After the German Super Cup ended, the league was very close. This season's Bundesliga kicked off on August 5th, which was quite early, because the summer of 2012 had the European Cup and the Olympics. In order to make room for these two major events, the leagues in various European countries would end earlier than usual, which required them to start earlier.

Before the league game on August 5th, Dortmund also had a German Cup game to play on July 30th.

After being surprisingly eliminated by a team from the third division of Germany in the German Cup last season, Dortmund didn't dare to underestimate the German Cup this time.

So for this game, Dortmund would not send a second-tier team to participate.

Just treat it as the last relatively formal warm-up match before the start of the league.

Zhou Yi started again in this game and was replaced by Kagawa Shinji, who had recovered from his injury, in the sixty-seventh minute. Dortmund eventually defeated Unterhaching 3-0 and entered the knockout stage of the top 32 of the German Cup.

Their next game will be on October 25th against Dresden.

Dortmund was eliminated in the top 32 last season, and was out of the German Cup after only two rounds.

This time, Dortmund should try to avoid such an embarrassing situation.

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In the new season, Zhou Yi was the first of the Five Little Dragons to debut, because the Bundesliga started the earliest.

On August 5, 2011, the opening game of the new Bundesliga season saw Dortmund host Hamburg.

Before the start of the season, the German media conducted pre-season analysis of each team.

The defending champion's goal is very clear, of course, to successfully defend their title. But it is very difficult to successfully defend the title.

Because analyzing the Bundesliga in the twenty-first century, in these eleven years, only Bayern Munich has successfully defended the title once, that was in the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 seasons, when Bayern Munich successfully defended the title.

Subsequently, the general trend of the Bundesliga championship was basically that Bayern Munich won the championship once, and other teams won the championship once.

The 2000-2001 season was Bayern Munich's championship, and then Dortmund won the championship. Bayern Munich regained the championship in 2002-2003, and as a result, Werder Bremen defeated Bayern Munich in 2003-2004 and won the league championship under the leadership of Schaaf.

The next two seasons were the era of Bayern Munich.

By the 2006-2007 season, Stuttgart won the championship. In the 2007-2008 season, Bayern Munich regained the championship. But in the 2008-2009 season, the league champion was replaced by Magath's Wolfsburg. In the 2009-2010 season, Bayern Munich, after changing coaches, regained the league championship honor under the leadership of Van Gaal. By the 2010-2011 season, Dortmund emerged again and took away the league championship.

So according to the previous pattern, will this season's league title belong to Bayern Munich again?

Why is it said that only Bayern Munich is the overlord in the Bundesliga? Because no matter who takes the championship, Bayern Munich can always grab it back, as if the league championship was originally theirs, and falling to others is just an accident.

Moreover, it has always been easier to conquer the country than to defend it. Look at those teams before, Werder Bremen, Stuttgart, Wolfsburg, including Dortmund, can all win the league championship, but they won’t be able to do it in the next season.

To put it bluntly, such performance easily makes people think that their championship is more of a matter of luck, rather than relying on strength.

And the difference between ordinary teams and giants seems to be that ordinary teams are satisfied after winning a championship, and then the team falls apart. Those who should go to the giants go to the giants, and those who should get a raise get a raise, but the desire for victory is not so strong.

Bayern Munich can continue to maintain the hunger for honor, which is very important.

So although Klopp shouted the slogan of defending the title in an interview before the season, everyone would still doubt whether Dortmund has the ability to defend the title.

In addition to doubting whether Dortmund can defend the championship, Dortmund also needs to deal with a trouble, that is, just before the league is about to start, rumors suddenly spread that Zhou Yi is leaving Dortmund.

In fact, since the end of last season, Zhou Yi's name has been frequently mentioned in the transfer market.

The giants are chasing him.

Just like they chased Şahin back then.

But at the beginning, it was just speculation, and there was no definite news.

As the Bundesliga approached, these messages became more and more real.

One moment it was said that Barcelona intended to introduce Zhou Yi as Xavi's successor, the next moment it was said that Bayern Munich had already set their sights on Zhou Yi, then it was said that Manchester United in the Premier League greatly appreciated Zhou Yi, and then it was said that Wenger of Arsenal praised Zhou Yi a lot.

These news are not just speculation in the traditional sense, but it seems that there are really such signs.

For example, Wenger did say in a recent interview that he praised Zhou Yi. He believed that Zhou Yi's performance at such a young age was really amazing. In the end, he could only describe it as "exceptionally talented."

Ferguson also admitted to reporters that Manchester United was indeed observing Zhou Yi's performance.

Also, Zhou Yi is negotiating a contract renewal with Dortmund, but in the case that the club has renewed contracts with Götze, Großkreutz, and Marc Wagner, the news that Zhou Yi and the club have successfully renewed their contracts has not been released.

These all seem to be evidence that Zhou Yi is leaving Dortmund.

Because these rumors appeared too close to the game, Dortmund had no time to refute the rumors. Klopp answered everyone's questions at the pre-match press conference.

"I didn't hear Zhou Yi tell me that he was leaving. If he wanted to leave, he would definitely tell me. So if he didn't say it, it means he won't leave. As the coach of Dortmund, I certainly don't want Zhou Yi to leave. He is the core of Dortmund, and he will not go anywhere."

"Then has the issue of his contract renewal with the club been resolved?" a reporter asked.

"The contract renewal has been in progress, and we will be able to reach an agreement soon. I believe there will be no problems." Klopp replied.

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Although Zhou Yi didn't have time to refute the rumors to the outside world, he had already explained to his teammates that he would stay in Dortmund, and his contract renewal negotiations with the club were going very smoothly, and he should be signing it soon.

As the core of the team, this is what he must do, that is, to face his teammates and frankly explain the situation. He cannot deceive them, otherwise he will not be able to gain the trust of his teammates. If people's hearts are scattered at that time, how can this team be led? It can't be led!

In addition, for Zhou Yi, in addition to refuting the rumors with words, he can also use actions.

Use actions to tell everyone who is worried that he will leave Dortmund that he will not leave.

In the league opener against Hamburg, Zhou Yi entered the starting list. And in the first half, he assisted Marc Wagner to score the first goal.

After scoring the goal, Marc and other teammates hugged Zhou Yi.

The on-site announcer Norbert Dickel shouted: "Zhou Yi completed the assist! He once again showed his ability to find gaps! With such an outstanding performance, I don't think anyone would be willing to let him leave!"

For the first time on the stands, after a goal was scored, the name of the assister was shouted instead of the name of the scorer.

"Zhou Yi! Zhou Yi!!"

They waved their arms on the stands and shouted Zhou Yi's name in unison. And what about Zhou Yi?

Also, surrounded and accompanied by his teammates, he waved to the fans in the stands to say hello. The interaction was very good, and there was no sign that he was leaving.

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After Marc scored, Dortmund firmly controlled the situation on the field.

Zhou Yi naturally made great contributions to this. His performance was very normal, as if he was not affected by the transfer rumors at all.

Under his operation, Marc assisted Götze to score another goal, allowing Dortmund to lead Hamburg by two goals in the first half.

From the scene, Dortmund firmly controlled the situation. Zhou Yi perfectly continued his state from last season, Marc's performance was also very good, and the state of Götze and others was also very good.

This team seems to have not gone through a summer break. There is no need to run-in, and the state will not be disconnected.

"Klopp did not make large-scale signings this season. Now it seems to be wise. Because Dortmund's system is already very complete, and there is no need to introduce a large number of players to increase the burden of the team's run-in. Their main core is unchanged, and the team can quickly integrate. This is also one of the reasons why they can continue the state of last season, which is naturally conducive to their performance in the league..." Marcel Reif analyzed. "But there is also a problem, that is, will such a lineup still be a little weak? You must know that Dortmund's performance in the two-line battle last season was unstable due to player injuries and other reasons. This is related to their insufficient reserve strength. If they don't introduce more outstanding players this season, what will they do when the Champions League starts again?"

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After the start of the second half, Hamburg launched a counterattack and scored a goal. They tied the score to 1:2, only one goal behind.

Then Dortmund made a substitution adjustment, Kagawa Shinji replaced Lewandowski.

When the Japanese player came on the field, a huge cheer and applause rang out at Westfalenstadion. This was Kagawa Shinji's first appearance in the league after his injury.

His outstanding performance last season captured the hearts of many people, and Dortmund fans like this short Japanese player very much.

After Kagawa Shinji came on the field, he slapped Zhou Yi, who was closest to him, and then ran to his position.

Five minutes after he came on the field, Zhou Yi's accurate long pass found him, Kagawa Shinji stopped the ball, and then directly rubbed and shot into the far corner. The ball bypassed Hamburg goalkeeper Drobny's fingers and flew into the goal!

3:1!

Dortmund regained the lead by two goals!

"Kagawa Shinji! He secured the victory for Dortmund!" Marcel Reif shouted. "Scoring a goal as soon as he came on the field is really a perfect comeback!"

And Kagawa Shinji obviously knew who he should thank for this perfect comeback. After scoring the goal, he turned around and ran back to the midfield, and hugged Zhou Yi tightly.

Being able to score a goal in the first league game after his comeback will greatly improve his confidence and make his comeback easier. Scoring a goal is indeed very important for players who have been absent from the game for half a season due to injury.

So Kagawa Shinji should thank Zhou Yi. Without Zhou Yi's selfless help, he might have to go a long way and detour a long way to regain his form and confidence.

With Zhou Yi, it's twice the result with half the effort.

With such a core, who would want him to leave?