Chapter 118 Before the Storm

Gotze has been confirmed to miss the Champions League final, a topic the media and fans are reveling in.

But for Bayern Munich, strictly speaking, this isn't exactly good news.

If the one missing the final due to injury wasn't Gotze, but Zhou Yi, then Bayern Munich would definitely be celebrating—*that* would be truly good news!

Unfortunately, there hasn't been any news before the match about Zhou Yi potentially missing the final.

Although he seemed to have been injured in the match against Real Madrid, and hasn't had any rest since then, continuing to work non-stop.

So Bayern Munich really hoped it was Zhou Yi who got injured.

Regarding Gotze missing the final, there's a "conspiracy theory" circulating in the media and among fans—believing that Gotze is using this as a way to avoid direct confrontation with his new club next season, to avoid embarrassment.

Otherwise, why would a simple strain lead to him being sidelined for the rest of the season?

Whether Gotze is really avoiding the game, no one knows. Gotze hasn't responded to this question in any setting, perhaps because he thinks that any explanation would only make things worse, or perhaps he doesn't bother to answer such questions.

He only said in an interview that he felt frustrated and pained that he couldn't fight alongside his teammates. But he would cheer them on from the stands and hoped that Dortmund could defeat Bayern Munich and win the championship.

This is a pretty typical answer.

Gotze couldn't possibly say he didn't want Dortmund to win, right? He's not stupid enough to say something like that.

After it was confirmed that Gotze couldn't participate in the final, Zhou Yi was also asked about this issue by reporters.

"I know how important it is for a player to participate in the Champions League final. So it's a real pity that Mario can't participate in the final. We will do our best in the game and bring a championship back for Mario."

Zhou Yi's answer was also quite standard.

Some reporters asked Klopp whether Gotze's injury would have any adverse effects on the team's performance in the final.

To this, Klopp said, "Of course it will, but I believe the other players will try their best to compensate for this adverse effect. We are a team, a whole."

Also a very official answer.

Similarly, on the Bayern Munich side, there were no excessive remarks.

Before the most important showdown of the season, these two teams that had been clashing for the entire season suddenly seemed to have become peaceful and cautious.

This made some people feel very uncomfortable.

But perhaps this is the calm before the storm, as the saying goes.

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While the teams are relatively calm, this calmness doesn't exist among the fans. Whether on the Chinese internet or in German pubs, this final between Dortmund and Bayern Munich has long been a hot topic among fans of both sides.

In China, there are many people who support Zhou Yi, but it's not 100%. There are always some people who don't care about Zhou Yi winning awards, but are more concerned about whether their favorite team can win the championship. So supporters of both sides started fighting online.

These online debates are always the most eye-catching.

Overall, those who support Zhou Yi have the upper hand. This is also normal. If you think about it carefully, this is the Chinese internet, and the people who go online are basically Chinese. Of course they will support a Chinese player, even if these people don't even know where Dortmund is from, as long as there is a Chinese player, they will support unconditionally.

So those die-hard fans who still support Bayern Munich are really rare—in such a public opinion environment, they still support a team without Chinese players. This is true love.

In addition to the online hype, traditional media are also very concerned about this game.

CCTV, which has the rights to broadcast the Champions League, will not only broadcast the game live, but also send a commentary team to the scene to commentate—this kind of treatment is not common. Although the Champions League final is held every year, CCTV does not provide on-site commentary every year.

The feeling of live commentary is completely different from staring at a large-screen TV in a studio thousands of miles away. The commentators will be affected by the atmosphere of the environment. In that noisy environment, it is easy to become excited, and the commentary will naturally be more passionate and exciting.

In addition, CCTV has been providing follow-up reports since a week before the final.

A fifteen-minute program is broadcast every day, reporting on the preparations of the two teams.

CCTV reporters and film crews have been stationed in Dortmund and Munich.

In addition, they also traveled all over Europe to interview Zhou Yi's national teammates in Europe. Yang Muge, He Ying, Sun Pan, and Guo Nu appeared in the countdown program in order, talking to the audience and fans in front of Chinese TVs about Zhou Yi in their eyes. Among them, Sun Pan had played against Zhou Yi in the Champions League, so what he said was more convincing.

"...Of course I hope Zhou Yi can win the championship. Otherwise, wouldn't it be meaningless for me to lose to him? The only person who can defeat Sun Pan can only be the champion!" Sun Pan said bullishly in front of the camera.

This kind of countdown-like follow-up report gives people a feeling of "the storm is about to break."

It also makes everyone look forward to this Champions League final even more.

This is a treatment that no previous Champions League final has ever enjoyed.

Why can they have such treatment? Of course, it is because a Chinese player will appear in this Champions League final. It is the first time in history that a Chinese player has participated in the Champions League final.

This influence and significance is very great.

Even the official website of UEFA published an exclusive interview with Zhou Yi before the final, as well as several other articles, all of which mentioned Zhou Yi's participation in the Champions League final.

Because of Zhou Yi, this Champions League final is even more瞩目.

Of course, Zhou Yi can receive so much attention not only because he is a Chinese player. It is certainly rare for a Chinese player to appear on the Champions League final stage. But before him, Park Ji-sung had already become the first Asian player to appear on the Champions League final stage. Logically speaking, isn't that an even more remarkable achievement?

Zhou Yi only represents China, while Park Ji-sung represents the entire Asia.

So why didn't Park Ji-sung have such a sensational effect?

Because Zhou Yi is not just a Dortmund player participating in the Champions League final, he is also the core of Dortmund, and an important contributor to Dortmund's journey to the Champions League final. His importance to Dortmund is incomparable to Park Ji-sung. Although Park Ji-sung also played as a main player for Manchester United, he was definitely not the core.

In fact, the only time Park Ji-sung lifted the Champions League trophy, which was also the only time an Asian player lifted the Champions League trophy, he was not selected for Manchester United's Champions League final squad.

Manchester United can win the Champions League final without Park Ji-sung.

But if Dortmund didn't have Zhou Yi, it's hard to say whether they could even reach the Champions League final.

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The day before the Champions League final, the war between Dortmund and Bayern Munich on the Chinese internet had come to an end. Bayern Munich fans, who were at an absolute disadvantage in terms of numbers and did not have the advantage of "righteousness," lost. On social media such as Weibo, the most popular topic was "Cheer for Zhou Yi on Champions League Final Night."

Chinese fans are cheering for Zhou Yi in various ways, and various sports-related and unrelated companies are taking the opportunity to market themselves.

Some people are holding up straight self-portraits cheering for Zhou Yi and uploading them to the internet. There are interesting roadside interviews asking them what they think of this Champions League final. There are also various marketing accounts taking the opportunity to hold sweepstakes, saying that as long as Dortmund can win the championship, they will select a few people from those who repost the Weibo to give away various prizes...

It's really lively. On this day, it is estimated that many people are not in the mood to go to work or class. As long as they have time, they will use their mobile phones and computers to browse Weibo and watch the excitement.

That night, a few hours before the Champions League final began, CCTV broadcast the last episode of the follow-up report. This time, the protagonist of the program was Zhou Yi.

But it was not like the previous episodes, letting Zhou Yi sit in front of the camera for an interview—considering that the competition was imminent, the TV station did not go to Zhou Yi for an interview, for fear of affecting his preparations. In fact, even if they went, the Dortmund club would not agree, and Zhou Yi would probably not accept the interview request.

So this episode, although Zhou Yi was the protagonist, it showed Zhou Yi's journey in the Champions League this season from other perspectives, including his shots in the game, clips of him being interviewed before and after the game, and interviews with other people—this time CCTV really put in a lot of effort, interviewing ordinary Dortmund fans on the streets of Dortmund, and even interviewing their colleagues, the Chinese and foreign reporters who reported on Dortmund. They also interviewed German TV commentator Marcel Reif, and asked him to talk about his views on Zhou Yi.

Being able to find so many people shows that CCTV still has a lot of ideas in this regard.

Through the narration of these "outsiders," Chinese fans can learn more comprehensively about Zhou Yi, and at the same time, everyone can review Zhou Yi's Champions League journey this season.

Later, it was said that the ratings of this episode were quite high, which is also reasonable...

This is the finale.

After the end of this episode, the host finally reminded everyone not to forget the Champions League final at 2:45 a.m. Beijing time tomorrow, and CCTV's live broadcast will start from 1:00 a.m.

At that time, it is estimated that the live broadcast will start from the time the players board the bus at the hotel.

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While the whole world is starting to look forward to this game, Zhou Yi and his teammates are having lunch break.

In fact, not all players will honestly go to sleep, but Zhou Yi really falls asleep as soon as he gets into bed.

His purpose of sleeping is not to recharge his energy, but to seize the time to continue to compete with Bayern Munich in the virtual world.

Since the end of the league, Zhou Yi's opponents in the virtual space have only been Bayern Munich. He has played countless games against Bayern Munich here.

The results are basically 50-50, and the probability of Dortmund winning or losing is about the same.

This means that in the actual game, it will also be an evenly matched contest.

Such a game has a lot of randomness, and Zhou Yi has to be prepared.