Chapter 1 The Match Resumes

The match restarted, and Dortmund, leading by two goals, were in high spirits. They had no intention of holding back, continuing their frenzied running, pressing, and attacking.

In the sixty-second minute, Zhou Yi passed the ball to Götze, who dribbled past two players in a row before unleashing a powerful shot. Diego López managed to deflect the ball, which then grazed the crossbar and flew out of bounds.

Götze's shot almost made the Dortmund fans jump out of their seats in excitement, thinking their team was about to make it 4-1.

As the game progressed, Götze's performance had made many Dortmund fans forget what he had done before. Every time Götze got the ball, the boos grew quieter and quieter, and now there were basically none.

When the camera lens swept across the south stand of Westfalenstadion again, the banners protesting and mocking Götze had disappeared without a trace.

"Götze! Almost scored! Although Lewandowski put on a hat trick and is the most watched star. But let's not forget that Götze, under tremendous pressure, still contributed a very exciting performance. He assisted Lewandowski once, and now this shot is also of very high quality!" Marcel Reif also praised Götze.

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Although the "scientific curse" made Real Madrid's players a little dazed and shaken after conceding two goals in a row, they were, after all, a top team, and top teams are not so easily defeated. After the initial absentmindedness, many Real Madrid players gradually recovered.

They realized that they were only two goals behind. If they were destined not to win the game away, then lowering expectations, a draw was completely acceptable. Even if a draw was impossible, then scoring another goal to change the score to 2-3 was perfectly fine. Two away goals would be a huge advantage when returning to the home stadium.

So Real Madrid had no intention of shrinking their defense. Since they were already two goals behind, it wouldn't make much sense to hold the score until the end. It was better to press forward and attack.

Just two minutes after Götze's shot was pushed over the crossbar by Diego López, Real Madrid got a free kick in the frontcourt. Xabi Alonso took the free kick, kicking the ball directly into the penalty area. Ramos jumped high to head the ball, but it was caught by Weidenfeller.

Two minutes later, Real Madrid got consecutive corner kicks, but Cristiano Ronaldo's header in front of the goal went high.

These consecutive attacks in four minutes also gave many Real Madrid fans in front of the TV the hope of coming back.

In fact, the worst thing is not conceding goals, but being unable to do anything after conceding, and falling into self-degradation and self-abandonment. Then even God would not be able to save them.

Seeing Real Madrid's series of attacks, the commentator on Spanish television was also very excited, constantly cheering for Real Madrid: "...For Real Madrid now, although they are still two goals behind, as long as they can score another goal, the situation will be fundamentally reversed! At that time, Real Madrid will have two away goals in hand, and even if they lose to Dortmund 2-3 in the end, it is a completely acceptable result!"

This plan sounded pretty good.

But in fact, plans are always made to be changed.

Just one minute after Cristiano Ronaldo headed the ball high, Zhou Yi directly passed the ball long to Götze in the front.

Götze dribbled the ball towards Real Madrid's penalty area.

As he dribbled the ball, Westfalenstadion no longer heard boos aimed at him, only cheers and encouragement.

In the midst of the fans' huge cheers, Götze dribbled into the penalty area and was then pushed to the ground from behind by Xabi Alonso.

As Götze fell to the ground with his arms outstretched, the referee's whistle blew.

Penalty kick!

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"Götze dribbles through, past two players! Beautiful! He's in the penalty area... Eh! Eh! He fell! Penalty kick! Okay, it's a penalty kick!!" Marcel Reif shouted excitedly.

With Dortmund already leading Real Madrid 3-1, and now they had won a penalty kick, everyone knew what was going to happen next.

Götze fell to the ground, while Xabi Alonso, who had pushed him from behind, raised his arms, looking innocent.

He turned his head to look at the referee who ran over, pointing to the penalty spot while blowing the whistle. This action meant that he had not blown the whistle to give Götze a yellow card for diving, but had actually awarded a penalty!

He quickly ran to the referee to explain: "I only touched him lightly. His fall was too exaggerated. It's a dive!"

However, this explanation was not accepted by the referee, who insisted on his decision and ran all the way to the penalty spot, stood still, and raised his arm.

This was simply adding insult to injury for Real Madrid...

The referee's decision made Real Madrid very dissatisfied. Alonso naturally insisted that his action was not enough to be a foul. The other Real Madrid players also surrounded him, and the team's captain, Ramos, negotiated with the referee on behalf of the whole team. They all believed that Götze's fall was too exaggerated and suspected that he was diving.

Mourinho was also very angry on the sidelines. He kept waving his arms and shouting, and finally even attracted the fourth official, who asked him to calm down.

But it was not easy to calm down. After suffering continuous blows, Real Madrid was still quite tenacious, and their offensive had finally improved, but at this critical moment, they were penalized with a penalty kick. It would be difficult for anyone to remain calm.

On the other side, the Dortmund coaching bench and the front of the substitutes' bench were filled with joy, and the Dortmund fans in the stands had happily started singing.

In yesterday's game, Bayern Munich scored four goals against Barcelona at home. At that time, it was false for Dortmund fans to say that they were not envious. Thinking of their team's poor situation, their hearts were bitter.

But now, Dortmund also had a chance to score four goals against Real Madrid at home!

Götze was pulled up from the ground by Lewandowski and then embraced.

Eighty percent of the credit for this goal should be given to him. This penalty kick was entirely earned by him with his personal ability.

Commentator Marcel Reif said with emotion when he saw this scene: "This young genius player has brought his talent to the fullest in the last attack! Two consecutive dribbles are very exciting. The entire Real Madrid defense line has been played by him alone... But unfortunately, this talented player cultivated by Dortmund's youth training camp will no longer belong to Dortmund starting next season... At that time, I don't know what kind of complex emotions the Dortmund fans will have in their hearts when they see Götze wearing a Bayern Munich jersey..."

These words silenced the Dortmund fans who were still cheering in front of the TV.

That future that made them speechless was not far away from them...

The better Götze performed now, the more sad and heartbroken the Dortmund fans became.

After the initial anger, their emotions had turned into incomprehension and grievance – was Dortmund really unable to keep people?

Previously, watching players such as Sahin, Götze, Zhou Yi, Marc Wagner, Kagawa Shinji, Lewandowski, Hummels, and Reus perform well one after another, they were filled with countless beautiful visions for the future of this team.

Dortmund fans had reason to be so hopeful, because this Dortmund team was really ridiculously young.

Currently, the oldest player in this Dortmund team is Owomoyela, born in 1979, followed by two players born in 1980, goalkeeper Weidenfeller and captain Sebastian Kehl – thirty-three years old can be considered an old senior in this team.

The remaining players are basically post-85s, and there is only one person born in 1982 – Oliver Kirch.

There are two people born in 1985 – Kuba and Piszczek.

One person born in 1986 – Felipe Santana.

There are no players born in 1987, followed by players from 1988 – Subotic, Hummels, Nuri Sahin, Grosskreutz, Lewandowski, Langerak, Schmelzer. As many as seven players are only twenty-four years old.

Born in 1989 are Sven Bender, Reus, Julian Schieber, and Bakalorz. These four are only twenty-three years old.

Next are the large number of post-90s.

Kyndogan and Bajner born in 1990; Zhou Yi, Marc Wagner, Hornschuh, Thomas Meissner, Alomerović, Halstenberg born in 1991; Mario Götze, Moritz Leitner, Jonas Hofmann, and Benatelli born in 1992; Mustafa Amini and Leonardo Bittencourt born in 1993; and two born in 1994: Koray Günter and Marvin Ducksch.

There are a total of thirty-four players on Dortmund's first-team list, one from the 1970s, seventeen from the 1980s, and sixteen from the 1990s.

Moreover, the post-90s and many post-88s are the main players of the team and extremely talented rising stars.

Like eighteen-year-old Ducksch.

He plays as a striker and is also a high-quality product of Dortmund's youth training camp. He is one meter eighty-eight tall and weighs seventy-five kilograms. He is tall, but he does not lack speed, shooting skills, or an eye for goal. At the same time, he has balanced left and right feet, and his headers are also excellent. In the 2010-2011 season, he scored forty goals and had four assists in Dortmund's youth team. Last season, the seventeen-year-old represented Dortmund's second team in eighteen appearances and scored seven goals, so Klopp transferred him to the first team this season.

These talented young people are the future of Dortmund and what Dortmund fans are happy to see.

But what about now?

Sahin and Kagawa Shinji have left one after another, and now Götze is also leaving.

This feeling is like Dortmund is a ship that may capsize and sink at any time, and the people on board are scrambling to jump ship, but no one will think about whether we should try our best to save the ship?

The 4-1 victory over Real Madrid is certainly worthy of joy, but this joy is completely different from the previous excitement. Dortmund fans are clearly aware that such happy scenes are becoming less and less, and the time for excitement is also becoming shorter and shorter.

Excitement cannot hide the worries about the future.

This is really a bittersweet game, making Dortmund fans both happy and sad...