Chapter 1 After Four League Matches

After four league matches, Borussia Dortmund ranked third with three wins and one loss. The teams ranked in the top two were somewhat surprising. In first place was Mainz, with four wins in four games, ten goals scored and four goals conceded, a goal difference of six, an excellent record.

In second place was Hoffenheim, with three wins and one draw, nine goals scored and three goals conceded, a goal difference of six.

Then came Borussia Dortmund in third place.

Fourth place was Freiburg, also with three wins and one loss, but with a smaller goal difference, so they ranked fourth.

Fifth place was Hamburg, sixth place Kaiserslautern, seventh place Hannover 96, and eighth place Bayer Leverkusen.

Where was Bayern Munich?

They were currently ranked ninth, with only one win, one loss, and two draws in four games, two goals scored and three goals conceded, a negative goal difference. They currently had only five points.

But the rankings at this time didn't mean much.

Because last season, Bayern Munich was ranked eighth after four rounds, and their performance was not much better than this season. But at the end of the season, they were first, the champions!

And pushing one season further back, the 2008-2009 season, Bayern Munich was ranked second after the first four rounds, with ten goals scored and four goals conceded, a goal difference of six, a good performance. So where were they at the end of the league season?

Still second, Wolfsburg won the championship. For a behemoth like Bayern Munich, not winning the league championship was considered a failure.

These historical experiences fully illustrate that the rankings at the beginning of the league season are not worth mentioning.

Many strong teams have many international players, and they can't rest well in the summer. Their form is often not at its best. In addition, the team has to fight on multiple fronts at the beginning of the season, so it is normal for the rankings to be less than ideal.

As the league progresses, the experience and form adjustment ability of the strong teams, as well as the strong bench depth, will allow them to regain the top spots in the league standings.

As the saying goes, he who laughs last, laughs best.

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In the fifth round of the league, Borussia Dortmund played against Kaiserslautern at home. For Mark, this would be his first time playing at Westfalenstadion, and he might even be in the starting lineup...

At the same time, for Mark, his performance in the Ruhr derby was amazing, and he had attracted more attention. And all this attention will turn into pressure, which will be reflected in the new game.

People always hope that geniuses can maintain their upward momentum, but once this expectation turns into pressure, it's not so fun anymore.

So, can Mark withstand this pressure and still maintain a high level of performance in this game?

Expectations and attention can sometimes make people feel fluttery, creating the illusion that they are on the road to the pinnacle of life, but more often they will turn into pressure that crushes a person.

How to deal with this pressure and expectations is a test that Mark must undergo.

And this test is impossible for others to help with. He can receive Zhou Yi's pass and score on the field, and Zhou Yi's assist can be seen as some kind of help. But if he doesn't have the ability, even with Zhou Yi's pass, he can't score.

So the key is still himself.

In the dressing room of the Westfalenstadion, Zhou Yi was joking with Mark: "How was it? Were you so nervous last night that you couldn't sleep?"

The teammates next to him also let out a burst of low laughter.

"I slept very well!" Mark said proudly, raising his head.

"Ah, that's good." Zhou Yi patted him on the shoulder. "It's just an ordinary game."

He was just worried that Mark would feel nervous, would think wildly, would think too much.

When he was with him in the youth team before, wasn't it because Mark thought too much that he had to lie under the bed at night and pretend to be a ghost to enlighten him?

Now it seems that the season Mark spent alone in the youth team was really helpful to him. Because he is a person who can stand alone without relying on himself and Götze.

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When the live broadcast speaker, Dirc, shouted loudly: "Mark—"

"Wagner!!" The fans at the scene all let out huge cheers, and Mrs. Wagner and her Black and Yellow companions contributed a lot to it.

At this moment, after shouting, Mrs. Wagner hugged her husband, her body trembling slightly.

Old Wagner gently patted her back, comforting his wife's emotions.

For Mrs. Wagner, the goal in the last Ruhr derby probably couldn't make her as excited as she is now.

Because this is at Westfalenstadion, where the fans, especially those in the South Stand, are all shouting her son's name. Only at this moment did Mrs. Wagner feel that her son was a real Borussia Dortmund player who could enjoy such treatment.

So she trembled with excitement.

It wasn't just Mrs. Wagner whose body was shaking.

When the South Stand shouted Mark's name, Mark was in the player tunnel, waiting to play.

His body shook at the time, and he shivered, as if he had been electrocuted.

He deeply felt the feeling of starting at Westfalenstadion.

One word—爽 (Shuang - awesome)!

Just as Mark was feeling excited, the live broadcast announced Zhou Yi.

"Zhou—"

"Yi!!!"

This sound shocked Mark, because he felt it was twice as loud as his!

In fact, it wasn't that he hadn't heard how the fans cheered for Zhou Yi, but the player tunnel seemed to have a design that could amplify the volume. Anyway, the cheers he heard here were completely different from what he heard on the bench and in the stands.

And in the midst of such cheers, Zhou Yi, who was standing in front of him, didn't even shake. He was obviously used to it.

One day... he would get used to it too, right?

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After stepping onto the field, Mark turned his head to look at the South Stand, where it was densely packed with people. They were wearing Borussia Dortmund jerseys, Borussia Dortmund baseball caps, and holding Borussia Dortmund scarves, forming a wall of black and yellow.

Although he couldn't see clearly, he was sure that his parents were in that wall, two of the twenty-five thousand wall bricks.

They were watching him, so he could walk more steadily on the road to pursuing his dreams.

If there was one regret, it was that his sister, the one who was not optimistic about him, probably wouldn't be there. In fact, it would be good if she could watch on TV.

His relationship with his sister was actually pretty good - as long as they didn't talk about soccer.

He still hoped that his sister would be able to accept his choice one day.

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What Mark didn't know was that when he came on the field, his sister was also standing in a certain grandstand. This time, she didn't deliberately disguise herself, because she was surrounded by Borussia Dortmund fans.

However, slightly different from the surrounding Borussia Dortmund fans, she was not wearing a Borussia Dortmund jersey, nor was she wearing a Borussia Dortmund hat, let alone a Borussia Dortmund scarf.

She was wearing casual clothes, came to the stands of this stadium empty-handed, and sat down like an ordinary passerby who was tired and resting here, still out of place with the people around her.

So at the beginning, she still attracted a lot of curious scrutiny.

It was better now, the Borussia Dortmund fans around her were cheering and singing, and no one cared about the woman who appeared next to them.

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Before this game, Kaiserslautern was ranked sixth in the league, with two wins, one draw, and one loss in four games, eight goals scored, five goals conceded, a goal difference of three, and seven points.

Even ranked higher than Bayern Munich.

After the start of the league, Kaiserslautern's form was indeed good. They defeated Bayern Munich 2-0 at home in the second round of the league, and it was even considered a big upset of that round.

However, in the last two rounds of the league, their form has been mediocre.

In the third round, they lost to league leader Mainz, and in the last round, they drew with second-placed Hoffenheim.

Now, their opponent has been changed to the third-placed team in the league.

Judging from the current strength of the two teams, Borussia Dortmund is stronger than Kaiserslautern.

Originally, Barrios' injury would have a certain impact on the team. As a result, Mark, who replaced him, performed well and directly made people forget Barrios.

In addition, they were playing away from home, and no one thought that Kaiserslautern could leave Westfalenstadion unscathed.

After the game started, Kaiserslautern was still very active and able to hold Borussia Dortmund in a stalemate.

This stalemate only lasted for twenty-one minutes. Subsequently, without the need for commentator Marcel Reif to remind anyone, any fan who understood football could see that Borussia Dortmund had gained the upper hand on the field.

Of course, Zhou Yi deserves the credit for this.

But it's not just that.

In addition to Zhou Yi, Götze and Kagawa Shinji also performed well.

In addition, although he has not yet scored, Mark's performance is also good.

After taking control of the game, the next step for Borussia Dortmund was to score.

The Borussia Dortmund fans in the stands of Westfalenstadion used songs to encourage the team.

In the thirty-second minute, Borussia Dortmund finally opened the scoring.

Kagawa Shinji assisted Grosskreutz, who shot the ball into Kaiserslautern's goal!

1:0!

"Good goal! Although Borussia Dortmund has always had the advantage, if they can't score, it will always make everyone worried. And this goal can finally reassure many Borussia Dortmund fans! They have taken the lead at home!"

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ps, This chapter is an extra chapter for the Alliance Master, thank you to the new Alliance Master [Forever Brother Wang]!