Football: He suffered a broken leg at the start of the game, but partnered with Haaland!

In the away team's locker room, Terčić was banging a marker on the tactical board.

"Listen up! No matter what the media hypes up, no matter if they're playing in the Bundesliga or the 3rd division!" Terčić scanned the entire team. "The German Cup loves to bury fools who underestimate their opponents. The moment the whistle blows, go straight to the highest tempo, wear down their pitch, and exhaust their lungs! I want you to kill the game completely by halftime!"

After warming up, the players from both sides stepped onto the grass.

Although only a few thousand people were seated at the stadium, the combined roar of the crowd was still deafening in the empty stadium.

The referee blew his whistle, and the match began immediately.

Wearing his brand-new number 10 jersey, Sun Yang stood in the center circle with the ball on his feet.

Facing a lower-level opponent, Dortmund showed no mercy, pushing their formation directly across the half of the field, displaying a menacing attitude.

It was only fourteen minutes into the game.

Sun Yang comfortably received the pass in the attacking midfield position. Duisburg's two defensive midfielders, seeing this top Bundesliga engine with the ball, dared not be negligent and, with bloodshot eyes, immediately launched a desperate double-team from the left and right.

Just as he was about to be caught in a stalemate, Sun Yang deftly stepped on the ball, and his right shoulder deceptively sank down.

Zidane's signature move, the shoulder drop feint, was perfectly triggered.

The defender rushing in from the left felt as if his center of gravity had been pulled by an invisible rope, his body completely out of his control, and he fell directly to the other side.

Taking advantage of this fleeting gap in positioning, Sun Yang deftly flicked his right foot with the outside of his foot, slipping through the gap between the two men like a slippery eel.

Breaking through the encirclement, the attacking third suddenly opened up.

Sun Yang looked up, his gaze locking onto Haaland, who was charging forward like a wild beast in his left rib area, as if on radar.

Without any unnecessary adjustments, he used the outside of his right foot to strike the lower middle part of the ball.

Modric's signature outside-of-the-foot technique kicks off.

The ball soared into the air, drawing a bizarre right-handed outward arc that completely disregarded Newton's laws.

The deadly arc grazed a few strands of hair on the head of the Duisburg center-back before landing precisely in the uninhabited area on the left side of the penalty area.

Haaland's terrifying explosiveness was on full display. He took two strides to the ball's landing point, and the ball didn't even touch the grass, perfectly matching his running pace.

The Norwegian striker met the incoming ball with a powerful, unstoppable volley from his left foot.

"Bang!"

The ball slammed into the net with brutal force.

1:0.

The stands, which had been silent for a few minutes, erupted in cheers that echoed through the night.

Sun Yang ran up to Haaland and gave him a big high five.

"This cake is so damn satisfying!" Haaland grabbed Sun Yang's neck and roared wildly at the broadcast camera.

The vast gap in absolute strength turned the match into a one-sided massacre after just twenty minutes.

For the remainder of the game, the pitch became Dortmund's tactical training ground. Sun Yang anchored the midfield, his long and short passes were perfectly executed, tearing Duisburg's defense to shreds.

In the second half, Sancho beat two defenders on the right flank and cut inside to score. Immediately after, new signing Bellingham unleashed a brilliant long-range shot from outside the penalty area, scoring his first goal for Borussia Dortmund. Late in the game, substitute Reus cleverly tapped in a rebound to add another goal.

The final whistle blew, 5-0.

Dortmund won without firing a shot, crushing their opponents.

The atmosphere in the locker room after the game was as relaxed as a vacation. The players were tearing off their sweat-soaked jerseys while loudly discussing their late-night snack.

Just then, Terčić pushed open the door and entered, clutching a sheet of paper with the new season's schedule printed on it.

"Get your act together!" Terzic slammed his hand on the door.

The locker room immediately fell silent, and everyone turned their heads away.

"The appetizer's finished." Terčić strode to the tactics board, slammed the schedule on it, and announced, "Five days from now, on Saturday, the first round of the new Bundesliga season kicks off. We'll be playing Borussia Mönchengladbach at their home ground in Westphalia!"

Upon hearing the name Borussia Mönchengladbach, the players, who had been joking around just moments before, immediately turned serious.

This is an absolutely tough nut to crack. Borussia Mönchengladbach was a strong team that made it into the Champions League zone last season. Their head coach, Marco Rose, is a notorious tactical fanatic. His suffocating high pressing and midfield strangulation made all the Bundesliga teams tremble with headaches.

"The Borussia Mönchengladbach guys have amazing stamina; they just beat us 8-0 in the cup match the day before yesterday." Terčić said, his hands on the table, his voice low. "Starting tomorrow, put away your vacation mentality. We absolutely cannot afford to lose at home in the first league game."

Sun Yang looked down, picked up the backpack with one hand, and pulled the zipper up.

The real arena for testing his mettle is finally set. In the new Bundesliga season, those defensive midfielders from various teams who spent the summer torturing themselves in the video room are definitely holding back their best moves to deal with him.

Three days later, at the Blakel training base.

The entire Borussia Dortmund team is currently undergoing a closed-door pre-match sprint training session, focusing on how to break down Borussia Mönchengladbach's high press.

During a break to drink water, Sang Qiao jogged over with his phone in hand, his expression both arrogant and strange.

"Yang, you'd better take a look at what this idiot said." Sang Qiao shoved his phone screen right in front of Sun Yang's face.

That was a clip from the pre-match press conference of Borussia Mönchengladbach.

In the footage, Borussia Mönchengladbach's defensive linchpin and midfield maestro, Kramer, sits in front of hundreds of microphones. A reporter sharply questions him, asking how he plans to deal with last season's MVP and Dortmund's new core player, Sun Yang.

Kramer raised an eyebrow, reached for the microphone, and gave a contemptuous sneer.

"Without a doubt, this kid's stats look impressive," Kramer said, spreading his hands. "But the reason he racked up so many assists last season was largely because opponents weren't familiar with him. Now? The entire coaching staff is scrutinizing his videos with a magnifying glass. This weekend, I'll personally step in and show him what adult-level Bundesliga pressure is like. Under our high press from Mönchengladbach, his fancy passes won't even get a chance to be taken out."

At this point, Cramer gave the camera a cruel smile: "Trying to turn around easily in my zone? He'd better buy orthopedic medical insurance beforehand."

The video progress bar has finished.

Sancho put away his phone and curled his lip: "This guy is provoking you by naming you specifically."

"Kramer. I recognize this face." Sun Yang unscrewed the mineral water bottle and tilted his head back to take a big gulp.

"This is a tough nut to crack; they've won the World Cup before. Their playing style is dirty; they specialize in dirty tackles," Sancho kindly reminded him.

Sun Yang nonchalantly crushed the plastic water bottle, raised his arm, and tossed it aside.

The empty bottle traced an arc through the air before crashing precisely into a metal trash can more than ten meters away with a "thud".

"Hardness?" Sun Yang tugged at his collar, hastily wiped the sweat from his chin, and turned to walk towards the sun-dazzled training ground.

"Then let's show him this weekend whether he's just tough on the outside or tough on the inside."