Chapter 1 Atletico Madrid Celebrates, Dortmund Dazed

The Atletico Madrid players were celebrating their goal like madmen, while the Dortmund players were somewhat bewildered and lost. They hadn't seen the live broadcast and didn't know that Diego Costa's goal was offside; otherwise, they would definitely have protested and appealed to the referee.

But even if they protested and appealed, it probably wouldn't have done any good.

Referees rarely change their decisions, let alone with the rules not allowing referees to use video replays to change rulings.

So even knowing the goal was offside, they could only swallow this bitter pill.

To outsiders, Dortmund's luck was just too bad.

Already in a do-or-die situation on their home ground, they then conceded an away goal to the opponent in an offside play... Now trailing on aggregate and down two away goals, even if Dortmund equalized again, they would still be eliminated.

More importantly, this goal would greatly damage the team's morale...

In a match, morale is extremely important.

Silence fell over the stands of Westfalenstadion for the first time. Many Dortmund fans held their heads in their hands, watching the celebrating Atletico Madrid players in confusion, forgetting to boo them.

The situation was extremely unfavorable for Dortmund.

Could this be the end of our Champions League journey this season?

This goal in the eighty-first minute was too deadly in terms of timing...

※※※

As the game restarted, Marcel Reif was still lamenting Dortmund's conceded goal: "That was an offside goal, the linesman should have seen it, but the refereeing team made such a major mistake! If Dortmund are eliminated because of this offside goal, it is absolutely unacceptable. I don't know how many media outlets will question this goal after the game, but I think there will be many."

He Ping also felt sorry for Dortmund's bad luck, but his emotions were a little more stable than Marcel Reif's. After all, even if Dortmund were eliminated and Atletico Madrid advanced, there was still a Chinese player. Zhou Yi out, Sun Pan in - either was acceptable for Chinese football.

"...It would be such a pity if Dortmund are eliminated... But that's football, misjudgments are part of the game. Although the hawk-eye system has been introduced to determine whether the ball has crossed the goal line, this system has not yet been applied to judging offsides..."

※※※

After the game restarted, Simeone quickly made a substitution, replacing Falcao, who assisted Diego Costa's goal, with backup center-back Domingo Cisma.

Taking off a forward and adding a center-back. Simeone's intentions were clear.

Atletico Madrid were going to strengthen their defense and try to hold on for the last ten minutes of the game.

Even if they couldn't, they hoped to concede only one goal.

That way, Atletico Madrid would qualify for the semi-finals.

As Falcao left the field, a huge booing erupted from Westfalenstadion. The booing was for Falcao, not because Falcao had assisted Diego Costa, but because Falcao's assist was an offside play, which Dortmund fans were very unhappy about.

※※※

"Sigh, that goal..." Guo Nu sighed in the group chat. He still hoped that Zhou Yi could advance.

"Dortmund is having bad luck in this game. They conceded an early goal, and now they've conceded an offside goal," Yang Muge said. "Hopefully Zhou Yi won't be affected."

As he said this, the television broadcast gave a close-up of Zhou Yi.

As the core of the team, Zhou Yi would naturally attract attention. What does it mean to be the core? It's not just about adding the finishing touches when the team is winning big, but also about stepping up and providing timely help when the team is in trouble.

When Dortmund encountered difficulties, everyone would naturally think of Zhou Yi.

Turning their attention to him, wanting to see what he could do.

However, in many people's minds, the practice of pinning their hopes on Zhou Yi was actually a kind of demanding expectation.

With little time left in the game, even if Zhou Yi were possessed by God, there was probably very little he could do. After all, he was an organizer, not a goal-scoring machine. No matter how good his passes were, he still needed his teammates to convert his passes into goals. If his teammates were in poor form and their minds were not on the game, it would only be a waste of the opportunities he had worked so hard to create.

※※※

After the game restarted, Dortmund did not immediately launch a counterattack. On the contrary, Atletico Madrid, who had just taken the lead, created another threatening attacking opportunity. In the end, Diego Costa's shot went just wide.

The stands were filled with booing from Dortmund fans, who directed their boos at Diego Costa for his offside goal.

At this time, Zhou Yi found Sahin.

"I'll be going up front in a bit, so I'm counting on you for the work in the back, Nuri."

Sahin looked ahead, knowing what Zhou Yi wanted to do, so he nodded: "Don't worry, I'll pass the ball to you."

In the last ten minutes, if Dortmund wanted to go all-out, then Zhou Yi couldn't stay in the defensive midfielder position. He had to be further forward, closer to the Atletico Madrid goal, only then could he create more and greater threats.

※※※

After explaining to Sahin, when the game resumed, Zhou Yi's position was noticeably further forward.

Anyone who saw this knew why.

They just didn't know if this was Zhou Yi's own decision, or if Klopp had made the adjustment.

Klopp stood anxiously on the sidelines, closely watching everything on the field.

He also saw the difference in Zhou Yi's position and knew why Zhou Yi was doing it.

This was not his decision, but Zhou Yi's own.

But he didn't say anything to make Zhou Yi listen to his arrangements, but allowed Zhou Yi to do so. At this time, the coach definitely didn't have a better understanding of the situation on the field than the players fighting on the front lines. Zhou Yi was doing this for a reason, so let him do it.

※※※

After Zhou Yi moved up, he became an attacking midfielder, closer to the Atletico Madrid penalty area. Of course, the defensive pressure he faced from Atletico Madrid would naturally be greater.

In the eyes of many, Zhou Yi's approach might not be a good choice, because he was directly exposing himself to the fierce Atletico Madrid defenders. How could his small frame withstand the impact of the Atletico Madrid defenders?

The space and time he needed to perform would no longer exist so close to the Atletico Madrid goal, or it would be difficult to obtain.

So even if he was closer to the goal, how could he possibly put in a good enough performance to help the team turn the situation around?

This seemed to be a paradox - if he didn't go forward, there was no threat, if he went forward, he would be restricted and there would still be no threat.

After Zhou Yi went up, he did feel more pressure.

He had just received the ball when Godin tackled it away, and he himself was brought down to the ground.

Referee Thomson didn't indicate anything. In fact, Godin's tackle didn't really count as a foul and shouldn't have been whistled. But the stands were still filled with boos. Ever since Thomson had ruled Diego Costa's offside goal as a valid goal, the Dortmund fans had disliked the Scottish referee, no matter what he did.

Zhou Yi got up from the ground without complaining to the referee. He was still looking for opportunities.

He and the entire Dortmund team didn't have much time left. He didn't have time to argue with the referee.

He kept running back and forth in the frontcourt, raising his hand to ask his teammates for the ball, even though he was always followed by Atletico Madrid players.

※※※

Time was passing second by second - at this time, the passage of time could no longer be calculated in minutes, otherwise, Dortmund would really have very little time left.

Dortmund pressed forward across the board, besieging the Atletico Madrid penalty area. Atletico Madrid retreated across the board, shrinking into their own thirty-meter area.

Zhou Yi decided to take it a step further. Even if the other side fouled outside the penalty area, it would only result in a free kick, which wasn't significant.

What if he entered the penalty area?

The Atletico Madrid players would be more cautious, and would not dare to make too many moves on him.

Thinking of this, when Gotze got the ball on the wing, Zhou Yi decisively rushed into the penalty area, running towards Gotze.

Gotze also saw Zhou Yi's forward insertion, so he quickly passed the ball over.

At this time, Zhou Yi was still being followed by Atletico Madrid player Gabi.

With Gabi almost man-marking him, Zhou Yi suddenly accelerated, met the ball, and then used his body to shield Gabi behind him, catching the ball.

However, Gabi was not to be outdone. Although he was shielded behind Zhou Yi and couldn't reach the ball for a while, he didn't give up defending. Instead, he stuck tightly to Zhou Yi's back, preventing him from turning around.

Gabi believed that as long as he didn't let Zhou Yi turn around, there would be no threat to his goal.

But Zhou Yi didn't think so. Since he was already in the penalty area, it didn't make much difference whether he turned around or not.

He leaned his body back, resisting Gabi, preventing him from suddenly bypassing him to intercept the ball.

Then he tilted his body to the right, making a move to break through from that side. Sure enough, Zhou Yi felt Gabi behind him shifting his center of gravity.

But this was just Zhou Yi's feint. After deceiving Gabi into shifting his center of gravity, he raised his right foot, bypassed his left foot that was supporting his body, and suddenly flicked the ball to the back left!

Passing right by Gabi!

The ball was flicked towards the center of the penalty area, and there, Sahin rushed up to meet the ball!

"A great opportunity!!"

"Beautiful! A wonderful backheel pass!!"

Amidst the commentators' shouts, Sahin received Zhou Yi's ball with almost no one marking him. He didn't continue to dribble, but chose to shoot directly... a powerful shot!

"Sahin——!!"

Marcel Reif roared, drawing out his voice.

But just as he roared, Sahin's shot hit a "mountain" - Sun Pan, who had rushed out, made a diving save. His raised hip bone was the mountain peak. The ball hit it and bounced sharply upwards, then... went over the crossbar!

"Ah! Ah! Ah——!" Faced with this scene, Marcel Reif really didn't know what to say other than to exclaim in amazement...

That was a shot from point-blank range!!