For some people, frequent football passes are pressure, a burden, a responsibility they don't want to bear.

But not Zhou Yi. He believes it's trust, every pass comes from the trust of his teammates.

He likes and enjoys this feeling of being trusted.

And he strives to live up to the trust of his teammates.

He takes the football they pass to him, analyzes and processes it, and then passes it on.

The game has just started. Because it's an away game, Bayer Leverkusen didn't press forward, but instead shrank back into their own half, defending cautiously.

Faced with this situation, Zhou Yi wasn't in a hurry to pass the football forward. He could pass the ball around in the backcourt at will.

When he did this before, he had to consider the thoughts of his original defensive midfielder teammates, after all, he was passing the ball around on their territory, he couldn't overdo it.

But now, there's no need to have such considerations.

He calls all the shots.

Continuously passing the ball around, constantly passing it horizontally or backwards, occasionally passing it forward, Zhou Yi observed the changes in the situation on the pitch in this process.

Bayer Leverkusen's midfield configuration in this game is pretty good. There's the returning veteran Ballack playing, as well as the young Vidal and Barnetta assisting him, and the talented Kiessling on the front line. However, Bayer Leverkusen's defense isn't very good, there are hidden dangers.

Although they have Hyypiä, the center-back from last season's Bundesliga Best XI, Hyypiä is now thirty-seven years old and on the verge of retirement. His physical fitness has declined rapidly, and he's no longer as good as he used to be.

Ballack's return is a shot in the arm for Bayer Leverkusen fans, but Ballack is also getting old. Born in 1976, he's already thirty-four years old this year, and he has few years left in his career.

But their experience is very rich, coupled with the energetic young players Vidal and Barnetta.

Maybe they can cause some trouble for Dortmund in the midfield.

※※※

After continuously passing the ball around with his teammates several times, Zhou Yi finally found an opening, and he sent a long pass.

It was slightly off, but still within control. Großkreutz ran a few steps and caught the football.

"Zhou Yi's long pass, very accurately found his teammate!" Duan Xin said excitedly.

Many Chinese fans in front of the TV were also very excited. This was Zhou Yi's first long pass of the game, and it was so accurate, which shows that he's in good form.

But Zhou Yi shook his head after passing the ball, and didn't think his long pass was successful.

Because there was originally an opportunity here. If the long pass was good, Großkreutz could have used this opportunity to create a threat. But now he did get the football, but the opportunity was also gone, and they can only reorganize the attack.

This isn't the effect he wanted, at least not the effect he wanted in this long pass.

So he ran up again.

Sure enough, after Großkreutz controlled the football, he looked up, and the opponent's defense had already lined up in front of him completely and tightly.

There was no chance, so he had to pass the football back to Kagawa Shinji.

The Japanese player won a starting position in the first game with his excellent performance in the warm-up match.

But the fact that he was able to start so easily is probably also related to Zhou Yi's slightly withdrawn position...

After Kagawa Shinji got the ball, he looked forward, but there weren't any great opportunities either. Bayer Leverkusen's players were still defending Barrios very tightly, and Kadlec was always following him, so he couldn't find any good passing opportunities.

Just when Kagawa Shinji didn't know what to do, he heard someone shout behind him: "Pass to me, Kagawa!"

Kagawa Shinji quickly turned around and saw Zhou Yi beckoning to him. So he passed the football back without saying a word.

After training and warming up, Kagawa Shinji already knew Zhou Yi's strength, so he wouldn't hesitate at this time.

The football landed at the feet of Zhou Yi, who had come up from behind, while Kagawa Shinji, who had passed the ball, ran forward.

Now Zhou Yi's position on the pitch has become an attacking midfielder, he has returned to the place he was most familiar with last season, the place closest to the goal.

According to some theories, it's also the place where he poses the greatest threat.

Of course, the defensive pressure he faces has also suddenly increased. Vidal pounced on him like a tiger,缠住了 Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi passed the football to Götze, who came up to meet him, without letting the football stay at his feet for too long. Then he continued to run.

This scene is very familiar to the fans and commentators in front of the TV, because this is how Zhou Yi played last season.

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"It looks like there's no difference from when he played as an attacking midfielder..." Duan Xin suddenly said.

At this time, the game had been going on for almost twenty minutes, and Dortmund, who were playing at home, had taken the initiative. Although the field and weather conditions weren't very good, Klopp's team was still performing normally.

And this normalcy has a lot to do with Zhou Yi. Because the football will always be passed to Zhou Yi, and then passed out by Zhou Yi. His passing and receiving of the ball determines whether Dortmund's machine is running normally.

During this period, because Dortmund suppressed Bayer Leverkusen, their formation was pressed a little too far forward. Zhou Yi has also been active in the frontcourt, giving people the feeling that he is an attacking midfielder.

"Modern football's requirements for players' positions on the field are relatively vague." Tao Wei said from the side. "No one stipulates that a defensive midfielder can't come up. And Zhou Yi's defensive midfielder is an organizational defensive midfielder, his defensive tasks aren't heavy, so when a situation of suppression is formed, he can of course come up."

In fact, not only when the team forms a situation of suppression, but also during counterattacks, Zhou Yi can also move forward with the attack.

As long as he comes up, whether it's Kagawa Shinji or Götze in front of him, they have to make way for him. He has absolute priority in the middle.

This is also what Klopp has repeatedly emphasized and explained in training.

He told Kagawa Shinji, who originally played as an attacking midfielder, that if Zhou Yi wants to come up, he must let him have the position of attacking midfielder, so where does Kagawa Shinji go?

He can go to the penalty area as a striker, or he can go to the wing as a winger, anyway, Kagawa Shinji can play both of these positions.

The game went on for a while, and came to the thirty-fifth minute, Bayer Leverkusen launched an attack, but this attack didn't work out. In front of Dortmund's penalty area, their pass was intercepted by Subotić.

Subotić, who intercepted the ball, realized that this was a good opportunity to launch a counterattack, so he quickly passed the football to defensive midfielder Sven Bender, who turned around and passed it to Götze, who was retreating to the wing to meet him.

Götze dribbled the ball forward, and he soon encountered an obstruction from Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Castro.

Faced with the obstruction, Götze didn't force his way through, but passed the football to Zhou Yi in the middle.

When Zhou Yi received the ball, there wasn't a Bayer Leverkusen player close to him. This doesn't mean that Bayer Leverkusen's players looked down on Zhou Yi and didn't pay enough attention to him, but Zhou Yi kept running on the pitch, and just happened to run into an empty space.

So just as Zhou Yi received the ball, Bayer Leverkusen's defender Vidal rushed up.

Zhou Yi turned around, protecting the football in front of him, while also seeming to develop towards the other side. On the other side, Großkreutz was indeed advancing at high speed.

Zhou Yi's turn and Großkreutz's running attracted Bayer Leverkusen's defensive attention, and their defensive players also moved towards that side.

But just as they were moving, Zhou Yi suddenly twisted his body and passed the football to the other side, to where Götze was!

At this time, Götze had already rushed up, and the football passed by Zhou Yi bounced twice on the slippery grass,窜 forward, and just rolled in front of Götze!

The strength was just right, and the football didn't stop in a place with standing water.

Although Zhou Yi's pass was a bit unexpected, Bayer Leverkusen's defense reacted quickly and immediately followed suit.

So when Götze received the ball and planned to break into the penalty area, Bayer Leverkusen's defender had already moved in front of him.

It's not impossible for him to break through, but the ground is slippery, and the success rate will inevitably be greatly reduced.

At this time, Götze nodded towards the middle, he saw Zhou Yi.

When Dortmund counterattacked, all the attacking players rushed forward in a swarm, pressing Bayer Leverkusen's defenders to retreat, but Zhou Yi didn't run forward, but on the contrary, he retreated a few steps, which just allowed him to open up a little distance from Bayer Leverkusen's defensive players.

This is actively creating an opening, because it's just this little bit of distance that makes him un-marked!

※※※

Seeing this scene in the South Stand, Mark couldn't help but shout, "Pass the ball! Pass it to Zhou Yi, Mario!"

He and Zhou Yi have been playing and training together since the U17 youth team, and he already knows very well how to cooperate with Zhou Yi.

So when he saw this scene, he was afraid that Götze wouldn't see it, so he couldn't help but shout, regardless of whether Götze on the pitch could hear him.

※※※

But how could Götze, who has been cooperating with Zhou Yi since his youth team days, not know this?

When he saw that Zhou Yi was not going forward, but retreating, he knew what Zhou Yi was going to do – it was to pull out space!

So he decisively passed the football to Zhou Yi.

The distance between the football and Bayer Leverkusen's goal suddenly became further than before. This seems to be a symbol of Dortmund's failed counterattack. Dortmund is going to have to plan for a positional battle again.

After receiving the ball, Zhou Yi didn't pass the football out immediately, but controlled it.

This control gave the retreating Bayer Leverkusen players time to rush up again.

"Oh, too slow!" Duan Xin exclaimed regretfully when he saw this scene.

He believed that Zhou Yi should have passed the ball or shot immediately after receiving it, making full use of this gap. But Zhou Yi waited after taking the ball, and after this wait, the gap was gone.

But what Zhou Yi was actually waiting for was for Bayer Leverkusen's defenders to press up.

If they don't press up, how can new, fatal gaps appear?

And in order to deepen this effect, Zhou Yi also chose to dribble the ball forward,迎向 Bayer Leverkusen's defender!

Kadlec rushed towards him at the first time.

At the same time, Barrios, who was originally in the center of the penalty area, saw that Zhou Yi was going to break through from the middle, so he moved to the wing and raised his hand, signaling Zhou Yi to pass the football to him on the wing after attracting all the defensive attention to the middle.

However, Bayer Leverkusen didn't forget Barrios, last season's Bundesliga Golden Boot winner, and the experienced Hyypiä followed him.

For a time, Bayer Leverkusen's penalty area was full of various running and pulling routes, crisscrossing each other. If there was a line behind each person, it would probably be a mess at this moment.

But an excellent or even top midfielder organizer must have the ability to find the thread in a mess and find the gap in a mess, and it must be fast!

In Zhou Yi's mind, he quickly found this gap.

He turned his head to look to the right.

This made Hyypiä very nervous, because Barrios was here, and it looked like he was really going to pass the football to Barrios?

But in reality, if there was an eye-tracking device, it could be found that although Zhou Yi's head was turned this way, his sight was not looking at Barrios, but at Großkreutz, who was also on the wing.

He was watching Großkreutz's run, he found the gap himself, but what about his teammate?

It's useless if no one can run into the gap.

When he turned his head, he saw Großkreutz suddenly accelerate and rush towards the center of the penalty area!

He knew that Großkreutz had also found the gap!

That was a gap that appeared behind Bayer Leverkusen's defense because Zhou Yi waited for a while after taking the ball, then dribbled the ball forward, and Barrios pulled to the wing!

After Großkreutz rushed forward, Zhou Yi also moved his thigh to the side and turned his wrist over, like a golf club pushing the ball into the hole, and passed the football out.

A through ball!

The football窜 past Kadlec!

And Kadlec couldn't do anything but watch...

In fact, Hyypiä realized it when Großkreutz插 forward, but even if he realized that it was a gap, he couldn't immediately make a decision. Because for him, this was a dilemma – should he continue to defend Barrios, or go to defend Großkreutz?

Logically speaking, he should go to defend Großkreutz, who was obviously going to get the ball. But if he really went, Barrios wouldn't be stupid, and would immediately be in an unmarked situation. At that time, as long as Großkreutz takes the ball and passes it horizontally, Barrios can directly face the goal, which would probably be easier than practicing shooting in training...

Hyypiä hesitated for a very short time and made a decision. He dropped Barrios and turned to defend Großkreutz. After all, the football was now passed to Großkreutz. No matter what the situation, they should prioritize controlling the ball-handler, their threat is the greatest.

As for Barrios?

He couldn't take care of him, he could only hope that his teammates could make up for the defense in time, so that Großkreutz wouldn't fall into an unmarked situation.

But it was this hesitation, coupled with the lack of explosive power and speed brought about by the decline in physical fitness after aging, that Hyypiä lost the best opportunity to stick to Großkreutz.

Großkreutz sprinted with all his strength, and Zhou Yi's through ball was also very fast, so he didn't have to slow down, and could directly receive the ball.

His steps were very powerful, and he suppressed Hyypiä with big strides!

※※※

"Zhou Yi!" Marcel Reif roared, the football rolled into the penalty area, and Großkreutz was about to receive the ball!

"Großkreutz—!" Reif lengthened his voice.

Accompanied by this long howl, Großkreutz received the ball, slanted to one side, opened up the shooting angle, and then swung his left foot and抽中了 the lower middle of the football!

The football was drawn upwards by him!

Because the distance was too close – the shooting place was closer than the penalty spot – although goalkeeper Adler attacked to block the angle, he only had time to make a conditioned reflex of raising his hand, and the football had already hit his shoulder, changed direction slightly, and flew into the goal!

"Goal!!" Marcel Reif's prolonged tone ended here and instantly turned into an excited roar.

"Kevin Großkreutz! He gave Dortmund the lead! Well done, Großkreutz! Well done, Zhou Yi!" This was the passionate shout of Norbert Dickel, the on-site host.

The same shouts rang out in the South Stand: "Well done, Großkreutz! Well done, Zhou Yi!"

Among them, the area where the "Black and Yellow" fan organization was located roared the loudest. Because the Wagner family and old man Bruno were there.

Großkreutz was also very excited after scoring the goal. Although he lost his balance after shooting and slid out on his knees, he quickly got up from the ground with his hands and feet and ran towards Zhou Yi, who passed the ball to him.

When he was about to run to Zhou Yi, he turned around and signaled Zhou Yi to come up.

Zhou Yi was not polite and jumped up directly, and was carried on Großkreutz's back.

Afterwards, they waved their fists at the South Stand with other teammates, responding to the shouts from above!

The roars of these yellow and black fans were even about to shatter the rain flying over their heads!