Chapter 1 The First Champions League Match of the New Season

The match against Arsenal was the first Champions League game of the new season at Westfalenstadion.

Two days before the match, the entire stadium had already been decked out in Champions League decorations, transforming it into a true European arena.

Local media was also reporting on the arrival of their opponents, Arsenal, in Dortmund.

Zhou Yi, however, didn't seem particularly concerned about his Champions League opponents. He was more worried about Marc's injury.

Before the match against Arsenal, he went to Marc's house to visit him.

Marc, who had undergone surgery, seemed to be in good spirits. He said to Zhou Yi, "I'll be cheering you on in front of the TV, Zhou Yi!"

"Then be careful not to get too excited and jump up, ha!" Zhou Yi laughed.

"If necessary, I'll tie him to the sofa," Kōtana said coldly from the side.

Marc stuck his tongue out at Zhou Yi behind his sister's back.

Zhou Yi grinned.

The siblings had a great relationship.

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After dinner, Zhou Yi bid farewell to Marc's family. Mrs. Wagner repeatedly thanked Zhou Yi for visiting Marc, but Zhou Yi said that it was only natural to visit his friend.

Finally, Zhou Yi embraced Marc and said goodbye. Kōtana watched from the side without saying a word, and even as Zhou Yi left, she didn't say thank you or goodbye.

Zhou Yi was picked up by his agent, Schulze, and everyone returned inside.

Mrs. Wagner complained about Kōtana's lack of manners, "He's already leaving, and you don't even say goodbye, just stand there and watch."

Kōtana didn't argue with her mother. She turned to Marc and said, "I'll help you upstairs."

As they went upstairs, Marc whispered to his sister, "Actually, Zhou Yi is a really nice guy, Sis. Don't always give him the cold shoulder..."

He cherished the hope that his sister and his good friend could get along, and even become closer, instead of being like enemies who tear at each other every time they meet.

Kōtana opened her mouth, but didn't know how to answer her brother, so she closed it again. She simply wrapped herself in ice and a mask so she wouldn't have to explain.

Because explaining was a very troublesome thing.

How could she explain to her brother that she and Zhou Yi had already been living together for two years, that she even cooked for Zhou Yi, and that they could chat together when they were alone? That her relationship with Zhou Yi might not be as bad as her brother thought...

But when there were outsiders present, Kōtana habitually turned cold towards Zhou Yi. She couldn't even explain why herself. Anyway, in front of outsiders, she just felt a little uncomfortable...

※※※

Dortmund's home game against Arsenal took place in the evening, local time. Before the match, Westfalenstadion was already packed.

The South Stand once again became a yellow and black wall, with fans constantly singing and creating a fiery atmosphere for the match.

Then, the iconic Champions League theme song played, and the players from both sides entered the field, led by the referee.

Zhou Yi was among them.

This was his second season in the Champions League.

For the whole of Europe, he was no longer an unknown kid. Many opponents would study him and target him. He might no longer be able to play as freely as he wanted. He had to learn to fight with those difficult opponents.

Just like the "sophomore slump," perhaps there was a similar phenomenon in the Champions League as well.

In fact, this viewpoint had been present in the media ever since Dortmund's Champions League group stage draw was announced.

But it wasn't just aimed at Zhou Yi, but at the entire Dortmund team.

Experts believed that Dortmund had played so well in the Champions League last season because they were unfamiliar to the whole of Europe. The opponents in the Champions League weren't too familiar with Klopp's tactics, so Dortmund caught them off guard.

But this season, that situation would no longer exist. Because Dortmund's performance last season was so outstanding, almost every team in Europe that could participate in the Champions League would pay attention to them and study them. It would be difficult for them to create the same glory as last season.

At first glance, this argument seemed to make sense. But upon closer analysis, it seemed like the experts were talking nonsense.

Because before last season's Champions League, the experts had said that Dortmund lacked experience and would definitely not go far in the Champions League.

As a result, after a season, seeing Dortmund's outstanding performance, they changed their tune and argued that the reason Dortmund was able to perform so well last season was precisely because they were a new face. But the same reason, when they weren't optimistic about Dortmund, became a lack of experience...

Wasn't that ridiculous?

The same was true for Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi performed well in his debut Champions League season, so they said it was because no one understood Zhou Yi. Then if Zhou Yi had performed poorly in his debut Champions League season, would they have said it was because Zhou Yi lacked Champions League experience?

In fact, those supporters who truly understood Zhou Yi shouldn't have similar worries about this.

Because the answer to this question had already been given.

Zhou Yi performed well in his debut league season, and some people said that the second season would be Zhou Yi's "sophomore slump," and that his performance would definitely not be as amazing as his first season.

And what was the result?

Last season, Zhou Yi set new highs in both assists and goals, and helped Dortmund win the league title.

This outstanding performance led to no one mentioning the "sophomore slump" after the season.

Unexpectedly, these people seemed to have short memories, and brought up the old topic again in the Champions League...

Zhou Yi himself didn't care about this kind of topic, but his supporters were very irritable and unhappy, feeling that this was a blatant underestimation of Zhou Yi—was their Zhou Yi someone who would easily be a flash in the pan?

※※※

After the match started, Arsenal adopted a tactic of controlling the ball. They weren't in a hurry to attack, as this was an away game after all, and they had to be careful of Dortmund's fast counterattacks. Although their attacking lineup didn't have any players with absolute speed, everyone had strong running abilities, and with Zhou Yi's passing and organization, their fast counterattacks based on passing and running were still very threatening.

Faced with Arsenal's steady approach, Dortmund wasn't in a hurry either, and slowly maneuvered with them.

And for Zhou Yi, Arsenal had also made corresponding arrangements.

They didn't assign someone to盯盯盯 him every moment, but instead used zonal marking.

When Zhou Yi was in the defensive midfielder position, Van Persie and Walcott and others would "take care" of him. And if Zhou Yi came forward, there were also Arsenal midfielders, such as Alexandre Song, the Cameroonian defensive midfielder known as the "successor to Vieira," whose defensive ability was very outstanding.

If Zhou Yi continued to go deeper, into the penalty area, then more Arsenal players would come to deal with him.

After the match started, Zhou Yi did encounter strong resistance going forward.

If he was just making long passes in the backfield, neither Van Persie nor Walcott were very strict in their defense of Zhou Yi, after all, they weren't the kind of people who were very good at defending.

But with Arsenal's steady approach, the power that Zhou Yi's long passes could exert was limited. Long passes could only be used as a means of switching the ball more often, and to threaten the opponent's goal, it had to be a counterattack.

But Arsenal's tactics in this game wouldn't give Dortmund too many counterattack opportunities.

So if he wanted to get closer to Arsenal's penalty area and move forward, Alexandre Song would immediately appear next to Zhou Yi.

Alexandre Song was a defensive player with very rough defensive moves, and even many fouls. His defensive style was widely criticized, but Arsenal fans liked his defense very much, because he could always keep the team's goal away from danger.

Who wouldn't like to have such a defensive player on their team?

But as opponents, they wouldn't like it.

A minute ago, Zhou Yi wasn't satisfied with using long passes to switch the ball in the backfield, and planned to move forward.

But before he even reached Arsenal's thirty-meter zone, he encountered Alexandre Song's interception.

Just as Zhou Yi stopped the ball and hadn't had time to pass it out, Song crashed into him like a car.

Although Zhou Yi's muscle strength had increased a lot compared to the beginning after several seasons of training, it was still not enough in the face of Song's impact...

He was knocked to the ground, and the referee's whistle sounded.

Song committed a foul, but he stopped Dortmund's attack, and such a not-too-serious impact wasn't worth giving Song a yellow card.

He got the maximum benefit at the lowest cost.

There was a loud boo at Westfalenstadion directed at Song's foul.

Amid the boos, Song ran back to his position, while Zhou Yi got up from the ground.

Zhou Yi wasn't surprised by this scene. In the simulated match, he had already experienced Song's physical advantage.

Five minutes later, he lost again to Song's physicality. This time, after he got the ball, he was dribbling forward when Song used his physical advantage to squeeze in and steal the ball...

This time, Song didn't even foul.

※※※

"Song! A beautiful tackle! Look, look at that physique! Aha!" The commentator from Sky Sports UK laughed.

Actually, looking at weight, Song wasn't much heavier than Zhou Yi, and he wasn't much taller either.

But Song's taut muscles seemed to contain explosive power, and his tackling action always looked menacing, as if he was going to cripple the opponent with his next foot.

This extremely aggressive defense would naturally make opponents feel intimidated, thus giving him the opportunity to rush up and intercept the ball.

For example, in the previous play, Zhou Yi stopped habitually after seeing Song coming up, and Song squeezed in and stole the ball.

If Zhou Yi had to keep possession of the ball, he might have been injured by Song. The match had only started for less than twenty minutes. Wouldn't it be too uneconomical to be injured and taken off the field because of this?

Anyway, at that time, Dortmund had already attacked to around the opponent's thirty-meter zone, so even if they lost possession of the ball, it wouldn't be too threatening for Dortmund.

Sure enough, after Song intercepted the ball, he originally wanted to send it forward, but he didn't have a good passing point, so he had to pass the ball back to Arteta, who organized the attack, while Dortmund's players had already retreated to defend.

Zhou Yi was also running back.

But in the eyes of the British commentators, Zhou Yi's two consecutive losses to Song fully demonstrated his shortcomings.

"As a midfielder organizer, Zhou Yi is too physically weak, and it's easy for him to lose the ball when he encounters tough defense. And as a defensive midfielder, losing the ball is very dangerous... So, in fact, there's nothing strange about Arsenal not choosing him back then, there's no need to make a fuss... Arsenal has so many technical midfielders, Zhou Yi's foot skills aren't particularly outstanding, and he doesn't have a physical advantage either. Even if he was promoted to Arsenal's first team, he would probably only be a substitute..."