There's an old saying: even the kindest Buddha has a temper, let alone a human being.
The match had barely been underway for ten minutes, and Makino Tomoaki was already pulling, tugging, and making dirty tackles. How could Ye Chen not feel a surge of anger?
But as they say, retribution may be slow, but it always comes.
Seeing Makino recklessly charging in, Ye Chen wasn't about to hold back. He sent a "special delivery" straight his way.
The ball made a close and personal connection with Makino's face, sending his large frame crashing down to the ground!
As the ball bounced back, it was quickly kicked out of bounds by Rannishi...
The crowd let out a collective sigh.
After all, Ye Chen's earlier long-range shot had left them with a deep impressionâraw power, pure adrenaline.
Now seeing the shot blocked by Makino, Ye Chen's face showed a hint of disappointment.
Still, he gave a thumbs-up to Götze nearby, signaling that the pass had been fantastic.
Makino, meanwhile, felt dizzy, stars dancing before his eyes.
But soon, his Cologne teammates surrounded him.
"Makino, are you okay?"
"Great job!"
"That was an incredible block!"
Hearing the praise from his teammates, Makino broke into a smile. Being recognized felt great.
Shaking off the dizziness, he got up from the ground.
"I'm fine. Did you all see that? I completely saw through that kid's feint!" he boasted proudly to his teammates.
"Well done! Keep it up next time!" Podolski ran over to give him a pat on the back, boosting his morale even further.
Watching Makino bounce back so energetically, Ye Chen was a bit surprised.
Gotta hand it to himâthis guy has quite the resilience.
Of course, Ye Chen had no intention of actually injuring himâjust a little lesson to keep him in line.
But now it seemed Makino had grown even more confident?
Fine! Time to properly embarrass him.
A spark of determination ignited in Ye Chen's eyes.
The strength gap between Dortmund and Cologne was clear, especially in the midfield.
Cologne struggled to advance past Dortmund's half, while Dortmund easily reached their defensive line.
Of course, Cologne's coach Solbakken had anticipated this and set up a 4-3-3 formation, hoping the wingers and midfielders could drop back to defend when necessary.
Just as Klopp trusted Ye Chen unconditionally, Solbakken placed his faith in Podolski.
Unfortunately, no single player could bridge the overall skill gap between the teams.
25:22 into the game.
After nearly 20 minutes of relative calm, Dortmund launched another offensive.
Back in China, in the CCTV Sports Channel live broadcast room, commentator Huang Jianxiang narrated with fervor:
"Weidenfeller clears the ball from the backfield with a long pass, and it finds Kehl up front!"
"Kehl settles it and passes to Ye Chen!"
"You can see that Ye Chen's acceleration and top speed are far superior to Makino's, giving him a constant advantage!"
"Ye Chen takes possession. He doesn't rush forward but waits, while Kagawa and Götze position themselves."
"Oh wow, what do we have here!"
"It's the elástico! Ye Chen uses the elástico to easily get past Makino!"
On the pitch, Ye Chen received Kehl's header and found himself one-on-one with Makino again.
Makino, fully alert, lowered his center of gravity, eyes locked on Ye Chen.
He was determined to stop him this time, using every ounce of his ability.
Ye Chen, initially slowing down, suddenly picked up speed again.
Makino anticipated thisâYe Chen's signature La Croqueta!
He'd seen highlights of Ye Chen fooling players like Fati with it before, even winning free kicks afterward.
Makino had only four words for Fati's defense: "Complete and utter fool."
If Ye Chen tried the same trick, Makino wouldn't fall for it!
Sure enough, as Ye Chen sped up, Makino held his ground, unmoved.
But in that split second, Ye Chen's right foot passed the ball to his left and feigned an inside cut.
Makino stayed steady, convinced it was just a feint.
And yet, in the blink of an eye, Ye Chen poked the ball forward with his left foot and burst past Makino with sheer speed.
Makino froze.
This guy wasn't playing by the rules!
He wasn't supposed to be this unpredictable!
Before Makino could react, Podolski, tracking back, shouted at him, "Makino, what are you doing? Get back and defend!"
Makino snapped out of it and scrambled to chase Ye Chen, who was already several strides ahead.
To Ye Chen's left was Kagawa; to his right, Götze. He had plenty of options.
Feigning a pass to Kagawa, Ye Chen baited Sasharitt into shifting left.
But instead of passing, he tapped the ball to his stronger foot and went for a direct shot.
"Not so fast!"
Makino, recovering just in time, slid into the box to block the shot.
Confident this time, he thought, I've got this. I'll stop him for sure.
But once again, it was a feint.
Ye Chen had been watching Makino out of the corner of his eye, waiting for him to react.
As Makino slid in, Ye Chen adjusted, using the inside of his foot to shield the ball.
Makino realized too lateâit was another trap.
Momentum carried him through, taking Ye Chen down with a crunching tackle.
This time, Ye Chen wasn't diving.
Getting clipped by a sliding defender of Makino's size? Of course, he went down.
"Whistle!"
The referee, having seen everything, pointed decisively to the penalty spot.
Calmly, he issued a yellow card to Makino, followed by a red for his second booking, sending him off.
Makino didn't argue, holding his head in frustration.
What had gone wrong?
He had tried to provoke Ye Chen at the start of the game, but instead, he'd lost his own composure.
Finally, he snapped out of it.
"You despicable Chinese player!" Makino snarled, glaring daggers at Ye Chen.
Ye Chen, however, remained serene.
As the saying goes: Never argue with a foolâyou'll never win.
As Makino left the field, the stadium erupted into boos.
Ye Chen walked out of the penalty box. Despite earning the penalty, he wasn't high enough in the team hierarchy to take it himself.
But then, Klopp's voice rang out:
"Let Ye take the penalty!"
Huh?
This scene feels oddly familiar...