Chapter 1 The Beginning

During halftime, Borussia Dortmund didn't make many adjustments. Klopp only praised his players' performance without giving any other instructions.

In his opinion, Borussia Dortmund's performance in the first half was excellent overall. Although they had relaxed a bit later on, Zenit Saint Petersburg couldn't really threaten Borussia Dortmund's goal, so he didn't feel the need to remind them of anything.

At the start of the second half, neither side made any substitutions.

Borussia Dortmund still had the upper hand, and Zenit Saint Petersburg didn't seem to have any ability to fight back.

But in the fifty-seventh minute, an accident occurred on the field—Hulk received a挑传 (tiao chuan, lofted pass) in the penalty area and chose to chip the ball!

The football went over Borussia Dortmund's goalkeeper Weidenfeller and headed towards the goal, looking like it was about to fly in.

Schmelzer, who had retreated to the goal line, headed the football out.

"Oh! That was close! Schmelzer clears the ball off the line..."

Marcel Reif didn't have time to finish his sentence when another dangerous situation occurred in front of Borussia Dortmund's goal—Schmelzer's headed clearance didn't send the football far enough. The football still fell under the control of a Zenit Saint Petersburg player. Argentine striker Rondón volleyed the flying football towards the goal from the left!

But the football hit the post and bounced back!

This time, Zenit Saint Petersburg midfielder Shatov rushed up and volleyed a shot with his left foot!

This time, there were no more accidents. The football flew into the goal along the right post!

"Aaaaah! Zenit Saint Petersburg pulls one back! After a chaotic scramble in front of Borussia Dortmund's goal, Zenit Saint Petersburg finally scores! The score is now 1-2. Although Zenit Saint Petersburg is still behind, they are only one goal behind! The suspense of the game is back!"

A huge cheer erupted in Zenit Saint Petersburg's home stadium, and Zenit Saint Petersburg's fans were revived by this goal.

"Oh dear, Borussia Dortmund has become a little complacent. Their defense has a problem, allowing Zenit Saint Petersburg's players to complete three shots in a row..." He Ping sighed.

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For the team that concedes a goal, it's a frustrating thing that greatly affects morale.

Zhou Yi shouted at his teammates and made gestures after the goal was conceded.

He raised and lowered his hands continuously, signaling everyone to stay calm and not panic.

They were still in the lead, so there was no need to panic.

Although Zhou Yi didn't wear the captain's armband, everyone regarded him as their leader and core. At this time, after seeing Zhou Yi make such a gesture, they felt more at ease.

After the game restarted, Borussia Dortmund, who had conceded a goal, kicked off and launched a fierce attack on Zenit Saint Petersburg's goal.

Zenit Saint Petersburg originally wanted to take advantage of the momentum of just scoring a goal and make persistent efforts to equalize the score in a short period of time.

But not long after the game started, they realized that they couldn't attack at all.

Because Borussia Dortmund's attack was too fierce...

They were quickly suppressed back by Borussia Dortmund's attack, shrinking back to defend in front of the penalty area.

But even so, every Zenit Saint Petersburg player involved in the defense still felt enormous pressure.

Four minutes after Zenit Saint Petersburg scored, Borussia Dortmund launched an effective attack.

Zhou Yi made a direct pass in front of the penalty area, passing the football to advancing full-back Piszczek.

Piszczek received the ball on the right side of the penalty area and passed it back directly to Mark Wagner.

Facing the ball from Piszczek, Mark shot directly!

The football rolled along the grass into the lower left corner of the goal. Zenit Saint Petersburg's goalkeeper Lodygin was powerless against Mark's shot. Although he made a save, it was just a formality...

"Goal! Borussia Dortmund scores again! With Zenit Saint Petersburg just pulling one back, Borussia Dortmund has widened the score difference between the two sides to two goals again!" He Ping said happily.

Of course, he hoped that Zhou Yi and Yan Min could go further in the Champions League.

In the Champions League knockout match last week, He Ying's Paris Saint-Germain defeated Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 away. He Ying scored a goal in the game and performed well.

In this week's Champions League, in addition to Zhou Yi and Yan Min, there will be two other Chinese players making their appearances, namely Yang Muge at Schalke 04, who will play against Real Madrid at home, and Sun Pan at Chelsea, who will challenge Juventus away.

The current Champions League match day has become a carnival for Chinese fans.

In the past, they could only be bystanders, but now they can be in it and fully involved, not only cheering for the teams they support, but also cheering for Chinese players.

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The situation of quickly regaining a two-goal lead did not allow Borussia Dortmund to relax for too long.

Because in the sixty-eighth minute, an accident occurred on the field.

Zenit Saint Petersburg midfielder Faizulin broke through with the ball, and after entering the penalty area, he encountered Piszczek's interception. The two had physical contact, and then Faizulin fell to the ground and lost control of the ball.

A huge boo rang out in Petrovsky Stadium.

The referee also blew his whistle and pointed to the penalty spot—this meant a penalty!

"Penalty?!" He Ping was taken aback. "Oh dear..."

Piszczek did trip Faizulin, there was nothing to say. He Ping was worried about Borussia Dortmund making such a mistake in a good situation—they were originally leading by two goals, but now they were given a penalty. If the opponent scores, they will only be leading by one goal...

If it hadn't been for Mark's goal just now, Borussia Dortmund would have been tied!

There was no problem with Piszczek's foul. No matter how unwilling Borussia Dortmund's players were, they had to accept this result.

And not only was a penalty awarded, but Piszczek also received a yellow card for this foul, which buried hidden dangers for Borussia Dortmund's Champions League knockout stage—the defense was short-handed. If Piszczek is suspended again due to accumulated yellow cards, it may become a watershed for Borussia Dortmund's victory or defeat at a crucial time.

On the Zenit Saint Petersburg side, Hulk stepped up to take the penalty.

Under the gaze of tens of thousands of Zenit Saint Petersburg fans, he shot hard with his left foot, and the football flew into the upper right corner of the goal.

"Hulk!! The penalty goes in! He pulls one back for Zenit Saint Petersburg! Now Zenit Saint Petersburg is only one goal behind! There is still a chance!" The commentator of Russian TV was very excited.

Marcel Reif shook his head: "Even if Hulk's penalty changes the score to 2:3, it cannot change the fact that Borussia Dortmund has three away goals. Even if Zenit Saint Petersburg equalizes the score in the end, Borussia Dortmund still has a huge advantage."

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Hulk's goal gave Zenit Saint Petersburg hope. Regardless of Borussia Dortmund's three away goals, they must first equalize the score before they are qualified to think more.

But soon, Borussia Dortmund gave them a blow.

In the seventy-first minute, only three minutes after Zenit Saint Petersburg scored a penalty, Borussia Dortmund equalized the score!

At that time, after Reus intercepted the ball in the frontcourt, he distributed the football to the right. Mark shot diagonally from twelve meters in front of the goal, and the football flew into the far corner, 4:2!

"Mark Wagner—!" Marcel Reif shouted excitedly, "Borussia Dortmund responded in three minutes! Mark's goal helped them re-establish a two-goal lead! At the same time, Borussia Dortmund also has a four-goal away advantage. It can be said that Borussia Dortmund has ended the suspense of the two-round match one round in advance!"

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In the eighty-fourth minute, Zhou Yi was replaced by Mkhitaryan by Klopp.

After securing the victory, letting Zhou Yi rest as much as possible is Klopp's current strategy. As long as he is basically sure of winning the game, no matter what the game is, he will replace Zhou Yi early.

Zhou Yi had no dissatisfaction. He also knew the team's current problems. Many players were injured, resulting in a sharp reduction in the thickness of the bench. The previous rotation system is not easy to implement now. As the core, he must bear more responsibility and pressure than before. In this way, in order to ensure that he is not injured, replacing himself early is also for the purpose of protection.

The reason why Klopp chose to replace him at this time, instead of replacing him immediately after Mark scored, was also to observe further to see if Zenit Saint Petersburg still had the strength to fight back.

Judging from the game in the past few minutes, Zenit Saint Petersburg also seemed to know that their defeat was set and lost their fighting spirit.

At their home stadium, they were two goals behind and allowed the opponent to score four away goals. No matter how they calculated, they were not far from being eliminated.

After Zhou Yi was replaced, Zenit Saint Petersburg did not take the opportunity to score another goal. They didn't even have the desire to attack.

Borussia Dortmund was also happy to do so. They also didn't want to attack anymore. Four away goals were enough.

In this way, the final moments of the game came to an end under a certain tacit understanding between the two sides.

The referee blew the whistle for the end of the game in the ninety-second minute, even though there was still one minute left before the real stoppage time. But looking at the performance and state of the two teams, that last minute of stoppage time was meaningless...