Chapter 1 A Breakthrough

Yan Min had only been on the field for a short while when he realized that Arsenal wasn't marking him very closely—which was actually quite normal. Compared to him, Aubameyang was obviously more of a priority for them.

Now that Aubameyang was off the field, Arsenal would naturally focus more of their defensive efforts on Reus, Marc, and the others, rather than him.

Yan Min wasn't particularly upset about being underestimated.

Instead, he felt it was an opportunity for him.

So, one minute and thirty-four seconds after entering the game, he received the ball for the first time.

On the left flank, Yan Min stayed close to the sideline. Sahin sent a long diagonal pass from the backfield, putting the ball in front of him.

Yan Min accelerated to chase after the ball.

By the time he got to the ball, Arsenal was just starting to shift their defensive focus toward him.

But Yan Min didn't intend to give them time to react. Taking advantage of Arsenal's defensive adjustment, he took a touch forward as soon as he received the ball, then sprinted ahead!

Yan Min's attack had a certain "youthful exuberance," catching Arsenal completely off guard, and he broke through their defense in one fell swoop!

"Yan Min breaks through! Great play!" He Ping shouted excitedly. With Zhou Yi out of the game, he was channeling all his support for Chinese football into Yan Min.

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Yan Min's successful breakthrough immediately attracted the attention of Arsenal's defense, and they swarmed toward him.

At that moment, Yan Min timed his pass perfectly, sending the ball into the center.

Marc, rushing into the box, met the ball from Yan Min with a right-footed shot!

Fortunately, Arsenal's goalkeeper Szczesny made a crucial save, diving to block Marc's shot with his feet!

"Close call!!" The British commentator exclaimed. "Szczesny makes a brilliant and vital save! Arsenal's defense was in disarray just now, they completely lost track of Marc Wagner!"

The ball, deflected by Szczesny's feet, was cleared by an Arsenal defender. But the clearance was rushed and didn't go far. Kuba intercepted the ball outside the penalty area and unleashed a long-range shot!

Unfortunately, the ball sailed high…

"Aiyah!" Zhou Jianliang slapped his thigh hard in frustration, lamenting Kuba's wasted opportunity and Marc's failure to capitalize on it.

Although Zhou Yi wasn't as agitated as his father, he leaned back on the sofa, looking disappointed.

Yan Min's breakthrough had been decisive and determined, and so was his cross.

It was actually a very good opportunity.

Zhou Yi didn't even know if such a good chance would come again.

Once Yan Min had created a threat, any Arsenal defender who wasn't an idiot would increase their marking on him. When that happened, it would be much harder for Yan Min to create such threats again.

So it was a pity that Dortmund had squandered this opportunity.

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The Zhou Yi father and son weren't the only ones who felt regret and disappointment. On the coaching bench, Klopp was also upset. He bared his teeth, his expression fierce, and said to his assistant coach, Buvac, "Kuba was too hasty!"

In his opinion, they should have slowed down a bit before organizing the attack.

Buvac didn't say anything. He didn't know if slowing down and reorganizing the attack would have been a better choice. Zhou Yi usually made these decisions.

Now that Zhou Yi wasn't there, the players were naturally acting on their own ideas.

He was more concerned about Yan Min's breakthrough.

It was very clean and decisive, without any hesitation, which was why it created the opportunity for the team.

This kid… is interesting. He's full of energy in training and doesn't care about the strange looks he gets. He didn't expect that he would be the same on the field, not caring about what kind of game it was or what level the opponents were.

If he keeps playing like this, maybe something will really happen?

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But as Zhou Yi had predicted, after Yan Min created the threat, Arsenal stepped up their defense against him.

So Yan Min wasn't able to create the same kind of threatening attack he had made when he first came on the field.

However, Yan Min never gave up trying to create threats, and he was still looking for opportunities, sometimes on the left flank, sometimes on the right flank.

As the game wore on, Dortmund had less and less time left, and they also found it difficult to be patient in organizing attacks. They began to frequently use the two flanks to create opportunities. When they got the ball, they didn't bother with patient passing, but instead crossed or shot directly.

So, in fact, Yan Min didn't get many chances to get the ball.

In the eightieth minute, Arsenal made a substitution, with Ramsey coming off and Vermaelen coming on. Wenger was planning to strengthen the defense.

And Klopp also made his last substitution, replacing center back Hummels with striker Sieber, continuing to strengthen the attack.

This was a do-or-die situation.

Now Marc and Sieber were both in the box, with Yan Min and Reus on the left and right flanks respectively. Dortmund had brought out all the attacking power they could muster.

The Dortmund fans in front of the TV no longer expected their team to beat Arsenal away from home. They lowered their expectations, feeling that it would be a victory if the team could draw with Arsenal away from home, and they would be very happy.

But now it seemed that even this goal would be difficult to achieve…

After Yan Min came on, he hadn't had any highlights other than that one breakthrough and cross.

Although He Ping was somewhat disappointed, he still had to defend Yan Min to the fans in front of the TV, fearing that the fans would be disappointed now that they had had too high expectations for Yan Min.

"...Yan Min can be said to have come on in a bit of a hurry in this game. I don't think Klopp expected Yan Min to come up with anything amazing in the game. Dortmund's problems can't be solved by Yan Min alone. In fact, Yan Min has performed very well since he came on. If Marc and Kuba hadn't wasted that opportunity, Dortmund should have been able to get a draw. The key is to have the opportunity to play consecutive games. I believe that as long as Yan Min is given opportunities, he will not disappoint..."

In fact, the Chinese fans were much more understanding than He Ping imagined. No one was dissatisfied with Yan Min's performance.

Instead, some people were complaining that other Dortmund players weren't passing the ball to Yan Min, and that they were mostly trying to go it alone, leaving Yan Min very passive.

However, such complaints were quickly rebuffed by others—you can't blame them, Yan Min is not Zhou Yi, why should Dortmund players be expected to pass the ball to you when faced with difficulties?

Zhou Yi's current status is also something he has earned in his several seasons in Dortmund. And now it's just Yan Min's first game in his Dortmund career, the gap between the two is too big to be comparable.

Chinese fans are rational. They dare to be proud of Yan Min being able to play, but they don't think that Yan Min will be able to turn the tide and become famous in one battle after coming on the field. The kind of plot that can only appear in YY novels doesn't always happen in real life.

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Although Dortmund's offense was very fierce, it seemed disorganized, relying more on the players' individual abilities. Marc was at the front, but lacking support from the midfield and defense, he had no chance to perform and could only compete for headers when his teammates crossed the ball. But he wasn't the kind of striker who was particularly strong or particularly good at heading, and he couldn't do much in this situation...

Marcel Reif criticized Klopp's adjustments: "I don't think Mkhitaryan should have been replaced. If he were on the field, he would still be able to organize the attack to some extent. Now Dortmund doesn't have anyone in the midfield and frontcourt who can organize the attack. What do you do when you need to fight a tough battle? At this time, Dortmund fans may miss Zhou Yi very much..."

Zhou Jianliang was very sensitive to his son's name. Although he couldn't understand German, he still turned to Zhou Yi and asked, "Did the commentator mention you?"

"Yeah..." Zhou Yi nodded, not in the mood to translate the commentator's words for his father.

He was also very anxious.

After all, no one wants their team to lose...