Chapter 169 A Long Night

"What?! The game is postponed?!"

When Benitez heard the news from his assistant, he refused in his heart. →

Similarly, in the Arsenal coaching bench, Wenger looked at his assistant coach in disbelief.

They learned about Istanbul at the same time.

This is so unexpected.

Before this, they had not thought about the outcome of the key battle in this group, and they had also thought about who would qualify and who would be eliminated. But no matter what they thought, no one thought that the game between Dortmund and Galatasaray would end before it was played!

This sudden news caught everyone off guard.

UEFA has issued a notice that the match between Dortmund and Galatasaray has been postponed until tomorrow afternoon. The score is now temporarily fixed at 0:1, with Dortmund leading away from home.

But who knows what will happen to the two teams after this night?

Dortmund was originally in good shape, but now it was extinguished by the heavy snow in Istanbul.

So after the rematch begins, can Dortmund still take the initiative? Or can Galatasaray sweep away the decline in the first 31 minutes and fight for dignity at home?

Different results in this game will inevitably lead to the fate of the two teams in the other game.

Originally, this fate could be decided at the same time.

Now it has to be postponed.

"Don't worry about that. No matter how Dortmund and Galatasaray play, we have to beat Arsenal at home by more than three goals. But so far we have not scored, we must work harder!" Niites said.

Almost the same words were said by Wenger: "...The safest way is always not to lose. Whether they postpone or not has nothing to do with us."

So next, both teams on the field started to exert their strength at the same time.

※※※

For Arsenal and Naples, the postponement of the games between Dortmund and Galatasaray has not had a great impact on them. They only need to do good things.

But for Dortmund,

But it's big trouble.

After it was confirmed that the game was postponed, Dortmund's players began to shower and change clothes.

The staff of the Dortmund club are busy.

Because they had already checked out of the hotel room and were planning to fly back to Germany after the game.

They have always been like this. They always leave directly after playing away games, so that the players can have an extra day of rest.

But who would have thought that this game would be postponed, causing them to stay in Istanbul for another day?

So they have to find another hotel.

It is not easy to find a hotel that can accommodate more than 20 people at one time, especially on this snowy night. Many flights are delayed or canceled. Of course, those stranded in Istanbul also need to find a place to stay.

The hotel suddenly became tense.

In order to be able to book a hotel, the Dortmund club worked at high speed.

Klopp has to consider what impact the postponement of the game will have on the team and how to eliminate this impact. In addition, if the game is postponed by one day, Dortmund will go back one day later. This is not as simple as the whole team missing a day of rest, but an unexpected forced change of this series of plans.

Because Dortmund won the Champions League last season, they will also participate in the Club World Cup next.

After returning to China to play the sixteenth round of the league, they had to rush to Morocco to participate in the Club World Cup semi-finals there. Their opponent was the Chinese team Guangzhou Evergrande, which had just won the AFC Champions League.

Time is actually very tight. Even if the game is not postponed, Dortmund will not have enough time.

Originally, this Champions League game was played on the night of the 11th, but now it has been postponed to the 12th. The sixteenth round of the league between Dortmund and Hoffenheim was on the afternoon of the 14th, and the Club World Cup semi-finals It was on the night of the 17th...

Moreover, the match between Dortmund and Hoffenheim is still an away game, which means that during this period, Dortmund will have to run around from one place to another.

Klopp had to reconsider training arrangements and readjust the team's physical training plans. He took advantage of this time to summon the coaching staff and hold an emergency meeting outside the locker room.

In the locker room, the players had already taken a shower and changed clothes, but they were asked to stay in the locker room because the hotel had not been booked yet. Even if they went out and got on the bus, they didn't know where to go. , might as well rest in the locker room.

The players gathered together to discuss this somewhat special game.

"The game was postponed in the middle of the game. This is the first time I have encountered such a thing..." Grosskreutz sighed. "What about you, Zhou Yi?"

"Of course it's my first time too. My career hasn't been long yet, Big Cross." Zhou Yi said.

"Our luck is so bad. If it hadn't been for this heavy snow, I dare say we would have ended the first half with a two-goal lead!" Aubameyang complained. He feels very good in this game. Although he has not scored yet, he firmly believes that he will definitely score. This feeling is so strong. As a result, his feeling was interrupted by heavy snow.

Most of Dortmund's players were dismayed by the result.

Some even think this is a bad sign, indicating that Dortmund may not get the results they want on the road.

Words like "bad luck", "bad omen" and "ominous omen" appear frequently in the locker room.

The atmosphere of the team, which had been so high-spirited before, suddenly changed.

This change was obvious, and Zhou Yi felt it. He felt that compared with postponement of the game and heavy snow and hail, this was what worried him more.

So he stood up from his seat, clapped his hands, and signaled everyone to quiet down.

The other players all turned to look at him. Seeing that Zhou Yi seemed to have something to say, they cooperated and shut their mouths.

Although Zhou Yi is young, he can be considered a "veteran player" in this Dortmund team. Coupled with his performance in the game, his prestige in the team is still very high.

"I have some different opinions. I don't think this is an ominous sign." Zhou Yi got straight to the point and said without beating around the bush. "Of course, postponing the game now will interrupt our good form. But are we the kind of team that will lose if our form is interrupted once?"

Zhou Yi asked everyone.

"We are the defending champions. We encountered so many difficulties last season, but we were the winners in the end. So it's just a game postponed due to weather. How much impact can it have on us?"

Zhou Yi wanted to continue to persuade his teammates, but Grosskreutz suddenly jumped up and loudly echoed Zhou Yi in a very affirmative tone: "That's right! The wizards have spoken, what do we have to worry about!"

When he said this, his teammates in the locker room showed expressions of "sudden realization", and then they all nodded in agreement with Grosskreutz's statement.

"That's right, the wizard said we will win, then we will definitely win!"

"Yes, the wizard's words are so effective!"

…

Listening to everyone's discussion, Zhou Yi was really dumbfounded - he just wanted to use his words to boost the team's morale, but he didn't expect that his teammates would interpret his words in this way.

But that’s okay, as long as everyone doesn’t dwell on “bad luck” or “bad omen”.

Anyway, what he wants is the result, and it doesn't matter how he achieves the result.

Yan Min had heard the nickname "Wizard" from Zhou Yi before, but this was the first time he felt the power of this nickname up close. He was stunned. He didn't expect the Dortmund players to trust Zhou Yi so much, and even became a little superstitious. Zhou Yi can calm everyone down with just a casual word, changing the atmosphere in the locker room in one fell swoop.

It would be hard to believe it unless you saw it with your own eyes.

In the past, Yan Min always believed that "Wizard" was just a nickname given to Zhou Yi by his teammates, a sign of intimacy, or else it was a nickname given to Zhou Yi by the media, which had no specific meaning and was just cool.

Now that he saw it, he realized that his previous thoughts were wrong. At least these Dortmund players really believe that Zhou Yi has the mysterious ability from the East...

※※※

When Klopp and the others finished their meeting, good news came from the hotel. The club finally booked a hotel for them, and they could now set off.

So assistant coach Buvac returned to the locker room and asked everyone to take the bus.

At this time, it was already 11 o'clock in the evening local time. The players were actually very tired and couldn't wait to leave here and return to the warm hotel room, then take a hot bath, have a good sleep, and recharge their batteries. Facing tomorrow’s make-up game head on.

But things did not develop as smoothly as they imagined.

As soon as the bus left the stadium, it encountered a huge congestion in the city - traffic in Istanbul was paralyzed due to bad weather.

The bus was blocked and it was difficult to move.

The way back to the hotel was extremely long.

The delay in returning to the hotel made the exhausted players feel very depressed.

Zhou Yi's efforts in the locker room just now seemed to have lost effect.

The dark cloud of "ominous omen" has once again shrouded everyone's head.

At the beginning, everyone would still complain a few times, but later on, even the complaints were gone. The players were so tired that they fell asleep directly in the car, and the sound of snoring could be heard in the car.

Klopp couldn't sleep. He raised his wrist and looked at his watch. It was already 00:30. They were still stuck on the road and didn't know when they could go back to the hotel to rest.

Listening to the snoring of the players, looking at the dense brake lights in front of the road.

Klopp sighed in his heart, the night of this match day is really too long...