafinha, they quickly calmed down, and most of the people trying to mediate were Borussia Dortmund players.
Because they realized that they had surpassed Bayern Munich in the league standings, and what they needed to do now was to maintain this advantage. If too many players were to miss the next game due to receiving cards in this conflict, wouldn't that give Bayern Munich a chance to overtake them again?
Bayern Munich, on the other hand, had a bit of a "nothing to lose" attitude—anyway, I can't win now, so I have to vent my anger first!
With the unremitting efforts of the referee and rational players from both sides, the conflict was finally quelled.
Then, the referee called Rafinha to his side and immediately raised a red card!
"Oh! Red card! Rafinha has been sent off!" Marcel Reif said. "This result is not surprising. Given the severity of his foul just now, it's normal to give a red card. The first foul was already very bad, and the second one was even worse, grabbing his neck and pushing him. He deserves it! I think he might face additional penalties beyond this game... Rafinha's performance in this game can't be considered good. At a critical moment, his foul and red card completely buried Bayern Munich's hope of winning the game, even though the hope was slim... In a sense, Rafinha acted like a Borussia Dortmund mole today..."
Marcel Reif criticized Rafinha mercilessly.
Duan Xin also believed that giving Rafinha a direct red card and letting him cool down was a correct decision.
Then Zwayer put the red card away and took out yellow cards, starting to deal them out.
Aubameyang, who was the first to rush up and push people on the Borussia Dortmund side, received a yellow card. Sven Bender, who hit Rafinha, also didn't escape a yellow card warning.
Then on the Bayern Munich side, Schweinsteiger received a yellow card for pushing Mark, and Dante also received a yellow card for standing up for his teammate.
Each side received two yellow cards, plus Rafinha's red card. A total of five cards were issued in just one conflict, which can be described as a tragic result.
Counting the previous yellow cards for Martínez, Reus, Grosskreutz, Götze, Toni Kroos, and Mark Wagner, this game had a total of ten yellow cards and one red card.
The intensity was evident.
The only fortunate thing was that no players from Borussia Dortmund or Bayern Munich were suspended due to accumulating yellow cards, nor were any players sent off for receiving two yellow cards.
Perhaps this was the only bit of luck in the misfortune...
※※※
After this conflict, although there were still two minutes left in the game, it was clear that both teams had no intention of fighting anymore. Bayern Munich knew that they couldn't win the game, and Borussia Dortmund naturally didn't want to waste any more physical and mental energy to deal with Bayern Munich.
So, in principle, this conflict should have been added to the stoppage time, but after only symbolically adding one minute, at the hundredth minute of the game, the referee Zwayer blew the whistle to end the game.
"The game is over! One hundred minutes of intense competition has finally come to an end! What has come to an end may even be the league title race that has lasted for half a season!"
As soon as Marcel Reif finished speaking, the latest league standings were displayed on the television screen.
Bayern Munich eighty-one points, Borussia Dortmund eighty-two points.
Borussia Dortmund had surpassed Bayern Munich by one point and appeared in the first position in the league!