Despite Zhou Yi's immense confidence, everyone interpreted it differently—they thought Zhou Yi was deliberately putting on a confident act, but was actually tough on the outside and weak on the inside.

Because no one believed Zhou Yi could be in good form. He probably didn't even have much time to train with the team, let alone do any specific training.

How could he possibly be in good form under such circumstances?

Chelsea's coach, Mourinho, held this view.

He didn't think Zhou Yi was really as confident as he claimed.

No matter how one analyzed it, the situation was unfavorable for Zhou Yi.

This was a good opportunity for Chelsea and himself.

Returning to Chelsea, Mourinho hoped to stage a good show of "the king's return" with a championship.

He had been hurt at Real Madrid, and Chelsea was willing to accept him, so of course he had to bring championships and glory to Chelsea.

He showed great confidence in a pre-match interview.

"We've come all the way to Prague, not for tourism," he said.

In other words, they were here for the Super Cup.

※※※

Klopp also made corresponding arrangements for Zhou Yi's special situation. His strategy was to maintain the original tactical policy unchanged, and not to make any special arrangements for Chelsea because of this game. In this way, the team would not have to re-integrate, and other people could seamlessly connect with Zhou Yi, minimizing the impact of Zhou Yi's lack of time to train and adapt to the venue.

Of course, there were risks involved in doing so. If Chelsea made targeted arrangements, Dortmund would appear to be insufficiently responsive, and could only respond to all changes with constancy. It was hard to say whether they could withstand it at that point…

Although Klopp was worried, he had no better solution.

No one knew that Zhou Yi was not exaggerating or bluffing.

Because in his dreams every night, he had played against Chelsea dozens of times and was very familiar with this opponent.

That's what he meant by "sleeping well."

※※※

The European Super Cup will kick off at 2:45 a.m. on August 31st, the same time as the Champions League starts.

Chinese fans who stay up late to watch the Champions League and La Liga are already used to it.

Local time, however, is 8:45 p.m. in Prague—Prague is in the East 1 time zone, and Beijing in the East 8 time zone has a seven-hour time difference. Prague also observes daylight saving time, so the time difference is reduced to six hours. For Europeans, this is a good time to watch the game.

At 8:45 p.m. in the summer, the temperature is not too high, making it suitable for outdoor sports.

Because Chelsea eliminated Dortmund in the quarter-finals of the 2011-2012 Champions League season, this game was also considered by some media to be Dortmund's revenge match.

In the opening stage of the new season, Dortmund performed well, winning four consecutive league games and ranking first in the Bundesliga standings.

Dortmund, who lost Gotze and Lewandowski, seemed unaffected. New foreign players Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan also performed well.

Mourinho's Chelsea played three league games in the new Premier League season, with a record of two wins and one draw, accumulating seven points and ranking second.

In a league game that had just ended, they drew 0-0 with Manchester United away.

At this time, the "Red Devils" Manchester United had changed their manager. Legendary coach Ferguson retired and was replaced by former Everton coach Moyes.

Whether it was Dortmund or Chelsea, both teams remained undefeated in their respective leagues and maintained good competitive levels.

So before the game even started, everyone was expecting a high-level match, just like the Champions League final last season. The back-and-forth attacks between Dortmund and Bayern Munich were very enjoyable for the fans.

However, due to injuries, the starting lineups of both teams were not at their strongest.

Chelsea captain John Terry was rested in this game, and Brazilian center-back Luiz returned to the starting lineup. German international Schürrle started as a right winger in this game. Mourinho clearly hoped that Schürrle, who had played in the Bundesliga, could help Chelsea face Dortmund better.

On Dortmund's side, Gündoğan and Piszczek were both absent due to injuries. Although Zhou Yi did not get enough rest, he was still arranged to start the game. Another Chinese player, Yan Min, was on the bench, but his chances of playing were very slim—this game was not a league game, and there was no regulation on the number of players on the bench. In theory, both teams could bring their entire first team. With so many substitute players, but only three substitutions, the probability of Yan Min playing was not high.

Now the Chinese media is not very concerned about whether Yan Min will play in this game. They have come to terms with reality after these few games—Yan Min is not Klopp's priority, and he is still far from being able to play... Everyone thinks it's already very good for Yan Min to be able to receive high-level training in Dortmund.

※※※

The players from both sides walked out onto the field to the cheers of the fans, then lined up for photos, shook hands with each other, and tossed a coin…

After a series of necessary procedures, they stood in their respective positions, waiting for the game to begin.

With the referee's whistle, the European Super Cup began.

Just two minutes into the game, Großkreutz, who started as the right back in place of the injured Piszczek, crossed from near the right sideline. Mark, who started, headed the ball in the penalty area, but it went slightly wide.

"Mark! What a pity!" Marcel Reif exclaimed. "The game has just begun, and Dortmund has already had a chance to directly threaten Chelsea's goal!"

Mark, who failed to score, was also frustrated, and slapped his own thigh.

However, Chelsea quickly changed their colors. In the fourth minute, Hazard took a low shot with his right foot from outside the penalty area, and the shot went wide and rolled directly out of the bottom line.

Both sides had a shot that did not hit the target.

The two teams got into the game from the very beginning, which meant that this game would definitely not be a slow-paced one. This made the commentators and fans very happy.

In the sixth minute, Luiz and Aubameyang clashed in a scramble. Fortunately, the two were pulled apart by the referee in time when they were arguing, otherwise they might have butted heads...

"The players from both sides need to control their tempers. The game has just begun and there has already been a conflict. If there are fewer people, the excitement of the game will be greatly reduced..." He Ping, the commentator from CCTV, said. Since it was a Chinese derby, he had to abide by neutrality, at least that's how he presented it.

From a neutral perspective, of course, no one wants to see a situation that unbalances the game.

Fortunately, the conflict between Luiz and Aubameyang did not escalate or extend, and the game returned to normal.

Not long after the conflict ended, in the seventh minute, Zhou Yi got the ball in midfield. At that time, he was facing the right side, and Chelsea midfielder Ramires rushed up to intercept the ball.

Zhou Yi pulled the ball to the left with his right foot, dodging Ramires' foot. At the same time, Zhou Yi's left foot turned the pulled ball to the left and turned around. From facing the right side, he adjusted to facing the left side. At this time, there was a huge gap on the left side, and Reus was sprinting forward at high speed!

Zhou Yi did not hesitate and used his right foot to pass the ball diagonally.

The ball flew swiftly along the grass, but did not roll directly to Reus' feet. Zhou Yi sent the ball near the corner of the penalty area. As long as Reus could receive the ball, he could directly turn this attack into a one-on-one opportunity!

Sure enough, seeing Zhou Yi's pass, Reus cut inside and accelerated to catch up with the ball!

"Zhou Yi! A beautiful escape and transfer! Reus has formed a one-on-one situation!"

Reus, who received the ball, shot in the penalty area!

At this moment, many Chelsea fans were frightened, because Dortmund's offensive opportunity was really too good…

Sun Pan decisively abandoned the goal and attacked.

Just as Sun Pan abandoned the goal and attacked, Reus also shot—he obviously did not want Sun Pan to block his shooting angle. It was already an oblique angle, and the angle was not as large as when facing the goal directly. If Sun Pan blocked him in front, there would be no shooting angle.

Reus had played against Sun Pan in the Champions League last season, and he knew this person's strength very well. If he hesitated slightly, he might lose the best opportunity.

The ball shot by Reus went towards the far corner, but it did not ultimately reach its destination. On the way, it was punched away by Sun Pan who threw himself sideways!

The ball hit by Sun Pan flew far out of the penalty area, brushing past Dortmund striker Mark, who was rushing forward to respond. Mark jumped up trying to head the ball for a follow-up shot, but it was too far away and he didn't hit it at all…

The ball flew out of the penalty area and landed at Lampard's feet, and the crisis was resolved.

This is why Sun Pan chose to punch the ball instead of using his palm like other goalkeepers—when he attacked, he noticed Mark's insertion, and he was worried that if his palm could not fully contact the ball, he might leave the ball in the penalty area if he didn't exert force during the save, which would give Mark a chance to make up for the shot. So he simply chose to punch it outwards with his fist.

Of course, this was also risky. After all, the contact area of ​​the fist is smaller than that of the palm, and in order to exert force, there is also a striking action. In that instant, this striking action seemed a bit redundant, and it might cause the fist to miss the ball. This is not a very safe plan. The safe approach is to block directly with your hand. It would be great to block the first blow, as for the possible second blow, many goalkeepers can't think about so much...

But the skilled are bold, Sun Pan accurately judged that Reus was going to hit the far corner. Seeing Reus shooting, his whole body lunged outwards, and the body drove the arm to rush outwards. There was no need to swing the arm itself, which could have a striking effect, so Sun Pan succeeded!

"Sun Pan! An amazing save! His movements are so fast!" He Ping shouted excitedly.

As a Chinese commentator, he was both happy and conflicted in this game. He was happy, of course, because he could see the duel between two high-level Chinese players, but he was conflicted because he didn't know who he should hope would win…