Upon returning to the players' dormitory, David Qin was exhausted beyond measure. He finished washing up early and quickly drifted into a deep sleep.
Even for a teenager, two consecutive high-intensity matches were starting to take their toll. This only highlighted the incredible physical endurance of players like Kevin De Bruyne. They had played two full ninety-minute matches, whereas David had only played sixty minutes in the second outing.
Physical stamina is an attribute that typically follows a clear bell curve as a player ages. Since David had not yet fully developed physically, he simply couldn't compare to De Bruyne, who was approaching his prime.
Late that night, the Asian football world was a hive of activity. Media outlets were saturated with news from the Wolfsburg versus Leverkusen clash.
The Torch of Asia is About to Change Hands! 17-Year-Old Chinese Sensation Beats Son Heung-min with a Goal and an Assist!
Whimsical Imagination: David Qin Transforms into a Pitch Magician with a Rabona Assist!
Clinical Breakaway: David Qin Proves He's No Mascot by Netting the Decisive Goal!
The Gap in Talent Cannot Be Bridged by Sweat Alone: Son Heung-min Swaps Shirts with David, Promises a Rematch in the Asian Cup!
Rankings for the 26th Asian Cup: South Korea is Tier 1, China is Tier 3!
Football fans across Asia were locked in heated debates, which inevitably devolved into online skirmishes.
@KimchiKicker22: David Qin only looks good because he has world-class teammates. Put Son Heung-min next to De Bruyne and he'd score fifty goals! 🙄
@Seoul_Surferz: Facts. We'll accept the club result for now, but just you wait for the Asian Cup. We're going to reclaim our honor! 🇰🇷
@DragonFan99: Imagine acting this tough after barely scraping through the group stage in third place?
@TigerTae1: You lot better pray you don't end up in the same group as the Great Republic of Korea!
@WallOfChina43: "Great Republic"? Everyone remembers the 2002 World Cup scandal. Stop pretending you're a sports superpower when you bribe the refs! 🤡
@BeijingXBaller: Don't get too cocky, you lot. You say you're strong, yet you didn't win a single game in the last World Cup?
@BusanBullet1x: Still better than not qualifying at all, right?
@K-LeagueKing: Don't think a few lucky goals makes you the Torch of Asia. The future is a long way off!
While the South Korean fans were incredibly arrogant, the Chinese fans had little to fire back with outside of moral arguments. In the world of football, a fan's confidence stems from the team's results. And as for the Chinese National Team... the less said, the better.
Consequently, Chinese fans could only suppress their frustration, re-watching David Qin's highlights for the hundredth time to soothe their wounded souls. They pinned all their hopes on David growing up quickly to deliver a miracle at the Asian Cup.
The next day, David woke up late, having slept for nearly twelve hours. He decided to skip the training ground entirely. Instead, he did some light stretching at home and flipped on the TV to watch Knallerfrauen. After a while, he found it boring and switched to the sports channel, where the host was analyzing the Bundesliga standings.
As the matches progressed, the league table was beginning to take shape. However, the team sitting at the very top wasn't Bayern Munich.
It was Wolfsburg.
Aside from their opening-day loss to Bayern, they had won their subsequent three matches, tallying 9 points. Bayern sat in second with 8 points from two wins and two draws. Meanwhile, Borussia Dortmund seemed out of sorts, sitting in third with 6 points from two wins and two losses.
The giants were being held by the underdogs, and the mid-table teams were picking off the weak... the Bundesliga season had started in total chaos. Take Round 4 as an example: Hamburg, who had conceded 16 goals to Bayern last season, managed to hold the champions to a shock draw.
Bayern's star-studded frontline—Lewandowski, Götze, Müller—all went silent. Rumor had it that Pep Guardiola flew into a rage after the match, arguing with the Bayern board for nearly an hour. He believed the management had failed to recruit according to his philosophy, leaving his midfield depleted while competing on multiple fronts. He had even been forced to push David Alaba up to left midfield. As for the "talent" they had brought in before the season, the kid didn't even have the quality to make the matchday squad.
What infuriated Guardiola even more was that the reserve player he had actually scouted was currently lighting up the Bundesliga for Wolfsburg. Two goals and three assists in four games, plus goals in the Europa League... what kind of terrifying progression was this? Letting a player of that caliber walk away was the ultimate proof of the board's incompetence.
But the Bayern board was equally bewildered. Based on David Qin's previous data and performance, how could he possibly have reached this level? Their only move was to shift the blame to Erik ten Hag, claiming he lacked the eye for young talent.
Ten Hag was speechless. The board had been the ones to drop hints, asking him to pressure David into accepting a transfer. Who could have guessed David would pass a trial at Wolfsburg on his first try? Everyone thought he was just a mascot to help sell cars, yet he was putting in legendary performances. Ten Hag often found himself in a state of self-doubt late at night.
Did I really miss it?
The brilliance of one teenager was nearly driving two bald managers insane. After the draw against Hamburg, Guardiola watched the Wolfsburg match recordings over and over. Seeing the nimble youth on the screen, he wanted to go back two months and slap his past self. He'd insisted on a "trial match" and then let it slip through his fingers because he was preoccupied with other transfers, allowing Wolfsburg to snatch the opportunity.
Driven by this, he once again made a recommendation to the board—this time with a forceful stance. He wanted to launch a bid for David in the winter window to bring the lost prodigy back to the Allianz Arena. He didn't care if the outside world mocked them for it. He knew that for the current Bayern—with the mounting tensions between himself, the board, and the players—fresh blood was the only solution. And the new player had to be his man.
While Guardiola was worrying himself bald, Jürgen Klopp was also losing sleep. Having just lost 0-2 to Mainz, he couldn't figure out why his team was struggling. Was it really just the absence of Lewandowski?
It certainly seemed that way. Dortmund currently lacked a potent striker, leading to a massive drop in offensive intensity. How could he fix it? He could only try to steady the ship in the early stages of the league and wait for the winter window to buy.
However, he had recently heard whispers that the board was looking to replace him. As the saying goes, there is a "seven-year itch" in marriages. He had been at Dortmund for nearly seven years, and he could feel the passion—both from the team and within himself—starting to burn out. Leaving might be the best option.
But he didn't want to leave as a failure. Even if he moved on, he wanted to leave the fans with one perfect season. He didn't dare think about the Champions League for now, but the league title was something he had to chase.
Lately, Wolfsburg fans had been walking the streets with their heads held high. Why wouldn't they? They were top of the table.
However, their joy ended four days later. The toll of the two previous high-intensity matches had left many players fatigued, forcing Dieter Hecking into a heavy rotation. David Qin didn't even make the matchday squad.
Traveling to Berlin with a half-strength lineup and low energy to face Hertha BSC, Wolfsburg eventually settled for a 1-1 draw. If not for the veteran Ivica Olić coming off the bench to scrap for a late goal, they might not have brought home a single point.
Meanwhile, Bayern Munich secured a dominant 4-0 win against a newly promoted side, knocking Wolfsburg off the top spot. As for Borussia Dortmund, they suffered yet another draw.
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