Chapter 1 A Chinese Derby in the Ruhr Valley

Chinese fans had new expectations for the Ruhr Derby: a Chinese derby within the Ruhr Derby—Zhou Yi representing Borussia Dortmund and Yang Muge representing Schalke 04. Their showdown would be the Chinese derby.

The first Ruhr Derby of the season was the German Super Cup, and everyone was hoping for a Chinese derby between Zhou Yi and Yang Muge in the Super Cup.

Unfortunately, although Yang Muge was selected for the starting lineup, he didn't get a chance to come off the bench until the end of the match. So, his historic first encounter with Zhou Yi in the Ruhr Derby was postponed.

In the subsequent league matches, Yang Muge was occasionally selected for the eighteen-man squad but never got the opportunity to play.

Now, among the "Five Little Dragons," only Yang Muge hadn't played a match in the first team yet.

Zhou Yi, needless to say, was already an absolute mainstay and core player for Dortmund. His absence would have a significant impact on Dortmund.

And Sun Pan? He was already Atletico Madrid's starting goalkeeper. His outstanding performance had relegated young talent goalkeepers like Asenjo, who had once been highly anticipated, to the bench.

Guo Nu had also become a starter for Cesena. Although his height was a weakness, he compensated for it with his excellent physical qualities and fierce defensive awareness. He had already been dubbed "China's Cordoba" by the local media in Cesena.

Although He Ying was playing in the Spanish Second Division league, which wasn't broadcast domestically, it was clear from various news reports that he was performing well for Valladolid in the Spanish Second Division, also securing a firm position as the team's main striker.

Everyone else was playing in first-team matches, only Yang Muge was still waiting for his opportunity.

※※※

The league's fourteenth round on November 27th, the Ruhr Derby, the Chinese derby between Zhou Yi and Yang Muge would once again not happen because, at that time, Yang Muge should have been representing the Chinese Olympic team, fighting for the Olympic team's chance to participate in the Olympics.

In the Asian Olympic Qualifiers, the Chinese team had reached the final stage. They were placed in Group A, and their first group match was a 1-2 away defeat to the South Korean Olympic team, a bad start.

Currently, they were ranked last in the group.

On November 23rd, the Chinese team would face the Saudi Arabian Olympic team in their second group match at home. This match was held before the Champions League match, so Chinese fans could watch this match and then watch Dortmund vs. Arsenal in the Champions League.

In the end, with Sun Pan, Guo Nu, He Ying, and Yang Muge all returning to China to participate, the Chinese Olympic team cleanly defeated the Saudi Arabian Olympic team 2-0 at home.

This result finally made people feel that those matches they played in European clubs were useful. Otherwise, a group of players who were all starters in their respective clubs couldn't even beat the Korean team, which would be too annoying, right?

The Olympic team's third group match, a home game against the Qatar Olympic team, was on the evening of November 27th.

While the Ruhr Derby between Dortmund and Schalke 04 was at 10:30 PM on the 26th.

The four of them agreed to watch the match together in a room.

But they couldn't watch it openly, because the Olympic team had requirements. The game was tomorrow, so of course, they couldn't stay up too late tonight. The coaching staff would be checking the rooms at 10:30 PM.

So at 10:30 PM, everyone was waiting in their respective rooms, pretending to be asleep.

After the coaching staff finished checking the rooms, He Ying and Guo Nu secretly knocked on Sun Pan and Yang Muge's room door a few minutes later.

Sun Pan leaned close to the door and asked in a low voice, "Who is it?"

"Open the door." He Ying's deep voice sounded from outside.

Sun Pan quickly opened the door, He Ying slipped in, and Guo Nu, still peering around at the door, I don't know if everyone who does things secretly likes to do this action… It's like a secret rendezvous.

Sun Pan tutted, "Come in quickly! What are you acting like!"

Guo Nu then squeezed in. Then Sun Pan gently closed the door.

Over there, Yang Muge had already turned on the TV in the hotel.

After the screen lit up, they used the remote control to find the sports channel.

The channel's picture hadn't switched over yet, but the sound had already come out.

A huge roar came from the TV, startling the four of them.

Yang Muge, holding the remote control, frantically found the volume control button on the remote control and pressed it all the way to the bottom, directly turning it to mute.

"Damn, what's going on!" Sun Pan, who was startled, whispered. He was afraid of being heard by the coaching staff, which would result in punishment…

The screen lit up, without sound, everyone saw Dortmund player Lewandowski running wildly with his arms outstretched on the TV screen, while the camera was shaking non-stop.

Anyone who had watched a Bundesliga broadcast knew what this scene meant.

"****, how many minutes has it been, and Dortmund has already scored?" Sun Pan looked at the TV in surprise, an expletive escaping his lips.

Yang Muge's finger pressed the volume increase button on the remote control.

Commentator Duan Xin's excited voice came out: "The match has only been going on for fifteen minutes, and Dortmund is already leading at home! The goal was scored by Lewandowski!! And the one who passed the ball to him was none other than our... Zhou Yi!!"

"Not seeing that kid show off, I really don't know if it's lucky or unlucky..." Sun Pan muttered again.

"It's already been fifteen minutes?" Guo Nu then noticed the match time in the upper right corner of the screen, it really had been fifteen minutes. "Damn, the room check delayed too... too much time!"

He Ying glanced at Yang Muge.

He was a Schalke 04 player, but he could only watch the match from thousands of miles away in China, and as soon as he turned on the TV, he saw the news that his team was behind.

Yang Muge shook his head, then smiled and waved his hand: "It's a difference in strength, now we're completely overshadowed by Dortmund..."

He seemed very calm, not very frustrated, nor disappointed.

This was perhaps because he had a clear understanding of the current gap in strength between Schalke 04 and Dortmund.

Being behind at Dortmund's home ground was not an incredible thing...

"Maybe it'll be different when you're on the field, Lao Yang."

Sun Pan's words made Yang Muge a little absent-minded.

Will it be different when I'm on the field?

He didn't know, but he actually liked the idea of it being that way.

Every time he watched Schalke 04's matches from the bench, the stands, or in front of the TV, he itched to get out there. His companions were playing in the first team one after another, and even becoming starters. He had also considered whether to seek a loan to get stable playing time.

Zhou Yi had also advised him privately, for example, to get loaned out as soon as possible, continuing to sit on the bench, who knew when his time would come.

However, Yang Muge was essentially not a very proactive person. After being at Schalke 04 for so long, asking him to change places, he couldn't do it as decisively as his other friends. He would always hesitate, wanting to wait a little longer, and see what happened.

Sometimes, opportunities might slip away while waiting and seeing.

※※※

Dortmund, who took the lead after fifteen minutes, besieged Schalke 04's half under Zhou Yi's leadership.

Logically speaking, this was a good opportunity to play a defensive counterattack, but Schalke 04 had no way to launch a counterattack.

All their strength had to be used to deal with Dortmund's tidal wave of attacks.

After Dortmund scored, in the thirty-fifth and forty-third minutes, two Schalke 04 players, Jones and Papadopoulos, received yellow cards in succession.

They could only use yellow cards to stop Dortmund's attacks...

Zhou Yi was naturally one of the most prominent figures in Dortmund's siege. His passing was as always clear and precise.

He directed Dortmund's attack, and also directed Schalke 04's defense, forcing Schalke 04's players to just run themselves ragged.

Schalke 04 had tried to find ways to contain Zhou Yi.

But now that Zhou Yi's stamina had improved, his running ability had also greatly improved, which made his range of activity even greater, making it not easy to contain him. Sometimes he was in the middle, sometimes he went to the wing, sometimes he moved forward, and sometimes he retreated to the back and didn't come up.

Making the Schalke 04 players defending him very uncomfortable. Especially Jermaine Jones, as Schalke 04's only defensive player in midfield in this match, his task was very heavy.

But in the thirty-fifth minute, he received a yellow card on Zhou Yi, which immediately put him in a difficult situation in defense.

While watching the match, Sun Pan said: "At this time, if Lao Yang you were on the sidelines, if I were your coach, I would substitute you on and let you defend Zhou Yi!"

"It seems Schalke 04's coach didn't bring any extra defensive midfielders at all..." Guo Nu also said.

"Because they simply don't have any extra people to use! As a result, Lao Yang still came to participate in the Olympic team's match!" Sun Pan said. "Actually, I think it would be a good thing if you lost this match, Lao Yang. Your coach would definitely miss you very much at this time..."

Yang Muge didn't know whether to laugh or cry, he said: "But I still hope that we can force a draw with Dortmund in the end. It would be great if we could force a draw. Don't lose."

"I think... Schalke 04 should consider losing fewer goals as more realistic, right?"

He Ying's words silenced Yang Muge.

Watching his team being in a passive disadvantage on the field, he was unwilling to accept it and hoped to be able to represent Schalke 04 and contribute to the team.

In Yang Muge's silence, the first half of the match ended, with Dortmund temporarily leading Schalke 04 1-0 at home.