When Klopp announced before the game that Yan Min replaced the injured Reus starting, it did not cause an uproar in the locker room. Everyone saw Yan Min's ability and condition shown in recent times. His attitude in training is also obvious to all. There is nothing surprising about such a performance that can get a starting opportunity.

Even Yan Min himself was not very surprised.

Two hours before the game, the outside world also got the starting list of both sides of the game. Leverkusen had no unexpected arrangements.

On Dortmund's side, Reus did not appear in the starting lineup, Yan Min replaced him.

"Reus has not started, it seems that his injury is really not optimistic..." The host and guests of the TV station were discussing this list.

"Bortmond's luck this season is really bad. Many main players in the team have suffered injuries one after another... And judging from this trend, Dortmund's injury wave will continue and it will not be solved in a short period of time..."

"Of course it cannot be solved. As long as Klopp insists on his current tactical style and training intensity for one day, Dortmund's wounded soldiers will continue to increase..."

"I don't quite understand Klopp's idea. This team has won enough championships. It can be said that Dortmund's players have been squeezed to the limit by him. Why should we continue to play like this? You must know that if this continues, it will inevitably cause more injuries. Moreover, the players' fighting spirit may not be as strong as before... Dortmund's ups and downs this season have not only been affected by injuries, but also has something to do with the players' desire to win is not as strong as before..."

The guests discussed Dortmund's injury problems and started to continue. The host had to bring the topic back: "No matter what, Reus is already injured. In terms of substitute, Klopp chose Yan Min, a young Chinese player who has performed well recently. What do you think about this adjustment?"

The guests looked at each other, and one of them said: "Yan Min is indeed very talented and capable, but he doesn't seem to be well adapted to European football yet. I found that he has an obvious problem now - when he comes on the bench, he can often show a stunning performance, but when he starts, his performance is far inferior to that of a substitute..."

"Super substitute?" asked the host.

"Yes, this is a bit of a meaning. I don't know if it's because of physical fitness that he can run better than other players when he comes on the bench, or because of his mentality problem - he thinks more, asks more, and is more impatient after starting. And when he comes on the bench, his positioning is relatively not so high, so it may be easier to play..."

"So, isn't Klopp's choice to let Yan Min replace Reus as the starting lineup, isn't it a good choice?"

"I didn't say that. But I do have concerns about this. In fact, in terms of the selection of wingers, Dortmund is not short of people. They also have Kuba and Mkhitaryan who can play on the wing. I think Klopp's choice of Yan Min is a little bit of a reward for his performance in the last few games - for the Champions League group stages between Naples and Arsenal, and against Bayern Munich, Yan Min has played a crucial role in the bench. For a player with such an outstanding form, it is impossible for him to be substituted all the time..."

In China, there is no such concern or discussion. Whether it is the commentator, media reporter or ordinary fans, he is very happy that Yan Min can start the start.

This means that Dortmund will have two Chinese players starting at the same time, and they naturally hope that Yan Min can stand firm in the starting position from now on.

※※※

When the players of both sides walked out of the passage and walked onto the stadium, the TV broadcast gave Zhou Yi and Son Heung-min a close-up shot, which fully demonstrated that the two people were key figures in their respective teams in this game.

Zhou Yi is the core of Dortmund, while Son Heung-min can be said to be the "Bortmund nemesis". He scored three goals alone when he played against Dortmund, which is currently the person who scored the most goals against Dortmund in Leverkusen's team.

Although I was discussing Reus' substitute Yan Min before the game, when it comes to the game, everyone still has to look at Zhou Yi and Son Heung-min.

It can be seen from the starting lineups of these two teams that they do not want to reserve in this game and do not intend to retain their strength for the Champions League group stage in the middle of next week.

The Champions League group stage is of course very important, but this league is equally important.

Although it was a away game, after the game began, Leverkusen played very proactively.

They did not play relatively conservatively because it was a away game, because Dortmund was strong, and because there was still a Champions League group stage in the middle of next week.

Just eight minutes into the game, Son Heung-min made a pass in the penalty area. Leverkusen's midfielder Hegler followed at the front of the penalty area and shot. The football was hit by Weidenfell.

Four minutes later, Leverkusen's offensive came again, with full-back Emre Jan breaking through on the left and then cutting inside, then a long shot from the top of the penalty area's free throw, and the football went above the crossbar.

"Oh! Emre Jan! It's so dangerous! It's just a little higher!" commentator Marcel Lef exclaimed. "After the game started, the offensive was Leverkusen who played away. This was somewhat beyond everyone's expectations..."

The Korean commentator was very excited: "Son Heung-min performed very positively after the opening game! He ran tirelessly and could appear in almost any corner of the frontcourt! This game was an opportunity for Son Heung-min to officially challenge Asian top star Zhou Yi!"

Although the Koreans are praising Son Heung-min, they have not denied Zhou Yi's current status and said that he is the number one star in Asia. That's right. After Park Ji-sung left Manchester United and left the mainstream European league, Shinji Kagawa could not even play the ball at Manchester United. Among so many Asian players playing in Europe, who can compare with Zhou Yi?

Sun Pan is considered a goalkeeper, but he is a goalkeeper. No matter how good he performs, he still feels like he is a little worse.

It is really nothing to say that Zhou Yi is the number one star in Asia. But why hasn’t Asia’s number one star ever won the Asian Footballer?

This has to talk about the pretentious rules of the Asian Football Federation - in the past, the AFC did not restrict Asian players who played overseas from participating in the selection of Asian Football Masters, so Eizusa Nakada, who played most in Perugia, has won two Asian Football Masters.

But later the AFC stipulates that winners must attend the award ceremony, otherwise they will be disqualified. The AFC award ceremony is at the end of November every year. At this time, the European League is in full swing. Few clubs are willing to let the main players in the team fly thousands of kilometers just to receive the award. For example, Park Ji-sung, the iconic figure of Korean football, has never won the honor of the Asian Footballer, because he directly rejected the AFC award ceremony every time. Naturally, the AFC will not award the award that represents the highest honor of Asian football to such a person who does not give them face.

Since last year, the AFC has reformed the selection of Asian Footballers and no longer listed the award for Asian Footballers. Asian Footballers have become the best Asian player to play football in Asia. For those who play football outside Asia, the AFC has established a new "Best Overseas Player Award", which is specially prepared for Zhou Yi, Son Heung-min and others. But this also means that if you don't go back to Asia to play football, Zhou Yi, Son Heung-min and others will never get Asian Footballers...

The winner of the Best Overseas Asian Player in the first year caused controversy. Shinji Kagawa won the award. At that time, it aroused dissatisfaction among the Chinese media, believing that the selection results of this award were controversial. In terms of strength and influence, how can Shinji Kagawa be compared with Zhou Yi? You must know that in Dortmund, Shinji Kagawa has always been under Zhou Yi. Now Shinji Kagawa has gone to Manchester United and won the Best Overseas Player Award. Everyone can only think that Manchester United's fame is greater than Dortmund.

Shinji Kagawa didn't even attend the award ceremony at that time. His external reason was that he was busy with the Premier League, but he knew if there were other reasons.

This year's Best Overseas Player Award is finally no longer controversial. Zhou Yi, who led Dortmund to win three consecutive league titles, won the Champions League title, and was elected the best European player last season. If he still can't win the best Asian player, the AFC will become a joke in the world football world.

The winner of this award is Zhou Yi, but the award was not announced at the AFC annual award ceremony that had just ended not long ago.

This is because Zhou Yi did not attend the AFC award ceremony either.

At that time, Zhou Yi claimed that because Dortmund's schedule was intensive and there were many key games, he really had no time or energy to fly to Abu Dhabi to receive the award. He also specifically thanked the AFC for its recognition of his performance.

His attitude and speech were impeccable, but everyone still felt that Zhou Yi would not present the awards, which was not as simple as he said. There must be some "venting anger" factor in it.

Anyway, both the media and fans in China understand and reconcile Zhou Yi’s approach. Even if someone occasionally criticizes Zhou Yi for being a big shot, he will soon be submerged in the saliva of more people.

Since the AFC separates the players playing in Asia from those playing in Europe, even if Zhou Yi does not attend the award ceremony, the award will still be his. There will be no awards like Park Ji-sung, who does not attend the award ceremony. However, it is hard to say whether Zhou Yi still cares about such a broken award now.
Chapter completed!