Chapter 1 In the Face of Injuries

Under the siege of injuries, Borussia Dortmund welcomed their second Champions League group stage match, at home against Galatasaray.

Galatasaray lost 1:2 to Arsenal at home in the first round of the group stage.

This was a contest between two teams that had lost their first match.

Therefore, neither of these two teams could afford to lose.

Whoever lost would see their chances of qualifying become much dimmer.

To make matters worse, Borussia Dortmund was plagued by injuries and unable to field their strongest lineup.

Before the game, Mark accepted an interview with reporters, where he talked about the team's current difficulties, but also showed confidence and fighting spirit.

"We all know that the team hasn't been having a good time lately, but the more this happens, the more we need to unite. This is when our fighting spirit can be demonstrated. I am ready to dedicate everything to the team's victory."

While his teammates were absent from the game due to injuries, Mark, who missed most of last season due to injury, was fortunate enough not to be injured this season.

His recent form has indeed been good, allowing people to temporarily forget about the departed Lewandowski.

When the team encountered difficulties, the fans also hoped that players like Mark could bravely stand up and take responsibility.

Facing the strong opponent Galatasaray at home, Borussia Dortmund could be said to be fighting with their backs to the wall.

Zhou Yi took his parents to the Westfalenstadion for this game, watching from a box, cheering for his teammates.

The atmosphere in the stadium was also very warm and fiery for this game, with Borussia Dortmund fans showing their support for the team in this difficult time.

Nineteen minutes into the game, Mark, who had expressed his positive attitude before the game, delivered on his promise and scored the first goal for the team!

After Mark scored, the entire Westfalenstadion was like an earthquake.

The assist for Mark's goal came from Durm, the defender who started in place of the injured Schmelzer, and his performance was also very good.

In the fifty-second minute, Reus extended Borussia Dortmund's lead.

In the eightieth minute, Borussia Dortmund was awarded a penalty. Mark, who had already scored in this game, calmly shot the ball into the goal.

3:0!

Borussia Dortmund finally won a complete victory over their opponent at home, taking this must-win game.

Since Zhou Yi's injury, Borussia Dortmund fans didn't seem to have had such a good time. Even the 5:0 victory over Freiburg didn't make them feel relaxed.

After the game, Mark, who scored twice, was interviewed, and he reiterated that the team must overcome difficulties together.

"...We were able to win the league championship and the Champions League because we are a team, a whole!"

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After the game, everyone was enthusiastically talking about Borussia Dortmund's complete victory at home.

Many people even thought that this game might be a turning point, meaning that the recent bad luck was over.

But those who thought so were obviously too naive.

In the next eighth round of the league, Borussia Dortmund challenged Borussia Mönchengladbach away from home.

In this game, Borussia Dortmund encountered a stubborn resistance from their opponents.

And bad luck struck again.

In the thirty-ninth minute, the main goalkeeper Weidenfeller sprained his ankle when landing while catching a high ball in the game, and was unable to continue the game. He was replaced by Langerak.

Next, in the eightieth minute, when the two sides were in a stalemate, central defender Hummels deliberately handled the ball in the penalty area, not only being sent off with a red card, but also giving Borussia Mönchengladbach a penalty.

Borussia Mönchengladbach used this penalty to break the deadlock on the field.

Borussia Dortmund, trailing by one goal, could only bombard Borussia Mönchengladbach's goal in the last ten minutes, hoping to equalize the score.

As a result, Borussia Mönchengladbach seized the opportunity to launch a counterattack, conceding another goal in the eighty-sixth minute, and the defeat was sealed...

In the end, Borussia Dortmund lost 0:2 to Borussia Mönchengladbach away from home.

This was not only their first league defeat of the new season, but also the end of their thirty-seven-game unbeaten record...

Since the fourth round of the league last season, when Borussia Dortmund lost 2:3 to Hamburg, they had not lost a game in the next thirty-seven league games.

Although the unbeaten record was ended by Borussia Mönchengladbach, Klopp's Borussia Dortmund still created a Bundesliga unbeaten record.

The previous unbeaten record belonged to Hamburg in the 1981-1982 season, when Hamburg created a record of thirty-six consecutive league games unbeaten.

Borussia Dortmund created a new record with a 5:0 victory over Freiburg in the previous game.

It's a pity that everyone felt that if Zhou Yi was there, Borussia Dortmund's unbeaten record could have continued.

Klopp himself didn't care about the record, or rather, compared to the current injury problem, the unbeaten record was nothing.

Weidenfeller was injured in the game and will definitely miss the next game. Hummels was also suspended for receiving a red card.

Borussia Dortmund's already tight first-team lineup became even more stretched.

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Of course, this period was not all bad news.

After losing to Borussia Mönchengladbach, the best news came - Zhou Yi could finally start training with the ball.

Although there is still a long way to go from training with the ball to playing in a game, this is always good news, meaning that Zhou Yi's injury is developing in a positive direction.

Zhou Yi is now the stabilizer that Borussia Dortmund needs most. Without him, Borussia Dortmund's performance is sometimes good and sometimes bad. When it's good, they can win 3:0 against Galatasaray at home. When it's bad, they can be defeated 0:2 by Borussia Mönchengladbach away from home without any power to fight back.

Zhou Yi starting to train with the ball is the focus of reports by Borussia Dortmund and Chinese media in the past two days.

It even diluted the depression and sadness caused by Borussia Dortmund's loss and the end of the unbeaten record.

On Borussia Dortmund's official Twitter account, a short video of Zhou Yi training with the ball was posted. In the video, Zhou Yi was wearing a training vest and dribbling around cones. The video was too short, only five seconds long. But from these few seconds, everyone still saw something encouraging.

That is, Zhou Yi's movements are not stiff, very natural, which at least shows that the impact of his cervical spine injury is not significant.

Now, as long as he waits to find his feeling in training with the ball, he will not be far from returning to the game.

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If Zhou Yi's comeback is good news, then there is endless bad news surrounding Gündoğan.

Just after Borussia Dortmund lost to Borussia Mönchengladbach, the Spanish media *El Chiringuito* exclusively revealed that Real Madrid had reached a preliminary agreement with Borussia Dortmund to introduce Gündoğan for a price of 20 to 30 million euros.

However, Borussia Dortmund subsequently denied the rumors, saying that the two sides had not reached any agreement.

But this denial was not accepted, because Borussia Dortmund and Gündoğan have not yet reached an agreement on a contract extension. As long as the two sides do not successfully renew their contract, rumors about Gündoğan's future will probably not disappear for a day.

From this point of view, it is right that Borussia Dortmund must finalize the contract extension with Zhou Yi no matter what in the summer, otherwise they would now have to face the problem of Zhou Yi's future, and the senior management would probably be overwhelmed.

Gündoğan's future destination is uncertain, and when Gündoğan will recover from his injury is also uncertain.

It was originally said that he would be able to return in mid-October, but team doctor Braun did the latest examination on him and found that the situation was still not optimistic. It is still unknown when he will be able to return, but he will definitely not be able to return to the field in October.

No one expected that an injury that didn't seem very serious would drag on longer and longer, and become more and more serious. Now some people think that if Gündoğan can return after the winter break, it should be a good result...

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Borussia Dortmund's first team being mired in an injury crisis is certainly a bad thing for the team, but it is not necessarily a bad thing for individual players.

For example, Şahin, if it wasn't for Gündoğan's injury, it would have been difficult for him to get so many stable appearances this season. And he himself performed well, partnering with Sven Bender in the defensive midfielder position.

Another example is Yan Min.

In the ninth round of the league, Borussia Dortmund's home game against Hannover 96, Yan Min was selected for the team's roster because there were too few midfielders.

This was the second time this season that he appeared in Borussia Dortmund's league roster.

If it weren't for players getting injured one after another, Yan Min might not have appeared on the roster.

The current injury crisis also makes everyone particularly look forward to Yan Min playing in the game. Since there are not enough people, shouldn't we give others a chance?

But no, Yan Min sat on the bench for ninety minutes and still didn't get a chance to play.

Reus scored a penalty for Borussia Dortmund in the fourth minute, helping Borussia Dortmund take the lead.

But in the next long eighty-six minutes, Borussia Dortmund was unable to score another goal. Although he got as many as ten corner kicks in this game, none of them were converted into goals.

In the sixty-sixth minute, Kuba was substituted on, replacing the goal scorer Reus.

In the eightieth minute, youngster Jonas Hofmann came on as a substitute, replacing Mkhitaryan.

In the ninetieth minute, striker Schieber came on, replacing Aubameyang.

In the ninety-fourth minute, goalkeeper Langerak was shown a yellow card by the referee for deliberately delaying time at the end of the game.

Although a little embarrassed, Borussia Dortmund still won the game.

For Borussia Dortmund at this time, the result of three points is far more important than the hearty process...