Chapter 5 Zhou Yi's Wait

Zhou Yi continued to wait as the league resumed after the international break.

The fifth round of the league was a highlight, with Borussia Dortmund hosting Bayern Munich.

The match between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund is known as "Der Klassiker" (The German Clasico). In terms of intensity and importance, it's no less than the "El Clásico" between Barcelona and Real Madrid in Spain, or the "North West Derby" between Liverpool and Manchester United in England.

However, in recent years, Dortmund hadn't been performing as well, and their results were far less stable than Bayern Munich's. Although Bayern Munich had also lost the league title last season, they still finished second. Dortmund, on the other hand, finished sixth last season, and even dropped to thirteenth the season before that. Since their last league title, Dortmund had been struggling. Overly optimistic expansion had led them into an economic crisis, and the expensive signings hadn't lived up to expectations. The team's performance was inconsistent, and they had fallen far behind their old rivals, Bayern Munich, in Germany. They had even been surpassed by teams like Wolfsburg, Werder Bremen, and Stuttgart.

So, in recent years, Bayern Munich had dominated the matches between Dortmund and Bayern Munich. Since the 2007-2008 season, Dortmund hadn't won against Bayern Munich. At home, they could only manage a draw, while away games always resulted in losses.

The last time the two teams met was in the nineteenth round of last season, when Dortmund visited Bayern Munich and lost 1-3.

In the last ten encounters, Dortmund had only won two games.

Nine of these ten encounters were in the league, with the other being a German Cup match.

Dortmund had won two, drawn two, and lost all the remaining games.

Such a low win rate could only be described as dismal.

And judging from their recent form, Dortmund were far from being in the same condition as Bayern Munich. Perhaps their only advantage was playing at home.

After all, Westfalenstadion was considered a hell for any visiting team.

In this match, Zhou Yi was, of course, watching from the Südtribüne (South Stand).

Only ten minutes into the game, Mats Hummels, the center-back who had transferred from Bayern Munich to Dortmund, broke the deadlock for Dortmund with a corner kick.

When Hummels scored, the cheers from the Südtribüne were almost enough to stop one's heart.

"Mats! Mats! Dortmund is your home!" Dortmund fans shouted Hummels's name.

"Hummels has completed a brilliant revenge against Bayern Munich!" the commentator Norbert Dickel shouted excitedly.

Hummels was a player developed by Bayern Munich's youth academy, and he had been promoted to Bayern Munich's first team in 2007. But he never got many opportunities to play in the first team, so he was loaned to Dortmund for one and a half seasons.

During his loan spell at Dortmund, Hummels performed exceptionally well, convincing Klopp to buy him outright at any cost. Eventually, in the summer of this year, Dortmund spent 4.2 million euros to permanently acquire Hummels. Hummels was also happy to stay at Dortmund, as he was a starter here, while he would be a substitute if he returned to Bayern Munich. It was a no-brainer.

At this time, the feelings cultivated by the youth academy might not be as important as practical interests.

Hummels, a player developed by Bayern Munich, scored against Bayern Munich in this match, which was a very dramatic scene. It also made Dortmund fans even more excited—we not only poached a player from Bayern Munich, but he also scored against them!

And the one who assisted Hummels was the team's midfield core, the young Turkish talent Nuri Şahin. In a sense, he was also Zhou Yi's competitor.

Taking the lead boosted Dortmund's morale, and the players performed well, suppressing Bayern Munich on the field.

But the team still conceded a goal in the thirty-sixth minute.

Mario Gómez, Bayern Munich's center-forward, who they had bought from Stuttgart, equalized for Bayern Munich.

This goal caused a sigh of regret in the Südtribüne.

Some people were also cursing Gómez: "Lucky shot!!"

Zhou Yi also put his hands on his head, feeling regret and unwillingness for the team's goal conceded.

During halftime, the fans in the Südtribüne gathered together to discuss the first half and look forward to the second half.

"Although that goal conceded was a pity, we still have the upper hand. Bayern Munich didn't have too many opportunities!" "Old Man" Bruno said with confidence about the second half.

Others also expressed their agreement.

Zhou Yi remained silent.

"Hey, Zhou Yi, what do you think?" Mark next to him noticed that Zhou Yi's mood wasn't very high, so he asked.

Hearing this, everyone turned their attention to Zhou Yi.

"Uh..." Zhou Yi hesitated, seeing everyone's high spirits.

"Say what you think, Chinese boy," "Old Man" Bruno encouraged Zhou Yi.

"I'd better not pour cold water on everyone..." Zhou Yi shook his head.

"Do you think our situation in the second half is not good?" someone asked Zhou Yi.

"Yes," Zhou Yi nodded.

"Why? I know Gómez's goal was a bit frustrating, but didn't the team's defense make adjustments after conceding the goal?" another person said. "Besides, Gómez didn't get any decent chances in the entire first half, just that one goal, he was lucky..."

"And our center-backs are not at a disadvantage at all in the confrontation with Gómez. Neither Hummels nor Subotić are at a disadvantage in terms of physicality!" someone echoed.

Zhou Yi said, "That's right, our two center-backs performed well in defending Gómez. Gómez was well-restricted by us. But has everyone thought about it, what if Van Gaal substitutes Gómez in the second half?"

As soon as he said this, everyone was stunned, but then Bruno laughed loudly: "How is that possible, Chinese boy? Gómez scored a goal in the first half, and you want to substitute him? What would Gómez think?"

"Yeah, yeah, Van Gaal substituting Gómez who just scored a goal? Has he gone mad?"

Mrs. Wagner also found Zhou Yi's idea unbelievable.

Zhou Yi shook his head: "I don't know what Gómez would think, but Van Gaal is a very tough coach. He's the boss in the locker room, and he won't consider what the players think if he thinks it's necessary. Since Gómez has been restricted by Mats and Neven and has no shooting opportunities, why keep him on the field? You yourselves said that Gómez's goal had a lot of luck involved. I don't think Van Gaal can't see this point. Keeping Gómez on the field doesn't pose any threat to our defense, do you expect him to have another lucky shot in the second half?"

Hearing Zhou Yi's analysis, everyone fell silent, and unconsciously, they couldn't ask any more questions.

"Don't forget, Ribéry is sitting on Bayern Munich's bench. And there's Robben on the field, both of them are fast, agile, and have outstanding individual abilities. And what about our center-backs? Both Mats and Neven are tall and big, but relatively clumsy and slow to turn around. What will they do when they encounter two short, fast, and agile players?"

Zhou Yi's series of rhetorical questions left everyone speechless and unable to speak.

Because they did realize this problem.

"What if Van Gaal replaces Gómez with Ribéry? How should we respond?"

Zhou Yi finished speaking, he looked at everyone, and no one could answer his question.

"Moreover, I want to remind everyone to pay attention, they also have a very outstanding young man, Thomas Müller, on the bench. He's not as strong as Gómez, but he's agile and has excellent awareness. If he comes on, he can effectively cooperate with Robben and Ribéry. Plus their other starting forward, Olić, Olić is a forward with excellent playmaking ability. He may not be very good at scoring himself, but he's good at setting up goals for his teammates. Such a forward attacking combination can't be defended by simply building a wall." Zhou Yi added.

"Chinese boy, how do you know so much about Bayern Munich?" "Old Man" Bruno asked curiously.

"Although I can't play, I have to understand my opponents," Zhou Yi spread his hands.

He had played against this Bayern Munich team in the virtual world for several days, so he naturally knew his opponents.

"Is this also part of the first team?" Mark asked from the side.

"No, this is just a little personal interest of mine," Zhou Yi smiled slightly.

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Zhou Yi surprised everyone at the beginning of the second half.

Because during halftime, Van Gaal really made a series of substitutions.

He replaced Hamit Altıntop with Thomas Müller, and Mario Gómez with Ribéry—Gómez, the hero of Bayern Munich's goal in the first half, was indeed substituted!

"Amazing, Chinese boy!" "Old Man" Bruno patted Zhou Yi on the shoulder, with other people looking dumbfounded.

"This is just the most reasonable analysis based on the characteristics of different players, 'Old Man', nothing amazing," Zhou Yi said modestly.

"Hey, you can't say that. Being able to guess what the other coach is thinking and what he's going to do, at least it shows that you're the same as the coach. If Dortmund doesn't give you a chance to play, you might as well retire and become a coach, haha!" Bruno joked with Zhou Yi.

"Thank you, Old Man, I don't want to retire when I'm eighteen!" Zhou Yi rolled his eyes.

Everyone laughed.

But they soon couldn't laugh anymore.

Van Gaal substituted two people at once during halftime, such a substitution could be said to be a desperate move, doing so at the beginning of the second half fully demonstrated Van Gaal's ambition.

Sure enough, in the forty-ninth minute, four minutes after the start of the second half, Bayern Munich scored.

The goal was scored by their midfielder Schweinsteiger, and the person who assisted him was Robben, whom Zhou Yi had mentioned during halftime.

Bayern Munich took the lead!

"Damn it! Stop that Dutchman!" "Old Man" Bruno complained.

"You can't stop him, he's too fast," Zhou Yi said.

"Damn..." Bruno frowned.

※※※

After conceding the goal, Klopp also made adjustments in the sixtieth minute, he also substituted two people at once. Egyptian forward Zidan was replaced, and Barrios came on. Another starting forward, Rangelov, was replaced by Großkreutz.

When Großkreutz came on, there was a burst of cheers from the Südtribüne—the Südtribüne was very popular with Kevin Großkreutz.

But this substitution did not bring any good luck to the team, four minutes after the substitution, Dortmund conceded another goal, this time the goal was scored by Ribéry, who was substituted in the second half.

1:3! Dortmund were two goals behind at home!

"Ah—!" The fans around Zhou Yi put their hands on their heads and screamed in regret and pain.

Zhou Yi also sighed—faced with the team's consecutive goals conceded, he, as a first-team player, could only watch from the stands and could not go down to help the team himself. This feeling was really… damn bad!

Although waiting was part of the first team, he still wanted to get the opportunity to play as soon as possible. In such a heavyweight match between Dortmund and Bayern Munich, how much he hoped that he could be a participant himself, instead of a spectator watching from the sidelines…

Next, Klopp used his last substitution in the seventy-first minute, replacing Kuba with Valdez, continuing to strengthen the attack. And he himself stood on the sidelines, constantly shouting.

But the situation of the game did not improve in the slightest.

In the seventy-eighth minute, Thomas Müller, the young player who was also substituted in the second half, scored his first goal in the Bundesliga, helping Bayern Munich lead Dortmund 4:1.

At this time, the fans around Zhou Yi were silent. Faced with such a "rout," they really didn't know what to do.

But Bayern Munich and Thomas Müller's performance was not over.

In the eighty-eighth minute, Müller scored another goal, scoring twice, 5:1!

"This is simply a massacre!" The commentator Marcel Reif said with emotion on the live broadcast. "It seems that Dortmund's revival may have to wait a long, long time..."

The few Bayern Munich fans cheered heartily at Westfalenstadion, while most Dortmund fans were silent. The live screen cut to close-ups of the players, and every Dortmund player looked dazed, they were completely stunned by Bayern Munich!

In the silence, Zhou Yi heard sobbing from beside him. He turned his head and saw Mark, with two lines of tears hanging on his cheeks.

The team was beaten so badly by their bitter rivals at home that he could no longer suppress the sadness in his heart and cried in public.

And around him, the other Dortmund fans were not doing much better, but they were older than Mark and could control their emotions better, but they all had solemn expressions and could not speak.

"Zhou Yi..." Mark called out in a trembling voice.

"Yeah?"

"Failure… is also part of the first team, right?" Mark asked, choking.

"...Yes," Zhou Yi replied after a second of silence.

Hearing Zhou Yi's answer, Mark's sobbing became louder.

"But watching the team lose from the stands is not part of the first team," Zhou Yi said, looking at Klopp standing on the sidelines, clenching his fists.

The personalized coach, who seemed to never be quiet on the sidelines, was like a statue at this moment, standing motionless on the sidelines, watching the Bayern Munich players celebrating their goals and victory…

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ps, This chapter is an additional update for the alliance leader, thank you alliance leader [Lan Yue a Molong]!