Chapter 167: Not too hell
After some necessary rounds, the players from both sides finally stood in their respective positions and waited for the game to begin. Pen Fun Pavilion wWw. biquge。 info
The game was played by the home side Galatasaray who kicked off first, with Borussia Dortmund's strikers Mark and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang both standing outside the centre circle.
As the referee blew the whistle, the opposing starting striker Didier Drogba gently slammed the ball forward, and Sneijder followed up and kicked the ball back into his own half.
The two Champions League winners of the year are now in the Turkish team.
"Well, with the referee's whistle, one of the highlights of the Champions League group stage begins! However, Dortmund's side has been affected by injuries and the squad is not full enough. The only good news is that Galatasaray have not been in great form this season, even at home, they have not won in the two Champions League group stage home games, losing to their opponents, which is good news for Dortmund......" He Ping began to introduce to the Chinese fans in front of the TV.
He set his eyes on Yan Min and continued: "Yan Min started this game, and this is his first start in the Champions League group stage. The form has been very good in the last few games. At the same time, Dortmund's injury situation in the team is serious, which also gives Yan Min the opportunity to play. Hopefully he can take advantage of the starting opportunity this time and show his quality...... The first few times he started in the league, he was average, so he always started one game and then went back to the bench and sat on the bench. Of course, we still hope that he can find himself in Dortmund......"
Yan Min in the picture has already rushed out.
Yan Min, who was beaten by the cold air as soon as he appeared, really needs to run more now until his body warms up.
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Galatasaray, who were playing at home, took advantage of their kick-off opportunity to organize an attack, but it did not threaten the Dortmund goal, and even the shot did not form, and it was stopped in front of the Dortmund goal.
Next up was Borussia Dortmund with the ball.
However, Dortmund did not rush to attack, but fell back and forth in central midfield.
This game is of course crucial for Borussia Dortmund, but it is also important for Galatasaray as it is their last chance to defend their glory. If the group stage is played without a single victory, and they are eliminated like this, it is simply unacceptable for the fanatical and proud Galatasaray fans.
Didn't their head coach Trim just say before the game: Galatasaray is going to fight for glory in this game.
So they certainly can't just be so comfortable losing to Borussia Dortmund on the road.
Zhou Yi didn't even go forward, but was always in the backfield, almost standing on the same line with the defenders, and participated in the inverted foot.
Under Dortmund's style of play, Galatasaray's players kept pressing up, hoping to cut off the ball directly in the front court, and then catch Dortmund off guard. As a result, their back line is getting closer and closer.
Of course, this situation did not escape Zhou Yi's "radar".
When he found out that Galatasaray's players were not going back after pressing forward, he realised his chance.
However, he didn't kick the football directly to the front of the air dozens of meters away. In this way, there is a good chance that it will not form a threatening attack, but will also startle the snake.
What Zhou Yi needs is the success rate, not the number of attacks.
It's an away game, try to get the team off to a good start with goals.
This is Zhou Yi's idea.
So even if he saw Galatasaray's defense pressing forward a little, Zhou Yi was not impulsive.
He began to slowly pass the ball forward, not long, but short.
It took several passes before the ball was finally pushed across the halfway line.
At this time, although Dortmund's attack was past half-time, Galatasaray's back line was also pressed to the 30-metre line, and there was only one goalkeeper Morales in the box behind them.
Zhou Yi ran from the middle to the side to pick up his teammates.
When his teammates passed the football to him, he gently flicked the football to the side with the outside of his right foot, dodged the Galatasaray midfielder Melo who pounced, and then without hesitation, he directly picked up the football with his right foot and passed it forward.
This time it wasn't a short pass penetration, but a 20-metre overhead pass!
At the same time as Zhou Yi passed the ball, Mark, who was in front, suddenly started to accelerate forward!
Galatasaray's centre-back, Gekhan Zan, who was originally defending Mark, saw Mark step forward and kicked him along.
But because Zhou Yi's direct pass was very sudden, Gokhan Zan only followed when he saw Mark running, and he had already lost the lead in defense, even if he leaned in, he was blocked by Mark.
Then Mark took the football from Zhou Yi forward!
He didn't have to slow down at all, just smashed into the box, and then faced the attacking goalkeeper Morales, and Mark stabbed the ball with his left foot!
The ball flew past Morales and crashed into the net!
"Oh, oh, oh - just four minutes into the game, Dortmund are ahead, there is no better start!" Marcel Leif exclaimed.
Everyone knew before the game that this game was very important for Dortmund, and because of that, there was a lot of concern about Dortmund, that they were too nervous, too stressed, and that they were not playing well.
But judging from the few minutes of the game, everyone's worries seem unwarranted.
Even if there is pressure and nervousness, now this goal has disappeared.
Mark was also happy after the goal, he turned around and hooked his hand at Zhou Yi, signaling him to come up and celebrate together.
So Zhou Yi ran to him with the other Dortmund players. In front of Galatasaray's penalty area, a group of people huddled together and cheered and celebrated.
As long as they win against this opponent, they can ignore the outcome of Napoli and Arsenal in the other stadium......
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At Napoli's home stadium, the Stadio São Paulo, their match against Arsenal is underway, and the game has only just begun, and both sides are still a little out of shape, or they are still playing cautiously.
But soon this cautious situation will be broken.
In the fifth minute of the game, a message came from distant Istanbul.
"Dortmund are ahead?" Benitez asked his assistant to confirm, who gave him a nod of the affirmative.
Benitez frowned when he saw this.
Dortmund would have 12 points if they win away at Galatasaray, and Napoli will now have to win against Arsenal to be consistent with Dortmund on points.
I wanted to be careful not to make mistakes and give Arsenal a chance.
Looking at it now, no matter how cautious he is, even if he, as the head coach, can sit still, I am afraid that the players of Napoli will not be able to stabilize it. Borussia Dortmund's goal is no secret, and the players will soon find out, and even if they don't say it, there are many ways for the Napoli fans in the stands to tell the players on the pitch.
So Benitez immediately made the decision to increase the attack.
When Napoli increased their attacking intensity, Arsenal immediately felt the pressure.
Arsene Wenger knows why. With Borussia Dortmund ahead, Napoli will have to beat Arsenal at home if they are to progress from the group.
Arsene Wenger has a good estimate of how difficult this game will be.
It's not that Arsenal can't lose, but they can't lose by more than three goals.
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Taking the lead after just five minutes gave Dortmund a morale boost, and when the game resumed, they were almost besieging Galatasaray.
Galatasaray's fans were unhappy with Dortmund's overwhelming dominance - this was their home stadium after all, how could they be so unscrupulous?
Although the team has no hope of qualifying from the group, everyone still hopes that the team can win the last home game. Say goodbye to this season's Champions League with a win.
As a result, there were loud boos in the Ali Samyan Stadium, and it was finally a bit of a "hell's home" atmosphere at this time.
However, the boos from the fans did not affect Dortmund's performance, and under the leadership of Zhou Yi, they still firmly controlled the situation on the field.
Marcel Leif is a German commentator, and it stands to reason that he should be on Dortmund's side, but Galatasaray's performance is really too bad, and even he can't stand it: "Galatasaray has given Zhou Yi too much room to move, so it's not okay to go on like this......"
He Ping also said: "Maybe this can explain why Galatasaray have played so poorly this season...... It's the last group game, and Galatasaray doesn't seem to be on the move......"
Their head coach, Trim, was unhappy with his team's performance, opening his hands and yelling on the sidelines, but it seemed to be to no avail.
In the tenth minute, Dortmund attacked the front of the opponent's penalty area, and after Zhou Yi received Yan Min's pass in the middle, he did not stop the ball, but chose to shoot directly from a distance!
The ball ended up just a little over the crossbar and scared the Galatasaray fans out of the way.
"Zhou Yi - it's a pity! It's just a little higher! I feel like if I continue to play like this, Dortmund can still score, and it won't be long......" He Ping said confidently.