Chapter 1 When in Naples…

When Borussia Dortmund arrived in Naples, they received a grand "welcome" at the airport—hundreds of Naples fans held banners to demonstrate against Dortmund.

"Go back to Germany, you bitches!"

"You are not welcome here!"

"You're gonna die here!"

Some of them had normal greetings: "Welcome to Napoli!"

But this sentence was followed by a picture of knives and guns.

What that meant was clear to everyone...

Even more excessive was that the *** symbol appeared in these banners!

Although it was not very conspicuous, it was still seen.

Naples fans were really unscrupulous in order to interfere with Dortmund and put pressure on them...

Zhou Yi curled his lips at this—during World War II, you Italians were with Germany, both Axis powers. Is this the pot calling the kettle black?

Although Zhou Yi was a little disdainful of the methods of the Naples fans, the actions of the Naples fans did have some impact on the Dortmund players.

Safety is indeed a very important issue.

Everyone is here to play football games, to make money from football. Although they are usually considered celebrities in public, they are also human beings first and foremost. Human beings can die, get injured, and be afraid.

They're just here to play a game. It wouldn't be worth it if their lives were threatened because of this, would it?

From the airport onwards, every Dortmund player felt this threat. In order to protect the safety of the entire Dortmund team, the Naples side specially sent a team of police officers to escort them along the way on motorcycles and in police cars.

Wherever the Dortmund bus went, they could feel the gaze of the Naples fans. You couldn't feel any friendliness in the eyes of those people at all.

Some people didn't even bother to hide the fact that they were playing with their daggers at the Dortmund bus.

All of this made the Dortmund players on the bus a little restless.

"I feel like we've arrived on a battlefield?" Mark said to Zhou Yi in a low voice.

"Don't worry, Mark. It's just a bluff." Zhou Yi laughed. He didn't care much about this atmosphere. He didn't live in Naples anyway. He went directly from the airport to the hotel, and from the hotel to the stadium, all by bus. In fact, the chances of being threatened with his life were very low. No matter how famous Naples was for its mafia, it wouldn't do anything irrational for a game.

So all of this was just the mental pressure that the Naples fans were creating for Dortmund.

Smoke bombs. If you really care about this appearance, then you've fallen for the Naples fans' trick.

Although he heard Zhou Yi say this, Mark still shrank back in his chair: "Anyway, I will definitely not go out alone."

"There's nothing to go out for. We'll go back after the game. Did you want to taste the flavor of Italian women?" Zhou Yi joked.

"Don't joke around, how dare I..." Mark said with a sad face, he was really scared.

Zhou Yi patted him on the shoulder: "What's there not to dare? Just call them to the hotel room. If you live with me, I promise I won't disturb you!"

"..." Mark couldn't help but roll his eyes. He was speechless that Zhou Yi could still joke around in this environment.

Suddenly, a deafening roar came from outside the car window: "Napoli will win! Napoli will win!"

This roar alarmed the Dortmund players in the car, and they all turned their heads to the car window, looking in some panic at the large group of blue Naples fans gathered at the hotel entrance.

"Did we go to the wrong place? Isn't this the hotel we're staying at?" a player asked.

"This is the hotel we're staying at..." someone said helplessly.

A group of people looked at those crazy fans and forgot to speak, so the roars of the Naples fans seemed clearer and more piercing.

This was the hotel where the Dortmund players were staying, but now it was packed with Naples fans.

It was only a few steps from the bus to the hotel gate, but the Dortmund players were a little worried, worried that the weak security forces would not be able to stop the crazy Naples fans, and that they would be torn to pieces by the Naples fans who rushed up...

Seeing this situation, Zhou Yi couldn't relax either.

This away game looks...very difficult.

And there would be another similar away game in the group stage—Galatasaray's home stadium. There were too many legends about crazy Istanbul.

From this point of view, this was probably the real reason why this group was called the "group of death"...

※※※

Fortunately, the Naples fans did not break through the security wall, so the Dortmund players successfully moved from the bus to the hotel lobby.

Actually, if you think about it calmly, the Naples fans certainly didn't dare to attack the Dortmund bus and players. If such a malicious incident really happened, this game might not be held at all, and UEFA would directly rule that Dortmund won 3-0.

That would actually be a good thing for Dortmund.

The Naples fans weren't stupid either, and of course they wouldn't do anything that would give people an excuse. Now that the game hadn't started yet, everything they were doing was just to create pressure on Dortmund and cause the Dortmund players to perform abnormally in the upcoming game.

If they wanted to vent their anger, they would have to wait until the game was over, and after Naples lost the game...

So at least for now, the Dortmund players were safe.

It's just that not everyone can think calmly when they are in this atmosphere and environment. People are easily swayed by the atmosphere.

After dinner, assistant coach Buvac suddenly announced that the team would hold a meeting.

Everyone was very surprised by this sudden arrangement: shouldn't tactical meetings be held the night before the game...?

When the players came to the meeting room in confusion, they realized that it was not the Dortmund coaching staff who were holding the meeting for them, but the Naples police!

When everyone saw the police in uniform with guns on their waists, they couldn't help but become nervous.

This was the first time they had encountered this since participating in away games.

"That's right, the Naples Police Department is very concerned about our safety, so they are here to explain some things to everyone..." Sports Director Zorc explained to the puzzled players, with a somewhat... strange expression on his face.

"That's right, gentlemen." The policeman spoke, and surprisingly, he could speak German, although his accent was a bit strange, but it was really German, and most people in Dortmund could understand it.

"I'm sorry to have shown you some unpleasant things, but I represent the Naples Police Department in assuring you that your safety will be guaranteed, and there is no need to doubt this. But I would also like to remind you a little bit, please do not go out casually..."

Zhou Yi looked strangely at Zorc and the representative of the Naples Police Department. He did see the performance of the Naples fans when he came from the airport, but he thought it was a common psychological warfare tactic used by home fans against away teams. It was nothing to him, and he doubted that the fans would really dare to attack the players? He had heard of extreme fans attacking opposing fans.

Back then, when Leeds United and Galatasaray met in the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup, in the first leg, Leeds United went to challenge Galatasaray away. On the streets of Istanbul, Leeds United fans and Galatasaray fans clashed, which eventually led to the deaths of two Leeds United fans. At that time, the incident shocked the world football community and aroused another round of attention to football violence.

But Zhou Yi had never heard of extreme fans attacking players...

So he raised his hand.

The police representative noticed Zhou Yi's actions, so he stopped and looked at Zhou Yi: "Do you have any questions, sir?"

Zhou Yi stood up and said, "Police officer, isn't this a bit of an overreaction? It's just a way for home fans to put pressure on the away team..."

The police representative shook his head repeatedly: "We can't rule out such a situation, sir. But we can't rule out other situations either. We have noticed some actions taken by some fans, which carry very obvious threatening implications. We can't take it lightly. If there is no problem, of course that is good, but what if there is? We can't wait until there is a problem before we try to fix it..."

"What kind of problem could there be?" Grosskreutz asked loudly.

The police representative turned his head to look at him, and then spread his hands and said: "In 1987, Naples participated in the Champions League for the first time in its history. Our opponent in the first round was Real Madrid. In the first leg, we lost to Real Madrid 0:2 away. In the second leg, Real Madrid came to Naples. That year, as soon as they arrived at the airport, some extremists, posing as crew members, insulted Real Madrid players, and even used physical violence..."

The Dortmund players were stunned by the police representative's words.

"At the airport, hundreds of people raised banners, waved their fists, and sang abusive songs. In order to allow Real Madrid's bus to move forward smoothly, our police blocked the roads on both sides, but the Naples fans on both sides of the road still threw various things at the bus. When passing through a village, the local villagers put up a large banner that read 'Welcome, bastards!'"

This policeman was full of white hair and old. He seemed to be a witness to the incident back then, and he spoke as if he had seen it with his own eyes.

"For this reason, the hotel where Real Madrid stayed was completely sealed off. At ten o'clock, hundreds of people were waiting for Real Madrid on the street, and they threw stones, eggs, and wood at Real Madrid players. Some extreme fans hid near the hotel and blew trumpets to affect the rest of Real Madrid players... Finally, when Real Madrid's bus was going to the stadium for the game, we had to find six armored vehicles to surround their bus to avoid being attacked by extreme fans with stones and eggs..."

After the old policeman finished speaking, the meeting room was silent, and even Zhou Yi was so surprised that he couldn't close his mouth.

He was not born in 1987. He really didn't expect football hooligans to be so rampant, and he didn't expect the public security to be so chaotic in Naples, a city of mafia.

"This is not a story, this is a true story." After the old policeman let the Dortmund players digest their shock a little, "Of course, the public security now is better than it was back then, so everyone doesn't need to worry that you will be treated like Real Madrid. First of all, you did not beat us 2:0 in the first leg, and secondly, our crackdown on extreme fans is also very strict now... In short, pay attention to what you should pay attention to, and everyone else doesn't need to be too nervous..."

Although the old policeman finally comforted the Dortmund players, the worries in the hearts of the Dortmund players did not diminish at all until he left, but became even more intense...

After Zhou Yi returned to his room, he specially checked it on the Internet and found that it was true.

He was completely speechless—it seemed that the old policeman was not making up a story to scare them.

※※※

Borussia Dortmund Club announced a lockdown order, prohibiting Borussia Dortmund players from leaving the hotel for half a step, and they must stay in the hotel except for going to the venue to adapt. It was forbidden to leave the hotel, whether alone or in groups. Who knew if there were Naples extreme fans lurking in the dark alleys?

In addition, Borussia Dortmund also issued a safety reminder to Borussia Dortmund fans who went to the away game to watch the game, reminding them to pay attention to safety and try not to appear alone on the streets of Naples, and it was best to travel in groups. And try not to wear Borussia Dortmund jerseys, so as not to anger the Naples fans.

No one wants to happily go abroad to watch a game, but end up leaving themselves there forever.

※※※

The entire Borussia Dortmund team spent the two days of pre-match preparation in strict security and a spreading atmosphere of panic.

But I don't know if it was because the security measures provided by the Naples police were more strict and comprehensive, or because the Naples extreme fans were very disciplined this time...

Although some Naples extreme fans gathered outside the hotel where Borussia Dortmund was staying in the early hours of the morning and sang loudly to disturb the rest of the Borussia Dortmund players. But because of the story of the old policeman before, everyone felt that it was okay to just sing to disturb them, which was better than throwing stones at your window glass, right? In many European cities, most hotels are not the kind of skyscrapers in China, but old buildings on the street, with low floors, often only five or six floors at most. So if extreme fans really want to throw stones, they can completely smash the window glass...

The situation was not as serious as everyone thought, and no accidents happened. The Borussia Dortmund players' bus was not stoned or egged when they went to the stadium to adapt to the venue.

Two hours before the start of the game, the entire Borussia Dortmund team boarded the bus.

The bus drove out of the hotel and headed towards the Stadio San Paolo.

Along the way, the Borussia Dortmund players would see the gathered Naples fans. When they met the Borussia Dortmund bus, they would stand on the side of the road and pay attention to the Borussia Dortmund bus, but it was not the same as when they first arrived in Naples. This time, the fierce expressions were not so common, and middle fingers were also rare.

It seemed that there was no difference from the scenes they had seen when they went to any away game.

The atmosphere in the bus relaxed, and the teammates even joked with each other.

"Did the Naples police forget something?" Zhou Yi said suddenly.

"Forgot something?" someone asked him curiously.

So Zhou Yi pointed to the police car driving in front of them. "They forgot to use armored vehicles!"

Hearing Zhou Yi's words, everyone burst into laughter.

Klopp, who was in front, heard the laughter of the players coming from behind and felt a lot more relaxed.

He was most worried that the team would lose its momentum before the game.

In the previous two days, when the entire Borussia Dortmund team was locked in the hotel, Klopp felt that he could completely see the team's morale plummeting.

He even suspected that Naples was deliberately creating this tense atmosphere to interfere with Borussia Dortmund's preparations...

Now that everyone was able to joke around, it meant that they had returned to normal. As long as Borussia Dortmund could perform normally, even in an away game, Klopp felt that Borussia Dortmund had a very high chance of winning against Naples.

In the next part of the journey, the atmosphere in the bus was much more relaxed.

But this relaxed and pleasant atmosphere came to an abrupt end when the bus approached the Stadio San Paolo.

There was still a distance from the Stadio San Paolo, but as far as the eye could see, there were only Naples fans wearing blue jerseys, and they gathered outside the stadium, filling every space.

The bus carrying the Borussia Dortmund players was like a small boat that plunged into the turbulent blue sea...

The sea was turbulent, and a wave could shatter this small boat into pieces.

Schalke 04, the arch-rival of Borussia Dortmund in the Ruhr derby, has the Veltins Arena (also known as AufSchalke Arena), which once created the highest record for the loudest cheering decibel level of German fans. Schalke 04 fans also wear blue jerseys.

But the Borussia Dortmund players now feel that the pressure from the Veltins Arena is far less than that of the Stadio San Paolo in front of them...

This discovery silenced many people.

The relaxed and pleasant atmosphere disappeared without a trace in an instant...