Chapter 1 Adjustments and Bad Luck

After both sides made adjustments, the second half began.

However, bad luck was quietly approaching for Dortmund.

Just one minute into the second half, Sven Bender sprained his ankle while defending Julian Draxler's breakthrough, rendering him unable to continue the game and forcing him to be substituted.

"Sven Bender is injured! This is really bad luck! Losing such an important defensive midfielder in such an important game is equivalent to Dortmund losing its midfield screen! And there is an even more serious consequence—in three days, Dortmund will travel to Chelsea for the second leg of the Champions League semi-final, but looking at Sven Bender's condition, he probably won't be able to participate in that important game, and it's unknown how long he will be out... This is really a double blow!"

Marcel Reif's words made the Dortmund fans in front of the TV worried. It was indeed the case. When they saw Sven Bender injured, many fans were not thinking about the result of this game, but about the upcoming Champions League semi-final!

Klopp cursed a German swear word on the sidelines. In the next Champions League semi-final, starting center back Hummels would be suspended due to a red card, and he himself had been sent off, unable to direct from the sidelines. Now, Sven Bender was also injured... How would they play in the away game?

Although Klopp was worried about the future, the most urgent thing now was to make a substitution.

After Sven Bender's injury, there were actually many midfielders on the bench, but they included some purely attacking players. After Sven Bender's injury, the consideration should be to replace him with a defensive player, not a purely attacking player, otherwise Dortmund's midfield would really have no screen at all.

After narrowing down the scope of selection, there were only two people to choose from, captain Sebastian Kehl and Gündoğan.

Although Kehl was the team's captain, he had been plagued by injuries this season and had only played in twenty games. Most of them were as substitutes.

Gündoğan was both offensive and defensive, which made him higher in the pecking order than Kehl. When midfield control was needed, he would start alongside Zhou Yi, and when defense was needed, he would give way to Sven Bender. In terms of defensive ability alone, he was actually not as good as Sven Bender.

These two people had their own advantages and disadvantages. Kehl was better at defense than Gündoğan, especially his rich experience was a great advantage.

In the end, Klopp made a decision and let Kehl play.

He valued Kehl's experience and defensive ability.

Although Kehl's playing time had been further compressed this season due to Gündoğan's arrival, Klopp was still willing to believe that Kehl was an important member of the team.

As for Gündoğan... another tough battle was waiting for him next, so he'd better get plenty of rest. After Sven Bender's injury, he would definitely not be able to play in the next Champions League semi-final away game against Chelsea. At that time, Gündoğan and Zhou Yi would have to partner in the midfield, and he would be responsible for more defensive tasks, which was also a heavy responsibility for Gündoğan.

※※※

For Schalke 04, Sven Bender's injury was simply a godsend. Dortmund's most defensively capable player was down, and although they had brought on Kehl, Kehl hadn't played many serious games this season. Even if he played, how good could his condition be?

Schalke 04 didn't take Kehl seriously at all.

But when Kehl came on the field, his performance quickly surprised people.

In fact, not only did the Schalke 04 players not take Kehl seriously, but even commentator Marcel Reif was a little worried about Kehl, thinking that Kehl mostly came on as a substitute in most games, his playing time was extremely limited, and he didn't know what his condition was like at all. In such an important game, could he withstand the pressure from the opponent?

But Kehl not only withstood it, but also did a good job.

His physical condition was not as good as before, but he still had rich experience.

He was always able to appear in the right position to make key defensive moves.

In addition, with Zhou Yi's positioning in the defense, the two cooperated surprisingly well, dissolving many of Schalke 04's attacks.

Moreover, Kehl's role was not only reflected in defense.

In Zhou Yi's view, Kehl's appearance reduced his defensive tasks, but if that was all, the captain's value would not be brought into full play.

Because after that goal in the first half, Schalke 04's defense paid more attention to the defense of Dortmund's attacking players. Götze, Lewandowski, Kagawa Shinji and others were now tightly defended and had no chance.

The score was 1:1, which was not an unacceptable result for Dortmund.

But Zhou Yi felt that if they could win, of course they still had to win.

It was just that now Dortmund's attacking players were all marked to death, so who could break the deadlock?

Of course, it wasn't himself, because Yang Muge was following him closely, and he had no chance to shoot in front of the goal. So he had to find another way.

At this time, Zhou Yi's eyes turned to Captain Kehl.

Everyone thought that with Kehl's current ability, defense would take up all of his energy, and it was almost impossible for him to contribute to the offense.

But Zhou Yi didn't think so. The more impossible things everyone thought were, the more likely they were in his opinion.

Thinking of this, he took advantage of a dead ball opportunity to get close to the captain and said to him with his mouth covered, "Captain, if you have a chance later, move forward."

Kehl was surprised by Zhou Yi's statement—the coach asked him to come on to defend, not to rush up and participate in the attack.

"No one will think that you will suddenly participate in the attack, so this is an opportunity, Captain," Zhou Yi explained.

Kehl thought for a while. He was also an experienced player, so he naturally understood what Zhou Yi meant. Zhou Yi wanted to take a risk, but if this risk was successful, it would reap huge rewards—leading Schalke 04 away, strategically putting Dortmund at an advantage.

As Dortmund's captain, he certainly hoped that the team could defeat their arch-rival Schalke 04.

If he could really help the team win, this risk was completely worth taking.

Thinking of this, Kehl nodded to Zhou Yi: "Okay, I will choose the right time to move forward."

Zhou Yi smiled.

The right time was very important, after all, he still had to shoulder the defensive task.

So the next task was to find the right time. This was not only Kehl's job, but also Zhou Yi's job.

Several times, Kehl tried to move forward, but Zhou Yi did not pass the ball to him, because in Zhou Yi's opinion, those opportunities were not particularly good and could not play a decisive role.

This game was the Revierderby, and the opponents would pay great attention to it. If your attack failed, it might arouse the other party's vigilance. Zhou Yi didn't want to startle the snake, he hoped to wait for an opportunity similar to the one in the first half when he assisted Götze.

Kehl didn't complain about Zhou Yi making him run in vain again and again. He believed that this young man would definitely make the right choice, and all he had to do was to be in that position after he made the right choice.

Until the sixtieth minute, Kehl's several forward runs did not attract the attention of Schalke 04 players. After all, he just ran up there and didn't receive the ball. This kind of performance was very normal and could not attract the attention of defensive players.

In the eyes of outsiders, Kehl's every forward run was in vain, but Zhou Yi didn't think so.

Because Kehl's first few forward runs proved that no one on Schalke 04's defense would really pay attention to him.

Now, as long as there was another suitable opportunity...

In the sixty-third minute, such an opportunity came.

At that time, Dortmund launched an attack, and all the attacking players rushed to the Schalke 04 penalty area. Among these people, Kehl, who was also moving forward, seemed very inconspicuous.

The ball was passed to Zhou Yi's feet, and Yang Muge was still sticking to him, and when Zhou Yi received the ball, he bumped into him without hesitation.

Although he and Zhou Yi were good friends, he had never been polite to Zhou Yi on the court.

Zhou Yi was not surprised by Yang Muge's defense. In fact, he had been on guard for a long time—he had been fighting with Yang Muge in this game, and even earlier, in the virtual space, he had played against Yang Muge dozens of times and knew how Yang Muge would deal with him.

In this game, Yang Muge's impolite defensive style did cause trouble for Zhou Yi. But now Zhou Yi hoped that Yang Muge would continue to do so.

Because that was the only way he could get rid of Yang Muge!

Yang Muge rushed up and bumped into Zhou Yi. After Zhou Yi received the ball, he didn't stop, but pulled the ball behind him, and at the same time turned around on the spot, turning in the opposite direction to Yang Muge's pounce, just brushing past Yang Muge!

When Yang Muge rushed up, he didn't expect that Zhou Yi didn't pass the ball this time, but chose to break through!

He watched helplessly as Zhou Yi brushed past his shoulder, but he was powerless. The inertia made him unable to do anything.

"Zhou Yi! A beautiful turn! Oh oh oh! He passed Yang Muge!" Duan Xin exclaimed.

The boos that rang out in the Veltins-Arena were almost deafening.

Yang Muge was finally able to swing his arms. He wanted to turn around and pull him, but he didn't catch anything. He could only watch Zhou Yi turn around, put the ball forward, and rush towards the Schalke 04 penalty area!