Chapter 1 The Warm-Up Opportunity

The warm-up match that Zhou Yi had been waiting for finally arrived after a week of training.

Borussia Dortmund’s warm-up opponent was VfL Wolfsburg, another Bundesliga team also training in Switzerland.

This was a Bundesliga-level warm-up match.

Moreover, this warm-up match was not closed to the public but open to everyone.

The match was held on the training ground, and reporters and fans could watch from the sidelines. For the Chinese reporters, this warm-up match was an opportunity to fully understand Zhou Yi’s level. Although they had seen Zhou Yi’s training sessions, training and matches were different after all.

A match was still a better reflection of a player’s level.

At the same time, they could also observe Zhou Yi’s performance in the match to predict his prospects in the first team and see if his previous confidence was justified.

Zhou Yi was very excited. He had finally waited for the opportunity he had dreamed of.

Götze noticed that Zhou Yi had suddenly become different from usual, so he asked curiously, “It’s just a warm-up match, Zhou Yi. Do you have to be so nervous?”

Zhou Yi rolled his eyes. “You’re the one who’s nervous!”

“Not nervous? Then why are you acting so different from usual?”

“I’m excited!”

Götze was stunned for a moment, then frowned and said, “A warm-up match makes you so excited… This isn’t the Zhou Yi I know.”

Zhou Yi really didn’t know what to say to Götze like this, so he had to explain to Götze, “This warm-up match is very important to me, Mario. It determines whether my future days will be a little easier.”

Götze thought of how Zhou Yi had to go to morning training while he was still dreaming. Those days were indeed a bit tough…

But what did this have to do with the warm-up match?

Could it be that if he performed well in the warm-up match, he wouldn’t have to do morning training?

Maybe he had some private agreement with the coach?

The more Götze thought about it, the more he felt that things should be like this. Otherwise, why would Zhou Yi always say that he was valued by the head coach?

Götze always felt that Zhou Yi had a strong sense of confidence, but he didn’t know where this confidence came from. Now he felt that he had found some of the reasons.

He thought of Zhou Yi’s daydream—he said that he would play in the first team earlier than him… Could it be true?

※※※

The warm-up match between Borussia Dortmund and VfL Wolfsburg took place on the training ground. Although there were no stands, there were still many spectators, including fans of both teams—this part was not very large.

Most of them were reporters.

Reporters from Germany accounted for the vast majority.

There were some local Swiss media, and another eye-catching group was the Chinese reporters.

Since the domestic media reported that Zhou Yi had performed well in training, Chinese fans’ enthusiasm for Zhou Yi had increased, and the number of Chinese media reporting on Zhou Yi from the front lines in Switzerland had also begun to increase.

From less than ten people at the beginning to more than twenty people now.

These Chinese reporters had naturally come to watch Zhou Yi’s first match for Borussia Dortmund, even if it was just an informal warm-up match.

Everyone also wanted to see if he could bring his outstanding performance in training to the match.

Many players looked quite good in training, but once they got into the match, their performance would be greatly reduced.

After all, training and matches were different, and even a warm-up match was more like a real battle than training.

※※※

Before the match, Klopp announced the starting lineup for the warm-up match.

The starting lineup in this kind of match didn’t mean much, because the warm-up match was mainly to assess the players’ condition and test the team’s coordination. Who started and who was on the bench didn’t mean much.

Such warm-up matches often had no restrictions on the number of substitutions, and it was normal to replace the entire starting lineup during the match.

So it was normal that Weidenfeller, Hummels, and Schmelzer, who were ironclad starters, didn’t appear in the starting lineup.

In the attacking lineup, Lucas Barrios, who transferred to the team this summer, started. Also starting were Kevin Großkreutz, who also transferred this summer, and Mario Götze. Zhou Yi also started and was partnered in midfield by Sven Bender, a defensive midfielder who also joined the team this summer.

It could be seen that the attacking end of this starting lineup was basically all new players. Klopp seemed to want to assess the new players’ understanding of the team’s attacking tactics.

Klopp let Zhou Yi start and put Şahin, the team’s midfield core last season, on the bench, because both of them were organizing midfielders, but their styles and characteristics were not exactly the same. Klopp wanted to see what would be different when Zhou Yi was on the field and when Şahin was on the field.

As the players went from the locker room to the field, Zhou Yi approached head coach Klopp.

“Hi, Coach,” he greeted proactively.

“What’s up, Zhou Yi?” Klopp asked him.

“Well, I want to discuss something with you…” Zhou Yi said. “Can you not substitute me off the field?”

Klopp looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

“I want to prove to you that my stamina can support me to play the entire match,” Zhou Yi said to the head coach with great confidence.

His confidence came from his current stamina value of seventy-six. If it weren’t for the fact that he had something in his head that could quantify stamina values, no one would believe it if he said it. He really wanted to show it to Klopp as evidence.

Klopp looked at Zhou Yi in surprise. He was a little surprised that Zhou Yi had made such a request to him:

He shook his head and refused: “No. This is a warm-up match, and what I’m considering is giving every player a chance to play. If you don’t come off the field, it means that someone won’t be able to play. That’s not fair to the other players.”

“I know, Coach, I know. But just this one match, let me prove it.” Zhou Yi didn’t back down but insisted on his own opinion.

Klopp wanted to refuse, but at the moment of opening his mouth, he suddenly thought of something, so he said with some difficulty, “If you promise me one request, I’ll do as you wish, young man.”

“I promise!” Zhou Yi nodded without hesitation.

“Hey, I haven’t said what the request is yet.”

“I’ve already promised anyway!”

“Ha! Okay, let’s make a bet. If you can insist on playing the full ninety minutes—I don’t even require you to have good quality in these ninety minutes, as long as you can insist on playing the full ninety minutes, I’ll consider you win, and I’ll cancel your special treatment from now on. If you can’t insist on playing the full ninety minutes, then your morning training will increase from one hour to one and a half hours, do you accept?” Klopp said.

“I accept, I accept!” Zhou Yi nodded repeatedly. “And I won’t stroll around during the match, I’ll also show a good enough performance!”

“Go, prove it to me, young man.” Klopp slapped Zhou Yi hard on the back.

“Yes, sir!” Zhou Yi saluted Klopp and then ran towards the field.

Watching Zhou Yi’s excited running back, Klopp snorted and then shook his head.

※※※

When Zhou Yi appeared on the field with his Borussia Dortmund No. 35 jersey and other teammates, the Chinese reporters on the sidelines were a little excited.

They didn’t expect to get the opportunity to start in the first warm-up match. It seemed that Zhou Yi’s performance in training had been recognized by the head coach.

Some photojournalists picked up their cameras and observed the expression on Zhou Yi’s face through the telephoto lens.

“Well, smiling, confident, and calm. This kid is really good!” He exclaimed.

“There’s hope, there’s hope! Zhou Yi’s psychological quality is much stronger than that of domestic players!”

Everyone was waiting to see Zhou Yi’s wonderful performance in the match.

After the two teams stood still, the referee blew the whistle and the match officially began!

Because Borussia Dortmund was kicking off, Zhou Yi quickly received a pass from his teammate.

In this match, when Klopp announced the starting lineup, he had already arranged Zhou Yi’s work. He was to replace Şahin as the team’s attacking organizer and tempo controller. This could be regarded as a “heavy responsibility” for an eighteen-year-old young man.

However, in the previous daily training, Zhou Yi’s position had always been like this, so his teammates were not surprised.

Zhou Yi’s performance in training proved that he could be competent for this position.

After Zhou Yi got the ball in the backfield, he didn’t look up to observe the situation, nor did he hesitate. Instead, he quickly distributed the ball to the wing and then ran to position himself.

This was a familiar rhythm to him.

Next, just like in the youth team match, he would firmly control the rhythm of the match on his side, and then use passing to lead VfL Wolfsburg by the nose, turning the wild wolf into an obedient dog.

※※※

“Jürgen, what did you talk about with Zhou Yi when you fell behind?” On the coach’s bench on the sidelines, assistant coach Buvac asked Klopp curiously.

“That kid issued a challenge to me.”

Klopp’s words surprised Buvac: “Someone actually dared to issue a challenge to you? Did you scold him?”

“Of course not, I’m a kind person, Željko.” Klopp smiled with his legs crossed.

“This… please forgive me for disagreeing…” Buvac said with a dry smile.

Klopp turned his head and grinned at Buvac: “Am I not friendly like this?”

Buvac leaned back: “I’m afraid you’ll eat me.”

Klopp rolled his eyes.

“Hey, Jürgen, what do you think?”

“I didn’t think much about it. I think this might be an opportunity for that kid to see the real world of adults. It’s much crueler than the world of dreamy teenagers. I hope he doesn’t cry by then.”

Klopp looked at Zhou Yi, who was shaking his head left and right on the field, looking for openings, and said slowly with gritted teeth.