Chapter 70 Arouse

When Dortmund scored two goals in twenty-six minutes, tying the aggregate score, it shouldn't have been good news for AC Milan. But AC Milan suddenly found that they were no longer confused, nor did they need to think too much.

Because the situation now was very critical and very simple.

AC Milan had to score, only in this way could they avoid the misfortune of being eliminated.

This goal was like a wake-up call to the somewhat panicked AC Milan players—we have nothing left to lose, so let's fight!

So when the game restarted, AC Milan suddenly returned to the state they were in during the first leg, catching the Dortmund players, who were rushing to score another goal and completely lock in the victory, somewhat off guard.

Not only was Dortmund's attack defended by AC Milan, but they also took the opportunity to return to Dortmund's goal. If it hadn't been for Weidenfeller's outstanding performance, this ball might have gone in.

This threatening attack also boosted AC Milan's morale, and in the following game, AC Milan dominated the situation.

Marcel Reif also noticed this and exclaimed, "The AC Milan at the start of the game was like a sleeping lion, while the current AC Milan reminds us of the AC Milan from the first leg between the two sides!"

Dortmund found that the attack was ineffective and the opponent's offensive was very fierce, so they had to slowly shrink back and slow down the pace of the game.

During this time, after AC Milan's offensive came up, Dortmund's thirty-meter area didn't look very peaceful.

Several times, it caused the Dortmund fans to scream—they thought AC Milan was going to score.

Fortunately, Dortmund's defense held up and didn't concede a goal.

But being able to hold on for a while doesn't necessarily mean being able to hold on forever. Defending so passively will always lead to conceding a goal.

The relaxed and happy atmosphere in the Westfalenstadion was swept away, replaced by tense air.

If AC Milan scored a goal, it would be over.

Both sides had away goals, and the number of away goals was the same, and AC Milan was still leading Dortmund by one goal on aggregate.

Even if Dortmund scored another goal to tie the aggregate score, they would not be able to rely on this score to eliminate AC Milan. They would have to continue playing extra time with AC Milan, and if they couldn't score another goal in the thirty minutes of extra time, they would have to go to a penalty shootout.

At this time, Dortmund had to change the current situation, at least they couldn't be beaten by AC Milan's offensive to the point where they couldn't hold their heads up, right?

So how can we change the current situation?

Many people choose to focus their attention on Zhou Yi.

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Zhou Yi hadn't been playing very actively during this time. After getting the ball, he was more focused on controlling it than sending shells forward.

Because if he passed the ball forward, there was nothing good to pass. Everyone was suppressed back by AC Milan. If he still thought about pursuing a counterattack, he was afraid that he would give up possession to AC Milan for nothing.

So during this time, after Zhou Yi got the ball, he mainly passed it horizontally and backwards, not rushing to pass it forward.

And such a backward pass was to give his teammates time to插上 (cha shang - insert), and only when there were enough receiving points in front would Zhou Yi consider passing the ball forward.

Although doing so would lose some counterattack opportunities, it could reduce the number of AC Milan's attacks, which actually reduced AC Milan's threat to the goal.

However, this does not mean that Zhou Yi is passively passing the ball in the backcourt without any ambition, hoping to waste time by passing the ball. He is always paying attention to the changes in the situation on the field, scanning and recording the position of each player, and observing their runs. Looking for and waiting for opportunities.

Now AC Milan's offensive is very fierce, and they have taken the initiative. But it doesn't mean that they have mastered everything. There will always be some gaps on the football field.

Zhou Yi kept scanning and found these gaps, some large and some small, but not every gap can launch an attack.

However, it is not possible to just wait. Sometimes you have to create opportunities.

When the ball was passed to Zhou Yi again, he began to try to guide the runs of both players, so as to make a potential gap that he had already seen larger.

He first passed the ball horizontally and backwards with his teammates, just like before.

AC Milan's players, in response to Zhou Yi's style of play, launched an active siege in the frontcourt—they believed that Zhou Yi's backward passing was delaying time. After all, if this score was maintained until the end of the game, Dortmund would eliminate their opponents with the advantage of away goals.

If AC Milan did not press in the frontcourt, but instead quickly retreated to their own half after Dortmund controlled the ball, set up a defense, and waited for the opponent to attack, then it was possible that Dortmund would pass the ball back and forth in the backcourt for five minutes without attacking—they felt that Zhou Yi was definitely capable of doing this!

In that case, the game time would be lost in Dortmund's back and forth passing. In order to avoid this situation, they must press in the frontcourt. On the one hand, they can put pressure on Dortmund and increase the chances of their ball control errors, and on the other hand, they hope to launch a counterattack directly through the frontcourt pressing.

As long as they can win the ball, they are very close to Dortmund's goal. This takes less time than pushing forward from the backcourt, and it is also more sudden, which can catch Dortmund off guard.

AC Milan's frontcourt pressing further aggravated the tense atmosphere over the Westfalenstadion. The Dortmund fans in front of the TV and in the stands were all frightened, and Marcel Reif was also saying: "Dortmund is very dangerous during this time!"

But who knows that this is exactly the result Zhou Yi wants?

Because if AC Milan doesn't come up to press, the gaps behind them won't become bigger and bigger. He believes that as long as the gap becomes bigger, it won't be just himself who can see this gap. His teammates, no matter who they are, will always find it...

After passing back and forth for a while, the gap that Zhou Yi had initially discovered was getting bigger and bigger.

But it seemed that none of his teammates could find this gap.

If he continued to wait, the gap would be more obvious, and after it became obvious, AC Milan would definitely be on guard. They are not fools either.

In this situation, Zhou Yi had two choices—either give up this opportunity and continue to wait and search, which would be more prudent, at least the team's formation would not be messed up.

Or choose a strong attack and seize this opportunity to make a fuss. But there would be great risks in doing so. If other teammates cooperated with Zhou Yi and went up, but this attack failed, what if the opponent launched a counterattack?

Zhou Yi had to make a choice.

But as I said before, Zhou Yi is a person who is good at making multiple-choice questions...

Holding the ball, he made a move to pass the ball forward, as if he was going to launch an attack with a long pass.

Seeing this, Van Bommel forced up to interfere with his pass.

Who would have thought that Zhou Yi's pass was just a feint. After swinging his right foot up, he skimmed over the ball, then retracted it, and pulled the ball back with the bottom of his foot, dodging Van Bommel's foot.

Then he tapped the ball back with his right foot to the left, dodged Van Bommel, and went forward with the ball!

"Good ball, Zhou Yi's beautiful breakthrough!"

He couldn't directly make his teammates run forward, but he could run forward himself!

Dortmund's Zhou Yi, who got rid of Van Bommel with the ball, dribbled forward.

In fact, in the game, Zhou Yi rarely actively dribbles the ball for a long distance. Most of the time, his dribbling is only two or three steps. After encountering the opponent's defensive players' interception, he directly passes the ball. He will not try to dribble past people, because that would delay time.

So when Zhou Yi dribbled the ball forward, Nocerino, who came up to stop him, also thought the same way, thinking that as long as he blocked in front of him and made a defensive posture, Zhou Yi would pass the ball out himself.

But now there is only one Lewandowski in front, and he is being marked by Thiago Silva, and there is no space to receive the ball at all, so where can Zhou Yi pass the ball to?

He can only pass it back.

However, when Nocerino stood in front of Zhou Yi with this idea, Zhou Yi used a move that he did not expect to get past Nocerino.

"Nutmeg!" commentator Marcel Reif exclaimed.

Kick the ball with your right foot and block the ball with your left foot, the ball changes direction forward and goes past Nocerino.

Then Zhou Yi passed by Nocerino and chased the ball.

Such a simple dribbling move left Nocerino frozen in place, dumbfounded, watching Zhou Yi pass him.

Zhou Yi didn't choose to pass the ball, but dribbled past people!

This was a big surprise to everyone.

By the time the AC Milan players reacted, Zhou Yi had already crossed the center line and entered AC Milan's half.

And Zhou Yi's sudden advance also drove the Dortmund players. Gotze, Kagawa Shinji, and Kuba rushed forward to meet and support Zhou Yi.

Lewandowski also began to become restless in front, wanting to get rid of Thiago Silva.

For a while, there were suddenly many opportunities that didn't seem to be very good at first.

Zhou Yi has more passing options.

And Zhou Yi did not continue to dribble the ball towards AC Milan's goal, but decisively passed the ball out.

He passed it to Lewandowski in the frontcourt. Lewandowski was facing away from the attacking direction. Under Thiago Silva's pressing, he couldn't turn around.

But that doesn't mean he can't participate in the attack.

He passed the ball back to Kagawa Shinji, who came up diagonally, without being able to turn around. After passing the ball, he turned and插 (cha -insert) towards the goal.

After receiving the ball, Kagawa Shinji paused slightly, seemingly unsure of who to give the ball to.

A moment later, he turned his head and looked to his left. Gotze had already run into position, and he quickly passed the ball over.

Gotze received the ball on the wing, and AC Milan's defense was almost in place. Under Dortmund's series of attacks, AC Milan's defense line was pressed back to their goal, and it was pressed very far back.

Logically speaking, Gotze should kick the ball into the goal and let Lewandowski compete for the header.

However, when Gotze turned his head to observe the situation in the penalty area, he caught a glimpse of Zhou Yi out of the corner of his eye.

He was also about to enter the penalty area.

And he happened to be in a gap!

What's there to hesitate about?

Gotze swung his foot and passed the ball out.

The ball rolled along the grass towards the penalty area, but it didn't roll towards Lewandowski in front of the goal. Instead, it rolled diagonally backwards... a back pass!

When everyone's eyes shifted with the ball, they saw Zhou Yi, who had run into the penalty area, swinging his right foot towards the ball.

"Zhou Yi——!!" Marcel Reif shouted, dragging out his voice.