Chapter 1 The Highest-Level Chinese Derby

In the early hours of April 3rd, Beijing time, and the evening of April 2nd, local time in Munich, the Champions League quarter-finals kicked off in full swing. Bayern Munich was the first to take the stage, hosting Juventus at their home stadium. At the same time, FC Porto was hosting Barcelona.

Although the Dortmund media had offered Juventus advice before the game, it didn't seem to have any effect.

Bayern Munich easily defeated Juventus 2-0 at their home stadium.

Just one minute into the game, Alaba scored the first goal for Bayern Munich. This goal completely disrupted Juventus's plans.

However, Bayern Munich did pay a price for this victory. In the sixteenth minute, Toni Kroos was injured and unable to continue the game, forcing an early substitution. As Bayern Munich's midfield core this season, Kroos's injury may affect Bayern Munich's performance in the league and Champions League in the coming days, which is a cause for concern.

On the other pitch, FC Porto lost 1-2 to Barcelona at home. They didn't cause too much trouble for Barcelona, and the two away goals greatly increased Barcelona's chances of advancing. In the second leg, back at Barcelona's home stadium, it would be almost impossible for FC Porto to turn the tables.

For Chinese fans, this day's games weren't particularly noteworthy. Apart from the existing fan bases of Barcelona, Juventus, and Bayern Munich, more people were waiting for tomorrow's game.

Tomorrow, Dortmund will travel to face Atlético Madrid!

The highest-level Chinese derby will be staged in the quarter-finals of the European Champions League!

As for the other match between Real Madrid and Galatasaray, not many people paid attention. It's likely that even many Real Madrid fans in China would choose to watch the live broadcast of Atlético Madrid vs. Dortmund, while keeping an eye on the score of Real Madrid's game through other channels, such as the internet.

Furthermore, China's CCTV chose to put the Dortmund vs. Atlético Madrid game on the free sports channel, while Real Madrid vs. Galatasaray was placed on the pay-per-view Fengyun Football channel. This arrangement shows which game is more popular in China.

With one day left before the game, many reports about the match have already appeared in the media.

Dortmund's entire team arrived in Madrid, players from both sides gave interviews, coaches from both sides attended the pre-match press conference, Dortmund conducted adaptive training...

All kinds of news reports built up the tense atmosphere of the game bit by bit.

Sun Pan said in an interview with reporters before the game: "I have already told Zhou Yi that I will not let Dortmund score a single goal in this game!"

Zhou Yi said with a smile: "Atlético Madrid is very strong, and it's an away game. To be realistic, I think it would be great if we could draw with them."

Sun Pan's arrogance was as usual, while Zhou Yi's low-key attitude surprised everyone. Chinese media analysts believed that Zhou Yi might be "accumulating character" (zan ren pin), actively showing weakness to make Atlético Madrid relax their vigilance, and then launch a sudden attack on Atlético Madrid in the game, catching them off guard.

Although foreign media didn't know the term "accumulating character," they also found Zhou Yi's low-key attitude a bit strange. Generally, when challenging an opponent, even if the strength is insufficient, people will say some nice things to boost their morale. Even if the real goal is a draw, they will say they will try their best to win. Why did Zhou Yi directly say that the goal was a draw?

Considering Zhou Yi's past performance, everyone felt that Dortmund's goal might not be a draw. They were just hoping to use such words and deeds to paralyze their opponents.

If Zhou Yi had time to pay attention to media reports before the game, he would definitely say that the media was overthinking it.

Striving for a draw in this game was not his goal, but the coaching staff's.

Now that they have reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League, every opponent here is difficult to deal with, and every game is full of difficulties. So, they must be careful and not take it lightly.

Moreover, with Atlético Madrid's strength, it wouldn't be easy for Dortmund to beat them away from home. To win, they would have to invest more in the attack, and more investment in the attack would lead to a reduction in defensive strength. Then, Atlético Madrid would launch a counterattack and they would be done for.

This isn't alarmist talk, but a reality. Simeone's Atlético Madrid relies on a solid defense, and their counterattacks are flourishing.

Klopp wouldn't take that risk.

Moreover, Atlético Madrid, playing at home, is the party eager to win the game, so Dortmund can focus on defense, wait for Atlético Madrid to press forward, and then counterattack. There's no need to press out at all.

Getting a draw away from home is completely acceptable.

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On the day of the game, Atlético Madrid's home stadium, the Calderón, was packed. For Atlético Madrid fans, it was very rare and precious for the team to reach the Champions League quarter-finals—the last time they reached the Champions League quarter-finals was sixteen years ago.

In Champions League history, Atlético Madrid has reached the quarter-finals a total of six times. The last time was in the distant 1996-1997 season. In that year, Atlético Madrid was in the same group as their current quarter-final opponent, Dortmund. They won four, drew one, and lost one in the group stage, scoring thirteen points. They topped the group with a goal difference advantage over Dortmund.

However, after advancing from the group stage, they were eliminated 3-4 by the then very strong Ajax in the quarter-finals.

After that, Atlético Madrid's performance fluctuated a lot. Not to mention the Champions League quarter-finals, it was good enough to be able to play in the Champions League. In the twenty-first century, they were even relegated.

The last time Atlético Madrid participated in the Champions League was in the 2009-2010 season. They qualified for the Champions League qualifiers with their fourth-place finish in La Liga the previous season. Through the qualifiers, they were able to participate in the Champions League group stage. They were drawn into a group with APOEL, Chelsea, and FC Porto.

As a result, Atlético Madrid didn't win a single game in the six group stage matches. They drew three and lost three, accumulating only three points, scoring three goals and conceding eight. They were ranked above APOEL only because they had an away goal in the match against APOEL, and they participated in the second half of the season's Europa League as the third-place team in the group.

However, no one expected Atlético Madrid to perform so poorly in the Champions League, but they benefited from their misfortune by playing in the Europa League.

Atlético Madrid, relegated from the Champions League, eliminated Galatasaray 3-2 on aggregate in the round of 32 of the Europa League. In the round of 16, they eliminated Sporting CP 2-2 with the advantage of two away goals and entered the quarter-finals. In the quarter-finals, they eliminated Valencia 2-2 with the same advantage of two away goals and advanced to the semi-finals.

In the first leg of the semi-finals, Atlético Madrid defeated Liverpool 1-0 at home. In the second leg, Liverpool won 1-0 in ninety minutes, and the aggregate score was the same, with the same number of away goals, so they could only go into extra time.

In extra time, Liverpool scored first, with Yossi Benayoun helping the team change the aggregate score to 2-1. If this score was maintained until the end, Atlético Madrid would be eliminated. But in the 102nd minute, Atlético Madrid's forward Diego Forlán scored a key goal for Atlético Madrid.

Although Atlético Madrid ultimately lost 1-2 to Liverpool away from home, Atlético Madrid had one more away goal than Liverpool thanks to Forlán's goal. So, they once again eliminated Liverpool with the advantage of away goals and reached the final...

In the Europa League final, Atlético Madrid and Fulham once again dragged the game into extra time. In extra time, it was Diego Forlán's goal again that ultimately helped Atlético Madrid defeat Fulham 2-1 and lift the Europa League trophy.

What was lost in the Champions League was made up for in the Europa League. Atlético Madrid's championship experience was truly legendary.

One year later, Atlético Madrid once again lifted the championship trophy in the Europa League. This time, a Chinese player participated—Sun Pan, as the team's starting goalkeeper, made great contributions to the team's ability to win the Europa League championship.

In this edition of the Europa League, Atlético Madrid achieved a twelve-game winning streak, sweeping across Europe.

These two Europa League titles have accumulated a lot of European experience for Atlético Madrid, so after returning to the Champions League two years later this season, they were able to reach the quarter-finals in one breath.

This is a manifestation of strength, and it is also the reason why Klopp did not dare to take it lightly when facing Atlético Madrid away from home. Zhou Yi's remarks were completely free of any conspiracy theories. It was purely respect and attention for Atlético Madrid.