Chapter 15 The First Half Championship Two Rounds in Advance

The Bundesliga has a winter break around Christmas and New Year's, lasting about twenty days to a month.

Because the Bundesliga has fewer participating teams compared to the Premier League, with twenty teams in the Premier League and only eighteen in the Bundesliga, the league has four fewer rounds.

In addition, Germany only has one domestic cup competition, unlike the Premier League with two. As a result, teams play fewer matches in the Bundesliga, and the schedule isn't as packed, naturally allowing time for a "mid-season break."

The first-half champion before the winter break holds special significance for the Bundesliga.

Statistics show that in the previous forty-seven Bundesliga seasons, thirty-one first-half champions ultimately became Bundesliga champions.

This probability is why everyone values the first-half champion so much.

When Hoffenheim secured the first-half championship, it caused quite a stir, and everyone thought winning the league title wasn't just a dream. If Ibisevic hadn't been injured during a winter break friendly, ending his season prematurely, Bayern Munich might not have actually won the league title in the end.

Now, if Dortmund can win the first-half championship, their chances of winning the league title are definitely higher than Hoffenheim's.

After all, they have a bigger lead in points...

The Bundesliga's fifteenth-round match, with Dortmund playing away against Nuremberg, became a highly anticipated game.

With three games remaining before the winter break, Dortmund led Mainz by seven points. If Dortmund wins this next game, they will secure the Bundesliga first-half championship two rounds early.

They will also set a record as the earliest team to win the first-half championship in Bundesliga history. No team has ever secured the winter break first-half championship two rounds in advance.

League match, fifteenth round, Dortmund challenges Nuremberg away.

Two days before the match, it started snowing in most parts of Germany. On the day of the match, Nuremberg was hit by heavy snowfall, leading some to believe the game would be postponed.

However, the snow removal work at Nuremberg's home stadium was quite effective, and the green grass could already be faintly seen during the players' warm-up.

But when both teams returned to the field to prepare for the match, the grass was once again covered in white snow.

As a result, the match ball had to be changed to an orange-red soccer ball.

Zhou Yi was no stranger to snow battles. Playing soccer in Germany meant always encountering some snowy matches, as it basically snows all winter throughout the country.

Furthermore, Zhou Yi had experienced many matches against Nuremberg in the virtual game, and these matches were all played in the snow.

The heavy snowfall didn't bring any surprises for Zhou Yi.

There were some issues, but nothing major.

Playing away was also a bit of a hassle, but still not a major problem.

In the first half, Hummels scored from a corner kick, giving Dortmund the lead.

In the second half, before being substituted, Mark scored a goal to seal the victory for the team.

In the end, Dortmund took the victory away from home.

"The match is over! Dortmund has won the first half championship with two rounds to spare!" The commentator, Marcel Reif, shouted excitedly. "Moreover, they have set a series of records—the first record is winning all eight away games in a row at the start of the season! They have set a new consecutive away game winning record at the start of a season in the last forty-seven years of the Bundesliga! In addition, Dortmund has also become the first team to win thirteen games in the first fifteen rounds of the Bundesliga. At the same time, because Mainz lost 1:2 to Frankfurt away, Dortmund has also become the first team in Bundesliga history to lead the second-place team by as much as ten points in the fifteenth round..."

Amidst the commentator's excited shouts, Dortmund's players reveled in the snow, celebrating their victory.

"It's truly surprising. Last season, this team was still in the process of climbing from the bottom, and just a year later, they have become the first-half champions with a huge lead... Before the season, some media outlets believed that Dortmund, having let go of Shaheen, would face difficulties. Now, we can see how wrong those media outlets were!"

※※※

After celebrating their victory on the field, Dortmund's players returned to the locker room to continue celebrating their first-half championship.

Their outstanding performance in the first half of the season made any celebration well-deserved.

They secured the league's first-half championship two rounds early, and qualified for the Champions League knockout stage as the top of their group with two rounds to spare!

As the team's greatest contributor to these achievements, Zhou Yi was naturally welcomed and loved by his teammates.

During such a joyous occasion, Zhou Yi, who was quite popular in the team, certainly wouldn't be forgotten.

Grosskreutz was the first to ask Zhou Yi to perform a song, a request that was quickly met with enthusiastic responses from everyone.

Zhou Yi didn't hesitate or decline, but instead generously walked to the center of the locker room: "I'll sing a song for everyone!"

"Alright!"

"I'll sing a Chinese song in multiple languages." Zhou Yi cleared his throat. "It's called 'Our Village People!'"

Hearing Zhou Yi say that he was going to sing a Chinese song in multiple languages, everyone's appetites were piqued.

They were already very interested in Chinese songs, but what would it be like to sing one in multiple languages?

The locker room suddenly quieted down, and everyone stared at Zhou Yi, watching his performance.

Zhou Yi wasn't intimidated by the scrutiny. His expressions and movements were spot-on. He raised his hand, opened his mouth, and sang: "how_are_you? oh_fine_thank_you!"

Everyone realized—it was English.

Although he was singing English lyrics, the melody sounded strange to everyone. Every ending note seemed to curve upward...

"And_you? Baby_i'm_fine_too!" After singing this line, Zhou Yi suddenly switched languages: "Sawasdee khrap, a-ka-kong-ka-kong-ka! Sawasdee khrap kong-bplai aa, Sawasdee khrap kong-bplai aa!"

Some players who had traveled to Thailand frowned and recognized that this was... Thai!

But just as they recognized it as Thai, Zhou Yi changed again.

This time it was...

"Arigato gozaimasu wa iwai iwai masuta! Si yi ma sai si yi ma sai iku iku yamete!"

"Pfft!" Kagawa Shinji, who had been listening intently from the side, spat out a mouthful of water, then stared wide-eyed at Zhou Yi—Zhou-san was actually singing in Japanese!

"Annyeonghaseyo, saranghaeyo!" Korean was now online. "Oppa oppa oppa oppa—oppa oppa oppa sseumnida! Arigato gozaimasu wa iwai iwai masuta! Si yi ma sai si yi ma sai iku iku yamete! Annyeonghaseyo, saranghaeyo! Oppa oppa oppa oppa—oppa oppa oppa sseumnida! Sseumnida—!"

After finishing the song, Zhou Yi even bowed.

But there was no applause, no cheers. Looking at everyone's expressions, they were all dumbfounded—obviously still hadn't come back to their senses.

It wasn't until a few seconds later that a burst of whistles suddenly rang out in the locker room.

"Zhou Yi, my God, is that really a Chinese song?"

"This is the first time I've heard a Chinese song, and I didn't expect it to be so good!"

"Hey, Zhou Yi, what does this song mean?"

Zhou Yi replied with a smile, "This song praises the mountains, rivers, and people of my hometown, telling the story of how beautiful the scenery and the people are."

"Oh, that's great! I'm completely immersed in the song, as if I can see the beautiful scenery..."

"It's so beautiful, it reminds me of my hometown..."

A group of people seemed to have really appreciated Zhou Yi's song, except for Kagawa Shinji who had a strange expression on his face.

After Zhou Yi came down, Kagawa Shinji couldn't help but come up and ask him, "I didn't expect you to know Japanese, Zhou-san."

Zhou Yi smiled: "I know a little, I know a little bit."

"It's just that your accent is a bit strange... Who did you learn Japanese from?"

"Uh..." Zhou Yi hesitated for a moment, then leaned his head to Kagawa Shinji's ear and said in a low voice, "Ichinose Ameri."

Hearing this name, Kagawa Shinji was stunned for a moment. It sounded familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had heard it before. But he shouldn't know this person...

※※※

With the first-half championship in hand, the team returned to Dortmund, and Klopp gave the team a day off.

Everyone could have a good rest and relax.

When the team resumed training, Kagawa Shinji pushed open the door to the locker room and saw Zhou Yi at a glance.

The people in the locker room were busy. Seeing someone push the door open, they looked up and saw it was Kagawa Shinji. Some greeted him, and Kagawa Shinji politely responded, then walked to his own spot and started changing clothes.

While changing clothes, he looked around and found that everyone was busy with their own things and wasn't looking around, so no one would notice him.

Realizing this, Kagawa Shinji quietly moved next to Zhou Yi, then whispered to Zhou Yi: "Hi, Zhou-san."

"Ah, Kagawa, hello."

Kagawa Shinji gave Zhou Yi a thumbs up: "Good eye, Ichinose Ameri's level is not bad."

"Right? Her Japanese..."

"No, I'm talking about her legs."

Zhou Yi and Kagawa Shinji looked at each other, then laughed in tacit agreement.

Seeing Zhou Yi and Kagawa Shinji suddenly burst into wretched laughter, Mark asked curiously, "What are you guys talking about?"

Disturbed, Zhou Yi and Kagawa Shinji's expressions instantly returned to normal. Zhou Yi turned to him and said, "When adults are talking, children shouldn't interrupt!"

"Who are you calling a child!" Mark protested.

"Hey, you're still not convinced that I'm calling you a child." Zhou Yi scoffed. "Let me ask you, do you know Teresa Teng, Leslie Cheung, Ai Iijima?"

Mark looked blank: "Who are they?"

"What about Sora Aoi, Maria Ozawa, Yui Hatano, Misa Kudou, Rui Saotome, Riona Minami, Marina Shiraishi, Azami Ogawa, Tina Yuzuki, Yuna Hayashi, Asuka Kirara, Ai Uehara, Ayaka Fujikita, Tomomi Morisaki, Iori Furukawa, Sarah Moon, Yuria Satomi, Risa Murakami, Mizuki Nagasawa, Miyuki Yokoyama, Tia, Jessica Kizaki, Kotone Amemiya, Takako Kitahara, Julia Kyoka, Ai Aso, Mizuna Rei, Riko Honda, Yui Akano, Yuuki Natsume, Azusa Nagasawa, Anri Okita, Rara Anzai, Sho Nishino, Hitomi Fujiwara, Akira Eba, Miho Sakaguchi… what about these people?"

By the time Zhou Yi had recited such a long list of names, Mark's brain was about to crash: "Who… are they?"

But Kagawa Shinji next to him asked excitedly, "Zhou-san, do you know all of these people?"

Zhou Yi turned to look at Kagawa Shinji, who was full of anticipation, and said with a righteous face: "I don't know any of these people!"