Lin Hai Ting Tao

Chapter 766 Worth the Price of Admission

Actually, during the match against Borussia Dortmund, the Chinese Super League was proceeding as scheduled. Guangzhou Evergrande didn't get any extra rest because they were playing Dortmund; they simply squeezed the game into their usual weekly schedule. So, instead of not having to play two games in a week, they now had to face that situation.

Evergrande had just finished an away game in the Chinese Super League and returned to Guangzhou without stopping, throwing themselves into training to prepare for Dortmund.

Although it was tough, everyone at Evergrande was looking forward to the match.

"We hope to compete against Europe's top teams. Only by playing against strong teams can we improve ourselves." This was the common sentiment among almost all Evergrande players interviewed.

Lippi didn't send out substitutes to go through the motions just because this was an unscheduled match. For his team, it was a rare learning opportunity, and using substitutes would have been a waste.

Therefore, in the starting lineup announced before the match, Guangzhou Evergrande fielded their strongest team.

Although Beijing TV once used world-class stars like Ronaldo and Inzaghi to mock Guangzhou Evergrande's unrealistic, nouveau riche-style transfer ambitions, the current Evergrande team doesn't actually have any world-class stars.

They once had Barrios, who transferred from Borussia Dortmund and was a Bundesliga top scorer. However, his performance at Evergrande was very poor, and he eventually had a falling out with the club in order to leave China. He refused to return and spread rumors that Evergrande was in arrears with his salary. In the end, Evergrande sold him to Russian Premier League powerhouse Spartak Moscow for seven million euros.

Currently, this Evergrande team has many domestic national team players, but the most famous foreign player is Argentine midfielder and playmaker, Conca.

This former Brazilian league best player transferred to Evergrande in 2011 for ten million dollars. At the time, everyone was shocked by Evergrande's wealth, and some people thought Evergrande was once again being foolish with their money.

But after joining Evergrande, Conca quickly won the fans' love, helping Evergrande win the Chinese Super League title for two consecutive seasons with his outstanding performance. He was therefore crowned the "King of Tianhe."

Although this player has never been selected for the Argentine national team and has not been favored by European teams, he is undoubtedly the number one superstar in the Chinese Super League.

In addition to Conca, Evergrande's famous South American trident in the frontcourt also includes two Brazilian forwards, Muriqui and Elkeson.

Compared with Conca, they are much less famous, but their strength should not be underestimated.

Muriqui is a very fast striker, and he is a top player throughout the Chinese Super League and Asia.

Elkeson has been selected for the Brazilian national youth team, and his characteristics are comprehensive skills and outstanding speed.

With the two of them charging in front and Conca supplying them with ammunition from behind, Evergrande's trident runs smoothly, sweeping the Chinese Super League. Their momentum in the AFC Champions League is also very good.

The three of them are also the reason why others criticize Evergrande for always relying on foreign players for their attack.

In attack, Evergrande does rely heavily on these three South Americans. Although Gao Lin, a national team player, is also a starter in Evergrande, he can only pass the ball to Muriqui and Elkeson, and doesn't score many goals.

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At eight o'clock in the evening Beijing time, the Tianhe Stadium was packed, and the atmosphere was lively. With a whistle from the referee, the match between Guangzhou Evergrande and Borussia Dortmund began.

Zhou Yi also started in this game.

At the beginning, when Dortmund faced Evergrande, most of the players may not have taken Evergrande's players seriously, after all, there was a big gap in strength between the two sides.

But at the beginning of the game, Evergrande used Conca's organization and Muriqui's speed to create several opportunities in a row. The Guangzhou fans in the stands erupted in cheers.

One of the chances was even very close to a goal.

The camera captured Zhou Yi shouting loudly to his teammates on the field.

"I think Zhou Yi must be reminding them not to underestimate the enemy..." the CCTV commentator speculated. "I just don't know exactly what he's shouting..."

In fact, what Zhou Yi shouted was: "They are the Chinese champions! Take them seriously!"

Evergrande's continuous attacks made the Chinese fans feel very good - although they are Zhou Yi's fans, when domestic clubs play against foreign clubs, unless they are Dortmund fans themselves and not Evergrande fans, they will support their own national team.

Logically speaking, it is unlikely to expect Guangzhou Evergrande to defeat Borussia Dortmund, but they hope that Evergrande can score at least one goal in the game and play with style and skill.

So, seeing Evergrande's offense playing so well, the Guangzhou fans in the stands were very excited.

But they didn't get to be happy for long.

After several consecutive attacks failed to score, Dortmund finally came to their senses, realizing that if they underestimated the enemy, they might actually lose the game, which would be a great embarrassment...

And once Dortmund starts to take it seriously, there is basically no chance for Evergrande.

Zhou Yi is the core of Dortmund, but when playing against Evergrande, this core doesn't even need to exert much effort, and Dortmund doesn't need to rely on this core, because the others are enough.

Before the game, Evergrande also arranged special personnel to mark Zhou Yi, but in the actual game, they realized that they had thought too much - Dortmund can easily defeat them without Zhou Yi...

Of course, Zhou Yi can't just walk around and do nothing on the court, otherwise the Chinese fans will be the first to object - they came to see Zhou Yi's performance.

Several of his wonderful passes drew cheers from the fans in the stands.

In the past, this level of cheering would only occur after a goal, but now it often occurred when Zhou Yi passed the ball.

In the twenty-seventh minute, Zhou Yi made a wonderful through ball in midfield, sending the ball into Evergrande's flank. Kuba received the ball there and crossed it horizontally at the first time.

Mark Wagner, who followed up in the middle, easily pushed the shot into the goal.

Zeng Cheng tried his best to save, but it was too late.

After scoring a goal, Dortmund played even more smoothly.

Before the end of the first half, Dortmund scored another goal, changing the score to 2:0.

During the half-time break, Zhou Yi was not substituted. He continued to stay on the field in the second half. The Guangzhou fans applauded Klopp's decision - they didn't want to watch Zhou Yi play for only half a game.

In the second half, Dortmund, who was already leading by two goals, began to control the rhythm under Zhou Yi's leadership.

They passed and cooperated continuously, just like they played in Europe. With continuous passing, it was difficult for Evergrande's players to intercept the ball no matter how hard they ran.

Even the Guangzhou fans were impressed by the skillful passing and cooperation between the Dortmund players, and cheers rang out in the stands.

And just when Evergrande became impatient because of Dortmund's continuous passing, Dortmund suddenly changed the rhythm.

Zhou Yi sent the ball forward, and then quickly moved forward himself.

Mark then passed the ball to Zhou Yi, who had run to an open space.

After receiving the pass on the edge of the penalty area, he shot directly from long range, and the ball was spun out in an arc by him, bypassing Zeng Cheng's outstretched arm, hitting the underside of the crossbar, and then bouncing into the goal!

"Zhou Yi!! Good shot!! A world-class goal!!!!" The CCTV commentator shouted excitedly - in this game, Dortmund was focused on Zhou Yi's performance, and now Zhou Yi has also scored a goal, which is simply perfect!

When Zhou Yi scored, there was also a huge cheer in the Tianhe Stadium, which was louder than any previous cheer.

Although both were Dortmund goals, the first two goals definitely didn't have this kind of momentum.

Zhou Yi, who scored the goal, didn't celebrate the goal in front of his national team teammates. He just waved to the Chinese fans in the stands.

Klopp also applauded Zhou Yi's goal on the sidelines, and then prepared to substitute Zhou Yi - letting Zhou Yi score a goal was a satisfactory outcome. Now, out of consideration for the team's interests, he wants to substitute Zhou Yi to avoid injury and excessive fatigue.

Two minutes after Zhou Yi scored, during a dead ball situation, Zhou Yi was replaced by Sahin.

Zhou Yi, who left the field, applauded and thanked the fans, and everyone stood up and applauded, cheering for him.

At this time, no one cared about the outcome of the game anymore. Zhou Yi started, performed well, and scored a world-class goal, and they felt it was worth the price of admission.

And those Chinese players on and off the field of the Evergrande team were also very envious when they saw this scene - although he is an opponent, he can get so much support and love. A player who can reach Zhou Yi's level is simply without regrets even in death!