Chapter 1 The Beginning

This match was a must-win for Borussia Dortmund, and the same was true for Arsenal—if they could defeat Borussia Dortmund on their home turf, they would secure early qualification from the group stage with twelve points from four wins.

Qualifying early from the Champions League group stage meant they could focus more on the league competition.

After ten rounds of the Premier League, Arsenal was currently in first place with eight wins, one draw, and one loss, totaling twenty-five points, a five-point lead over second-place Chelsea, indicating strong momentum.

Arsène Wenger certainly hoped to regain the league title this season.

This was why he desperately pursued Zhou Yi and then spent a fortune to buy Özil from Real Madrid.

And after Özil arrived, Arsenal had indeed undergone tremendous changes, performing very differently from the previous seasons.

However, both teams now faced very serious injury problems.

Arsenal had as many as six players on the injury list: Diaby, Wilshere, Sanogo, Walcott, Podolski, and Chamberlain.

Among them, Wilshere had only recently been injured, while Diaby and Chamberlain were long-term patients.

On Borussia Dortmund's side, Gündoğan and Piszczek had barely played since the start of the new season.

Hummels felt muscle discomfort after the last game against Stuttgart and could not participate in this Champions League match.

Fortunately, the starting lineups of both teams were not significantly affected. Whether it was Borussia Dortmund or Arsenal, their bench strength was not a problem, and they could bring in players with sufficient skill.

Two hours before the game, both sides announced their starting lineups for the match.

For Borussia Dortmund, Zhou Yi, who had been absent for more than a month, reappeared in the Champions League, while the injured Hummels was replaced by Sokratis Papastathopoulos, who partnered with Subotić as the starting center backs.

In midfield, with Zhou Yi starting, Mkhitaryan had to go to the bench. In the defensive midfield position, Şahin and Sven Bender partnered as double defensive midfielders, Zhou Yi was the single attacking midfielder, with Aubameyang and Reus on the left and right, respectively, and Mark, who had just scored a hat-trick in the match against Stuttgart, was at the front.

For Arsenal, Mertesacker, Sagna, Gibbs, and Koscielny formed the starting defense, while the midfield consisted of Flamini, Özil, Arteta, Cazorla, and Ramsey. Rosický had played for Borussia Dortmund for many years; he was sold to Arsenal during Borussia Dortmund's financial crisis to alleviate the team's economic pressure.

Arsenal's starting center forward was Frenchman Giroud, a rather controversial striker. Last season, because Van Persie insisted on going to Manchester United, Arsenal had to buy him as Van Persie's successor. However, as Van Persie's successor last season, Giroud's performance was not satisfactory. In the entire season, he scored a total of seventeen goals in all competitions, with only eleven league goals, far from his performance when he was the top scorer in Ligue 1 with Montpellier.

But this season, Giroud seemed to have seen the light. After only ten rounds of the league, he had already scored five goals, almost half of his league goals last season.

Gradually, someone gave Giroud a nickname—"Face-Slapping Maniac," meaning that whenever someone ridiculed Giroud for performing poorly, he would always score goals to slap those people in the face.

For Borussia Dortmund, Hummels' injury, coupled with Giroud's excellent form this season, created a very bad situation.

In the previous match between the two sides, at Arsenal's home ground, although Borussia Dortmund took the lead, it was Giroud's header that helped Arsenal equalize and laid the foundation for the final comeback.

In this game, Giroud would certainly become a headache for Borussia Dortmund's defenders.

Of course, the focus of everyone's attention was not on Giroud, but on Zhou Yi.

There was a lot of news about Zhou Yi before the game. Some media joked that in the face of a formidable enemy, he even took the time to have a romance, which showed that he was very relaxed.

For a core player, a trump card, everyone always demands him to a higher standard. Borussia Dortmund is now in trouble in the Champions League, so can Zhou Yi lead the team out of trouble?

The comparison between him and Özil was also a highlight. When Özil was at Real Madrid, he competed with Zhou Yi. At that time, relying on Real Madrid's resources and fame, Özil was slightly better than Zhou Yi in terms of personal fame, but in terms of results, Zhou Yi was better than Özil.

Both are players who are good at organizing attacks, and they have many similar characteristics. Özil's enhanced version mode, "Özil the Great," is also considered to be able to compete with Zhou Yi.

This season in the Champions League, when Zhou Yi was absent due to injury, Özil led Arsenal to consecutive victories in the Champions League.

Now that Zhou Yi has returned, what kind of sparks will the collision between the two create?

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After the start of the game, Zhou Yi continued his excellent form in the league. He kept demanding the ball, taking the ball, and handling the ball. He was the conversion hub for Borussia Dortmund's attack and defense.

However, Arsenal also strictly guarded against him. Flamini followed Zhou Yi almost every step of the way. As the only defensive midfielder in Arsenal's lineup, Flamini had a heavy task in this game. So Wenger didn't plan to leave Zhou Yi to Flamini alone, and Arteta would help Flamini from time to time.

Strive not to give Zhou Yi any space within the thirty-meter area.

Nevertheless, Zhou Yi still made Arsenal feel tremendous pressure.

After missing two Champions League games in a row, he seemed to have endless power to vent in this game.

In the seventeenth minute of the opening, he sent a precise pass under Flamini's pull, and Aubameyang, after receiving the ball, almost formed an excellent breakthrough on the wing—if Arsenal hadn't fouled.

This foul gave Borussia Dortmund a free kick on the wing.

Reus took the free kick, and the ball flew high to the back post of the penalty area. Ramsey wanted to clear the ball with a header, but in the scramble with Sven Bender, he headed the ball towards the center of the penalty area. Subotić volleyed in the crowd seven meters in front of the goal, and the ball went slightly wide of the left goalpost.

The ball didn't go in, but it scared Arsenal fans into a cold sweat.

It also excited the Borussia Dortmund fans in the stands.

"Subotić—almost!!" Marcel Reif said regretfully.

In the previous match between the two sides, Borussia Dortmund lost to Arsenal away, which also led to the team's current unfavorable situation. If they want to change the unfavorable situation, they must beat Arsenal at home, even a draw will not work.

Subotić himself was also very regretful, hugged his head with both hands, and ran back.

If this ball could go in, it would be a good start for Borussia Dortmund.

※※※

Although Subotić's ball didn't go in, Borussia Dortmund's offensive didn't diminish at all.

Through continuous attacks, Arsenal was breathless, and even the center forward Giroud had to retreat to the penalty area to defend.

In the twenty-second minute, Reus crossed from the wing, and it was Giroud who jumped up to clear the ball with a header in the penalty area.

He headed the ball out!

But it's not over yet!

The headed ball flew out of the penalty area, and Zhou Yi quickly moved to the landing point of the ball!

At this time, everyone's attention was attracted by the header in the penalty area just now, and no one noticed Zhou Yi's movement at all. It was not until he ran to the landing point and then swung his left leg that he was discovered. Flamini was still in the penalty area at this time, and it was too late to come up to defend.

So Zhou Yi hit the ball like this!

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

The first sound was the sound of his instep hitting the ball, and the second sound was the sound of the ball hitting Mertesacker.

Zhou Yi hit the ball, and the ball also hit the frame of the goal, but it was blocked by Mertesacker, who flew to block the gun with his body!

The ball flew back to Zhou Yi's side again. After he stopped the ball, he shot again, but this time it went wide of the goal...

Although he didn't score, Zhou Yi's two consecutive shots still won the cheers of the Borussia Dortmund fans in the stands. Everyone believed that this meant that Zhou Yi was in good form in this game, and if Zhou Yi was in good form, this game would be worth looking forward to...

"Zhou Yi's volley is very beautiful! But unfortunately, Mertesacker is too big..." Looking at the slow-motion replay, He Ping said regretfully. "If it was Özil who blocked the gun, the ball might have gone in, right? Hahaha!"

The English commentator was a little worried: "Even Arsenal's center forward Giroud has returned to the goal to defend, becoming a center back. Arsenal is now completely in a passive position... If this continues and the situation is not changed, it may only be a matter of time before they lose the ball..."