Chapter 113 Red Card

A two-goal lead should have been a great start, but Klopp wasn't satisfied. He remained on the sidelines, constantly monitoring the game and reacting to changes. If Borussia Dortmund players missed a scoring opportunity, he would clap his hands forcefully in regret, shouting loudly.

His anxiety was incomprehensible to many—Borussia Dortmund had already gained the upper hand, not only scoring two goals but also completely suppressing their opponents and dominating the field.

As long as Borussia Dortmund could keep playing like this, victory was practically guaranteed.

They couldn't understand why Klopp was still so agitated, unable to sit in his seat on the bench.

Some speculated that Kuba's injury and substitution had made him so restless and irritable. If that was the case, it was understandable—anyone dealing with such an injury crisis would probably lose their composure.

In the forty-first minute, Borussia Dortmund intercepted the ball in defense. Zhou Yi, after receiving the ball, turned and played a direct through ball, sending the ball ahead of Yan Min. Yan Min then sprinted forward, chasing the ball and dribbling toward Augsburg's penalty area.

Another dangerous attack!

However, Borussia Dortmund's quick attack didn't materialize. Yan Min had only taken two steps when Augsburg players tackled the ball away. He was also knocked off balance by the tackle and fell to the ground.

A huge wave of boos erupted from the Borussia Dortmund fans in the stands.

Everyone thought it was a bad foul, deserving a yellow card, or even a straight red.

But the referee showed no reaction, simply signaling for Borussia Dortmund to take a throw-in.

Although Borussia Dortmund still had possession, their best chance for a counterattack was gone. Augsburg's players had all retreated to defend, making it much more difficult for Borussia Dortmund to attack.

After being tackled and rolling several times on the ground, Yan Min, upon realizing that the foul wasn't called against the opponent, angrily jumped up and shouted at the referee, arms outstretched, protesting the decision.

The referee ignored him.

On the sidelines, Klopp was furious. Unable to vent his anger at the referee, he grabbed the fourth official and protested, "That's a tackle from behind! Whether he gets the ball or not, it should be a foul!"

"Watch your language, Mr. Klopp," the fourth official reminded him.

"Watch my language, my ass! Augsburg should pay the price for that foul, but now their guy is still fine on the field, while our player is only lucky he wasn't injured. Otherwise, he would have been carried off on a stretcher!"

Klopp couldn't contain his anger and continued to rant at the referee.

It was clear that Kuba's injury had affected his emotions. The Augsburg player's tackle had looked really dangerous, and if Yan Min had been hit squarely, he would have had to leave the field early.

Yan Min had escaped this time, but the opposing player had also escaped punishment, which made Klopp very unhappy.

He believed that the Bundesliga referees weren't providing enough protection for his players.

The fourth official, unwilling to argue with him, directly called the referee over via the intercom.

The referee signaled for the game to be paused, then ran off the field and directly to Borussia Dortmund's bench. Without hesitation, he showed Klopp a red card! At the same time, he waved his hand, pointing very dramatically to the stands, signaling for Klopp to get up there.

There was an uproar on the Borussia Dortmund bench and among the substitutes—the head coach had been sent off! Even though Borussia Dortmund was currently leading by two goals, this was still a heavy blow for them, with consequences not only for this game but also for future matches… Who knew if Klopp would face further punishment…?

Assistant coach Željko Buvač quickly stepped forward to hold back Klopp, who was still trying to confront the referee, and protested to the referee, "A verbal warning is enough, the red card is too harsh!"

The referee simply shook his head, maintaining his gesture toward the stands, signaling for Klopp to leave the field immediately.

Klopp gritted his teeth and glared at the referee, who remained unfazed and continued to signal for him to leave.

Klopp couldn't actually punch the referee. He hadn't expected that venting his emotions at the fourth official would earn him a red card. Usually, the referee would come over and issue a verbal warning, and then he would back down, and that would be the end of it.

But today, this referee was so unyielding, running over to him without any hesitation and issuing a red card.

In the end, Klopp could only turn and walk off the field indignantly.

"Klopp has been sent off. This is terrible… The situation was clearly in Borussia Dortmund's favor, but Klopp couldn't control his emotions, which is just adding insult to injury for Borussia Dortmund…" Marcel Reif said, watching Klopp leave the bench.

"The players are getting injured one after another, and the media has been criticizing Klopp's tactical choices and training methods, blaming him for his team's injury woes. Add to that the team's league ranking behind Bayern Munich and Leverkusen, and all of this has put a lot of pressure on Klopp…" Duan Xin said. "Under immense pressure, Klopp has finally exploded… But this, in turn, will not reduce his pressure. In the upcoming matches, Borussia Dortmund will have to face the disadvantage of not having their head coach on-site to direct them…"

Yan Min was already annoyed that he had been tackled and no foul was called. He was about to vent his anger at the referee when Klopp successfully stole the show.

Seeing the head coach being sent off for complaining, Yan Min also shrank back—he didn't want to be the first bird to be shot down. He had already been sent off with a red card in a previous match, and if it happened again, he was really worried he wouldn't be able to play…

※※※

Because he had been sent off with a red card, Klopp wasn't even allowed to go to the locker room during halftime. So when Borussia Dortmund's players returned to the locker room after the first half, they were somewhat dumbfounded to see assistant coach Buvač.

They were leading by two goals in the first half, so why did the atmosphere feel so wrong?

Željko Buvač was the team's assistant coach, Klopp's most trusted aide. He often arranged the players' tactics, so there was no question about his ability.

But at this moment, with Kuba seriously injured and the head coach sent off, the team wasn't facing a tactical problem, but a psychological one. Everyone felt lost, and what they needed was someone with authority to step forward and reassure them.

In this regard, Klopp, with his emotional personality, had a natural advantage. Over the years at Borussia Dortmund, he had built his personal prestige and imprinted his personal mark on this team. Many of the team's players were won over by his personal charm. So despite the outside criticism of Klopp's training methods, the team remained relatively stable internally.

However, with the main pillar gone, everyone inevitably experienced some maladjustment.

Even Željko Buvač couldn't replace Klopp's position and role in the locker room.

Seeing everyone looking confused, Buvač could only pat them on the back futilely, repeating over and over, "Don't let off-field matters affect you. We're still leading by two goals, the advantage is on our side…"

As for whether the players were really listening or whether his words were really useful… he wasn't so sure.

At the same time, in the neighboring locker room, Augsburg's head coach Markus Weinzierl was encouraging his players.

"They may seem to be leading by two goals, but now their head coach has been sent to the stands. This is our chance! Without Klopp on the sidelines to direct them, when Borussia Dortmund encounters difficulties on the field, they will be at a loss… and ultimately collapse!"

Weinzierl intended to seize this opportunity and knock Borussia Dortmund to the ground.

Although Augsburg should have no problem staying in the league this season, who wouldn't want to be ranked higher? Every point is very important in the league, and perhaps at the end of the season, a single point could be the dividing line between heaven and hell for this team.

※※※

After the second half of the game began, the television broadcast first gave a close-up of Klopp in the stands. He was sitting among a group of Borussia Dortmund fans, his expression somber, and it was unclear whether he was still angry about being sent to the stands or worried about the team's fate…

After the second half began, Duan Xin started to comfort the Chinese Borussia Dortmund fans, especially the fans of Zhou Yi.

He said, "Although the situation may seem unfavorable for Borussia Dortmund now, I think this is just an illusion. It's the illusion created by Klopp being sent off. In reality, if you calm down, you can see that Borussia Dortmund is still leading by two goals, which is a considerable advantage. As long as Borussia Dortmund doesn't panic, Augsburg will have a hard time threatening Borussia Dortmund's goal. Although Klopp is gone, Borussia Dortmund only needs to follow their pre-match plan and keep playing like this, and they should be fine…"

Less than five minutes after Duan Xin finished speaking, Augsburg launched an attack on the right flank, reaching Borussia Dortmund's thirty-meter zone. Then, Hahn played a brilliant one-two with a teammate on the right flank, broke through, and sent a low cross into the box.

Sven Bender, who was playing as a center-back in this game to replace the injured Hummels, slid in to tackle the ball in front of Augsburg player Milik, intending to clear it.

But who would have thought that he would end up kicking the ball into his own goal!

Roman Weidenfeller, who was playing his three-hundredth game for Borussia Dortmund today, couldn't have imagined that Sven Bender would score such an own goal. His attention was focused on Milik, and he had no chance to react to Sven Bender's ghostly own goal, watching helplessly as the ball flew into the goal from the near post…