Everyone thought Borussia Dortmund would show signs of being unaccustomed to the Champions League, and even more so Zhou Yi.

But Zhou Yi showed none of that.

He ran actively during the match, covered a lot of ground, and passed the ball crisply. He didn't hesitate and drag on the ball like others expected.

Most importantly, amidst these crisp passes, he could still deliver threatening passes, not just simple back passes and sideways passes.

Zhou Yi's performance surprised and impressed many.

"Right now, Zhou Yi is probably Dortmund's best-performing player. It's not that the other Dortmund players are playing poorly, but that Zhou Yi is playing even better," He Ping said. "Almost all of Dortmund's attacks start from him. He constantly uses various passes to create attacks and threaten Valencia's goal."

"Valencia's compact tactics are meant to limit Zhou Yi's space, but they inadvertently create more space elsewhere. So we can see Zhou Yi constantly using long passes to switch the ball…" Marcel Reif added.

Of course, Valencia could also threaten Dortmund's goal. Both sides had plenty of opportunities. After all, neither team was playing conservatively; they were both very open.

Now it was a question of whose forwards could seize those opportunities first.

Or rather, which team's midfielders had better technique at setting up their forwards.

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"Barrios! His shot is too straight!"

"Soldado! Oh, he faked it! Mata's pass was very beautiful! But unfortunately, Soldado couldn't seize the opportunity!"

"Kagawa Shinji shoots—wide!"

"Albelda's long shot! Whoa! That was close!"

The commentators continuously erupted with passionate commentary whenever either team's shots came close to scoring.

But neither side had managed to score yet.

However, everyone felt that a goal was definitely coming soon, because with both sides playing so openly, it would be a miracle if they didn't score.

In the twenty-seventh minute, Valencia got an attacking opportunity. They created space for a cross through a one-two on the wing, and then Joaquin delivered the cross.

The quality of this cross was very high. The height wasn't great, but it was fast, had a wide arc, and a clear inward curve, which made it perfect for a forward to head home.

Soldado moved flexibly in the box, suddenly darted forward, and leaped high in front of Subotic, heading the ball!

When he connected with the ball, Subotic hadn't even had time to jump yet, and could only watch Soldado perform a graceful diving header in the air!

To many Valencia fans, that scene must have looked like a beautiful painting…

Many Valencia fans in the stands had already raised their arms, ready to cheer.

Dortmund's goalkeeper Weidenfeller jumped, but at such close range and with such a powerful header, no one thought he could save it.

But at that moment, the ball slammed hard against the crossbar!

The thud sounded like the shattering of Valencia fans' hearts…

"Aaaaaaah!" the Spanish commentator shouted. "The crossbar! The crossbar mercilessly rejected Soldado's goal! Valencia missed a great opportunity to take the lead!"

But despite the regret, he continued, "But I believe that as long as Valencia keeps playing like this, a goal will come soon! I think their morale has gradually suppressed Dortmund!"

As he spoke, the ball that hit the crossbar bounced back into the field and was then kicked forward by Sven Bender.

Barrios jumped up to challenge Mathieu for the header, but he didn't win. Mathieu headed the ball back.

And it landed… at Zhou Yi's feet.

After Zhou Yi received the ball in midfield, the situation on the field was at a very delicate stage—Valencia had been attacking, and Dortmund had been defending. As a result, Valencia's attack didn't score, and Dortmund wanted to launch a quick counterattack, but the quick counterattack failed. The ball was kicked to the front and headed back by the opponent. So, in theory, Valencia should be attacking again. But the ball happened to land at Zhou Yi's feet at this moment, which was awkward…

During the previous wave of attack, most of Valencia's players were still up front, planning to fall back, but after only running two steps, they saw Mathieu outdo Barrios in the header, heading the ball back. So, okay, forget falling back, continue attacking, continue putting pressure on Dortmund's goal, and maybe this attack will score, taking advantage of the momentum from hitting the post?

The plan was so beautiful, but the ball landed at Zhou Yi's feet.

Then, they saw Zhou Yi not hesitate or falter, but directly lift his foot and launch a long pass!

The ball didn't fly towards Barrios, but towards the left wing, to Mario Götze who was charging forward at high speed!

Now it wasn't just awkward, but dangerous! Too dangerous for Valencia!

"Zhou Yi's long pass—" Marcel Reif shouted excitedly.

A huge boo echoed in the Mestalla Stadium, aimed at the Dortmund players.

But amidst the boos, Götze was not affected. He steadily controlled Zhou Yi's pass, and then dribbled towards Valencia's goal.

Barrios, who had been entangled with Mathieu, also quickly turned around and darted forward, to receive Götze in the center.

In an instant, the situation on the field changed dramatically! Just a moment ago, Valencia was only a post away from breaking Dortmund's goal, and now it was Dortmund's counterattack directly threatening Valencia's goal!

"Dortmund has a great opportunity! Zhou Yi's long pass accurately found the advancing Götze! It's a one-on-one!" He Ping shouted excitedly.

His voice echoed in the living room in the middle of the night. Zhou Jianliang clenched his fists, veins bulging on his neck.

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Valencia's goalkeeper César Sánchez chose to abandon his goal and attack—he had no choice at this point. If he continued to stay in front of the goal, he would have no way to block such a large shooting angle.

As for the possibility that Barrios, who was following up in the center, might get a chance to shoot into an empty net after he attacked, he couldn't afford to think about that.

He was a goalkeeper, but not a god. He couldn't do everything perfectly.

Facing the attacking Valencia goalkeeper, Götze chose a chip shot.

He lofted the ball into a parabola, flying upwards. Sánchez jumped during his attack, stretching his arms as far as possible, like a volleyball player blocking a spike, trying to stop the ball.

But the ball flew past the tips of his fingers!

Then, in a parabolic arc, it fell into the goal behind Sánchez.

Barrios, who had just run to the penalty spot, raised his arms and cheered for the goal!

"tooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooor!!!" Marcel Reif shouted excitedly. "tooooooooooooooooooor! tor!!! Mario Götze! He opened the scoring for Dortmund! This is Dortmund's first goal in the Champions League proper in seven years! Beautiful! Perfect! An assist from Zhou Yi!"

Marcel Reif didn't forget to emphasize that it was Zhou Yi's assist at the end.

"The ball went in! Great goal! Götze's chip shot!" He Ping's voice on the television had just started when it was drowned out by Zhou Jianliang's shout.

"Beau-ti-ful—!"

Li Cuiyun glanced at him: "It's not like our son scored, what's there to be so excited about?"

"I'm saying the pass was beautiful! Who said the shot was beautiful?" Zhou Jianliang retorted.

Li Cuiyun didn't know how to respond to him…

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After scoring, Götze excitedly ran to the corner flag to celebrate his goal.

And Zhou Yi and the other players ran towards him. Götze turned around and hugged Zhou Yi. Everyone swarmed up and celebrated together.

The Mestalla stands were relatively quiet at first. Obviously, they couldn't accept the conceded goal. But soon, a huge boo rang out, all directed at the Dortmund players who were celebrating the goal.

But the Dortmund players didn't care. They were all immersed in their own world.

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"Zhou Yi's long pass was very accurate and very fast!" After briefly praising Götze's beautiful goal, He Ping began to lavish praise on Zhou Yi. "At a time when everyone may not have reacted, he made a decision and, without any hesitation, sent the ball very accurately to where it should be. In fact, in the game, there will be situations where the ball falls to one's feet by accident. But most opportunities are wasted because not only the defending side didn't expect it, but the attacking side didn't expect it either. Decisions made hastily without any preparation are not necessarily correct. Zhou Yi didn't make such a mistake. He passed the ball quickly, decisively, and correctly, creating this goal!"

Zhou Jianliang smiled from ear to ear when he heard the commentators praising his son, even though he had heard it many times before.

Online, on Weibo, things were exploding at this time.

Although Zhou Yi didn't score the goal, Zhou Yi's long pass was indeed very beautiful, and most importantly, from the beginning of the game until now, Chinese fans had not seen the "nervousness" and "unfamiliarity" that the media had analyzed in Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi seemed very calm and very adapted to the pace of the game.

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The Dortmund players finished celebrating and returned to their own half. The television broadcast focused on Götze. He was the goal scorer, so of course he could enjoy such treatment. But he had been running side by side with Zhou Yi all along, so Zhou Yi was also in the picture.

The two of them ran back to their own half side by side.

This scene was quite interesting, so Marcel Reif said, "These are two young talents cultivated by the Dortmund youth academy. They may represent Dortmund's future and hope. With such outstanding young people, Dortmund's revival is only a matter of time… Klopp has insisted on giving young players opportunities since he coached Dortmund. He believes that Dortmund's future belongs to young people, and he bet right."

Then the camera turned to Klopp, who was smiling and applauding on the sidelines.

Obviously, he was also very satisfied with the performance of his young players.

These young men from Dortmund will surely set off a youth storm throughout Europe!