Chapter 1 Yang Muge Thought They Were Joking

Yang Muge thought Zhou Yi and Sun Pan were definitely kidding. Especially Zhou Yi. After being with him for so long, he couldn't tell which of his words were true and which were jokes.

Sometimes he would look at you with sincere eyes, completely serious, but what he said might very well be a joke.

He was thinking, how could Zhou Yi say such frivolous things in front of the media?

Zhou Yi and Sun Pan meeting in the Champions League quarter-finals was definitely the most attractive thing for Chinese fans in this season's Champions League.

More so than He Ying and Sun Pan meeting.

After all, before meeting Sun Pan, He Ying couldn't get a game at Barcelona and had to go to Paris Saint-Germain on loan. His state hadn't reached the zenith he had at the Olympics. In other words, everyone felt that he wasn't at his strongest when he competed with Sun Pan.

Zhou Yi was different. He had just demonstrated his outstanding form and world-class ability with two goals and an assist in the Ruhr derby.

Sun Pan also brought his personal abilities to the extreme in the second leg against Paris Saint-Germain.

It could be said that among the five Chinese players playing in Europe, Zhou Yi and Sun Pan were the two with the most outstanding abilities and the most outstanding results.

Their encounter could definitely be regarded as a true "strong vs. strong" confrontation.

Of course, a dialogue between these two people would be more attractive than the duel between Sun Pan and He Ying.

So after the draw results came out, both traditional and online media in China were discussing this "Chinese Derby."

The general view was that the meeting of these two people was not something to be happy about, but a regret. No matter who eventually won the game, it would be a huge loss, because it also meant that another equally excellent person would have to say goodbye to this season's Champions League stage.

At this time, no matter what the outside world said, it was of course necessary to listen to what the parties involved had to say.

So Zhou Yi and Sun Pan both received interview requests from reporters - the reporters couldn't wait until the end of training tomorrow to interview the two in person. That would be a little less timely. The fans in China were anxiously waiting at this time.

Now, when everyone woke up, logged on to the website, or bought a newspaper, they could see how the two parties viewed the draw results.

Sun Pan: "...I don't care who I'm drawn with. Anyway, no one will score, and Dortmund is no exception."

Reporter: "Are you saying you won't let Dortmund score either? Like you did against Paris Saint-Germain?"

Sun Pan: "Of course! I mean what I say!"

These words were very decisive. However, due to his performance in the second leg against Paris Saint-Germain, no one came to question Sun Pan.

So how did Zhou Yi view it?

"I know, Pan Pan has already said that he won't let me and my team score a goal. What do I think? What can I think? If he doesn't let us score one goal, then we'll score two or three."

When Yang Muge saw the answers from these two, he almost spat out what he was drinking - they really did what they said! They said all the jokes from the group chat!

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In the eyes of outsiders, the "war of words" between Zhou Yi and Sun Pan had already begun.

But it would take some time for the two to actually meet. The first leg of the quarter-final between Atletico Madrid and Dortmund would be played on the evening of April 3. And now it was only March 15, there was still almost a month to go.

In the meantime, they still had their respective league games to play.

Sun Pan's Atletico Madrid's league task was not to compete for the championship. If there were no surprises, this season's league champion would be Barcelona. After twenty-seven rounds of the league, Barcelona had twenty-three wins, two draws, and two losses, ranking first with seventy-one points. Real Madrid, which ranked second, only had fifty-eight points, thirteen points behind with ten rounds left in the league, making it almost impossible to surpass.

Atletico Madrid's task was to try to qualify for the Champions League again next season. Of course, it would be even better if they could win the league runner-up. They now had fifty-seven points, only one point less than Real Madrid, so there was still hope.

Considering that Malaga, which was fourth in the league, had forty-four points, thirteen points behind Atletico Madrid, Atletico Madrid's task burden in the league this season was actually not very heavy.

The situation on Dortmund's side was slightly more serious.

Their championship battle with Bayern Munich would gradually become more intense. They had both entered the quarter-finals of the Champions League, and they couldn't relax in the league.

In the next league match, the twenty-sixth round, Dortmund would host Freiburg, while Bayern Munich would challenge Leverkusen away.

After the comeback victory in the Ruhr derby, Dortmund's morale was high. That victory was really important. Klopp also took the opportunity to instill a winning mentality and philosophy into his team during training after the game, telling them that even the Ruhr derby hadn't been able to stop them, so there was no one in this world who could stop them.

With this mentality, Dortmund swept Freiburg 5-1 at home.

However, Bayern Munich was not to be outdone. They defeated Leverkusen 2-1 away in a later game.

Twenty-six rounds of the league had passed, and the two teams were still only two points apart.

If this trend continued, the two teams would probably have to decide the champion in a direct confrontation - in the thirty-second round of the league, Dortmund would welcome Bayern Munich at home. If Dortmund could beat Bayern Munich, they would surpass Bayern Munich by one point with two rounds left in the league. If they could hold on to this one-point lead, they would win the Bundesliga title and become the third team in history to win three consecutive league titles.

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In addition to defeating Freiburg by a large score, Dortmund also received good news - Mark, who was injured in the away game against Donetsk, was able to train with the team again, which meant that his return was just around the corner.

But there was also bad news, which was that Hummels and Kuba were injured. This was a very bad situation for Dortmund, who wanted to catch up with Bayern Munich. More and more players were injured, which would make it impossible for Klopp to arrange rotations calmly.

In the twenty-seventh round of the league, Mark appeared on the team's roster. He would travel with the team to Stuttgart to challenge the opponent.

This game was very intense.

In the twenty-third minute of the game, Stuttgart midfielder Martin Harnik received a yellow card for a foul on Schmelzer, and Schmelzer was injured by Harnik's foul and couldn't continue the game.

Because Hummels and Owomoyela were injured on the defense line, Klopp didn't bring any defenders to the away game at all. At this time, Piszczek was also injured, so what should he do?

Klopp could only let Grosskreutz come off the bench to replace Schmelzer as the team's left back.

Fortunately, Dortmund still had such a versatile player who could play in multiple positions and was willing to work hard, otherwise Klopp would really be in trouble.

Fortunately, it wasn't long before Dortmund scored. Zhou Yi passed the ball to Reus, Reus passed it into the middle, and Lewandowski, who followed up in the middle, scored with a header, helping Dortmund take the lead away from home.

Subsequently, Stuttgart defender Niedermeier received a yellow card for a foul on Lewandowski.

In the first half, Stuttgart failed to tie the score, and Dortmund failed to extend their lead.

If this score was maintained until the end of the game, Dortmund would get another three points and temporarily surpass Bayern Munich, who had one game less, on the standings.

However, after the half-time break, Stuttgart obviously strengthened their offense, and in the sixty-third minute, midfielder Alexandru Maxim equalized the score for Stuttgart.

The situation began to become unfavorable for Dortmund.

Stuttgart, who equalized the score, was in high spirits and launched a fierce attack on Dortmund's goal. This period was the most difficult for Dortmund fans. They were afraid that the team would not be able to withstand the pressure and collapse.

However, at the critical moment, God still helped Dortmund.

In the sixty-ninth minute, during the most intense period of Stuttgart's attack, Dortmund got a chance to counterattack. At that time, Zhou Yi got the ball. He didn't hesitate, but directly passed the ball to a gap he favored. As long as the ball could be passed out, Reus would be able to form a one-on-one.

As a result, when Stuttgart defender Niedermeier couldn't stop Zhou Yi from passing the ball by normal means, he reached out and blocked Zhou Yi's pass in desperation, causing the ball to deviate greatly and move away from the inserted Reus.

Such an obvious handball naturally couldn't escape the eyes of referee Atkin, who was in charge of the game. So Atkin stopped the game and ran towards Niedermeier, who deliberately handled the ball.

"Ah, Niedermeier is going to be unlucky!" Marcel Reif said. "He must also be very clear about this. He wants to escape... but how is it possible to escape? This is a deliberate handball! Anyone, as long as they are not blind, can see it! A deliberate handball is definitely a yellow card, and Niedermeier already has a yellow card - he is going to be sent off with a red card!"

Before he finished speaking, Atkin ran to Niedermeier, holding two cards in his hand, one yellow and one red.

He first showed Niedermeier a yellow card, and then showed the red card - Niedermeier was sent off with a red card!

When Stuttgart's morale was high and the situation was very good, their center back was sent off, and the good momentum cooled down quickly, like being poured a basin of cold water...

At the most critical moment for Dortmund, the sudden appearance of a red card gave them a chance to breathe!

It was such a coincidence that people thought it was God's arrangement.