Chapter 1 The Arsenal Offensive

After the start of the second half, Arsenal, playing at home and needing a win, continued to attack Borussia Dortmund's goal.

Ten minutes into the half, sharp-eyed observers noticed a change in Dortmund's formation.

Shinji Kagawa dropped back more often, while Zhou Yi mostly stayed in the backfield… defending!

"Letting Zhou Yi participate in defense?" Marcel Reif wondered. "But we all know that Zhou Yi's defensive abilities are not outstanding…"

"It seems that Sven Bender's injury has had a significant impact on Borussia Dortmund. Even their core playmaker has been forced into defense…" The British commentator was gloating somewhat. Sven Bender's injury was a complete accident, but it unexpectedly led to a favorable outcome for Arsenal. Sven Bender's injury not only cost Dortmund a goal, but also completely restrained Dortmund's attacking playmaker, preventing them from threatening Arsenal's goal.

He Ping was also surprised that Zhou Yi was participating in the defense: "...In fact, instead of bringing on Kehl, they might as well have brought on Gundogan. Gundogan is a player who is balanced in attack and defense, capable of both. When Zhou Yi is on the field, he focuses on defense... Like now, letting Zhou Yi defend is a waste of talent, and it also makes Dortmund's attack less threatening…"

Almost everyone questioned Klopp's decision.

The live broadcast even gave a close-up of Klopp's face on the sidelines.

In the shot, Klopp was staring at the field with a blank expression.

No one knew what he was thinking.

※※※

Klopp wasn't thinking about anything. He was observing the game, very carefully and attentively.

Through observation, he realized that although Zhou Yi understood what he needed to do in his head, his body had not yet adapted to the change in role.

At least for the first ten minutes, Zhou Yi's performance in defense was not very good. He was running constantly, looking like he was trying hard and actively wanting to participate in the defense, but all he was doing was running. He wasn't contributing anything to the defense.

This was also the main reason why the commentators thought Klopp's adjustment was nonsense - Zhou Yi was not suited to defense, and everything he did on defense was meaningless.

But Klopp believed in Zhou Yi, and he also believed in his own judgment - the latter had been proven many times over.

He still remembered the look in Zhou Yi's eyes during halftime, as if a fire had been lit in his heart.

He believed that this young man would find the right path, and it might not take long…

※※※

Ten minutes into the second half, because Zhou Yi hadn't played any significant role in defense, Dortmund was still being pressed back by Arsenal.

And Zhou Yi had become Arsenal's main breakthrough point. They believed that based on Zhou Yi's performance, he was the weakest point in Dortmund's defense.

Everyone aimed their attacks at him.

In the fourteenth minute of the second half, the fifty-ninth minute of the match, Zhou Yi was powerless against Walcott's unreasonable burst of speed. Although he ran up to intercept, he was easily shaken off by his opponent. Zhou Yi could only watch helplessly, and didn't even have a chance to foul. The difference in speed between him and his opponent was too great. Walcott was famous for his speed, and speed had never been Zhou Yi's advantage.

However, after Walcott broke through, Kehl caught up and cleared the ball - when Walcott broke past Zhou Yi, he had pushed the ball a little too far, and the ball had moved slightly out of his control, allowing Kehl to come up and clear it.

Zhou Yi turned around and saw that Kehl had helped him out of trouble, and he quickly thanked his captain: "Thank you, Captain!"

Kehl waved his hand at him: "You're welcome, Zhou Yi. Don't think too much about it. If it doesn't work out, just leave the defense to me. I'm gradually getting a feel for it. You should focus on organizing the attack…"

Zhou Yi knew that Kehl was certainly well-intentioned, but when he had figured out his own advantages in defense in the locker room, his defense was no longer just about completing the tasks assigned by the coach.

Because he felt like a new world was opening its doors in front of him…

This was a new world worth entering.

Just thinking about it, Zhou Yi felt excited, rubbing his hands together, eager to go in and explore.

So even though some people might laugh at his embarrassment and incompetence in front of Walcott, it wouldn't affect Zhou Yi's belief.

Indeed, some people were laughing at Zhou Yi's performance against Walcott.

For example, the British commentator laughed after Zhou Yi was broken through by Walcott: "In the face of Walcott's speed, Zhou Yi looks like a scarecrow! He's just standing there in the field, motionless, hoping to scare away the birds. But that's destined to be wishful thinking!"

He compared Zhou Yi to a clumsy scarecrow.

Even Marcel Reif covered his face with his hands and groaned when Zhou Yi was broken through: "It's simply a disaster…"

※※※

Although many people thought his participation in defense was nonsense, Zhou Yi was still going his own way.

He kept looking for opportunities. Although he could roughly predict the opponent's passing routes, it didn't mean he could successfully intercept the ball - at least he couldn't just wait on the passing route. His opponents weren't stupid either. If they saw someone blocking the passing route, they would definitely change the route and target, which would make his own positioning meaningless.

So he couldn't just run to the opponent's passing route and wait for them to bump into him.

He had to maintain a delicate position, one that wouldn't alert the opponent but would also allow him to quickly reach the passing route to intercept the ball.

At the same time, if the opponent passed the ball too quickly, it would probably be too late even if he reached the passing route.

This required skill and luck. It wasn't always going to be successful.

Before this, Zhou Yi had been trying to get closer to the target passing route without attracting the opponent's attention, and he was also waiting for an opportunity.

※※※

In the sixty-first minute of the match, two minutes after Zhou Yi was "humiliated" by Walcott's speed, Walcott came back again.

This time, Kehl took the initiative to meet him - he didn't want Zhou Yi to be made a fool of by Walcott again.

At the same time, Gotze also retreated to assist in the defense.

Kehl's proactive challenge prevented Walcott from picking up speed, so he had to slow down.

After slowing down, Gotze also pressed up from behind.

Seeing that Walcott was about to be surrounded from both sides, Walcott had to consider passing the ball out, which made him a little annoyed. He had originally wanted to find Zhou Yi, repeat the same trick, break past him, and then disrupt Dortmund's defense.

As a result, Kehl reacted faster than he had expected.

Faced with the pressure from two players, Walcott vaguely saw a red and white figure in front of him. Based on his experience, he judged that it should be his teammate Van Persie. Although he didn't see a clear number or face, Walcott still decided to pass the ball over, and then use his speed to cut and run, shaking off the pursuers.

Walcott was right, that person was Van Persie. He had originally been on the wing, but after seeing Walcott's progress blocked on the wing, he moved towards the center, forming a diagonal line with Walcott, so that Walcott could see him and have a passing angle.

Walcott did pass the ball, passing it to him.

But the ball didn't ultimately reach Van Persie's feet, but was intercepted by a foot in the middle.

Zhou Yi's left foot stretched forward and blocked the rolling ball. The force of the ball hitting the inside of his foot did not dissipate, but instead caused the ball to bounce upward. When it fell again, he used the outside of his right foot to flick it to the right, and directly dribbled the ball away!

From interception to launch, it was done in one smooth motion, so suddenly that many people didn't react.

No one expected that the person who appeared in that position would be Zhou Yi!

After intercepting the ball, Zhou Yi didn't continue to dribble. His dribbling speed was definitely not as fast as Walcott's. Continuing to dribble at this time would only give Arsenal time to react.

So after Zhou Yi pushed the ball forward, he caught up with it and made a long pass, transferring the ball to the frontcourt. The ball landed at Shinji Kagawa's feet!

"A counterattack from Dortmund!" Marcel Reif perked up. After the second half started, Dortmund finally had an attack that could threaten Arsenal's goal!

After stopping the ball, Shinji Kagawa passed the ball to Gotze, who was cutting in on the wing.

Gotze then passed the ball into the center, where Lewandowski was following up!

He shot directly with a volley!

"Robert Lewandowski—!!"

In Marcel Reif's elongated roar, the Polish striker struck the ball squarely with the top of his foot.

The ball, like a bullet out of a cannon, broke through the fingers of Arsenal goalkeeper Szczesny and crashed into the net behind him!