It was still a cause for celebration to win consecutive games and top the league table.

However, the Borussia Dortmund fans didn't rejoice for long.

On Tuesday, Borussia Dortmund announced on their official website that Gündoğan's injury was more serious than initially thought. Originally expected to be sidelined for only two weeks, he would now need another month to recover.

This was definitely bad news for Borussia Dortmund fans.

Previously, when the national team's insistence on using Gündoğan aggravated his injury, requiring only two weeks of rest, fans felt there was no need to make a fuss, considering it a chance for Gündoğan to rest.

But now, the injury was aggravated, requiring another month of rest?!

Was this a joke?

It seemed the injury sustained with the national team was not as minor as imagined...

Borussia Dortmund's statement mentioned: "...Gündoğan will remain unavailable for the next few weeks. He underwent an MRI scan on Monday, which confirmed the extent of his injury. Borussia Dortmund's team doctor Markus Braun believes that Gündoğan needs about a month to recover due to excessive load on the lower spine..."

This meant Gündoğan would definitely miss the upcoming German national team matches, as well as several Borussia Dortmund league and Champions League games. He might not be able to return until the match against Borussia Mönchengladbach on October 5th.

Soon, more detailed information about Gündoğan's injury was revealed—according to the examination, Gündoğan's back compression was caused by the displacement of a vertebra, and the recovery was slow, showing no signs of improvement after two weeks.

Borussia Dortmund was facing multiple competitions this season, with a dense schedule, which severely tested the team's depth. The huge impact and loss caused by Gündoğan's injury was yet unknown, but the fans' anger was already uncontrollable.

Some angry Borussia Dortmund fans left messages on Twitter: "Is this the result Löw wanted to see?!" They also @ed Löw, the German Football Association, and the official account of the German national team.

Other Borussia Dortmund fans launched an activity on Twitter, "Demanding Löw to apologize to Borussia Dortmund fans," which quickly received 10,000 likes and support.

Some Borussia Dortmund media even ran to interview Löw, asking him to talk about his views on the matter—actually trying to embarrass him in person.

Löw also seemed helpless: "No one wants to encounter this kind of thing. I can only say I'm very sorry..."

The Borussia Dortmund reporters persisted: "If you had let Gündoğan rest in the first place, wouldn't this result have been avoided today?"

"I don't know," Löw shook his head and shrugged, giving a very vague answer.

Borussia Dortmund club and coach Klopp remained silent on the matter.

It was not good for them to say anything now. From the club's point of view, they would inevitably give supporters of other clubs an excuse to attack them, believing they lacked a sense of the overall situation and were harming the interests of the German national team for their own selfish gain. But if they sided with Löw, they would offend their passionate fans.

Klopp, pressed by reporters, finally said: "We will pay close attention to Gündoğan's injury. It is a very sad thing... Fortunately, Zhou Yi is healthy..."

This remark was interpreted by the Chinese media as "setting a flag," frightening many Chinese fans who prayed online for Zhou Yi, fearing that he would be "cursed" by Klopp as a result...

Gündoğan's injury bothered the fans, but what really bothered the Borussia Dortmund club was not the injured Gündoğan, but Gündoğan's contract renewal.

Before the start of the preseason training, it was said that one of the club's top priorities this season was to sign new contracts with the team's key players.

This, of course, included the outstanding Gündoğan—Gündoğan was originally bought as a backup for Zhou Yi, but after Shinji Kagawa left the club, Zhou Yi moved forward, and Gündoğan partnered with Sven Bender in the defensive midfield position, performing so well that even Şahin, who was bought back by the club, could only be a substitute.

However, the contract renewal with Gündoğan was not going smoothly.

Among the many transfer rumors about Borussia Dortmund players leaving the team, many were related to Gündoğan, and all were from top clubs, such as Real Madrid and Manchester United.

The contract renewal negotiations were already very difficult, and now that Gündoğan was injured, Gündoğan's agent told the club that since he needed another month of rest, the player naturally wanted to rest and recover well. His mood would also affect his injury recovery, so he would wait until he recovered to renew the contract.

The club couldn't force him to renew the contract while Gündoğan was injured, as that would give the impression of taking advantage of his misfortune. After the Lewandowski transfer saga, the club's image was not very good. Thanks to Lewandowski's agent, many people now believed that Borussia Dortmund was a club that did not keep its word, after all, their CEO Watzke could deny what he had promised as soon as he turned his back...

So Borussia Dortmund had to temporarily suspend contract renewal negotiations with Gündoğan's agent.

But Gündoğan's contract would expire in June 2015, less than two years away. These two years were too long for both the player and the club, and many things could happen.

If they didn't agree on a contract renewal, Gündoğan might follow in the footsteps of Shinji Kagawa, Götze, and Lewandowski...

Going to Real Madrid or Manchester United would be fine, but what if he was poached by Bayern Munich again?

So when Gündoğan was injured and the contract renewal negotiations were suspended, the Borussia Dortmund club executives were in a bit of a predicament.

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Chapter 4 Frankfurt

In the fourth round of the league, Borussia Dortmund played against Eintracht Frankfurt away. Because there was an important game coming up, Klopp naturally rotated players in this league match as well.

This time, Borussia Dortmund performed better than in the previous two games. At least in the tenth minute of the game, Mkhitaryan scored the first goal for Borussia Dortmund, helping them take a 1-0 lead away. This rising star, who had missed most of the previous games due to injury, finally seized the opportunity in this game.

So Chinese fans began to worry about Yan Min's future again... But in fact, Mkhitaryan and Yan Min have different positions and technical styles, so there is no direct competition...

If there is competition as long as you play in midfield, then Yan Min basically has no chance...

Actually, Mkhitaryan's competitor should be Zhou Yi, because Mkhitaryan plays as an attacking midfielder, and he started this game in Zhou Yi's place. But everyone doesn't seem to be very worried about Zhou Yi's position. They believe that as long as Klopp's brain is still working, it is impossible for Mkhitaryan to completely replace Zhou Yi. In the imagination of Chinese fans, the Armenian midfielder rising star should be introduced as Zhou Yi's rotation substitute.

Besides, even if Klopp's brain really stopped working, does Zhou Yi lack places to go with his current status? So Chinese fans are not worried about Zhou Yi, but only worried about Yan Min, who has just arrived in Borussia Dortmund and has not yet gained a firm foothold.

※※※

Eintracht Frankfurt, playing at home, was not to be trifled with. In the thirty-sixth minute, striker Kadlec equalized the score.

In the last minute of the first half, Hummels received a yellow card. Before the second half started, the fourth official signaled Dortmund to make a substitution on the sidelines. Klopp replaced Hummels with Papastathopoulos.

This substitution was not Klopp's punishment for Hummels receiving a yellow card. Klopp did this considering that there was still the European Super Cup against Chelsea coming up, and he wanted the main center-back to rest more. A normal rotation.

Ten minutes into the second half—again ten minutes, Mkhitaryan scored twice. This time, Großkreutz assisted him.

"Mkhitaryan scored twice! He has finally shown his value! Since transferring to Borussia Dortmund, he has been plagued by injuries! And this game made everyone realize why he is so favored by many European giants! Fortunately, Borussia Dortmund got him in the end... Seeing the form shown by Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan one after another, I believe Klopp should be more relaxed, right? Even if Gündoğan cannot return for the time being, everyone doesn't need to worry so much..."

But Duan Xin was worried: "Aubameyang, Jonas Hofmann, Mkhitaryan... Yan Min's competitors are all very strong..."

In this game, Yan Min was not on Borussia Dortmund's eighteen-man squad list at all. He stayed in Dortmund. This was the case for him in four consecutive league games. The Chinese media is indeed not publicly asking when Yan Min will be able to enter the game squad list now, but it does not mean that they are not anxious.

God knows when Yan Min will get a chance?

※※※

After Mkhitaryan regained the lead for Borussia Dortmund, Eintracht Frankfurt obviously strengthened their offense. In the sixty-sixth and seventy-first minutes, they substituted two players to strengthen their offense, hoping to equalize the score at home—they didn't think too much about reversing the situation and defeating Borussia Dortmund.

Klopp also made substitutions on his side. He replaced Kuba with Aubameyang and Zhou Yi replaced Mkhitaryan.

Both of these substitutions were very targeted. Zhou Yi's appearance, coupled with Aubameyang, could play a counterattack. With Zhou Yi's through balls, Aubameyang's speed advantage could be brought into play. If Eintracht Frankfurt was not willing to fail like this, they would definitely invest more troops in the attack, and there would definitely be a lot of gaps behind them, which was a good opportunity for Aubameyang to attack.

At the same time, Zhou Yi's appearance could also strengthen the control of the midfield. With him, Borussia Dortmund could also stabilize their position in the face of Eintracht Frankfurt's possible crazy impact. This is something that the current Mkhitaryan cannot do.

After Zhou Yi was substituted on, he also immediately used his excellent passing and running to help the team withstand Eintracht Frankfurt's counterattack wave.

Faced with the aggressive pressing of Eintracht Frankfurt players, Zhou Yi appeared calm and composed, with a commanding demeanor in his gestures.

Duan Xin was very happy: "Although Mkhitaryan scored twice, but you must know that Borussia Dortmund's real core can only be Zhou Yi. Look at his performance, even without goals and assists, who can ignore his importance to Borussia Dortmund?"

In the end, under Zhou Yi's control and Aubameyang's speed threat, Eintracht Frankfurt's attack failed to break through Borussia Dortmund's goal.

Borussia Dortmund defeated Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 away, winning their twenty-second consecutive victory in the league.

The score was the same as the previous game, but the scene was different. The process of this game made those who had some doubts about Borussia Dortmund see the positive side. At least Klopp insisted on rotating players, allowing each first-team player to get as much training as possible and integrate into the team. In the middle and late stages of the season, this kind of rotation will be able to reflect its due value...

With four consecutive league wins in the new season, the entire Borussia Dortmund team prepared to welcome their strong opponent in the European Super Cup.

But for Zhou Yi, what awaited him was not Chelsea, but a feast.