Chapter 1 Benitez Adjusts Quickly

Benitez did indeed make adjustments quickly.

He replaced Stankovic with defender Santon, taking off a midfielder and bringing on a defender, intending to strengthen the defense.

He wanted to hold onto the 4-2 lead.

However, this was the exact opposite of what the Inter Milan players were thinking.

After conceding two goals in quick succession, the Inter Milan players felt a huge surge of anger, because they felt humiliated.

An ant they were about to crush had bitten their finger hard. Though it wouldn't be fatal, it infuriated them.

At this moment, of course, they wanted to teach Dortmund a harsh lesson with goals, to show them who was boss.

But at this time, Benitez replaced a midfielder with a defender!

This went completely against the players' wishes, tantamount to pouring cold water on their heads.

Which player could accept that?

Stankovic had a gloomy face when he was substituted.

After leaving the field, he didn't exchange any words with Benitez, and went straight into the player tunnel.

This scene looked as if Inter Milan were losing 2-4.

Although the players couldn't control the substitutions, they could control their performance on the field.

The coach wants to defend?

Then we'll attack!

At this time, of course, attacking is more effective!

So when the game resumed, Inter Milan had no intention of defending at all. They continued to bombard Dortmund's goal.

※※※

Inter Milan wanted to score, and Dortmund also hoped they would press forward and attack, so the two sides simply engaged in a head-to-head battle.

For a time, both sides had chances, but unfortunately neither of them seized them.

But this was not the situation Benitez wanted.

In the seventy-fifth minute, after the two sides had traded blows for almost fifteen minutes, he made another substitution.

This time he replaced forward Biabiany with center-back Cordoba.

He was still using a defender to replace an attacking player. His intention was obvious: he wanted to strengthen the defense and didn't want the team to continue rushing forward so recklessly.

He didn't care about face; he cared more about winning or losing.

Now Inter Milan was still leading by two goals, which was actually a very favorable situation. But if they continued to play like this, he worried they would concede sooner or later.

The players were too aggressive, as if they had been angered by Dortmund's two goals.

Benitez felt this was completely unnecessary.

A mature team should slow down the pace at this time, firmly control the situation, wear down the opponent's spirit, and then suddenly launch a sneak attack when they were almost exhausted, and the game would be over.

But what were Inter Milan doing on the field? They were trading blows with Dortmund, as if they were in a fit of pique.

Although they hadn't conceded yet, Benitez always had a feeling of worry in his heart.

Unfortunately, Cordoba's appearance didn't change the situation either.

The Inter Milan players were still launching attacks on Dortmund's goal, constantly bombarding Dortmund's penalty area. In fact, they did have several chances to score…

So the Inter Milan players felt they could punish Dortmund with goals, and they had a point.

But the Inter Milan players didn't seem to consider that while they had a good chance of scoring, didn't Dortmund also have a chance to score?

In these fifteen minutes of back-and-forth, the opportunities were actually about equal.

※※※

When the game entered the final ten minutes, the score was still 4-2, with Inter Milan leading at home.

The two sides were still two goals apart, but with only ten minutes left in the game, honestly, no one thought Dortmund could do anything to Inter Milan anymore.

The situation now was different from when they had just pulled back two goals. At that time, there were still thirty minutes left, enough time for them to score again.

But now there were only ten minutes left, and time was running out.

Even if Dortmund could score another goal, it would be 3-4, still a loss.

"In fact, Dortmund's performance in the second half has been very brave… Even if they lose this game in the end, I don't think it matters to Dortmund. What's more important is what the players learn from this game…" He Ping said, starting to prepare the audience in advance so they could accept a defeat with a relatively calm attitude.

"In this game, Dortmund was mainly stunned by the first fifteen minutes of the first half, otherwise they wouldn't have lost so badly. But it's okay, after they summarize their experiences and lessons, we can still look forward to the next round…" Marcel Reif also felt that Dortmund's loss was not due to a lack of effort.

In that situation in the first half, anyone would have collapsed.

It was already remarkable that Dortmund could pull back two goals in the second half.

※※※

Klopp sat on the sidelines, biting his fingernails.

He was considering whether to substitute Zhou Yi.

He hadn't substituted him in the previous seventy minutes or so because he still had hopes and expectations.

But now there were only ten minutes left in the game, and no amount of hope and expectation could fit into these ten minutes.

Even if Dortmund could score another goal, the score would be 3-4, still a loss.

So it would be better to substitute Zhou Yi and let him get a good rest.

But if he substituted Zhou Yi at this time, it would be tantamount to sending a signal to the team—we admit defeat in advance, don't bother trying anymore.

Yes, substituting Zhou Yi in advance was equivalent to surrendering in advance.

The thought of this made Klopp feel uncomfortable.

They had been beaten so badly in the first half, lost so aggrievedly, and finally had a bit of a turnaround in the second half, their blood was boiling, but in the end they still had to admit defeat?

Klopp was unwilling.

Buvac next to him asked him: "Do you want to make a substitution, Jurgen?"

Klopp shook his head, having made a decision in his heart.

"No substitution."

※※※

Zhou Yi on the field didn't know how the coach on the sidelines was deciding whether to substitute him. He didn't have time to consider being substituted. There were only ten minutes left in the game, and the team was still two goals behind.

He had to find a way to score.

Whether he scored himself, or he assisted others to score.

At the same time, he was also paying close attention to the changes in Inter Milan.

With only ten minutes left in the game, Inter Milan seemed to have even less intention of focusing on defense. They only wanted to score goals.

Perhaps they felt that even if they let Dortmund score a goal, they could still win, so they weren't worried about conceding. Their focus was all on attack, hoping to completely crush Dortmund with more goals.

For Zhou Yi, he hoped Inter Milan would continue to think that way.

Because that meant he would have more space to orchestrate attacks.

But when Inter Milan had possession, he had to wait for the opportunity.

However, with so little time left, Zhou Yi didn't have the patience to wait.

At this time, if he could directly steal the ball, wouldn't that be the best counter-attack opportunity?

Zhou Yi looked around. Relying on his teammates to help? That was a bit too troublesome…

His teammates' actions in defense were not something he could decide.

If he could steal the ball himself…

The thought popped into Zhou Yi's head.

Actually, Zhou Yi had always felt that he was not a person who was good at defense, so he could run and block very hard in defense, but the actual effect was very limited.

He also never thought that he should be very good at defense, because there was a specialization of skills. What he was best at was organizing attacks, and defense… just not too bad would be enough.

But now, Zhou Yi hoped that his defense could be better, at least enough to allow him to directly steal the ball from his opponent's feet and then launch a counter-attack…

Generally speaking, if he wanted to launch a counter-attack, he first had to wait for his teammates to steal the ball, and then pass the ball to him, and then he would pass the ball out. This would involve many steps, and it might not be successful.

If he could steal the ball directly, he could save several steps and increase the success rate of the counter-attack.

So how to steal the ball?

Although his body had been tempered through several seasons, he still couldn't be considered a very outstanding power player. So it was impossible for him to fight against his opponents like those defensive players.

But defense shouldn't only count as defense when there is physical contact, right?

Zhou Yi looked around, imprinting all the surrounding situations in his mind. Now Inter Milan was in possession. Zhou Yi felt the overhead view in his mind, and suddenly thought… if he was an Inter Milan player, Sneijder, and he was now in possession, how would he organize the attack?

Obviously, Dortmund's defense in the middle was very tight, so basically they would transfer the ball to the wing. But if they also encountered Dortmund's tight defense on the wing, they would still have to pass the ball back to the middle and then transfer it to the other wing…

As Zhou Yi thought this, he saw Sneijder indeed pass the ball to Zanetti on the wing.

And a Dortmund player immediately went up to block him.

Sneijder then ran towards Zanetti to receive the ball, but a Dortmund player was also sticking close to him.

If Zanetti passed the ball to Sneijder, it was possible that it would be intercepted by a Dortmund player.

So what would he do at this time if he were him?

Zhou Yi watched this scene, asking himself in his mind.

He certainly wouldn't pass the ball to Sneijder, but would pass it to a space, to a teammate in a space…

He turned his head to look, and sure enough, he saw an Inter Milan player in the space in the inside channel, Eto'o pulling back!

However, Zanetti didn't immediately pass the ball out. He seemed to be hesitating, wondering if he still wanted to pass the ball to Sneijder, after all, Sneijder was the team's attacking core.

Zhou Yi suddenly realized that this was his opportunity.

If Zanetti eventually passed the ball to Eto'o… then if he appeared on his passing route, wouldn't he be able to intercept the ball directly?

Thinking of this, Zhou Yi suddenly accelerated and ran towards the space between Zanetti and Eto'o.

Sure enough, after Zanetti found it difficult to pass the ball to Sneijder, he saw Eto'o ten meters away, so he turned and pushed the ball over.

But the ball didn't land at Eto'o's feet, but was blocked by a foot that suddenly stretched out!

Then Zhou Yi appeared in Zanetti's field of vision, he had rushed out diagonally!

"It's Zhou Yi! Beautiful interception!"

Before Eto'o could react, Zhou Yi turned and dribbled the ball forward, Dortmund switched from defense to offense!

At this time, the Inter Milan players woke up as if from a dream and turned to face Zhou Yi.

Sneijder was the first. He turned and lunged at Zhou Yi, because his position was the best. As long as he cut across, he could block half of Zhou Yi's forward path.

Eto'o was the second. He was originally pulling back to receive the ball, so he didn't need to turn around. He could immediately start accelerating and chase after Zhou Yi. It was most convenient for him to defend Zhou Yi.

One in front and one behind, two Inter Milan players rushed towards Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi didn't give them a chance to sandwich him. He only took one step and then swung his foot to kick the ball!

Long pass!

The ball was kicked up by him and flew diagonally to the right side of the field.

Sneijder and Eto'o both missed…

Lewandowski received the ball on the far side!

"Dortmund's counter-attack, Zhou Yi's accurate long pass has found Lewandowski! Beautiful transfer!"

After receiving the ball, Lewandowski didn't directly dribble towards Inter Milan's penalty area, but waited a moment.

With this wait, Samuel and Lucio both rushed up.

Lewandowski then passed the ball out, passing it horizontally towards the center, just brushing past Lucio, who had run over to defend him. Lucio didn't even have time to intercept the ball. He could only turn his head and follow the ball, seeing Dortmund's number forty-five, Mark Wagner, receive the ball!

And there were no Inter Milan defenders in front of him, just a large expanse of open space!