“Did you think that was the worst news?”

Just as Zhou Yi was lost in thought, his agent Schulze's voice rang out again.

“What is it?” Zhou Yi asked, surprised.

Two key defenders injured during a national team match, and that wasn't the worst?

“That Friedrich, you know him, right?” Schulze asked.

Zhou Yi hummed in agreement.

Manuel Friedrich was the replacement Borussia Dortmund found after Subotić's season-ending injury.

If Borussia Dortmund were to sign a center-back from another team, the earliest they could do so would be when the January transfer window opened. But that would be too long to wait, and Borussia Dortmund couldn't afford to wait that long. A distant source of water couldn't quench their immediate thirst.

According to transfer rules, only transfers of free agents without existing contracts were not restricted by the transfer window period.

So Borussia Dortmund ultimately set its sights on former national team player Manuel Friedrich, who was unemployed and without a club.

In fact, Friedrich wasn't a very suitable choice, after all, he hadn't played for quite some time, and there was no way to guarantee his form.

But Borussia Dortmund didn't have a better option. There were only so many free agents available, and if there were truly capable and in-form players, they wouldn't be without a club.

Moreover, Manuel Friedrich had previously played for Mainz, and Klopp had also coached Mainz, so the two had a direct working relationship. Klopp knew Friedrich relatively well, and even though Friedrich had fallen to the point of being without a club, Klopp was more inclined to choose players he had worked with and was familiar with.

So, after Subotić's injury, Friedrich, who had originally planned to play in Bangkok in January, came to Borussia Dortmund's training base and trained with the team.

Zhou Yi knew this.

At the time, Friedrich had come to Borussia Dortmund for a trial. Later, when Zhou Yi left Borussia Dortmund and returned to China to play, he heard that Borussia Dortmund had officially signed Friedrich.

The two parties signed for seven months, until the contract expired at the end of the season.

This was clearly a fire-fighting contract.

Thirty-four-year-old Manuel Friedrich was a former German international, having been selected for the German national team in 2006, but he didn't participate in the 2006 World Cup. Because he wasn't trusted by Klinsmann's successor, Löw, Friedrich only made nine appearances for the German national team, scoring one goal.

“Friedrich injured himself in a friendly just now,” Schulze said in a flat tone.

Zhou Yi, however, opened his mouth wide and looked at the agent driving in front of him with an incredulous expression.

“Are you kidding me?”

“How could I be kidding? While you were participating in national team matches, Borussia Dortmund also found someone to play a friendly against second division team Paderborn. Borussia Dortmund won 2:1, but Friedrich injured his knee in the match… It’s said that Klopp rushed straight onto the field at the time…”

Listening to Schulze's narration, Zhou Yi could completely imagine the scene.

He could understand Klopp's feelings—he had finally found a replacement for Subotić, but he got injured in the first friendly. He must have felt like he was going to die, right?

“How bad is the injury?” Zhou Yi asked the most important question.

“Don't worry, it's not season-ending,” Schulze joked.

“Oh, that's good…” Zhou Yi breathed a sigh of relief.

“But he probably won't be able to play in the next game against Bayern Munich,” Schulze added.

Zhou Yi frowned.

The game against Bayern Munich was very important. If Friedrich couldn't play, and Hummels, Subotić, and Schmelzer were also injured, how would Borussia Dortmund compete against Bayern Munich…

Zhou Yi himself felt a headache, let alone Klopp.

At least Zhou Yi didn't have to think about how to solve this problem, while Klopp, if he couldn't come up with a solution, would have to watch Borussia Dortmund get crushed by Bayern Munich at home.

Now Borussia Dortmund only had Sokratis Papastathopoulos available at center-back.

In addition, there was also a young player born in 1995, Marian Sarr, who played as a center-back but had never made a first-team appearance. It was impossible to expect him to perform well and withstand Bayern Munich's attack in the game against Bayern Munich. After all, this was reality, not a movie about overnight success.

※※※

The Dortmund media were reporting on the injury crisis Borussia Dortmund was facing, naturally pointing the finger at the German national team and conspiracy theories about “favoring Bayern Munich.”

In response, the Munich media retaliated.

The clash between the two teams, although the game hadn't started yet, the war of words had already begun.

The Munich media mocked Borussia Dortmund for already finding an excuse for failure, so they were constantly exaggerating the injury crisis they were facing, so that once they lost the game, they could blame it on having too many injured players.

And Bayern Munich? They never publicized their injury situation, even though their injuries were also severe.

In this game, Bayern Munich's Schweinsteiger, Shaqiri, Ribéry, Pizarro, and Badstuber had already been confirmed to be unable to participate, while Robben, Boateng, Javi Martínez, Contento, and others had just recovered from injuries, and it was hard to say how their form was.

So, in terms of being affected by injuries, Bayern Munich was no worse than Borussia Dortmund, but Bayern Munich didn't complain at all.

The Dortmund media retorted: "Aren't you complaining now?"

Of course, the most important gimmick of this German "Der Klassiker" was definitely not the fact that both teams were full of injured players, but rather that Götze and Lewandowski would meet their old club again in the game after leaving Borussia Dortmund.

When the two left Borussia Dortmund this summer, they both had some unpleasantness with their former club.

In the hearts of many Borussia Dortmund fans, the two of them could be equated with Judas.

Of course, Lewandowski's situation was a little better. He had a good reason for leaving Borussia Dortmund, and Borussia Dortmund was the one who was in the wrong in the transfer saga, so there weren't many Borussia Dortmund fans who were targeting him.

It was mainly aimed at Götze.

This genius, who was regarded by Borussia Dortmund fans as the leader of Borussia Dortmund for the next ten years, resolutely betrayed his parent team that had nurtured him, and didn't show any nostalgia at all.

It is said that Borussia Dortmund fans were ready to "welcome" Götze home with boos during the game.

Some media conducted an interview on the streets of Dortmund about Götze. Facing the cameras, almost no Dortmund fans had a friendly attitude towards Götze.

Everyone had a gnashing expression when they mentioned Götze.

And how did Götze himself view this "homecoming trip"?

"I will try my best in the game, and off-the-field matters will not distract me." He skillfully avoided overly sensitive questions.

After transferring to Bayern Munich this season, Götze didn't have stable playing opportunities in the Bayern Munich team due to an early injury.

He missed two games, and sat on the bench for ninety minutes in two other games. He started four times, came on as a substitute three times, and only scored one goal.

This performance was far from his performance as a starter at Borussia Dortmund.

Some Dortmund media believed that now it seemed that Götze's choice to leave Dortmund for Bayern Munich was destined to be a failed transfer. He went from a key player in a Bundesliga champion team to a substitute for Dortmund's past three seasons of defeats.

It is said that people go to higher places, but now Götze is going the other way, going to lower places…

Borussia Dortmund fans were naturally gloating over Götze's current situation at Bayern Munich. They thought he deserved it, this was the end of betraying Borussia Dortmund.

Munich, on the other hand, had high hopes for Götze, believing that his current performance was not very good, mainly because the injury at the beginning of the season caused him to miss the team's pre-season training and the first two rounds of the league.

Now that he has recovered from his injury, he naturally needs to slowly find his form.

Once he regains his form, he will make Bayern Munich even more powerful!

How do Borussia Dortmund players view the reunion with Götze?

Many people avoided talking about this issue. Gro Kreutz accepted the interview. He did not forgive his former teammate, but fiercely told the media: "I don't know if he will play, but if he wants to play, I will make him regret his decision!"

Zhou Yi was also asked about Götze. His attitude was much milder: "Everyone has their own choices. It's nothing. It's been so long since it happened. There's no point in saying anything more. As long as you can be responsible for your choices."

A reporter also asked Zhou Yi: "Borussia Dortmund's current situation is very bad. If they lose to Bayern Munich, will it shatter Borussia Dortmund's dream of winning four consecutive league titles?"

Zhou Yi smiled when he heard this: "The league is a long one. Who said that losing a game means there is no hope for the league title? This statement is too irresponsible. Otherwise, wouldn't the championship team have to be undefeated to win the championship? As long as they lose one game, they won't win the championship?"

"Does that mean you think losing to Bayern Munich is also an acceptable result?" A reporter immediately followed up, feeling like he had caught a big news story.

Zhou Yi glanced at the reporter who asked the question and showed a gentle smile: "Hehe."