Chapter 1035 A Ray of Hope

The match had entered its seventy-somethingth minute when Sven Bender received a yellow card for retaliation.

Atlético Madrid still showed no signs of breaking the deadlock.

Simeone was restless on the sidelines, pacing back and forth.

If they couldn't score a goal, the second leg back at their home ground would be very difficult…

Although Sven Bender's yellow card cast a shadow over Borussia Dortmund's victory,

Borussia Dortmund's performance was still outstanding.

Under Zhou Yi's control, Borussia Dortmund sometimes harassed Atlético Madrid's defense with quick passes and cuts, suppressing their restless movements, and sometimes stalled for time by passing the ball back and forth in their own half.

In the seventy-third minute, Borussia Dortmund won a free kick twenty-six meters from the goal. Reus took the free kick, but instead of kicking a high shot to bypass the goalkeeper, he surprisingly kicked a ground ball that rolled along the grass toward the lower corner of the goal.

Courtois made another brilliant save, diving to his side and knocking the ball out of bounds.

In the seventy-ninth minute, Borussia Dortmund almost scored again. Yan Min, who had switched to the right wing, crossed the ball from the right, and Mark jumped up on the edge of the six-yard box, overpowering Juanfran to head the ball toward the goal.

The ball successfully bypassed Courtois's fingers, but was ruthlessly blocked by the post!

"The post! The post! Oh! Mark's header hit the post! This was a very high-quality header! But in the end, it hit the post, and Borussia Dortmund lost the opportunity to extend their lead… If this ball had gone in, the suspense of the second leg would probably have been completely eliminated!" He Ping exclaimed regretfully.

Mark also looked very disappointed. He knelt on the ground with his hands on his head, staring blankly at the goal, unable to believe that his beautiful header would be blocked by the goalpost of his own home stadium…

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Then Klopp began to make substitutions. He replaced Sven Bender, who had a yellow card, with Kehl. This was not to protect Sven Bender, but to give Kehl the experience of playing against Atlético Madrid, so that he would have a basic understanding of the second leg.

After Klopp made the substitution, Simeone also made substitutions. However, he didn't strengthen the defense, but strengthened the attack.

Of course, he was not willing to admit defeat just like that. He was a person who never gave up.

He made two substitutions in one go, replacing Raúl García with Spanish international Villa, and Diego with Arda Turan. This was to launch a full-scale attack.

Faced with the aggressive Atlético Madrid, Borussia Dortmund had to avoid their sharp edge.

Under Zhou Yi's command, the team slowly retreated and started playing defensive counterattacks.

During this time, Atlético Madrid also had the most shots on goal in the entire match.

In the eighty-first minute, Suárez crossed the ball, and Villa headed a lob shot on the edge of the penalty area, but the ball went over the crossbar.

In the eighty-fourth minute, Gabi lofted the ball into the penalty area, and Diego Costa headed the ball from eight meters in front of the goal, but the ball was too straight and was easily saved by goalkeeper Weidenfeller.

In the eighty-seventh minute, Arda Turan chose to shoot directly from outside the penalty area, but the ball went wide again.

Faced with Atlético Madrid's aggressive offense, Borussia Dortmund made another adjustment.

Mark was replaced by Großkreutz, who formed a defensive midfielder partnership with Kehl to strengthen the defense in front of the back line.

At the same time, keeping Aubameyang on the field made it easier to launch counterattacks.

At this time, Zhou Yi did not let the ball pass back and forth in the backcourt, as that would increase the risk of being intercepted by Atlético Madrid players. Now, as long as Borussia Dortmund had the ball, they would pass it forward and try to launch a counterattack.

Yan Min, Reus, and Aubameyang, these three players with speed, technique, and strong individual combat capabilities, became the entire hope for Borussia Dortmund's counterattack.

However, Klopp didn't have any requirements for these three to score goals, as long as their counterattacks could delay the time and make Atlético Madrid wary during their frantic counterattacks.

This tactic was successful.

In the eighty-ninth minute, Yan Min almost created a scoring opportunity during a counterattack.

At that time, he forcibly broke through on the right wing with his speed, resolutely heading toward Atlético Madrid's goal. After attracting Courtois out, he decisively chose to pass the ball instead of shooting himself.

If Aubameyang, who was following up in the middle, had been a little faster… the ball might have gone in.

Aubameyang threw his entire center of gravity forward, trying to shovel the ball into the goal, but he was just a little short…

He brushed past the ball.

"Aubameyang——!! Ahhh——!" Marcel Reif shouted in disappointment. "A little short! Aubameyang didn't even keep up with Yan Min's speed… This is really too surprising…"

A huge sigh also rang out over Westfalenstadion.

Aubameyang looked incredulous—he couldn't believe that he was the one who was slow…

Yan Min was also disappointed, but he didn't complain about his teammate. He just clapped his hands hard, looking very frustrated.

Although Borussia Dortmund's counterattack didn't result in a goal, it really scared Atlético Madrid.

After that, when the match continued, Atlético Madrid's offensive obviously subsided.

The match had now entered injury time, three minutes of injury time.

It wasn't that Atlético Madrid didn't want to score, but they were worried that if they didn't score, they would concede another goal…

The storm suddenly stopped.

In this way, the final few minutes of the match passed in this calm.

When the main referee Eriksson blew the whistle to end the match, the Borussia Dortmund players waiting on the sidelines opened their arms and rushed onto the field with cheers to celebrate the victory with their teammates.

And Klopp didn't forget to shake hands with the opposing coach, Simeone.

The two shook hands without any communication, and then turned and separated.

"The match is over! The match is over! Borussia Dortmund defeated Atlético Madrid 3-0 at home! Although all three goals were scored within the first fifteen minutes, from the perspective of the match, Borussia Dortmund had the advantage for almost the entire match. If it weren't for Courtois's outstanding performance or the goalpost's help, Borussia Dortmund should have scored more goals…" Marcel Reif shouted excitedly.

"3-0! Borussia Dortmund defeated Atlético Madrid at home. This score laid a very solid foundation for their second leg…" He Ping was also very happy. "Going to the away game with a 3-0 lead, Borussia Dortmund has more room to maneuver…"

Everyone was congratulating Borussia Dortmund's victory. When looking forward to the second leg between the two sides, they also believed that Borussia Dortmund had gained the upper hand.

In the history of the Champions League semi-finals, no team had ever been able to reverse the situation in the second leg after losing the first leg 0-3.

This historical record was very unfavorable to Atlético Madrid…

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At the post-match press conference, Klopp said to the reporters with a smirk: "I said we had a secret weapon, but you didn't believe me…" He spread his hands, making a very helpless gesture.

A group of reporters complained in their hearts: Who knew your secret weapon was something you'd used before!

"I'm very happy that we were able to win with this score. I want to thank my players for playing out everything we trained in the match. They performed very well, and that's why we were able to achieve such a victory. Of course, although we have a 3-0 lead, we can't take it lightly. After all, there is still one more leg to play…" Although Klopp was happy, he was still rational.

On the other side, Atlético Madrid's coach Simeone first admitted at the press conference that he was not sufficiently prepared for Borussia Dortmund's "secret weapon."

"…Yes, we didn't expect… to be honest, the start was very difficult. But I am still proud and happy for my team, we were not completely defeated!"

Then he stated firmly that it was not time to draw conclusions yet.

"…We will not admit defeat. Back at home, we will go all out and give our opponents a fatal blow. Atlético Madrid is a very combative team, and we will prove this to the world!"

Simeone said with a straight face.