The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills

Chapter 282 - 70: National Derby! Van Gaal is Mad! The Germans’ Dream is Shattered! A Great Comeback in the Making?

As he charged toward the edge of the penalty area near the right corner, he suddenly accelerated, feinting past De De before cutting inside.

De De was completely left behind.

Next, Robben dribbled past Shahin and, before Sven Bender could close him down, fired off a curler with his left foot.

The ball rocketed past the outstretched hands of the diving Weidenfeller and buried itself in the top-left corner of Dortmund’s goal.

"A WORLDIE!!!"

"An absolutely world-class goal!!"

"That was Arjen Robben’s signature move—cutting in from the right and curling it in with his left foot!"

"3–4!"

"The Dutchman has scored a brace!"

After the goal, the Bayern players were ecstatic.

Especially Robben.

After scoring, he ran into Dortmund’s goal, grabbed the ball, and sprinted back toward the center circle.

After being sold to Bayern by Real Madrid, Robben was clearly fired up, determined to display his talent in the Bundesliga and prove his worth!

At the very least, he wanted to show the whole world that he was still the Flying Dutchman!

Klopp also made his first substitution.

But it came as a huge surprise to everyone.

He brought on Foyelner for Tinga.

With Schweinsteiger dropping back into a defensive midfield role and Bayern starting to advance the ball more down the flanks, especially through their full-backs, Tinga’s presence on the field was no longer as effective.

Normally, this would be the time to bolster the defense.

But Klopp didn’t.

He chose to fight fire with fire!

Bringing on Foyelner was his signal to the players.

Attack the hell out of them!

The vast majority of people, including the Dortmund fans, were shocked by Klopp’s substitution.

It was an absolutely insane decision!

But players like Wang Shuo, Foyelner, and Subotic knew better.

This was Klopp!

A complete and utter madman!

If he weren’t, who else could have come up with a tactic that could only last for 60 minutes?

Klopp had compromised in the past, but he was not one for compromise!

Both sides had fought to such an extent that the match had spun completely out of control.

At this point, only one team would be left standing!

In the stands, the Dortmund fans sang their club anthem nonstop, singing "You’ll Never Walk Alone."

The die-hard fans in the South Stand sang the loudest.

The entire stadium was filled with the voices of the Dortmund supporters.

On the pitch, the pace of the match between the two teams slowed slightly.

Even Bayern couldn’t withstand such a continuously fast-paced game.

They too needed to stop and catch their breath.

As the match entered the 65th minute, and especially after the 70th, the Dortmund players’ stamina had clearly dropped off significantly.

In the 71st minute, Klopp made his second substitution.

Reus came on for Grosskreutz.

But less than three minutes after this substitution, Bayern launched an attack from their front line, initiated by Ribery.

The Frenchman with the scarred face used his skillful footwork and stop-and-go dribbling to force a foul from Owomoyela, giving Bayern a free kick on the right side of the field, just outside the box.

This also showed that the Dortmund players’ stamina was beginning to fail.

His technique had become sloppy, which is why he failed to win the ball and ended up tripping Ribery.

But from this very free kick, Ribery sent a precise delivery in front of the goal. Van Bitten outmuscled Hummels and headed the ball in from close range.

Weidenfeller reacted instantly with a save, but the ball still slipped through his hands and into Dortmund’s goal.

4–4!

At that moment, the match had just entered the 75th minute.

Everyone started to worry.

The entire Westfalen Stadium was clearly in a panic!

Was this the start of a huge comeback?

Were they about to witness Bayern stage a massive comeback in their own home stadium?

The Bayern players were filled with soaring ambition.

Equalizing the score gave them hope for a complete turnaround.

And there were still 15 minutes left in the match.

Everyone knew about the Klopp Syndrome.

Everyone knew that the final 15 minutes were precisely Dortmund’s most vulnerable period.

Bayern once again launched a fierce offensive.

Riding the wave of morale from the equalizer, they pinned Dortmund down again, relentlessly attacking.

The Bumblebees were forced to fall back and defend.

But there was still constant danger in front of their goal.

First, a long-range shot from Van Bommel sent a cold sweat down everyone’s spine.

Then Schweinsteiger also had a long-range shot.

Thomas Müller also had a shot saved by Weidenfeller after making a late run into the box.

Next, Ribery cut in from the left and sent a right-footed curler just wide of the top-right corner.

Bayern assaulted Dortmund’s goal like madmen.

Dortmund, meanwhile, stubbornly defended their thirty-meter zone.

In the stands, over 80,000 fans, though fraught with anxiety, continued to sing in unison.

Strangely enough, even though both head coaches still had one substitution remaining, neither dared to use it.

Neither was willing to disrupt the current situation on the pitch.

Not even Bayern.

The two sides remained locked in this stalemate.

Bayern continuously organized and launched attacks, while Dortmund passively absorbed the blows, defending with grim determination.

Amidst the anxiety of the Dortmund fans, time ticked steadily forward, second by second.

But in the 87th minute, Robben cut in from the right half-space and took a shot that was blocked out of the penalty area by Hummels’ body.

Sven Bender got to the ball first and poked it away, but he collided with Van Bommel in the process.

Shahin immediately passed the ball forward.

The substitute Reus, still full of energy, trapped the ball with the side of his foot and charged forward at full speed.

But as he crossed the halfway line, Lahm had already caught up, flanking him on one side with Schweinsteiger on the other.

The young Dortmund star accelerated, gaining a body’s length on his pursuers, then sent a square pass to the middle.

It was a hurried pass.

If it had been a better pass, Wang Shuo could have taken a single touch right between the two center-backs and accelerated past them.

He was confident he could have done it.

But the timing of the pass was off, forcing Wang Shuo to slow down to receive it.

The moment he controlled the ball, Wang Shuo tried to turn and shake off Badstuber.

But who was Badstuber?

He had already suffered at Wang Shuo’s hands back in the U19s.

And he wasn’t the last defender this time.

So, the Bayern center-back committed a tactical foul without hesitation.

A yellow card!

Dortmund was awarded a free kick from a central position, about 23 meters from the goal.

Why?

Because Dortmund didn’t have any free-kick specialists!