Despite the boos from the crowd, the referee's decision was accurate. Yan Min rolled on the ground and got up without arguing for a penalty kick.

After a brief questioning from the commentators, the television broadcast quickly showed a slow-motion replay of the incident. Leno had indeed reached out and blocked Yan Min's shot first, and then Yan Min had collided with him, losing his balance and falling to the ground.

"Not a penalty after all..." Duan Xin said with some regret. If it had been a penalty, Dortmund could have tied the score in the first half.

"Leno made a crucial save! Very beautiful and important!" The Korean commentator cheered for Leno's performance. Like Duan Xin, he supported Bayer Leverkusen because his countryman played for the team. Duan Xin, on the other hand, naturally considered Dortmund her home team because of Zhou Yi and Yan Min.

Marcel Reif focused on Yan Min: "Although he didn't score or earn a penalty for the team, Yan Min's performance was fantastic. His determined breakthroughs and agile maneuvers allowed him to carry the ball out of the encirclement, showcasing his skillful footwork and individual ability. The final chase also demonstrated his explosive power... It's just a pity that the shot was forced... If he hadn't poked at the ball but instead flicked it to the side, preventing Leno from touching it and then tripping him, maybe it would have been a penalty? In any case, Dortmund missed a good opportunity to tie the score..."

The television broadcast gave a close-up of Yan Min, who held his head in his hands, feeling incredibly frustrated that he hadn't managed to get the ball past Leno's fingertips. He was so close to becoming the "lone hero" Zhou Yi had mentioned! He finally had such an opportunity, but he wasted it, completely letting down Zhou Yi's encouragement and trust!

However, to his surprise, he saw Zhou Yi giving him a thumbs up.

He was stunned for a moment.

He thought Zhou Yi should be just as frustrated as he was, considering how rare this opportunity was.

"You scared them quite a bit." During the preparation for the corner kick, Zhou Yi ran over to Yan Min and said, "Look at their expressions."

Yan Min looked around, but the Leverkusen players were busy celebrating with Leno, who had made the crucial save. He couldn't see any signs of them being scared.

"The fact that they're celebrating so much shows how frightened they were. Leno certainly made a brilliant and crucial save, but from another perspective, if your attack hadn't been so excellent and threatening, Leno wouldn't have been in such a mess, right?" Zhou Yi said with a smile.

Yan Min scratched his head, realizing it was true...

"And after your breakthrough, I don't think anyone will dare to relax their defense against you." Zhou Yi continued, covering his mouth.

"Shouldn't that make it even more regrettable to have missed the opportunity?" Yan Min asked, confused. It meant it would be much harder for him to get such a good chance again.

Zhou Yi shook his head with a smile. "There's a limit to the number of players on the field. If they invest more attention here, they'll have less over there. Once they start paying attention to you, how many people do you think they'll have left to bother me?"

Yan Min suddenly understood—Zhou Yi had provided cover for him earlier, and now that he had demonstrated his threat to Leverkusen, he was providing cover for Zhou Yi.

A soccer game wasn't just about scoring on every attack to be considered successful. If you could force the opponent to shift their defensive focus and free up your other teammates, it was still a successful attack, just as valuable.

He didn't mind playing a supporting role. Choosing to be a winger or attacking midfielder meant being willing to set up others.

So he perked up again, nodding vigorously. "Then I'll keep breaking through them if I get the chance!"

"Break through! Of course, you have to break through! You have to keep up the pressure."

After giving his instructions, Zhou Yi turned and left the penalty area, leaving the corner kick to others.

※※※

"I noticed that before Yan Min's breakthrough, Zhou Yi went to him and spoke to him for a while, covering his mouth. Could Yan Min's solo performance..." Assistant coach Željko Buvač guessed, frowning.

Klopp nodded before he could finish. "I think so. Didn't you see Zhou Yi go to him again after the breakthrough? I don't know what they said, but Yan Min obviously doesn't regret missing a great opportunity now."

Saying this, Klopp smiled. "Zhou Yi is such a worry-free player... I think Zhou Yi's idea is right. We should give the attacking players more freedom, let them play freely. That might be a good way to break the deadlock right now."

He looked up at the clock. There were still ten minutes left in the first half.

If Dortmund couldn't tie the score in the first half, he wouldn't be too worried. During halftime, he would tell the whole team, especially those involved in the attack, to do this, which would greatly increase Leverkusen's defensive difficulty. Most importantly, when they became active, it would reduce the defensive pressure on Zhou Yi.

Having figured out how to adjust during halftime, Klopp now just hoped that the team wouldn't concede another goal.

But that wasn't something he needed to worry too much about.

Once Yan Min demonstrated his ability to take on the entire defense single-handedly, Leverkusen became much more cautious in their defense. They certainly couldn't ignore Yan Min like they had before, and conversely, they couldn't commit to the attack as much as they had been.

As a result, Dortmund's defense became much safer.

Because they weren't committing as much to the attack as before, Son Heung-min didn't get any more good opportunities, at least he didn't take any more shots.

This made Son Heung-min a little anxious. He was in such good form, but suddenly he didn't have any shooting opportunities. This wasn't a good trend...

※※※

It wasn't until the forty-first minute that Leverkusen, who had been dominating the game, launched another attack that threatened Weidenfeller's goal—Hegeler's shot from the edge of the penalty area went high over the crossbar.

After that, neither side produced any more high-quality attacks, and the first half came to an end. Bayer Leverkusen, playing away from home, were temporarily leading Dortmund 1-0.

However, unlike the situation in the first thirty minutes of the first half, it was hard to say that Leverkusen had the advantage at the end of the first half. It was difficult to say they would walk into the locker room with a light heart, and it was also difficult to say that the Dortmund players were in low spirits.

A one-goal lead, combined with the performance of both teams in the last ten minutes or so, gave everyone a lot of room for imagination. There were still many possibilities for this game.

At the very least, Yan Min's breakthrough in the first half was still fresh in everyone's mind.

In Dortmund's locker room, many players came over and ruffled Yan Min's hair, making it look like a bird's nest.

His breakthrough in the first half had changed a lot of things. This change was something that the players could all feel.

However, Yan Min didn't intend to take all the credit. He explained to his teammates: "That was all Zhou Yi's idea, really..."

His teammates laughed and continued to ruffle his hair. "We guessed it was, since he talked to you, right? It's not that surprising, but it's still pretty good that you were able to do so well!"

"Yeah, we're not surprised by anything Zhou Yi does anymore, that's just the kind of guy he is. But you, you're the one who surprised us more, haha!"

The "bullying" of Yan Min didn't stop until Klopp entered the locker room.

Klopp praised Yan Min's breakthrough in the first half as soon as he came in. "Although it didn't result in a goal, it was an attack that changed the game. Very bold, and good luck."

Then he began to tell the players about the tactical adjustments for the second half, without wasting a minute.

It was actually the same things he had summarized earlier. The core idea was simple—relax the restrictions and allow the attacking players more freedom to play freely. If they had the ability and the opportunity, it didn't matter if they took the ball and became lone heroes.

Of course, there were bound to be risks in doing so, so it required everyone in the frontcourt to actively participate in counter-pressing. If they lost the ball, they had to counter-press on the spot. If they couldn't win it back, they had to force the opponent, in short, they could never let the opponent go easily.

This placed higher demands on the players' stamina, but it was a necessary price to pay. If the losing side wanted to win, they couldn't just lie down comfortably and expect the opponent to hand over mistakes, right?

"Not only do we have to press after losing the ball, but we also have to use more active running to create opportunities when we attack. We have to run!"

Although there was a lot of criticism of Klopp's "crazy dog tactics" from the outside world, Klopp continued to emphasize that running was the most important thing.

In his football philosophy, running was the foundation of everything. Without running, there would be no modern football, and there would be no Dortmund's glory in the past three seasons. Although he knew that squeezing the players like this would inevitably lead to injuries, Klopp didn't plan to change. After all, this was the path he had insisted on for six seasons at Dortmund. His football philosophy had also deeply imprinted on the Dortmund team, which could not be changed so easily.