Chapter 32 Leverkusen

The Champions League matches were over, and now everyone's attention turned to the league.

All eyes were fixed on Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich's respective matches in the league.

The league title was still undecided, and anything was possible.

In the thirty-second round of the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich hosted Werder Bremen, while Borussia Dortmund faced Bayer Leverkusen away.

In the previous round, Borussia Dortmund's opponent was Mainz, ranked seventh in the league. Mainz was vying for a European competition qualification spot, giving them reason to fight Dortmund to the death.

And in this round, Bayer Leverkusen had the same reason to fight Borussia Dortmund to the death.

As of the thirty-first round, Bayer Leverkusen was fourth with fifty-four points, four points behind Schalke 04, who was third. It wasn't impossible to surpass Schalke 04.

But their most pressing concern now wasn't chasing Schalke 04, but preventing VfL Wolfsburg from catching up.

VfL Wolfsburg, ranked fifth, had fifty-three points, just one point behind Bayer Leverkusen.

But fourth and fifth place in the league were two completely different worlds—fourth place could participate in the Champions League qualifying round next season, and after passing the qualifying round, they could participate in the Champions League group stage. At that time, there would be at least six group stage matches to play, with appearance fees and win bonuses galore. For Bundesliga clubs focusing on financial health, Champions League match revenue and broadcasting rights revenue sharing were very important sources of financial income.

Fifth place could only participate in the Europa League, and the Europa League's appearance fees, match bonuses, and broadcasting rights revenue sharing were significantly lower than the Champions League. Losing Champions League qualification and playing in the Europa League meant a significant reduction in financial income next season.

No team wanted that to happen.

So Bayer Leverkusen wasn't too concerned about Schalke 04; they were more concerned about VfL Wolfsburg's match results.

In order to prevent VfL Wolfsburg from catching up, Bayer Leverkusen had to fight Dortmund to the death in the upcoming league match. Moreover, it was at their home stadium, giving them a home advantage.

As long as they could defeat Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen could breathe a sigh of relief, regardless of what VfL Wolfsburg did.

In this round, VfL Wolfsburg was hosting Freiburg. The latter was ranked thirteenth in the league and theoretically still had relegation pressure, but in reality, they didn't need to worry about relegation much. So they were pretty much without any desires.

VfL Wolfsburg had a high probability of defeating Freiburg at home.

Under such circumstances, it was even more imperative for Bayer Leverkusen to win against Borussia Dortmund at home.

Borussia Dortmund, having just finished a Champions League match, would find it difficult to win on the road against such a Bayer Leverkusen team.

Not to mention, they had expended a lot of energy in the Champions League match—that tactic was very effective against Atlético Madrid, but it also had a significant impact on physical fitness. After that match, it was questionable whether Borussia Dortmund could field a full-strength lineup against Bayer Leverkusen.

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Borussia Dortmund's last league encounter with Bayer Leverkusen was a very intense match.

And it was full of controversy after the match.

At that time, Borussia Dortmund was in its most difficult period, ranked third in the league, while Bayer Leverkusen was ranked above them—second in the league.

The two sides played a very tight and intense match.

Sven Bender and Nuri Sahin were injured and left the match one after the other. It was the time when Borussia Dortmund's injury situation was at its worst. One player after another getting injured led many people to believe that Borussia Dortmund was cursed.

During the match, Bayer Leverkusen's South Korean star Son Heung-min also performed very well, helping Bayer Leverkusen open the scoring.

But Zhou Yi later equalized the score.

As the match entered its final moments, Zhou Yi was brought down in the penalty area by Bayer Leverkusen defender Emir Spahić, winning a penalty for Borussia Dortmund, which also triggered a conflict between the two teams' players.

Yan Min was sent off in the conflict due to accumulated yellow cards, and Spahić was also sent off for his foul on Zhou Yi.

Both sides paid a heavy price.

Zhou Yi personally took the penalty he won and helped Borussia Dortmund complete the comeback.

In the end, Borussia Dortmund paid the price of two injured players and one player being sent off at home, finally defeating Bayer Leverkusen 2-1.

After the match, Bayer Leverkusen was very dissatisfied with losing to Borussia Dortmund. They believed that Zhou Yi's fall in the penalty area was a dive. Without this dive, Borussia Dortmund would not have won the penalty and would not have won the match.

Borussia Dortmund was naturally very unhappy because they lost two players to injury and Yan Min was sent off with a red card for this victory.

The atmosphere between the two sides was tense.

Now, after half a season, the two sides meet again, and the atmosphere is still tense.

Bayer Leverkusen wants to maintain its fourth place in the league, while Borussia Dortmund wants to maintain its first place in the league. Neither side can afford to lose or draw.

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Before the match even started, the media war between the two sides had already begun. The Bayer Leverkusen media took the lead, citing historical results to boost the team's morale: "...The two sides have met a total of sixty-nine times in Bundesliga history. Borussia Dortmund has won twenty-six, drawn nineteen, and lost twenty-four, only slightly ahead. The advantage is very, very slight, almost negligible. And we have a historical advantage when facing Borussia Dortmund at home—seventeen wins, nine draws, and eight losses, giving us an absolute advantage..."

The Bayer Leverkusen media used historical results to speak, and Borussia Dortmund naturally wasn't to be outdone. The Dortmund media also cited historical records: "...Citing distant historical results cannot explain anything, because the players in both sides' lineups from more than a decade ago are not the same as now. The results of their encounters are of no reference value. If you want to compare, compare the results of the current group of players—since Klopp took charge of Borussia Dortmund in 2008, the 'Black and Yellows' have never lost to Bayer Leverkusen away... The last time Borussia Dortmund lost here away was on May 19, 2007, when the team's coach was Doll, and Borussia Dortmund lost 1:2. In the seven years since then, Borussia Dortmund has remained unbeaten in six visits to Bayer Leverkusen, with a record of three wins and three draws..."

The Dortmund media's counterattack was more powerful, after all, they cited the results of the current group of Borussia Dortmund players against Bayer Leverkusen, which was more convincing.

In addition, for Borussia Dortmund striker Mark Wagner, he still has a chance to compete for the Bundesliga top scorer title.

So far this season, he has scored seventeen league goals, just one goal behind Robert Lewandowski, who is currently ranked first in the league top scorer list.

This is not just a duel between Mark and Lewandowski, but also a contest between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich.

The competition between these two is very interesting. Lewandowski used to be Mark's substitute at Dortmund, and Mark also used to be Lewandowski's substitute. There has always been a competitive relationship between them.

Later, Lewandowski transferred to Bayern Munich, and Mark regained his position as the team's main striker, also taking on the responsibility of scoring goals for the team.

Lewandowski, who transferred to Bayern Munich, is also in very good form, quickly squeezing Mario Mandžukić onto the bench.

When the two were on the same team before, the competition was not very obvious or intense. Now they can both unreservedly show this competitive consciousness.

For Mark, he has never won the Bundesliga Torjägerkanone honor, while Lewandowski has already achieved this goal at Borussia Dortmund—it was last season, his last season playing for Borussia Dortmund, under Zhou Yi's constant assists, Lewandowski became the Bundesliga's top scorer with twenty-six goals, surpassing Bayer Leverkusen's Stefan Kießling.

In his best season, Mark scored seventeen league goals, eventually ranking third in the league's top scorer list.

At the same time, seventeen league goals was also Mark's best record in his career.

After scoring seventeen goals and winning third place in the top scorer list, Mark suffered a serious injury the following season, and his main striker position was taken over by Lewandowski. Mark also fell into a repeated cycle of injury and recovery... Never able to regain his main striker position until Lewandowski left Borussia Dortmund last summer and transferred to Bayern Munich.

This season, Mark has gotten rid of the injuries that have plagued him for a long time, has performed consistently, and has rediscovered the excellent form he had when he won the Bundesliga Rookie of the Year award. He has already scored seventeen goals, tying his best record of his career.

There are still three rounds left in the league, and he still has a chance to break this record.

If he can also defeat Lewandowski in the top scorer list, it would be a win-win situation for himself and the Borussia Dortmund club. He can completely get out of Lewandowski's shadow, proving that he is no worse than Lewandowski. And Borussia Dortmund has also found a striker who can consistently score goals after losing Lewandowski, which can minimize the impact of Lewandowski's departure on the team.