Chapter 40 Mainz's Weakness

The second half had just begun when Mainz made a substitution.

They replaced midfielder Nicolai Müller with Marcel Risse, intending to strengthen their control in midfield.

In the first half, Mainz's midfield had been completely suppressed by Borussia Dortmund.

The reason was simple: Dortmund had Zhou Yi in midfield, while Mainz did not.

Zhou Yi was indeed formidable in controlling the midfield. He used simple passes, positioning, and support to give Dortmund the upper hand.

However, this adjustment didn't yield any results. Dortmund still firmly controlled the game.

In the sixty-seventh minute, Zhou Yi directly assisted Marco Reus, who scored a goal, changing the score to 2-0!

"Reus! He scores again! An assist from Zhou Yi! Borussia Dortmund leads Mainz by two goals away from home! What was supposed to be a highly anticipated top-of-the-table clash has turned into a one-sided affair, both in terms of the game and the result…"

This was indeed a bit unexpected.

Mainz, who had been in excellent form and riding high, suddenly lost their winning touch when facing Borussia Dortmund.

They were completely overpowered by Dortmund.

Dortmund had the advantage in possession, shots on goal, and even corner kicks. Even in terms of fouls, Dortmund had more than Mainz.

What did more fouls indicate?

It showed that Dortmund, playing away from home, had a greater desire to win than Mainz, who were playing at home. They were more aggressive in the game, and to seize control of the match, they naturally had to commit more fouls. Otherwise, how could Mainz have easily relinquished possession?

Finally, André Schürrle was substituted on after Dortmund scored their second goal.

Schürrle was very active after coming on, and Mainz's attack finally showed some improvement.

They even began to threaten Dortmund's goal.

"Schürrle! A beautiful shot! It almost went in!"

The cheers of Mainz fans finally echoed in the Coface Arena.

Seeing this, Klopp, who had originally planned to substitute Zhou Yi, changed his mind at the last minute.

Although Dortmund was scheduled to play Inter Milan at home in three days, substituting Zhou Yi now would inevitably reduce their control in midfield. If Mainz seized the opportunity to score two goals, wouldn't all their efforts be in vain?

As for the possibility of Dortmund conceding a goal after Zhou Yi was substituted, there had been such instances before.

Both the match against Valencia and the match against Twente saw the opponents score after Zhou Yi was taken off.

The reason for conceding was the same: the loss of control in midfield.

So, Klopp was now hesitant to substitute Zhou Yi, fearing the decline in midfield control.

Although this would increase Zhou Yi's physical exertion, Klopp believed that Zhou Yi could definitely play the entire game without any problems, considering that he had rested Zhou Yi in the German Cup three days ago at the cost of being eliminated early.

So he abandoned his substitution plan and sent substitute Julian Voll back to the bench.

Facts proved that Klopp's decision to keep Zhou Yi on the field was correct.

Facing the increasingly fast-paced Mainz, Dortmund's midfield, led by Zhou Yi, tried to slow down the game and disrupt Mainz's rhythm.

A slower pace was conducive to Dortmund's ball control. As long as the ball was controlled by Dortmund players, Mainz's counterattack could not be launched.

Mainz, on the other hand, were so eager to score that they pressed too hard and were almost hit by a Dortmund counterattack…

After that, Mainz became much more disciplined.

Schürrle possessed a wealth of skills, but he had no opportunity to use them.

In the end, Borussia Dortmund defeated Mainz 2-0 away from home, ending this top-of-the-table clash with a victory.

With this win, Dortmund squeezed past Mainz with a one-point advantage and took the top spot in the league.

After ten rounds of the league, Dortmund had eight wins, one draw, and one loss, scoring twenty-three goals and conceding eight, with a net goal difference of fifteen, accumulating twenty-five points, ranking first.

Mainz, on the other hand, ranked second with twenty-four points.

Zhou Yi himself seemed to have solidified his reputation as Mainz's nemesis.

※※※

After the match against Mainz, the entire Borussia Dortmund team rushed back to their base camp and began preparing for the fourth Champions League group stage match against Inter Milan.

This match was crucial and difficult.

In the first leg, Inter Milan had clearly underestimated their opponents at home. In this match, they would definitely not underestimate them again. Therefore, for Dortmund, it would be a tough battle.

But Zhou Yi didn't see it that way. In an interview, he said, "But we won't be down a man within the first ten minutes of the match, and concede four goals in the first half, right? The probability of that happening again is just too low. Besides, this time it's our home game, so I think this is the tough battle for Inter Milan."

He said this with great confidence.

This inevitably made people worry whether Zhou Yi was becoming arrogant after his performance in the previous match at the San Siro…

But in fact, Zhou Yi had his reasons for saying this.

On the one hand, he had played more than a dozen matches against the virtual Inter Milan in the virtual world. On the other hand, if you calmly analyze it, you can understand why Zhou Yi was right.

Any team will inevitably encounter the problem of players losing their desire to win and their motivation after achieving success.

This is human nature—I have worked hard for a season, won all the championships I should have won, so why should I work so hard? I have already proven myself, no need to prove it again.

So at this time, in order to avoid this kind of slackness in the team, there will always be some replacements.

However, Inter Milan was different from other teams. Perhaps because Moratti was a chairman who valued relationships too much, the squad that won the treble was almost entirely retained, but the meritorious coach Mourinho left the team.

Of course, Mourinho's departure was not due to being purged, but because Real Madrid's invitation seemed more attractive than staying at Inter Milan.

Moreover, as the saying goes, it's easier to conquer a country than to govern it.

Mourinho certainly knew that leaving at the peak of the treble was the best choice. Continuing to lead the team would make it difficult to surpass himself.

After Mourinho left, Inter Milan hired Benítez.

Benítez was a coach with a high level of tactical skill, but that was it. He was a person with low emotional intelligence, not good at getting along with the club's management, nor good at getting along with the players.

When such a coach came to Inter Milan, a team that had just won the treble, one could imagine what his relationship with the players would be like. In addition, Mourinho had left too deep an imprint on his players, and Benítez was always compared to Mourinho by the players. Compared in this way, it was found that, regardless of coaching ability, Mourinho completely crushed Benítez in terms of personal charisma.

A group of players with little desire to win, only knowing how to maintain their position within the team, plus a coach with low emotional intelligence, and a hesitant club chairman.

One doesn't even need to think about what kind of combat power this team could have after winning the treble.

It was based on this analysis that Zhou Yi felt that this defending champion was not as strong as everyone thought.

Especially after he had fought against the defending champion once.

Everyone was just intimidated by the title of "defending champion."

After Zhou Yi's words were reported by the media, they caused a lot of controversy.

Some people naturally thought that Zhou Yi was becoming arrogant and complacent, and was bound to repeat Inter Milan's mistakes in the previous match.

Others thought that Zhou Yi might be playing mind games, using such flawed remarks to anger Inter Milan and make them lose their reason and composure.

Of course, there were also people who thought Zhou Yi was right, but these people accounted for a small proportion.

Inter Milan was the defending champion, and even if they had just been held to a draw by Dortmund, the level of these players was still there.

The general public would think that Inter Milan's strength was still very strong.

This view still had a market, and Zhou Yi's words seemed a bit unconventional in the face of this mainstream view.

※※※

"Hey, Zhou Yi, you're openly provoking them!" In the group chat, Sun Pan was stirring things up. "Lao Guo, I'm not one to cause trouble, but I can't stand this if it were me!"

Guo Nu first sent a facepalm emoji, and then said, "Leading by four goals and having one more player, he was still able to turn it around. What's there to be upset about…"

Yang Mu Ge: "…"

He Ying: "…"

Sun Pan: "…"

Zhou Yi sent a grinning emoji with his eyes curved, making people want to hit him…

"Chairman Mao taught us that all imperialists are 'paper tigers'! So Inter Milan is just a 'paper tiger'!" he finally said.

In the face of the arrogant Zhou Yi, Guo Nu could only remain silent. He was scared by the previous match… Of course, he could comfort himself by saying that he was accumulating good karma for Inter Milan.