T/N: I have repeatedly confirmed that it's more likely that that Barca's near miss in the first half was actually converted.
In crucial matches, the psychological aspect may take up a larger share than football tactics and techniques. Cup competitions, in particular, are more prone to upsets. However, if a stronger, more established team gains a large lead, the morale of most teams will suffer a major blow and collapse.
From 1-0 to 1-4, Borussia Dortmund's morale had been shattered by Barcelona. Jin Hayes felt that his teammates' movements were all distorted. After struggling to regain possession from less than 20% possession, they broke through Barcelona's defense and pulled one back. The 2-4 deficit gave Borussia Dortmund players a glimmer of hope. As a result, Barcelona's goal at the start of the second half extinguished the hopes of the Dortmund players once again.
2-5.
The team was completely outmatched in the match, trailing by a large margin in the score, and the opponent scored 5 away goals. Borussia Dortmund looked completely outmatched. The hope that had just been ignited was extinguished again, which was even more devastating to one's faith than despair. Logically speaking, the game was over the moment Barcelona scored in the first minute of the second half, making the score 2-5.
The camera panned to the stands, where a young fan wearing a Dortmund jersey was crying his eyes out. At such a young age, he didn't quite understand the significance of the Champions League semi-finals. All he knew was that the team his family had supported for decades—from his grandfather to his father to himself—had suffered a crushing defeat today.
In the Westfalen stands, fans looked bewildered, unsure how to cope with today's defeat. However, no one left their seat early. Borussia Dortmund had given it their all today; they had done more than enough. After many years, they returned to the Champions League and made it to the semi-finals in their first season, the most prestigious semi-finals. Borussia Dortmund, having defeated a series of formidable opponents, at least died standing.
Just when everyone was in shock, Borussia Dortmund scored a goal.
One minute earlier, Barcelona finished their celebration and returned to their half. Jin Hayes was already standing on the ball, waiting for the kickoff. Jakub Błaszczykowski, standing to the right, was trembling slightly because Jin Hayes had just given him a task that could very well determine the outcome of the match.
Now that Barcelona had spread out their formation, creating a high-pressing and possession-based style, Borussia Dortmund's chances would become slim. Dortmund's only chance right now was to take advantage of Barcelona's slight lapse in concentration and try to completely disrupt them, hoping to win in the chaos.
With a goal just scored, making the score 2-5, the Barcelona players were already starting to relax. After celebrating, they hugged each other, chatted and laughed, and returned to their half of the field.
Judging from their expressions, they no longer treated Borussia Dortmund as a threat. Borussia Dortmund had to seize this brief window of opportunity if they wanted to win.
Jakub Błaszczykowski had a lot on his plate. While Marco Reus, Alexander Frei, Jin Hayes, Nuri Şahin, and others were all under close surveillance, the low-profile Błaszczykowski did not attract much attention. He was the key to breaking the deadlock right now.
"Ready?"
Jin Hayes gave him a look. Despite his immense ambition, overwhelming pressure, and suffocating sense of responsibility, Błaszczykowski nodded again, indicating that he was ready.
Błaszczykowski closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled. As a devout Catholic, he couldn't help but pray to his faith at this moment: "Those who put their hope in the Lord will receive new strength, and will be able to soar like eagles on wings, swiftly running and never weary, running and never tiring."
The moment the referee blew the whistle, Błaszczykowski reopened his eyes, his gaze shifting from panic to determination.
"Here it comes! Let's see who gets to play this game."
Jin Hayes had no religious beliefs; he only believed in himself and his teammates. If this ball went in, Borussia Dortmund would still have a 1% chance. If they couldn't score, today's game was over, and the team would be completely crushed. Jin Hayes didn't want it to be the latter; he felt that Borussia Dortmund could still be saved.
Upon hearing the whistle, Jin Hayes passed the ball to Frei, who then passed it back to him, tricking Thierry Henry into pressing forward. Henry nearly collided with Frei. Facing the onrushing Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi, as well as Andrés Iniesta and Xavi behind him, Jin Hayes turned and made a back pass gesture, preparing to pass the ball to Şahin.
Seeing this, Eto'o simply ignored Jin Hayes and pounced on Şahin. Meanwhile, Messi and Iniesta also rushed towards Borussia Dortmund's midfield and backfield in an attempt to disrupt them and launch a high press. Only Xavi remained by Jin Hayes's side to keep watch, while Sergio Busquets lurked nearby, watching intently.
"Heh."
Jin Hayes's lips curled up as he quickly lowered his raised right foot, flicking the ball with his heel to turn and then using his toe to deflect it to the right. Without a second thought, Xavi moved sideways to block the way. Jin Hayes quickly pulled back with his right foot using an elastico.
[Limit Overload] Speed boost activated—instantly leaving Xavi behind. The game had begun.
Jin Hayes's breakthrough was the clarion call to charge. Frei, Reus, and Błaszczykowski were all progressing at the same pace. This was their specialty: blitzkrieg.
"Um?"
On the coaching bench, Jürgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola on the other side stood up at the same time. The two had completely opposite expressions. Klopp was surprised, but also a little happy and expectant. He was almost ready to give up, but the lads on the field were still thinking about fighting.
Guardiola was simply terrified; he sensed a dangerous aura. Meanwhile, the fans in the stands and in front of their televisions, who had been feeling utterly hopeless, had a glimmer of hope rekindled.
"Holy crap? Lord Jin!!"
"No way?"
"Great!! Maybe there's a chance!"
"Charge!! Charge!"
The fans in the stands immediately became agitated. The leader of the "Yellow Black Prussia" die-hard fan association picked up a loudspeaker and led the chanting of slogans.
Thump, thump, thump—"Jin Hayes!"
Thump, thump, thump—"Kämpfe!! (Battle!!)"
All the fans' energy seemed to converge on Jin Hayes, who, with the Limit Overload speed boost, instantly left Xavi behind and sprinted to the left.
"Oh shit!"
Sergio Busquets cursed under his breath, not daring to rush in and tackle immediately. If he tried to steal the ball, Jin Hayes would definitely get past him. He could only quickly chase back and try to reach the penalty area line before Jin Hayes, and form a defensive formation with his teammates. Even though Busquets had a head start, no matter how fast Jin Hayes was, he couldn't possibly overtake him.
But Jin Hayes's Limit Overload speed left him speechless. A distance of 10 metres was covered in just about 0.98 seconds. The impact of extreme speed made Jin Hayes parallel to Busquets in the blink of an eye.
The other Borussia Dortmund players were putting pressure on the backline, and Busquets was already pale with fright and terrified. He dared not be careless and charged forward with the determination to take a card if necessary. He wasn't trying to steal the ball—he was just trying to keep his team ahead in the game.
To Busquets's despair, Jin Hayes didn't slow down at all. While dribbling at high speed, he lightly poked the ball with his left foot, perfectly timed to catch the gap in Busquets's step, and completed a superb nutmeg. He slightly turned his body to the side, gracefully bypassing Busquets and continuing to accelerate forward.
At first glance from the television footage, Busquets appeared to have simply missed. The subtle ball control and dribbling skills he actually possessed were already at a level of perfection, reaching a state of consummate skill.
"Holy crap!!"
Busquets was devastated. At that moment, he realised that the Asian player in front of him was probably more than a level close to Lionel Messi in terms of close control.
...
After getting past Busquets, Jin Hayes had already reached the most dangerous area in front of the penalty area, charging wildly towards the left flank. Dani Alves could no longer contain himself and rushed forward to stop Jin Hayes. Marco Reus was now in Gerard Piqué's hands. Piqué also had his eyes on Jin Hayes, keeping an eye on Reus while focusing most of his attention on Jin Hayes.
It must be said that Barcelona's defence was truly tight.
Alves covered the defensive midfield position, Piqué moved to right back, and Carles Puyol and Éric Abidal pressed forward to cover. In an instant, a net of encirclement was formed around Barcelona's right flank.
Jin Hayes, Alexander Frei, and Reus were all in the net; any slight obstruction or slowdown would cause problems. Busquets, Xavi, Andrés Iniesta, Samuel Eto'o, and others behind them would quickly return to defend and double-team to steal the ball. Barcelona had mastered the art of navigating stadium space and personnel distribution.
But Jin Hayes appeared to be trapped, finding it difficult to connect with Reus, and his own path was blocked, leaving him with no room to break through.
He had actually achieved his initial plan.
"Go ahead, Jakub Błaszczykowski!"
Successfully clearing Xavi and Busquets, especially the high-difficulty Busquets, had triggered the Heartfelt Pass effect. Jin Hayes, his eyes fixed on Reus, feigned a through pass, tricking Puyol into sprinting towards Reus's position. Abidal was covering Frei. Jin Hayes's inside-foot push turned into a diagonal pass with the outside of his foot after his ankle flipped.
Piqué, Puyol, Abidal, Alves, Pep Guardiola—everyone in Barcelona's pupils dilated in shock.
No-look pass?
They were familiar with this tactic; they saw a familiar face in Jin Hayes. That Brazilian player with the big smile had left the team not too long ago, but today he delivered a fatal blow to them on the pitch. The unexpected outside-of-the-foot pass was like a swordsman's unpredictable and unpredictable sword move. The great Barcelona was caught off guard and suffered a bloody wound to its ribs.
"Błaszczykowski!!! Easily receives the ball inside the penalty area!"
When Mehmet Scholl saw Błaszczykowski control the ball inside the penalty area, he could barely breathe. All eyes were on this unassuming winger. From a tight angle inside the penalty area, a shot imbued with Błaszczykowski's faith suddenly went off.
To Víctor Valdés's horror, the football struck his fingertips, yet irresistibly slammed into the net. Even in slow motion, Scholl was still stunned by this rapid attack. The sight of Borussia Dortmund players advancing side by side, like a stampede of horses, always gets the fans' adrenaline pumping, making them burn with excitement.
"Błaszczykowski!!"
"Błaszczykowski—a clean and decisive shot!"
"3-5!! Bumblebees haven't given up! They've narrowed the gap to 2 goals again from a desperate situation, and the game is still in suspense!"
"Although! Five away goals have already put Barcelona one foot in the final—"
"But!!!" Scholl took a deep breath and roared passionately: "Even if Borussia Dortmund falls to the ground, even if he is trapped in hell, he will drag them into the abyss of lava!!"
Westfalen experienced another tremor. This time, it had nothing to do with victory, advancement, or Champions League results. The fans were simply cheering for the courage of the players on the field.
Let's cheer for their unwavering and indomitable fighting spirit.
...
Barcelona was scared.
Borussia Dortmund's reckless and rapid attacks instilled fear in them. The arrogant and domineering attitude of the elite team, and the overwhelming dominance over Europe, were no more. Right now, the players on the field were just a group of cautious Barcelona players hoping to make it to the final. On their opposite side were soldiers who had gone berserk. Every time Barcelona tried to pass the ball into the 30-metre zone, they were met with fierce and tenacious resistance.
The intense competition resulted in frequent whistles on the pitch. "Messi, he has fallen to the ground more than once. Marcel Schmelzer committed the foul."
"Borussia Dortmund's defensive midfielders Nuri Şahin and Sebastian Kehl, left-back Schmelzer, and centre-back Neven Subotić have all received yellow cards."
"They paid a heavy price to defend against Barcelona's fierce attack."
"Of course, the same goes for Jin Hayes. Just now, Borussia Dortmund almost launched a counter-attack, and in order to stop Jin Hayes, Xavi committed a tactical foul in midfield, pulling Jin Hayes down and also receiving a yellow card."
"Messi takes this free kick—oh no!! He almost scored, that was a close call!!"
The game was dragged into the 80th minute by Barcelona's slow and methodical possession. After a passionate first half, both sides seemed to calm down, creating the calm before the storm. If Barcelona could just hold out for these 10 minutes, they would return to Camp Nou with a huge advantage, and even God couldn't save Borussia Dortmund.
"Fuck!!" Sebastian Kehl was unwilling to accept this.
The veteran, nearing 30, had experienced the afterglow of his 2002 Bundesliga championship and the low point of almost being relegated from 2002 to 2007. Watching the young players around them fight tooth and nail against Barcelona, this group of talented lads led Borussia Dortmund to the Champions League semi-finals. Kehl wouldn't allow himself to hold the team back.
Was it reasonable for a 16-year-old player to burn himself out? As the core of Borussia Dortmund and as its captain, he must shoulder his responsibilities.
Besides his fierce tackling, the veteran Kehl, having played for so many years, was also adept at reading the game and judging the situation. Barcelona corner kick, Kehl was already in position in the penalty area.
After 80 minutes of observation, Barcelona had roughly figured out the attacking tactics of taking 12 corner kicks throughout the game. Piqué, Eto'o, and Messi were pulling the ball laterally, actually creating opportunities for Thierry Henry at the near post.
Jin Hayes was originally planning to rush over to defend the near post according to the set-piece defensive tactic, but was suddenly stopped by Kehl, who pointed to the outside of the penalty area.
"I'll do it!"
"Good!"
Without needing to ask for details, Jin Hayes completely trusted his captain and ran outwards with his head down. The corner kick was taken, and as expected, everyone else was running towards the far post to create space.
Xavi, however, did the opposite, kicking a low shot straight at Thierry Henry at the near post.
Bingo.
Just as Henry was about to volley the ball into the goal from a tight angle with the instep, a figure suddenly appeared from the side, recklessly stretching out his leg to block Henry's foot. He forcefully poked the ball away.
"At the front! Henry is in danger!"
"Sebastian Kehl—"
As Mehmet Scholl shouted excitedly, Kehl landed and squeezed past Henry, clearing the ball ahead of everyone else. Jin Hayes flicked the ball with his heel outside the penalty area, then turned and made a forward run. Before Sergio Busquets could pounce on Nuri Şahin, Şahin played a through ball without stopping it, passing it to Jin Hayes again.
"Counterattack!! Borussia Dortmund is launching a counterattack!"
Faster, faster.
Jin Hayes dribbled diagonally to draw Dani Alves's attention, intending to exhaust himself before unleashing a powerful Limit Overload dribble past them.
Regardless of physical exhaustion, let's at least get one goal back.
But at this moment, Jin Hayes was not fighting alone. Marco Reus had already gritted his teeth and charged forward, rushing ahead to the centre line to ambush and get into position.
It felt so good to have teammates supporting him.
Jin Hayes created an angle and passed the ball straight to the left wing before Alves could intercept. The penetrating transmission immediately created a breach. Reus, the blond youth, burned his last bit of energy as he raced across the Westfalenstadion.
"Reus—Accelerate with the ball—"
Gerard Piqué was unable to track back to defend while contesting a header in the penalty area, while the tough Carles Puyol was still relentlessly marking Reus, frantically fighting for position.
Reus was almost falling apart; he used almost all his remaining strength to fight Puyol for the ball. Reus had forgotten everything at this moment, and he cherished this excellent opportunity to return to the field. The brothers gave it their all to lead the team into the quarter-finals and then into the semi-finals. He also wanted to give back to everyone for their hard work.
Faster, faster.
"Forced overtake! Passed them!!"
With unwavering determination, Reus managed to accelerate and overtake Puyol.
Amid cheers and screams from the crowd, Reus buried his head, gritted his teeth, and charged into the penalty area. Unfortunately, after sprinting for more than 40 metres, he felt his legs go weak and his pace gradually slowed down. Víctor Valdés blocked the shooting angle, and any rash shot would be easily saved.
What do you do when you're too tired to dribble past someone?
There was no time to look back; Puyol behind them hadn't given up yet.
"If nothing unexpected happens, he should be in the same position, right?"
Over the course of a year, countless offensive runs and positioning drills on the training field had already given Reus vivid images in his mind. He decided to take a gamble, betting the most important offensive play of his career. Reus decided to trust his brother; he was sure they could get to the position.
Bang!
Valdés thought the German was about to shoot and was preparing to lower his centre of gravity and lunge to save the shot. Reus suddenly turned sideways and made a triangular pass towards the middle.
Who was in the middle lane?
The moment Valdés's gaze swept over, his heart skipped a beat. The most dangerous player had appeared in the most dangerous position.
Valdés lunged forward like a madman, stretching out his arms to try and touch the ball, or at least to pull his opponent down. On the other side, Éric Abidal arrived at the same time and made a desperate sliding tackle, hoping to block the man's shot.
Most players in the world, when faced with an open goal, would choose to take a shot.
Valdés and Abidal blocked the shooting angle almost simultaneously, one in front and one behind.
A shooter who loses his composure, an inexperienced young man, might just squander this golden opportunity. They could have been heroes and completely sealed the victory. But in their extreme tension, Valdés and Abidal both forgot one thing: Jin Hayes almost never shoots directly.
Under the watchful eyes of the world, Jin Hayes defied convention and, at the edge of the penalty area, tucked the ball between his feet. At that moment, all the commentators exclaimed in astonishment.
"Jin Hayes!! Rainbow Flick!!"
"Oh my God!! What is he doing?"
"OMG!! How about that!! Fantastic move!!"
The elegant and dashing young magician was now online. Even in dire straits, he managed a rainbow flick, deftly leaping over the opponent's interception and dribbling towards the empty net. Steady and composed, he pushed the ball forward from the edge of the goal line.
"Hat-trick!!! Jin Hayes did it!!" Borussia Dortmund had pulled one back, narrowing the gap to just one goal.
"Dortmund hasn't given up yet! They're still fighting!"
4-5.
Jin Hayes, Marco Reus, Jakub Błaszczykowski, Nuri Şahin, Sebastian Kehl, Mats Hummels, Roman Weidenfeller—everyone in Borussia Dortmund was burning themselves out. From the desolate hell of 2-5, covered in blood, they desperately climbed the towering spire and saw a glimmer of hope at the top.