Chapter 75 Crushing Defeat

Although they had used up all three substitution slots by the seventieth minute, the situation on the field hadn't changed.

Inter Milan was still struggling to score, powerless against Borussia Dortmund's controlled midfield.

Then, in the eightieth minute, Dortmund scored again!

"Piszczek!! What a beautiful long shot! Goal! Borussia Dortmund leads Inter Milan by three goals at home! They've definitely won this game!" Marcel Reif shouted, pumping his fist excitedly.

This was Borussia Dortmund's first Champions League appearance in seven seasons, and the team, fueled by young players, was performing far beyond expectations.

"Inter Milan's performance is truly shocking. In the last game, they were pegged back by Dortmund at the last minute, and you could say they underestimated their opponents. But what's the explanation for this game? Are they still underestimating them? I don't think they're that stupid, are they?" The Italian commentator was very dissatisfied with Inter Milan's performance. As the defending champions, they represented the image of Italian football, but they were playing like this?

After four group stage matches, Inter Milan had one win, two draws, and one loss, and their chances of advancing from the group were looking slim.

The defending champions' facade crumbled a little too quickly, didn't it?

Dortmund's players were celebrating their goal with gusto, while Inter Milan's players looked blank and dejected.

A stark contrast.

※※※

With a three-goal lead, Klopp could finally breathe a sigh of relief. He could also see that Inter Milan had been stunned by Dortmund and had lost their fighting spirit.

At this point, he could bring Zhou Yi off early to rest.

So, in the eighty-fourth minute, Zhou Yi was replaced by Kehl.

Borussia Dortmund configured two defensive midfielders in midfield to ensure they could hold onto their three-goal lead in the final few minutes—after the last game against Inter Milan, Klopp was being very cautious. Inter Milan could be pegged back after leading by four goals, so he couldn't afford to be complacent, even with a three-goal lead...

But Klopp overestimated Inter Milan.

Until the end of the game, Inter Milan was unable to threaten Borussia Dortmund's goal.

In the end, they suffered a 0-3 defeat away from home.

This result surprised many people.

What happened to giving it your all to win?

What happened to being confident that as long as you didn't underestimate Dortmund, you'd be fine?

After the game, Zhou Yi said in the mixed zone, "They said before the game that as long as they didn't underestimate us, they could win… Isn't that the biggest underestimation of all? Which team dares to say so confidently that as long as they play well, they're guaranteed to win?"

Faced with Zhou Yi's questioning, the reporters were speechless.

It seemed… that was true!

While constantly repeating not to underestimate their opponents, they still ended up doing exactly that…

So, thinking about it that way, Inter Milan deserved to lose this game!

Inter Milan returned home with a defeat and plunged into deeper internal strife, with coach Benitez once again facing a crisis of being sacked.

But none of this was Zhou Yi's concern. He should be concerned about which opponents Borussia Dortmund would face in the knockout stages.

Because Valencia surprisingly lost to Twente at home, they now had only one point after four games, ranking at the bottom of the group. Twente, on the other hand, had one win, two draws, and one loss, with five points. Inter Milan also had two draws and one loss, with five points, but they had a slight advantage in goal difference, so they were ranked second, while Twente was ranked third.

Borussia Dortmund remained unbeaten with three wins and one draw, with ten points, ranking first.

With two group stage matches remaining, Borussia Dortmund had already secured a spot in the knockout stages.

And they had already secured first place in the group!

This was a result that many people would have thought impossible after the group stage draw.

A team from the fourth tier had secured first place in the group with two games to spare and advanced from the group!

Borussia Dortmund's performance had slapped in the face everyone who had doubted their performance in the Champions League!

※※※

After the game, the entire city of Dortmund celebrated their advancement to the Champions League Round of 16 with two games to spare.

They could now sit back and watch the other teams fight it out in the next two group stage matches.

The fans didn't expect the team to perform so well in their first return to the Champions League in seven years.

Every pub was praising Klopp, praising Zhou Yi, praising Götze, praising Marc… praising every Borussia Dortmund player.

Even Cortana had been dragged to the bar by Hanna to celebrate.

"I know Zhou Yi! I have his phone number, who wants to meet him?!" Hanna shouted in the crowd, waving her glass after having too much to drink. "He's still single—!"

Cortana quickly pulled her aside, "Hanna!"

Her tone was stern.

"What's wrong, Cortana…" Hanna slurred, her eyes glazed over.

"You can't do that!"

"Why not? I'm introducing some pretty and lovely girls to Zhou Yi, what's wrong with that?" Hanna laughed.

"You've had too much to drink. Zhou Yi doesn't like you introducing women to him."

"How do you know he doesn't want to? Sigh, Chinese boys are all secretly horny, they want it very much in their hearts, but they're too embarrassed to say it…"

"Zhou Yi isn't like that," Cortana said seriously.

Hanna stared at Cortana.

"What?"

"You seem to know him very well, Cortana?"

"Having lived with him for so long, how could I not know him?"

"I've also lived with him for so long, but I think you know him better than I do…"

"You're mostly out all night."

"Okay… but why are you suddenly thinking about that kid? Aren't you always annoyed with him? So why do you care so much about whether he wants it or not, huh? Cortana?" Hanna narrowed her eyes, looking at her friend with a teasing expression.

"…" Cortana was speechless.

At this moment, three flamboyantly dressed and sexy women suddenly approached, saying to Hanna, "Hi, do you really know Zhou Yi and have his phone number?"

Hanna turned to look at the three women and was about to open her mouth when she burped, the smell causing the three women who frequented nightclubs to frown.

But Hanna seemed completely oblivious to the disgust on their faces, narrowing her eyes and grinning as she said, "I was just kidding! Ha! I also want to meet that handsome guy! Does anyone have his phone number?"

"Tch!" The three women didn't hide their disappointment and turned to leave, no longer bothering with the obviously drunk Hanna.

After they left, Hanna turned back to look at Cortana and smiled.

That smile didn't seem like a simple smile from someone who had drunk too much and couldn't control their facial muscles.

It had a deeper meaning.

Cortana rolled her eyes at her, turned her head, and ignored her.

※※※

Although they had played a game against Inter Milan in the middle of the week, Klopp didn't rotate the squad for the weekend's away game against Hannover 96.

Because the game against Inter Milan hadn't taken much out of Borussia Dortmund, and the players were in excellent condition, both in terms of form and fitness, what was the point of rotating in such a situation?

Borussia Dortmund, playing with their full strength, also easily defeated Hannover 96 4-0 away from home.

Marc and Lewandowski each scored a goal, and Kagawa Shinji also got on the scoresheet. Zhou Yi also scored a goal.

In the twelfth round of the league, Borussia Dortmund hosted Hamburg at home.

Also playing with their full strength, Borussia Dortmund defeated Hamburg 2-0 at home, with Marc scoring twice and Zhou Yi providing a brilliant assist.

Mainz had lost both this round and the previous round of the league, and including their loss to Borussia Dortmund, Tuchel's team had now lost three league games in a row.

After being pulled down from the top of the league table by Borussia Dortmund, Mainz seemed to have lost the magic they had at the beginning of the league season…

What replaced them was Borussia Dortmund's runaway lead in the league standings—after twelve rounds of league games, Borussia Dortmund was ranked first in the standings, with thirty-one points.

Bayer Leverkusen, ranked second, had twenty-four points, and Mainz, ranked third, also had twenty-four points.

A difference of seven points.

And what about Borussia Dortmund's old rival, Bayern Munich?

They were ranked sixth, with nineteen points…

Van Gaal was also facing a crisis of being sacked.

In the thirteenth round of the league, Borussia Dortmund would play Freiburg away from home.

Although there was still a Champions League group stage match coming up, Klopp still didn't rotate the squad for this game, because they had already advanced from the Champions League group stage, so what was the point of putting more effort into the Champions League group stage?

Now they should seize the opportunity and time to expand their advantage in the league standings to prepare for the Champions League knockout stages in February.

In the end, Borussia Dortmund defeated Freiburg 2-1.

Mainz also relied on a 3-2 away win to stop their losing streak, thwarting Borussia Dortmund's plan to further expand their advantage in the standings.

In the Champions League group stage match in the middle of the week, Borussia Dortmund hosted Valencia, and Klopp still didn't rotate the squad and played with their full strength.

The high-spirited Borussia Dortmund once again played a beautiful game at home, defeating Valencia 3-0!

Back in the league, in the fourteenth round, Borussia Dortmund defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach 4-1 at home, and Mainz also defeated Nuremberg 3-0. The two teams were still seven points apart in the standings.

With three rounds of the league remaining in the first half of the season, Borussia Dortmund had a seven-point lead, and the halfway championship before the winter break was just around the corner.

The German media exclaimed that Klopp's team was unstoppable!