Chapter 177 What He Saw

When everyone thought the first half would end with a score of 1:1, no one expected Zhou Yi's sudden cold shot in front of the goal to result in a goal.

When the goal occurred, the Bernabéu fell silent for about a second, then a piercing boo erupted.

However, no one knew if the boo was for Borussia Dortmund, or for Real Madrid, for Zhou Yi who shot the ball, or for Arbeloa who blocked the football into his own goal...

Anyway, the familiar boos echoed through the Bernabéu again.

Amidst the boos, Zhou Yi and his Borussia Dortmund teammates embraced each other, celebrating the goal. And they celebrated with extra frenzy because the goal came so suddenly, like being hit by a pie in the face while walking down the street, a feeling of pure happiness.

And the first half ended right in the middle of their celebrations.

After blowing the whistle for Zhou Yi's goal, the referee Cakir immediately blew the whistle to end the first half.

The Bernabéu's boos grew louder.

This time, it seemed certain that their boos were for the referee Cakir. They felt the referee hadn't given Real Madrid enough time. If Real Madrid could have equalized before the end of the first half, it would have been a perfect performance from the referee.

But unfortunately, the referee Cakir didn't give them much face.

Dortmund's players walked off the field, still celebrating.

The score for the first half appeared on the screen, Borussia Dortmund leading Real Madrid 2:1 on the road. Above the score were the names of the goal scorers. However, Zhou Yi's goal was credited not to him, but as an own goal by Arbeloa.

"The broadcasting agency seems to have credited the goal to Arbeloa. What a pity, Zhou Yi has missed out on a Champions League goal..."

He Ping felt sorry for Zhou Yi. It would have been so good if the goal had been credited to Zhou Yi.

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While He Ping was lamenting Zhou Yi's misfortune, Marcel Reif was happy for Borussia Dortmund: "Being able to lead Real Madrid on their home ground fully demonstrates Borussia Dortmund's progress and growth. I think they are definitely the fastest growing team in Europe these past two seasons. When Klopp's 'Youth Army' gradually matures, they will make the whole of Europe afraid to ignore them!"

Defeating Real Madrid at their own home stadium might make people think there was some kind of mysterious force at play. But being able to lead Real Madrid on their home ground left even those who pick bones out of eggs with nothing to criticize.

"Zhou Yi's goal at the last moment must have disrupted Mourinho's plans. It's a pity he had already left early and didn't see the goal. But he will definitely hear the boos from the Bernabéu, and he will be able to guess that his team has conceded a goal! I wonder if Real Madrid's goal conceded has anything to do with Mourinho's early departure?" As a German commentator, Marcel Reif teased his opponents to his heart's content.

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Mourinho indeed did not see the goal conceded, but he heard the deafening boos coming from outside while he was in the tunnel. He realized something had happened.

But he didn't rush out to see what was going on. His footsteps only paused for a moment, then he sped up and walked towards the locker room.

Soon his assistant coach would tell him what had happened.

The conceded goal really made him feel annoyed. It was originally a tie game, and he had already been thinking about how to break the deadlock in the second half and then hold on to the victory. Now that they were one goal behind, all his previous plans were useless. He had to rethink how to equalize as soon as possible in the second half, and then overtake...

At the same time, he also had to consider the changes in the players' mentality.

Conceding a goal when the first half was about to end had a huge impact on the players' morale.

In football matches, the players' mentality and morale are often important factors determining the outcome of the match.

He not only had to arrange tactics, but also had to get the players to cheer up again. Just getting angry and scolding them probably wouldn't work.

It was really a lot to think about. Just thinking about the conceded goal made him grit his teeth in secret. This conceded goal came at the worst possible time!

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Mourinho's guesses, concerns, and worries were justified. From the time they conceded the goal to the time they went off the field, the Real Madrid players were not in high spirits. Some of them even had bewildered expressions on their faces, unable to believe that their team had conceded a goal in the last few dozen seconds of the first half...

The impact of the last-minute goal conceded on them was evident.

In addition, the boos from the Bernabéu, whether they were directed at them or not, were harsh in their ears and further affected their emotions.

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After the halftime break, Mourinho made his adjustments.

When the players from both sides returned to the field, two Real Madrid players were standing on the sidelines, waiting to be substituted onto the field.

Mourinho substituted two people in one go, leaving him with only one card left to play. This showed the extent to which Zhou Yi's shot at the end of the first half had pushed him.

Higuain was substituted, and replaced by the young talent Callejon, who was cultivated by Real Madrid themselves. Mourinho hoped to use Callejon's drive to impact Borussia Dortmund's defense and create a bit of chaos for Borussia Dortmund.

In addition, he used Essien to replace Modrić.

When needing to attack, using a defensive midfielder to replace an organizing midfielder seemed strange and illogical, right?

But that wasn't actually the case. In this match, Real Madrid, confident in taking down Borussia Dortmund at home, fielded four starting midfielders: Xabi Alonso, Modrić, Di María, and Özil. All four of these people were more focused on offense, and their defensive abilities were very weak. Perhaps only Xabi Alonso could defend a little bit, but he was not a full-time defender either.

So what situation did this create?

When Borussia Dortmund launched a counterattack, Real Madrid lacked effective interception methods in the midfield. All four midfielders were not good at defending, and Borussia Dortmund's counterattacks easily broke through them, directly facing the defense line.

In the second half, when Real Madrid wanted to further increase their offensive efforts, the gaps behind them would be even greater, which would inevitably trigger Borussia Dortmund's counterattacks. At this time, if there was no interception force in the midfield, it would be indirectly assisting Borussia Dortmund.

Therefore, substituting Essien and letting Essien defend in the midfield would allow others to attack with confidence and put pressure on Borussia Dortmund.

So although an offensive player was substituted for a defensive player, Mourinho's adjustment was actually to strengthen Real Madrid's offensive power in the second half.

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After Essien and Callejon were substituted on, Real Madrid's offensive in the second half did become more threatening, because the offensive players could participate more fully in the attack, and Mourinho's halftime adjustments did have a certain effect.

Faced with Real Madrid's aggressive offensive, Borussia Dortmund soon felt the pressure.

In the fifty-seventh and sixty-fifth minutes, Großkreutz and Hummels committed fouls in defense and received yellow cards in succession.

After feeling the huge pressure from Real Madrid, Klopp also made a substitution adjustment. He replaced Reus with the defensive midfielder Sven Bender.

This was clearly a posture to strengthen the defense.

But things didn't go as planned. Not long after he made the substitution, Real Madrid scored a goal. In the seventy-seventh minute, Özil equalized the score for Real Madrid!

"Mesut Özil!!!"

The entire Bernabéu turned into a boiling ocean at that moment, everyone jumping up from their seats, raising their arms and shouting.

Amidst their cheers, Real Madrid players swarmed towards Özil, embracing in the corner flag area, waving their fists and arms towards the stands, and Real Madrid fans responded to them with even greater cheers.

At this time, the Bernabéu finally demonstrated its terrifying power as Real Madrid's home stadium!

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Marcel Reif immediately comforted the players after the goal conceded, and was also trying to reduce the pressure on Borussia Dortmund fans in front of the TV: "They've conceded a goal, which is not what we wanted to see. But it's okay, a draw is also an acceptable result for Borussia Dortmund. We should be more patient than Real Madrid now!"

"Real Madrid's offensive firepower is still quite fierce. After unleashing their full firepower without any scruples on their own home ground, Borussia Dortmund didn't hold on." He Ping felt sorry that Borussia Dortmund couldn't keep their lead, but he quickly defended Borussia Dortmund. "But fortunately, Borussia Dortmund defeated Real Madrid at home, so as long as they don't lose to Real Madrid in this match, they will have an advantage in the head-to-head record. Now, Borussia Dortmund is still in the lead. As long as they can hold on, this result is nothing unacceptable..."

The fans were also very understanding. Indeed, drawing with Real Madrid on the road was already a good result. What else could they want?

Borussia Dortmund could completely accept this draw.

Real Madrid could not.

Their only goal at home was to win!

Only by winning against Borussia Dortmund could they have a chance to compete with Borussia Dortmund for the top spot in the group in the future. If they drew, then whether they could become the top of the group might depend on other people's performances.

So Real Madrid, who had just finished celebrating their goal, saw Mourinho play his last card.

He replaced Arbeloa with Kaká.

Substituting an attacking midfielder for a fullback, Mourinho's intention was very clear: continue to strengthen the attack and score another goal in the remaining ten or so minutes to take down Borussia Dortmund!

It was conceivable that Borussia Dortmund would face even greater defensive pressure in these ten or so minutes of the match, which was definitely a severe test for their defense!