novelraw Chapter 287 - 71: Absolute Dead Angle! Bayern’s Nemesis! Peerless Hero! Dortmund’s Great Opportunity! Make Bayern Regret It
Chapter 287 - 71: Absolute Dead Angle! Bayern’s Nemesis! Peerless Hero! Dortmund’s Great Opportunity! Make Bayern Regret It
"Dortmund, spearheaded by Wang Shuo, still managed a 5-4 victory over a Bayern side featuring the two superstars, Ribery and Robben. This has given everyone hope for the Bumblebees’ resurgence!"
Bild focused its coverage on Wang Shuo.
All five of the Bumblebees’ goals came from Wang Shuo.
A hat-trick and two assists!
As Dortmund’s lone striker, Wang Shuo was the core of the team’s offense up front.
And now, Wang Shuo’s performance certainly hadn’t disappointed.
"After scoring 29 goals last season, many said that Wang Shuo would hit a sophomore slump this season."
"But the facts have proven that this isn’t the case."
"After five rounds of the Bundesliga, Dortmund has scored 10 goals. Eight of them came from Wang Shuo, who also has two assists."
"In other words, he alone has orchestrated all of Dortmund’s goals!"
Bild believed this was, of course, a temporary phenomenon.
But it also highlighted Wang Shuo’s current importance to this Dortmund team.
"While the 30-million-euro man was being substituted off by Van Gaal, the 20-million-euro man had already successfully shouldered the responsibility for Dortmund!"
Kicker Magazine also believed that Wang Shuo was now Dortmund’s most indispensable player.
This was mainly because the Dortmund players had not yet fully adapted to Klopp’s tactics.
Moreover, Dortmund had played too many matches recently.
So far, Bayern had only played six official matches: five Bundesliga rounds and one DFB-Pokal match.
But Dortmund had already played ten.
Not to mention, there was a two-week national team training camp in between.
The team lacked chemistry, was unfamiliar with the head coach’s tactics, and was dealing with injuries, all while facing a packed schedule. This combination led to Dortmund becoming overly reliant on Wang Shuo’s goals.
"We believe this reliance will shift as the team’s condition improves."
"But Wang Shuo has undoubtedly become Dortmund’s most indispensable player!"
"At the same time, he has also won the adoration of the fans in Dortmund’s South Stand!"
In addition, media outlets including Ruhr News, the West German Newspaper, and the Frankfurt Allgemeine Zeitung all reported on the match.
And along with Wang Shuo’s brilliant performance, there was, naturally, a piece of gossip that was also widely reported by the media.
Wang Shuo was dating the German goddess, Lina Gerk!
This was an absolute bombshell!
Ruhr News, in particular, quickly published a report stating that Lina Gerk had moved into Wang Shuo’s home in Luckenwalde Castle at the beginning of September.
Riding the wave of this national derby and Wang Shuo’s current momentum, Lina Gerk had another moment in the spotlight in Germany.
She also took this opportunity to strike while the iron was hot, announcing the launch of her own fashion brand.
Back in China, the media was also scrambling to report on Wang Shuo’s hat-trick.
The fact that the entire Westfalen Stadium had roared "Wang Shuo" in unison in Chinese made the fans back home incredibly proud!
This was Dortmund, after all!
In Germany, they were the second-biggest powerhouse, second only to Bayern!
Had any player from Japan or South Korea ever reached such an Achievement?
But our Chinese player did!
His romantic gossip with "Germany’s number one beauty" also sparked widespread discussion back home.
Wang Shuo’s parents even called him to confirm the matter.
It wasn’t that they minded who Wang Shuo was dating.
Their main worry was the language barrier. What would they do with a German girlfriend who couldn’t speak their language?
After all, even their own Mandarin wasn’t very standard.
Wang Shuo wasn’t concerned.
The next day, the 13th, when Lina Gerk was celebrating his birthday with him, he jokingly asked her about the language barrier with his parents. The German girl, however, was full of confidence.
"I’ll enroll in a Chinese class at a language institute. I’ll learn it quickly."
Wang Shuo was overjoyed and pulled her affectionately into his arms.
"Learn Chinese? Why would you need to enroll in a class? I’ll teach you myself!"
「...」
After the fifth round of the Bundesliga, Dortmund’s league ranking remained unchanged.
In this round, Bayer Leverkusen defeated VfL Wolfsburg 3-2 in an away match.
Meanwhile, Hamburg beat Stuttgart 3-1 at home.
Therefore, the Bumblebees still held third place in the Bundesliga.
But this was already Dortmund’s best result in several years.
For perspective, when was the last time Dortmund was ranked third in the Bundesliga?
It was during the 03/04 season, back when Sommer was the coach—a full six years ago.
Coincidentally, that also happened after the fifth round.
And in that season, Dortmund ultimately finished sixth in the Bundesliga.
So, everyone at Dortmund was very satisfied with this result.
But still, no one at Dortmund dared to get complacent.
Immediately after the fifth round of the Bundesliga came the UEFA Europa League group stage matches.
In the draw held at the UEFA Headquarters in Nyon in early September, Dortmund was placed in Group C of the UEFA Europa League.
The other three teams in the group were Tel Aviv Hapolel from Israel, Celtic from Scotland, and Vienna Rapid from Austria.
Dortmund’s first match was an away game against Vienna Rapid.
The journey from Dortmund to Vienna was nearly 1,000 kilometers and would take over nine hours by the fastest land route.
So this time, Dortmund would travel to Dusseldorf to take a flight, which would be about an hour and a half long.
But one detail that perfectly illustrated the meticulous preparation of German teams was that Dortmund’s team bus was sent to Vienna two days in advance. After arriving, the driver would familiarize themselves with the routes between the hotel, the stadium, and the airport.