Lin Hai Ting Tao

Chapter 725 Robben's Redemption

The first half of overtime was basically Bayern Munich besieging Borussia Dortmund. Dortmund didn't even have a single shot. They could only parry and had no power to fight back.

Under such circumstances, it was only natural to worry that they would concede a goal.

Especially Dortmund's own fans, watching their team being beaten to a pulp by their opponents, were worried that a goal would come at any moment.

If they conceded a goal in overtime, everything would be over...

The Dortmund fans in the stands were silent, their hearts beating fast.

The Bayern Munich fans, also in the stands, raised their arms, singing and cheering, to cheer on their team.

In the 104th minute of the match, there was only one minute left until the end of the first half.

Dortmund fans could breathe a little easier—the deadly first half of overtime was about to end, and the second half would be Dortmund's time!

After resting, Dortmund would bombard Bayern Munich in the second half. As long as we could score a goal, the opponent would completely collapse!

Bayern Munich got a free kick in their own half. All the players surged forward, obviously knowing that their opportunities might be running out.

Boateng took the free kick and kicked the ball directly into the frontcourt.

The ball flew high in the air, straight towards the Dortmund penalty area.

The one at the front was not the center forward Mario Gomez who had been substituted on, but Ribéry.

When the ball fell from the air, he steadily stopped the ball at his feet, but he still couldn't turn around and get rid of Piszczek's defense.

Seeing Ribéry stop the ball, Robben, who was already running forward, suddenly accelerated towards the Dortmund penalty area.

Ribéry also noticed Robben's acceleration. Since he couldn't turn around, why not pass the ball to Robben? To threaten Dortmund's goal, he didn't have to turn around himself, as long as someone could threaten it!

Thinking of this, Ribéry gently pushed the ball behind him with the sole of his foot—he was afraid that he would push it too far, and Robben wouldn't be able to catch up, and it would be destroyed by Weidenfeller who was coming out. But if he pushed it too little, it would also be destroyed by the opponent's defender.

It was really difficult to get the right measure. It looked like a simple push of the ball, but it contained hidden secrets.

Ribéry's push was still a little too light. Seeing the ball rolling behind him, Piszczek gave up on Ribéry and turned back.

But Hummels on both sides of him was faster than him, and had already rushed behind him, and tackled the ball!

At this time, Robben's explosiveness was brought to the extreme. He suddenly accelerated again in a high-speed sprint, and preemptively poked the ball away.

When Hummels slid over, he didn't touch anything!

He didn't even touch Robben's leg. Robben didn't give him a chance to foul!

"Robben—ah ah ah ah ah!!!" Marcel Reif screamed.

When Robben poked the ball, it wasn't the kind of poke that was just to avoid Hummels. If he wanted to create a penalty, he could have done so. After poking the ball, he would definitely not be able to catch up, and then he could drag his leg behind him, hang it on Hummels' leg, and yell and fall to the ground... If he did that, the penalty would be a sure thing.

This was the safest way to score a goal.

But Robben didn't do that. It seemed that he didn't even think about creating a penalty at the time. He just gently poked the ball forward, not far from him, and it just happened to avoid Hummels' tackle.

Then he stepped over Hummels' sliding leg and caught up with the ball in one stride!

He was already facing Weidenfeller who was coming out alone. This was a one-on-one!

Everyone held their breath, watching what was happening near the penalty spot in the Dortmund penalty area.

Weidenfeller came out in time again. He had played the role of Dortmund's savior countless times in this game, and this time, all the hopes of the Dortmund fans could only be pinned on him!

He stood in the near corner. If Robben wanted to shoot, he could block the angle to the greatest extent. And if he didn't shoot immediately, as long as he hesitated a little, he could force Robben, man and ball, to the baseline, compress Robben's shooting and dribbling space, and minimize his threat.

Robben, who caught up with the ball, did take a step diagonally forward. It seemed that Weidenfeller's defensive strategy was successful.

But at this moment, Robben kicked!

His left foot kicked the ball in the opposite direction!

The swing of his leg was not big, there was almost no sign, it was very sudden, so the power of this kick was not very great. Logically speaking, this was a failed shot. How could such a soft and weak shot pose a threat?

But Robben's kick was very clever. The clever thing was the direction of his shot, which was the opposite direction of his run, and also the opposite direction of Weidenfeller's key defense.

The ball rolled along the grass from Weidenfeller's side to his back. Because it was so sudden, Weidenfeller couldn't react at all. Only his leg behind him could "struggle" a little, but it was only a symbolic struggle. In fact, it was impossible to touch the ball at all.

The ball was not fast, it passed Weidenfeller and rolled towards the goal behind him.

Due to inertia, Weidenfeller's whole body was in a "stiff" state at this time. If he wanted to turn around and pounce again, his brain could do it, but his body didn't listen to him.

So in a somewhat strange scene, the ball slowly but firmly rolled into Dortmund's goal...

※※※

"A golden goal! Robben's golden goal!!" Marcel Reif shouted. "This goal is really beautiful!! A shot as light as a feather, although it didn't use much force, the effect was surprisingly good! Ah ah ah ah! Robben! He has redeemed himself!! In the 115th minute of the match, he regained the lead for Bayern Munich! This is simply a fatal blow to Dortmund!"

After scoring, Robben was very excited. He opened his arms and ran towards the sideline, then slid on his knees, and then took advantage of the inertia to stand up. On the sideline, he waved his fists at the Bayern Munich fans in the stands.

The other teammates also ran up and celebrated the goal with Robben.

In the entire Wembley Stadium, the Bayern Munich fans cheered and applauded thunderously.

Although there were still fifteen minutes left in the match, all the Bayern Munich fans felt as if they had taken a reassurance pill, and felt that the victory in this match was stable, very stable.

Dortmund suffered such a blow, their morale was seriously low, how could they possibly compete with the high-spirited Bayern Munich?

What awaited them next was a major collapse!

The Dortmund fans in the stands held their heads in their hands, or covered their faces, looking very frustrated and painful.

Conceding a goal in overtime can simply be the last straw that breaks the camel's back...

He Ping, who was in the commentary box, felt a huge sense of loss, but he still had to cheer up and continue to comment: "In the first half of overtime, Dortmund's goal was breached by Bayern Munich, Robben... this player who has repeatedly missed one-on-one chances in previous finals and has been ridiculed as a 'soft-legged shrimp', has proved himself at this moment... This was a single-rider raid that combined speed and wisdom. He relied on speed to get past Hummels, and when facing Weidenfeller, he very cleverly chose a skillful shot instead of a powerful shot—if he had done that, this shot would have likely made Weidenfeller famous again..."

During the commentary, He Ping wanted to sigh.

Robben had redeemed himself, and his performance in this attack was perfect, but it also meant that Zhou Yi was getting further and further away from his Champions League title goal.

As a Chinese commentator, of course he didn't want to see his compatriot return with regrets.

※※※

While the Bayern Munich players were celebrating the goal frantically, the Dortmund players were stunned.

They hadn't been like this when Bayern Munich scored first in regular time. At that time, they thought, what big storms haven't we seen? What's a one-goal deficit?

Sure enough, six minutes later, Zhou Yi helped Dortmund equalize the score, proving that Dortmund was not at a disadvantage at all when facing Bayern Munich.

But the current goal conceded was different.

This was overtime, a goal conceded after the whole team had been fighting for 115 minutes. Everyone's physical strength was already running out, and this goal seemed to instantly drain all their strength, making people feel desperate—we conceded a goal in regular time, and we quickly equalized. Can we equalize again this time?

Many people felt that the hope was slim.

Because they didn't have that much physical strength anymore.

Why were they being suppressed by Bayern Munich in the first half of overtime? Because there was a problem with their physical strength.

After a season of high-intensity fighting, their physical strength had reached its limit in the last match. Now they were completely gritting their teeth and supporting themselves with willpower. If they were to fall, it could really happen at any time.

Originally, they were thinking of getting through the first half of overtime, and then they could continue to entangle with Bayern Munich in the second half, but Robben's goal made many people lose hope of winning.

Zhou Yi supported his knees with both hands, bent over, opened his mouth, and gasped for breath, like a fish out of water.

His hair was like he had just washed it, wetly stuck to his scalp, and sweat flowed down his cheeks like a torrential rain, dripping down at his chin. The jersey on his body was already soaked and tightly stuck to his body.

At this time, he couldn't even bother to feel disappointed and sad about conceding the goal. He just wanted to breathe in a few more breaths of oxygen.

He had already experienced such a situation in virtual matches when the match went into overtime.

He had also experienced such a situation in virtual matches when Bayern Munich scored a goal in overtime.

He had also experienced such a situation in virtual matches when Bayern Munich scored a goal in overtime, which ultimately led to the team losing the match.

This wasn't something that needed too much attention. Compared to that, it was more important to recover some physical strength.

With physical strength, you can run, and then you can achieve something. Without physical strength, no matter how many ideas you have in your head, it's just empty talk.