Chapter 1 When Borussia Dortmund's Away Game Against Hoffenheim Officially Began

When Borussia Dortmund's away game against Hoffenheim officially began, Zhou Yi sat on the bench. The broadcast didn't give the bench a shot.

Duan Xin excitedly announced the starting lineups, because Zhou Yi was on the list.

But he hadn't finished announcing it yet…

Dortmund scored!

"Kuba shoots—! Goal! Oh dear! Goal!" Duan Xin shouted. That "oh dear," it's hard to say if he was happy for Dortmund's goal or feeling regret…

But Zhou Jianliang in front of the TV slapped his thigh: "Oh—dear!"

He didn't hide his disappointment at the goal.

Dortmund scored so early, which meant they would definitely have the upper hand in this game. It looked like it was impossible for his son to play…

Li Cuiyun saw Zhou Jianliang like this and guessed what he was thinking, so she asked, "Is it difficult for our son to play again?"

Zhou Jianliang weakly grunted "Mm."

Li Cuiyun didn't continue to ask why he couldn't play.

※※※

Zhou Yi, on the bench in front, didn't have the same thoughts as his parents. After Kuba scored, he and his teammates on the bench rushed out, raising their arms and cheering to celebrate the team's lead.

Marcel Reif said, "Dortmund took the lead in just two minutes! It's a wonderful start for them!"

In the following first half, neither side managed to score again. Dortmund finished the first half with a one-goal lead, and both sides entered halftime.

During halftime, the starting eleven were in the locker room, while the players on the bench were led by the assistant coach to the field for warm-ups.

Zhou Yi was among them.

There were fewer people in the stands than during the game, but still quite a lot.

Zhou Yi found it hard to believe that a team from such a small village like Hoffenheim could appear in the Bundesliga, and that fans from a village team with a total of three thousand people could fill almost eighty percent of a 30,000-seat stadium…

That's the charm of football, the charm of football in Europe.

Football is a grassroots sport rooted in the lives of the common people, a sport that relies on the community where the team is located. To be honest, Zhou Yi had been in Germany for a whole year, and everything he saw and heard made him particularly envious of German fans. These everyday things were what Zhou Yi had dreamed of in China but couldn't get.

Football in China has not yet been rooted at the grassroots level and relied on the community. It's more like a game for big shots. If they like it, they develop it vigorously; if they don't like it, they throw it into the cold palace. How powerful Dalian's football was back then! The city leaders also made football a city brand, and for a time, cities across the country followed suit.

But what about now?

Many cities have abandoned their once-proud brand. Even Dalian, the football city, now has a football team that is declining and no longer has its former glory.

Football in China still relies more on human governance and cannot rely on a grassroots football culture to achieve its own development.

In this regard, China still has a long way to go…

While warming up on the Bundesliga field, Zhou Yi was thinking about Chinese football. His habit of drifting off was really speechless.

※※※

In the second half, the two sides changed sides and fought again. Hoffenheim, who were behind, made the first substitution. Weiss replaced Eichner, and Vorsah replaced Compper. Both were defensive substitutions. Obviously, Hoffenheim's coach, Rangnick, hoped to improve the attack by improving the defense—if the defense was always unstable, the team's attack would not improve.

Rangnick used up two substitution quotas at the beginning of the second half, which was a desperate move.

Dortmund's form in the new season had been unstable. Rangnick was unwilling to lose to such an opponent at home.

This series of substitutions had an immediate effect. Most importantly, Rangnick's imposing substitutions gave the Hoffenheim players on the field a positive signal. The coach was giving it his all, which gave them confidence. The whole team was of one mind.

In the forty-ninth minute, Hoffenheim scored when Demba Ba received a pass from Carlos Eduardo!

"1:1! Hoffenheim equalizes!"

A huge cheer erupted from the Rhein-Neckar-Arena, and Hoffenheim fans cheered and waved their arms.

The scene was quite spectacular.

"Sure enough! There is a problem that Dortmund has not been able to solve since the beginning of this season, and that is their defense! Even if they score first, they will fall into the predicament of being equalized!" Marcel Reif said.

Klopp also looked very angry about the goal. He rushed out of the coaching bench and roared at the field.

After roaring, he returned to the coaching bench, still looking angry. When he drank water, his hand shook the water bottle.

Assistant coach Buvac sat next to him, also looking depressed, frowning and saying nothing.

Leading by two minutes at the beginning of the game could be said to be a very good start. However, they couldn't hold on to such a good situation, and instead, four minutes into the second half, they were equalized by the opponent.

Once or twice was fine, but this situation always repeated itself this season, which had become a conditioned reflex for Dortmund players—as soon as they conceded a goal, they would lose confidence.

That's how it was now.

After the team conceded a goal, their performance was obviously not as good as after they scored in the first half. On the other hand, Hoffenheim's morale was high, and they suppressed Dortmund on the field.

It looked like Dortmund was likely to concede another goal and eventually lose the game.

※※※

After Hoffenheim equalized, there was a wail on Dortmund's bench.

It was always like this, which really reminded them of many bad things.

They had already drawn two games in a row. Were they going to draw a third in a row?

Zhou Yi frowned among them.

In his virtual game, he had played against Hoffenheim. It made sense that this team could win the mid-season league title last season and finish fourth in the league this season.

The players' strength was not weak, coach Rangnick had ideas, and Hoffenheim played a bit like "relentless pressing and surrounding."

The players ran actively, the frontcourt pressed hard, and everyone was running.

It was actually a bit similar to Klopp's style. Both emphasized running ability and pressing in the front and middle of the field.

It was just that Hoffenheim players were now in higher spirits than Dortmund, so they executed the tactics better.

And now, under Hoffenheim's pressing, Dortmund's midfield was somewhat out of control… Relying on Sahin alone, it was difficult to support the overall situation.

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In the game, Sahin was pressed by Hoffenheim's defensive midfielder, Gustavo, after receiving the ball.

In fact, Sahin's position on the field was defensive midfielder, and the opponent's defensive midfielder was able to directly press Dortmund's defensive midfielder, which showed how crazy Hoffenheim's relentless pressing and surrounding was. But it was this madness that allowed them to equalize four minutes into the second half, and it was this madness that allowed them to take the upper hand now.

Under Gustavo's pressing, Sahin lost the ball, and Hoffenheim took the opportunity to launch a counterattack in the frontcourt.

They almost scored, if Weidenfeller hadn't performed well and dragged the ball out of the baseline with one hand…

"Dangerous! Weidenfeller made a wonderful save!"

The Hoffenheim fans in the stands sighed loudly, regretting that the team hadn't been able to extend the score.

At this time, Klopp stood up from the coaching bench again and said to Buvac, "Go tell Zhou Yi to warm up!"

Buvac was stunned.

"Go quickly!" Klopp urged.

Buvac then got up to find Zhou Yi.

"Zhou Yi! Go warm up!" He waved to Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi was also stunned.

"Go quickly!!" This time it was Buvac's turn to urge Zhou Yi.

Realizing it, Zhou Yi quickly grabbed a training vest and ran to warm up, almost tripping over…

Behind him, Buvac, seeing Zhou Yi's embarrassed scene, shook his head and turned back to find Klopp: "Are you serious, Jurgen? Let him play at this time? The huge pressure will crush him! Don't we still have Füllner sitting on the bench?"

"As a professional player, he will have to withstand pressure sooner or later, and even greater pressure than now. If he can't perform well because he's afraid of pressure, then he can't be a professional player. So this is not a reason not to let him play, Zeljko," Klopp said seriously. "From a tactical point of view, Füllner is not the kind of midfielder who can control the rhythm, but Zhou Yi is. We have now fallen into Hoffenheim's rhythm, and we must readjust the rhythm and return to our own track."

Klopp's words were reasonable and well-founded, and Buvac had nothing to say.

In terms of the players' technical characteristics, Füllner was indeed not the person Klopp needed now.

"Everyone has a first time, Zeljko, you don't need to worry too much," Klopp comforted Buvac.

※※※

Zhou Yi, who was warming up, realized that he was very likely to get a chance to play this time. He was ecstatic, but he still did the warm-up exercises very seriously, and didn't do it perfunctorily because he was happy.

His heart was ecstatic, but his mind was still clear.

Zhou Yi, who was warming up, didn't know that the TV broadcast had suddenly given him a shot.

The broadcast level of Bundesliga games may be the best in the top five European leagues. The on-site director is good at capturing any interesting details, and is a person who understands football, so he will use the language of the camera to tell the audience and commentators some information.

In fact, Zhou Yi was not only filmed after warming up, but also entered the broadcast lens when assistant coach Buvac went to call him to warm up.

"Zhou Yi is warming up!" Duan Xin shouted excitedly.

In fact, when Hoffenheim equalized and Dortmund's situation on the field was critical, Duan Xin and Tao Wei had been discussing the possibility of Zhou Yi playing.

Now that they saw Zhou Yi really get up to warm up, they were very excited. Had they finally waited for Zhou Yi's Bundesliga debut after waiting for almost half a season!

"Son! That's our son!!" Zhou Jianliang said excitedly.

Li Cuiyun, who was a little drowsy, also perked up and looked at the TV screen again. Sure enough, she also saw the picture of Zhou Yi putting on his vest and running to warm up.

"Great! He has a chance to play!" Zhou Jianliang said excitedly next to her.

"But he also warmed up in that game…" Li Cuiyun, who didn't understand football, wondered why her husband was so excited.

"That's different! That was a lot of people warming up together, just to avoid the players staying on the bench for too long, a way to maintain body temperature. That kind of warm-up is usually done by many people together. But this time it's different. This time the coach specifically called our son out to warm up, which means he may be substituted on! He's preparing to play!"

Zhou Jianliang, who was in a good mood, also began to patiently popularize football knowledge to his wife.