Although they beat Zenit St. Petersburg 4:2 away from home, Borussia Dortmund's players still heard some criticism after returning to Germany, mainly focused on the defense.

After all, facing the weak Zenit St. Petersburg, Borussia Dortmund conceded two goals and failed to keep a clean sheet.

This does show that there are major problems with their defense.

The absence of Hummels and Subotić has a great impact on the team's defense.

Even if this Borussia Dortmund passes the Zenit St. Petersburg test, as the Champions League schedule progresses, it will be difficult for them to go further. What if they encounter a stronger team, and the attack cannot solve the problem, and the defense cannot hold?

But now it seems that Borussia Dortmund's focus should be on the league, and the Champions League is ranked after the league.

Just as Borussia Dortmund returned to Germany, the next day's Champions League matches took place as scheduled. Two other Chinese players made their Champions League debuts.

The results were different.

Sun Pan played for Chelsea, challenging Juventus away from home. In the end, the two teams drew 1:1.

As an away game, this result is not bad. They got an away goal and remained undefeated. Chelsea's chances of advancing at home are greater than Juventus'.

Yang Muge's Schalke 04 faced the powerful Real Madrid.

The gap in strength between the two teams is indeed very large. Although Yang Muge tried his best in the game, he couldn't stop the team from being惨败 (canbai, miserably defeated) at home.

Schalke 04 lost 1:6 to Real Madrid at their home stadium. They have basically said goodbye to this season's Champions League in advance.

Schalke 04 didn't get a goal back from Huntelaar until the 90th minute, so they weren't completely shut out at home.

After this game, many fans in China felt that Yang Muge should seek a transfer and leave Schalke 04. He has proven his ability at Schalke 04, and other teams in the European transfer market are interested in him.

Continuing to stay at Schalke 04 is not helpful to his career. Everyone hopes that Yang Muge can go to a better team to improve himself.

Yang Muge did not respond to the expectations of domestic fans.

He is as low-key as ever, using social networks less and appearing in the media less often.

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After the match against Zenit St. Petersburg, Borussia Dortmund will face Nuremberg in the twenty-third round of the league.

Before this game, there was good news and bad news.

The good news is that Hummels, who was previously injured, can finally return to the match lineup. He will play in this game.

The bad news is that Reus will be automatically suspended for one game in this match due to accumulating five yellow cards.

Nuremberg's recent performance has been very good. They have won four and lost one of their last five league games, escaping the relegation zone. The only loss was to Bayern Munich, who are in good form.

But Borussia Dortmund has also been in good form recently...

Just five minutes into the game, Schmelzer made a triangular pass from the left, Großkreutz missed the shot at the front point, and Piszczek followed up with a push shot at the back point, but the ball went wide of the goal.

Although the ball didn't go in, it set the tone for the game, which was basically Borussia Dortmund pressing Nuremberg.

In the sixteenth minute, Nuremberg goalkeeper Schäfer committed a foul by catching a back pass from the defender, and Borussia Dortmund got an indirect free kick on the small penalty area line.

Mark used his heel to flick the ball to Zhou Yi behind him, and Zhou Yi volleyed the ball, but the ball was blocked by the wall.

Six minutes later, Schmelzer took a long shot from twenty meters away from the goal, but it was saved by Schäfer.

In the twenty-fifth minute, Yan Min broke through on the left side of the penalty area. After entering the penalty area, he chose a small-angle shot, and the ball brushed past the post.

Borussia Dortmund's offensive was like a tide. It wasn't until the thirtieth minute that Nuremberg got a chance. Papastathopoulos made a mistake when passing the ball to Hummels in the backcourt. Drmic intercepted the ball and passed it to Pekhart, forming a one-on-one, and the latter pushed the shot against Weidenfeller!

As a result, the ball hit the right post and bounced out!

"Ahhh! That was close! Nuremberg almost scored! Borussia Dortmund's defense made a very serious mistake!" Marcel Reif exclaimed. "This is what everyone has been worried about - Borussia Dortmund's attack is no problem. This can be seen from their performance in the first thirty minutes of this game. The injury wave has the least impact on their attack. But Borussia Dortmund's defense... it's really not reassuring now..."

Shortly after this mistake, Klopp made a substitution, replacing Papastathopoulos with Friedrich.

This was of course not because of Papastathopoulos's pass error, but because Papastathopoulos was a bit injured after the game against Zenit St. Petersburg. He was playing with an injury in this game.

This mistake also shows the impact of the injury on him.

"...Papastathopoulos was substituted early because his injury hasn't healed... For Borussia Dortmund fans, seeing their players being substituted due to injury is probably something they have to get used to? It's really strange. Borussia Dortmund has been injured by defensive players this season. The attacking players are quite safe..." Duan Xin said, feeling incredible.

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After Papastathopoulos was substituted, Borussia Dortmund's offensive was not as fierce as before. Perhaps Papastathopoulos's mistake made Borussia Dortmund's players a little worried.

It wasn't until the forty-fifth minute that Aubameyang received a pass from Mark in the penalty area and took a powerful shot, but the ball was blocked out of the baseline by the defender.

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

Then the first half ended, with the score at 0:0.

"Borussia Dortmund started the game with a very good momentum, but unfortunately they couldn't score. The attack was loud but lacked rain. After Papastathopoulos was substituted, they slowed down the pace of the attack, and the threatening attacks were naturally not as many as before... But in general, Borussia Dortmund still has an absolute advantage in the first half. It depends on how both sides adjust during the halftime break..."

The result was that neither side made any substitutions during the halftime break.

After the second half started, Borussia Dortmund continued to attack and put pressure on Nuremberg, just like at the beginning of the first half.

Under such a fierce offensive, in the fifty-first minute, Borussia Dortmund got a free kick on the left, and Zhou Yi took the free kick. Among Zhou Yi's skills, scoring from a free kick is definitely not one of them. But this is not the kind of direct free kick that scores, but an indirect free kick.

It's not surprising that Zhou Yi, who is good at passing, takes an indirect free kick.

He passed the ball directly into the penalty area, accurately delivering it to Mark's head!

Mark jumped high and headed the ball!

Nuremberg goalkeeper Schäfer flew to save, he touched the ball, but he didn't push it far. The ball went straight up and down, and Hummels rushed up and jumped in front of the goal line, using his head to put the ball into the goal!

"Hummels's follow-up shot! Goal!"

Marcel Reif shouted.

"Borussia Dortmund finally broke the deadlock!" Duan Xin was also very happy.

Many people breathed a sigh of relief.

If Borussia Dortmund keeps besieging their opponents but can't score, their mentality will change as time goes by, and maybe Nuremberg will have a chance.

After all, Borussia Dortmund's defense is not reassuring.

It's much better to be one goal ahead now. The pressure has been released, and Borussia Dortmund can play more comfortably and calmly.

Indeed, Borussia Dortmund played better after taking the lead, and there were more threatening attacks.

In the fifty-fourth minute, three minutes after Hummels scored, Mark received a cross from Yan Min in the penalty area and dived to head the goal. If Nuremberg goalkeeper Schäfer hadn't miraculously blocked the ball out of the baseline, Borussia Dortmund might have scored again...

Four minutes later, Borussia Dortmund got a free kick opportunity. This time, Aubameyang took the free kick and shot directly, but the ball was slightly higher than the crossbar and flew to the stands behind!

"Borussia Dortmund's offensive is really like a tide! If this continues, Nuremberg might lose another goal..." Marcel Reif said.

Before he finished speaking, in the sixty-fourth minute, Borussia Dortmund got a great opportunity.

Zhou Yi received a sideline throw from Schmelzer on the left side of the frontcourt, and with a stop and turn, got rid of the defense, and then broke into the penalty area diagonally from the side.

Facing the Nuremberg player who came up to defend him, he decisively crossed the ball.

Mark followed up and shot from the edge of the penalty area, a calm push shot, and the ball rolled into the goal from the lower right corner.

"Mark Wagner—! Borussia Dortmund leads Nuremberg 2:0! What did I say before? What did I say before? Nuremberg will lose another goal! Borussia Dortmund's offensive firepower is too fierce. If Nuremberg keeps defending passively, it will be difficult to resist..."