Chapter 1 Dortmund's Lightning Strike

When Dortmund kicked off, Zhou Yi didn't step into the center circle because he wasn't an attacking midfielder right now, so there was no need for him to participate in the kickoff.

Dortmund's kickoff was performed by striker Robert Lewandowski and attacking midfielder Shinji Kagawa.

Zhou Yi stood just outside the center circle, waiting for the ball to be passed to him.

With the referee's whistle, Lewandowski tapped the ball forward, and Kagawa followed up, turning and passing the ball back.

Sure enough, the ball landed at Zhou Yi's feet.

As Kagawa passed the ball back, Götze began to run forward.

But at first, he hesitated a bit, glancing back. When he saw that Zhou Yi didn't pass the ball directly to him but continued to pass it back, he knew Zhou Yi was giving him enough time. So he didn't dare to delay, no longer looking back at the situation behind him, and began to sprint forward.

After passing the ball back, Zhou Yi quickly looked ahead and saw Götze's running back.

So he turned back again, signaling Neven Subotić, who was receiving the ball, to pass it to him.

Zhou Yi had spoken to Subotić before the game, so Subotić immediately passed the ball back.

After receiving the ball, Zhou Yi didn't turn around and pass it forward, but instead passed it sideways to Sven Bender.

After kicking the ball out, he immediately and quickly turned his head again to look ahead, confirming Götze's position. At the same time, although he didn't look at Sven Bender, he had already made a passing motion to Sven Bender with his hand.

When Sven Bender passed the ball to him, he had already turned his head back, just in time to see the ball rolling toward him.

He lifted his foot to receive the ball, completing the turning motion at the same time.

At this point, after Dortmund kicked off, including Kagawa's pass to Zhou Yi, there had only been a total of five passes.

Five passes, taking no more than six seconds.

For a ninety-minute game, six seconds was just an extremely brief moment.

What could be done in this extremely brief moment?

Barcelona's attacking players had just moved to the vicinity of Dortmund's thirty-meter area, and Cesc Fàbregas planned to come up and steal the ball from Zhou Yi, then launch an attack directly.

But just as he rushed up, Zhou Yi, who had the ball, suddenly made a long pass, kicking the ball straight toward Barcelona's defense, or more precisely, the space behind Barcelona's defense!

The ball soared through the air, over all obstacles, like a precision-guided missile, flying toward the open space behind Barcelona's defensive line.

Six seconds was enough for a player who wasn't particularly fast to bypass the defending players, cross several defensive lines, and reach the destination.

As the ball flew through the air, Götze passed through a not-so-big, not-so-small gap between Barcelona's center-back Javier Mascherano and Dani Alves.

He broke through the formation and became the leader!

※※※

"Mario Götze!" Marcel Reif exclaimed.

Víctor Valdés had originally wanted to come out, but he had only just run to the penalty spot when he hesitated—Zhou Yi's pass was very cunning. Although it was a powerful long pass, he controlled the landing point of the ball very precisely. The ball would land outside the penalty area and closer to Götze, so Götze would get the ball sooner than him.

Of course, if Valdés insisted on coming out, it wasn't impossible; he could just rush in front of Götze and block his shooting angle.

But Valdés hesitated, and this pause gave Götze an opportunity.

Götze, having broken through the defensive line, looked back and saw the ball falling toward him, so he adjusted his steps, ready to receive the ball.

He lifted his foot to bring down the ball in the air, a very perfect reception, the ball landing directly in front of his body!

"Götze with a beautiful touch! That was a great touch!" Marcel Reif couldn't help but praise.

In this kind of counterattack, an excellent touch is almost half the battle.

Götze stopped the ball and looked up to observe Valdés.

Valdés was now right at the penalty spot, in a very awkward position—did he want to continue rushing forward? There wasn't enough time, the distance was too far. Before he could rush in front of Götze, the other side might just chip the ball over him. Retreat? That would increase Götze's shooting angle, allowing him to shoot with ease…

After hesitating for only half a second, Valdés still chose to attack—retreating after charging halfway was too stupid. He didn't want to make such an amateur mistake. So at this time, like a pawn crossing the river, Valdés could only advance, not retreat.

He rushed toward Götze.

And Götze, after observing Valdés's position, had only one voice in his head now, from Zhou Yi's words before the game: "Shoot when you have the opportunity!"

Wasn't this an opportunity?

Götze decisively shot!

He didn't choose to chip the ball, but instead chose a low shot. The ball sped along the grass, not far from Valdés.

But such a shot made it difficult for Valdés to dive, because goalkeepers fear ground balls the most, and among ground balls, what makes them most uncomfortable is the kind of ball that is neither too close nor too far from their body. Because the speed at which goalkeepers fall to the ground is inherently slower than the speed at which they rise into the air, and the position closer to their body can be considered a blind spot for saving with their hands. This is determined by the structure of the human body.

So more cunning shots choose to kick this position.

Sure enough, Valdés was half a beat too slow in diving. His hand didn't have time to touch the ball before the ball had already whizzed past him!

Now all he could do was pray to God, hoping that the ball would be blocked by the goalpost, or simply go wide…

He turned his head to look at the ball, and then watched the ball… roll into the net!

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"Ah! Ah! Goal!!!" Marcel Reif shouted after a moment of stunned silence. "Toooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooor!!!!"

"Götze! Shot—Goal!" He Ping was also very excited. He wasn't a Dortmund fan, nor was he a Götze fan, but he hoped that Dortmund could go further and further, so that Zhou Yi's performance in the Champions League could continue.

"It's unbelievable! It's unbelievable! Dortmund scored first, and it was only eight seconds into the game!" He exclaimed. "The fastest goal in the Champions League this season is born!"

After a long roar, Marcel Reif shouted non-stop: "Before the game, everyone thought that Barcelona had an absolute advantage in their home stadium. But only eight seconds after the start of the game, Barcelona's goal was breached. This must have surprised most people! But I don't think there's anything surprising about it, because this is football, anything is possible!"

The Catalan commentator was dumbfounded after the goal, constantly asking: "Is this real? How did this happen?"

It's hard to blame him for making a fuss, because the Barcelona players weren't much better.

After the goal, they were also in a daze, completely unprepared for Dortmund to score so early in the game…

What the hell was this!

Götze was running wildly to celebrate the goal, and the Dortmund players also rushed up in a swarm, including Zhou Yi.

They passed through the stunned Barcelona players and caught up with Götze below the north stand of Camp Nou, celebrating the goal with him.

Götze turned around and hugged Zhou Yi, thanking him for the assist.

Then he said in his ear: "I found our fans!" He put his arm around Zhou Yi and turned around, then pointed to the top of the north stand.

Zhou Yi followed him and looked up, seeing a small patch of yellow in an inconspicuous corner at the very top of the north stand.

Those were the Dortmund fans who had traveled from afar.

They were jumping and waving their arms in that place, celebrating the goal with the distant Dortmund players.

"Great, you found them!" Zhou Yi said happily to Götze. "Yes, they look a bit hidden…"

"It's more than just a bit hidden, I even doubt whether they can see the game from there…" Götze looked up.

"They can't see our faces and numbers, but at least they can see us score." Zhou Yi patted Götze on the shoulder.

"Yes, they can see us score!" Götze was very happy.

※※※

While the Dortmund players were still celebrating the goal, the TV broadcast was replaying the goal just now.

It was clear that this goal was orchestrated by Zhou Yi. After passing the ball back and forth twice in the backcourt, he suddenly made a long pass, accurately finding Götze and completing a sneak attack.

The game had only started for eight seconds, and the Barcelona players probably hadn't even gotten into the game yet.

So was this goal a lucky fluke, or was it carefully planned and premeditated?

Thanks to the advanced TV broadcast, there were shots of Zhou Yi and Götze discussing before the game, and the director of the game broadcast quickly cut out this clip.

So everyone could see Zhou Yi communicating with Götze. After finishing speaking, he went to find several other teammates. Among these teammates were Subotić and Sven Bender, who passed the ball to him.

Okay, it's clear now, this goal from Dortmund was premeditated!

"This goal proves one thing, and that is that Dortmund is definitely not here at Camp Nou to go through the motions and accept defeat!" Marcel Reif said. "If anyone thought Dortmund had already been eliminated, then they should watch out for their faces!"