Heavenly River Sports Center.
Summer in Yangcheng was so hot it felt like being stuffed into a steamer.
All thirty thousand-plus seats were filled.
In the stands.
A sea of red.
Manchester United fans occupied most of the stands.
There was only a small handful of Dortmund fans.
Why were there so few of them?
Here was the story: in 2012 and 2013, the club's executives and then-manager had treated Chinese fans with arrogance on three successive occasions, publicly disparaging China.
[Bayern Munich likes copying and making knockoffs, just like Chinese businessmen.]
[I'm glad. At least no Chinese people have come to bother me. I don't care how many Dortmund fans there are in China.]
[I'll apologize to Bayern Munich. I won't apologize to the Chinese.]
Back then, most Chinese fans were still sensible and knew where to draw the line. How could they put up with that? They flooded Dortmund's Tieba forum with furious posts.
Some Chinese fans who had supported Dortmund also saw the light and abandoned the club, posting their thoughts:
[Fuck you, you double-standard bastard. Didn't Germany get its start making knockoffs too? The 1887 Merchandise Marks Act specifically targeted your German knockoffs! You piece of shit, why don't you dare mouth off at Jewish businessmen?]
Still.
Some Chinese fans loved Dortmund deeply and stayed loyal through it all.
During the pre-match warm-up.
Aubameyang was the last to run out of the tunnel.
When he appeared.
The quiet stands remained quiet, offering no explosive reaction.
The Gabonese striker had changed his hairstyle again.
In the previous match against AC Milan at Guangzhou University Town Stadium, he had sported a silver mohawk.
Today, that silver mohawk had become... a full head of fluorescent green braids, so bright under the lights that he looked like a walking