For the Freiburg u19 players, this was a golden opportunity for revenge.

Some of them must have felt unconvinced after losing in the final, believing they had been caught off guard by Borussia Dortmund u19’s quick passing and fast-paced tactics, which they hadn't anticipated at all before the match.

They lost the game because they were unprepared.

But this time, they had ample time to prepare and would certainly not allow Borussia Dortmund to defeat them again.

After a week of eager anticipation, the first leg of the semi-final began.

The first semi-final was between Mainz 05 u19 and Werder Bremen u19, with the first leg taking place at Mainz 05’s home ground. Mainz lost to Werder Bremen 0:1 at home.

At the same time as the match between Mainz 05 and Werder Bremen, Borussia Dortmund’s home game against Freiburg also kicked off.

In this match, Freiburg was determined to get revenge. Despite being the away team, they fought fiercely, full of fighting spirit.

They still used high pressing, but it was even more aggressive than in the German Cup final.

Borussia Dortmund also responded with quick passing and fast-paced tactics.

Ultimately, the two sides staged a goal fest, scoring a total of five goals.

Borussia Dortmund defeated Freiburg 3:2 at home.

Freiburg still failed to successfully get revenge, but they did get two away goals, which was crucial.

Four days later, the second leg of the semi-final took place in Freiburg.

If Freiburg could win this game 1:0, they would eliminate Borussia Dortmund and achieve revenge by virtue of more away goals.

The two sides continued the tactics from the previous game, but the result of this game was somewhat different from what everyone had predicted.

Borussia Dortmund, playing away from home, actually played better. They defeated Freiburg u19 3:1 away from home, eliminating their opponents with a 6:3 aggregate score and advancing to the final.

Götze scored a hat-trick in this game, shining brightly.

Although Zhou Yi only had one assist, he was the one who propelled this resounding victory from behind.

After the game, Streich said that he had lost fairly and was convinced.

The league defending champion was eliminated in the semi-finals just like that.

On the other side, Mainz, who lost 0:1 in the first leg, also exploded on the road, beating Werder Bremen u19 3:0.

The man who shone in this game was their captain, André Schürrle.

He scored twice and assisted on another goal. It could be said that Mainz's victory was entirely Schürrle's individual victory.

His Mainz was Borussia Dortmund's opponent in the national final.

This was a showdown between two highly anticipated geniuses—André Schürrle against Mario Götze.

※※※

"Is Schürrle very good?" Zhou Yi asked Mark.

"Of course, but not as good as Mario," Mark said.

The two were at the pitch near their home. After the semi-final, Jeberle gave the team another day off, so the two had time for their training.

"First of all, he's older than Mario. It's amazing that Mario can perform like this at a younger age. Secondly, in terms of championship honors, Mario is a European champion." As Götze's teammate, Mark naturally stood on Götze's side.

"Hey, you're praising him here, but that kid can't hear you, Mark," Zhou Yi said.

"I'm not trying to please Mario! I'm telling the truth," Mark retorted.

"Actually, you're also very good, Mark," Zhou Yi said.

Mark scratched his head a little embarrassedly: "No, I'm still far from them..."

"That's just now. In the future, you will also be selected for the German national team, and then play in the World Cup with Götze and Schürrle," Zhou Yi patted Mark.

When Mark heard what Zhou Yi said, he began to imagine such a scene in his mind.

He was wearing the German national team jersey, with Götze standing next to him and Schürrle standing on the other side. They stood in line on the field, and the German national anthem sounded in the stadium. In front of him were the fully packed stands, and people were holding cameras and mobile phones, pressing the shutter buttons, which turned the stands into a galaxy of twinkling stars.

What a beautiful picture...

Mark, who was fantasizing, was suddenly patted by Zhou Yi: "Okay, stop dreaming. If you really want to be like that, you have to train first. Come on, enough rest."

"Oh..." Mark followed Zhou Yi and got up, still somewhat unsatisfied.

Ever since winning the Junior German Cup, Mark had dared to think even bigger.

The German national team...

Clenching his fists tightly, he followed behind Zhou Yi.

※※※

Mainz didn't adopt Freiburg's high-pressing tactics, but Jeberle still used quick-passing and fast-paced tactics, requiring the players to run more in the game and try to run fast.

If it had been Zhou Yi who had just arrived at Borussia Dortmund, he would definitely not have been able to handle this tactic. If it was still him at that time, he would not have been able to stand in this team at all.

But thanks to more than seven months of training, Zhou Yi insisted on jogging every morning to train his physical fitness.

This allowed his physical fitness to improve rapidly.

When he was in u17, he couldn't even finish a complete game. But now, although sometimes he would be substituted early in the game, it was not because of physical exhaustion, but because the coach wanted to protect him and not let him continue to be kicked on the field.

Another reason for Zhou Yi's improved physical fitness was that Zhou Yi's strength had increased.

In the past, Zhou Yi had to spend more energy to fight against the opponent in the game, or more stamina to avoid the opponent, which would inevitably lead to his physical strength being consumed quickly.

But now that Zhou Yi's strength had increased, his physical confrontation ability had also been strengthened. In the game, he no longer had to use extra energy to fight with his opponents.

The day before the game against Mainz, Zhou Yi was still doing strength training in the hotel gym.

Having been in Germany for more than seven months, he deeply felt the gap between himself and his dreams. He had no other way but to train harder.

※※※

In fact, in terms of attention, the u19 league final was not as high as the Junior German Cup final.

This can be seen from the fact that the Junior German Cup final was broadcast live on TV, while the u19 league final was not.

Although the attention was not as high as the German Cup final, the players on both sides still attached great importance to this game.

After all, this was related to the ownership of honor.

When shaking hands before the game, Zhou Yi sized up Schürrle. This player with a somewhat square face was tall and big, much taller than Götze and himself.

Zhou Yi noticed that Schürrle's eyes were basically fixed on Götze next to him. Even when shaking hands with himself, he was looking at Götze.

So Zhou Yi, who should have let go after shaking hands, held Schürrle's hand tightly and didn't let go.

Schürrle didn't care about the person in front of him at first. He habitually wanted to pull his hand out to shake hands with Mario Götze.

But he pulled it, but couldn't pull it out. But his body had already moved forward, so his body was pulled by Zhou Yi in a very awkward posture.

He turned his head and looked at Zhou Yi strangely.

"Hi, my name is Zhou Yi."

Zhou Yi greeted him.

Schürrle looked confused.

So Zhou Yi repeated: "My name is Zhou Yi."

Schürrle still looked confused, not understanding why this person wanted to introduce himself so solemnly, but he still nodded to show that he had heard.

Seeing that Schürrle had responded to him, Zhou Yi let go of Schürrle's hand. Schürrle turned around and shook Götze's hand, staring at his opponent with burning eyes.

And the Mainz players who came up behind him to shake hands with Zhou Yi thought that Zhou Yi would also introduce himself to him.

But this time Zhou Yi returned to normal. He shook hands with him and let go without saying anything...

※※※

After the game started, Borussia Dortmund's tactic was of course quick passing and cutting, with the trident as the core.

This was what they had been using recently, and they had also won the German Cup with this tactic, so there was no reason not to continue playing like this.

Mainz coach Thomas Tuchel, who was sitting on the sidelines, was not too worried that his team would not be able to withstand Borussia Dortmund's sharp attacking tactics.

He had carefully studied the three games between Borussia Dortmund and Freiburg, summed up a lot of experience and lessons from Streich's failure, and knew the weaknesses of Borussia Dortmund's tactics, and also knew what Mainz should do.

He chose to give up the midfield and let the team quickly retreat in defense, returning to the edge of the penalty area to form a copper wall and iron wall.

He was now waiting to see Borussia Dortmund's quick passing and fast running tactics crash into the wall carefully built by Mainz!