Chapter 1 The Beginning

The TV was replaying Zhou Yi's goal just now, while the commentators were analyzing why Galatasaray had suddenly conceded a goal. They hadn't been at a disadvantage on the field, and there was no sign of conceding a goal.

"... Borussia Dortmund suddenly accelerated their passing in the frontcourt. Zhou Yi and Yan Min's one-two pass disrupted Galatasaray's defensive rhythm. It can be said that this sudden acceleration caused Galatasaray's players to be a little disoriented, losing sight of one thing while attending to another. Otherwise, they really shouldn't have lost track of Zhou Yi in the penalty area..."

"Zhou Yi's pass to Mark was actually very good. Mark could have shot directly and possibly scored. That's why Galatasaray's players were so nervous, rushing to Mark at all costs. This gave Zhou Yi the opportunity to insert into the gap, and Mark didn't take the credit, smartly passing the ball to Zhou Yi, who was in a better position, which led to this goal..."

But no matter how these commentators and professional analysts analyzed it, it was actually very simple. One sentence could explain why Borussia Dortmund was able to score—"Because they have Zhou Yi!"

Zhou Yi, who was pulled up from the ground by his teammates, was covered in mud. There were many spots of mud on his face, which looked a bit embarrassed, without any of the glorious image of a goalscorer.

But the smile on his face would make people automatically ignore that not-so-beautiful image.

※※※

Borussia Dortmund's goal not only frustrated the Napoli fans far away, but also dampened the morale of Galatasaray's players.

Deep down, they began to have a doubt—wasn't it God's arrangement? Why are we still behind?

This doubt may not have been very obvious at first, and everyone just flashed it in their minds.

But once this idea is generated, it will be like a seed, buried in everyone's heart, and then waiting for the right time to break ground.

While Borussia Dortmund's players were celebrating the goal, Galatasaray was silent.

Head coach Terim reacted quickly. He realized the impact of this goal on the team's morale and confidence.

So he quickly stood on the sidelines, constantly shouting and ordering the players on the field to cheer up.

Zhou Yi scored in the sixty-first minute of the game, and there were still half an hour left before the end of the game. Now is not the time to give up.

Galatasaray must continue to attack!

Or rather, now there is only one way to continue attacking.

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Generally speaking, in Borussia Dortmund's situation, having regained the lead away from home, facing a pressing home team, the leading away team should shrink their defense and play a counterattack.

But when the game restarted, Borussia Dortmund went the other way and once again showed the world their unconventional style.

Borussia Dortmund, who regained the lead, did not shrink back to defend, but continued to attack!

They collided head-on with Galatasaray's offensive, and the offensive was even more rapid than the home team Galatasaray!

This really caught Galatasaray off guard.

Originally, after losing the ball, Galatasaray had a situation of wavering confidence and unstable morale. They were forcibly boosted by the authority of head coach Terim, but the unstable foundation had not been improved.

Then, in the game, they collided with the surging offensive tide of Borussia Dortmund. Under the collision of the two sides, Galatasaray was immediately torn apart, turned into countless water droplets and blown away in the air by the wind.

Borussia Dortmund took advantage of the momentum of just scoring a goal and regained control of the game.

They began to launch wave after wave of attacks on Galatasaray's goal, striving to score another goal.

Leading by only one goal will always bring hope to the opponent and create risks for themselves.

So Borussia Dortmund intends to completely kill the opponent's hope and their own risks!

In the sixty-fourth minute, Yan Min, who switched to the right, sent in a cross. Reus grabbed a shot near the penalty spot in the penalty area, but the shot was high under the interference of the defender.

However, he still gave a thumbs up to Yan Min, who crossed the ball to him, praising his cross for being accurate and beautiful.

Yan Min, the player, was valued by Klopp at the beginning. In addition to the ability he showed in that game, another very important reason was his versatility. On the left, Yan Min can cut inside and shoot, directly threatening the goal. On the right, he can break through and cross, and his crosses are also very threatening.

Such a player who can do multiple positions on the right and can do multiple positions is of course what every coach hopes to have in the team.

Although Reus's shot was high, Borussia Dortmund's offensive did not stop because of this.

It was still snowing, but it could no longer affect Borussia Dortmund's players.

Now no one has the leisure to care about the weather, they just want to score goals and score goals again.

※※※

When Borussia Dortmund besieged Galatasaray's goal, the temperature inside the Ali Sami Yen Stadium seemed to be gradually decreasing, and the cheers of Galatasaray's fans in the stands were getting smaller and smaller. Only a few die-hard fans were still struggling to support.

But their support is useless.

In the seventy-sixth minute, Borussia Dortmund launched another threatening attack. Yan Min once again sent in an accurate cross on the right, accurately finding Mark Wagner in the penalty area.

Mark did not directly grab a shot in the middle, because he already had Galatasaray's defender marking him closely. He jumped up and headed the ball to the left side of the penalty area, and Reus followed up with a bow and arrow, directly swinging his foot to shoot!

The ball flew into Galatasaray's goal like a roaring cannonball!

"3:1! Borussia Dortmund is stable!" He Ping announced happily.

"Reus! Beautiful worldie! Borussia Dortmund played a smooth cooperation in the frontcourt! Facing such an offensive, Galatasaray can only parry, and has no power to fight back!" Marcel Reif was particularly excited. Facing all kinds of unfavorable situations, Borussia Dortmund still played to their level. As a German, he was of course very happy.

※※※

Reus's goal made the temperature of the Ali Sami Yen Stadium almost drop to zero, and even the Napoli fans far away in Italy felt the chill—this is not common for Napoli, which is located in the warm south...

What does this score mean?

Anyone who has watched the game to this point, as long as they have a little sense, will think that it is almost impossible for Galatasaray to equalize the score again.

And if this score is maintained until the end of the game, it means that Napoli will be eliminated.

In the TV broadcast, commentators from all sides also mentioned Napoli at this time.

He Ping said: "If the game ends like this, Napoli will create a record—they will be the team with the highest积分(jifen - points) to be eliminated from the group stage after the Champions League reform... This is not a glorious record, but a bit tragic..."

"Twelve points! Napoli has won twelve points in the Champions League group stage this season. This积分(jifen - points) is enough for them to qualify in any group, or even be the top of the group, except in Group F... This season's Group F is the most perverted group of death in history..." Marcel Reif said with emotion.

He's right, not at all exaggerated.

Napoli's twelve points are very high in other groups, but in Group F, they will be eliminated. It's hard to say whether this is ironic or pitiful.

In Group A, the first place is Manchester United, with fourteen points. The second place is Bayer Leverkusen, with ten points. The group qualified.

In Group B, the first place is Real Madrid, with sixteen points. The second place is Juventus, with seven points, and the group qualified.

In Group C, Paris Saint-Germain has thirteen points, and Olympiacos with ten points. These two teams qualified.

The top two in Group D have the same积分(jifen - points). Bayern Munich and Manchester City both have fifteen points. Bayern Munich surpassed Manchester City with the relationship between winning and losing and ranked first.

In Group E, Chelsea is first, with twelve points, and Schalke 04 is second, with ten points.

In Group G, Atletico Madrid is first, with sixteen points. The second place in the group is Zenit St. Petersburg...six points!

The first place in Group H is Barcelona with thirteen points, and the second place in the group belongs to AC Milan with nine points.

Looking at such a result, Napoli must feel more wronged than Dou E.

Their积分(jifen - points) can qualify in Group A, Group B, Group C, Group E, Group G, and Group H. Among them, Juventus, the second place in Group B, has seven积分(jifen - points), only one point higher than Marseille, the third place. Group G is even worse, Zenit St. Petersburg has six积分(jifen - points), and the two teams in third and fourth place, Porto and Austria Vienna, both have five积分(jifen - points). It's just a bunch of chickens pecking at each other...

Napoli's saw this scene, and their hearts were broken.

That is, in Group D and Group F, Napoli cannot qualify. It's okay if it's in Group D, the top two are very perverted, with fifteen积分(jifen - points). But in Group F, there are a total of four teams, and three of them have twelve积分(jifen - points). Everyone has the same积分(jifen - points). Because of the relationship between winning and losing and the goal difference, Napoli will be sadly out, which is really annoying.

But there is no way, who made Napoli be assigned to a group of death?

In fact, when the group results came out, Group F was considered a group of death. However, the basis for everyone's recognition was that the strength of the four teams was close, and there was a theoretical possibility of a group of death.

At that time, everyone was more of a prediction. After all, it is impossible to see the specific performance just by relying on the strength on paper.

Now this result makes the name of Group F's "Group of Death" well-deserved. Three teams have the same twelve积分(jifen - points). This can still be eliminated, what is it if it is not a group of death? There is simply nothing more dead than this. It is very in line with the definition of "Group of Death".

It is really not easy to achieve such a result, so such a thing has never happened in the nearly sixty-year history of the Champions League.

It is indeed very, very difficult for such a situation to occur.

Three teams have the same twelve积分(jifen - points), six games are four wins and two losses, and they all lost to the other two teams except themselves and Galatasaray. This makes them have one win and one loss in the relationship of winning and losing, and need to compare more things.

In order to meet so many conditions, such an extreme situation can occur. This year's Champions League group stage is really once in decades.

※※※

After Reus scored, Borussia Dortmund led Galatasaray by two goals and also controlled the situation.

This made Galatasaray's players feel desperate.

Although they tried to counterattack in the following games, they did not receive any results.

The game time passed minute by minute.

Klopp began to substitute players in the final moments to delay time.

Reus was replaced by Kuba, and Mark was replaced by Piszczek.

He did not use up two substitutions in one go, but replaced one every few minutes, and the intention to delay time was very obvious.

Galatasaray's players protested against these grinding substitutions. They pointed at the Borussia Dortmund players who were off the field and loudly reminded the referee, indicating that they were deliberately delaying time.

Although Galatasaray's players were dissatisfied with this, they couldn't stop others from substituting. This can only blame themselves for turning the game into this.

However, Galatasaray's players may not agree with this view. They have worked very hard and once equalized the score. Even God stood on their side, but they still lost the game in the end...