In a sense, in fact, Sun Xingmin and Zhou Yi are very similar, and they can indeed be compared. Pen fun and pavilion www.biquge.info

Both came to Germany in 2008.

Seventeen-year-old Zhou Yi went to Dortmund, while sixteen-year-old Sun Xingmin went to Hamburg.

At that time, both men were still nobodies in German football and did not attract everyone's attention.

Son Heung-min benefited from the Korean Football Association's open-door policy, and as part of the cooperation project between South Korea and the German Football Association, he was selected by the Hamburg club to go to Germany to receive football training. A total of six South Korean players were offered the opportunity, three of whom joined Hamburg and three for Nuremberg.

And Zhou Yi was selected by Dortmund Club because of a football reality show and joined Dortmund's academy. At the same time, several other partners who participated in the filming of the reality show with him also joined different clubs and started their different football lives.

After entering Hamburg, Son Heung-min received youth training in Hamburg and participated in the second-tier team at the same time. Accumulated a lot of competition experience. From 2008 to 2010, he spent two years in the Academy in Hamburg.

Not long after he arrived in the youth team in Dortmund, he was promoted from U17 to U19, and represented U19 in the Youth League and the Youth German Cup, and performed well, and was transferred from the youth team to the first team in less than one season.

It can be said that from this point of view, Zhou Yi does embody a stronger talent than Sun Xingmin, and the development trajectory of the two people here is completely different.

Zhou Yi, who was promoted to the first team, only hibernated for less than half a season, seized the opportunity in Dortmund's game against Hoffenheim, became famous, and then gradually sat in the main position of Dortmund's first team. By the end of the season, Dortmund even simply let go of the original midfield core Shahin for him. As it turned out, they were right in this decision.

Despite the loss of Shahin, Dortmund then ushered in an era of their own.

Winning the league and winning the Champions League for three consecutive seasons was the most glorious period in the club's history, even in the 90s.

At this time, Zhou Yi not only quickly grew into the core of Dortmund, but also became a hot star in world football - it is not a mistake to say "new star" - and his name is inevitably linked to other big clubs every summer.

Coincidentally, Zhou Yi confirmed his core position at Dortmund from the 2010-2011 season, and it has only been three seasons so far.

Son Heung-min won his first professional contract and played for the first time for Hamburg's first team in the Bundesliga in the 2010-2011 season.

In three years, Zhou Yi has become a hot star, and Son Xingmin has also grown up little by little in Hamburg.

Now, Son Heung-min has joined Bayer Leverkusen, and the transfer fee of 10 million shows his strength.

Both of these youngsters are now rapidly developing into leading figures in their respective national teams. Therefore, the clash between the two of them is the top level of football between China and South Korea, and it is not reluctant.

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Before the game, the two were also asked by reporters about their impressions of each other.

"He's a good striker, he's a threat. Jurgen Klopp has already reminded us to pay extra attention to him in the game. He scored three goals against us in Hamburg last season and was a great opponent. Zhou Yi said this to the Korean reporter, which made the Korean reporter feel like eating honey. Being able to get such an evaluation from Zhou Yi greatly satisfied their vanity.

Zhou Yi didn't say this to take care of the face of Koreans. He was telling the truth.

Jurgen Klopp did alert them to several players in the Bayer Leverkusen squad, with Son Heung-min being one of them.

For Sun Xingmin, Zhou Yi is no stranger. When he was still in Hamburg, he played against Borussia Dortmund three times, starting twice and coming off the bench once. Son Heung-min scored three goals in those three encounters, all of which came last season.

Among them, Dortmund lost 2:3 away to Hamburg in the fourth round of the league last season, and the culprit was Son Heung-min, who scored twice in the game to help Hamburg win, giving Dortmund the first and only defeat of the season.

It is precisely because of this history of confrontation that Klopp will remind everyone to pay attention to Son Heung-min.

After moving to Bayer Leverkusen this season, Son Heung-min made 10 starts and came off the bench once, scoring six goals and ranking third in the Leverkusen squad for goals, behind striker Keessling with nine goals and midfielder Heaney Sam with seven goals.

There were also Chinese reporters who ran to interview Sun Xingmin to hear what he thought of Zhou Yi.

Domestically, Son Heung-min is an idol and a superstar, but when it comes to Zhou Yi, his attitude is still quite respectful: "For me, he is not only a strong opponent, but also the pride of our Asian players, especially East Asian players. I also dream of one day being able to achieve great things at the club like him. ”

It also made Chinese reporters feel refreshed to their hearts.

And no one will think that Sun Xingmin said this in order to coax them, Zhou Yi's achievements and status are there, Sun Xingmin just told the truth.

Although Zhou Yi is one year older than Son Xingmin, he played in the Bundesliga one season earlier than Son Xingmin, but he can also be regarded as Son Xingmin's predecessor. So Sun Xingmin's speech with such an attitude is not an insult to him.

And no matter what opinions South Korean fans have on China, they are not in any position to express their dissatisfaction on this matter.

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In addition to the contest between Zhou Yi and Son Heung-min, the game was also a "brother derby" between the Bend brothers, with Sven Bender's twin brother Lars Bender, who plays for Borussia Dortmund, also playing in midfield at Bayer Leverkusen.

Although both are midfielders, their positions and characteristics are different.

Sven Bender is a purely defensive midfielder who is fierce defensively, but lackluster in attack and has little to show for it.

Lars Bender, on the other hand, is a "BOX_TO_BOX" player, that is, a midfielder from the penalty area to the penalty area, with a good offensive and defensive style, a tenacious style, a large coverage area, and a strong ability to go back and forth.

The contest between the two brothers will definitely become one of the highlights of this game.

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Originally, everyone's focus was on these things. But just one day before the start of the race, an accident happened.

Royce was injured in training!

It's not a very serious injury, but I don't know if I'll be able to make it in time for this game against Bayer Leverkusen.

The advice of the team doctor, Dr. Braun, was not to let Royce play and take a break.

However, this game is very crucial for Borussia Dortmund, and if they lose at home to Bayer Leverkusen, they will be separated by Bayern Munich, and the league title race may be in vain.

However, if they insist on playing with Reuss injured, it will be important and crucial for Borussia Dortmund to host Galatasaray in the Champions League group stage next week. If Reuss is injured against Bayer Leverkusen and his injury gets worse and he misses the next game against Galatasaray, or more games, who will be responsible?

After thinking about it, Klopp finally put Reus in the squad. But he also promised Dr. Braun that he would not start Royce, and whether he would let Royce come off the bench depends on the situation.

This is one of those approaches, and given the pressure of being a head coach, Dr Braun did not strongly insist on his advice, but tacitly agreed to Klopp's approach. Of course, he still didn't forget to say more: "If possible, try not to let him play." ”

Reuss, who was supposed to start, couldn't start, and his place was vacated, so who could replace the vacated spot for Royce?

Mkhitaryan started the last game away at Mainz, but his performance was not satisfactory. Of course, although Mkhitaryan is a forward midfielder, he can also play on the side, so it is not impossible to let him replace Royce. If there wasn't a better option, Klopp might have done just that.

But now, in fact, there is a better choice, and Klopp has set his sights on Yan Min.

Yan Min's funds are playing well, and he is working hard as always in training. In his limited playing time, he put on convincing performances. And he was originally a wide player, more suitable to replace Royce. The only problem is that he is better at playing on the left wing, even though he is a right-footed player.

Of course, this is not too much of a problem in Klopp's view. Because Yan Min has not changed positions in the game, nor has he not played on the right side, his right foot can cut inside when he is on the left side, and he can send a cross with good accuracy when he changes to the right side.

Is there anything better than him?