Barcelona's players stood in stark contrast to the jubilant Borussia Dortmund players.

As the game ended, many Barcelona players collapsed onto the ground, covering their faces with their hands, unable to believe the result.

Before the game, they never imagined they would be eliminated at home.

When they drew 0-0 with Borussia Dortmund in the first leg, they didn't think Borussia Dortmund would pose any threat to them.

But now that they thought about it, if they had scored a goal in the first leg, perhaps the situation would have been completely different... It was precisely because they didn't score an away goal that allowed Borussia Dortmund to be so unscrupulous at Camp Nou, because the Germans knew very well that as long as they could score, it would be an away goal!

Barcelona, who had been overconfident in their strength, were now tasting the bitter fruit.

Messi sat on the ground, covering his face with his hands, looking up. He had also tried his best in the game, scoring twice, but he couldn't help the team win. These two goals suddenly became meaningless...

In the final stages of the game, even if he used all his skills, it was difficult to break through the copper wall and iron barricade that Borussia Dortmund had set up. People often use "single-handedly rewriting the outcome of the game" to describe the ability of superstars of Messi's level, but now it seems that this sentence is not absolutely correct. For example, at this time, he did not rewrite the outcome of the game by himself.

When a team like Barcelona starts to rely on the individual abilities of its stars in the end, it is basically at the end of its rope.

Captain Puyol was comforting the crying Busquets.

Iniesta stood in place with his hands on his hips, looking around with some confusion. He was really surprised by this result.

Suddenly, a hand was placed on his shoulder. He looked back and saw his friend Xavi.

"Unbelievable, isn't it?" Xavi asked in a low voice beside him. "We were actually eliminated at home."

Iniesta didn't know how to continue. Xavi continued: "But this is football, isn't it? It's normal for anything to happen in the world of football, isn't it? The only reason we were eliminated is that we didn't do as well as our opponents in these ninety minutes."

While saying these words, his eyes were always looking ahead, seemingly without focus, but in fact the focus was on one person.

Zhou Yi.

Borussia Dortmund's number twenty-three leaned on his teammates, raising his arms to participate in the celebration.

His face was full of smiles but he couldn't hide his exhaustion.

This was the price of victory.

But Xavi would rather pay such a price and then reap a victory.

But now...

Iniesta came back to his senses and also turned his attention to Zhou Yi. Without asking, he knew that Xavi must be looking at this kid.

Because they had also discussed Zhou Yi in private, especially after the draw was made.

Iniesta believed that Zhou Yi's playing style was similar to Xavi's, and Xavi also felt that if he were to retire one day, then Zhou Yi would be his best successor in Barcelona.

But judging from this game, Barcelona fans may find it difficult to like him.

The huge boos were still fresh in his memory, and he wondered if Zhou Yi felt palpitations at the time...

"Do you still want him to come to Barcelona, Xavi?" Iniesta asked.

"Of course, why not?" Xavi replied. "Precisely because he can eliminate us, he is qualified to come to Barcelona."

After speaking, Xavi released Iniesta and walked towards Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi, who was celebrating with his teammates for advancing to the semi-finals, was suddenly stopped. He turned around and looked at Xavi in surprise.

"Want to exchange jerseys, Zhou?" Xavi asked in English.

"Of course!" Zhou Yi replied very simply, turned around, took off his jersey, and handed it to Xavi.

Xavi also took off his jersey, and the two completed the action of exchanging jerseys.

Before leaving, Xavi said to Zhou Yi, "Good luck to you."

"Thank you," Zhou Yi also replied politely.

Although the two sides fought fiercely in the game and were somewhat unscrupulous for victory, there was no need to be tit-for-tat after the game.

When Xavi came back with Zhou Yi's jersey, Iniesta asked him, "What did you two talk about?"

"We didn't talk about anything, just wished him good luck." Xavi lowered his head and put Zhou Yi's jersey on. He actually looked quite fit in Zhou Yi's jersey...

"I thought you would persuade him to come to Barcelona..." Iniesta was a little surprised.

"I think he is a person with his own ideas, and what others say doesn't have much influence on him," Xavi said, looking at Zhou Yi.

"Yeah, otherwise he wouldn't have rejected La Masia in the first place," Iniesta shrugged.

Thinking of this, Xavi frowned. Now it seems that what Barcelona let go of in the first place was not a rookie who might be successful in the future, but a genius.

※※※

Guardiola also had the same worries as Xavi. At the post-match press conference, reporters threw questions about Zhou Yi at him.

Everyone basically agreed that Barcelona's elimination was directly related to Zhou Yi's excellent performance. Then Barcelona's move to give up Zhou Yi in the first place would naturally be considered as the root of the failure buried for today. People can't help but think - if La Masia had spared no expense to keep Zhou Yi in the first place, would this scene not have happened today?

So many questions revolved around Zhou Yi. Some people wanted to hear how Guardiola evaluated Zhou Yi, some people wanted to hear if Guardiola regretted that the club failed to keep Zhou Yi in the first place, and some people wanted to ask if Guardiola had any plans to introduce Zhou Yi...

Faced with these questions, Guardiola could only refuse to answer - not because he wanted to put on airs and lose his temper, but because he really didn't know how to answer.

But these questions did make him feel embarrassed.

Losing the ball was already unpleasant, and being questioned like this made no one happy.

On the other side, Klopp smiled happily. When interviewed by reporters, he did not hide his praise and praise for the team and Zhou Yi.

And he did not forget to sprinkle salt on Barcelona's wounds:

"Our players performed very well, I am happy and proud of them. Zhou Yi? I am very happy that we got him now."

Wasn't this sarcasm about Barcelona not getting him in the first place?

However, Zhou Yi himself did not have the intention to deliberately embarrass Barcelona. When he was interviewed by reporters after the game, he denied that he rejected Barcelona because of a conflict with Barcelona: "There is no problem between me and Barcelona, and I am not a Real Madrid fan. I didn't join La Masia purely because I had already reached an agreement with Borussia Dortmund at that time. Although it was a verbal agreement, I was willing to abide by the agreement between me and Borussia Dortmund, so I couldn't agree to other teams. Not only Barcelona, but if other teams approached me, I would also refuse."

"So it's just that Barcelona came late?" a reporter asked.

"Yes, they came late," Zhou Yi nodded. "This has nothing to do with right or wrong."

A reporter still asked unwillingly: "Then will you join Barcelona in the future?"

Zhou Yi smiled: "That's another story."

※※※

The match between Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona ended, and the result was unexpected. Borussia Dortmund, who played away, eliminated Barcelona, and the defending champion's road to defending the title came to an abrupt end in the quarter-finals.

This result can be said to be a surprise.

Before the game, no one thought that Borussia Dortmund, who played away, could have the last laugh.

Sports media throughout Europe were reporting on this game.

Many media outlets used photos of Barcelona players looking dejected in prominent positions.

In particular, the shot of Messi sitting on the ground with his hands covering his face after the game was widely circulated.

"...Borussia Dortmund shames Barcelona!"

"Upset! The defending champion was defeated in the quarter-finals!"

"The Earth Defense War ends with Borussia Dortmund's victory!"

"Messi scored twice, but still couldn't save the defeat!"

At the same time, a photo of Zhou Yi waving his arms to the stands of the Camp Nou stadium after scoring a goal appeared almost as frequently as this photo.

This was also a symbolic scene of that game.

"Zhou Yi decides the outcome of the game!"

"Commander-in-Chief of the Earth Defense Force - Zhou Yi!"

"Well-deserved core of Borussia Dortmund! Messenger of victory!"

"Zhou Yi alone made the Barcelona superstars pale in comparison!"

"...This is a battle that established Zhou Yi's position in the world of football!"

"Chinese football has a true superstar from now on!"

Of course, most of these sensational headlines were used by domestic Chinese media... European media used relatively calmer language, but they still praised Zhou Yi, believing that his performance far exceeded his age and experience.

This was also the most surprising and incredible thing for the experts. He was only twenty-one years old. Even in today's football world, where fame comes earlier and earlier, he was still a young player, but all his performances on the field made it difficult to associate him with definitions such as "youngster", "lack of experience" and "newcomer".

This was also why Borussia Dortmund could still perform so well with such a young player as its core.

Zhou Yi's age and appearance were a deception. If you underestimated him because of this, you would be unlucky.

※※※

The team that returned to Borussia Dortmund enjoyed the welcome of the fans at the airport. This formation scared the players. When Großkreutz was interviewed, what he said represented the thoughts of all the players: "I thought we had won the championship!"

The reporter who interviewed him laughed.

Everyone was in a good mood after the victory.