The media had mixed opinions on Klopp's decision. Supporters believed it was a smart move, a "heroic sacrifice," and that choosing to lose against Bayern Munich required courage and the ability to withstand public pressure.

Of course, there were also many dissenting voices, arguing that Klopp's choice was surrenderist. Losing the game against Bayern Munich, their direct competitor in the domestic league this season, would severely damage the team's morale and leave an indelible psychological scar on the players.

Furthermore, Klopp's gamble might not pay off. If they ended up losing both the league and the Champions League, the current decision to give up on the German Cup would be seen as a joke.

In response, no one from the entire Dortmund team came out to express their opinions, while Klopp denied that this was a deliberate attempt to abandon the German Cup. His statement at the post-match press conference was his answer to the matter: "Rotation is a strategy we have been adhering to since the beginning of the season. Since it's rotation, some players will definitely have to sit on the bench, and losing some games is an objective side effect of rotation. We have been sticking to rotation since the beginning of the season, and I don't understand why people are still surprised and find it incomprehensible..."

Of course, Klopp's statement was labeled by the media as "lying through his teeth," and Zhou Yi's post-match interview was also considered a brazen lie, told without batting an eye.

These two were a perfect match.

Meanwhile, in the "Excluding Old Guo" group chat, Zhou Yi told the truth to the onlookers: "...Klopp came to me before the game and told me that I would be a substitute in this match, and it was hard to say whether I would play. I know what Old Klopp means, which is to give up on the German Cup. I have no objection, anyway, I already won the German Cup last season, and Old Klopp has won two German Cups during his tenure, it's not a very important title. Giving up on the German Cup can also reduce the number of games the team has to play, giving us more room to maneuver when we need to sprint, so I agreed."

"...Of course, this is a gamble, but everything has risks. I think giving up on the German Cup is better than giving up on the league or the Champions League, right? What the media says is their business, anyway, I don't think this decision was wrong. And the morale of the team hasn't been affected. It's not like losing is always unacceptable, it depends on what kind of loss it is. I can accept this kind of loss, and everyone else can accept it too. If you ask me, there's only one regret: if I were Klopp, I would have chosen to give up on the German Cup game before the winter break, losing to Hannover, which would have been better in terms of public opinion impact than losing to Bayern Munich. Because everyone takes every game between us and Bayern Munich very seriously..."

***

After "giving up" on the German Cup, Dortmund welcomed their twenty-fourth-round opponent in the league, Hannover 96.

Dortmund played this game at home, and Zhou Yi started, helping the team defeat Hannover 96 3:1.

Bayern Munich, on the other hand, narrowly defeated Hoffenheim 1:0 away.

The two teams continued to chase each other, with neither falling behind.

The league is a long marathon, which is a very severe test for both teams, both physically and mentally.

Dortmund's tenacious approach may put tremendous pressure on Bayern Munich. But conversely, Bayern Munich's stable performance will also constantly accumulate feelings of despair in the minds of Dortmund players.

It all depends on who has the greater psychological endurance and collapses later than their opponent.

After this league game, Dortmund will welcome Shakhtar Donetsk at home. Although they have two away goals in hand, because of the lesson learned in the first leg, Dortmund dare not underestimate their opponent again. Who knows what tricks Shakhtar Donetsk can pull off away from home?

For this game, Dortmund sent out their strongest lineup without any rotation.

Zhou Yi continued to start.

From the first minute of the game, Dortmund firmly controlled the rhythm under their feet.

In the thirtieth minute, Zhou Yi's sudden long shot outside the penalty area earned Dortmund a corner kick.

Gotze's corner kick assisted center-back Felipe Santana to score with a header, giving Dortmund a 1:0 lead!

Seven minutes later, in the thirty-seventh minute, Lewandowski assisted Gotze, who scored, extending the score to 2:0. On aggregate, Dortmund were now leading Shakhtar Donetsk 4:2. If the Ukrainian team wanted to advance, they would first have to score two goals away from home to tie the aggregate score.

But judging from this game, it would be difficult for Shakhtar Donetsk to do so. Away from their familiar environment, they were a completely different team from the first leg.

In the second half, the two sides changed sides and fought again. In the fifty-ninth minute, Zhou Yi provided another assist, helping Reus score, 3:0, 5:2 on aggregate!

Marcel Reif announced that the game had lost its suspense.

A huge cheer rang out at the Westfalenstadion, and Dortmund's advancement to the quarter-finals was a foregone conclusion.

Subsequently, Klopp began to make substitutions, replacing players who had been playing continuously to allow them to get adequate rest.

However, Zhou Yi remained on the field, using his passing to help the team control the rhythm and contain Shakhtar Donetsk's counterattacks, not allowing Shakhtar Donetsk any chance to turn the game around.

This was a precautionary measure.

Finally, when the referee of this game, Damir Skomina, blew the whistle to end the game, the Dortmund players rushed onto the field to celebrate their victory. They eliminated Shakhtar Donetsk with an aggregate score of 5:2.

Reaching the Champions League quarter-finals for the third consecutive season.

***

A day later, the second leg of the contest between Sun Pan and He Ying began. Paris Saint-Germain, who lost 1:2 to Atletico Madrid away from home, only needed to score one more goal after returning to their home ground to eliminate Atletico Madrid.

For this game, Paris Saint-Germain fielded their strongest lineup, deploying their most powerful attacking combination: Ibrahimovic, Cavani, He Ying, and Lavezzi all started.

Repeatedly attacking the goal guarded by Sun Pan.

But Sun Pan delivered on what he told He Ying after losing the previous game. He made high saves and low blocks, and really didn't let Paris Saint-Germain score!

In the ninety minutes of the game, Sun Pan was the absolute protagonist. Atletico Madrid defended with all their might, relying on Sun Pan as their last line of defense, repeatedly thwarting Paris Saint-Germain's attacks.

The Atletico Madrid fans watching this game almost had a heart attack. In the last fifteen minutes of the game, Paris Saint-Germain almost played a half-court offense and defense, with overwhelming attacks that were suffocating.

But Sun Pan stood firm, and really kept the score at 0:0 until the end of the game.

When the referee blew the whistle to end the game, Sun Pan was lifted up by the excited Atletico Madrid defenders Godin and Filipe, and the other teammates also rushed towards Sun Pan.

Commentator He Ping said excitedly: "Sun Pan is definitely the biggest contributor to Atletico Madrid's ability to advance to the quarter-finals! In this game, Paris Saint-Germain had as many as twenty-seven shots, of which an astonishing twenty-one shots were on target! But all twenty-one shots were rejected by Sun Pan! Amazing! He is the Great Wall of China on the football field!"

The Spanish commentator was no better than He Ping, and Sun Pan's name could be heard screaming non-stop throughout the game.

After the game, the Spanish media also praised Sun Pan's performance, believing that he showed the qualities of a world-class goalkeeper in this game, and Atletico Madrid should first thank him for his outstanding performance for being able to advance.

Atletico Madrid was able to break into the quarter-finals thanks to Sun Pan's outstanding performance, while He Ying could only bid farewell to the Champions League stage with a slight sense of loss. He had six shots in this game, all of which were on target, but he could not score even one goal.

Looking at his lost back, many of He Ying's supporters shed tears in front of the TV.

Some people are happy and some people are lost, this is football, and this is life.

***

Just as Zhou Yi said to his friends, the failure in the German Cup did not affect the mood and state of the Dortmund players. They won successively in the league and the Champions League, performing well.

In the next twenty-fifth round of the league, Bayern Munich ushered in the best opportunity to widen the gap with Dortmund - Dortmund will challenge Schalke 04 away from home, the Revierderby!

If Dortmund lost to Schalke 04 away from home, and Bayern Munich defeated Dusseldorf at home, then the gap between the two sides would widen to five points. With nine rounds left in the league, a five-point gap can be said to be very large.

This ensures that Bayern Munich has a safe distance of one game. Even if they lose a game, they will still have a two-point gap with Dortmund, which will greatly reduce the psychological pressure on the Bayern Munich players.

What about Dortmund?

Facing Schalke 04, they must win. Winning the Revierderby away from home is not an easy task. So the pressure is all on Dortmund's side, and it's very high.

Before the Revierderby, reporters ran to interview Zhou Yi, wanting to hear his analysis. Facing the reporters' cameras, Zhou Yi nodded and said seriously: "Is it difficult to win the Revierderby away from home? Of course, it's very difficult. Schalke 04's home is like an indestructible fortress, so we had a very difficult time defeating them away from home last season, and those three points were not easy to get at all..."

After he finished answering, he said goodbye to the reporters, shaking his head as he walked, as if the game made him feel unbearable just thinking about it.

But in the eyes of the reporters, it was very strange no matter how they thought about it - he admitted that it was difficult to play Schalke 04 away from home, but in the end, he said that they had won... So is he indirectly praising Dortmund! The focus of reading comprehension of this sentence should be "Although Schalke 04's home is very difficult to conquer, our Dortmund still defeated them on their territory", right?

***

Yang Muge also accepted interviews from Chinese and German reporters. In the interview, he laughed and said: "I know what Zhou Yi means, he wants to imply that they can win the game. He can say that, but the result may not be what he imagined. We are good friends, but when it comes to the game, I will temporarily put these relationships aside."

A reporter asked a difficult question to answer: "Will you foul him?"

Yang Muge said: "I will use my body and the rules reasonably."

He did not answer the question directly, but everyone knew what he meant.

"If you beat Dortmund, Bayern Munich will definitely be very grateful to you..."

"We fight for ourselves, not for Bayern Munich." Yang Muge shook his head.

"Then will this game affect Schalke 04's upcoming Champions League game? After all, next Wednesday is the game against Galatasaray... In addition, what kind of expectations do you have for Schalke 04's prospects in the Champions League?"

"I don't think it will affect the Champions League game. We are used to playing two games a week. Of course, I hope the team can go further and further in the Champions League, but it also depends on our strength and luck..."

***

"Lao Yang's answers to reporters' questions are really boring..." Zhou Yi complained about Yang Muge's answers in the interview in the group.

Sun Pan rolled his eyes at him: "You have the nerve to talk about Lao Yang? Look at your answers after losing in the German Cup."

Zhou Yi sent a ghost face emoji.

Yang Muge said: "Zhou Yi, I'm not just saying polite words, every word I say is sincere. You have to be extra careful of me then."

"Looks like Schalke 04 is letting you defend me again?" Zhou Yi said. "Keller is obviously trying to sow discord between us brothers, you must not be fooled, Lao Yang!"

"Damn, I've never seen such a shameless person..." Sun Pan was speechless.

Guo Nu sent a laughing emoji, and He Ying sent a series of ellipses.

Yang Muge said after sending the ellipses: "Don't worry, Zhou Yi, I will try my best to make you wish you were dead."

Zhou Yi sent a tongue-out emoji.