Chapter 1 Dortmund Takes the Lead

Thanks to the penalty kick Zhou Yi earned, Dortmund equalized on the road. Now it's 1:1, and both sides are back to the same starting line.

Just as Marcel Reif said after Dortmund conceded a goal, once a goal broke the deadlock, the game would become more exciting, no longer just intense.

Dortmund quickly took advantage of the penalty to pull one back.

This goal further stimulated Schalke 04. After conceding the goal, they did not shrink back defensively, but quickly counterattacked, hoping to regain the lead as soon as possible.

Dortmund also refused to be outdone and launched an offensive against Schalke 04.

Under such circumstances, the scene finally became exciting.

It's just that when Zhou Yi gets the ball, the boos from the stands are particularly loud.

Draxler no longer cares about his friend Yang Muge's feelings, putting his fingers in his mouth and whistling desperately at Zhou Yi, who has the ball on the field.

Being treated like this is obviously all because of Zhou Yi's fall in the penalty area.

Schalke 04 fans don't care whether Bordon touched Zhou Yi or not. In their opinion, as long as Zhou Yi dares to fall to the ground in the penalty area, it is 100% undoubtedly a dive!

It was because of Zhou Yi's dive that Dortmund equalized the score, so now Zhou Yi has become the target of public criticism.

Of course, Yang Muge has no other way but to feel helpless about this. Zhou Yi certainly didn't dive, but the fans in the stands are irrational, just like those Dortmund fans in the Südtribüne (South Stand) of Westfalenstadion.

It's hard to reason with them.

As an opposing player, you will enjoy such treatment sooner or later.

The better you perform, the sooner you enjoy it.

So the Schalke 04 fans' boos precisely illustrate how great Zhou Yi is doing now.

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Since Zhou Yi fell in the penalty area, he has found that his situation has changed somewhat.

In the midfield and backfield, Schalke 04 players have more and more violent physical contact with him, truly showing no mercy at all.

This may be because he fell in their penalty area, causing them to concede a penalty. So he has become hated.

However, after he enters the opponent's thirty-meter area, the pressure is reduced instead. The opponent's defenders are a little wary, and when defending him, they just stick close to him, but rarely use their physical advantages to directly collide with him.

Obviously, they are also afraid that Zhou Yi will fall again in a dangerous and sensitive place...

In their opinion, Zhou Yi is a very cunning person who can use any means to win. The dive in the penalty area is proof!

However, this kind of close-fitting but non-colliding defense gives Zhou Yi more possibilities.

In any case, he still managed to win more room to play.

Although in the midfield and backfield his jersey is still dirtied by being bumped into.

But in the frontcourt, as long as he can get the ball, he can try to organize some attacks.

Of course, Schalke 04 is still very careful to defend Zhou Yi. Their purpose of sticking to him is to prevent Zhou Yi from turning around easily.

As an attacking player, if you can't turn around and can only face away from the goal, the threat is reduced by at least 50%, or even more.

So preventing Zhou Yi from turning around can also limit his performance.

Generally speaking, restricting an attacking player and preventing him from turning around is to increase the difficulty of his attacking forward. After all, he is facing away from the direction of attack, so he can't see the situation behind him and can't make the right judgment. At the same time, facing away from the direction of attack places higher demands on the technique of passing and shooting. Some movements that are very common when facing the direction of attack are almost impossible to do at this time.

But this is not too difficult for Zhou Yi.

The most difficult technical movement when facing away from the direction of attack is actually shooting. The further away, the greater the difficulty. In the small penalty area, you can still shoot with your heel. But in the large penalty area, the power of the heel shot is not enough. If you can score a goal, it will definitely make headlines, which shows how difficult it is. Want to use your heel to shoot outside the penalty area? Almost impossible.

But Zhou Yi doesn't want to shoot, he mainly wants to pass the ball. There are many ways for him to pass the ball when facing away from the goal. The heel is just one of them.

He is not afraid of the high technical difficulty, because when he was doing various short pass training in the virtual space, he also practiced various passes facing away from the direction of attack. He has technical reserves in this area.

Finally, facing away from the direction of attack and not seeing the situation behind him... is this still a problem for him?

If the opponent doesn't let him turn around, then he won't turn around. Zhou Yi doesn't want to waste his physical strength and energy on this.

He is just closely observing the runs of both sides, looking for gaps that can be used.

The Schalke 04 players are willing to stick to him and push him from behind, so let them push. Zhou Yi doesn't even look at them, and has no interest in who is pushing him from behind.

In the sixty-first minute, Grosskreutz got the ball in the midfield and dribbled forward. After taking two steps, he was intercepted by a Schalke 04 player. So he passed the ball to Zhou Yi, who was diagonally in front.

After passing the ball, Grosskreutz didn't stop, but continued to rush forward, heading for the penalty area.

This is obviously to play a wall pass with Zhou Yi.

Schalke 04 midfielder Rakitić was pushing Zhou Yi from behind, preventing him from turning around easily after receiving the ball, while other Schalke 04 players were closely watching Grosskreutz. Kuranyi even followed Grosskreutz towards the ribs of the penalty area.

Zhou Yi glanced at Grosskreutz and knew that it was not a good passing target. It would be difficult for Großkreutz to get the ball, and even if he did, it would be difficult to threaten the goal.

At this time, in the overhead view in his mind, he noticed the other side. There was a small gap on Barrios' side, but it was much better than the situation Großkreutz was facing.

Moreover, Grosskreutz's decisive forward insertion has attracted most of the Schalke 04 players' defensive attention. Now is a good time!

So Zhou Yi took a step forward to meet the rolling ball.

Rakitić followed, thinking that Zhou Yi was going to turn around.

But Zhou Yi didn't turn around. He just used the toe of his right foot to flick the rolling ball backward!

The ball flew past Rakitić just like that!

Rakitić was completely unprepared for Zhou Yi's kick. He turned his head and followed the ball with his eyes, wanting to see where Zhou Yi kicked the ball.

Then he saw... Barrios!

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"Zhou Yi! Beautiful!" Marcel Reif shouted.

He could see clearly from the commentary box. Zhou Yi stepped forward to meet the ball, and then kicked the ball backward with his right foot, and the ball accurately flew to Barrios on the other side!

Without looking at the situation behind him at all, he decisively passed the ball out, and it was still a very difficult backward flick pass!

"Good ball! Zhou Yi's wonderful pass!" Duan Xin also cheered in the live broadcast room, "This is Dortmund's chance!"

As he spoke, the ball had already flown to Barrios' side. He lifted his foot to unload the ball in the air, and then shot directly!

Very decisive!

Although Neuer made a save, Zhou Yi's pass was too sudden... Even Neuer's reaction was a little slow.

The ball grazed the near post along the grass and rolled into the goal!

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"Goal!! Goal!" Marcel Reif cheered and waved his arms. "Barrios received a pass from Zhou Yi and gave Dortmund the lead!"

In the stands, the few Dortmund fans who came to cheer for the team also cheered.

The Schalke 04 fans quickly suppressed the cheers of the Dortmund fans with boos.

On the field, the Schalke 04 players had not yet reacted. Center back Bordon's raised arm had not even been put down yet - when he turned his head and saw Barrios receiving the ball, he thought Barrios was offside, so he raised his arm.

But in fact, at the moment Zhou Yi passed the ball, Schalke 04's other center back Höwedes was dragging at the back. The place where Barrios received the ball was behind Schalke 04's entire defense line, but at the moment Zhou Yi passed the ball, he was not offside.

"There is no problem with this goal, definitely not offside!" Duan Xin said decisively. "Zhou Yi's timing of the pass was simply perfect!"

"If he had turned around and then passed, I'm afraid Barrios would have been offside." Tao Wei also said next to him. "It's really amazing to be able to pass such a ball while facing away from the direction of attack! It's like having eyes behind his back!"

Listening to the commentators praising his son again, Zhou Jianliang was very happy: "That's because he has an amazing dad!"

Li Cuiyun grinned next to him.

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After scoring the goal, Barrios did not celebrate alone, but turned and ran towards Zhou Yi. When he ran in front of Zhou Yi, he knelt down on one knee, asking Zhou Yi to give him Guanding (initiation by sprinkling water on the head).

Zhou Yi had already given up on this, so he very cooperatively stretched out his hand and placed it on top of Barrios' head, completing the Guanding celebration.

Then the other teammates laughed and rushed up, hugging the two of them.

Dortmund's players celebrated the goal to their heart's content on Schalke 04's territory, stimulating the eyes and nerves of every Schalke 04 fan.

"What the hell!" Draxler put his hands on his head in his seat, and cursed in a low voice in frustration.

Yang Muge gently patted him on the shoulder, comforting him: "It's okay, Julian. The game is not over yet, we still have a chance."

Hearing Yang Muge's words, Draxler suddenly thought of something, so he perked up: "You're right, Yang. No matter how good Zhou Yi is, he can't last the whole game. Once he's substituted, we will regain control of the situation!"

He regained his confidence in this game.

Yang Muge had to admit that Draxler had found the key point.

Zhou Yi's stamina means that he will definitely be substituted around the seventieth minute of the game. After he is substituted, how can Dortmund continue to organize attacks?

At that time, with only Sahin alone, how will he face Schalke 04's aggressive defense?