Chapter 166 The Last Group Match

The person who finally helped Klopp make the choice and made up his mind was Yan Min.

This player who was sent off with a red card in the league is still very serious and hardworking in training and is in good condition. It seems that he was not affected much by the red card.

Although he received a red card in the league, it had no impact on his appearance in the Champions League.

Seeing Yan Min training so hard and thinking of his outstanding performance in recent games, Klopp felt that he could entrust this young man with an important task.

In order to prevent him from conflicting with Aubameyang's positions, resulting in the situation where only one person can play, the third option became the only option.

So Dortmund began to play 442 instead.

Because time is tight, Klopp determined the starting lineup when he made this training arrangement. Unless a main player is injured in the next few days of training, the main lineup will not change.

Yan Min was placed on the left wing, playing as a left midfielder.

As for the central defender, in the last Champions League game, Sven Bender and Papastathopoulos played together as central defenders. But Sven Bender will definitely not be able to play in this game, and Friedrich is not eligible to participate in the Champions League. Who will replace him?

Klopp's choice is the young player Marian Sarr. Sarr, who was born in 1995, is only 18 years old this year. Dortmund poached him from the Leverkusen youth academy last summer. Before being poached, he was said to be the core of Leverkusen's defense for the next ten years.

Currently he is also the main central defender in the Dortmund youth team. He was also transferred to the first team during the pre-season training at the beginning of this season and signed up to participate in the Champions League. However, not long after the start of the new season, I suffered an injury.

When there was really no one available in the first team, Klopp thought of him again. Although Sarr is very young, he is a genuine central defender after all. It is better than letting Grosskreutz play as a guest central defender, right?

And Grosskreutz also has a task, he will continue to start as a full-back in this game.

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Galatasaray, which has been eliminated before the game, also has the latest trends. Their head coach, the famous coach Terim said this about the upcoming game: "...Although we have missed the qualification, we want to show our support to the world. Europe has proven that Galatasaray is a professional team and we will go all out to support our fans and win this game!"

Galatasaray have not won a single match in the Champions League group stages this season.

If they do win, it would be their only Champions League win of the season.

If Dortmund has a full lineup, even if Galatasaray is playing at home, saying such a thing will inevitably feel a bit exaggerated.

But now, everyone feels that this is not impossible...

Because the current situation in Dortmund is really bad. Many players are injured. They fought with Leverkusen until the last minute in the league. They fought to exhaustion. They worked hard to go to the Devils away game. They could only win in the last round of the group stage. The huge pressure to lose... These negative factors have cast a shadow over Dortmund's prospects.

And what about Galatasaray? The main players are all in place, playing at home and waiting to work. The players have no baggage and can play to their heart's content.

If Dortmund loses to Galatasaray on the road, they can only hope that Naples will also lose in order to qualify from the group. But Naples is playing this game at home, and they must win. The possibility of losing is not high.

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There are many legends about Galatasaray's home stadium, and these legends are all negative things for visiting teams.

In 1993, when the "Red Devils" Manchester United came here to play a Champions League away game, Galatasaray fans shocked the world by unfurling a giant banner that read "Welcome to Hell." This scene also became a landmark in European football. A classic photo.

The following year, two Leeds United fans traveled with the team to an away game, but were stabbed to death by fanatical Galatasaray fans in a foreign country, which also shocked the world.

Before leaving for the away game, Zhou Yi was asked about the "hell home court" during an interview at Dortmund's airport.

Zhou Yi did not take this title to heart. He smiled and shook his head and said: "I know this nickname, but Istanbul is also a place where miracles are created."

He was talking about the 2005 Champions League final, a clash between Liverpool and AC Milan in another city. AC Milan led by three goals in the first half, but Liverpool chased three goals in a row to equalize the score. The game was dragged into a penalty shootout, and then they defeated AC Milan, who had already collapsed emotionally.

But the reporters were a little hesitant: "...that is another stadium after all..."

"Of course, but at least they're all in the same city."

Zhou Yi's answer made reporters feel that he was arrogant.

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Because Galatasaray had been eliminated early, the atmosphere before the game was not very intense. At least when the Dortmund players rested in the hotel, there was no constant noise from Galatasaray fans on the road outside, and they still had a good sleep.

This situation is seen as a good sign by Dortmund supporters, maybe this away trip is not so terrible after all?

After all, Galatasaray has not won a single game in its previous two home games in the Champions League group stage this season. If their home games have any effect, it does not seem to be the case... Maybe Galatasaray today The performance is not as good as before, so their home court is not so "hell".

As long as Dortmund's players perform normally, they should be able to win on the road.

Arsenal and Napoli can both defeat Galatasaray in this stadium, which shows that this home court is not as powerful as before, so why can't Dortmund?

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Two hours before the game, when the Dortmund team boarded the bus and drove to the Ali Samyan Stadium, Dortmund also announced their starting lineup for the game.

To the delight of Chinese reporters and fans, Yan Min was among them. There will be two Chinese players starting in this game.

This first start also gave many Chinese fans some reassurance. They were previously worried that the red card against Leverkusen would affect Yan Min's chances of playing in Dortmund and lower head coach Klopp's evaluation of him.

Now it seems that they were worrying too much.

When it was time for him to play, Klopp didn't hesitate.

In such a crucial Champions League group stage, Klopp was able to give Yan Min such an opportunity. If Yan Min can seize the opportunity in this game, will he still worry about not having a place for him in the team after the suspension is over?

In the video sent back from the stadium before the game, it can be seen that the atmosphere at the Ali Samyan Stadium is normal and there is no "fanatical" atmosphere for a big battle. Galatasaray fans didn't even prepare any giant tifos, and there were no crazy burning red fireworks, making this "Hell's Home" look not very hellish at all.

This gave Dortmund supporters a sigh of relief - it seems that Galatasaray, who was eliminated early, no longer has that spirit...

This is good news.

Dortmund does not need to bear huge pressure on the road. It may be an ordinary game, and then it will be ordinary to score three points and get the right to qualify from the group.

As for the game itself, it will not leave a deep impression on people. Once the game is over, everyone will forget about it.

As for the opponent Galatasaray... they have not won a single game in the group stage, and they will definitely not leave a deep impression on people.

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When the players from both sides were waiting in the stadium tunnel to appear, the radio outside was announcing the lineups of both sides.

Every Galatasaray player was cheered. Although there was no hope of qualifying for the Champions League group stage, Galatasaray fans were still very enthusiastic.

And Dortmund's players got some boos. It finally felt like they were playing on the road.

Yan Min, who started the game, stood behind Zhou Yi. He had been listening to what was going on outside. When he heard Zhou Yi's name being announced, there was a burst of boos in the stands. Although the sound was not loud and could not be compared with the boos of Schalke 04 fans, there were boos anyway.

Next he heard his name, but this time there was no movement.

This made him dissatisfied: "Why didn't I boo?"

Zhou Yi smiled: "What, you still hope to get booed?"

"Having boos proves that I'm a threat to them. Look, don't you also have boos?" Yan Min said confidently.

Zhou Yi patted Yan Min: "Then after you defeat them in this game, you can hear the boos the next time you meet them."

"Of course!" Yan Min looked high-spirited.

Subsequently, players from both sides appeared.

When Yan Min followed Zhou Yi out of the tunnel and stepped onto the court, he suddenly shivered and couldn't help but muttered: "It's so cold..."

It was indeed cold in Istanbul on December 10th.

Wearing only a long-sleeved jersey and shorts, Yan Min couldn't wait to get the game started so that he could run and not feel cold while running.