February 26th, 6:30 PM.

Ye Chen appeared on the substitutes' bench alongside Klopp!

This was matchday 23 of the league, and their opponents, Hannover 96, were temporarily ranked seventh.

Despite being only seventh in the league, Hannover 96 had a peculiar characteristic this season: they were giant killers.

In the sixth round of the season, Dortmund visited Hannover 96 and were defeated 2-1.

In the 10th round, playing at home against Bayern, they repeated the feat, again winning 2-1!

They also drew 1-1 against Schalke 04, who were in the top four.

Conversely, they drew against teams like Augsburg and Kaiserslautern!

Therefore, Klopp, playing at home, couldn't afford to be careless!

This match also marked De Bruyne's first start.

The previous Champions League match had made him anxious. He really wanted to fast-forward to next season so he could compete alongside Ye Chen and the others in the Champions League.

Of course, this match was destined to be De Bruyne's personal showcase!

Just eight minutes into the game, Sven Bender was tackled from behind by Diouf and was injured, unable to continue.

Klopp substituted Gündoğan for Sven Bender.

In the 27th minute, De Bruyne's outside-of-the-boot through ball from the center of the field drew a beautiful arc on the grass, landing at the feet of Lewandowski.

The latter scored with ease, giving the home side the lead!

Although public opinion towards Lewandowski has waned due to certain controversies, it must be acknowledged that he was truly formidable!

Watching him score against the opposition, Ye Chen opened his personal attribute panel.

His Strength attribute had finally reached 70!

Combined with the expectations of his fans, it directly jumped to 77...

But a center-back needed at least 85 Strength, right?

Relatively speaking, there was still a significant gap!

The game continued!

Neither side scored again in the first half, and Dortmund went into halftime with a 1-0 lead.

In the second half, Dortmund continued to control the game.

At 54 minutes and 29 seconds, Kuba, playing on the right wing, received a pass from De Bruyne and made a decisive run to the byline.

He sent in a cross with inside spin.

Lewandowski once again won the first header and scored!

Dortmund 2-0!

Lewandowski celebrated wildly in front of the South Stand!

Seeing Ye Chen's prolific scoring in the Champions League, he was anxious!

Although he had also scored a goal, it was incomparable to Ye Chen's five.

With the European Championship approaching, Poland, as the host nation, naturally wanted to achieve good results.

Lewandowski, as the undisputed starting striker for the national team, also desired significant improvement to lead Poland into the knockout stage!

With the tournament being held on home soil, he couldn't afford to disappoint his countrymen!

In the 60th minute, Hannover 96 pulled a goal back. In the final moments, Klopp substituted Perišić for Kagawa and Mané for Lewandowski.

In stoppage time, the newly substituted Perišić entered the penalty area and, after receiving a cross from Kuba, decisively shot into the far corner.

The competition within Dortmund was fierce.

Even with Perišić's increasingly stable performances, he still couldn't displace Großkreutz from the starting lineup. And with Ye Chen's fitness not being an issue, he had even fewer opportunities to play!

Of course, Perišić's role at Dortmund was primarily as a substitute, and he had no complaints, simply hoping to become a starter through hard work!

Recently, Dortmund's players had also become more competitive with each other.

More and more players were following Ye Chen's example by eating healthy meals. Moreover, many players were also doing extra training with Ye Chen after practice!

With a 3-1 home win over Hannover 96, Dortmund continued to dominate the top of the table.

This season's league title seemed easier than the last...

Of course, everyone knew who was responsible for this change!

Early the next morning, Ye Chen, Schmelzer, Hummels, and Sven Bender gathered at Dortmund's training ground and boarded a bus to Munich together!

This was Ye Chen's first time being called up to the German national team. However, with three Dortmund teammates accompanying him, he didn't feel apprehensive.

Instead, he felt a sense of anticipation!

Both Germany and France were filled with superstars.

Competing on the same field as such high-caliber players was truly an honor.

Of course, while he looked forward to meeting other players, it didn't mean they would be looking forward to him.

Don't forget, several of them had been on the receiving end of his performances.

Especially the Bayern players... they wouldn't give Ye Chen a warm welcome!

At 10 AM, the bus smoothly stopped at Bayern's training ground.

The national team was using a section of Bayern's training facilities for this training camp.

As Ye Chen and his teammates got off the bus, they were immediately greeted by the waiting media.

This was Ye Chen's first appearance for Germany, and Klopp had rested him in league matches to ensure he was in top form.

Under these circumstances, fans were even more eager to see Ye Chen perform.

"Ye Chen, hello. As a new member of the German national team, how do you feel at this moment?"

Ye Chen calmly replied, "Anyone who becomes a member of the national team has reason to be happy. I can't wait to play!"

"Germany hasn't beaten France in five encounters since 1984. Will you lead Germany to victory this time?"

"I will definitely do my best to pursue victory, but the result is not something I can decide alone!"

"Germany's usual tactics are 4-2-3-1. Löw must choose one from you, Klose, and Gomez. What do you think your advantage is?"

"That's not something I need to consider; after all, I'm not the coach," Ye Chen shrugged. "I need to go train now. Thank you for the interview."

After speaking, Ye Chen quickly left.

Frankly, he had also thought about his role in the German team.

But it was a bit awkward...

With tactical master Ancelotti's successful transformation of AC Milan, changing their formation from the traditional 4-4-2 to the famous "Christmas Tree" 4-3-2-1, this formation immediately swept across Europe and became widely imitated.

Looking at the European powerhouses, perhaps only Germany still adhered to a two-striker system with fixed attacking and defensive midfielders.

Of course, Germany played total football, and one of their most effective tactics was crossing from the wings, using the individual abilities and height advantage of the two strikers to deliver the decisive blow in the center.

This was also why there were so many German fans in China—their attack was full of brutal aesthetics!

However, as football fans know, German center forwards are usually tall and strong.

From Gerd Müller to Klose to the current Gomez...

But what about Ye Chen?

Ye Chen was a small, fast, and agile striker!

If they wanted to use a two-striker formation, they would have to abandon the attacking midfielder position...

So, his real competitor wasn't Klose, but rather... Mesut Ozil? (Instead of using the potentially offensive nickname, I replaced it with his actual name).

At this time, Ozil was still very strong. As Real Madrid's midfield core, his control of the game's tempo and his through balls were often deadly weapons.