Though Bayern Munich had strengthened their defense against Zhou Yi, they couldn't completely freeze him out. He always managed to find opportunities to pass, and some of those passes were downright lethal…

After Reus blasted a shot into the side netting, Bayern Munich didn't shrink back defensively. Instead, they continued to trade blows with Borussia Dortmund.

But as the game went on, Dortmund's attacks, orchestrated by Zhou Yi, were clearly more threatening.

In the tenth minute, Dortmund intercepted the ball in their own half and launched a quick counterattack while Bayern Munich transitioned from attack to defense.

Zhou Yi dribbled diagonally forward and then slipped a through ball to Reus, targeting a weak spot in Bayern Munich's defense.

After passing the ball, Zhou Yi didn't stop, but accelerated forward.

Bayern Munich's defense scrambled back. Boateng went wide to block Reus's path, making it difficult for him to cut inside and shoot directly.

When Reus received the ball, Boateng had indeed blocked his path.

Reus had to slow down, but Zhou Yi was already sprinting forward, heading straight for the center of the penalty area. So Reus wasted no time in sending the ball to him, hoping to set up a brilliant through ball.

The pass was so sudden that Dante, another Bayern Munich center-back, trying to retreat and intercept, lost his balance and fell backward due to inertia.

But even as Dante fell, his trailing leg miraculously blocked Reus's pass!

Zhou Yi, while running, had been keeping an eye on what was happening behind him. He saw that the ball hadn't come to him, but had been blocked by Dante. And it really was a literal "block"—the ball had returned along its original path to Reus's feet!

Zhou Yi immediately slammed on the brakes—he was afraid that if Reus instantly passed the ball back to him, he would be offside, and the attacking opportunity would be wasted.

But Reus didn't react as quickly as Zhou Yi had anticipated. When the ball rebounded to his feet, he took a shot!

From just outside the edge of the penalty area, he wound up and shot!

Reus was indeed highly skilled. Despite winding up on the spot and unable to generate full power, his shot was still powerful and threatening!

It went just a bit high. Neuer jumped but didn't touch the ball, which flew straight into the stands behind the goal where the Bayern Munich fans were gathered.

It caused a stir of exclamations and screams in the stands—that shot had been very dangerous.

"Reus shoots! It's high! Another great opportunity missed!"

※※※

Four minutes later, Dortmund came back again. Gundogan delivered a through pass from midfield to Zhou Yi, who was running diagonally forward.

Bayern Munich had prepared for such a pass. Schweinsteiger, tracking back, preemptively blocked Zhou Yi's path. Zhou Yi would run straight into him if he received the ball.

Forget about passing, just holding onto the ball would be good.

But just as he was about to collide with Schweinsteiger, Zhou Yi used the heel of his left foot to flick the ball from Gundogan directly toward the center. At the same time, he crashed into Schweinsteiger, and the two fell to the ground.

And the ball, had been passed by Zhou Yi with his heel to Lewandowski in the center!

Lewandowski feigned a direct shot, causing Dante, who was standing about five meters in front of him, to make a blocking motion, but the Pole allowed the ball to roll past him, completing both an adjustment and an evasion. Then he moved sideways and wound up his right foot again. This time, it was for real!

A long-range curler!

The ball flew past Dante and headed straight for the upper right corner of the goal!

"Lewandowski—!!"

Amidst Marcel Reif's exclamation, Bayern Munich goalkeeper Neuer jumped almost reflexively, raising his arms to deflect the incoming ball over the crossbar!

"Neuer! What a save! What a shot!"

"Dortmund has had a succession of shooting opportunities since the start of the game, and almost every one of them has threatened Bayern Munich's goal. It seems they're just a little bit away from scoring! But that 'little bit'... hasn't happened! However, looking at the overall picture, Dortmund clearly has the upper hand. Which is not surprising, since Dortmund has won once and drawn once in their two encounters with Bayern Munich this season, completely dominating. Now, in the Champions League final, it's not surprising that they're performing this way..." He Ping said, expounding.

Bayern Munich had indeed gained no advantage during this period. In terms of the game, it was all Dortmund threatening their goal, while Bayern Munich's counterattacks were weak.

This made the Bayern Munich fans at the stadium and in front of the TV very anxious.

But they couldn't do anything about it, they could only hope that Dortmund's opening three-pronged attack would pass quickly.

※※※

But there was no sign that Dortmund's offensive would weaken.

After the corner kick was taken, Neuer punched it out with both fists, and it landed at Zhou Yi's feet outside the box. Zhou Yi didn't pass the ball immediately, but observed the situation.

Seeing the ball fly out, the Bayern Munich players quickly pressed forward, attempting to trap those Dortmund players who hadn't reacted yet behind them, putting them in an offside position.

Seeing this, Zhou Yi immediately switched the ball to the right flank, giving it to Reus, who had just finished taking the corner kick and was running back. And he wasn't offside!

Reus received Zhou Yi's pass on the wing, with no one marking him.

At this point, the Bayern Munich players had to quickly retreat again, afraid that the unmarked Dortmund players behind them would seize the opportunity.

If Reus dribbled to the end line and then crossed, it would not be offside. According to the rules, at the moment of the pass, if the receiving player is behind the ball, then no matter how many defensive players are in front of him, he is not offside.

So Bayern Munich could only hastily transition to attack again. This kind of continuous switching between attack and defense is where problems are most likely to occur.

And that's the kind of opportunity Dortmund was playing for!

After taking a step, Reus crossed the ball!

He didn't send in a high ball, the ball flew along the ground towards the goal!

Lewandowski attracted everyone's attention in the center, so few people noticed Kuba suddenly cutting in, and sweeping the ball toward the goal while falling!

He shot from the corner of the six-yard box!

Very close to the goal!

Such a powerful shot, from such a short distance, before the spectators had even had time to exclaim, the ball had already flown towards the goal!

At this moment, it was Neuer again!

He made another world-class save, diving sideways to expand his defensive area. At this point, he didn't care whether he was using his hands to save the ball or not. As long as he could block the ball, any part of his body would do.

Sure enough, the ball hit him directly in the chest, and after a dull thud, it bounced high and flew out of bounds!

"Neuer—! A great save! Amazing!!" Marcel Reif exclaimed.

"Dortmund has once again created a threat in front of the goal, but they still haven't been able to break through Bayern Munich's last line of defense—goalkeeper Neuer! If it weren't for Neuer, Dortmund might already be leading by two goals!"

The commentators all exclaimed in praise of Neuer's performance.

After making this wonderful save, Neuer stood up and clenched his fists, roaring loudly. This roar wasn't just because of his outstanding performance, but also to boost the morale of the entire team.

Since the start of the game, the initiative had been in Dortmund's hands, and Bayern Munich had been under pressure from Dortmund, looking very embarrassed. At this time, he needed to stand up as the goalkeeper to make everyone feel reassured.

Kuba, who hadn't scored, covered his head with his hands, looking at Neuer getting up from the ground with an incredulous expression.

He felt that his shot was very good, his instep had solidly struck the ball, and such a powerful shot had still been saved by Neuer... was this kid even human?

Although the Bayern Munich fans were cheering for Neuer's save, they also had a shadow in their hearts—even if Neuer saved the opponent's shot this time, could he save every shot? If Bayern Munich continued to let Dortmund pressure them like this, it was only a matter of time before they conceded a goal!

"Since the start of the game, Bayern Munich has been under pressure. It seems that being reversed by Dortmund in the league and losing the league championship still has an impact and blow on the team... It feels like the Dortmund players have a strong psychological advantage when facing Bayern Munich. They are not afraid of Bayern Munich at all, and they are also very familiar with Bayern Munich. On the other hand, when facing Dortmund's aggressive offensive, Bayern Munich seems to be a bit restrained and unable to let go..." He Ping analyzed.

"Although they have placed many restrictions on Zhou Yi, Zhou Yi's performance since the start of the game is still very outstanding. He has completely grasped the situation on the field. Every threatening attack by Dortmund is related to him. As a Chinese player's debut in the Champions League final, Zhou Yi's first fifteen minutes have been very, very successful and excellent!"