Chapter 243 Opportunity

Those off the field were worried for Borussia Dortmund, but Zhou Yi on the field did not share their concern.

He didn't think the current situation was unfavorable for Borussia Dortmund.

Both sides had chances, which was the normal rhythm of a normal match.

Napoli's offensive was certainly fierce during this period, posing a threat to Borussia Dortmund's goal. But conversely, when Napoli attacked so fiercely, could they still be considered playing defensive counterattacks?

Naturally, some gaps would appear behind them… and that was exactly what Borussia Dortmund could exploit.

So, before long, Borussia Dortmund launched an attack on the left flank. In a confined space, rapid back-and-forth passing between three players found an opening, and then Zhou Yi made a through ball, and Durm cut in to cross. It was a pity that Mark pushed someone in the penalty area while vying for a point, and the referee called an offensive foul. Otherwise, it would have been another threatening attack.

Taking advantage of the momentum from Callejón's shot hitting the post, Napoli launched another fierce attack on Borussia Dortmund's goal.

However, their horizontal pass transfer in front of the penalty area was intercepted by Sven Bender, who suddenly rushed out from in front of the defensive line. Then, Sven Bender immediately passed the ball forward, and Borussia Dortmund took the opportunity to launch a counterattack.

Sven Bender passed the ball forward to Mark, who had retreated to meet it.

Mark didn't stop the ball, and instead of trying to turn around with the ball while facing away from the attacking direction, he simply flicked the ball horizontally to the side, passing it to Zhou Yi's feet.

Because it was a quick counterattack, there was a lot of space in the midfield and attacking third, but Zhou Yi didn't immediately pass the ball out again. Although there were many openings, there weren't any very good opportunities.

He chose to dribble the ball forward himself.

Mark ran forward, and Aubameyang initially cut in on Zhou Yi's left, running and then cutting diagonally towards the center, hoping to open up space for Zhou Yi.

However, Napoli's defense did a very good job in this retreat, maintaining a good formation and not being opened up by Aubameyang's run. Aubameyang didn't manage to run into an open space as a result.

Zhou Yi still couldn't pass the ball.

Since he couldn't pass the ball, Zhou Yi didn't hesitate. He accelerated and charged into the penalty area, looking like he was going to break through on his own.

Originally, to prevent Zhou Yi from passing, Napoli's defensive line was relatively far back, and no one dared to rush up to challenge Zhou Yi for the ball. Because if they rushed forward, while their teammates were still behind defending Aubameyang, wouldn't that create a gap behind them? If Zhou Yi then made a through ball, it would be another threatening attack.

So Napoli's defenders weren't actually very close to Zhou Yi, which allowed Zhou Yi to dribble all the way to the edge of the penalty area.

Unexpectedly, this gave Zhou Yi a chance to shoot directly!

Zhou Yi flicked the ball slightly to the left, accelerated to dribble past, created an angle, and then swung his left foot to shoot!

It was a powerful shot!

Napoli's goalkeeper Reina didn't even dare to catch it directly with both hands. He chose to punch the ball out!

Even so, he didn't hit the ball squarely, but grazed it, causing the ball to change direction and fly behind him. Fortunately, the ball ended up just going over the crossbar, without resulting in a goal…

"Reina makes a key save! Zhou Yi's direct shot! While Napoli was defending against his passes, he unexpectedly chose to shoot directly! He almost succeeded!" The Italian commentator praised Reina while also feeling lingering fear.

See, so for Zhou Yi, Callejón's attack that hit the post earlier didn't affect him at all. It looked like Napoli's offensive was fierce, and they could break through Borussia Dortmund's goal at any time. But Zhou Yi was able to turn an unfavorable situation into one that was beneficial for his team.

※※※

After Borussia Dortmund's corner kick was taken, the ball was again punched out by Reina, who jumped up with both fists. This time, he hit it squarely, using his fists to forcefully punch the ball directly out of the penalty area.

It almost fell into the center circle and was picked up by Großkreutz, a Borussia Dortmund player who was trailing behind.

After receiving the ball, he passed it forward to Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi shifted it horizontally and then ran to the next spot. While running, he didn't forget to turn his head left and right to observe the situation. He saw that the Napoli players who were originally defending in front of the Napoli goal had all swarmed out.

This was a fixed action after every corner kick defense – the defending players desperately pressed forward, leaving behind those attacking players who didn't have time to react, or who reacted a little slower. At this time, if an attacking player who got the second ball wanted to launch an attack and make a through ball into the penalty area, then the teammate receiving the ball would most likely be offside.

Having observed this situation, Zhou Yi still beckoned to his teammate receiving the ball, making a gesture to ask for the ball.

The teammate obediently passed the ball over. Zhou Yi didn't stop the ball, but instead swung his left foot to meet the ball. As the ball rolled over, his left foot kicked the ball out.

The ball drew an arc in the air, flying to the right front!

This was a completely opposite direction pass, greatly exceeding the expectations of Napoli's defending players – they saw that Zhou Yi was facing the left front, but unexpectedly, he twisted his body while passing, passing the ball to the right!

There, was an open space that Napoli's players hadn't noticed.

Mark burst out from the crowd and stretched out his foot to stop the ball passed by Zhou Yi!

The Napoli players turned their heads to see this scene, and reflexively raised their arms, signaling that Mark was offside.

But neither the referee nor the linesman paid attention to the Napoli players' signals…

"Not offside! Beautiful through ball! Beautiful anti-offside run!" Marcel Reif shouted excitedly.

Amidst the cheers of Borussia Dortmund fans throughout the stadium, Mark kicked the ball to shoot!

Reina, who had abandoned his goal and came out to attack, fell to the ground reflexively, and then stretched out his leg to widen his defensive range. The ball was blocked by his foot!

"Oh! What a pity!" He Ping shouted regretfully. "Reina makes another wonderful save, he stopped Mark's excellent one-on-one!"

Mark, who didn't score, held his head in his hands, looking at Reina with an incredulous expression, unable to believe that his shot had been saved. In order to increase the chances of scoring, he had specifically suppressed the ball, allowing it to roll along the grass towards the near corner of the goal. It could be said that he had a perfect grasp of both the angle and the power.

But unfortunately, Reina's reaction speed was faster than his, or rather, Napoli had better luck…

※※※

After Mark's attack failed to score, the first half was already nearing its end. In the forty-fifth minute, Napoli player Armero broke through from the left and then took a long shot, which was punched out by Weidenfeller.

This was also the last shot of the first half for both sides.

The referee, Carvalho, soon blew the whistle to end the first half.

"The first half is over! Borussia Dortmund is temporarily leading Napoli with a score of 1:0. But looking at this score alone is not satisfactory, because Borussia Dortmund's goal is to win this game by a clean four goals against Napoli. Throughout the first half, they had many excellent opportunities, most of which were created by Zhou Yi, but Borussia Dortmund only seized one of them. If Borussia Dortmund could lead Napoli 2:0 in the first half, it would be much easier for them in the second half…" He Ping said.

"Napoli played very well in the first half, only conceding one goal. In the second half, when Borussia Dortmund is unable to score for a long time, they will definitely press forward to attack at all costs. Then it will be Napoli's chance, as long as they can counterattack and score a goal, they will be able to completely destroy Borussia Dortmund…" The Italian commentator looked forward to the second half. In his vision, Napoli was already in an invincible position.

In the locker room, Klopp didn't criticize the team for only scoring one goal in the first half. On the contrary, he encouraged them.

"We have the advantage on the field. As long as we maintain a calm mindset, we will still have many opportunities in the second half. Remember, don't rush, be patient! We are fully capable of scoring three goals in forty-five minutes!"

Even though Borussia Dortmund only had forty-five minutes left, Klopp still had to say this. Once the players panicked, no amount of time would be enough.

And in the away team's locker room, Benítez was also emphasizing patience to his players: "This game is a contest of patience. Whoever is more composed will have the last laugh!"

※※※

In the halftime analysis on various TV stations, the hosts and guests were not very optimistic about Borussia Dortmund's chances.

Klopp said that Borussia Dortmund was capable of scoring three goals in forty-five minutes. Many people would not agree with this view.

In any game, it is difficult to score three goals in ninety minutes, let alone cut the unit time in half. The difficulty increases by more than just onefold.

Moreover, if Borussia Dortmund wanted to score three goals in the second half, they would have to go all out in attack, even completely sacrificing defense. In this way, Napoli would naturally have many opportunities to launch counterattacks.

As long as Napoli scored one goal, Borussia Dortmund would basically collapse.

The guests found it hard to imagine how Klopp could adjust his tactics to score three goals in a row in the second half, while also ensuring that his defense didn't concede any goals…

And in the home team's locker room, Klopp was making substitution adjustments.

"Yan Min, you're on in the second half!"