Chapter 1 After the Beginning

After the match began, the two teams did not deliver the explosive performance people had anticipated. There were no rapid transitions between offense and defense, nor any fierce exchanges.

Instead, both sides played cautiously, and the game lacked excitement.

This was normal, considering it was a high-stakes match that would determine the championship and break records. In such a game, neither team wanted to make a mistake first, so a conservative and cautious approach was a natural choice.

Moreover, when experts clash, moving first can expose weaknesses for the opponent to exploit.

In this cautious maneuvering, eight minutes passed without either team managing a shot on goal.

This demonstrated how much they valued and respected each other. No matter how fired up everyone was in the locker room, they needed to cool down once they were on the field and the whistle blew, preventing their passion from clouding their judgment.

From this perspective, it made sense that both teams had achieved fifteen-game and fourteen-game winning streaks this season. Their players' abilities and mental state were superior to those of other teams in the Bundesliga.

It wasn't until the ninth minute that an exciting moment occurred on the field.

"Little Pig" Schweinsteiger delivered a through ball from just outside the penalty area, sending the ball towards the right side of the box. Robben received the ball on the wing and then used a change of pace to dribble into the penalty area.

"Robben! Bayern Munich has brought the attack into Dortmund's penalty area!" Marcel Reif exclaimed.

The Bayern Munich fans in the stands had just started to cheer when they were drowned out by the boos of the Dortmund fans.

Everyone knew what Robben would do after cutting inside from the right wing. It was practically Robben's signature move. The left-footed player, since being placed on the right wing at Real Madrid, had developed a "special skill" of cutting inside from the right, dribbling horizontally, and then scoring with his left foot.

Amid the boos, Mario Gómez in the center stretched out his hand, signaling for Robben to pass him the ball. But at this point, expecting Robben to pass the ball was simply wishful thinking... As expected, Robben, dribbling horizontally, didn't choose to pass but tried to shoot himself. The shot was blocked by Hummels, who rushed up to defend...

"Oh!" Marcel Reif cried out in disappointment, "Too bad! Robben's breakthrough was beautiful, but the choice for that final shot... is still questionable..."

Duan Xin exclaimed, "That was close! Bayern Munich suddenly exerted force, and Dortmund seemed a little unprepared, revealing a flaw. Fortunately, Hummels made a timely recovery... But if Robben had chosen to pass just now, instead of shooting, the outcome would have been hard to say, after all, there was still a Gómez in the center... Of course, with Robben's personality, it's normal for him not to pass. If he passed, it would be abnormal... Haha!"

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Although Robben's shot didn't go in, it gave the audience hope for a more intense game. The probing phase was over, and the match should now be on the right track.

Soon, Dortmund launched a wave of attacks on Bayern Munich's goal.

After passing the ball back and forth with his teammates in midfield, Zhou Yi suddenly cleverly sent the ball to the wing, where Götze appeared to receive it on the left.

"Götze gets the ball!" Marcel Reif said excitedly.

In this match, the commentators also loved to talk about the grudges between Götze and Bayern Munich and Dortmund. Although he was currently a Dortmund player, he was going to Bayern Munich next season. If he helped Dortmund defeat Bayern Munich and win the league title, how would he face his new teammates in the locker room next season?

After receiving the ball, Götze dribbled towards Bayern Munich's penalty area.

Lahm came up to defend him, preventing him from directly entering the penalty area, so he had to slow down.

Just as he slowed down, Zhou Yi appeared nearby, ready to support him.

Logically, Götze should have quickly passed the ball to Zhou Yi at this time, and then cut in himself to get rid of Lahm.

But after making a move to pass the ball to Zhou Yi, Götze didn't actually pass it. Instead, he made a feint and turned to forcibly break through Lahm.

He pushed the ball towards the baseline with his left foot, turned, and accelerated to chase the ball.

Lahm was indeed faked out by Götze's feint to pass to Zhou Yi at first, but his reaction was quick enough, and he immediately turned to chase Götze.

Götze wasn't very fast to begin with, and the space for him to sprint with the ball wasn't large, so Lahm quickly caught up with him.

Facing Lahm's pursuit, Götze used the outside of his right foot to push the ball in the opposite direction, preparing to stop suddenly and accelerate to change direction.

After two consecutive changes of direction, he finally successfully shook off Lahm. Götze moved the ball into the penalty area with his right foot, accelerated into the penalty area, and faced the oncoming Van Buyten. Götze shot, using his right foot to curl the ball into the far corner of the goal!

Amidst a series of exclamations, Bayern Munich's goalkeeper Neuer leaped into the air, using one hand to push the ball out!

"Wow! Götze! A beautiful breakthrough and shot!"

While many people were still regretting that Götze's shot didn't go in, Götze himself sat down on the grass with a thud, rubbing the muscles on the back of his right thigh with his hand, his expression pained...

The camera quickly found Götze, and everyone saw that something was wrong with him.

"Uh, what's going on?" Duan Xin was surprised. "Looking at him, it seems like he was injured when he shot?"

The referee Gagelmann stopped the game and signaled for the Dortmund team doctor to come on. Zhou Yi also ran over, concerned about Götze's condition: "What's wrong?"

"I think I pulled something..." Götze frowned, looking frustrated.

He had clearly wanted to perform well in this game, but he got injured just as the match started. He felt that he definitely couldn't continue playing...

Zhou Yi saw Götze's expression and sympathized with him. He had been watching Götze's performance since the transfer incident, and he had been working very hard. He hadn't been slacking off at Dortmund just because he was going to Bayern Munich next season. Instead, he had been working even harder and more desperately. His performance in the two legs against Real Madrid was excellent, and he was impeccable in the league.

Clearly, Götze wanted to use this kind of performance to shut some people up.

And this game against Bayern Munich was probably the one he valued the most.

Team doctor Braun ran up, examined him, and said to Götze, "I'm sorry, Mario, you can't play this game."

Hearing this, Götze covered his face with both hands and lowered his head.

At the same time, Dr. Braun got up and made a "substitution" gesture to Klopp on the sidelines.

"Damn it!" Klopp couldn't help but swear when he saw this gesture on the sidelines.

But he still instructed assistant coach Buvac to tell Kuba to warm up.

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"The Dortmund team doctor has made a gesture to make a substitution, which means that Götze will not be able to continue the game... As the focus of this game, it is really unexpected that he will be substituted off the field after only playing for ten minutes..." Duan Xin's tone was tinged with disappointment. The headline player of the game was leaving so quickly, like a party without alcohol, making it feel much more boring.

"Before the game, everyone was speculating about what kind of performance Götze would put on in this game, whether he would perform exceptionally well and help Dortmund win, or be like a sleepwalker..." Marcel Reif said. "And now, all the speculation can come to an end. Götze is injured and is being substituted off the field. In the most heated battle between Dortmund and Bayern Munich, he can only helplessly choose to be a spectator. This is really a loss for this game, diminishing the excitement..."

Of course, there were also some people with conspiracy theories, such as those on the internet who speculated that Götze was deliberately feigning injury to avoid the game in order to avoid embarrassment.

This kind of statement would naturally cause resentment and lead to controversy.

But no matter what, Götze leaving the field was an unchangeable result.

For Bayern Munich fans, they actually wanted to see Götze leave the field, after all, with the state that Götze had been showing recently, him staying on the field would be a great threat to Bayern Munich.

His accidental injury not only reduced a headache opponent for Bayern Munich, but also completely disrupted Dortmund's pre-match arrangements, thereby further reducing the threat to Bayern Munich.

Just look at Klopp's expression. When the TV broadcast showed a close-up of Klopp, he clenched his teeth and his brows were twisted into a mess, showing how unhappy he was now.

And Bayern Munich fans wanted to see their rival's expression like this.

Götze finally limped off the field, supported by Dr. Braun, while Kuba, who replaced him, ran onto the field.

Klopp walked over to meet Götze and hugged him, as a sign of consolation.

Afterwards, Götze sat in his seat, and an ice pack was quickly wrapped around his right thigh.

Marcel Reif said, seeing this: "Hopefully the injury is not too serious, because in twenty-two days is the Champions League final..."