Yan Min received a yellow card for that sliding tackle, but the South Korean commentator continued to criticize Yan Min’s tackle relentlessly, believing that the referee’s decision was too lenient: “…such a foul should have been a straight red card! Fortunately, Son Heung-min jumped up and dodged it. If Son Heung-min had reacted slower, or was unwilling to give up possession, he could have been seriously injured by that tackle! Such a malicious foul must not be tolerated!”

This kind of thing only happens in South Korea, facing a domestic audience. If Chinese fans heard this, the internet would explode with criticism…

Leverkusen used the opportunity of this free kick to pass the ball diagonally into the penalty area. Kießling jumped up and headed the ball, but Weidenfeller caught it in his arms.

While defending this free kick, Zhou Yi did not enter his own penalty area. There was no point in him going in, so he stayed outside, just like the corner kick opportunity that led to the previous goal.

At this moment, after seeing Weidenfeller secure the ball, Zhou Yi quickly retreated and widened the angle. However, he did not raise his arms to ask for the ball, but instead turned his head left and right, twisting his body to look back, observing the situation behind him, and the situation in Leverkusen's half.

He hoped that Weidenfeller could throw the ball over immediately. If it was even a second late, the situation would change, and then his previous plan would have to be modified or canceled.

Counterattacks, of course, require lightning speed.

But he couldn't directly raise his hand for the ball, as that would be too obvious and would immediately attract the attention of Leverkusen players.

He believed that Weidenfeller would definitely notice him, because they had a tacit understanding.

Weidenfeller had indeed developed a habit. Any free kick or corner kick opportunity, as long as he directly got the ball, the first thing he would do was look for Zhou Yi in the crowd, because these were all counterattack opportunities.

This time was no exception. As soon as he caught the ball, before he could even stand firm, he saw Zhou Yi through the gaps in the crowd.

He saw Zhou Yi starting to retreat while he was catching the ball, and also looking around.

Even though he wasn't looking at him, Weidenfeller knew what he should do.

So he rushed forward and threw the ball towards Zhou Yi!

※※※

Following the ball, everyone’s attention shifted to Zhou Yi.

Leverkusen's players also moved accordingly.

But for Zhou Yi, as long as he didn't attract attention before Weidenfeller passed the ball, that was enough. He never thought that even if the ball reached his feet, the opponent wouldn't notice him… Such a good thing doesn't exist. Maybe only in his first professional game against Hoffenheim did he enjoy such treatment.

As Dortmund's core player, how could he possibly receive the ball with no one defending him?

All he needed to gain was a little bit of a time difference.

Facing the ball thrown by Weidenfeller, Zhou Yi went to meet it, making a gesture as if he was going to stop the ball with his chest.

Lars Bender immediately moved in, planning to stick to Zhou Yi from behind, so that even if he stopped the ball, he wouldn't be able to turn around. As long as he couldn't turn around, Dortmund wouldn't be able to launch a quick counterattack.

But Lars Bender didn't stick to Zhou Yi, because just as he was about to get close, Zhou Yi suddenly turned around. He didn't receive the ball, but turned around directly.

He happened to block Lars Bender. Bender glanced and saw the ball rolling past in front of Zhou Yi's body…

Zhou Yi actually let the ball pass!

At this time, it was almost impossible for Lars Bender to intercept the ball—unless he pushed Zhou Yi, who was blocking him, away first, in which case he would foul.

Moreover, Zhou Yi's turn was so sudden that Lars Bender had almost zero preparation time. Before he could react, Zhou Yi had already slipped away from him.

Letting the ball pass, Zhou Yi, after turning around, did not dribble the ball, but quickly passed the ball to the right wing, to the front of Yan Min!

When Weidenfeller threw the ball to Zhou Yi, Yan Min had already started to turn around and run forward, but at this time his speed was not very fast. He ran while looking back to observe the situation. It wasn't until he saw Zhou Yi turn around that he suddenly accelerated and sprinted forward.

And just after he sprinted, Zhou Yi also passed the ball over with one kick. The timing of the two people's pass and run was just right. Yan Min didn't have to slow down to wait for the ball at all, and Zhou Yi didn't have to dribble an extra step to wait for Yan Min to rush up before passing the ball.

Yan Min could completely increase his speed and run with all his might.

Zhou Yi, after passing the ball, did not stop in the backcourt, but also rushed forward desperately. He had to make sure that if Yan Min wanted to pass the ball, he had to be able to appear in a receiving position.

"Dortmund launched a counterattack! It's Yan Min again!" Duan Xin shouted excitedly.

This was the scene he wanted to see—Chinese players dominating the game and becoming key figures in the game.

※※※

After catching up with the ball, Yan Min didn't bother to observe Zhou Yi's position at all. He couldn't care about those things now. His mind was full of dribbling straight towards the opponent's penalty area.

Leverkusen's defense was desperately retreating, with two people running towards Yan Min.

When Yan Min dribbled to the edge of the penalty area, he was finally blocked by Leverkusen's defenders.

In front of him and on his sides were Leverkusen defenders.

They were waiting in full battle array.

Of course, Yan Min could choose to break through forcibly, just by accelerating and pushing the ball forward, but in the face of such a defense, his forced breakthrough would only lead him to the vicinity of the baseline, and then he would cross the ball.

In that case, it would be a waste of this counterattack opportunity.

It was at this time that Yan Min remembered what Zhou Yi had told him, and he turned his head to look for Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi was in the middle!

So Yan Min didn't hesitate anymore and directly passed the ball across with one kick. He also passed it slightly backward to make it easier for Zhou Yi to receive the ball.

Because Yan Min's momentum with the ball was so amazing, everyone's attention naturally fell on Yan Min.

Now, when he passed the ball out, others realized that Zhou Yi had already reached the front of Leverkusen's penalty area!

Leverkusen's defenders hurriedly turned around to pounce on Zhou Yi.

After receiving the ball, Zhou Yi took advantage of the situation to push the ball into the penalty area, and then the whole person followed in. Then he swung his left foot, pretending to shoot!

The first Leverkusen defender, Donati, who rushed up, turned around and planned to block Zhou Yi's shot with his body. As a result, Zhou Yi's move was just a feint. He used his left foot to pull the ball to the right, dodging Donati who had already thrown his entire body out.

Then, he adjusted the ball slightly and swung his right foot again. This time he should be shooting!

At this moment, the returning center-back Spahić finally came back. Seeing Zhou Yi shake off his teammate and swing his foot to shoot, he didn't care about anything else. Even though he was behind Zhou Yi, he directly slid over!

Zhou Yi was not able to hit the ball, because he was tackled to the ground by Spahić from behind and lost control of the ball…

The stadium was in an uproar.

"Ah!" Duan Xin shouted excitedly. "Zhou Yi was tackled!"

"Penalty!!" Marcel Reif exclaimed. "Penalty! This is an undisputed penalty! Spahić's tackle from behind was just too dangerous!"

When Spahić tackled Zhou Yi, he suddenly sobered up. He stared blankly at Zhou Yi, who had fallen to the ground, with only one thought in his mind: What am I doing?!

"Fuck! What the hell are you doing!" After passing the ball, Yan Min widened the angle, preparing to meet Zhou Yi. As a result, when he turned his head, he saw Zhou Yi being tackled to the ground by Spahić. He was stunned for a moment, and then rushed up, leaning his forehead against Spahić's, and questioned angrily in a loud voice.

But in his haste, he blurted out Mandarin Chinese, not German…

Players from both sides rushed up. Leverkusen's defender Toprak pushed the angry Yan Min away, but this action also aroused the dissatisfaction of other Dortmund players. Aubameyang came up and pushed Toprak.

Players from both sides quickly became entangled, pushing each other, and shouting constantly. The field was in chaos…

When Zhou Yi fell to the ground, Klopp was so frightened that he jumped up from his seat, and then stared at the penalty area. After a second or two, he reacted and ran towards the fourth official with his arms outstretched: "What is this!? What is this!? This is our home ground!"

What he meant was that the referee was too lenient with Leverkusen's rough actions in this game. If he had been able to strictly enforce the rules earlier, how could Leverkusen's players have had the guts to tackle from behind?

With both Şahin and Sven Bender injured and off the field, if anything happened to Zhou Yi, Klopp felt that he would not be able to live…

Team doctor Dr. Braun had already run onto the field with his kit.

The stretcher was also ready.

At this moment, Zhou Yi got up from the ground by himself. It seemed that he was fine…

On the other side, the brief conflict between the players had also ended.

The referee first showed Aubameyang a yellow card, because he pushed Toprak. Of course, this decision aroused the dissatisfaction of Dortmund fans in the stands.

Then the referee turned around and showed Toprak a yellow card, because he pushed Yan Min.

After that, he showed the already standing Spahić a red card!

"...Spahić was sent off, which is the correct decision! Regardless of whether Zhou Yi was injured as a result, his tackle should have been a red card!" Duan Xin said.

But he was quickly stunned, because he saw the referee find Yan Min again, holding a yellow card and a red card in his hand. He first showed Yan Min a yellow card, and then showed the red card!

Two yellows turned into one red! Yan Min was also sent off!