Hummels and Papastathopoulos ran past Zhou Yi toward the front, into Real Madrid's penalty area.

Zhou Yi didn't run forward. He stood in front of the football, preparing to take the free kick.

Although Zhou Yi wasn't the team's designated set-piece taker, that didn't mean he wasn't capable of taking them.

Especially indirect free kicks, which were nothing more than a pinpoint long pass for him.

Once both sides were ready, the referee Kuipers blew his whistle. Zhou Yi took a run-up and kicked the ball into Real Madrid's penalty area.

After kicking the ball, he didn't stand there waiting, but charged forward.

If the ball was headed out by the opposition, he wanted to be on the edge of their penalty area. If Dortmund got the second ball, he wanted to quickly organize a second attack, before Real Madrid's defense had fully adjusted, when there were often gaps and opportunities.

Of course, after he kicked the ball, everyone's attention naturally shifted from Zhou Yi. Their eyes followed the football as it flew toward Real Madrid's penalty area.

Casillas watched the ball fly in from afar and chose to stay on his line instead of rushing out. He'd conceded a goal in the first half because of a poor decision to come out, and this time he was determined not to budge.

If he conceded another goal, his sins would be even greater…

Besides, his teammates were in front of him, so there was no need for him to come out and get the ball.

※※※

As Zhou Yi kicked the ball over, the players from both teams on the edge of the box swarmed into the penalty area.

Hummels and Papastathopoulos both jumped, trying to win the ball.

At the same time, Real Madrid's center-backs Ramos and Varane also leapt high, ready to head the ball away before the Dortmund players could get to it.

Ramos got to the ball, but with Mark closely marking him, he didn't get a clean connection. He headed the bottom of the ball, sending it high into the air. At its highest point, it lost all momentum and began to fall straight down—Ramos had headed the ball straight up and down.

Casillas's problems with high balls had already made Real Madrid's defenders nervous, but Ramos's unexpected straight-up-and-down clearance made them even more so.

Hummels raised his arms, ready to jump and contest the header.

Khedira desperately stuck to him, preventing him from jumping.

At the same time, Varane jumped.

This time he finally headed the ball away, a successful clearance!

The ball was headed out of the penalty area by Varane.

Many Real Madrid fans finally breathed a sigh of relief.

However, the second ball wasn't won by a Real Madrid player. Yan Min, who was short, not particularly strong, and hadn't gone into the penalty area to join the fray, went for the second ball and managed to stop it first.

Of course, the Real Madrid players immediately pressed out, with Di Maria rushing toward Yan Min.

Facing the onrushing Di Maria, Yan Min seemed to be planning a long-range shot, but just as he swung his leg, he caught Zhou Yi out of the corner of his eye.

Zhou Yi didn't raise his hand to ask for the ball, but Yan Min still noticed him and realized it was an opportunity.

Di Maria was drawn in by Yan Min's shooting motion and jumped to block the shot with his body.

But Yan Min didn't shoot. Instead, he feinted a shot and passed the ball to Zhou Yi on the left.

Thanks to Ramos's straight-up-and-down clearance, Zhou Yi had time. He had just run forward, and Yan Min passed the ball to him.

Zhou Yi received the ball and didn't stop it dead at his feet. Instead, he gently nudged it forward as he controlled it.

Then, Zhou Yi stepped forward, swung his right hand outward, and swung his right leg, kicking the ball.

Before anyone could react, Zhou Yi kicked the ball out with lightning speed.

But this wasn't a hurried, random kick. It looked like he was using his right foot to kick an inswinging cross from the left. If someone could get a touch on the ball, it might result in a goal.

So there was a "battle" in front of the goal, with both Real Madrid and Dortmund players jostling for position, trying to get a head on the ball.

Even goalkeeper Casillas was defending the ball as if it were a cross, guarding the middle and focusing on preventing a header at the near post.

But soon everyone realized that this couldn't be a cross, because…it was too high.

Varane, who was one meter ninety-one, jumped and tried to head the ball away in a very difficult situation. It was a risky move because he could easily head the ball into his own net under pressure from the opposition.

But even so, he didn't give up his duty.

But despite jumping with all his might, he didn't get to the ball…

The ball flew over his head, drawing a very obvious arc, heading straight for the far corner of the goal.

At this moment, Casillas suddenly realized that if this was a cross, it had been horribly miskicked…If it wasn't a cross, then it must be a shot!

Alarmed, he hurriedly jumped backward, stretching his arms as far as he could, trying to reach the ball in the air.

But his reaction was too slow. It was too late to jump at this point.

He also failed to touch the ball.

He could only watch helplessly as the ball fell, passed his outstretched hand, and then went in off the underside of the crossbar…

※※※

"Zhou Yi crosses… Hey? No!" Marcel Reif suddenly shouted, his voice rising sharply. "The ball… goal! The ball bypassed Casillas's hand and flew into the goal from the far corner!"

"Zhou Yi! Zhou Yi! What a goal! Zhou Yi—!!!" He Ping was so excited that he could only repeat Zhou Yi's name.

A huge roar erupted from the Light Stadium, a mixture of cheers from Dortmund fans and gasps from Real Madrid fans.

These sounds were intertwined, making it impossible to distinguish which side they were coming from.

Just two minutes after Real Madrid had equalized, Dortmund had scored again!

"Zhou Yi crosses… Hey? This ball… How did this ball go in?!" The Spanish commentator exclaimed repeatedly, unable to believe what he had just seen. "This… Was that a cross or a shot?!"

"Zhou Yi scores twice!!" He Ping finally came back to his senses and said excitedly. "This is the first time a Chinese player has scored twice in a Champions League final. Zhou Yi has made history again!"

Chinese fans in front of their TVs also jumped up.

A flood of comments and messages related to the goal quickly appeared online:

"Zhou Yi! Holy crap! That ball was awesome! A worldie!"

"A cross that turned into a goal. Zhou Yi only scored because of this fluke!"

"What are you talking about? That was clearly a shot! I believe Zhou Yi planned it, it was intentional!"

"Hey, who cares if it was a cross or a shot! As long as the ball went in!"

"Two goals, that's too awesome… Zhou Yi is world-class! No doubt about it!"

※※※

Amid the huge cheers in the Light Stadium, Zhou Yi, who had scored the goal, ran toward the advertising hoardings behind the Real Madrid goal. Then he jumped over the hoardings, heading straight for the fans there.

This area was where the Dortmund fans were located. Seeing him run over, the Dortmund fans were very happy. Some waved their fists at him, cheering him on, while others raised their phones, wanting to record this historic moment.

And what about Zhou Yi?

He saw someone taking pictures of him, so he simply beckoned to them, signaling them to give him their phone.

The lucky Dortmund fan handed his phone to Zhou Yi almost without hesitation.

Then Zhou Yi skillfully switched between the front and rear cameras, leaned against the stands with the black and yellow Dortmund fans as the background, and raised the phone in his hand. Behind him, the Dortmund fans gathered around, looking at the camera in Zhou Yi's hand in unison.

Smiling faces appeared on the screen.

At the moment when the smiles were at their brightest, Zhou Yi pressed the virtual shutter button on the screen.

With a click, this scene was frozen in the lucky fan's phone.

Afterward, Zhou Yi didn't immediately return the camera to the lucky fan. Instead, he turned around again, raised the phone again, this time framing the Dortmund players who had come to celebrate the goal with him.

So the lucky Dortmund fan's phone had another photo of the Dortmund players taking a group selfie.

After taking two selfies, Zhou Yi finally returned the phone to the Dortmund fan, gave him a hug, and then turned to join in the celebration with his teammates.

"Hahaha!" He Ping in the commentary box laughed happily. "I believe that for this Dortmund fan, these must be the two most treasured photos! Taking a selfie to celebrate a goal is nothing new, but in this setting, Zhou Yi's celebration is still very, very creative. After all, this is the first time in Champions League final history that someone has used a selfie to celebrate a goal…"

"Zhou Yi staged a selfie celebration on the Champions League final stage! I think this scene will definitely become a hot topic for the media and fans after the game. Of course, that's assuming Dortmund wins the game in the end… Now Dortmund has regained the lead, not long after Real Madrid equalized, I think this must be a very heavy blow to the morale of the Real Madrid players. Now, including stoppage time, there should be ten minutes left in the game. There's not much time left for Real Madrid!" Marcel Reif suppressed his inner joy and tried to be as objective as possible, because he didn't want to jinx it by celebrating too early…