“Aubameyang! He puts Dortmund in the lead!” Marcel Reif shouted.

The replay of the goal was on TV.

“Dortmund executed a brilliant team play in Guangzhou Evergrande’s penalty area, leaving their opponents with no chance to defend…”

Dortmund’s attack was indeed beautiful, with continuous passes, and Mark’s clever dummy at the front post was the finishing touch.

Guangzhou Evergrande's defense couldn’t keep up with Dortmund's attacking ideas at all. When Zhou Yi passed the ball to Reus, their defensive focus was all on Reus because Reus was in a position to shoot. Zeng Cheng had shifted over to block Reus's shot.

But Reus quickly passed the ball in front of the goal, and when Mark ran towards the ball, Evergrande's defenders all focused on Mark again.

As a result, Mark let the ball through…

This time, Guangzhou Evergrande had no ability to shift their defense anymore…

They could only watch as the unmarked Aubameyang shot the ball into the goal.

Chinese fans' hearts sank as the ball flew into the goal.

The thing they were most worried about had finally happened.

Watching the Dortmund players celebrate the goal, with Zhou Yi and Yan Min among them, many Chinese fans felt complicated emotions.

Some laugh, others cry.

But even worse was yet to come…

Just four minutes after Aubameyang’s goal, Dortmund launched another attack.

This time, Yan Min crossed from the wing, allowing Mark to head the ball in front of the goal, but the ball was saved by Zeng Cheng.

“Zeng Cheng! Well done!” He Ping cheered for Zeng Cheng.

After the ball was saved, it fell into the penalty area, and just as an Evergrande player got the ball, he suddenly found himself surrounded by three Dortmund players!

This startled him, and in his慌手慌脚 (huāng shǒu huāng jiǎo; flustered haste), the ball was stolen by the opponent.

Dortmund thought about sending the ball in front of the goal again.

This time it was still Mark, who dove forward and headed the ball into the goal…

“Oh oh oh oh oh!” Marcel Reif exclaimed. “Dortmund leads 2-0! They have a two-goal lead before the end of the first half! Considering the difference in strength between the two teams, the outcome of this game is no longer in doubt!”

Because of Zhou Yi, Marcel Reif actually had a good impression of Chinese players, but this was a contest between a German team and a Chinese team, so of course he was on the side of the German team.

Of course, he didn't forget to speak up for the Chinese team: “Actually, Guangzhou team’s performance before the first goal was already very good. Their tactics were correct, and the players performed very tenaciously… But unfortunately, the gap in strength between the two sides is too great. This cannot be compensated by effort alone…”

In the TV broadcast, the Guangzhou Evergrande players, who had conceded two goals in a short period of time, looked very frustrated. This result was too demoralizing.

Before the game, they followed the coach's arrangement and planned to build a Great Wall in front of their goal to deal with Dortmund. But they didn’t expect that despite their efforts, they only managed to hold out for twenty-eight minutes…

And then conceded two goals.

It could be said that all their hopes had been completely extinguished.

He Ping sighed after the goal, and after a moment of silence, he began to soothe everyone's emotions: "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. This is our first time participating in the Club World Cup, and it’s already very good to be able to play like this against the European champion, Dortmund. The important thing is that we have been here, we have personally experienced the Club World Cup, and we have had a real battle with the European champion in a real game. I think this experience will bring valuable experience to the Guangzhou Evergrande players and help them in their subsequent journey… When our team has more opportunities to participate in such high-level competitions and play against high-level teams in the future, I believe that by then, our team and players will definitely be qualitatively different from what they are now…”

At this time, since the defeat was already certain, it was of course necessary to look at the positive aspects.

Of course, the majority of Chinese fans were still frustrated, and He Ping's words could not comfort them.

Not all of them believed that Evergrande could win the game. They just hoped that if they had to lose, Evergrande could score a goal, and they would be satisfied.

But now it seemed that even this goal could not be achieved. The gap in strength between the two sides was too great…

Before the game, some Chinese fans had fantasized that Dortmund would be exhausted from continuous battles and travel, and would also be arrogant and underestimate Guangzhou Evergrande, and as a result, Guangzhou Evergrande would score a goal with a sneak attack at the beginning of the game… Such a beautiful thing had never happened.

※※※

After taking a two-goal lead, Dortmund began to slow down the pace and no longer continued the high-intensity siege of Evergrande's goal.

Zhou Yi's passes were mostly horizontal and backward, and he wouldn't send out those risky through balls unless there was a particularly good opportunity.

The other players were not as active as before.

No one can maintain high-intensity running tirelessly throughout the entire game. After a short period of time, they have to slow down, regardless of whether they have scored or not.

This gave Evergrande some breathing space, but they did not show the determination and motivation to counterattack.

Losing two goals in a row was too demoralizing for them.

The first half ended like this.

Dortmund led Guangzhou Evergrande 2-0, and there was little suspense about their advancement to the Club World Cup final.

※※※

Because they were two goals behind, the atmosphere in Guangzhou Evergrande's locker room was a bit oppressive.

Until Lippi came in.

He clapped his hands and said, "You guys did a good job, lads."

Everyone looked up.

“Facing Dortmund’s fierce offensive, you only conceded two goals. You really did a good job. I’m not being sarcastic…” Lippi said with a smile. “Now, let’s forget the first half and think about what to do in the second half. Since we’ve already conceded two goals, it looks like it will be difficult for us to win the game. So why not let go and go all out? In the second half, we must persist in defense, but we must not give up on offense. We need to launch more counterattacks and use the speed of our frontcourt to attack their defense. Now is the time to show them our courage!”

After Lippi's words were translated, they aroused the players' passion and excitement.

That’s right, we are already two goals behind, so what is there to be afraid of? The worst thing that can happen is losing, and losing is not scary. But before losing, we must let the whole world know Guangzhou Evergrande. We are definitely not here just to make up the numbers. We appeared here, and even if we leave, we must leave something behind!

In addition to inspiring his players mentally, Lippi also made personnel adjustments. He replaced defensive midfielder Huang Baiwen with fullback Rong Hao, canceling the three-defensive midfielder formation, which was naturally a move to strengthen the attack to a certain extent.

※※※

When the second half of the game started, Guangzhou Evergrande, who were two goals behind, were surprisingly in high spirits, which was really unexpected.

Of course, Dortmund was not surprised. During the halftime break, Klopp had repeatedly warned them not to relax because of the two-goal lead. Because the opponent could easily get rid of all their burdens due to being two goals behind, which would become a problem for Dortmund instead.

He asked the team to take the second half seriously and not hold back.

So the two teams engaged in a fierce collision on the field.

Dortmund was playing completely unreservedly, and the gaps behind them would naturally be exploited by Guangzhou Evergrande. But Dortmund didn't care about this at all. How could they shrink their defense when playing against Evergrande? Of course, they had to crush their opponents with offense.

As a result, Evergrande also got some offensive opportunities. Unlike the first half, when they could only passively shrink their defense, they now had the opportunity to attack into Dortmund's thirty-meter zone.

For example, Elkeson crossed the ball diagonally on the right, but Muriqui, who received the ball in the center, didn't control the ball well, and it went too far, causing Evergrande to lose a good offensive opportunity.

Soon, Dortmund responded with a long shot from outside the penalty area. Zhou Yi's long shot was a little high.

※※※

In the fifty-fourth minute, Evergrande created their most threatening attack.

Yan Min's breakthrough on the left was intercepted by Zheng Zhi. Zheng Zhi's experience played a crucial role, seeing through Yan Min's next move, taking position in advance, and intercepting the ball.

After intercepting the ball, Zheng Zhi quickly dribbled the ball forward, and then suddenly kicked a through ball.

The ball passed through Dortmund's midfield and was directly passed into the gap behind their defense!

"Good ball!" He Ping exclaimed after seeing Zheng Zhi's accurate through ball.

After receiving the ball, Muriqui quickly插 (chā; cut in) forward and broke into the left side of Dortmund's penalty area. Großkreutz failed to catch up with Muriqui, who was a little slow. But he still decisively tackled!

His tackle was crucial! He successfully interfered with Muriqui's shot!

Muriqui shot the ball wide…

"Aiya—!" He Ping shouted regretfully, holding his head in his hands. Dortmund was only two goals ahead now. If Muriqui could score this goal, it would be an overachievement. Not only would Evergrande score a goal against a European giant, but it would also reduce the difference between the two teams to one goal, restoring some suspense to the game.

"Whoa! That was close!" Marcel Reif also breathed a sigh of relief.

Evergrande's attack just now was very fast and accurate. If the striker's shot hadn't been a little off, Dortmund might have conceded a goal…

Dortmund's coach Klopp couldn't help but feel angry when he saw this scene on the sidelines. He shouted loudly at the field from the sidelines.

He thought the team was still underestimating their opponents.

On Evergrande's side, the whole team was regretting that they had missed this excellent scoring opportunity – after missing this opportunity, who knew if they would have such a good scoring opportunity again!