Chapter 266 Bad Luck

The Champions League semi-final first leg defeat prompted Borussia Dortmund to shift their focus entirely to the second leg. As for the weekend league match, Klopp fielded almost exclusively reserve team players.

So, it wasn't surprising that the team drew 2-2 at home against Borussia Mönchengladbach, led by Reus. Now, everyone, including the Dortmund players, fans, and the media, had their minds off the league. They were already league champions, after all.

The upcoming decisive battle against Chelsea was the most important thing.

Before the match, Borussia Dortmund fan organizations claimed they would transform Westfalenstadion into a terrifying home ground, a veritable hell.

During the match, they certainly lived up to their word. The Südtribüne (South Stand) resembled a wall of roaring flames. The Dortmund fans even created giant tifos to amplify the home atmosphere.

In the second leg, Hummels and Klopp both returned from suspension, and the players gave it their all.

But Chelsea proved to be even more resilient than they had anticipated. With a two-goal lead in hand, Chelsea adopted a defensive counter-attacking strategy away from home, which was actually their forte.

Faced with Chelsea's compact defense, Dortmund bombarded their half. In the fortieth minute, Zhou Yi unleashed a sudden long-range shot from outside the penalty area, smashing through Chelsea's goal.

A massive cheer erupted from the stands when the goal was scored, but Zhou Yi didn't celebrate. Instead, he gestured to Lewandowski at the front to retrieve the ball and get the game started quickly.

Scoring after forty minutes was a bit late...

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In the second half, after the two sides switched sides, Dortmund launched an all-out attack, but their own backyard caught fire.

Chelsea capitalized on a quick counter-attack, with Torres going one-on-one against Weidenfeller after feinting past the goalkeeper on the edge of the penalty area, then putting the ball into the net.

The goal plunged Westfalenstadion into silence.

The aggregate score difference was stretched to two goals again, and crucially, Chelsea now had an away goal. Even if Dortmund managed to beat Chelsea 3-1 at home, leveling the aggregate score, they would still be eliminated due to the away goals rule. So, if they wanted to eliminate Chelsea and reach the final, they needed to beat Chelsea 4-1 at home to advance on aggregate.

But after Chelsea's goal, Dortmund only had half an hour left. Scoring three more goals in thirty minutes, while ensuring Chelsea didn't score again... it wasn't impossible, but the odds were extremely slim.

The silence in the stands was due to this reason.

Marcel Reif sighed and said, "Although I'm reluctant to admit it, Dortmund has almost been eliminated… Of course, reaching this stage with so many injuries is already a great achievement for Dortmund. They returned to the Champions League proper after seven years last season and reached the quarterfinals, and this season they've gone even further, reaching the semifinals. They've done well enough…"

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After the game restarted, the Dortmund players didn't give up and continued to seek scoring opportunities, hoping to complete this impossible task.

But as time passed, this hope became increasingly faint.

After scoring, Chelsea parked the bus in front of their goal. Even if Zhou Yi and his teammates used all their skills, it was difficult to find any loopholes in Chelsea's defense.

Zhou Yi had already experienced this in virtual matches. When Chelsea were determined to defend, it was really difficult for Dortmund to score.

After all, it was a team that Mourinho had led. Defense was in their blood and genes.

Faced with Chelsea's impregnable defense, Dortmund didn't score again until the eighty-eighth minute.

Zhou Yi suddenly pulled out to the wing to cross the ball. Chelsea's defense relaxed slightly, and his cross accurately found Lewandowski, who headed the ball into Čech's goal from close range.

The aggregate score was only one goal away, but there wasn't much time left for Dortmund.

In the end, Dortmund beat Chelsea 2-1 at home, but were eliminated with a 2-3 aggregate score.

They failed to reach the final.

After the match, the Dortmund players were extremely frustrated, and some were in tears.

Their momentum in the league and the Champions League this season had been excellent, ultimately winning the league four rounds early, but being eliminated from the Champions League.

After the match, Zhou Yi was interviewed by reporters in the mixed zone.

Regarding the elimination, Zhou Yi gave his answer.

"Our luck was just too bad…" he said, shaking his head, his voice low and his mood not high. Although this result might not have been unexpected for him—because in the virtual game, he had simulated it many times, and Dortmund were almost always eliminated—when that moment arrived in the real world, he still felt a huge sense of loss.

After that, he didn't want to say much, bid farewell to the reporters, and headed towards the locker room.

A Chinese reporter, watching his back as he walked towards the locker room with his head down, suddenly wanted to comfort him, so he shouted loudly, "Actually, you've already done very well! You've made progress every season!"

Zhou Yi didn't turn his head, just waved his hand, not knowing if he was thanking the reporter for his comfort, or if he felt that the comfort was useless… Anyway, he just walked back to the locker room like that.

Leaving a group of reporters sighing.

Last season, after being eliminated in the quarterfinals, reporters thought Zhou Yi would find some objectively valid excuses to defend the team's failure, but Zhou Yi simply said that they were eliminated because their strength was not strong enough.

At that time, Dortmund was indeed not strong enough, and were completely overwhelmed by Real Madrid.

This season, facing Barcelona, who were as strong as Real Madrid, Dortmund eliminated their opponents, which should indicate that their strength had improved. But they were still eliminated.

It really was bad luck.

If Hummels and Klopp hadn't been suspended, if Sven Bender hadn't been injured, perhaps Dortmund could have really made it to the final at the Allianz Arena.

Because on the other side, Bayern Munich had eliminated Real Madrid and reached the final. So, some people believed that if Dortmund could reach the final, they might be able to beat Bayern Munich and win the championship due to their psychological advantage.

But now, all of this could only remain a figment of the imagination.

Bad luck…

What must have been Zhou Yi's state of mind when he said these words?

Looking at his back as he waved and didn't stop, one could more or less guess.

He must have felt bitter inside.

Zhou Yi had also given it his all in this match, scoring one goal and one assist, helping the team beat Chelsea at home, but unfortunately, they had lost too badly in the first leg, and even he couldn't turn the tide.

Facing such a defeat, no one would blame Zhou Yi. His performance was good enough… In fact, with his performance in the Champions League in these two seasons, it could already be said that Zhou Yi was a midfielder who was not inferior to those midfield masters. The Dortmund team might still have many problems to solve and many weaknesses to make up for, but Zhou Yi was definitely not their problem or weakness.

After the match, various media outlets commented on Dortmund's elimination, also using the reason of "bad luck." However, different people had different interpretations of this "bad luck." Some believed that the suspension and injury of key players were manifestations of bad luck, while others believed that being drawn against Barcelona was also bad luck.

But no matter how it was interpreted, it couldn't change the reality that Dortmund had been eliminated.

The Dortmund media believed that the most important thing was not to analyze why Dortmund had been eliminated, but to face the upcoming matches.

Although the league had already been won in advance, Dortmund still had a DFB-Pokal (German Cup) final to play.

When the team resumed training after the match, Klopp also mentioned this point. Being eliminated from the Champions League was regrettable, but the whole team didn't need to dwell on it. What was more important was the upcoming match.

As long as Dortmund could beat Bayern Munich in the German Cup final, they would become the double champions this season. In that case, this season would still be a great and glorious season for Dortmund, and it wouldn't be overshadowed by the Champions League semi-final elimination.

The next two league matches were meaningless for Dortmund. Klopp considered that the players' physical fitness had reached their limits during this period, but there was still a German Cup final to play, so he let all the starting players who had been fighting for a season rest, and gave the substitute players more playing time.

The substitute players didn't reduce Dortmund's combat effectiveness. Although they were eliminated from the Champions League, Dortmund's dominance in the Bundesliga was still very strong. In the thirty-third round of the league, Dortmund challenged Kaiserslautern away from home. Dortmund, who didn't field their main players, beat Kaiserslautern 3-1 away from home.

Then, in the thirty-fourth round of the league, which was the last round, Klopp continued the starting lineup from the previous match. The only difference was the adjustments on the bench. More main players returned to the bench, such as Zhou Yi.

This was clearly to prepare for the upcoming German Cup final, letting them be on the bench to find the feeling of the match by bringing them on in the final stages of the game.

Zhou Yi was substituted on when there were fifteen minutes left in the match. Then, in the last minute of the match, he assisted Lewandowski, who was also a substitute, helping the team beat Freiburg 4-0 at home, putting a perfect end to this season's league.

After this match, the entire Dortmund team entered preparations for the German Cup final. They would face Bayern Munich at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin on May 13th, a week later.

As their opponents, Bayern Munich were a little distracted.

Because Bayern Munich had reached the Champions League final. Which was more important, the German Cup final or the Champions League final?

Did that even need to be said?

Now, everyone at Bayern Munich was focused on beating Chelsea, who weren't that strong, at their home stadium and winning the Champions League title.

Winning the trophy and reaching the top at their own home stadium, was there anything more satisfying than that?