At the Dortmund Training Base, Jin Hayes was drenched in sweat, working through his training routine. The drill—sprinting, shuttle runs, consecutive dribbling through poles, followed by a shot—was truly exhausting.
It tested a player's stability for the final pass and final shot while under extreme physical fatigue. Of course, Jin Hayes only needed to complete the preceding actions; the coaching staff didn't push him on the shooting part.
His teammates loved to tease Jin Hayes.
"Jin, shoot!"
"Take a shot!"
"Right now, you can do it!"
Jin Hayes found it hard to resist, but his shot nearly hit assistant coach Željko Buvač on the sidelines. It was clearly an inside‑foot shot, and the technique was textbook, so why was the result so absurd?
The coaching staff had studied it for a whole season and still couldn't figure out the reason. The training ground was filled with laughter again. They were crushed by Jin Hayes in every other aspect, and only in shooting could they find a sense of superiority.
These jokers—Jin Hayes really wanted to go over and kick each one of them.
Panting, he walked to the sidelines, grabbed a bottle of water from the ground, and squirted it into his mouth. "Ah, finally alive again!"
"Good work, Jin."
Jürgen Klopp, standing nearby, gave him a thumbs up. The difficulty of the shuttle runs plus the dribbling through poles was very high; even a world‑class star would need at least thirteen seconds to complete the entire routine. Jin Hayes had finished it in just ten seconds.
Especially during the dribbling section, there was absolutely no sense of hesitation; it was as if those obstacles didn't even exist in front of him. Weaving through them with left and right touches, Jin Hayes didn't slow down at all. Maintaining his dribbling speed at the same pace as his normal running speed—that was the most impressive part.
However, looking at Klopp's expression, there was a constant look of worry between his brows. Jin Hayes couldn't help but feel curious.
"Jürgen, was there anything lacking in my training just now?"
"No, no, no, Jin, you've done perfectly—well, leaving aside the shooting, there's nothing to fault."
"Do I need to strengthen my scoring ability?" Jin Hayes grasped the key point.
"Not necessarily. You already have enough tasks: intercepting in the final third, dribbling past opponents, and linking up play to create chances. If I have to rely on you for scoring as well, then the burden on you is too heavy, which means my tactical system isn't healthy."
"But there is indeed a problem with scoring right now." Jin Hayes also realised it.
Previously, the 4‑1 win against Real Madrid, 5‑1 against Bayern, and 4‑2 against Cologne seemed to be high‑scoring victories. This season, they were averaging over two goals per game, so their attacking power was definitely fine.
However, those goals were basically scored by Marco Reus, Jakub Błaszczykowski, or by his own Jump Enhancement headers or Causality Shot. The team's shooting relied heavily on Reus's accuracy; if he didn't bring his shooting boots, Borussia Dortmund's offence would have problems.
Returning from Marseille, just three days earlier, in the 11th round of the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund had beaten Bochum 1‑0. Jin Hayes had made eleven key dribbles and delivered at least seven deadly passes in that match, and the team fired fifteen shots, yet they couldn't score.
Bochum's bus‑parking defence focused on limiting Reus, making it difficult for him to get comfortable shooting opportunities.
On top of that, Reus was in poor form.
In the first half, Jin Hayes dribbled past three players and delivered a deadly through ball in front of the penalty area. Reus was one‑on‑one, facing the rushing goalkeeper, and somehow missed. He had two more chances in the second half, but Reus couldn't hit the target with two curling shots from his signature "Reus Zone."
Seeing that Reus couldn't find his shooting boots, the team prepared to shift the tactical focus to the right flank. However, Jakub Błaszczykowski acted more as a supporting player, specialising in providing assistance from the flank.
If he were actually required to shoot, his success rate wasn't very high.
As long as the pressure around him was intense, Błaszczykowski's shooting accuracy wasn't ideal, and he also missed several good opportunities. Jin Hayes wished he could have taken the shots himself, using Jump Enhancement to slam a header in, but unfortunately, luck wasn't on his side, and he hit the post.
In that match, luck really didn't seem to be on Borussia Dortmund's side. Repeated misses truly demoralised the team, and it looked like Bochum was about to organise a counter‑attack.
Just at this critical moment, Jin Hayes stepped up. He unexpectedly swapped positions with Błaszczykowski, and his continuous dribbling on the right wing felt like he had found his rhythm from last season.
Finally, along the byline, he almost dribbled right into the goal.
At the edge of the six‑yard box, Jin Hayes suddenly turned and delivered a moment of genius. The ball skimmed along the ground, flying rapidly toward the penalty spot, and Nuri Şahin, rushing in from the back, finished it in one go to break the deadlock.
Twenty assists in eleven games—Jin Hayes really seemed to have a chance to break his own assist record from last season.
Back on the training ground, Jin Hayes and Klopp stood on the grass; it felt as if they could still hear the cheers from Westfalen that day.
"If not for your final cut‑back pass, we would have been in real danger." Klopp still felt a lingering fear. If Bochum had managed to sneak in a goal, the match might have turned into a disaster.
"Jin, in your opinion, where is our problem right now?"
"I feel like we're doing quite well; we've been on a winning streak lately."
"It's fine, just treat this as a casual chat; speak your mind." Klopp plopped down right on the grass. As long as he wasn't in a rage, he was usually quite approachable. Jin Hayes sat down with him.
"If you ask me, I feel like our striker position needs to have some scoring ability. Sometimes when the left and right flanks are restricted, the congested middle actually offers better opportunities—"
Jin Hayes didn't specify who, but his implication was already clear.
"Exactly, that's the problem I'm worried about too." Klopp let out a long sigh. The attacking front looked beautiful on paper, but there was one person who had gone invisible. It wasn't obvious against weaker teams, but if they encountered Manchester United, Barcelona, or Chelsea, this weakness would be magnified infinitely and might even become the deciding factor.
Borussia Dortmund's starting striker, the experienced Swiss international Alexander Frei, had completely lost his shooting boots this season. Currently on the pitch, he could only serve as a distraction.
When the ball was passed to Frei, no matter how good Jin Hayes's pass was, Frei could still sky shots from point‑blank range. It was absurd. Jin Hayes even suspected that Frei had encountered the same kind of curse as him, sacrificing his shooting skills.
Of course, Frei was already thirty, and his physical functions were declining rapidly. At the same time, his movement wasn't active, and it didn't fit with Borussia Dortmund's "mad dog" high‑pressing tactic. Running and physical duels consumed too much of his stamina, causing him to be ineffective in the attacking third.
"Alexander has made great contributions to the team; it's just that this season, he's clearly out of form and can't adapt."
"This…" Jin Hayes didn't know how to respond to Klopp.
Should he just say, replace Alexander Frei? That would be too disloyal to a brother.
Last season, Alexander Frei had taken good care of Jin Hayes, helping him integrate into the team quickly. Plus, a player's form was only temporary; there was no need to burn bridges. Jin Hayes had assumed Klopp was considering changing the lineup, but Klopp just looked at him earnestly.
"Jin, can you do me a favor? I'm afraid you're the only one suitable for this."
"Of course."
"If possible, you could talk to Alexander more. And on the pitch, if you get the chance, try to trust him more."
"Alright, I'll try." Talking and heart‑to‑hearts were one thing, but in a match, Jin Hayes wanted to win. If Marco Reus and Frei both had a fifty percent chance of scoring, Jin Hayes would prioritize passing to Reus. This wasn't because Jin Hayes had an issue with Frei, but rather a subconscious choice made in a fleeting half‑second.
…
Bundesliga Round 12, Borussia Dortmund playing away against Hamburg. Four days after the talk with Klopp on the training ground, the Bumblebees were about to set off for an away game against the team currently ranked fifth in the league.
Hamburg had always been a traditional powerhouse in the Bundesliga.
From the moment Jin Hayes stepped into the city of Hamburg, he had a bad feeling. The whole team had fallen into the arrogance of their winning streak, not taking the Bundesliga seriously.
In the dressing room, everyone was talking about Barcelona and Manchester United in the Champions League; it seemed that, aside from these European giants, the Bundesliga could no longer stir up the players' interest.
"Nuri, we need to be careful and cautious in this match."
"What's there to be afraid of? We'll crush them easily."
"It's an away game; it won't be that easy."
"Jin, don't worry, leave the defence to me!" Mats Hummels patted Jin Hayes, confident and giving a thumbs up. "Yeah, with me and Mats there, it's absolutely solid!"
The steady‑tempered Neven Subotić also said the same.
"I think, it should be fine, right?" Reus was a bit worried.
"Brothers, Jin is right. We need to calm our mindset; forget about the winning streak! Play every match like it's a final!"
Captain Sebastian Kehl wanted everyone to focus, but unfortunately, no one listened to him. Either playing on their phones or chatting with each other, fifteen minutes before the match, the dressing room was still in chaos. Being relaxed is a good thing, but being too relaxed is not right.
Sure enough, as soon as the match started, Borussia Dortmund almost suffered. Hummels's pass from the back was intercepted. The Hamburg striker was none other than their former teammate, Mladen Petrić, whom Borussia Dortmund had offloaded. Petrić's powerful shot inside the penalty area was saved by Roman Weidenfeller, and Borussia Dortmund escaped a disaster for the moment.
"Damn, Mladen, you're ruthless!"
Facing his former teammate, Hummels clicked his tongue in surprise. Petrić just smiled slightly, feeling a bit happy to see Hummels caught off guard. For Petrić, this was a revenge match. After sitting on the bench for a whole season last year, he wanted to prove that Borussia Dortmund was wrong.
Driven by the obsession for revenge, Petrić was exceptionally active, his constant runs and positioning making Hummels miserable. Finally, in the 29th minute of the match, Petrić made a run and got an opportunity. Hummels couldn't turn in time to stop him, and he dribbled the ball into the penalty area.
"It's over!" Subotić rushed over to slide tackle, but Petrić had already lifted his foot to shoot just after crossing the penalty area line.
Bang!
A powerful, heavy shot; Weidenfeller had no way to stop it. This guy had figured out his goalkeeping habits—he preferred the top corner.
"Gooooooal!!"
"Hamburg draw first blood! Mladen Petrić takes revenge on his former club!"
"I get the feeling that Borussia Dortmund's defence is quite lax today; the recent winning streak has affected the mindset of these young players."
Petrić didn't celebrate after scoring; he just walked silently back to midfield. Passing by Jin Hayes, he didn't forget to pause for a moment. He didn't say anything, just looked at Jin Hayes silently. Jin Hayes knew this wasn't over. From him, one could feel a strong desire to fight.
Conversely, his teammates still hadn't tightened their nerves after conceding. A meme recently circulating on the internet, "A trailing Borussia Dortmund is the most terrifying," could these guys actually believe that?
If they could lead, who would want to fall behind first? If this continued, they would likely concede again.
Sure enough, just five minutes later. Jin Hayes dribbled in the final third, shook off the Hamburg defensive midfielder, and passed to the right flank, where Jakub Błaszczykowski was wide open. If he could dribble to the byline, that was best; if not, he would at least attract defensive players, creating space for the centre.
Błaszczykowski dribbled to the edge of the penalty area, and Nuri Şahin suddenly raised his hand to ask for the ball; the pass was delivered without hesitation. As long as Şahin could connect with Jin Hayes after receiving the ball in the middle, shifting it to the left wing would be a great opportunity.
"Nuri! Here, pass it!" Jin Hayes had already made his run ahead of time, just waiting for Şahin's pass. But this guy, whether he was getting arrogant or what, didn't pass the ball immediately, but instead tried to dribble past the opponent's defensive midfielder.
Şahin had just learned a fancy trick from Jin Hayes on the training ground two days ago and was planning to use it in a real match. He didn't expect the Hamburg defensive midfielder to be so physically strong; he squeezed in and directly knocked Şahin off balance. Following a couple of steps, the ball was poked away.
"Shit!!" Şahin realised things had gone wrong and rushed back to chase, but it was already a step too late.
"That idiot!!!"
Before Şahin got into trouble, Jin Hayes had already started tracking back, sprinting past Şahin and returning to his own half. But the Hamburg team was running quite well. Their two passes were simple and effective, pushing the ball directly from the flank to the striker, Petrić. The ball is always faster than a person; even if Jin Hayes were riding a motorcycle, he probably couldn't catch up.
Petrić lightly tapped the ball in front of the penalty area, shaking off Hummels to the left. He had long been used to Hummels's little tricks; suddenly, he fiercely cut the ball to the right, changing direction, opening up a shooting angle, and shot decisively from outside the penalty area. The shot was crisp and powerful, instantly piercing the top corner.
"The second goal!! Petrić is on fire today!!"
"Borussia Dortmund are in trouble away from home; Hamburg is not an opponent to be easily pushed around!!"
"Could the Bumblebees be on the verge of their first defeat of the season today?"
2‑0.
Jin Hayes realised that this match, while seemingly unremarkable, was actually more dangerous than playing Real Madrid.