Chapter 198 Substitution

During halftime, Schalke 04 fans were in good spirits because they had equalized the score before the end of the first half. Now both sides were back to square one, and with forty-five minutes left, Schalke 04 had a great chance to win.

An elated Draxler bought beer for Yang Muge and Hao Junmin.

"My only complaint is this halftime whistle!" Draxler said, though his expression was quite relaxed. "If we had a little more time, we could have gone into halftime with the lead!"

Hao Junmin also said to Yang Muge, "Equalizing right before halftime isn't a good thing. It disrupted our rhythm, but... let's see how Magath adjusts during halftime."

Yang Muge nodded.

He agreed with their assessment of the situation.

In front of the beer counter and in the long line for the restroom, Schalke 04 fans were excitedly looking forward to the second half.

Dortmund fans were rarely seen.

Most Dortmund fans were still sitting in their seats, surrounded by layers of police, unable to move around freely.

After all, this was the derby, and the two sides had a long-standing feud. What if a conflict broke out?

For safety reasons, these Dortmund fans were confined to this area.

They were disappointed with the outcome of the first half.

After taking the lead, they had hoped to extend it, but instead, they allowed the opponent to equalize.

Kotana also sat in her seat, not going anywhere.

She had barely made a sound in the first half, so she didn't need beer to soothe her throat during halftime. The surrounding seats were empty, and Kotana could finally have a moment of peace as the Schalke 04 fans excitedly departed.

Throughout the first half, she felt like she was on an airport runway, with the roar of jet planes taking off constantly in her ears.

She didn't like going to live games; the noisy environment was one reason.

After being here for half a game, Dortmund had been equalized after taking the lead, and her brother, except for warming up with his teammates once, had been sitting on the bench the whole time.

Kotana didn't think Mark would get a chance to play.

This was simply a waste of her time.

The Ruhr derby – even if she wasn't a fan and didn't watch soccer, she knew how important this game was.

How could they give an inexperienced rookie a chance in such an important and crucial match?

Not to mention that the score was now tied, the opponent had the upper hand, and their morale was high.

How could Klopp be so brain-dead as to take Barrios off and give her brother a chance to play?

So, no matter how she analyzed it, Mark had no chance of playing in this game.

Even if he were to play, it would be in some unimportant match in the future, like a German Cup game against a weaker opponent...

※※※

The fifteen-minute halftime break quickly ended, and the players returned to the field.

For Schalke 04 players, the fifteen minutes were probably too long; they couldn't wait for the second half to begin.

After the players took their positions, the referee blew the whistle, and the second half began.

Like the final stage of the first half, Schalke 04 immediately pressed hard, trying to take the lead as soon as possible.

Dortmund, facing Schalke 04's intense pressure, didn't panic. They first tightened their defense and played steadily.

The two sides were deadlocked.

Five minutes passed in the stalemate.

Five minutes into the second half, neither side had a better scoring chance.

In the fifty-third minute, Dortmund gained possession, and the ball was passed to Zhou Yi.

This time, Zhou Yi didn't stop the ball but passed it long to avoid being surrounded by Schalke 04 players.

His long pass was a bit rushed, but the general direction was accurate, finding Barrios.

Barrios stretched out his foot to stop the ball and charged forward.

Schalke 04 defender Höwedes forced him towards the outside.

Barrios naturally had to react. He made a sudden stop, pulled the ball back, and planned to change direction to get rid of Höwedes.

His pull did help him get rid of Höwedes. Then, he pushed off the ground, caught up with the ball, and swung his right leg for a powerful shot!

"Barrios—!"

Amidst Marcel Reif's loud shout, the ball sailed high over the crossbar...

"Oh, what a pity! This may be the best chance Dortmund has had so far in the second half!"

"Barrios, ah... sigh!" Duan Xin sighed deeply in the Beijing studio, holding his head in his hands. "Zhou Yi's long pass was so good! He didn't seize it! I can't help but think of the last game of last season. Zhou Yi also had such a beautiful long pass, finding Barrios. At that time, Barrios was almost one-on-one, but he missed it..."

Duan Xin complained. Otherwise, Zhou Yi would have successfully notched another assist...

The Schalke 04 fans in the stands breathed a sigh of relief, feeling like they had narrowly escaped death.

Barrios, after shooting, didn't show any regret. He bent over and used his hand to pinch the muscles on the back of his right thigh where he had just exerted force.

His expression was somewhat... grave.

"Huh? Barrios seems to have injured himself in this shot?" Duan Xin keenly noticed this.

Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, Barrios sat down on the ground and then lay down.

His actions immediately attracted everyone's attention.

"Barrios checked his thigh muscles and then suddenly lay down. It seems he pulled a muscle in that shot? In any case, it looks like he needs the team doctor to come on..."

After Marcel Reif finished speaking, the referee signaled for the Dortmund team doctor to come onto the field.

Dr. Braun ran onto the field with his medical kit.

He examined Barrios and quickly made a substitution gesture to the sideline!

※※※

When Mrs. Wagner saw Braun's gesture in the stands, her body suddenly tensed up—she was nervous.

Was this... a substitution?

A forward substitution?

The only forward on Dortmund's bench who could play was her son, Mark Wagner!

Could it be...?

She didn't dare to think about it, but she couldn't help but think about it.

※※※

After seeing Dr. Braun's gesture on the sidelines, Klopp couldn't help but curse in German: "Scheisse!"

Then he turned and walked towards the coaching bench, saying to assistant coach Buvac: "Prepare for a substitution."

Buvac was stunned for a moment and said, "Okay, I'll go tell Mark to warm up..."

Hearing this, Klopp frowned.

In this game, Dortmund's starting formation was 4-2-3-1, with Zhou Yi and Sven Bender as the two holding midfielders, Kagawa Shinji as the attacking midfielder, Götze and Großkreutz on the wings, and Barrios as the lone striker up front.

Now that the striker was gone, they had to substitute a forward.

And in this game, Dortmund only brought one substitute forward, Mark Wagner.

So, there was no choice; Dortmund could only bring on Mark.

However, after seeing Mark's ridiculous and clumsy performance during pre-match warm-ups, Klopp couldn't have any expectations for this rookie.

"Wait, Željko. That rookie?"

"Yes." Buvac nodded, repeating, "That rookie."

"Can we substitute someone else?"

"If you want to substitute a forward, no, we only have this one forward."

"What about letting the Japanese guy play forward?"

"He's an attacking midfielder and winger; he can't play center forward, Jürgen..."

After a series of exchanges, Klopp retreated: "Okay, you decide..."

Buvac turned and shouted to Mark on the bench: "Kid, get ready to come on, go warm up!"

Mark Wagner looked up, staring at the assistant coach with a confused and shocked expression, not reacting for a moment.

"What are you waiting for?! Get up and go warm up!" Klopp, who couldn't stand seeing a player with such a bewildered expression, roared angrily.

This finally jolted Mark off the bench. He put on a vest and ran towards the warm-up area, feeling excited—first time staying with the first team, first time being on the first team's match roster, first time... actually having the chance to represent the first team?

This happiness came too quickly!

Behind him, Klopp's frown never eased. He was in a bad mood. The team had been equalized by their opponent, the situation was unfavorable, and they had a chance to take the lead but failed to seize it. And the forward who failed to seize the opportunity was injured... He didn't know whether to think this was Barrios's retribution for not being able to seize the opportunity or to hope that Barrios would stay on the field.

In short, he was annoyed.

Looking at this dumb kid with a blank face, still not understanding the situation, Klopp really didn't think he could have any impact on the game. If he hadn't only brought one substitute forward, he wouldn't have let this rookie play at a time like this!

※※※

As Barrios was being helped off the field by team doctor Braun, Zhou Yi turned his gaze to the bench and saw Mark running towards the warm-up area.

The opportunity had indeed come, but whether he could seize it depended on Mark himself.

Zhou Yi glanced at him and then withdrew his gaze.

No matter who came on, Zhou Yi had to play his own game well.

Now, before Mark came on, Dortmund was one man down. As the team's core, he couldn't be distracted and think about other people's affairs.

After the game restarted, when the ball fell to Dortmund's side, Zhou Yi began to frequently use passes and receptions to control the situation and stabilize the rhythm of the game.

Schalke 04, on the other hand, desperately wanted to speed up the pace, hoping to break through Dortmund's goal while they were one man down.

However, in the face of Zhou Yi and his teammates' tacit passing cooperation, Schalke 04 was unable to seize this opportunity.

If they didn't pass forward much, but just passed back and forth, it was no pressure for Zhou Yi. No matter how intense the opponent's pressing was, he didn't panic and still passed and received the ball steadily.

Seeing Dortmund pass the ball back and forth with Zhou Yi as the core, boos rang out from the Veltins-Arena, mainly directed at Zhou Yi because he was leading the situation.

Draxler booed along, shouting, "Playing negatively!"

A typical Schalke 04 supporter's behavior.

However, the commentators didn't think so.

Duan Xin, needless to say, as a Chinese commentator, was definitely on Zhou Yi's side.

Marcel Reif also thought Zhou Yi's approach was smart: "In a situation where they are one man down, it is important to prevent the possession from changing hands. Zhou Yi's approach is very correct. Although it doesn't look good, it is very necessary for Dortmund. In a few minutes, Dortmund will complete the substitution and won't have to play like this..."