Jin Hayes had anticipated that facing Manchester United would be incredibly stressful. But the dominance on the field displayed by peak Manchester United far exceeded his imagination.
After conceding a goal in the opening 2 minutes, Dortmund attempted to organize an attack. As soon as they pushed into midfield, they were stopped by the barrier formed by Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher.
Ryan Giggs and Nani simultaneously tucked in, forming an arc-shaped pocket that enveloped Jin Hayes. If Jin Hayes operated around the penalty area, he would find it very difficult to receive passes from his teammates. The passing lanes for his teammates were completely cut off; every Manchester United player's movement was like a machine, incredibly precise.
Nuri Şahin, dribbling in the centre circle, was constantly harassed by Wayne Rooney, which meant Şahin had no time to look up and observe, forced to pass the ball as quickly as possible within 1.5 seconds of receiving it.
When Captain Sebastian Kehl received the ball, no one pressed him, but Kehl was more adept at defending, and organizing passes was not his strong suit. Kehl couldn't accurately deliver the ball to Jin Hayes's feet through layers of players, so he could only try to distribute it to the flanks.
Jakub Błaszczykowski dropped back to receive, was intercepted by Giggs, and found it difficult to turn, so he could only pass back to full-back Dedê. Dedê then passed back to centre-back Mats Hummels. This attacking attempt was completely blocked outside Manchester United's half.
The Red Devils did not defend deep in their penalty area but slightly expanded their defensive range, forming sufficient deep protection. It was like a magnet, using an irresistible magnetic force to slowly push Dortmund players beyond the halfway line.
"Nuri! Hey!"
After several fruitless attacks, Jin Hayes had to find a way to break the deadlock. Trailing 0-1, if Manchester United dragged the game past 30 minutes, Dortmund's morale would gradually plummet. They had to quickly find an opportunity to launch a threatening attack to boost the team's morale. This responsibility, Jin Hayes needed to actively step up and shoulder.
He timely dropped back to the centre circle to receive the ball, positioning himself as a defensive midfielder, finally receiving a pass from Hummels. The moment Jin Hayes took possession, all Manchester United players almost instantly went berserk.
Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo simultaneously charged at him like madmen, while Giggs and Nani continued to converge towards the centre. Carrick and Fletcher simultaneously pushed forward, and Manchester United's defensive line also instinctively advanced a layer. The opponent's lines were extremely tight—Jin Hayes couldn't even make a long pass behind them immediately; any pass would surely be offside.
"Offside trap?"
The tight defensive formation created a dense numerical advantage near the centre circle, and Jin Hayes felt surrounded by opponents in blue jerseys. He was completely cut off, isolated and helpless.
"Oh no! Jin Hayes is surrounded! He needs to get the ball out quickly!" If it were anyone else, this ball would most likely be lost. Fortunately, Jin Hayes's footwork was excellent enough; he lightly pulled the ball back with his left foot, evaded Rooney's tackle, suddenly changed direction, sprinted two steps towards his own half, shaking off Cristiano Ronaldo's lateral pressure.
Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo braked to pursue him. Jin Hayes had already anticipated their movements, braked early, backheeled the ball through Rooney's legs, and performed a 'roulette' to dodge Cristiano Ronaldo's outstretched foot, breaking free from their double-team.
"Beautiful!!! Jin Hayes's escape! As long as he has the ball, don't even think about tackling him!"
"The only thing that can stop Jin Hayes is—" He Wei hadn't finished speaking when Rooney extended his foot from behind, causing Jin Hayes to lose his balance and fall to the ground.
Whistle!
The referee blew his whistle and sprinted over, shouting sternly, "That's a foul!"
"Sorry, I just wanted to kick the ball, it wasn't intentional."
"Don't let it happen again, another foul and you'll get a yellow card."
Rooney, far from being a hot-headed young lad, meekly admitted his mistake. He even pulled Jin Hayes up as a gesture of goodwill. Rooney's grip was really strong. You can't hit a smiling face; even if Jin Hayes wanted to get angry, he had nowhere to direct it. It could only be said that Manchester United's fouls were very decisive, not giving him any chance to sprint.
Rooney's actions were subtle yet not overly aggressive, so he didn't have to worry about getting a card, and the position was in their own half, making it difficult to threaten the goal. Manchester United's tactical foul almost prevented Jin Hayes from launching an attack without any cost.
"Is this your plan? Old fox!"
On the sideline, Jürgen Klopp's brows were tightly furrowed; it seemed Manchester United had found a way to neutralise Jin Hayes. He turned to look at Sir Alex Ferguson. The Scottish red-nosed old man's expression remained unchanged; he simply stood there calmly, chewing gum leisurely.
This was also a contest between Klopp and a world-renowned coach.
His opponents in the Bundesliga were, at most, Felix Magath of Wolfsburg and Jupp Heynckes of Bayern. Other coaches simply couldn't threaten Dortmund. Coming to the Champions League was different. There was not only Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri, but also Arsenal coach Arsène Wenger, and Manchester United manager Ferguson. Ranieri and Wenger had both used tactics to cause Dortmund a lot of trouble. But today, Klopp felt a deep sense of powerlessness for the first time.
The away goal in the opening 2 minutes solidified Manchester United's defensive resolve, allowing them to exert maximum pressure. Ferguson was like a profound chess player, making every move fall within his opponent's calculations. Dortmund's attacking probes were all resolved and devoured one by one. Klopp also had to constantly worry about being checkmated by a brilliant move from the opponent, leading to an unexpected defeat.
Like now. Dortmund took a free-kick in their own half, originally intending to find Jin Hayes in the attacking third, allowing him to use his individual ability. But Darren Fletcher was tasked with marking Jin Hayes. The tall centre-back Nemanja Vidić suddenly charged out, leaping with powerful momentum.
"I got it!!"
Bang!
Vidić cleared the ball first, heading it to Carrick, who, before Şahin could press, released the ball to Nani with one touch.
"Track back! Track back!"
"Leave it to me!"
Left-back Marcel Schmelzer was marking Nani, rushing up to try and get behind Nani to slow down the tempo. But Nani's footwork was incredibly nimble; he used the outside of his foot to flick the ball away from the tackle, accelerating past Schmelzer from outside the touchline.
"They've broken through!!! Manchester United's counter-attack!" He Wei exclaimed. Manchester United played with the fast tempo of the Premier League, launching a relentless barrage of attacks. Nani transformed into a sharp winger, dribbling towards the Dortmund penalty area.
"Fuck!!!" Schmelzer was filled with frustration, chasing back with his head down. He had underestimated this Portuguese player, who was known as the "Cristiano Ronaldo successor" and the embodiment of dual nature, both divine and devilish. When in poor form, Nani had made many basic errors, disappearing from the game and having no impact. But Nani, when in top form, was unstoppable.
He outran Schmelzer on the outside, then performed a step-over, suddenly accelerating and changing direction to get past Kehl. He burst into the penalty area from the half-space, and facing Hummels' defense, Nani dribbled one step towards the byline, then suddenly stopped and turned without warning. Hummels was immediately faked to the ground.
Rooney, Giggs, and Cristiano Ronaldo were all converging on the goal at the same time. Fortunately, Nani had another side to his game—he could be unpredictable, sometimes choosing the spectacular over the simple.
Nani, in the penalty area, only had the goal in his sights; no matter how tight the angle, he would take a shot. His right-footed low shot flew towards the far corner. Roman Weidenfeller was focused, diving to parry the ball away.
"Phew!"
Dortmund players and fans alike breathed a sigh of relief. Only Jin Hayes's nerves immediately tensed. He almost immediately sprinted back to defend the penalty area, but he still couldn't stop that man.
"Cristiano Ronaldo!!!!! Gooooooal!!!"
"A brace! In the 25th minute of the first half, a tap-in from Cristiano Ronaldo helps Manchester United take a 2-goal lead!"
Who knew Cristiano Ronaldo would manage a toe-poke shot just as the ball was about to cross the byline. It was almost a goal from a zero-degree angle. Weidenfeller had done his best, but there was nothing he could do about that goal. It could only be said that substitute centre-back Robert Kovač had relaxed his marking on Cristiano Ronaldo, not expecting the Portuguese to appear in that position.
Cristiano Ronaldo celebrated with a sprint, and Wayne Rooney directly picked him up. On the Westfalenstadion, Manchester United players embraced in a huddle, while Dortmund players on the other side fell into confusion; their joys and sorrows were not shared.
Two conceded goals were not the end of the world, but these were two away goals. Just thinking about it was stressful. Even if they equalised today, a 2-2 score going to Old Trafford meant Dortmund would have to find a way to score two or more goals, or fight to the death for a win. Otherwise, they would be eliminated in the Champions League quarter-finals due to an inferior away goal record. Manchester United already had one foot in the semi-finals.
"Hehehe, Dortmund, the disadvantage of missing key players is still too fatal. This defender, oh, Kovač. He finds it difficult to keep up with Cristiano Ronaldo; Dortmund has to use two defenders to mark him every time. But then it's hard to defend against Rooney. At the same time, in attack, Mario Götze on the left is still too young for high-level confrontations; he's almost ineffective. Jin Hayes is restricted by Manchester United's defensive tactics and can barely get the ball; when he does, it's immediately a foul.
I have to say, Sir Alex Ferguson's tactics are more mature and rigorous, and Manchester United's squad also functions more like a cohesive unit. In contrast, Dortmund, trailing by 2 goals, will find it even harder to play; they can't organise effective attacking combinations with Jin Hayes as the core.
I think, forget about it, just try to play behind their defence. Just pass it forward, let Jin Hayes cause trouble in the attacking third, and use his individual ability to create unpredictability. Otherwise, in a positional battle against Manchester United's steady play, they simply can't hold their ground." Zhang Lu analysed from Dortmund's perspective, believing that Dortmund's current squad was still too weak.
"That's right, Dortmund's specialty, the fast break, their sweeping 'youth storm' across Europe, hasn't been showcased today. Instead, they seem to be more cautious and careful against Manchester United, losing their own style. They should try to trust Jin Hayes's individual ability and use individual breakthroughs to pry open Manchester United's defence. Less than 30 minutes into the first half, trailing by 2 goals, there is still a glimmer of hope—"
On Chinese internet forums, netizens had already started complaining.
"Can't win, absolutely can't win."
"Is Dortmund sleepwalking?"
"They weren't a strong team anyway; reaching the quarter-finals is already pretty good."
"Manchester United has a chance for back-to-back titles; Cristiano Ronaldo is just too fierce."
"Isn't Lord Jin fierce?"
"Lord Jin alone can't beat the whole Manchester United team; he's completely shut down, can't even get the ball, and when he does, it's immediately a foul."
"Götze is just useless."
"He's only 16; playing in the Champions League quarter-finals is already very difficult."
"Reus, come back!"
"Suddenly forgot, Lord Jin is also only 16 years old."
"This year, just experience the Champions League atmosphere; next year, as long as the squad is strengthened, who knows, they might go even further."
In the eyes of many fans, Dortmund simply lacked the hard power to compete. There was an all-around gap, from the squad to the coach to the individual abilities of the star players. Dortmund had Jin Hayes, but Manchester United also had Cristiano Ronaldo and Rooney.
Cristiano Ronaldo had just won the Ballon d'Or and was in his prime, scoring 40 goals this season, already recognised as the best player in football. Only Lionel Messi could contend with him. Jin Hayes was indeed strong, but he was still young, so not performing well in a big match was normal.
A sense of despair spread among the fans; everyone started discussing who to buy next season. Things like buying Zlatan Ibrahimović, buying Fernando Torres, buying Andriy Shevchenko—this match was implicitly considered a loss. It wasn't just Chinese fans being pessimistic; Dortmund's own fans had also lost hope.
On Kicker forums, the topics discussed by local Dortmund fans were identical to those of their counterparts across the world. At the Westfalenstadion, the initial cheerfulness and noise had vanished. Everyone sat slumped in their chairs, staring blankly at the field. Being behind wasn't scary; what was scary was not knowing how to win.
"It can't be like this! They need us, they need encouragement!" Anna cried out anxiously in her heart. But what could a little girl like her do? She couldn't influence the entire stadium of fans. She even wanted to rush to the head of the fan club, snatch the megaphone from his hand, and sing the Dortmund team anthem to the stands. But she could only imagine it; the outwardly cool Anna was just an introverted and soft-hearted girl, incapable of such astonishing actions.
Just as she hesitated whether to do it, she suddenly noticed Jin Hayes looking at her from the sideline not far away.
This guy, he even had the presence of mind to secretly make a heart gesture towards her! Oh my goodness!!
Play seriously!
Anna quickly gestured to him, pointing at the field. Jin Hayes's eyes still sparkled; he nodded towards Anna, and with just a glance, they understood each other's thoughts.
"Don't worry, I'm here."
The girl's initial anxiety immediately calmed down. She had no doubt whether Jin Hayes could do it, because he simply could.
During Dortmund's attacking possession, Jin Hayes had no time to communicate with Anna across the distance; he quickly ran to the centre circle to support his teammates. Facing Sebastian Kehl's pass, and the combined pressure from Darren Fletcher and Ryan Giggs, Jin Hayes preemptively dropped back to touch the ball, feeling their pressure, he flicked the ball up over his head.
Giggs charged forward to challenge, but Jin Hayes, using his height advantage, headed the ball past him. And before Fletcher could press, he flicked the ball with his toe to the other side, then lightly headed it again, accelerating and breaking through Fletcher's defence.
"Beautiful!!! Jin Hayes!!"
Amidst the despair of Dortmund fans, Jin Hayes finally erupted in midfield. Two instinctive headers, in an instant, took out two players. Charging towards the penalty area.
"Bloody Hell! Damn!!"
Michael Carrick cursed as he rushed up to intercept Jin Hayes, lowering his centre of gravity to maintain distance and not give him a chance to break through. But Jin Hayes accelerated, dribbling and forcing his way through. Carrick panicked, just as he was about to turn his body to squeeze past the opponent, the football at Jin Hayes's feet seemed to come alive, seizing the fleeting space to nutmeg Carrick. Jin Hayes himself stopped abruptly and turned, elegantly going around from the other side. Another player beaten.
"Jin Hayes has stepped up!! He is Dortmund's hero!!" Seeing him about to dribble into the penalty area, Carrick hardened his resolve, sliding in from behind to trip Jin Hayes to the ground.
Beep!
A sharp whistle interrupted the play, and the referee unhesitatingly pulled out a yellow card.
"Free-kick! Jin Hayes's unstoppable breakthrough has earned his team a free-kick opportunity! And it resulted in Carrick getting a yellow card!"
"The position is about 30 metres out, a little far, but the angle is very good!"
"Jin Hayes! He gets up from the ground, taking the ball to take the free-kick himself!!"
Just like He Wei's emotions, all Dortmund supporters were trembling slightly, finding it hard to breathe. This might be Dortmund's best chance since the start of the match.
Can Jin Hayes do it?