Chapter 1 Dortmund Advances to Champions League Final, a Historic Feat

Dortmund's return to the Champions League final after sixteen years had created history, and this became the focal point of discussion after the match.

In China, everyone was enthusiastically discussing the matter as well.

Of course, their focus wasn't on Dortmund's sixteen-year absence from the Champions League final, but on the fact that, for the first time ever, a Chinese player had made it to the Champions League final.

On Weibo, everyone was anticipating Zhou Yi's performance in the Champions League final.

And another highly anticipated goal: Could Zhou Yi become the first Chinese player in history to win the Champions League title?

Before Zhou Yi, only Park Ji-sung from all of Asia had ever appeared on the Champions League final stage. In the 2008-2009 Champions League final, Park Ji-sung started, becoming the first Asian player to participate in a Champions League final and the first Asian player to start in one. In the 2010-2011 Champions League final, Park Ji-sung started again.

Unfortunately, Park Ji-sung was unable to win the Champions League title in either of those starts, as Manchester United lost to the same opponent, Barcelona.

However, Park Ji-sung still became the first and only Asian football player to win the Champions League title. In the 2007-2008 Champions League final, despite not being included in the roster for the final in the pouring rain in Moscow, he still received a Champions League medal with the team and lifted the Champions League trophy.

For Chinese fans, their expectations for Zhou Yi went beyond just starting in the Champions League final, repeating Park Ji-sung's achievement. They also hoped Zhou Yi could accomplish what Park Ji-sung had failed to do: start in the Champions League final and help his team win the Champions League title.

Although Park Ji-sung won the Champions League title, he didn't actually play in the Champions League final in the season he won the title. And when he did play in the Champions League final, Manchester United didn't win.

So, if one were to nitpick, Park Ji-sung's Champions League title might feel like a "laid-back victory."

Zhou Yi couldn't be the first Asian to appear in the Champions League or lift the trophy, but he could be the first to "play in the Champions League final and win the title."

Even though the Champions League final wouldn't take place until the early hours of May 26th, Beijing time, still over twenty days away, Chinese fans were already eagerly anticipating it, wishing the Champions League final were the next day.

But Zhou Yi wasn't particularly excited. In a post-match interview, he stated that the focus was now on the league.

"The Champions League final is still far off. What's more important to us is the league title race. We're currently two points behind Bayern Munich, but we still have a chance to face them directly, so we'll be focusing on the league next..."

In fact, on the plane from Madrid back to Dortmund, Klopp had already told his players to quickly forget about the Champions League final and focus on the league.

Three days later, they would be hosting Bayern Munich at home.

That would be the final in the league.

Dortmund only had three days to prepare, which was a very tight schedule.

The only consolation was that Bayern Munich had even less preparation time: only two days.

Bayern Munich would be competing against Barcelona tonight for a ticket to Wembley Stadium, the venue for the Champions League final. Actually, there was hardly any suspense. Given the current state of the two teams, Bayern Munich's advancement to the final was practically guaranteed.

If, in the league match three days later, Bayern Munich were to defeat Dortmund away, then Bayern Munich would very likely become the treble winners of Europe this season.

That would be an incredible achievement.

Never before in the entire history of German football had a team been able to achieve such a feat.

Dortmund no longer had a chance to stop Bayern Munich in the German Cup, but they still had a chance to thwart Bayern Munich in the Champions League final and in the league.

※※※

On the evening of May 1st, Barcelona welcomed Bayern Munich to their home stadium.

This was a do-or-die moment for Barcelona, but in the actual match, Barcelona didn't display the fighting spirit people had hoped for, quite unlike Real Madrid the day before.

Of course, this wasn't entirely incomprehensible. After all, it was relatively easier for Real Madrid to turn things around. They only needed to win 3-0 at home, which wasn't impossible for Real Madrid. But it was much more difficult for Barcelona to turn things around at home. A more realistic goal would be for them to win 4-0 against Bayern Munich at their home stadium and then drag the game into overtime. But even such a "realistic" goal was very difficult.

Although there were many objectively unfavorable factors, people didn't expect Barcelona to show such a lack of fighting spirit at their home stadium. Everyone had previously thought that even if Barcelona knew they had no hope of advancing, they should at least try to salvage some face with a victory at home. Even if they couldn't win 4-0, a victory like 1-0 or 2-1 would still be acceptable.

Who would have thought that Barcelona would lose 0-3 at their own home?

The two teams were able to maintain a goalless stalemate in the first half, but in the second half, they completely collapsed.

Just as the second half began, Robben scored for Bayern Munich. Then, in the seventy-second minute, Pique's own goal made Barcelona's situation even worse. Four minutes later, Thomas Müller's goal completely sealed Barcelona's fate.

In the end, with a total score of 0-7 over the two legs, Barcelona was eliminated. Although the result of being eliminated wasn't unexpected, the total score was still quite astonishing. They conceded seven goals over the two legs while failing to score a single goal themselves. Losing so completely at home was simply "shameful."

Bayern Munich started making substitutions when the game reached the sixty-seventh minute, and after Müller scored the third goal, they used up their last substitution slot. Clearly, even though Bayern Munich was in Barcelona, their minds had already drifted to Dortmund. Heynckes was already preparing for the "battle of the titans" against Dortmund in two days.

Thinking about another opponent while playing against Barcelona was the greatest humiliation for Barcelona.

At this point, people couldn't help but lament that Barcelona, having lost Guardiola, was no longer as powerful as before. The super invincible "Cosmic Team" had now returned to Earth.

Meanwhile, Bayern Munich returned to Germany with the afterglow of their 7-0 victory over Barcelona, ready to face their life-and-death enemy in the league, Dortmund.

※※※

While other countries' media were still discussing whether the meeting of the German duo in the Champions League final, turning the Champions League into the German Cup, meant that the Bundesliga had re-emerged, the German media were no longer discussing the Champions League, but the league.

The most watched match in the entire German football scene was the match between Bayern Munich and Dortmund.

This match was so highly anticipated for two reasons. One was that it was related to the ownership of the league title.

This season, both teams had performed exceptionally well, especially after the winter break. Neither Bayern Munich nor Dortmund had lost a single game, and their scores had always been two points apart, very close. This situation was rare in Bundesliga history. It was reasonable to say that Bayern Munich's performance this season had already been very outstanding, but Dortmund's equally impressive performance had added even more color to this competition.

Currently, Bayern Munich was ranked first with 84 points, while Dortmund was closely following behind with 82 points.

Bayer Leverkusen, in third place, had 56 points and was not in the same league as Bayern Munich and Dortmund. This showed how powerful these two teams were.

Their war was something that other teams couldn't interfere with at all.

In previous leagues, even if there were two teams competing for the championship, matches between other teams and them could still affect the final league standings because they might lose to other teams. But this year, this situation had never occurred. Whether it was Leverkusen, Schalke 04, or teams vying for European qualification or relegation, they had all lost when they encountered Dortmund and Bayern Munich, unable to stop the two teams' progress.

The media joked about the huge advantage Barcelona and Real Madrid had in La Liga, calling the two teams the "Super League" independent of the La Liga League. Now, the same trope could be used in the Bundesliga. In addition to the sixteen Bundesliga teams, there was also a "German Super League" consisting of two teams.

Especially since these two teams had both reached the Champions League final, an achievement that even the "Spanish Super League" duo hadn't accomplished – Real Madrid and Barcelona had never met in the Champions League final.

Bayern Munich and Dortmund had taken the "German Super League" to the extreme.

Before the German Cup final and the Champions League final, the final battle in the league would be the first to arrive.

But if it was just a strong match and a fight for the league title, then this match wouldn't have received so much attention.

Another important reason was the news that Gotze had been poached by Bayern Munich before the Champions League semi-finals.

This news shocked the entire Germany and added another layer of animosity to the two teams, in addition to the competitive aspect.

After the news broke, Bayern Munich officially announced that they would submit an application to Dortmund to buy out Gotze after the first leg of the Champions League semi-final. So, on the morning of April 25th, after the first leg of the Champions League semi-final, Bayern Munich submitted the application to activate the buyout clause. Around 2 p.m., Dortmund, as a listed joint-stock company, notified its shareholders of Bayern Munich's application.

This basically meant that Gotze's transfer to Bayern Munich was a done deal and could not be changed.

Unless Gotze came out and rejected Bayern Munich's invitation.

But after the two clubs released announcements, Gotze didn't say that he wanted to stay at Dortmund. This greatly disappointed and angered those Dortmund fans who still had illusions about Gotze.

Although Gotze's performance on the field was outstanding, it didn't weaken the Dortmund fans' dissatisfaction with him at all. In fact, his outstanding performance on the field made Dortmund fans even more angry, because this created a stark contrast with the future – a team's main player who performed so well would be playing for the arch-rival Bayern Munich starting next season! It was almost impossible to imagine what it would be like for a player who had trained and played in a Dortmund jersey since he was a child to wear a Bayern Munich jersey one day...

After returning from Real Madrid, many Dortmund fans went to the Dortmund airport to welcome the players. Every player received applause and cheers, except for Gotze. When he appeared, although there was applause and cheering, it was also mixed with clear, piercing boos.

Dortmund fans were angry at Gotze, and also angry at Bayern Munich for poaching their player.

Competing rivals for the championship, and enemies who had poached their main player – these two emotions mixed together were the reason why this battle of the titans was so highly anticipated.

If Bayern Munich could not only snatch Dortmund's main players in the transfer market, but also snatch their league title at Dortmund's home stadium, that would be a double blow to Dortmund. It would completely release all the pent-up frustration from the previous two seasons when they were suppressed by Dortmund and couldn't turn things around.

On the Dortmund side, with Gotze's transfer to Bayern Munich already a foregone conclusion, they certainly hoped to use stealing Bayern Munich's championship as a means of revenge.

No one could afford to lose, and everyone wanted to win.

But victory could only belong to one side, and someone was destined to become a loser after this match.

Which side would it be?