Chapter 230 Physical Gap

The game against Arsenal is the first Champions League game at the West**** Stadium in the new season.

Two days before the game, the entire stadium had been decorated with Champions League decorations, turning the stadium into a Champions League stadium.

Local media are also reporting on the arrival of their rivals Arsenal in Dortmund.

Zhou Yi didn't seem to care much about his Champions League opponents. He was more concerned about Mark's injury.

Before the game against Arsenal, he went to Mark's house to see Mark.

After the operation, Mark seemed to be in a good mood. He said to Zhou Yi: "I will cheer you on in front of the TV, Zhou Yi!"

"Then you have to be careful, don't get too excited and jump up, ha!" Zhou Yi said with a smile.

"If necessary, I will tie him to the sofa." Cortana next to her said coldly.

Mark carried his sister on his back and made a face at Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi grinned.

The relationship between siblings is really good.

※※※

After dinner, Zhou Yi said goodbye to Mark's family. Mrs. Wagner repeatedly thanked Zhou Yi for coming to visit Mark, but Zhou Yi said that it was normal to visit his friends.

In the end, Zhou Yi and Mark hugged each other goodbye. Cortana watched from the side and said nothing. She didn't say thank you or goodbye until Zhou Yi left.

Zhou Yi was picked up by his agent Schulze, and everyone returned to the house.

Mrs. Wagner was complaining that Cortana was rude: "People are leaving, and you don't say goodbye or anything, just watch from the side."

Cortana didn't talk back to her mother. She turned to Mark and said, "I'll help you upstairs."

As he was going upstairs, Mark whispered to his sister: "Actually, Zhou Yiren is quite nice. Sister, don't always give him a bad look..."

He cherishes the hope that his sister can live in harmony with good friends and have a closer relationship, instead of acting like an enemy and tearing her up when they meet.

Cortana opened her mouth, but didn't know how to answer her brother, so she closed her mouth again.

Just wrap yourself in frost and a mask so you don't have to explain.

Because it is very troublesome to explain.

How could she explain to her brother that she and Zhou Yi had actually been living together for two years, and she even cooked for Zhou Yi herself. When two people are alone, they can still chat together. In fact, her relationship with Zhou Yi may not be as bad as her brother imagined...

But when outsiders were around, Cortana was habitually cold towards Zhou Yi, and even she herself couldn't explain why. Anyway, she would feel a little uncomfortable in front of outsiders...

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Dortmund's home game against Arsenal was played in the evening local time. Before the game started, the West**** Stadium was already full.

The South Stand once again became a yellow and black wall, and the fans kept singing, heating up the atmosphere of the game.

Then the iconic theme song of the Champions League sounded, and the players from both sides entered the stadium under the leadership of the referee.

Zhou Yi was among them.

This is his second season in the Champions League.

To the whole of Europe, he is no longer a strange kid, and many opponents will study him and target him. He may no longer be able to play as he pleases, and he must learn to fight against those tough opponents.

Just like the rookie wall, maybe the same thing exists in the Champions League.

In fact, this view has been present in the media since the results of Dortmund's Champions League group draw came out.

But it’s not just for Zhouyi, but for the entire Dortmund team.

Experts believe that Dortmund played so well in the Champions League last season because they were unfamiliar to the whole of Europe at the time. Those opponents in the Champions League were not very familiar with Klopp's tactics, so they were beaten by Dortmund. Caught off guard.

But this season, this situation will no longer exist. Because Dortmund performed so well last season, almost all teams in Europe that can participate in the Champions League will pay attention to them and study them. It will be difficult for them to create the same glory as last season.

When I first heard this statement, it made sense. But when you calm down and analyze it carefully, you will feel that what the experts are saying is ****.

Because before last season's Champions League, experts said this - they believed that Dortmund lacked experience and would definitely not be able to go too far in the Champions League.

As a result, after one season, when Dortmund performed well, they changed their tune and believed that the reason why Dortmund performed well last season was precisely because they were new faces. But the same reason for not being optimistic about Dortmund becomes lack of experience...

Do you think this is nonsense?

The same is true for Zhouyi.

Zhou Yi performed well in his first season in the Champions League. It can be said that no one understands Zhou Yi. So if Zhou Yi performs poorly in his first season in the Champions League, is it necessary to say that it is because Zhou Yi lacks experience in the Champions League?

In fact, regarding this point, supporters who really understand Zhouyi should not have similar worries.

Because this question already has an answer.

Zhou Yi performed well in his first season in the league. At that time, some people said that the second season would be Zhou Yi's rookie wall, and his performance would definitely not be as amazing as his first season.

The results of it?

Last season, Zhou Yi set new highs in assists and goals, and helped Dortmund win the league championship.

Such an outstanding performance led to no one mentioning the rookie wall after the season.

Unexpectedly, these people don't seem to have a long memory, and they mentioned the old words again in the Champions League...

Zhou Yi himself doesn't care about such topics, but his supporters are very irritable and unhappy. They feel that this is a naked contempt for Zhou Yi - is our Zhou Yi such a short-lived person?

※※※

After the game started, Arsenal adopted the tactic of controlling the ball. They will not rush to attack. This is an away game after all. They must be careful of Dortmund's quick counterattack. Although there are no absolutely fast players in their frontcourt attacking lineup, everyone has strong running ability. In addition, Yi's passing organization last week, so their quick counterattack relying on passing and running is still very threatening.

Facing the steady and steady Arsenal, Dortmund was not in a hurry and slowly dealt with them.

As for Zhouyi, Arsenal also made corresponding arrangements.

Instead of having people watching him all the time, they played zone defense.

When Zhou Yi is in the midfielder position, Van Persie, Walcott and others will "take care" of him. And if Zhou Yi comes forward, there will also be Arsenal midfielders, such as Alexander Song. This Cameroon midfielder known as the "Successor of Vieira" has excellent defensive ability.

If Zhou Yi continues to go deep into the penalty area, there will be more Arsenal players to deal with him.

After the game started, Zhou Yi did encounter strong resistance to move forward.

If he just makes a long pass in the backcourt, whether it is Van Persie or Walcott, their defense against Zhou Yi will not be very strict. After all, they are not the kind of people who are very good at defense.

But with Arsenal playing steadily, Zhou Yi's long ball can only have limited power. Long balls can often only be used as a means of transferring the ball. If you want to threaten the opponent's goal, you can only counterattack.

But Arsenal's tactics in this game will not give Dortmund too many opportunities to counterattack.

So if you want to get closer to Arsenal's penalty area and go forward, Alexander Song will immediately appear next to Zhou Yi.

Alexander Song is a defensive player who is very rough in his defensive actions and even commits a lot of fouls. His defensive style has been criticized, but Arsenal fans like his defense very much because he always keeps the team's goal away from threats.

Who wouldn't like to have a defensive player like this on their team?

But as an opponent, I don’t like it.

A minute ago, Zhou Yi was not satisfied with using long passes in the backcourt to transfer the ball, and planned to move forward.

But before he reached Arsenal's thirty-meter area, he was blocked by Alexander Song.

Zhou Yi had just stopped the ball, and before he could pass the ball out, Song's body hit him like a car.

Although after several seasons of training, Zhou Yi's muscle strength has increased a lot compared to the beginning, but it is still not enough in the face of Song's impact...

He was knocked to the ground and the referee's whistle sounded.

Song committed a foul, but he stopped Dortmund's attack. Moreover, such a collision was not too serious and it was not worthy of the referee giving Song a yellow card.

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There were loud boos for Song's foul on the West**** court.

Amidst the boos, Song ran back to his seat, while Zhou Yi got up from the ground.

Zhou Yi was not surprised by such a scene. In the simulated game, he had already experienced Song's physical advantage.

Five minutes later, he was defeated again by Song's body. This time after he took the ball, when he was carrying it forward, Song used his physical advantage to squeeze in and then snatched the football away...

This time, Song didn't even foul.

※※※

"Song! Beautiful steal! Look, look at this body! Aha!" the commentator of British Sky TV laughed.

In fact, looking at weight, Song is not much heavier than Zhou Yi, and looking at height, he is not much taller either.

But Song's tight muscles seemed to contain explosive power, and his collision movements when defending always looked menacing, as if the next kick would destroy the opponent.

This kind of extremely aggressive defense will naturally make the opponent feel intimidated, giving him the opportunity to rush up and steal the ball.

For example, in the ball just now, after Zhou Yi saw Song coming up, he habitually paused for a moment, and then Song squeezed in and broke the ball away.

If Zhou Yi must keep the ball, he may be injured by Song. The game has only started for less than twenty minutes. If he gets injured and ends the game just because of this, wouldn't it be too worthwhile?

Anyway, Dortmund had already attacked the opponent's thirty-meter area at that time. Even if they lost the ball, it would not be too threatening to Dortmund.

Sure enough, after Song intercepted the ball, when he originally wanted to send it forward, there was no good point for the ball, so he had to pass the ball back to Arteta, who organized the attack, and Dortmund players They have already returned to defense.

Zhou Yi is also running back.

However, in the view of the British commentator, Zhou Yi fell into Song's hands twice in a row, which fully demonstrated his shortcomings.

"Zhou Yi is a midfield organizer. His body is too weak. He will easily lose the ball when encountering a tough defense. As a midfielder, it is very dangerous once he loses the ball... So in fact, Arsenal's original I don't think it's surprising that he wasn't selected. There's no need to make too much of a fuss... Arsenal has so many technical midfielders, and Zhou Yi's foot skills are not particularly outstanding. In addition, he doesn't have an advantage physically. Even if he is promoted to Arsenal's first team, I'm afraid he can only be a substitute..." (To be continued.)