Chapter 1 After the Game Against Fürth

After the game against Fürth, Borussia Dortmund would face Mainz six days later.

Following that would be the first leg of the Champions League semi-final.

Borussia Dortmund's opponent in the semi-final was Real Madrid, who had eliminated Galatasaray in the quarter-finals.

The Dortmund media were very happy to be facing this opponent.

Because the two teams had already been drawn into the same group in the group stage. Borussia Dortmund had achieved a good record of double-killing Real Madrid in the group stage—winning both home and away games.

Facing Real Madrid again, it could be said that Borussia Dortmund should have a psychological advantage.

Borussia Dortmund's title rival in the league, Bayern Munich, would face Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals.

This season's Champions League top four were the "German Super Twins" and the "Spanish Super Twins."

Such an even matchup was rare.

Who knew if the rivals in their respective leagues could meet in the final and turn the Champions League final into a domestic battle?

※※※

In the match against Mainz, Klopp continued his rotation, and many of the players who had played in the previous match against Fürth did not appear in the starting lineup. Instead, players who had been substitutes in the previous game, or who had not even made the squad, were given a chance.

Mark Wagner replaced Lewandowski in the starting lineup.

Götze, who had spent ninety minutes on the bench in the previous game, also started. From this, it could be seen that not playing in the last game was not Klopp deliberately punishing him.

Zhou Yi also started; he was not on the rotation list.

After several years of specialized training, Zhou Yi's physical fitness was no longer a problem.

But today's game was not the same as Borussia Dortmund's 6-1 victory over Fürth in the previous game.

Facing Tuchel's team, Borussia Dortmund did not play easily.

Just one minute into the game, Reus scored the opening goal for the team, and many people expected Borussia Dortmund to repeat the same dominant victory as they had against Fürth.

But the subsequent development of the game was not smooth.

The reason for this was related to the performance of the arrowhead, Mark.

Mark was very active and positive today, but somewhat… too active and positive. He seemed a little anxious.

When the ball came to his feet, he always couldn't wait to try a shot, as if he was very concerned about whether he could score.

Marcel Reif also saw Mark's unusual performance: "Mark's desire to shoot today is very strong. Perhaps the goalpost in the last game stimulated him?"

Because Mark was always in a hurry to shoot, Borussia Dortmund's attack was not very smooth, because once the ball reached Mark's feet, it basically meant the end of the attack.

Even when Zhou Yi raised his hand to ask for the ball next to him, Mark still insisted on taking a shot himself.

In addition, Mainz, playing away from home, also performed very stubbornly, which made it even more difficult for Borussia Dortmund to expand their lead.

In the first half, Hummels and Reus both received yellow cards.

Borussia Dortmund stepped up their attack in the second half, but Mark's form as the arrowhead remained poor.

Klopp had no choice but to replace Mark in the sixty-seventh minute, bringing Lewandowski on.

Mark seemed a little dissatisfied with being substituted early. He pointed at himself and repeatedly asked off the field in disbelief, "Me? Is it me?"

After receiving a positive answer, he waved his arms in frustration and shuffled off the field.

Zhou Yi frowned when he saw this scene.

Mark was a little unusual today. He rarely showed such intense emotions in public before…

After coming off the field, Mark simply shook hands with Klopp and sat in his seat, draped a towel over his shoulders, didn't greet anyone, and stared at the field in a daze.

※※※

After Lewandowski came on, Borussia Dortmund's attack clearly improved. At least they were able to pass the ball around more in the vicinity of the penalty area.

In fact, in terms of ability, Lewandowski was indeed better than Mark, and more well-rounded. But before his serious injury, Mark was in such good form, and his entire career was on the rise. At that time, he had won a lot of favor throughout Europe, which Lewandowski simply couldn't shake.

But the most feared injury for professional players still found Mark. If he hadn't been injured, then Lewandowski might not have had the chance to show his full abilities at all.

Some players are successful not only because of their own excellent strength, but also because of the favor of Lady Luck.

Mark's injury gave Lewandowski the opportunity to show himself, and Lewandowski lived up to expectations, seizing this opportunity and becoming Borussia Dortmund's top scorer during Mark's year-long injury.

Mark's performance after recovering from his injury was actually still okay. If he could continue like this, he would definitely be able to compete directly with Lewandowski and put tremendous pressure on Lewandowski.

If Lewandowski was a representative of being favored by Lady Luck at a critical moment, then Mark was a representative of owing luck.

Mark, who had just started to gain momentum, was injured in a Champions League match, and the injury lasted for another month.

When he came back again, he encountered the Götze transfer incident, which destabilized the team's morale and affected him as well.

Sometimes, one can't help but sigh at the twists of fate…

※※※

Finally, in the eighty-fourth minute, Lewandowski received a cross from Kuba on the wing and headed the ball into the net, scoring a goal for Borussia Dortmund that sealed the victory.

When he scored, the entire stadium erupted in deafening cheers.

Before, they had only been leading by one goal, which was really worrying for Borussia Dortmund fans.

Now it was good, Lewandowski helped the team secure the victory.

The Borussia Dortmund players on the bench all jumped up from their seats to celebrate the goal, and Mark was among them.

He high-fived and hugged his teammates to celebrate the goal, completely different from his dejected performance when he came off the field just now.

The television broadcast even gave him a special shot. If Mark was sitting on the bench at this time, indifferent to Lewandowski's goal, then the media would have something to hype up after the game.

But unfortunately, Mark did not show the emotions that the media hoped to see.

You know, when Mark was substituted off the field, his series of reactions really made many people think that he was unwilling to be substituted early because of his competition with Lewandowski.

Many media outlets had already drafted articles about the discord between Mark and Lewandowski…

※※※

Borussia Dortmund relied on goals from Reus and Lewandowski to narrowly defeat Mainz 2-0 at home.

At the same time, in another stadium, Bayern Munich's away game against Hannover 96 also ended. Although Bayern Munich was playing away, they still ushered in a big victory—6-1! Sweeping the home team Hannover 96, they really didn't leave any face.

In the last game, Borussia Dortmund won 6-1, and Bayern Munich's big win in this game was also 6-1! The two teams were really competing fiercely…

※※※

Although they won the game, Mark was criticized by the media.

Some media even believed that Mark's desire to compete with Lewandowski was too wishful thinking. The continuous injuries had already made Mark unqualified to compete with Lewandowski. They were no longer players of the same level.

These words were very mean, and Zhou Yi was very unhappy after reading them.

Mark's performance in the last game was indeed not very good, but who doesn't have ups and downs in their form?

Zhou Yi decided to talk to Mark, to enlighten him and tell him not to care too much about the competition with Lewandowski. After all, he had just recovered from his injury and needed time to regain his feeling and rhythm for the game.

But when he found Mark and chatted with him privately, Mark's reaction was different from what he had expected.

"You think I want to compete with Robert for the starting position, Zhou Yi?"

"Huh?" Zhou Yi didn't expect Mark to ask himself this question. He didn't know how to answer.

Seeing Zhou Yi's confused face, Mark smiled: "Robert is doing very well. How could I possibly compete with him now? I know very well what my position is. For now, I'll just be a substitute."

The more Zhou Yi listened, the more confused he became: "If you understand everything, why in the game against Mainz…"

Mark knew why Zhou Yi was looking for him, but when he mentioned this topic, his expression changed, and his smile disappeared.

"Are you okay, Mark?" Zhou Yi also noticed his good friend's abnormality.

"I'm fine, Zhou Yi. Actually… my performance in that game was indeed a bit bad and impatient. I also saw the criticism of me in the media, and I think they're right… But at the time, I just couldn't control my emotions. I wanted to prove to Mario that we Borussia Dortmund are no worse than Bayern Munich. I wanted to use my performance to help the team win, I wanted to make… Mario regret his decision…"

Mark murmured.

Zhou Yi finally understood what the problem was…

After the news of Götze's transfer spread within the team, Mark didn't have any special reaction. Grosskreutz had broken with Götze, but Mark was so calm that he didn't attract any attention.

Now Zhou Yi understood what was strange about it.

With Mark's personality, he shouldn't have been calm.

Now it seemed that Mark was not calm, but he had hidden the storm in his heart.

Thinking about it carefully, since the Götze incident, Mark seemed to have been working harder in training.

He also had a fire in his heart…

Zhou Yi patted Mark on the shoulder: "Don't think too much, Mark. Everyone has their own ambitions, don't force it. Let's just do our own thing."

Mark nodded: "Later I also figured it out. I guess no matter what I do, no matter how Borussia Dortmund is, Mario won't regret this transfer decision. After all, he likes Bayern Munich so much…"

Speaking of this, Mark smiled: "He and I are completely different."

Then he looked at Zhou Yi very seriously and said: "Actually, I can accept him leaving after the season ends. If he wants to go anywhere, I'm afraid no one will complain. But at this time, his approach is really affecting the team too much… Zhou Yi, if you want to leave in the future, don't learn from Mario."

Zhou Yi was taken aback and quickly waved his hand: "I haven't thought about leaving yet…"

"You are also completely different from me." Mark shook his head. "Even if I have to be a substitute in Borussia Dortmund for the rest of my life, I am willing. But I can feel that you will not stay in Borussia Dortmund forever. That's okay, you should go to a bigger stage."

Faced with such an open-minded Mark, Zhou Yi was silent, not knowing what to say.

He really hadn't thought about staying in Borussia Dortmund for the rest of his life, even if he was always a key player.

The world was so big that he didn't want to grow old in one place.

But facing Mark, he always felt that admitting his little thoughts would make him feel guilty.