While the Bayern Munich players celebrated their goal with excitement, the atmosphere on Dortmund's side was somewhat subdued.

They knew before the match that they were at a disadvantage compared to Bayern Munich. Although both sides had many players missing due to injuries, Dortmund was missing key players. Their entire defense was out, which had a bigger impact on the team than Bayern Munich's sick list.

Even at home, defeating Bayern Munich in this state would be difficult.

But Klopp's words before the game had ignited their fighting spirit and hope. They planned to put up a fight against Bayern Munich at home.

Unfortunately, they failed.

The loss of this goal deflated many.

Reality and dreams were still far apart.

Beliefs that weren't very firm to begin with started to waver.

In fact, thinking about it, no one could blame them for losing this game. After all, the outcome had been decided before the match; it wasn't their fault. They had tried their best and showed their courage after the match began.

In the end, not being able to win was frustrating.

Even the team captain, Weidenfeller, was silent at this moment. He hung his head, kneeling in front of the goal. The ball was behind him, but he didn't even want to look at it.

Just then, a shadow suddenly enveloped his body, surprising him. He looked up and saw Zhou Yi retrieving the ball from the goal.

He hugged the ball and turned around, seeing Weidenfeller looking at him. He nodded to Weidenfeller, didn't say anything, and ran toward the center circle.

※※※

The match restarted, and Bayern Munich, fresh from scoring, was full of momentum, while Dortmund was somewhat demoralized.

On the field, Bayern Munich was completely dominant.

The statistics showed this.

Bayern Munich had a significant advantage in possession, once holding seventy-six percent of the ball.

Their constant passing forced Dortmund players to run around, chasing the ball.

Gaps in the defense widened, and Bayern Munich had more and more threatening shots.

It looked like Bayern Munich might score again at any moment… if the first half wasn't almost over.

Finally, when the referee blew the whistle to end the first half, Dortmund was trailing 0-1 at home.

But everyone thought that if there had been three more minutes of stoppage time in the first half, the score might have become 0-2.

Dortmund had been completely suppressed during that period, struggling to even reach the halfway line.

"The first half is over, the referee saved Dortmund!" Marcel Reif said. "But there are still forty-five minutes waiting for them in the second half. Bayern Munich has an entire half to score, can Dortmund's defense withstand another forty-five minutes?"

※※※

In Dortmund's locker room, the air was heavy.

Everyone came in and sat in their seats without saying a word.

Until Klopp came in, clapping his hands loudly to encourage his players: "What's going on! What's going on! Only half the game is over, and we've only conceded one goal! What's with the dejected looks! Heads up, everyone, get your spirits up!"

Hearing his words, the players raised their heads one by one.

Klopp still had a high level of prestige within the team, and people listened to him.

"We'll continue to attack in the second half!"

Klopp continued.

Although continuing to attack might lead to more goals conceded, for Dortmund, conceding one goal or two goals made no difference, so they might as well attack. What if they could tie the score? Klopp was still determined to gamble, because he had no other better options…

※※※

The fifteen-minute halftime break passed quickly. In the second half, the two sides switched sides, but neither made any substitutions.

Dortmund didn't make substitutions because they had no one to replace, while Bayern Munich didn't make substitutions because Guardiola was still satisfied with the performance of the players on the field.

After the second half started, Dortmund, like in the first half, launched an attack first, launching a fierce offensive toward Bayern Munich's goal.

The only difference from the first half was that when Bayern Munich fans saw Dortmund like this, they weren't afraid of them scoring.

Just a paper tiger putting on a show—this was the feeling of many Bayern Munich fans.

※※※

When Zhou Yi got the ball in the frontcourt, he faced Bayern Munich's complete and solid defense, with Martinez marking him closely.

There wasn't a good passing opportunity. Zhou Yi could either pass the ball back or continue to hold the ball.

But continuing to hold the ball was risky.

Facing the defense, Zhou Yi swung his leg, feigning a pass to the side, but used the outside of his right foot to push the ball to the right, hoping to create some space with his dribbling.

But Bayern Munich's center-back Boateng didn't budge.

If the defense couldn't be stretched, space couldn't be created, and Zhou Yi couldn't force a pass. That would only give possession to the opponent for nothing.

Usually, Zhou Yi would probably pass the ball to a teammate, then run and look for an opportunity.

But today, Zhou Yi didn't do that. He was still trying to create an opportunity with his dribbling.

Unfortunately, Bayern Munich's defense was impenetrable, and Martinez was still constantly interfering with him. At one meter ninety, Javi Martinez had long legs. Even with Zhou Yi between them, extending his leg to steal the ball could actually touch the ball. So Zhou Yi had to do his best to protect the ball.

Like this, it was almost impossible for him to create an opportunity.

Zhou Yi seemed to realize this, so he gave up trying to find a gap in front of Boateng. He suddenly used the outside of his right foot to push the ball outward, then turned around and pushed the ball out again—he turned his back to the attack!

It seemed like he had completely given up on passing the ball forward.

Turning around, Zhou Yi stretched out his arm, trying to keep Martinez as far away as possible.

Seeing Zhou Yi turn his back to the attack, Martinez didn't tackle as aggressively as before—he was worried that constantly kicking Zhou Yi from behind would give Zhou Yi a chance to fall.

What a waste it would be if the referee gave Dortmund a free kick opportunity near the penalty area!

During halftime, Guardiola repeatedly emphasized to them not to give Dortmund a free kick opportunity easily. Because after conceding the goal in the first half, Dortmund's attacking quality had clearly declined. Their only way to threaten Bayern Munich's goal was with set pieces.

Set pieces were a very effective scoring weapon in soccer, especially for teams that weren't dominant and were relatively weak. There were too many examples of teams turning the game around with set pieces.

Any qualified coach knew that in this situation, they had to be extra careful of the opponent's set-piece attacks. Naturally, they would repeatedly warn their players not to give the opponent set-piece opportunities in dangerous areas.

Therefore, when Martinez realized that he couldn't quickly win the ball from Zhou Yi, he reduced the intensity of his defense, just holding Zhou Yi back, not letting him turn around easily.

Seeing Zhou Yi being held up by Martinez and unable to turn around in a short time, Boateng in the Bayern Munich defense relaxed a little—now there was a Martinez between him and Zhou Yi. He was no longer directly facing Zhou Yi.

In fact, defending Zhou Yi was very stressful, because who knew what kind of pass he would make.

Boateng even had a feeling that defending Zhou Yi might be more tiring than defending Messi.

But just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, Zhou Yi, who couldn't even turn his body because of Martinez, suddenly sent out a ghostly through ball with his heel!

The ball went through Javi Martinez's legs, and then rolled past Boateng's feet. It was so sudden that Boateng didn't even have time to disrupt it!

A little behind him, receiving Zhou Yi's through ball was Reus, who had suddenly cut inside from the wing!

"Reus—!!!"

Marcel Reif shouted when Reus got the ball.

In his shout, Reus swung his leg to shoot!

He curled the ball, bypassing the diving goalkeeper Neuer, and flew into the goal, grazing the inside of the far post!

When the ball flew into the goal, the Bayern Munich players hadn't reacted at all.

The Dortmund players had already started celebrating.

Zhou Yi pushed away the stunned Javi Martinez and ran to celebrate the goal with Reus.

Martinez stared blankly at his back, unable to understand how he had seen that gap in a situation where he was facing away from the attack and hadn't looked back at all…

Everyone else was stunned—why was the style of play so different from the first half?!