Chapter 153 Important Figures

After Royce scored, Mainz's morale was completely exhausted.

You know, Royce's goal occurred in the 88th minute of the game. They also knew very well that no matter what, it would be difficult to score two goals in a row to equalize the score in the remaining few minutes. .

The commentator is already preparing his concluding remarks.

"... In this game, it seems that Dortmund will win with a score of 3:1. However, it is worth noting that all three of Dortmund's goals came after Zhou Yi came on the field. The changes Zhou Yi brought to the team are very huge. Yes, Klopp may have to think carefully about whether he should rotate Zhou Yi like this next time..."

"Dortmund is at a disadvantage in the league this season. The Champions League has not yet determined whether to qualify for the group stage. The team has suffered a large number of injuries... Dortmund, which had always been smooth sailing before, has encountered many difficulties this season. I am afraid Zhou Yi is the one. The key to their escape from this predicament..."

"Dortmund's injury situation is so serious this season. It's understandable that Klopp is so conservative when using Zhou Yi in this game. After all, so many players are injured. Dortmund really can't have any new injuries, especially Zhou Yi... What Klopp should pray for most now is that Zhou Yi will be safe and healthy in the next games. If he encounters another serious injury, Dortmund's season will be completely over..."

…

While the commentators were concluding their speeches, the referee also blew the whistle to end the game.

In the last few minutes, Mainz did not create any threatening murderous intent, and Dortmund easily defended the victory.

Although it went through a lot of twists and turns, it finally achieved a good result. Defeating Mainz allowed Dortmund to continue to chase the top two in the league standings.

In this round of the league, Bayern Munich defeated Eintracht Braunschweig 2-0 at home and continued to lead the standings. Second-ranked Bayer Leverkusen also defeated Nuremberg 3-0 at home. Looking at this result, if Dortmund is tied by Mainz in the away game, or loses to Mainz, the consequences will be unimaginable.

Because the fourth-ranked Monchengladbach also won in this round of the league, they defeated Freiburg 1:0 at home, bringing their points to 28 points. If Dortmund loses the game, they will There is only one point between them and Monchengladbach, and they may be surpassed at any time.

Of course, even if they win this game, the situation may not be better for Dortmund.

In the next round of the league, Dortmund will face the challenge of second place Leverkusen at home. This is a very important game. If Dortmund loses to Leverkusen at home, it will be further left behind, and it will become a fantasy to compete for the league title.

But it is not easy to defeat Leverkusen, because after the game with Leverkusen, Dortmund will usher in the last game of the Champions League group stage. They will go to Galatasaray away. This game is a decisive battle where you can only win but not lose.

In order to prepare for this game, Dortmund will be somewhat distracted from the game against Leverkusen.

There is always a trade-off between the Champions League and the league.

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At the post-match press conference, Klopp was asked by reporters about Zhou Yi's substitution. Faced with the reporters' questioning, Klopp was very calm, or he pretended to be calm: "Zhou Yi needs to rest, he is not an iron man... Dortmund has 'Zhou Yi dependence'? I don't know, this is the first time I heard this term. Of course, he is indeed important to us, but I think it is more important for the team, not a certain person. I believe Zhou Yi is also You will agree with me... Zhou Yi performed very well in this game, and I don't regret putting him on the bench... I have no conflicts with him. In fact, our relationship is almost like a honeymoon... …”

How does Zhou Yi view the fact that he is not in the starting lineup?

"I obey the coach's instructions,

I don't think I am an indispensable figure in the team..." Zhou Yi shook his head. "Substitute? I don’t consider myself a substitute. Dortmund does not have main players and substitutes. Everyone is a rotation player. "

After hearing Zhou Yi's answer, the reporters could only shake their heads inwardly - it was really Zhou Yi's style, correct but boring.

Compared with the answers of other Dortmund players, the reporters felt more interesting - all the Dortmund players interviewed talked about Zhou Yi's importance to the team and their admiration for Zhou Yi.

Although such reports are all one-sided praise, they are better than boring talk, right?

At least the media can still hype Zhouyi's status in Dortmund...

※※※

After the game against Mainz, everyone's focus shifted to their opponent in the next round, Bayer Leverkusen.

In the past few seasons, everyone's attention has been focused on the battle between Dortmund and Bayern Munich, but in fact Leverkusen is also a force that cannot be ignored in the Bundesliga.

Leverkusen had a very successful period at the beginning of this century, but perhaps they prefer to think of it as "dark years". That is the famous "King of Sanya".

In the 2001-2002 season, Leverkusen lost to Bayern Munich in the league championship and lost to defending champion Schalke 04 in the German Cup final. The most painful defeat was of course the loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League final in Glasgow, which allowed Real Madrid to win the ninth Champions League title. At the same time, Zidane also scored an unprecedented and unprecedented goal in that game. The goal was rated as the best goal in the history of the Champions League, and Leverkusen became the eternal background...

It stands to reason that it is remarkable that Leverkusen can achieve "one person below ten thousand people" in all three events, but this brilliant season has earned them the nickname "Sanya King". This nickname It was created not to praise Leverkusen's brilliant record, but to mock Leverkusen for working hard for a season, but in the end it was all in vain and got nothing.

Subsequent facts also proved that the Sanya King was definitely not an achievement to be proud of for Leverkusen, but a huge blow.

After the end of the season, the main player Ze Roberto switched to the team's domestic rival Bayern Munich at the time. The team's performance also declined. It hovered on the edge of relegation throughout the season and was almost relegated in the end.

In the 2009-2010 season, Heynckes began coaching Leverkusen, and the team also ushered in a period of stability.

In the 2010-2011 season, they defeated Bayern Munich in the league and won the league runner-up.

Last season, Leverkusen was also third in the league and qualified for the Champions League this season.

In the league this season, when everyone is paying attention to the feud between Dortmund and Bayern Munich, Leverkusen has quietly surpassed Dortmund, which has been in poor condition recently, and become second in the league.

This league is a battle between the second place in the league and the third place in the league.

And both teams are also facing the impact of the Champions League.

Dortmund and Leverkusen are both fighting to qualify in the final round of the Champions League group stage - Leverkusen is currently ranked third in their group. Their last round is an away game against Real Sociedad, and their The competitor, Shakhtar Donetsk, ranked second in the group, is also away from home, and their opponent is Manchester United. If Leverkusen wants to advance from the group, they must first defeat Real Sociedad, and then look forward to Shakhtar Donetsk losing to Manchester United away from home.

But Real Sociedad's home court is not easy to play. In the group stage, Leverkusen played Real Sociedad at home, and it was only a 2:1 victory. Although Real Sociedad was eliminated early, Leverkusen did not dare to take it lightly. So they are also facing the situation that Dortmund is facing - it is impossible not to consider the life and death battle in the Champions League group stage next week, which will somewhat affect their mentality and performance in the weekend league.

※※※

This game is not only a contest between the second and third place players in the league, and is related to the ranking of their respective teams in the league, it is also a contest between two outstanding Asian players.

Of course, the outstanding Asian player in Dortmund is not Yan Min, who has just emerged in Dortmund, but Zhou Yi, who has been famous for a long time.

Leverkusen also has an outstanding Asian player who has been famous for a long time-forward Son Heung-min from South Korea.

This is of course not the first confrontation between Sun Xingmin and Zhou Yi, but before Sun Xingmin was in Hamburg, Hamburg did not send a very strong team. One season, he was almost relegated. Sun Xingmin's reputation and achievements in Hamburg were far less than Zhouyi. You must know that Sun Xingmin's best result in Hamburg's three seasons was only seventh last season.

Zhou Yi's Dortmund team has won the Bundesliga for three consecutive seasons and also won the Champions League last season. Zhou Yi is already a hot star across Europe, and he even won the European Player of the Year award last season.

In fact, the comparison between the two people is not high.

But with Son Heung-min transferring to Leverkusen this season for a club record transfer fee of 10 million euros, coupled with Leverkusen's current performance and league ranking. The two seem to have the qualifications to compete on the same field, and the possibility of being compared...

The Korean media, in particular, is particularly energetic and enthusiastic about this issue.

After Park Ji-sung moved away from the mainstream perspective of European football, Korean football seemed to be missing a figure who could carry the banner. Son Heung-min's emergence at this time gave the Koreans renewed strength. From Hamburg, a relegation team, to Leverkusen, which can participate in European competitions every year, Son Heung-min has become more mature and grown rapidly.

This naturally made Korean fans and media have high hopes for him.

This time, in an evenly matched environment, what performance can he and Zhou Yi perform?

Well worth the wait.