At the final moment of the match, Zhou Yi was substituted off by Klopp, replaced by Mkhitaryan.

Including injury time, there were only two minutes left in the game. At this point, Dortmund was still leading by two goals, so even substituting their core player wouldn't affect the overall situation.

Furthermore, Dortmund was facing the dual challenge of the league and the Club World Cup, so the stamina of key players, especially core players, had to be maintained. Giving Zhou Yi three more minutes of rest was a good thing.

As Zhou Yi walked off the field, he slowly moved towards the sidelines. This time, no Galatasaray players urged him. Many Galatasaray players were expressionless, their eyes dull—they had resigned themselves to their fate.

They had lost five group stage matches this season, so losing one more wasn't a big deal.

Although they wanted to fight for honor, the enemy was too strong. Even if God stood on their side, it wouldn't help them defeat their opponents. What could mere mortals do?

Zhou Yi left the field, completed the handover with Mkhitaryan, and then raised his hands to applaud the fans in the stands. He wasn't provoking the home team's fans; he was thanking the Dortmund fans who had traveled with the team and stayed in Istanbul for an extra day.

Yesterday's unexpected events not only embarrassed the Dortmund club but also caught the Dortmund fans off guard.

They had planned to watch yesterday's match and then fly home on the evening flight. Hotel rooms were checked out, and tickets were booked. But then the match was postponed.

Despite the difficulty in booking hotels, some Dortmund fans chose to stay in the snowy and icy Istanbul. No one knew how they spent the night, or if they found a warm place to rest.

But during the match this afternoon, the Dortmund fans still appeared in the stands, energetic, waving Dortmund's yellow and black flags, chanting slogans in unison, and singing loudly.

The performance of these Dortmund fans was no less impressive than that of the players on the field.

Although few in number, they were still a beautiful sight in the stands of the Ali Sami Yen Stadium.

So Zhou Yi gave these fans applause.

And they applauded Zhou Yi in return.

"Klopp has used his last substitution of the match, replacing Zhou Yi with Mkhitaryan. This is a like-for-like substitution. Klopp hasn't given up on the midfield. Of course, you could also say that even if Klopp wanted to substitute Zhou Yi for a defender to strengthen the defense, he couldn't, because he doesn't have any more defensive substitutes available..." He Ping said. "Zhou Yi's performance in this match was certainly outstanding. In yesterday's match, Mark's goal was assisted by Zhou Yi, helping Dortmund take the lead. In today's rescheduled match, facing a home team that scored first and was aggressively pressing, Zhou Yi turned the tide, using a goal to equalize the score and stabilize morale, laying the foundation for Dortmund's third goal..."

When it came to praising Zhou Yi, He Ping was never stingy. He wasn't worried that fans would watch the match and then criticize him for being biased. On the contrary, they all wanted to hear him praise Zhou Yi. Without any psychological baggage, He Ping was completely free to express his emotions, and he could "blow" Zhou Yi sky-high every time.

Marcel Reif was also praising Zhou Yi. The television broadcast gave Zhou Yi a close-up shot, and Marcel Reif used this close-up shot to deliver his "perfect score composition": "When the match was forced to be postponed due to a sudden heavy snow and hailstorm, I believe many people were overshadowed, right? No one knew what this meant for Dortmund, who had traveled a long distance. Before the rescheduled match even started, the atmosphere at the Ali Sami Yen Stadium was so frenzied that it seemed to melt the ice and snow. Galatasaray's fierce counterattack and goal after the start of the match also confirmed everyone's worries about Dortmund step by step..."

"...But at this time, Dortmund's core player Zhou Yi once again stood up as a matter of course. He used a clean and decisive goal to dispel everyone's doubts and worries, and Dortmund was brought back on track by him! Ladies and gentlemen, I must say that this is everything that a core player can do. When the team is playing smoothly, it seems like anyone can be missing. But once the team encounters difficulties, it is always the most responsible and capable person who stands up to turn the tide! Zhou Yi is such a person! He is Dortmund's core and the pillar of this team! In my opinion, Dortmund's success in recent years is most dependent on two people. One is their coach, Jürgen Klopp, and the other is Zhou Yi! I even think Zhou Yi's importance is even greater. Without him, even Klopp would find it difficult to bring this young team to such heights..."

When it comes to "Zhou-praising," He Ping is actually willing to admit defeat to Marcel Reif...

In the television footage, Klopp took a heavy sports coat from another coach, greeted Zhou Yi, and then put the coat on him.

Such things are usually done by ordinary coaches in the team, and the head coach is not responsible.

From Klopp's action, it can also be seen how much he values ​​and likes this player he discovered from the youth team competition.

Of course, Zhou Yi absolutely deserves such treatment.

So, facing Klopp's "preferential treatment," Zhou Yi was not flustered at all and accepted it calmly.

※※※

After praising Zhou Yi, He Ping didn't forget to cheer for another Chinese player in Dortmund's lineup in this match: "Zhou Yi is off the field, Dortmund has used the last substitution spot, which also means that Yan Min will play the entire match. This is still a first for him—no matter how well he performed before, whether in the league or the Champions League, Yan Min was either substituted on midway or substituted off early after starting... And now, letting him stay on the field to play the entire match may also be Klopp's trust and reward for him... Yan Min's performance in this match is actually also very good, although not as good as his performances against Arsenal and Bayern Munich, but it is also very good. Zhou Yi's goal had his wall pass, and Reus's goal also had his accurate cross..."

Looking at the TV screen, He Ping was really happy.

In a Champions League group match, two Chinese players started, one was the core player, and the other played the entire match, and both had outstanding performances.

Everyone could guess Zhou Yi's excellent performance, and Yan Min's progress was truly gratifying. Watching this young man, who improves almost every game, made Yan Min even more looking forward to next year's World Cup in Brazil.

At that time, what kind of performance will the national team composed of these players have in the World Cup?

Just thinking about it makes people excited...

※※※

Not long after Zhou Yi left the field, the referee finally blew the whistle to end the match.

"The game is over! Dortmund defeated Galatasaray 3:1 on the road, winning a key battle to qualify for the group stage, and ultimately breaking out of this so-called 'strongest group of death in history' as the top seed!" Marcel Reif announced excitedly.

"The curtain on the group of death has finally fallen. Dortmund, Arsenal, and Napoli all have twelve points, but in the end, Napoli was eliminated because of their disadvantage in the head-to-head record. Napoli also set a Champions League record in being eliminated—since the Champions League was reformed, Napoli is the team with the highest points to be eliminated in the group stage. Prior to this, the record belonged to Werder Bremen in the 2006-2007 season, who had ten points in the Champions League group stage that season, but ultimately missed the knockout stage and ranked third in the group. At that time, Chelsea took first place in the group with thirteen points, and Barcelona took second place with eleven points..."

"...Actually, the matter of being eliminated after getting twelve points in the group stage didn't just happen to Napoli. If we look at it before the Champions League reform, then Napoli can also find a team with similar experiences, that is Paris Saint-Germain. In the 1997-1998 season, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich both had twelve points, but they could only be eliminated because they didn't have an advantage in the head-to-head record. However, at that time, there were only six groups in the Champions League group stage, and the first place in each group directly qualified, and then the two second-place teams with the best results qualified—as a result, when Paris Saint-Germain was compared among all the second-place teams, they were not the best performing... Among the six second-place teams, Leverkusen's thirteen points were the best, while Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain both had twelve points, but Juventus had seven goal differences, while Paris Saint-Germain only had three, and they could only be eliminated regretfully..."

"Of course, if the Champions League had implemented the current rules at that time, then Paris Saint-Germain would also have qualified for the group stage without any suspense. So it's not wrong to say that Napoli is the most tragic group stage eliminator in history... They got twelve points in this group, but they couldn't even get into the top two in the group, which is really tragic enough."

"With this away victory, Dortmund not only secured their place in the group stage but also jumped to the top of the group, surpassing Arsenal, who also had twelve points, which laid a good foundation for them in the knockout stage draw. The defending champion's Champions League group stage journey this season has actually been very bumpy. They lost the first group stage match away from home and lost their core player Zhou Yi. After that, the team's performance fluctuated. At one point, even qualifying for the group stage became a 'moon in the water.' At this time, Zhou Yi's timely return was like a shot in the arm for Dortmund. Subsequently, Dortmund gradually got back on track. Judging from the performance in the first half of the season, Zhou Yi is the person Dortmund cannot be without..."

Amid the commentators' praise, Zhou Yi was embracing Yan Min to celebrate the victory and qualifying for the group stage.

There were so many twists and turns in this match, and it was not easy to win, so it was worth celebrating at the end of the match.

Yan Min's performance in this match was also very good, playing the entire match.

The scene of two Chinese players embracing and celebrating the victory was put into a close-up shot on the television broadcast.

Seeing this scene, Marcel Reif couldn't help but say: "Two outstanding Chinese players, and Sun Pan, the goalkeeper at Chelsea, He Ying, the forward at Paris Saint-Germain, Yang Muge at Schalke 04... I wonder what surprises the Chinese team composed of these excellent young players can give us in next year's World Cup..."

A non-Chinese commentator is so interested in the Chinese team. This is the credit of those Chinese players who play in the top European leagues.

And this is something that many Chinese domestic fans can't even imagine—it must sound like a delusional joke to them that a foreign commentator would pay so much attention to the Chinese national team...

Before Zhou Yi and the others appeared, it was indeed a delusional joke.