Lin Hai Ting Tao
Chapter 674 Not Watching
Gundogan then passed it to Zhou Yi, who, with his back to the attack, cleverly flicked the ball with his heel to Lewandowski, who was supporting him from behind.
Lewandowski passed the ball horizontally to the advancing Gotze, then turned and sprinted forward.
Upon receiving the ball, Gotze dribbled down the sideline, quickly encountering Sergio Ramos, who was defending him.
He attempted a feint, but Ramos remained unmoved.
Gotze didn't waste any more time, passing the ball horizontally to Zhou Yi, who had come to support him.
Zhou Yi didn't take the pass but instead feigned a return pass to Gotze—who had already sprinted forward after his pass, making it look like they were about to execute a one-two.
Khedira, blocking Zhou Yi, shifted his weight slightly backward.
But as the ball rolled toward him, Zhou Yi swung his leg and missed completely, letting the ball roll past him!
As the ball rolled past, Zhou Yi spun around, following the ball toward the center.
By the time Khedira reacted and lunged, Zhou Yi had already shielded him.
"Beautiful move!" He Ping praised Zhou Yi's every action without reservation.
Zhou Yi, having blocked Khedira, knew that it was only temporary. Khedira would soon use his physical advantage to create problems, and the best-case scenario would be winning a free kick.
But that wasn't what Zhou Yi wanted.
He dribbled forward, scanning the field ahead.
His inward turn had drawn Real Madrid's defensive focus to the center, creating a gap on the right flank.
Reus sprinted forward decisively, gesturing for the ball.
His movement and gesture were noticed by Real Madrid's defenders. Coentrao, who had been guarding him in the penalty area, turned to defend Reus.
Varane also shifted toward the right flank to provide support.
This made the center of the penalty area much less crowded.
Zhou Yi knew his chance had come.
He swung his right leg, feigning a pass to Reus on the right flank, his gaze fixed on Reus in the distance.
Khedira, catching up from the side, lunged forward, trying to block Zhou Yi's shot.
But as Zhou Yi's right foot landed, he didn't make a cross pass. Instead, he rotated his ankle inward, striking the ball with the inside of his foot.
Like a golfer's final putt, it didn't require much force, but it had to be precise.
The ball slipped between Khedira's outstretched legs, rolling along the ground toward the center of the penalty area…
There, instead of Reus, was Lewandowski!
Only after passing the ball did Zhou Yi turn his head toward the center of the penalty area, checking the result of his pass.
He saw Lewandowski, with Pepe on his back, raise his foot to receive the ball.
"Lewandowski!!"
Amidst Marcel Reif's shouts and the Dortmund fans' roaring cheers, Lewandowski received the ball and quickly executed a Cruyff turn!
The move allowed him to shake off Pepe, shielding the Portuguese center-back once again, while also adjusting his body from facing away from the goal to facing it directly!
Moreover, he was very close to the goal, only about five or six meters away.
After the Cruyff turn, he immediately shot with his left foot!
From such close range, Diego López had almost no chance to react, only able to watch as the ball flew past him into the net!
"Robert—Lewandowski——!!!" Marcel Reif shouted, pumping his fist. "Aaaah! Lewandowski! He scores twice! The second half has only been going for five minutes, and Dortmund has taken the lead again! Zhou Yi’s movements before the pass were incredibly deceptive!"
"Lewandowski! An easy goal. Neither Pepe nor Diego López reacted to the ball!" He Ping said. "Because Zhou Yi's pass was indeed very concealed and sudden. At the time, everyone's attention was on Reus cutting in from the right, and Zhou Yi was also looking in Reus's direction. As a result, he sent the ball in the other direction without even turning his head to look! We have seen many so-called 'no-look' passes on the field, but many of these passes are only valuable for their aesthetics, the passer is not looking just for the sake of not looking. Zhou Yi's 'no-look' pass is different from them. Zhou Yi's look towards the non-final passing target does have a confusing effect, he really makes people think that he is going to pass the ball there! Others turn their heads to one side while passing the ball, but Zhou Yi turns his face away before passing the ball! If the previous 'no-look' passes were more of an impractical gimmick, then now Zhou Yi has made this juggling pass more practical!"
Chinese fans love the Chinese commentators who praise Zhou Yi's awesomeness in various ways.
In contrast to the excitement of the German and Chinese commentators, the Spanish commentator seemed unprepared for this goal. When Zhou Yi passed the ball to Lewandowski, he screamed, "Watch out!"
Before he finished speaking, Lewandowski shook off Pepe, shot, and sent the ball into the goal guarded by Diego López.
After the goal, he shouted, clutching his head in his hands, "Ah—! Lewandowski has completed a brace. Real Madrid's defense made a lapse in concentration at a crucial moment… This is really too bad… However, they are only one goal behind. In the first half, Real Madrid was also once behind, and they eventually came back. And the game has now entered a phase of back-and-forth attacks. Since Dortmund can score, why can't Real Madrid score in the back-and-forth attacks?"
He still had to give the somewhat anxious Real Madrid fans in front of the TV confidence and encouragement.
But in fact, the ones who needed encouragement most now were not the Real Madrid fans, but the Real Madrid players on the field.
During the halftime break, they were in high spirits after just having tied the score, their minds full of the idea of using more goals to crush Dortmund after the start of the second half. As a result, they conceded a goal just five minutes into the second half.
Many people looked at the Dortmund players hugging each other, and a doubt emerged deep in their hearts—is this really a team that has been torn apart by Gotze's transfer? Have they really lost their fighting spirit?
At this time, the Real Madrid players gradually realized that maybe their opponents were not as they had imagined, and this game would not develop as they had expected…
※※※
After the game restarted, the Dortmund players, who had regained the lead, were in high spirits. They not only threatened Real Madrid's goal in attack, but they also defended better.
Although it was said to be an exchange of attacks, it did not mean that everyone completely abandoned defense and let the backfield become an endless prairie. It was just that the players would not shrink back into their own half. When there was an attack, they would move forward and participate in the attack as much as possible; when defending, they would quickly retreat, instead of staying in the frontcourt and not returning.
However, doing so required a calm mind and plenty of stamina. Without a calm mind, misjudgments were likely to occur during the transition between attack and defense, and they would fail to retreat when they should. Without plenty of stamina, it would be impossible to support such repeated sprints, and stamina would quickly run out in the fast-paced offensive and defensive transitions between the two sides.
Dortmund currently lacked neither of these two aspects.
Especially stamina. Klopp has been emphasizing stamina and running ability since he took over as coach of Dortmund, and now the value of his good intentions is being reflected.
The Dortmund players were like tireless "mad dogs," running all over the field. It is no exaggeration to say that Dortmund players wearing yellow and black jerseys can be seen in every corner of the field, and it is common to see two or three Dortmund players besieging one Real Madrid player in white. This is the numerical advantage in the local area brought about by running…
Even players like Zhou Yi were running tirelessly, and Gotze was also doing his best. If it weren't for the exposed transfer incident, how many people who saw this scene would have thought that Gotze had already pledged his heart to Bayern Munich?
But perhaps this makes people even more confused as to why he wants to go to Bayern Munich so stubbornly…