The Devil's Home Ground in Dortmund

"So this is Dortmund's home ground? It really is terrifying!"

Dortmund's home fans are incredibly passionate, making it one of the most famous fortress stadiums in European football.

The stadium can hold eighty thousand spectators, and Dortmund's home games are almost always sold out.

Especially the south stand—every match, over thirty thousand fans pack it to the brim.

They wear Dortmund's black-trimmed yellow jerseys, wave all kinds of flags, and belt out the team's anthem at the top of their lungs, the sound soaring into the clouds and lingering endlessly.

This home atmosphere is far more intimidating than Bayern's Allianz Arena.

"Don't let outside factors affect you. Dortmund's home ground has always been like this. If you focus too much on that, you're falling into their trap!"

Captain Fritz saw the younger players shaken by Dortmund's home atmosphere and quickly spoke up to remind them.

People often say the home fans are the team's twelfth man.

That saying isn't baseless!

When playing at home, tens of thousands of supporters can cheer and applaud for their team, boosting their morale, firing up their fighting spirit, and making their blood boil with determination.

For the away team's players, though, every time they get the ball, they're met with jeers from the home fans. The deafening boos can rattle their nerves and rob them of calm judgment.

If someone's mental fortitude is weak, they might even lose control of the ball under the pressure and make all sorts of mistakes.

Not only that, but the fans' roaring support can also put pressure on the referees, nudging them to make calls in the home team's favor.

Add all these factors together, and you get the home-field advantage in football.

This advantage is very real, which is why in leagues everywhere, you often see teams that are absolute beasts at home.

If you run into a team like that, the match becomes incredibly tough.

And unfortunately for them, Dortmund is exactly that kind of home beast!

Last season, they only lost one of their seventeen Bundesliga home games, ranking first among all eighteen teams in the league and far ahead of second place.

Beating them on their own turf is even harder than conquering Bayern's home ground!

The historical head-to-head record also heavily favors Dortmund against Werder Bremen. In the last ten matches over two years, Dortmund had seven wins, two draws, and one loss, dominating the matchup.

Poor physical condition, the opponent's terrifying home advantage, and an overwhelmingly favorable historical record.

All of this pointed to one thing: for Werder Bremen, this match would be extremely difficult.

Schaaf knew this well, so he came up with a very bold plan.

"Attack hard in the first five minutes, try to score, then immediately drop back and defend until the final whistle!"

Dortmund's players are young—full of energy and drive, which is great.

But young players have one flaw: their mentality isn't steady enough.

If they're riding a wave, they have no psychological burden and can put on godlike performances.

But once they fall behind, especially in a tough spot where they can't break through, they get more and more impatient, play worse and worse, and eventually lose.

The last time Werder Bremen beat Dortmund, it was thanks to Silvestre's quick goal just five minutes in, which threw off their mindset, made them increasingly frantic, and led to a collective meltdown that let Werder Bremen snatch a lucky win.

So for Werder Bremen, if they want to win, they need to exploit that weakness and hammer it relentlessly.

If their tactic works, they'll have a shot at victory.

If it fails, no big deal—their odds were slim anyway.

So when Coach Schaaf laid out his plan, all the players agreed. Everyone was ready to take the gamble!

"CCTV, CCTV, dear viewers, this is China Central Television bringing you the 2012 German Telekom Cup final, Dortmund versus Werder Bremen."

"I'm your commentator, He Wei!"

"And I'm Xu Yang!"

"The match is about to start. Let's first take a look at the starting lineups:

For Dortmund, on the field are: 20 Langerak, 21 Kirch, 15 Hummels, 30 Ginter, 37 Halstenberg, 5 Kehl, 7 Leitner, 19 Großkreutz, 11 Reus, 32 Bydgosczy, and 9 Lewandowski.

For Werder Bremen, the formation remains 4-3-3:

The starting lineup is: 1 Mielitz, 23 Serey, 5 Lukimya, 15 Prödl, 17 Ignjovski, 8 Fritz, 6 De Bruyne, 7 Arnautovic, 10 Lin Quan, 41 Füllkrug, and 11 Elia."

Since He Wei and Xu Yang's commentary on the Telekom Cup semifinal drew decent ratings domestically, they were back as CCTV's announcers for this match.

With the Top Five Leagues yet to start, this kind of game was a must-watch for football fans.

So as the broadcast began, CCTV Sports' ratings shot up fast.

And a big part of that was thanks to the young Chinese player on Werder Bremen's squad.

Lin Quan had scored a hat trick in yesterday's match against Bayern, breaking three Telekom Cup records in one go:

The youngest starter, the youngest goalscorer, and the youngest to net a hat trick.

While the Telekom Cup isn't the most prestigious tournament, for someone his age to shatter three records at once gave him a little burst of fame in the football world.

Plus, because He Wei had compared Lin Quan to Messi during the commentary, it drew in both Messi fans and those who love to hate him.

"Heh, let's see if this so-called 'Messi II' is really as amazing as the commentators claim!"

"I watched Lin Quan's last match—he's the real deal, a genuine Messi II!"

"Upstairs, I haven't read much, don't fool me!"

"Exactly, talking big without a shred of proof. Every year, a bunch of 'Messis' pop up from some random corner. When did Messi become so cheap and worthless?"

"With my twenty years of watching football, Messi's ball control talent is on a historic level. Any other player trying to be like him without that top-tier touch is just a hollow imitation."

"Tsk, another Messi fanboy. If your Messi is so great, how come he got shut out by Germany in the World Cup?"

"Oh yeah? And your Cristiano Ronaldo made it to the quarterfinals? A guy who got knocked out in the round of sixteen has no right to run his mouth here."

The original topic was whether Lin Quan was the next Messi II, but thanks to the Messi fans and haters showing up, the discussion went completely off track, devolving into an argument over Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi.

These two are the strongest active players in today's football world, the most talked-about, and the ones with the largest fanbases.

During this era, they are known as The Two Superstars.

Both have massive followings, and those fans can't stand each other, so arguments between the two camps are a common sight.

Amid the back-and-forth bickering of the fans, time slowly ticked by.

At 7:35 PM, with the referee's whistle, the highly anticipated Telekom Cup final—Dortmund versus Werder Bremen—officially kicked off.