Chapter 1 The Nineteenth of August, 2012

The new season of La Liga kicked off on August 19, 2012, earlier than in previous years.

The opening match was Celta against Malaga, and Malaga ultimately defeated Celta 1-0 on the road.

After He Ying stayed with Barcelona's first team, Chinese media and fans began to look forward to a "Chinese Derby" in La Liga. The Bundesliga already had a "Chinese Derby," and now it was La Liga's turn.

However, they would have to wait until the early hours of December 17, Beijing time, for the sixteenth round of the league, when Barcelona would host Atletico Madrid at home. Only then would the "Chinese Derby" take place.

In the first round of the league, Barcelona would host Real Sociedad at three o'clock in the morning Beijing time on August 20. Then, at five o'clock in the morning, Atletico Madrid would challenge Levante away.

Sun Pan had already been confirmed to be unable to participate in this game due to injury. According to Atletico Madrid's team doctor, Sun Pan might not be able to return until mid-September.

So during this time, everyone's biggest expectation was He Ying.

But to the disappointment of Chinese fans and reporters, He Ying was not selected for Barcelona's squad list for the first round of the league. This meant that, not to mention starting, he wouldn't even be able to come off the bench.

After Barcelona announced the squad list, He Ying accepted an interview with Chinese reporters, saying that he was absent from the team's pre-season training camp, so it was difficult to get into the squad list for the first game. However, he was not discouraged by this. He would continue to work hard and impress the coach with his performance, striving to get into the squad list as soon as possible.

This game had nothing to do with most Chinese fans. Except for Barcelona fans who would stay up until three in the morning to watch TV, everyone else went to bed.

In the end, the powerful Barcelona defeated Real Sociedad 5-1 at home. Messi scored twice, Pedro had a goal and an assist, Tello, who started, had two assists, and Villa, who came on as a substitute, had a goal. He Ying's competitors in the front line all performed well.

Next, Atletico Madrid, without Sun Pan, were held to a 1-1 draw by Levante on the road.

Two players were absent from their respective games, but the reasons for their absence were different, so their futures were also somewhat different.

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La Liga had already started, but the Bundesliga had not yet begun.

When Zhou Yi had just finished the Olympics and returned to the club, Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich played the German Super Cup.

In the end, Bayern Munich defeated Borussia Dortmund, who were missing their core player Zhou Yi, 2-1 in the Super Cup.

Defeating Dortmund and winning the championship, Heynckes' Bayern Munich had a very good start. The performance of Heynckes' team in the game made people believe that after Dortmund had monopolized the Bundesliga title for two seasons, Bayern Munich had finally woken up from their sleep, and once this giant woke up, it would bring a huge threat to Dortmund, even directly overthrowing Dortmund from the league throne!

For a time, the media was full of optimism about Bayern Munich this season, as if Dortmund's era was about to pass.

The situation on Dortmund's side was indeed not very good. Kagawa Shinji was gone, and the core player Zhou Yi almost didn't make it to the team's pre-season training camp. Dortmund didn't have any exciting signings in the transfer market either. They only brought in four people in total. Only Reus was finalized at the beginning of the year. The remaining three were nineteen-year-old attacking midfielder Bittencourt, who transferred from Cottbus for a transfer fee of 2.7 million euros. They also brought in Kirch from Kaiserslautern for 350,000 euros, and striker Schieber from Stuttgart for 5.5 million euros.

This transfer activity was vastly different from Bayern Munich's.

This summer, Bayern Munich spent more than 61 million euros in the transfer market, bringing in eight players. The transfer fee for just Javi Martinez was equivalent to Dortmund's entire transfer spending this summer...

After winning the league title for two consecutive seasons, Dortmund's championship cycle seemed to be coming to an end. The departure of Kagawa Shinji was a sign.

After all, it was already amazing to win the Bundesliga title for two consecutive seasons. There were only a handful of teams in history that had won three consecutive titles - only two teams had done it. One was Bayern Munich, and the other was Borussia Mönchengladbach from 1975-1977. Borussia Mönchengladbach only did it once, but Bayern Munich had three three-peat wins, namely 1972-1974, 1985-1987, and 1999-2001, an unprecedented three-peat "hat-trick".

So, whether from the current situation or from history, it was almost impossible for Dortmund to win three consecutive league titles.

After the Super Cup game, the *Munich Daily* believed that if Klopp was smart, he should put all his bets on the new season's Champions League. If he could make a historic breakthrough in the Champions League, then it would still be a successful season for Dortmund and him.

But it was impossible to expect to achieve good results in both competitions.

"...The Chinese are celebrating their first Olympic men's football gold medal in history, and Zhou Yi has become a national hero in their country by leading the weak Chinese team to win the gold medal. But I think that while Zhou Yi is enjoying this cheer, he may not realize that his performance in the national team will cause his club to struggle... Anyone who understands football knows the impact of missing the entire pre-season training camp... It can be said that Zhou Yi's Olympic gold medal may very well come at the cost of Dortmund falling into the abyss!"

Finally, the reporter from the *Munich Daily* said confidently and assuredly.

In response, Zhou Yi said in an interview with Chinese and local Dortmund media: "...After we won our first league title, they said we would encounter a rookie wall, so it was impossible to successfully defend the title. As a result, we successfully defended the title, and now they have found new reasons. To be honest, I admire them very much. I have nothing to say, because they have a talent bonus in terms of being stubborn."

The media had always believed that Zhou Yi would definitely not be able to play in the first round of the league because he missed Dortmund's pre-season training camp - by that time, he might have just rested, and football games couldn't be played just by having physical strength. His cooperation with the team was still a problem. With Kagawa Shinji gone and Reus coming, Klopp would definitely have to make some adjustments to the tactics, and Zhou Yi was not there during this critical period of adjustment, which was a hidden danger for both him and the team.

But four days before the first round of the league, Zhou Yi told reporters: "My body has recovered almost completely, and I look forward to playing in the first round of the league against Werder Bremen."

His words surprised the reporters - how could he have recovered so quickly?

Even a complete vacation without training would take at least ten days. Zhou Yi came directly to the team to participate in training after playing in the Olympics. He was always known for his poor physical fitness, so how could he have recovered almost completely?

What surprised the reporters even more was that Klopp also said in a subsequent interview: "I am quite optimistic about him (Zhou Yi) playing in the first game. Of course, everything depends on the decision of our team doctor. If they think it is okay, then it is okay. If they think it is not okay, then both Zhou Yi and I must wait patiently."

The words of the two men aroused various imaginations and speculations among reporters and fans.

After leaving the suspense to others, Zhou Yi continued to train methodically in Brackel. He had already started tactical training with the team, and was no longer just doing individual physical training.

This shows that what he said was not just a trick.

It's just that reporters and fans can't see it, because this part of the training is not open to the public...

If anyone wants to think that Zhou Yi and Dortmund are acting and playing tricks, then let them think so.