At Borussia Mönchengladbach's home stadium, Borussia Dortmund fans were outnumbered, making them less of a match.
However, online, Dortmund fans were everywhere!
Many Dortmund fans, who supported Ye Chen, even bought VPNs specifically to bypass internet restrictions just to engage in online arguments.
Of course, once they bypassed the firewall, there was no turning back...
As the center of this controversy, Ye Chen made no public statementsâhe simply disappeared from the public eye.
Since the next game was a Champions League match, Klopp gave Ye Chen two days off from training.
Yet, Ye Chen showed up at the training ground the very next day!
The official penalties were soon announced.
Ye Chen was fined â¬20,000 and suspended for one game due to his excessive celebration.
However, the fine imposed on Mönchengladbach shocked all of Europe!
1. No fans would be allowed to attend their next home game.
2. Dams, the instigator, was suspended for three matches and fined â¬20,000.
3. Mönchengladbach fans who threw coins, laser pointers, beer cups, and other objects onto the field led to an additional â¬50,000 fine.
After receiving the penalty, Mönchengladbach announced on their official website that they would appeal to reduce the punishment, stating that while the club bore some responsibility, the incident could not be entirely attributed to poor management.
In the 16th round of the Bundesliga, Dortmund's home game against Kaiserslautern would see Ye Chen absent.
This meant Ye Chen only had two more matches before the winter breakâan away league match against Freiburg and a DFB-Pokal away game against Düsseldorf.
It's worth mentioning that Ye Chen currently leads the scoring charts in the DFB-Pokal.
Scoring five goals in one match was simply ruthless...
So far, Ye Chen has scored 29 goals in totalâ24 in the league and 5 in cup competitions.
With that tally, he could have won the league's golden boot in seven of the past ten seasons.
Only AÃlton (28 goals in 2003-04), Klose (25 goals in 2005-06), and Gomez (28 goals last season) scored more than Ye Chen's 24 league goals.
But those were season-long efforts, while Ye Chen still had the second half of the season left to play!
Upon learning of the penalty, Dortmund promptly paid Ye Chen's fine. Klopp also called him, advising him to take a break before returning to training.
Ye Chen remained calm.
In fact, after returning home, he completely put the Mönchengladbach incident behind him and logged into the system to claim his match rewards.
"Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing the taskâleading Dortmund to an away victory against Mönchengladbach. Reward rating: SS. Double rewards!"
"Ding! The host has received 400 points!"
400 points for one match!
Ye Chen jumped off his bed in excitement.
Were the Falcon football boots finally within reach?
Buy, buy, buy!
Ye Chen eagerly opened the mall, but just then, the system's notification sounded again.
"Ding! Congratulations to the host for accumulating 500 points. Would you like to spend 500 points to unlock the training mall?"
500 points to unlock the training mall?
What kind of deal is this?
"System, what's the benefit of unlocking this mall?" Ye Chen frowned.
"Upon unlocking, the system will design a personalized 30-day training plan based on the host's physical condition."
"So, I'm essentially buying a custom training program for 500 points?"
"Unlocking the mall is just the start. The host can purchase specialized training to enhance physical attributes. System-based training is twice as effective as regular team training!"
Hiss...
Ye Chen took a deep breath.
Football in Europe's top five leagues is highly professional, and coaches tailor training plans for each player.
While Ye Chen had improved through Dortmund's training, progress was slow.
But this training system felt like a cheat code...
He already had the system, and now it was like activating an even stronger hack!
Was this the path to becoming the next Messi or Ronaldo?
But what about the Falcon boots he'd been eyeing?
Ye Chen opened the mall again.
Looking at the various colors of Falcon boots, he was still tempted to buy them.
"Reminder: Purchased boots cannot be altered in appearance."
Hearing this, Ye Chen realized somethingâhe hadn't secured a boot sponsorship deal yet...
The Falcon series belonged to Adidas.
What if he ended up signing with Puma, Nike, Anta, or Li-Ning instead? Wouldn't that be a waste?
Hold off!
Compared to football boots, training seemed more important.
"Unlock the training mall," Ye Chen gritted his teeth and said.
"Ding! 500 points deducted. Training mall is now open."
"Ding! Please check the host's one-month training plan."
Soon, a one-month training schedule appeared in Ye Chen's mind.
Fans are often curious about footballers' training routines, including how long they train each day.
For professional players, daily training usually doesn't exceed three hours.
During this period, Ye Chen's sessions at Dortmund lasted about 1.5 hours, with warm-ups alone taking 15 minutes.
Many sessions involved free training or extra practice.
Team strategy and opponent analysis were also part of training.
For instance, on the day before each match, the team held "opponent analysis" classes, where coaches detailed their tactics and player habits.
Carlo Ancelotti once said in an interview that during the season, one hour of daily training is sufficient for professional athletes.
Training prepares players for matches, but maintaining form is the priority.
Players don't drastically improve through training aloneâotherwise, intensive training camps would have elevated the Chinese national team by now.
To truly improve, players need matches.
That's why experience points in video games increase most significantly during competitions.
Never expect rapid improvement solely through training.
Training operates in cyclesâoff-season, pre-season, and in-season.
Ye Chen had no matches until December 16 after the Mönchengladbach game.
During this period, he could purchase specialized training through the system.
The question wasâwhat type of specialized training should he choose?
"System, can I train for a new position?" Ye Chen suddenly asked.
"Of course. Each position costs 500 points to train, with long-term plans based on the host's suitability."
Ye Chen twitched. "Is there anything I can afford right now?"
"Single-attribute training costs 200 points."
Ye Chen glanced at his remaining 235 points...
Was this system trying to squeeze every last drop from him?