Chapter 1 Paris Saint-Germain Announces Ibrahimovic's Absence

After Paris Saint-Germain defeated Lens 3-0, the club officially announced that Zlatan Ibrahimovic would be absent for three matches, which, including the one he already missed, totals four games.

This has a significant impact on Paris Saint-Germain.

The French media has been discussing this issue for the past few days. The 3-1 score from the first leg initially seemed quite safe, but now there's a hint of suspense.

The importance everyone attaches to Zlatan Ibrahimovic is justified.

This season, Zlatan Ibrahimovic has played in forty-two matches across all competitions, contributing forty goals and seventeen assists. Paris Saint-Germain has played a total of forty-six matches this season, scoring one hundred and thirteen goals. This means that Zlatan Ibrahimovic has only missed four matches and has been involved in 50.4% of the team's total goals this season, which is more than half!

His absence means that Paris Saint-Germain has lost its most reliable attacking point and most dangerous passer, making their almost-guaranteed spot in the top four uncertain.

However, some Parisian media outlets are cheering up and comforting the Paris Saint-Germain fans.

Although Zlatan Ibrahimovic is absent, Paris Saint-Germain still has He Ying, who has been in excellent form recently.

He Ying's form is indeed very good. He scored twice in the Champions League match against Dortmund, and in the weekend match against Lens, he was rested but immediately scored a goal after coming on as a substitute. Such hot form naturally makes everyone place high hopes on him.

Everyone doesn't ask for much, just that He Ying can score even one goal in the away game against Dortmund, which would break the balance and tilt the advantage towards Paris Saint-Germain.

Moreover, Dortmund is also facing a match against Bayern Munich, which will surely distract the players. In addition, their main right-back, Piszczek, is unable to play in this match due to accumulated yellow cards.

These are all opportunities for Paris Saint-Germain.

Furthermore, if Paris Saint-Germain truly aspires to become a dominant force in Europe, it shouldn't be a "one-man team." If Paris Saint-Germain can eliminate Dortmund without Zlatan Ibrahimovic and overcome this hurdle, it would be very beneficial for the entire team. They can accumulate valuable experience and mature quickly.

※※※

In the group chat dedicated to ostracizing Lao Guo, Zhou Yi was telling He Ying, "Lao He, I won't be holding back this time, so you better be prepared!"

Sun Pan sneered from the side, "As if you held back in the first leg..."

Zhou Yi sent a smiling emoji, then said to Sun Pan, "Panpan, don't laugh. Your home game against Real Madrid won't be easy, so you should think about your own business first."

Sun Pan snorted, "There's nothing to think about. When soldiers come, I'll block them; when water comes, I'll drown it!"

"You'll drown it?"

"What kind of talk is that! What do you mean, drown it?"

"Didn't you say 'when water comes, I'll drown it'?"

"I was just adapting the idiom 'when water comes, earth dams it!'"

"Oh, you even know how to use idioms, not bad, not bad. But I'm sorry to inform you, it's 'when water comes, earth covers it,' not 'when water comes, earth drowns it.' Originally it was 'when water comes, earth weirs it,' which gradually became 'when water comes, earth covers it.' Do you know what 'weir' means? 'An earthen dam that stops the flow of water, allowing it to rest.' Have you heard of the Dujiangyan Irrigation System? The dam built by Li Bing and his son uses this 'weir' character. So the meaning is to block and dam the water with earth, not to drown the earth… Huh, Panpan, why aren't you talking? Panpan, did you go offline? @IceSlag"

Guo Nu sent an emoji of laughing so hard he was crying.

Sun Pan finally jumped out, "Get lost, get lost, get lost!"

Yang Muge laughed so hard he was rolling on the floor, and He Ying couldn't help but send a "haha."

"Alright, Panpan, I sincerely hope you can eliminate Real Madrid. Maybe we can even meet in the final..." Zhou Yi said.

"He Ying is right next to you when you say that," Sun Pan tried to provoke them.

"That's why I said 'maybe,'" Zhou Yi wasn't falling for it. "I didn't say 'definitely.' So it's possible that I'll meet you in the final, or it could be Lao He. But I still think our chances are a bit higher..."

"Hey, He Ying, I'm not one to stir up trouble, but if I were you, I definitely wouldn't be able to stand that! If I were you, I'd score a hat trick in the game and directly kill Zhou Yi!" Sun Pan said fiercely.

Zhou Yi: "Hehe."

He Ying: "I certainly won't be holding back either, Zhou Yi. I hope you're prepared."

He finally responded to Zhou Yi directly.

"There's killing intent!" Sun Pan fanned the flames from the side.

Zhou Yi: "Hmph hmph hah, quick, use the nunchucks!"

Sun Pan: "Damn it, the killing intent is gone..."

Guo Nu: "2333333"

He Ying: "..."

Yang Muge: "..."

※※※

The day finally arrived.

April 8th, Champions League match day, Dortmund hosts Paris Saint-Germain, and Chelsea hosts Real Madrid.

In fact, Dortmund's media has been quite critical of this schedule arrangement - our first leg match last week was played one day later than Bayern Munich's, but this week's second leg match is being played one day earlier than Bayern Munich's. What's the logic behind that?

Based on this calculation, Dortmund has one day less rest than Bayern Munich.

Shouldn't whoever played first last week also play first this week, so that everyone has the same amount of rest time?

Why does the Champions League have such a strange schedule arrangement?

And it's not just the Champions League.

In the last league round, Bayern Munich's match also kicked off earlier than Dortmund's. Even though it was only one match time earlier, Dortmund's media believed that Bayern Munich had an advantage.

Of course, the media in Munich naturally mocked Dortmund for such petty behavior.

"...They've already won three league titles, but they still can't shake off this rustic air of country bumpkins entering the city..."

"Is this the spirit of the defending champions? So everyone can see why Bayern Munich is the only real powerhouse in Germany, right?"

"If I were Klopp, I would be ashamed of the ignorant and fearless remarks made by Dortmund's media!"

Of course, Klopp wouldn't comment on such trivial matters. Two hours before the match, Dortmund announced their starting lineup.

Compared to the previous match against Wolfsburg, Dortmund truly fielded their strongest lineup for this match, deploying all their main players.

From this starting lineup alone, one can see Dortmund's determination - they will absolutely not allow Paris Saint-Germain to escape unscathed from here.

Except for Piszczek, who was suspended due to accumulated yellow cards, Dortmund's starting lineup was the same as in the first leg away match against Paris Saint-Germain.

Filling in for Piszczek as the starting right-back was the versatile Großkreutz.

Paris Saint-Germain was the same, except that Lucas Moura replaced Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who was injured and unable to participate in the match.

Before the match even started, the atmosphere at the Westfalenstadion was already boiling. Dortmund's fans created a huge tifo to demonstrate against the visiting team.

The tifo showed Dortmund players lifting the Champions League trophy last season, with a line of text below: "Welcome to the Westfalenstadion!"

The Westfalenstadion is a notorious hell stadium in Europe, where many strong teams have fallen one after another.

It can be said that the Westfalenstadion is Dortmund's last bastion of strength.

If Paris Saint-Germain can breach this fortress, they can easily defeat Dortmund.

But how easy is it to do that?

※※※

Before the match started, the players from both sides were in their respective locker rooms.

Klopp was giving his players a final pre-match pep talk.

"...What is our weapon? Speed! So after the match starts, you must first pick up the pace and rhythm. Don't think about stamina yet. If we can't score in the first half, then no amount of stamina will be useful! The sooner we score, the better, the sooner we score, the more flustered the opponent will be!"

Klopp said loudly to the players as he tapped the tactical board.

"Don't think about the matches that follow, that's not something you should be considering, that's for the coaching staff. You just need to play this match well!"

For this match, Klopp made some arrangements and deployments targeting Paris Saint-Germain, especially targeting He Ying. Piszczek couldn't play, so Großkreutz had a heavy task. To this end, Klopp swapped the positions of Yan Min and Reus in this match, sending Yan Min, who had always played on the left wing, to the right wing, and Reus to the left wing.

He mainly wanted to use Yan Min's speed, stamina, and his unique fighting spirit to contain He Ying together with Großkreutz.

Yan Min's task in this match was very heavy. Not only did he have to attack, but he also had to frequently fall back to defend. However, Yan Min didn't frown at all. On the contrary, he was full of anticipation, and his eagerness made people think of his appearance on the training ground.

The requirement in attack was to increase the pace and tear apart Paris Saint-Germain's defense with quick passing and movement.

And this specifically depended on Zhou Yi's command and the cooperation of his teammates.

Dortmund had been practicing this for the past few days, and Klopp still had faith in his players.