As it turned out, Borussia Dortmund's away win against Bayern Munich was indeed one of the key matches in deciding the league title.
Because after Borussia Dortmund defeated Bayern Munich away from home, in the last match of this round of the league, Bayer Leverkusen drew 2-2 with Werder Bremen away from home.
The two teams were already six points apart, and now the gap between the two sides has been further widened to eight points, which is close to ten...
Eight points is the difference of three games, which is already a relatively safe margin.
After Bayern Munich lost to Borussia Dortmund, news came out that the Bayern Munich executives were seriously considering Van Gaal's position.
In the twenty-fifth round of the league, Borussia Dortmund welcomed Cologne at home. Because three days later was the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16 against AC Milan, Klopp rotated players in this game.
Even Zhou Yi did not appear in the starting lineup.
In the end, Borussia Dortmund narrowly won 1-0 against Cologne at home.
For today's Borussia Dortmund, a one-goal victory in the league is no different from a three-goal victory, as long as they get the three points.
Zhou Yi came on as a substitute in the last ten minutes of the game to complete the pre-match warm-up against AC Milan.
The next day, the entire AC Milan team arrived in Dortmund.
When interviewed at the airport, AC Milan's number one star Zlatan Ibrahimović said that AC Milan would have the last laugh.
"We now have ninety minutes to make up for the away goal, so their one away goal is not a big deal," the Swede curled his lips.
※※※
Before the game against AC Milan, Klopp arranged the tasks for this game to his players in the locker room: "Don't think that we won them away from home, so we can definitely advance to the top eight. In fact, even the probability is not necessarily higher than the opponent. After all, we only won them by one goal. Don't think that Ibrahimović's words are annoying, that's the truth, now they have a full ninety minutes to fight for an away goal, if we let them score one goal, then our advantage away from home will be completely wasted."
Klopp's expression was very serious and earnest when he said these words, making people think that he was going to greatly emphasize the importance of defense next.
But then he changed the subject and said: "So in this game we have to score earlier than them, as long as we can score more goals than them, no matter how many goals they eventually score, they will be eliminated!"
※※※
Allegri still had his tactical board covered with dense markings, looking a little messy.
He was giving his players a lengthy explanation of Borussia Dortmund's tactical characteristics, to contain their flanks, to contain their midfield, to pay attention to their core, to pay attention to their Götze and Mark... Thanks to Kagawa Shinji's injury, he didn't have to say "pay attention to Kagawa Shinji" anymore.
Although AC Milan is ranked first in Serie A this season, Allegri knows that for a club like AC Milan with Champions League genes, the results in the Champions League are equally important.
It would be too embarrassing if they were eliminated in the first round of the knockout stage...
※※※
When the game started, AC Milan, with their backs to the wall, launched a fierce attack on Borussia Dortmund's goal.
At the height of their offensive, Borussia Dortmund was even compressed to not be able to cross the halfway line.
Marcel Reif was exclaiming whose home ground it was.
Of course, AC Milan also paid the price for playing like this.
Their full-back Jankulovski received a yellow card in the twenty-eighth minute of the game.
In the thirty-second minute, defensive midfielder Flamini also received a yellow card for fouling Zhou Yi. Combined with the yellow card he received on Zhou Yi in the previous leg, even if AC Milan could break into the top eight, he would miss the first leg of the quarter-finals.
At the end of the first half, striker Pato also received a yellow card for excessive movements in the scramble...
AC Milan had three players booked in the first half, with players in the front, middle, and back. This is reflected in the data, and what is not reflected in the data is that AC Milan players' defensive actions are very large.
But they have no choice.
Borussia Dortmund with Zhou Yi is a team that is very good at controlling the ball and rhythm. If they want to break Borussia Dortmund's rhythm, the most effective way is to foul...
Fouls can frequently interrupt Borussia Dortmund's ball control rhythm.
Of course, it will also bring them a very high risk of getting cards. After all, this is Borussia Dortmund's home game, and the referee will more or less favor the home team a little bit.
At this time, in order to advance, AC Milan couldn't care so much.
※※※
Faced with AC Milan's pressing and siege, Borussia Dortmund coped somewhat hard, but at least did not lose the ball.
Zhou Yi frequently used passes to control the situation, but he also became the key target of AC Milan players' defense. The yellow cards on Flamini and Pato were all received on him.
Allegri obviously also learned from the failure of the first game, and he surrounded Zhou Yi in all aspects.
Of course, he also knew that it was impossible to completely make Zhou Yi lose his role, so he chose to limit Zhou Yi's role in a certain part, such as offense...
His pressing and siege forced Zhou Yi to only pass back or sideways, and could not pass forward, so Borussia Dortmund could not play a threatening attack. This allowed AC Milan's defense to gain temporary security, so that AC Milan could concentrate on attacking and strive to score before Borussia Dortmund scored, reversing the situation.
Standing on the sidelines, Allegri, with his hands in his pockets, stared at the field very intently, closely watching the development of the game.
He believed that as long as AC Milan could score first, it would change the entire course of the game and lay the groundwork for the final reversal...
However, until the end of the first half, he did not see a goal appear. Although Borussia Dortmund seemed to be coping very hard, they just didn't lose the ball, their defensive tenacity was greater than Allegri imagined...
※※※
In the second half, the two sides changed sides and fought again. AC Milan still took the lead as guests and launched a fierce attack on Borussia Dortmund. Borussia Dortmund was compressed to their own half and rarely able to get the attack to AC Milan's half.
This scene really made AC Milan fans' blood boil. If this was at their home stadium, I am afraid the cheers would have resounded through the clouds.
But unfortunately, this is at Borussia Dortmund's home stadium, so only... boos filled the sky above the stadium.
In the boos, AC Milan charged towards Borussia Dortmund's goal desperately.
Their attacks could not threaten Weidenfeller's goal every time.
Some attacks would be intercepted midway.
At this time, Borussia Dortmund players would choose to kick the ball forward with a big foot, so that Borussia Dortmund's goal would temporarily be away from danger.
But there are always exceptions.
For example, this time, when Subotić was planning to kick the ball directly out, he caught a glimpse of Zhou Yi's gesture asking for the ball.
He looked at the situation around Zhou Yi. Because Zhou Yi retreated to the wing, there were no AC Milan players around him for the time being. This was an opportunity to get the ball...
So he passed the ball over.
But just as he passed the ball out, he saw AC Milan midfielder Boateng rushing towards Zhou Yi!
But when he observed, he was still far away!
This kid was like a black panther lurking in the grass, carefully hiding his body all the time, then waiting for the opportunity, and then leaping up to pounce on the prey!
Obviously, Zhou Yi was his prey!
The key is that Zhou Yi, who had his back to him, could not see him at all, and could not know that there was a murderous black panther behind him that had already pounced on him.
Subotić wanted to remind Zhou Yi, but as soon as he opened his mouth, the ball had already reached Zhou Yi's feet, and he definitely didn't have time.
So he quickly set up a defensive posture, ready to welcome AC Milan's counterattack.
But at this moment, he saw Zhou Yi swing his foot to meet the ball and knock the ball sideways to Sven Bender. At the same time, he quickly turned around, as if he had eyes behind his head, and bypassed Boateng!
And when he turned around, Boateng was still in a daze—he didn't expect that his sudden attack would be in vain!
Subotić saw this scene and shouted excitedly in his heart: Good job, Zhou Yi!
※※※
"Zhou Yi! Beautiful turn! He avoided Boateng's pressing!"
Sven Bender did not stop the ball, but passed the ball that Zhou Yi passed over diagonally forward again, the target was Zhou Yi who had already turned and rushed up!
Zhou Yi just used a one-two pass to bypass Boateng.
Seeing Zhou Yi shaking off the defensive players, the other Borussia Dortmund players naturally knew what they should do.
Götze, Großkreutz, Mark, and Lewandowski moved quickly. Some ran forward, while others approached Zhou Yi, preparing to respond to him.
Borussia Dortmund's offensive system suddenly started to operate after being silent for more than half a game, without any jerky feeling, smooth and fluid.
And the core component of this system is naturally Zhou Yi, who is holding the ball.
After receiving the ball, he didn't even raise his head to observe, and then raised his foot for a long pass again.
The ball flew directly to Götze's feet on the other side.
Just as he finished passing the ball, Flamini rushed to his front—AC Milan's players' defense was indeed very fast, if Zhou Yi stopped the ball to observe, or took another step, he would be blocked by Flamini head-on...
But he seemed to know this in advance, and perfectly avoided this risk!
Zhou Yi, who passed the ball, did not stay in place, but accelerated forward.
Borussia Dortmund's counterattack is still continuing!