In the new season, Bundesliga teams discovered a problem. As long as Borussia Dortmund gained even a slight advantage, they would start acting completely arrogant. In the Bayer Leverkusen vs. Borussia Dortmund match, it was still a 0–0 stalemate before the 30th minute of the first half. Starting from Jin Hayes's sudden inspiration with a 360-degree compass turn breakthrough, the situation spiralled out of control.
"Here they come again!!! Borussia Dortmund's unreasonable high press has resulted in a steal in the final third!"
"Jin Hayes! Receives the pass from Şahin, beautiful!!"
"A backheel flick to control and nutmeg Vidal! He immediately sends a through ball to the left!"
"Reus—this one is in!!"
"Borussia Dortmund extend their lead!"
0–2.
Bayer Leverkusen conceded two goals in five minutes during the first half. The Bumblebees, now with the momentum, were playing more and more fiercely, appearing unstoppable. The more flashy moves Jin Hayes displayed on the field, the more Dortmund pressed forward in a relentless attack without any reservations.
"Look at that goal just now; it takes a slow-motion replay to see how Jin Hayes beat his man."
"My God!"
Even after seeing Jin Hayes perform so many times, Oliver Kahn still clicked his tongue in secret amazement at this piece of play. Şahin had sent a through ball from the left rear, and Jin Hayes was originally being held off by Vidal to prevent him from turning.
But Jin Hayes didn't stop the ball as it came; instead, with great skill and daring, he used his heel to gently flick it along the path of the pass.
With his back to Vidal, he completed a nutmeg in the blink of an eye. By the time Vidal realised it, it was too late, as Jin Hayes had already turned and pulled away. Unless he had committed a tactical foul to bring him down before Jin Hayes received the ball, he could only watch helplessly as Jin Hayes delivered a lethal through ball, allowing Reus to comfortably curl a shot into the net from the corner of the penalty area. 0–2.
Compared to last season, Borussia Dortmund in the new season was simply terrifying. An invisible sense of pressure formed a dense black cloud, looming over Vidal's heart. The 21-year-old Chilean midfielder suddenly began to doubt his life choices.
Even though he would go to Juventus and later to powerhouse Barcelona in the future, facing many world-class midfielders like Andrea Pirlo, Xavi, Xabi Alonso, Toni Kroos, and Luka Modrić, the person who gave him the greatest sense of pressure remained the 16-year-old talent on the Bundesliga pitch—Jin Hayes. Even the pronunciation of his name was deeply etched in Vidal's mind, becoming a fear that could never be erased from the bottom of his heart.
In the second half, to be honest, the Bayer Leverkusen players had already begun to doubt themselves. They had sacrificed the attacking attributes of their midfield, arranging a setup of nearly four defensive midfielders just to neutralise Jin Hayes.
The result was that not only did they fail to stop him, but their own offence couldn't get going either. They had an efficient 190cm striker in Stefan Kießling, but they completely lost the ability to cross from the wings, meaning Kießling's aerial dominance could not be utilised at all. Borussia Dortmund took over as the aggressors, their high press pinning Bayer Leverkusen back so they couldn't get out.
The second half of the match completely became a show for the Bumblebees.
"Pass! Pass!"
"Quick!! Get up there, push forward!"
"To me! Hey! Give it to me!"
"Kuba!! Get running!"
Jin Hayes's shouts could be heard frequently on the pitch. As the core of the forward attack, he needed to direct his teammates to coordinate with him. The 16-year-old was actually displaying such dominance in the Bundesliga that many international-level players followed his lead. Jin Hayes was not a ball hog; everyone simply believed from the bottom of their hearts that Jin Hayes could lead them to victory.
That was enough.
"Nuri! Over here!"
"Coming!"
Near the centre circle, Borussia Dortmund's high pressure once again forced the opponent into a mistake. Stefan Kießling's headed flick failed to reach a teammate and was cleverly intercepted by Mats Hummels. Hummels gave it to Şahin, and Şahin passed it to Jin Hayes.
Vidal's eyes showed a sense of bewilderment, and he only moved toward Jin Hayes out of instinct. Jin Hayes wasn't polite with him at all, using a V-drag to change direction and shake him off. Before Rolfes and Barnetta could intercept, he sent a through ball to Jakub Błaszczykowski on the right. Focusing too much on the middle left Bayer Leverkusen's flanks empty; Dortmund could attack however they pleased.
Błaszczykowski carried the ball to the edge of the box before being stopped by Bayer Leverkusen's young left-back, Henrique. Błaszczykowski did not possess Jin Hayes's top-tier talent. His breakthrough speed and technique weren't particularly outstanding; he was more like a highly disciplined midfield all-rounder with balanced abilities in all areas. Facing the fast and physically gifted Brazilian, Kuba tried several times but found it difficult to break through.
However, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a figure in a black away jersey charging up at high speed.
Huff, huff!
With over 60 minutes played, Jin Hayes's stamina was heavily depleted after continuous intense physical battles, high-intensity pressing, and constant back-and-forth running. His 16-year-old body was bearing too much. Even with his enhanced physical condition, he was struggling.
Right at his physical bottleneck, Jin Hayes relied entirely on willpower to support his charge. After passing, he didn't stand still waiting for the ball; instead, he pushed up with the team, running like a madman. Whether they passed or not was his teammates' business; failing to be in position was his own responsibility.
Just as he made a run into the right half-space, Kuba on the right wing didn't even look and decisively sent a through ball.
"Beautiful!! Jin is in!"
Jin Hayes had overshot it slightly. Kuba had passed to his feet out of habit, but Jin Hayes thought he would play it behind the defence. At the moment he received it, his body had already passed the line of the pass. Fortunately, Jin Hayes was quick of eye and foot; with his trailing heel, he gave it a light flick. The football was like a pet elf he had raised, possessing its own consciousness as it looped over his head and landed in front of him.
"Great ball!! Such calm handling!" Oliver Kahn slammed the table in admiration. Any other world-class star would basically stop their momentum and handle the ball with their back to the goal, as that would be safer. But Jin Hayes was an absolute radical, preferring high risk and high reward. Conservative? Being conservative was impossible for him.
However, Jin Hayes was a bit too radical. The flick was cool, but it caused him to sprint forward a bit too much.
Sprinting from the edge of the box after the flick, the angle was already very small when Jin Hayes caught up to the ball. Bayer Leverkusen's defenders were at least top-tier Bundesliga level; Manuel Friedrich used his defensive awareness and experience to block Jin Hayes's passing and shooting angles.
He didn't need to lunge for the ball or make a move; by doing so, he wouldn't give Jin Hayes space to break through. Jin Hayes would either have to hold the ball with his back to the goal and pass to the wing, or pass back to reorganise; it was very difficult to find a chance to cross into the box or shoot.
At the same time, the tracking back defensive midfielders—Rolfes, Barnetta, Vidal—and left-back Henrique surrounded him. This scene was captured by the photographer, creating a striking image. Jin Hayes was alone in the middle, surrounded by five Bayer Leverkusen players. Being 1 against 5 in the box, it would already be good enough to pick the ball out and find a teammate. Most people would have lost the ball under such a swarm.
With his back to the goal, Jin Hayes was still calmly thinking about how to handle it, when that voice surfaced in his heart again.
"Shoot!"
Wait?
How was he supposed to shoot with his back to the goal? Was he supposed to take a blind backheel shot?
It made no sense for Causality Shot Enhancement to activate now. But this thing never appeared during normal shooting opportunities; it always popped up in moments when shooting seemed fundamentally impossible, making Jin Hayes look like a madman.
Every 0.1 seconds in the box is precious; being half a beat too slow in handling the ball would result in it being cleared by the opponent. Limited by the speed of neural electrical signals, the fastest reaction time for an average person is around 0.2 seconds, while long-trained athletes reach 0.15 seconds. The theoretical human reaction limit is 0.1 seconds; anything below that is basically not a reaction, but anticipation.
In this brief 0.1 second, although Jin Hayes had many ways to handle it in his mind, he surrendered his body completely to instinctual control. To everyone's surprise, he simply used his heel to knock the ball backward without a second thought. Before Manuel Friedrich could even react, the ball had already curved past him.
"!!!!"
With a strong tremor in his heart, when Friedrich turned his head, he could only see the current German national team starting goalkeeper René Adler diving frantically.
Adler—the number one goalkeeper after Oliver Kahn's retirement from the national team and before Manuel Neuer took over—was known for his steady saves, excellent goal-line technique, and decisive, calm outings. His talent wasn't quite on Neuer's level, but he was already a world-class goalkeeper. But he never could have imagined that Jin Hayes would shoot from that position with a backheel.
The weirdest part was that the backheel actually produced a curve. By the time Adler dove to the ground, the ball had already bypassed his fingertips and struck the far post. It bounced into the net.
The clamour of the BayArena froze at that moment. Everyone looked in disbelief at the ball rolling in the goal.
"Mein Gott!!! Was für ein Tor!!" Mehmet Scholl's voice cracked from shouting; no matter how high the volume, it couldn't reflect the shock in his heart. Jin Hayes's curved backheel goal was simply not a goal from the mortal realm. If he knew Chinese, only one phrase would come to mind—a stroke of genius.
"Jin Hayes—this match is entirely his show! Borussia Dortmund score their third away goal!! Jin Hayes's 6th goal of the season!"
Six goals and seven assists. This was only the 4th round of the Bundesliga, and he was averaging over 1.5 goals and 1.5 assists per game. The young player's name simultaneously occupied the top of the Bundesliga top scorer and top assist charts.
"Lord Jin is incredible!"
"He even scored that? Holy sh*t!"
"Unbelievable!!!"
"Lord Jin is so yellow and so violent!"
It wasn't just the Borussia Dortmund fans in front of their TVs who were excited; fans far away were also cheering. Currently, in the NBA, Yao Ming was carrying the Houston Rockets, averaging 19.7 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 2 blocks, about to lead the team into the playoffs.
In Europe, Lord Jin was leading Borussia Dortmund to ravage the Bundesliga—a 5–1 win over Bayern in the last game, and a 3–0 lead over Bayer Leverkusen in this one—unstoppable. The pain the national team had caused fans during the Olympics was all being erased by Jin Hayes.
Watching Jin Hayes on the screen being pinned to the ground by his teammates in a celebratory dogpile, and scrolling through the carnival of fan posts on the "Chen Tao Baidu Forum," Jiang Wei had already applied to be a moderator of the forum. Seeing everyone boasting about Lord Jin made him feel absolutely fantastic.
*In case anyone forgot, Jin Hayes ,back home, is known as Chen Tao
"I'm so jealous; it would be great if Lord Jin came to my club." Jiang Wei's roommate, Zhao Xudong, was a die-hard Real Madrid fan, following them from the first Galácticos era until now. Currently, Real Madrid's talent pool was dwindling, and an artistic genius like Jin Hayes was simply too perfect for the Bernabéu.
"Forget it, going to your club would completely ruin him. Lord Jin is fine at Dortmund, or he could go to Arsenal."
"What titles has Arsenal won? They aren't even a powerhouse."
"Once he goes there, they'll have titles! Just wait; in two weeks in the Champions League, watch how he crushes your club."
"Damn it!" Zhao Xudong cursed under his breath. Seeing Jin Hayes's form in his second year getting better and better, if Real Madrid met Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League group stage, they really might not win.
…
At the BayArena, Bayer Leverkusen had completely lost all resistance, and Borussia Dortmund was also playing quite relaxed. Considering the midweek German Cup match, Klopp gradually substituted Şahin and Reus, and in the 88th minute, he subbed off Jin Hayes. He hoped Jin Hayes could get off the pitch and rest a bit more to avoid exhaustion. Something could happen to anyone else, but not to Jin Hayes.
By then, the scoreboard already showed a 0–4 scoreline. Before Jin Hayes left the field, he organised one last attack in the final third. He beat Rolfes and sent a through ball to the left. Reus crossed the ball from the edge of the box, and Alexander Frei, who was waiting in the middle, finally headed the ball in. A four-goal victory. The experienced Swiss international, Alexander Frei, finally broke his 642-minute goal drought, scoring his first goal of the new season.
Frei wasn't too excited after the goal; it was just icing on the cake. He was just lamenting that he was getting old. Looking at Jin Hayes, he was the true top scorer for Borussia Dortmund in the new season.
Dragging his tired body, Jin Hayes slowly walked off the pitch. He had thought he would encounter frantic booing from the Bayer Leverkusen fans at their home stadium—Jin Hayes was long used to being booed away from home. Without the booing, it actually felt like something was missing.
To his surprise, what greeted Jin Hayes was a stadium full of thunderous applause. Aside from those disappointed fans who had left early, the remaining 40,000 people in the BayArena stood up simultaneously to offer their most sincere tribute to their opponent.
At the same time, the Bayer Leverkusen fans were using this method to express their dissatisfaction with the home team. Losing four goals at home, scoring none, and letting a 16-year-old play with them as he pleased—you really couldn't blame the fans for turning.
Jin Hayes was stunned. He looked up at the away fans applauding him and raised his hands to return the gesture.
It was a rare moment of such harmony on a Bundesliga pitch.