Chapter 1 The Ruhr Derby

Because this Ruhr Derby was in the penultimate fourth round of the league, it had a special significance: it could determine the league champion of the season. Currently, Dortmund was a full ten points ahead of second-place Bayern. With only four rounds left in the league, if they could beat Schalke 04 away, then no matter what happened with Bayern Munich, they would clinch the league title in advance.

As arch-rivals, Schalke 04 certainly didn't want to see Dortmund crowned champions on their home turf.

Before the match, the two sides engaged in a war of words. Großkreutz said in an interview that he was very happy to win the championship at the Veltins-Arena: "The Veltins-Arena is a great stadium, I like that stadium very much, especially the feeling of winning the championship in that stadium!"

His words immediately drew condemnation from Schalke 04 fans and players.

Draxler said: "I know Dortmund is now ten points ahead of Bayern Munich, which is a big advantage. Theoretically, they have a high chance of winning the championship now. We may not be able to stop them from winning the championship, but we can prevent them from winning the championship in our stadium!"

In the Schalke 04 fan community, there were also plenty of curses and abuse directed at Großkreutz and Dortmund.

However, unlike this fiery war of words, the war of words between Zhou Yi and Yang Muge seemed rather cute...

Several days before the match, Chinese reporters ran to interview Zhou Yi and Yang Muge to hear their views on the upcoming encounter.

"Zhou Yi and I made a bet. Whoever wins will treat the other to dinner. I've already prepared the money," Yang Muge said with a smile.

"I didn't prepare any money. I'll just swipe my card," Zhou Yi responded.

The two sides exchanged barbs, but it seemed more like flirting...

Everyone knew that Zhou Yi and Yang Muge were good friends. They had a great relationship privately.

"Will your relationship with Zhou Yi give you any special feelings in the game?" Some reporters worried that this friendship would make Yang Muge hold back in the game.

Yang Muge shook his head: "There won't be any special feelings. A game is a game. If the coach asks me to mark Zhou Yi, I will do my best in the game."

"Even foul him?" the reporter pressed.

"There's more to defending than just fouling. But if necessary, I will foul," Yang Muge said with a smile.

"If you tackle Zhou Yi, aren't you afraid of affecting your friendship?"

"Zhou Yi isn't that petty. He knows that we are all playing for our respective teams and must do our best on the field. Otherwise, ask him if he will go easy on me out of consideration for our friendship?"

The same question was indeed thrown at Zhou Yi.

"How is that possible? Lao Yang and I are friends, but we are also players for our respective teams. How could we do such a stupid thing? And it won't affect our relationship," Zhou Yi spread his hands, feeling that the reporters' worries were completely unfounded.

※※※

As Zhou Yi stood at the entrance of the Veltins-Arena tunnel, waiting to enter the field, Yang Muge came up from behind and patted Zhou Yi on the shoulder.

Zhou Yi turned around and saw that it was Yang Muge, and smiled: "Yo, Lao Yang, you look pretty energetic today!"

"I have to be energetic to deal with you," Yang Muge said with a smile.

"So that means..."

"The coach said I'm responsible for defending you."

"I knew it."

The two exchanged smiles, and if they weren't wearing different colored jerseys, people would really think they were teammates on the same team. From their expressions, you couldn't tell that this was a Ruhr Derby at all.

There was no communication at all between the other Dortmund players and the Schalke 04 players. They were sworn enemies and had nothing to say.

Only Zhou Yi and Yang Muge were the exceptions.

But the two didn't chat for long. This was really not the time for a pleasant conversation – if they wanted to chat, they could find a restaurant box after the game and chat slowly.

After speaking, the two returned to their respective queues.

Kagawa Shinji leaned over and asked, "Will your friend hold back against you in the game?"

"Of course not, and maybe he'll work even harder than usual," Zhou Yi shook his head. "So Kagawa, be prepared. This is not going to be an easy game."

"Uh..." Kagawa Shinji was speechless.

On the other side, Draxler was also asking Yang Muge: "What did you talk to him about?"

"I told him that I'm responsible for defending him in this game."

"Ah, then he knows our tactical arrangements in advance!" Draxler was very anxious.

"Don't get excited, Julian. Anyone could have guessed that I would be responsible for defending him, right?" Yang Muge said.

"That's true..." Draxler thought carefully, and that was indeed the case.

※※※

When the two teams' players entered the field, the TV camera showed Zhou Yi and Yang Muge. The Chinese commentator Duan Xin was very excited: "Zhou Yi and Yang Muge! As main players for Dortmund and Schalke 04 respectively, they will stage a Chinese derby in the Ruhr area!"

This scene was something that many Chinese football people had been looking forward to for a long time. Starting in 1998 when Yang Chen played for Frankfurt, a large-scale wave of Chinese players studying abroad began. But even in the most glorious period, the number of Chinese players studying abroad was still very small, and there were even fewer who could have direct dialogues with each other.

When Sun Hai was at Manchester City and Li Tie was at Everton, they once staged a Chinese derby in a European league. However, that time the direct dialogue between the two sides only lasted for twenty-four minutes. Twenty-four minutes after the start, Li Tie was replaced by Everton coach Moyes due to a recurrence of an old injury, and the Chinese derby came to an abrupt end.

That was the first time a Chinese derby appeared on a European pitch.

Half a year later, Manchester City and Everton met again in the Premier League, and Sun Hai and Li Tie started again and performed well, with both playing the entire game. This Chinese derby was also the most well-known. British media reported that about 100 million television viewers watched the game, 99% of whom were from China. At that time, the Premier League was still free to watch, and it was broadcast live by several local television stations in China. Such a viewership performance showed the influence of that Chinese derby at that time.

Before this dialogue between Zhou Yi and Yang Muge, that game was a peak that Chinese players in Europe could hardly surpass. So much so that British sports economists at the time even mentioned that it was the highest-rated game in Premier League history.

The third Chinese derby took place on December 7, 2003. This was also the last time Sun Hai and Li Tie met in the league. Both started and played the entire game again. The two teams also drew 0:0. Not long after that game, Li Tie was out for seventeen months due to a serious injury, and the two never met on the field again.

The fourth Chinese derby was already four years later. One of the protagonists was still Sun Hai, the evergreen tree of Chinese players studying abroad, and the other was Zheng Zhi, who had joined Charlton. After that game, Charlton was relegated from the Premier League that year, and Sun Hai later left Manchester City. There were no more Chinese people in the Premier League, and there was no more Chinese derby in the entire European football scene.

The Chinese media at the time frantically reported and hyped the second Chinese derby between Sun Hai and Li Tie, and those scenes were still in the memory of Duan Xin, a senior football player. But the concept of "Chinese derby" had been cold for a long time, and had faded from many people's memories.

The tide of Chinese football players studying abroad had receded, and talent had withered. Chinese football had fallen into its lowest ebb.

Seeing Japanese and Korean players doing well in European football, how could Chinese fans not feel envious and jealous?

The connection between Chinese fans and European leagues seemed to rely entirely on the fans of various big teams in China, but there could actually be another way, and that was to have players from their own country playing in European leagues. The younger Chinese fans today may not have experienced that feeling at all. It's hard to imagine that in the sports news back then, many Chinese fans were waiting to see the latest news about Yang Chen playing for Frankfurt.

But since Zhou Yi appeared, that feeling had returned.

Now Yang Muge and Zhou Yi were recreating the Chinese derby in the European league, which made many old people feel emotional.

"Zhou Yi and Yang Muge are both absolute main players in their respective teams, and before this game, there was news that Yang Muge would be responsible for defending Zhou Yi in the game. This is the direct dialogue we most want to see!"

As he spoke, a huge cheer rang out in the Schalke 04 stadium. The on-site DJ began to announce the names of the players. Every Schalke 04 player would be cheered, and Yang Muge was no exception.

Every Dortmund player, on the other hand, would be greeted with boos, among which Großkreutz and Zhou Yi received the loudest boos. Großkreutz was a staunch Dortmund supporter and often provoked and ridiculed Schalke 04, so it was understandable that he was unpopular among Schalke 04 fans.

Zhou Yi was able to receive so many boos mainly because his performance in the previous Ruhr Derbies was so outstanding that he had caused a lot of trouble for Schalke 04 and was considered by Schalke 04 to be the biggest threat to their team.

Naturally, there was no need to be polite to such an enemy.

So in fact, these boos were not a bad thing for Zhou Yi, but a badge of honor.

The commentator Duan Xin also mentioned this when he was commentating. Because many Chinese people seem to think that foreigners have to smile at Chinese people to show respect for Chinese people, but in fact, if the two sides are enemies, then all attacks from the enemy are the greatest respect for themselves.

And Zhou Yi was Schalke 04's number one enemy.

※※※

When the game started, the boos against Zhou Yi became even louder. As long as Zhou Yi got the ball, the boos would come in overwhelmingly.

It was so loud that Yang Muge couldn't stand it. He had played so many games for Schalke 04 and had encountered all kinds of opponents. As opponents of Schalke 04, they had all been booed at the Veltins-Arena, but no team could compare with Dortmund, and no one could compare with Zhou Yi.

It seemed that Schalke 04 fans really didn't like Zhou Yi...

Actually, as an opponent, Yang Muge didn't like Zhou Yi either, because this person... was too cunning!

Just now, Zhou Yi was clearly going to pass the ball to the left, and there was indeed a Dortmund player on the left to meet the pass. Yang Muge, who was standing in front of him, shifted his center of gravity slightly to the left.

As a result, Zhou Yi flicked the ball behind him with his heel in another direction!

This caused Yang Muge to miss, and then Zhou Yi ran to another place, and Dortmund's attack followed him to the other side.

This meant that Schalke 04's defense on the left wing was all for naught.

He had to follow and shift to the other side again.

It felt like being led by the nose...