Jin Hayes's premonition was correct; Anna, wearing the Borussia Dortmund number 10 jersey, had indeed become the subject of his dreams. Fortunately, it wasn't the night before the match—otherwise, Jin Hayes doubted whether he would have enough leg strength to support this important Champions League group stage debut.
After Anna tried on the clothes that night, she directly purchased Jin Hayes's number 10 kit. Jin Hayes had plenty of these clothes; the club could provide them at any time. But the young girl insisted on buying a set herself.
"Buying it myself makes the meaning different."
Anyway, she was already earning money; the €99.99 jersey was only equivalent to one hour of her hourly rate for a photoshoot.
When paying at the checkout, the clerk's brain practically crashed. Looking at Jin Hayes next to Anna, and then at the number 10 jersey in hand, the clerk suspected they were seeing things. It was like a world-famous musician suddenly walking into a local record store to buy their own album. In short, Anna cherished this jersey dearly. So much so that before he left on the team bus for the airport, he could still see Anna outside through the window, wearing the yellow jersey.
"Doesn't your little girlfriend have school? She actually came to see you off today, tsk tsk tsk, how nice!" Nuri Şahin was green with envy. He was still a single dog for now, and so was Marco Reus.
Aside from veterans like captain Sebastian Kehl and Alexander Frei, among the other youngsters, only Mats Hummels was in a relationship. The 20-year-old Hummels was tall and handsome; he was once interviewed by Cathy Fischer, a reporter from Germany's Sport2 channel, fell in love at first sight, and they'd been together since.
Or so Hummels said.
In the eyes of Jin Hayes and Şahin, this guy was purely motivated by looks. TV anchor Cathy Fischer was strikingly beautiful and had a figure that could only be described as amazing. Hummels treated her to a few meals, went on a few dates, and they naturally ended up together.
Seeing that Jin Hayes was also about to leave the single life, Şahin simply couldn't take it.
"Not my girlfriend. I've said it how many times? She's just my landlord's daughter. We're good friends."
"No, why haven't you confessed yet? Don't you like her? If you don't like her, I'm making a move." Anna's looks and figure would stand out like a crane among a flock of chickens in any nightclub in Germany. Şahin couldn't understand for the life of him how Jin Hayes, being in such a favourable position, could resist making a move.
As soon as Şahin finished speaking, he suddenly met Jin Hayes's cold gaze. The chill made Nuri Şahin's hair stand on end and sent a chill down his spine. He was deeply afraid that Jin Hayes would suddenly demonstrate some kind of ferocious takedown move on the training pitch.
"Sorry, my bad. I like mature women."
Only when the chill dissipated did Nuri Şahin breathe a sigh of relief, his back almost soaked in cold sweat.
"I currently only want to focus on football."
"Right, right, right."
The girl wasn't even afraid of being late for school and came to the base on a weekday morning to see you off. If she didn't have feelings for Jin Hayes, Şahin wouldn't believe it even if he were beaten to death. But this guy… forget it.
Şahin was afraid of saying something wrong again and being subjected to unrestricted fighting by Jin Hayes on the pitch. He could still beat him last year, but this year Jin Hayes's strength had increased significantly; Şahin had no chance of winning.
…
The flight circled over Turin, and the Borussia Dortmund players unlocked a new city. For most of them, it was their first time in Turin, in the unfamiliar country of Italy. The landmark Mole Antonelliana was exceptionally prominent, and surrounding this tall spire was a series of ancient buildings in the traditional European Baroque style.
Compared to the steel city of Dortmund, Turin was much more filled with the artistic atmosphere of the Renaissance.
After getting off the plane, the bus ride to the hotel passed through narrow old town streets; a casual glance through the window revealed cafes and pizzerias everywhere. After winding through the old town, just as the Dortmund players were getting drowsy, they finally arrived near the Stadio Olimpico di Torino.
"I heard this stadium was originally built for the 2006 Winter Olympics. Juventus moved here after the Stadio delle Alpi was demolished. We might be one of the few foreign teams to play at this venue before they eventually build their own ground," Reus suddenly chimed in. He had clearly done his homework for this match.
Looking at the somewhat aging stadium in the distance, Jin Hayes replied: "Then let's give this stadium a special farewell gift."
"Exactly!" Reus didn't ask what the gift was—it was a defeat, of course.
Before Juventus moved to a new home, having Dortmund score a few goals would be a fitting tribute.
…
"It's a bit distracting." The next day, inside the Stadio Olimpico, the Dortmund players who had come to familiarise themselves with the pitch were feeling the turf, while Jin Hayes looked around.
"What's wrong?"
"It's a multi-purpose stadium. The atmosphere is so much worse with the running track in between."
"True."
Anyone who has played in a professional football stadium knows that the front-row spectators are just a few feet away. You can even clearly hear every word the away fans use to curse at you.
In a passionate atmosphere, many players who love big occasions can perform at their best. With a wide running track in between, the distance to the audience is much greater, and the atmosphere is much weaker. Jin Hayes felt no different from playing on a training ground.
"I heard that attendance in Italian stadiums is also quite poor; some home games only get 50% capacity."
"Huh? Is it that bad?" Hummels was stunned.
"Yes, the Calciopoli scandal had a huge impact, and with the economic downturn these past two years—" Reus explained. The decline of the Serie A market was unstoppable; unless Italian teams achieved good results in the Champions League in the next couple of years, it would be hard to stop the slump. In contrast, the Bundesliga market was much better, already enough to rival the Premier League.
"Anyway, Juventus are a long-standing giant after all. Let's work hard tomorrow! Let's strive to show our style!" Captain Kehl still maintained his upright and noble image. When the Bumblebees' youth storm was flying out of control, veterans like Kehl could still steady the team. His wealth of competition experience could also greatly help the young players.
"Sebastian, what do you say for tonight? Should we go check out the situation in Turin?" Nuri Şahin gave him an ambiguous look. Kehl was clearly a bit tempted, but fortunately, he maintained his basic professional ethics.
"Don't mess around. Everything is fine if we win. Stay in the hotel properly before the match!"
"I was just saying." Nuri Şahin withdrew sheepishly.
"This guy—" Jin Hayes didn't even know how to criticise him.
This kid looked serious but was actually quite a closet flirt. After all, he was a genius who became famous at a young age, the former holder of the youngest appearance record in the Bundesliga. It was hard not to get carried away when the media praised you a little.
If Jin Hayes hadn't been there to keep him in check, along with the Brazilian Tinga leading the team astray, Nuri Şahin would surely have been unable to resist going out to party before the match. Now, with the Champions League group stage about to begin, there was no room for such distractions.
*blah blah bla... Sahin and Tinga were some of the most disciplined players but I guess the Chinese have a thing against Turks/Germans and Brazilians.
"Nuri!!!"
As everyone was training and chatting, Klopp suddenly came over in a rage, almost getting in Şahin's face. "The match is tomorrow. Is this your training attitude?"
"I—"
Klopp's sudden outburst made Şahin tremble. The new coach was good in every way, but his temper was a bit unstable. Whenever he saw someone slacking in training, he would often rush over and roar in their face. Aside from Jin Hayes, basically everyone had been yelled at by Klopp. Şahin also felt wronged; clearly, everyone around him was chatting.
"You're still not convinced? Look at how Jin does it, and then look at you."
"Uh—" Şahin was speechless. Jin Hayes would be meticulous in any training, completing it with 120% energy. For example, in the dribbling through cones just now, every one of Jin Hayes's movements while chatting was standard and perfect. In contrast, Nuri Şahin appeared rather perfunctory, dribbling randomly a couple of times and not caring even when the ball hit a cone.
"Adapting to the pitch is also part of training! You, do three more sets! If you even touch an obstacle, add another set!"
"Fine." Nuri Şahin dejectedly took the ball back to the starting line. Jin Hayes, Reus, and Hummels were gloating on the side.
"Damn! What a bunch of bad friends!" Nuri Şahin got even angrier. "Isn't it just dribbling! I'll dribble—"
...
The Turkish star applied force with his feet, cutting the ball and dribbling past the obstacles.
Bang!
The boot made a crisp sound against the football; Nuri Şahin's ankle flicked, and he changed direction to dribble towards the left.
"Dammit!"
The pitch was the same pitch, the position was the same position. But in front of Şahin was no longer a stationary cone, but the Italian star Claudio Marchisio. His strong physique and steady defence didn't give Şahin many chances; he caught up in two or three steps and immediately tried to bump Şahin's body. The distant stands were no longer empty either, but filled with a dense crowd of Italian fans.
Although the attendance wasn't high, there were still nearly 50,000 fans, and the uniform boos were quite piercing.
2008-2009 UEFA Champions League, Group G, Matchday 1. Juventus at home vs. Borussia Dortmund. Nuri Şahin was a little bit unadjusted. The recent seven-match winning streak had made him look down on the world's heroes a bit. He didn't care much about yesterday's pitch adaptation training either, even planning to find a chance to visit a nightclub. He didn't expect to feel the immense pressure of the Italian iron defence right from the start today.
Jin Hayes was also having a hard time. Three minutes into the match, he hadn't even touched the ball yet. Clearly, the world-famous manager, the 'Tinkerman' Claudio Ranieri, had studied Dortmund deeply.
Furthermore, Juventus' midfield and defence were world-class, combined with the traditional Italian Catenaccio defensive system. Any passing lane from the midfield or defence to Jin Hayes would be intercepted. Forward passes were fine, but only if there was space on the wings; don't even think about going through the middle.
If Jin Hayes dropped back to receive the ball, Tiago Mendes was right there as a personal bodyguard. Others also moved from different directions to restrict the player with the ball, forcing them to the other side. Right now, Jin Hayes wanted to drop back to the right side of Şahin to receive the ball. But Marchisio's press forced Şahin to the left, making it difficult to pass to Jin Hayes.
Şahin could only pass to the left-back Marcel Schmelzer. Schmelzer then looked for Reus. Reus tried to break through in the narrow space on the left wing; even if he got past Mauro Camoranesi, Zdeněk Grygera was there to intercept. The chain defence was linked one by one; if Reus was even half a beat slow in handling the ball, he would easily fall into Juventus' defensive quagmire. He could only go all the way on the wing and cross from the byline to find Alexander Frei.
If Frei were in his prime, he would be a bit of a threat, but in the new season, Frei couldn't find his shooting boots at all and was easily dispossessed by Giorgio Chiellini.
"Chiellini's clearance! Juventus didn't give the opponent any chance!" The Italian commentator from Turin TV was very excited. They say the Bumblebees' yellow and black storm is about to sweep Europe—well, it has to get past Juventus first.