Demichelis knelt on the ground, the ecstatic cheers of the Zenit St. Petersburg fans ringing in his ears.

But none of that mattered. What mattered was… he had just been nutmegged!

In football, being nutmegged is a disgrace!

And not only was he nutmegged, but the opponent also scored directly afterward. That meant he was not only humiliated by his opponent, but his defensive error also led to another goal against his team…

Bayern Munich was now facing a huge predicament.

He didn't know what to do.

After Lúcio tackled Chen Hero, he heard a huge cheer. He knew they'd conceded another goal…

So he simply lay on the ground, staring blankly at the night sky.

Letting the same person score against him twice… what a failure he was as a center-back…

But he didn't know what was happening. The entire team seemed to be suffering from some kind of illness. They were facing Zenit on their home turf, a team no stronger than themselves, yet they were completely helpless. That feeling of helplessness was truly awful!

※※※

Even more helpless was the team's coach, Hitzfeld. He felt that he had prepared thoroughly before the game, but he hadn't anticipated that Zenit's form would come so quickly and develop so frantically.

He originally thought that Zenit's performance in this game wouldn't be great due to off-field distractions.

But who knew…

Down by two goals, the situation was completely out of control. Hitzfeld could only hope that he could make adjustments during the halftime break to turn the tide.

Fortunately, Chen Hero's goal happened in the thirty-ninth minute, not long before the end of the first half.

He didn't have to worry about his team being down by three goals in the first half – if that happened, there would be almost no point in making adjustments during the halftime break because they would have already lost the game. Any adjustments would just be meaningless death throes.

※※※

From the second goal until halftime, the Zenit St. Petersburg fans in the stands were singing and cheering. Having a two-goal lead against a team like Bayern Munich in the first half at home, with an aggregate score of 3-1, everyone felt that their trip to Manchester was practically guaranteed.

The Zenit fans were so happy – the team had never reached the finals of a European competition in its eighty-three-year history, whether it was the UEFA Cup or the now-defunct Cup Winners' Cup.

Now, they had their closest opportunity to reach the UEFA Cup final. How could they not be happy?

During halftime, they were still singing and dancing in the stands, showing no signs of fatigue.

In contrast, the small number of Bayern Munich fans who had traveled with the team were much more miserable. Their seats were in the highest tier of the stands, in a small corner, and everyone's face was filled with unconcealable sadness.

Their team was already down by two goals away from home, and their hopes of reaching the final were very slim. Of course, with Bayern Munich's strength, it wasn't impossible to overturn a two-goal deficit away from home.

But… that was in the future, and who knew what the future held?

The future could be better, or it could be worse.

They couldn't understand today's Bayern Munich. Before the game, they were full of confidence, planning to watch a good show on the road and then celebrate Bayern Munich's advancement to the final.

But who knew that from the fourth minute of the game, the opponent would deliver a crushing blow.

Then they could only watch helplessly as the entire team failed to find its rhythm and was suppressed by Zenit's offense. The few counterattacks they managed were also completely unthreatening.

※※※

Back in the locker room, everyone was congratulating Chen Hero on scoring twice in this game.

Denisov even shouted, "Hat-trick! Hat-trick! Hat-trick!"

Chen Hero accepted everyone's congratulations with a grin, showing no modesty about the hat-trick suggestion.

"There are still forty-five minutes in the second half!"

At this moment, Domingues glanced down and noticed a hint of red. He thought he was mistaken, but when he looked again, there was indeed a red mark on the side of Chen Hero's right calf…

Zenit St. Petersburg's jersey was white, so this red mark should have been very obvious. But everyone had been too caught up in the joy of leading Bayern Munich by two goals to notice Chen Hero's leg.

It wasn't until Domingues exclaimed in surprise that everyone realized Chen Hero was injured!

"Huh?" Chen Hero looked down, also surprised. He felt fine, so how was he bleeding?

He took off his socks, and everyone saw a few-centimeter-long cut on the edge of his shin guard, with the flesh turned out.

It looked like a serious injury…

"When did this happen?" he wondered.

"It might have been when you shot, and Lúcio tackled your leg… To be honest, I was worried you wouldn't be able to get up, Hero." Captain Tymoshchuk recalled the scene and felt it was particularly dangerous. Chen Hero was tackled by Lúcio and somersaulted in the air, almost falling headfirst to the ground.

If he had landed on his head, Chen Hero might have already been taken to the hospital in an ambulance…

"Ah… Doesn't it hurt, Hero?" Denisov frowned when he saw the exposed flesh on Chen Hero's calf.

"To be honest, I feel it a little now, but I didn't feel anything before…"

At this moment, team doctor Pukhov pushed through the crowd and squeezed in.

"You're injured, Hero?" He immediately saw the wound on Chen Hero's calf.

"A minor injury." Chen Hero became nervous as soon as he saw Pukhov. Last time, what he thought was a minor injury turned out to be something that Pukhov ordered him to stop training for immediately. This time, he was afraid that Pukhov would tell him not to play in the second half… "Just a flesh wound, nothing serious," he quickly explained.

Pukhov squatted down and carefully examined Chen Hero's wound, then nodded. "Fortunately, you didn't injure the bone." Then he looked up at Chen Hero. "I don't think you'll agree if I tell you not to play in the second half, right?"

Chen Hero grinned. "That's right!"

"So, let me stitch up the wound simply. Let's go inside." He was about to help Chen Hero to the back room, but Chen Hero, in order to prove that he was really fine, walked to the back room ahead of him. His movements showed that it really didn't affect him at all.

Pukhov watched the stubborn back of the young man and shook his head slightly. But he had a smile on his face…

※※※

After Advocaat returned to the locker room, he heard that Chen Hero was injured and was very nervous. After asking Pukhov and learning that Chen Hero's injury was just a flesh wound and wouldn't affect his second half, he breathed a sigh of relief. The biggest contributor to his team's two-goal lead over Bayern Munich in the first half was goal scorer Chen Hero. Moreover, Chen Hero's role was not only reflected in his ability to score goals, but also in tactics. As long as he was there, he could firmly contain Bayern Munich's defense, preventing them from easily pressing forward.

People say that the task of the defensive line is to keep a close eye on the striker, but in Chen Hero's case, it could also be interpreted as the defensive line keeping a close eye on him, while he also firmly pinned the defensive line to his side.

So if he couldn't continue to play in the second half, it would have a huge impact on the team. Bayern Munich's defensive line could boldly press forward, they could compress Zenit's living space, thereby forming an advantage on the field. Once Bayern Munich gained control of the advantage on the field, the game would be difficult to play… Bayern Munich, a lean camel is bigger than a horse. So what if they are two goals behind? If they become active again, forty-five minutes is enough for them to complete a comeback.

Fortunately, Chen Hero would be able to continue playing in the second half.

※※※

On the other side, Hitzfeld was scolding the Bayern Munich players.

"Your performance is simply shameful! Do you still remember that you are Bayern Munich players!"

After scolding the players, Hitzfeld planned to make substitutions to replace the players who were clearly out of form with substitute players, hoping to boost the team's morale and encourage them to play well.

Marcel Jansen, who had performed poorly, was replaced by Lell, a young right-back who had been trained by Bayern Munich themselves.

The twenty-two-year-old Jansen had just transferred from the relegated Borussia Mönchengladbach last summer, costing Bayern Munich nine million euros. He was originally bought to be Lahm's substitute, but in the first half of the season, the transfer rumors about Lahm had never stopped, and Lahm was deeply affected by these rumors, resulting in poor form. So in the second half of the season, Jansen gradually gained Hitzfeld's trust and became a starting defender.

But he was substituted in this game.

Jansen was somewhat dissatisfied with the coach's decision. He believed that his performance was okay. He was not responsible for the two goals conceded. They were all breakthroughs from the center, and the person who was directly responsible was obviously Demichelis. The Argentine was completely at a disadvantage in the direct confrontation with Chen Hero.

If he were the coach, he would definitely have replaced Demichelis, even if it meant letting himself play as a center-back. He felt that he was better than Demichelis.

But he wasn't the coach, so apart from feeling unhappy, there was nothing he could do. He could only use silence as a protest, ignoring the questions the coach asked him.

At this time, he didn't remember that it was Hitzfeld who had promoted him from substitute to starter, and that he should be most grateful to the veteran coach Hitzfeld for his current position.

He only had one thought in his mind – replace me? Hitzfeld must be crazy!

Hitzfeld didn't know what Jansen was thinking. His substitution adjustments were not over yet.

Replacing Jansen was to strengthen the defense, but defending alone was not enough, they also had to attack. So he had to replace a forward.

He replaced Zé Roberto, who was in poor form and almost disappeared in the first half, with Podolski. In this way, Bayern Munich would have three forwards on the field in the second half.

Hitzfeld switched to a 433 formation, obviously going all out.

He hoped to tell all the players through these two substitution adjustments.

Bayern Munich had really reached a very, very critical moment!

※※※

ps, It's the end of the month, and *Forbidden Zone's Hero* has also reached a very, very critical moment!

Can our monthly ticket ranking go up further?

Everyone, work hard and smash your tickets!

To be honest, even though there are only fourteen chapters left in the stockpile, I'm still asking for monthly tickets even if I'm in debt!!!