Lin Hai Ting Tao

Chapter 974 Is the World About to Change?

Mark's stunning goal brought the atmosphere of the match to its climax.

The Borussia Dortmund players celebrated wildly. Although there was still one minute of injury time remaining, only twenty seconds were left after their celebrations.

Borussia Mönchengladbach's players didn't protest either. They were completely stunned and crushed by the goal.

Even their coach, Favre, seemed helpless in the face of such a goal, standing on the sidelines, dumbstruck.

The referee, however, dutifully signaled for the game to continue, even if only for a few dozen seconds.

After taking the lead, Borussia Dortmund did not blindly shrink back into defense during these few dozen seconds, completely ceding the space outside the thirty-meter zone. Instead, they actively pressed in midfield. The attacking players, including Mark and Reus, were also very active in pressing, forcing Borussia Mönchengladbach to struggle to organize their attack.

The result of the match was no longer in doubt…

In the ninety-fourth minute and twelve seconds of the match, the referee finally blew the whistle to end the game.

"The game is over—!" Marcel Reif shouted, before his voice was drowned out by the huge cheers from the crowd.

What the commentators said next was actually no longer important. Now was the time for emotional release, everyone just needed to keep shouting and venting their emotions.

Borussia Dortmund had just narrowly escaped death, so there was no problem with how they vented their emotions at this time.

Zhou Yi was immediately pulled to the interview area by reporters after the game to be interviewed.

As the chief director of this great reversal, everyone wanted to hear his thoughts on the turnaround.

"Before the game, I'm afraid no one would have thought that you would have such a difficult game against Borussia Mönchengladbach at home, right? It wasn't until the last moment that you completed the comeback…"

"Of course, that's football. No one knows how this game will turn out," Zhou Yi said, spreading his hands. "And no one knows who the champion will ultimately be."

There was a deeper meaning in his words, and everyone could hear it. This was directed at Bayern Munich, or rather, at the media that supported Bayern Munich.

Before, everyone said that Bayern Munich's performance was stable, and the league title this season belonged to Bayern Munich without a doubt.

But until now, Borussia Dortmund was still biting at Bayern Munich's heels with a four-point difference.

Now, the match between Bayern Munich and Leverkusen has not yet started. Borussia Dortmund has played one more game and is only one point behind. If Bayern Munich has any mishaps in the upcoming games... then the final few rounds of the league will be really interesting.

"What were you thinking at the last moment for that goal?"

"I wasn't thinking anything, I just wanted to make it happen."

"Actually, you could have shot yourself for that goal…"

"Yes. But Mark had a better chance than me, so of course I had to pass it to him."

"Indeed. It's just a little bit of a pity, after all, you had already scored twice. If you had scored another goal, it would have been a hat trick… As far as I know, you haven't had a hat trick at Borussia Dortmund yet, right?"

Zhou Yi waved his hand indifferently: "There's nothing to regret, the team's victory is greater than everything. Besides, there will be plenty of opportunities for hat tricks in the future."

The reporters all took this as Zhou Yi displaying his sportsmanship.

But Zhou Yi didn't think so in his heart.

He didn't value hat tricks in the past, because if the team scored three goals in a game, whether they were scored by one person or three people, it didn't make any difference to him as an attacking organizer. He wasn't a striker, and scoring goals wasn't the main factor in measuring his performance.

But that doesn't mean he can't score goals. You know, he played as a striker for about ten years before switching to midfield.

※※※

Just after the match between Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Mönchengladbach, the match between Bayern Munich and Leverkusen also began.

Whether it was because Borussia Dortmund's last-minute comeback affected them, Bayern Munich's performance in this game was obviously not as good as before.

At the same time, although Leverkusen was playing away, they played very bravely and stubbornly.

After all, they, who were previously ranked second in the league, were now afraid that they would not even be able to keep their third place in the league—as of the twenty-fourth round of the league, Leverkusen and Schalke 04 had the same forty-four points, ranking third and fourth in the league respectively. Schalke 04 had already defeated Augsburg 2:1 away, temporarily surpassing Leverkusen. If Leverkusen lost this game, they would become fourth in the league. Going from being able to directly participate in the Champions League group stage to having to play from the qualifying round, the treatment was completely different…

Leverkusen created enough trouble for Bayern Munich away from home.

Kießling scored a goal in the game.

However, Bayern Munich was strong after all. Although their performance was not good, they still performed normally at critical moments, and finally defeated their opponent 2:1 at home, barely avoiding a slip-up.

At the post-match press conference, a reporter asked Guardiola whether Bayern Munich's poor performance in this game was related to Borussia Dortmund's comeback victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Guardiola of course flatly denied it. At the same time, he also denied that the team's performance was poor.

"This is very normal, I don't think there's anything to be surprised about. If it's related to anything, it's related to the Champions League game in the middle of the week. We have two games a week, and some players may feel tired…" This Wednesday, Bayern Munich will host Arsenal at home, so it seems reasonable for Guardiola to say so.

But everyone knows how dark Guardiola's face was during the game when Bayern Munich failed to open up the situation for a long time…

After Kießling scored, he simply jumped up and down in front of the coaching bench in a hurry.

Seeing Guardiola and Bayern Munich's performance, the reporters suddenly realized one thing—the league title that was previously nailed down was probably not as suspense-free as they thought.

Although Bayern Munich had always led Borussia Dortmund by four points, with Borussia Dortmund's continuous tenacious wins, it still brought pressure to Bayern Munich. This pressure accumulated game after game, and it had become so great that it could no longer be ignored.

Perhaps at some critical moment, when the pressure was too great for the Bayern Munich players to bear, it would explode directly…

It's really hard to say whether Bayern Munich can withstand Borussia Dortmund's aggressive pursuit.

No marathon champion has ever led from the starting gun to the finish line.

※※※

After the game, although Bayern Munich also won, this time, almost the entire German media's pages and programs were occupied by Borussia Dortmund.

Everyone was discussing the match between Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Mönchengladbach, and the impact of this match on the league.

"...Before the game, I thought that Borussia Dortmund's home game against Borussia Mönchengladbach was just an ordinary league game. Even if Borussia Dortmund could win, it wouldn't change anything. They were still four points behind Bayern Munich, and Bayern Munich just needed to do their job well. But after watching this game, and then Bayern Munich's game, I changed my mind. I'm afraid the situation is slowly changing, and this change must be something that Bayern Munich doesn't want to see. Maybe when we look back at this season at the end of the season, we will find that the twenty-fifth round of the league, Borussia Dortmund's 3:2 victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach, was actually a turning point in the entire season, a very crucial game…"

"Logically speaking, Borussia Dortmund should be criticized for winning against a team like Borussia Mönchengladbach at home with such difficulty. Especially since Borussia Mönchengladbach's coach Favre had never won at the Westfalenstadion before. This time, he almost overturned Borussia Dortmund. But I think what Borussia Dortmund showed in this game is very valuable, and more important than the three points... That is the team's unity in the last moment, creating a miracle. This victory is very inspiring and morale-boosting for Borussia Dortmund, who are in deep trouble. This victory may make the Borussia Dortmund players realize that they are not shrouded in bad luck, and they can still create miracles. Whether it's this game or the entire season…"

"Zhou Yi once again challenged Bayern Munich's championship status after the game, claiming that no one can pre-order the championship before the end of the season. I think after watching his performance in this game, no one should laugh at Zhou Yi for talking big, right? Zhou Yi proved with practical actions that he has the ability, qualifications, and confidence to say 'big words'. Because no matter how incredible the words are, he can always make them come true in the end…"

"Zhou Yi completely turned the tide on his own in the game. When they were two goals behind, everyone was almost ready to give up, but Zhou Yi's two goals tied the score for the team. The last solo breakthrough was also very exciting. I think Zhou Yi should be Borussia Dortmund's trump card to challenge Bayern Munich again!"

"The competition for the league title has suddenly become suspenseful. Actually, nothing seems to have changed. Bayern Munich is still leading by four points. But some things have quietly changed… Guardiola's team was obviously affected by Borussia Dortmund's game. They played very hard in the game against Leverkusen… It is said that after the game, some Bayern Munich players admitted that they collectively watched the last few minutes of the broadcast of the match between Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Mönchengladbach before the game…"

"Guardiola refused to admit that the team's recent performance has declined, but that's the truth, whether he admits it or not. In the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16 in the middle of the week, Bayern Munich, who were playing at home, almost let Arsenal turn the tables. But even so, they were eventually forced to a draw by Arsenal… If Bayern Munich really thinks they are the 'universe team', then I think they are probably not far from failure…"

For a time, Bayern Munich fans suddenly realized that it seemed…

The weather was about to change!