Chapter 1 The Beginning

Guo Nu couldn't respond to Zhou Yi's words due to a lack of confidence, after all, he couldn't actually play in the game.

But the other Inter Milan players weren't going to remain silent when facing Zhou Yi.

The team's star midfielder, Sneijder, expressed his opinion on the match.

"The last game was certainly surprising; we didn't expect it to turn out that way. But it also served as a warning to us, preventing us from underestimating our opponents. Borussia Dortmund is a strong team, and we will give it our all."

Sneijder's words sounded relatively polite.

Center-back Lúcio wasn't so diplomatic: "Westfalenstadion? I've been there more than once, it's nothing special. Their home-field advantage isn't as great as they think. As long as we don't underestimate them, we can beat them!"

Lúcio had played in the Bundesliga for many years with Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich, so he was very familiar with Borussia Dortmund. Moreover, his attitude towards Dortmund was unlikely to be positive, as they had always been his enemies when he played in the Bundesliga. Naturally, his words wouldn't be kind.

Before the game, the war of words between the two sides had begun. What was somewhat unexpected was that Zhou Yi had initiated this verbal sparring…

※※※

Amidst the war of words, Inter Milan arrived at Borussia Dortmund's home stadium, the Westfalenstadion.

During the pre-match warm-up, Lúcio heard boos directed at him. However, he didn't feel anything about it; he was used to it.

It wasn't the first time he had come to this stadium as an opponent.

The important thing was to play well.

Every Inter Milan player firmly believed that as long as they didn't underestimate their opponents, they could still defeat them, even on the road.

To that end, they had prepared thoroughly, so how could the boos from the stands affect them?

So when Inter Milan conceded a goal after just eighteen minutes, they were all a little slow to react—what happened?

"Oh, oh, oh! Sven Bender! This is his first Champions League goal of the season! Bender isn't the type of player who scores often, but facing such a good opportunity, it would have been inexcusable not to score!" Marcel Reif exclaimed. "Borussia Dortmund now lead 1-0!"

This great opportunity was created by Zhou Yi, who, after attracting Inter Milan's defensive attention with his teammates, suddenly passed the ball to the advancing Sven Bender. When Bender received the ball on the edge of the penalty box, there wasn't a single defender near him. As Marcel Reif said, how could he not score from such a great position?

So Sven Bender didn't hesitate to hit a low shot, and the ball, kicking up grass, flew past César's fingertips and into the goal…

The Westfalenstadion erupted, as if an earthquake, confined to this location, had occurred!

In stark contrast to the jubilant Borussia Dortmund players were the stunned expressions on the faces of the Inter Milan players.

They never expected that their team would concede a goal after just eighteen minutes…

Weren't they supposed to be unbeatable as long as they didn't underestimate their opponents?

※※※

Borussia Dortmund relied on this goal to lead Inter Milan at home in the first half.

Inter Milan had tried to counterattack, but they couldn't break through the defense composed of Hummels, Subotić, Piszczek, and Schmelzer, let alone pose a threat to Mitchell Langerak, who was subbing in for Weidenfeller.

Until the end of the first half, they couldn't score a goal and could only return to the locker room with resentment.

Fifteen minutes later, the two sides switched sides and fought again.

In the second half, Inter Milan's performance didn't change much.

Their attack seemed disjointed, and everyone relied more on simple routines and individual play to attack.

"...This Inter Milan seems to have declined in its ability to deal with difficulties when they encounter them. What was impressive last season was their home game against Barcelona, where they were down a man early, but they ultimately worked together to block Barcelona's attack, eventually eliminating their opponents and reaching the Champions League final. That Inter Milan didn't seem to fear any surprises. But now… Inter Milan seems completely at a loss when they encounter even the slightest difficulty…"

Marcel Reif commented.

He accurately pointed out Inter Milan's problem.

In the final analysis, it was because Inter Milan lacked the desire to win and the motivation to work hard in adversity. This all stemmed from their already successful last season. Of course, the lack of a charismatic coach, and the players' unwillingness to work hard for a coach like Benítez, was also a major reason.

But Inter Milan themselves probably didn't realize these problems. The players still thought they were the defending champions, that they were very strong, and that they were strong contenders for the Champions League title this season.

Marcel Reif suddenly thought of Zhou Yi's words before the game, when he said that Inter Milan would struggle at Borussia Dortmund's home stadium.

Now it seemed that was indeed the case.

Inter Milan was already in a tough fight!

Moreover, it seemed that Zhou Yi had discovered the weak truth beneath Inter Milan's seemingly powerful exterior even earlier than they had…

Some people thought Zhou Yi's words before the game were psychological warfare, but now it seemed that he was just telling the truth. It was a pity that the truth was not pleasant to hear, so no one believed it…

In the fifty-third minute, Benítez made the first adjustment, replacing Muntari with young Nigerian midfielder Obiora Nwankwo.

However, this substitution was questioned by the Italian commentators: "It is right for Inter Milan to make a substitution when we are behind. But Benítez's adjustment makes no sense at all… He replaced one defensive midfielder with another defensive midfielder. What is he trying to do?"

Not only did the commentators find it strange, but even Muntari, who was being replaced, was puzzled.

After leaving the field, Muntari didn't even shake hands with Benítez, but went straight back to the bench and sat down heavily.

In fact, Nwankwo probably didn't know why the coach had brought him on, even though the coach told him to mark Zhou Yi after he came on.

But this didn't solve the team's current problem of being down a goal.

And… Zhou Yi really wasn't someone this young player could keep an eye on.

His range of movement was so large that Nwankwo didn't know whether he should follow him or not.

In the sixty-first minute, just ten minutes after Benítez's substitution, Zhou Yi ran to the wing to initiate an attack. He passed the ball to Götze, who crossed it into the middle. Wagner nimbly slipped between Lúcio and Samuel in the center, got a head on the ball, and headed it into the goal!

"2-0!! Marc Wagner!! His fourth Champions League goal of the season! Borussia Dortmund lead Inter Milan 2-0 at home!"

※※※

"Sigh, Zhou Yi was right, this Inter Milan is really just a 'paper tiger'…" Yang Muge said in the group, watching the Borussia Dortmund players embrace each other to celebrate the goal.

"Damn, I really didn't expect Inter Milan to be this weak!" Sun Pan was also surprised.

"It's normal to lose motivation after winning the championship. Plus, there's all kinds of internal strife," He Ying said.

Guo Nu didn't say anything. He was also watching the game on TV in his apartment. He didn't want to speak now, nor did he know what to say.

This result was too unexpected. He had secretly accumulated so much good karma for Inter Milan in the group, but now it seemed to have no effect at all…

Is Inter Milan really… a paper tiger?

※※※

The Italian commentators were pointing their fingers at Benítez: "I know why the Spaniard brought on Nwankwo. It's simple, because Nwankwo was drafted from the youth team to the first team, and he is a 'protégé' that he wants to focus on developing. But unfortunately, the Nigerian youngster's performance did not live up to Benítez's expectations! This goal was caused by his lax marking of Zhou Yi!"

Poor Nwankwo, he had become a victim of the internal factional struggle within the team…

After Borussia Dortmund scored their second goal, Benítez made another substitution, replacing forward Biabiany with attacking midfielder Coutinho. He was still focusing on controlling the midfield.

Clearly, Benítez believed that although Inter Milan had midfield players like Sneijder and Zanetti, they still couldn't wrest control of the midfield from Borussia Dortmund…

He wasn't very satisfied with this.

In the seventy-first minute, he made another substitution, this time replacing forward Pandev with forward Milito.

He continued to strengthen the attack.

At this time, Klopp didn't substitute Zhou Yi again, but chose to let Zhou Yi continue to play, because with him on the field, Borussia Dortmund's midfield control was as steady as Mount Tai.

Klopp had experienced this in the previous few games. As long as Zhou Yi was substituted early, Borussia Dortmund's control would decline sharply.

So in the league game against Mainz, Klopp didn't let Zhou Yi rest when the opponent launched a counterattack, but kept him on the field.

The result, of course, was that Borussia Dortmund easily defeated Mainz 2-0 on the road and took the lead in the league.

Now, of course, Klopp couldn't let Zhou Yi come off the field.

Zhou Yi also knew how to play. After leading by two goals, in order to ensure that he had enough stamina to last until the end of the game, Zhou Yi rarely went forward again. He stayed in the defensive midfielder position, using long passes to orchestrate attacks, and short and medium-range passes to direct and control the tempo.

This reduced his range of movement, and his stamina was naturally saved. Moreover, since he was in the defensive midfielder position, it was difficult for the opponent's defensive players to rush up and defend him, so he didn't have to rely on a wide range of movement to get rid of the defense…