Chapter 1 Dortmund Takes the Initiative

Dortmund, having seized possession, launched an attack. This attack didn't directly threaten the goal guarded by Casillas, as Reus's shot was blocked by Ramos's body.

Although it didn't result in a goal or even a threat to the goal, the Dortmund players didn't feel any regret.

They held a very firm belief in their hearts: if they kept playing like this, the advantage, and ultimately the victory, would belong to them!

During the pre-match preparation period, head coach Klopp had shown them many recordings of Real Madrid matches, especially from this season's league games, where Real Madrid's performance was actually not very good. After eight league rounds, they had only four wins, two draws, and two losses, ranking only fourth, indicating they were facing major problems in the league.

And the matches they had lost were all instructive.

Before this match, every Dortmund player had watched numerous recordings of how Real Madrid became helpless under the opponent's relentless pressure. The coaching staff had also analyzed these recordings for them, explaining what they should do if they faced Real Madrid.

Real Madrid had a very strong ability to launch counterattacks, so after Dortmund attacked, if they lost the ball, they mustn't quickly retreat to defend. Instead, they had to immediately pounce forward to win back the ball, creating enough pressure on the Real Madrid players in the backfield. Only in this way could they prevent Real Madrid from executing their deadly fast counterattacks.

Furthermore, Real Madrid players had a weakness: their passing ability wasn't as good as Barcelona's. When facing pressure in their own half, they often wouldn't choose to break through the encirclement by using quick short passes in a small area. Instead, they would directly kick the ball forward with a long pass. Of course, this also reflected their requirement to launch quick counterattacks, but it also showed that Real Madrid players didn't even have the concept of passing the ball around in their own half. Their football was more direct and sharper, but also lacked some variation.

With sufficient pre-match preparation, and the Dortmund players using their actual actions to verify that their pre-match arrangements were correct after the match started, everyone became more confident.

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In the following match, whenever Real Madrid players controlled the ball in the middle and back areas, they would face pressure from Dortmund players. Sometimes it was one person, sometimes two, and there were even situations where three people surrounded and pressed a single Real Madrid player.

Even Zhou Yi, who usually didn't have many defensive tasks, was actively running and throwing himself into the process of "capturing" Real Madrid players.

He ran tirelessly back and forth on the field, making people couldn't help but worry about his stamina.

However, the current Zhou Yi was no longer the same as he was two seasons ago. After being tempered in professional leagues for these past few seasons, and with the Dortmund coaching team's customized physical training program for him, Zhou Yi had improved both his stamina and physical strength. Especially his stamina; now it was no longer difficult for him to play a full ninety-minute match.

It was just that people's impression of him still remained at the stage where he could only stroll on the field at the end of a match, believing that Zhou Yi's lack of stamina was innate and difficult to change.

So now, even if Zhou Yi slowed down when being substituted off the field, saying it was because he was too tired to run, the referee wouldn't bother him.

When others have a fixed impression of you, it's not necessarily a good thing, but sometimes it might be the opposite…

The running Zhou Yi was part of Dortmund's full-throttle machine. Everyone was running desperately, and even Mark Wagner, who had just recovered from injury, was no exception.

Because only when everyone ran could they ensure that there wouldn't be any loopholes in this pressing phase. If one person didn't run, then the area where he was would become a breakthrough point for Real Madrid.

So defense was a very disciplined job, unlike the talent-reliant offense. In defense, everyone had to transform into a cog in the team, and only when everyone did their job well could this machine operate normally.

Under this highly unified pressing by the entire Dortmund team, Real Madrid was indeed very uncomfortable. This was something they hadn't expected at all before the match. When did Dortmund ever press opponents like this? They hadn't played like this against Ajax or Manchester City. They didn't play like this in the Bundesliga either. Playing defensive counterattacks or controlling the ball were their most common tactics.

The continuous pressing made Real Madrid's midfield almost out of control. Özil and Alonso, two players who were good at getting the ball and organizing passes, were given special "attention" by Dortmund, which put them under tremendous pressure. Just being able to maintain possession was good enough. There was no point in expecting them to organize attacks. Cristiano Ronaldo and Benzema couldn't get the ball up front at all and could only retreat to ask for it. But after they retreated, it only made the midfield more crowded. The space each person could use was extremely small, and there were people everywhere, which made it easier for Dortmund to surround and press.

As for Di María, a player who was flexible and could break through, Dortmund adopted a tactic that combined fouls far away from dangerous areas with surrounding and pressing. If they could steal the ball, they would steal it. If they couldn't, they would simply commit a foul.

Because it was far away from the dangerous area, even if they fouled, they wouldn't get a card.

As a result, Real Madrid's midfield became a mess.

Mourinho realized that if things continued like this, his team's midfield would be finished.

So he decisively made a substitution.

Even though the match had only just started for twenty minutes…

He replaced Khedira with Modrić, using an attacking midfielder to replace a defensive midfielder.

When facing Dortmund's pressing, a defensive midfielder's role was almost completely unable to be displayed. He could only steal the ball, but couldn't control the ball and pass it well, so he couldn't break the current situation.

And Modrić was a player with excellent ball control and passing ability. After he came on, Real Madrid's midfield had three passing and organizing players. With such diversity, Real Madrid's midfield had more changes and possibilities, which was also Mourinho's countermeasure against Dortmund's high pressing.

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"Only twenty minutes in, and Real Madrid is forced to make a substitution. It seems that Dortmund is really making things difficult for Real Madrid… Mourinho had no choice but to make this decision. Khedira may have just finished warming up and has to go back to the bench, which is indeed a pity. But if he doesn't make this substitution, I'm afraid Real Madrid's midfield will be even worse. So this brave decision is necessary…" He Ping explained to the Chinese fans in front of the television.

"Forcing Real Madrid to make a substitution just twenty minutes into the game fully demonstrates that Klopp's tactics are correct," Marcel Reif said. "However, after Modrić comes on, the situation may improve. Dortmund must be careful about this substitution adjustment."

After Modrić came on, Real Madrid's midfield did improve to some extent. At least now, Dortmund needed to put in more effort to paralyze Real Madrid's midfield, because defending against Modrić was different from defending against Khedira.

But Dortmund wasn't just thinking about defending. This was their home ground, and all their pressing was for the purpose of scoring.

After preventing Real Madrid from organizing effective attacks, they should of course be thinking about how to break through their goal.

In the thirtieth minute, ten minutes after Modrić came on, the advantage was still with Dortmund. Their running not only allowed them to steal the ball from Real Madrid, but also allowed them to pass the ball extremely smoothly.

Any midfielder might be very envious of Zhou Yi at this moment, because he didn't need to look up at all. There were teammates everywhere around him to support him. As long as he passed the ball, no matter which direction he passed it, it would definitely be caught by his teammates. This was in stark contrast to those situations where you had to observe for a long time with the ball, and you had to push away the opponent's players who were coming to steal the ball, protecting the ball in a chaotic manner, only to find that there was no suitable passing target at all.

But having too many passing options was also a problem, because you couldn't just simply send the ball to your teammate's feet. If that was the case, passing the ball back would be the safest option. Passing was just a means, and the purpose was to be able to threaten the opponent's goal. So, finding the most suitable target among so many selectable passing targets tested the passer's ability.

Because they had to launch a counterattack immediately after stealing the ball, there wasn't much time for the passer to observe and think. They had to make a decision immediately in order to seize the fleeting opportunities.

And this kind of processing speed wasn't considered a difficult thing for Zhou Yi…

In the thirty-fourth minute, in Real Madrid's backfield, Modrić got the ball, and Sven Bender rushed up to press Modrić. Meanwhile, Özil quickly turned around and ran towards the wing, creating an angle and distance to make it easier for Modrić to pass the ball to him.

Modrić also saw Özil's run.

But he wasn't the only one who saw it. Zhou Yi also saw it…

So, just as Modrić passed the ball to Özil, Zhou Yi cut in diagonally and intercepted the pass with one foot.

The attacking and defending sides instantly reversed!

Without looking up to observe or thinking about countermeasures when intercepting the ball, he used the inside of his left foot to intercept the ball, and his right foot followed up to kick the ball. The outside of his right foot sliced towards the ball, which was an unconventional and somewhat showy passing action. But Zhou Yi was definitely not trying to show off. He did this to save time. This would save at least one second compared to him adjusting his posture and then using the inside of his right foot to pass the ball.

And in a counterattack, one second might be enough to determine the success or failure of this attack.

The ball was sliced out by the outside of his foot, drawing a very obvious arc in the air, heading straight for the rear side of Real Madrid's defense!