Chapter 1

At one o'clock in the morning, Beijing time, November 24th, there was still half an hour before the start of the "National Derby" between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich.

Whether in the Beijing studio or on the front lines in Germany, the commentators were ready.

The broadcast showed live footage from the scene.

Westfalenstadion, which can accommodate 80,000 people, was packed, especially the famous South Stand.

The TV broadcast gave several close-up shots of the stands, and almost every close-up featured Dortmund fans holding up banners attacking Götze.

There was even an elderly white-haired female fan holding a sign that read "Judas Götze" while standing in the South Stand.

This old lady looked kind and gentle, and under normal circumstances, it would be hard to believe that she could do such a thing.

But this is football, and football always magnifies people's emotions, whether love or hate, many times over.

In addition to the various banners attacking Götze, the starting lineup was also a topic of great concern. Because both teams had suffered extensive injuries, the starting lineups that the two coaches could field under these circumstances would naturally be a test for them.

In the starting list announced by Bayern Munich, Götze, who had received the most attention, was not included, but Lewandowski started.

Regarding this starting list, everyone was speculating as to why Guardiola did not let Götze start.

Some believe that this was Guardiola's protective measure for Götze—knowing that Götze would be hated and opposed by Dortmund fans upon his return to Westfalenstadion, he simply put him on the bench, so that at least the Dortmund fans would have less time to target Götze, and Götze would not be under so much pressure.

But others believe that Guardiola didn't think so much; he simply didn't trust Götze, believing that Götze would be burdened with heavy psychological baggage and perform abnormally in such an environment. Letting him play would be like Bayern Munich carrying a burden.

On the Dortmund side, Subotić, Hummels, and Schmelzer were definitely out of this game.

Fortunately, after Friedrich was injured in the warm-up match, the team doctor believed that he could still play against Bayern Munich.

So Friedrich, who had just joined the team, was arranged in the starting lineup for this important game, and he would partner with Papastathopoulos as the center-backs.

In addition, Piszczek had just recovered from his injury, but after a long absence, his condition was not good, so Klopp put him on the bench and did not let him start.

On the defensive line, Klopp put together a back line of four people with great difficulty.

Großkreutz and Durm played as the two full-backs, and Papastathopoulos and Friedrich partnered as the center-backs.

Although a back line of four people was finally put together, it did not make people feel at ease.

After all, Friedrich had been away from the battlefield for a long time, and his condition had declined rapidly, otherwise he would not have been reduced to the point where he had no ball to play and nowhere to go. He had only trained with Dortmund's training base for a week before he had to immediately play and face such a powerful opponent as Bayern Munich... How long could he last?

Moreover, everyone was worried about how well he and his partner Papastathopoulos would work together.

Marcel Reif mentioned this point in the pre-match hookup with the broadcast team, believing that Guardiola would definitely make a big deal out of this.

He Ping also expressed the same concern: "In terms of squad depth, it seems that Bayern Munich has the advantage. In this game, both sides have five players who are unable to play. But Bayern Munich can still have a luxurious bench lineup like Götze, Thiago, and Van Buyten. On the other hand, Dortmund's bench lineup is really the same as ever. It's not that Klopp doesn't know how to be flexible, but there's really no one available... Perhaps the only variable on Dortmund's bench is Yan Min. He was selected for the 18-man squad for this game, but he was not able to enter the starting lineup. I think this should be the backup plan left by Klopp..."

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While the commentators were commenting on the starting lineups of Dortmund and Bayern Munich, Klopp was in the locker room, cheering and encouraging his players.

"Since October 3, 2010, when we defeated Bayern Munich 2-0 at home, it has been three full years since we lost to Bayern Munich at home. This time, we have encountered very big difficulties, and the situation is very serious... But this is not just a serious situation for one game, and what we have to face is not just a game against Bayern Munich. I don't want to sugarcoat things and tell you that there is no problem. On the contrary, our problems are very serious now, and I hope that each of you has a clear understanding of this."

When Klopp said these words, both his tone and expression were very serious, so the atmosphere in the locker room was also very serious, and even a little heavy.

"But when we encounter difficulties, should we shrink back? No! Of course not! If we shrink back when we encounter difficulties, we would not have won the league title and the Champions League title last season! Facts have proven time and time again that Dortmund is an indestructible team! We once encountered a serious economic crisis, and even the club almost went bankrupt. Compared with this, what is an injury crisis? But didn't we still survive it? And we won three consecutive league titles and a Champions League title! No difficulties can overcome us!"

"The game against Bayern Munich is a good opportunity for us to prove this to the world. No one can beat us at our home stadium, and Bayern Munich can't either!"

※※※

In the visiting team's locker room next door, Guardiola was calmly giving his players final tactical instructions: "Although their defense is pieced together, it is not something that we can easily penetrate. If you face them with a relaxed attitude, then we will be the ones who suffer. I hope you will be more patient in the first half, and don't always think that you can successfully get rid of Dortmund's defense with one pass or one breakthrough. They will be full of fighting spirit at the beginning of the game, which is a trouble. But as the game time passes, their physical and mental states will show fatigue. Until that time, that will be our opportunity..."

※※※

When the players from both sides appeared in the tunnel one after another, they didn't look at each other with very friendly eyes.

Even Lewandowski, a player with many old acquaintances in the Dortmund team, did not take the initiative to say hello when he saw his former teammates.

And none of his former teammates had any intention of coming up to catch up with him. They all looked straight ahead, treating the Bayern Munich players next to them as air.

At this time, the host of the stadium, Norbert Dickel, was announcing Dortmund's starting lineup.

Every time he called out a person's name, there would be thunderous cheers from the stadium.

After announcing Dortmund's starting players, he didn't forget to mention Bayern Munich.

"Next, let us welcome our opponents from afar, the runners-up of last season's Bundesliga and Champions League, Bayern Munich—!!"

There was a deafening boo from the crowd, mixed with some jeers.

As bitter rivals who fought to the death in the league, Dortmund would naturally not be polite to Bayern Munich. Norbert Dickel directly rubbed salt into Bayern Munich's wounds.

But conversely, when Dortmund visited the Allianz Arena, they would also enjoy similar treatment.

※※※

When Götze walked out of the tunnel, he instantly became the focus of the reporters' attention. Of course, the stands were also filled with boos at this time.

Amid the boos, Götze did not go directly to the Bayern Munich bench, but turned towards the Dortmund coaching area, and then greeted Klopp, who was standing on the sidelines.

Klopp turned his head and saw that it was Götze, and a smile appeared on his face. He then took the initiative to hug Götze. Although Götze's sudden "betrayal" had hurt Klopp a lot, so much time had passed, and the person involved might not care anymore, so they could reconcile and let bygones be bygones when they met again.

Of course, it was also possible that Klopp was still unhappy with Götze, but in front of so many people, he couldn't let people think that he, the coach of Dortmund, was a petty person. So no matter what he thought in his heart, he had to put on a good show.

So this simple meeting had a fairly harmonious atmosphere—if you automatically ignored the boos floating in the air above the stadium...

After the hug ended, the two separated. Götze turned around and walked towards the Bayern Munich bench. The boos gradually disappeared until he sat down on the bench and the cameras in the reporters' hands stopped chasing him.

At this time, the starting players from both sides finally walked out of the player tunnel, and this highly anticipated game was finally about to begin!