Jin Hayes's ominous premonition continued to cast a shadow over his heart. On the day of the match, a piece of information he saw further confirmed his premonition.
"It's him?"
"Who?"
In a five-star hotel conference room in Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund was about to depart for Camp Nou. Before leaving, the coaching staff made their final instructions based on the starting lineups announced by both sides. At the same time, UEFA's match information had already been released. In the column for the referee, Jin Hayes suddenly saw a name. Norwegian referee: Tom Henning Øvrebø. And a 2-inch photo next to the name—the bald head, shiny and bright, was exceptionally dazzling.
"Jin, why does your expression seem off? Is there a problem?"
"No, I'm probably overthinking it."
Jin Hayes shook his head. Due to his butterfly effect, most of the content in his prophetic dreams had been altered. For example, in this year's Champions League, Borussia Dortmund would not appear in the last 16, leading to a series of chain reactions in subsequent knockout rounds.
Manchester United, who should have reached the Champions League final, were eliminated early by him; Chelsea and Liverpool did not meet in the quarter-finals but converged in the semi-finals, and in the same half of the bracket. So Chelsea, who should have met Barcelona, escaped a calamity, and Borussia Dortmund became the unlucky one.
And in the 2009 Champions League semi-finals, a shocking piece of news erupted—the infamous incident that marred a certain match. The protagonist of that incident was the bald referee he saw today.
As he recalled, this referee had a profound impact, leading to an uproar that did not subside even a decade later. Although there was no direct evidence to prove that referee Øvrebø's decisions were rigged, all official responses concluded that the misjudgements in the match were purely due to the referee's competence. However, years later, the arrests of FIFA President Sepp Blatter and UEFA President Michel Platini reignited discussions about the incident.
Football might be pure, and most football matches indeed reflect the true performance of the players. When Jin Hayes usually browsed forums, he hated it when netizens casually mentioned match-fixing or bribery. However, the existence of some dark secrets cannot be denied. Otherwise, the South Korean team would not have reached the semi-finals in the 2002 World Cup. It's as if they don't even bother to hide it.
Jin Hayes was willing to believe that some technical refereeing incidents, some misjudgements and missed calls, might occur in this evening's match. But would there really be no problems?
"Jin, are you alright?"
Even Jürgen Klopp noticed Jin Hayes's unusual state. He frowned, afraid that Jin Hayes had some physical problem or a mental issue. It would be fine if anyone else on the team had an issue, but if Jin Hayes did, then today would truly be a bad omen.
"Don't worry, Coach, I'm in great shape."
"That's good. Get some rest now. We'll depart for the stadium in 30 minutes."
"Okay!"
Jin Hayes took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled.
Who cares! Even if Platini himself showed up and disallowed all of the team's goals, he would still give his all and put the ball in the net.
The secret weapon he discovered last time might be put to use.
...
Jin Hayes had already anticipated that Camp Nou would not be so friendly to him. Who would have thought they would be hit with a blow right at the start. Everything before the match was normal; Captain Sebastian Kehl won the coin toss and got the kickoff. Jin Hayes and his teammates had already planned to continue using a blitz to try and steal a goal against Barcelona.
The reason Borussia Dortmund could repeatedly launch opening blitz attacks was their ability to create a clear opening through Jin Hayes's absolute advantage, even when opponents were on guard, forcing a superb attacking opportunity.
The tense Champions League semi-final second leg, this time it was Duan Xuan and Xu Yang's turn to commentate.
At the start, Duan Xuan was still reading out the starting line-ups for both teams: "Today, Pep Guardiola changed the starting line-up from the last match. The formation is still 4-3-3, only the main midfielders have been replaced. The goalkeeper is still Víctor Valdés. In defence, Dani Alves, Gerard Piqué, Carles Puyol, and Éric Abidal are lined up. Midfielders are Seydou Keita, Yaya Touré, and Xavi; the attacking trident consists of Andrés Iniesta, Samuel Eto'o, and Lionel Messi. Sergio Busquets, Thierry Henry, Bojan Krkić, and Pedro are currently on the bench."
"For Borussia Dortmund, there are no changes in personnel. Goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller. Defenders: Patrick Owomoyela, Neven Subotić, Mats Hummels, Marcel Schmelzer; midfielders: Sebastian Kehl, Nuri Şahin, Jin Hayes; forwards: Marco Reus, Alexander Frei, Jakub Błaszczykowski. On the bench are youngsters Mario Götze and İlkay Gündoğan."
"Alright, the match has begun. This is CCTV bringing you the UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg. Barcelona is hosting the biggest dark horse of this Champions League at Camp Nou... Oh, no! That ball!"
Duan Xuan hadn't even finished speaking when an unexpected situation occurred less than 10 seconds into the match.
Borussia Dortmund, having won the kickoff, intended to launch a lightning attack. This time, Jin Hayes's main attacking direction was the low-key Błaszczykowski on the right, while he, Reus, Şahin, Frei, and others were supporting attackers.
After the kickoff, Jin Hayes passed the ball to Şahin, and a group of players quickly surged forward towards the left wing. With continuous quick passes, Jin Hayes had already dribbled into the front-left 30-metre zone. Keita and Yaya Touré were marking him simultaneously, while the other Barcelona players were covering Reus and the others, leaving a defensive vacuum on the right.
Jin Hayes only needed to perform at his normal level, shake off the two bodyguards, and cross the ball to the surging Şahin. Şahin could then use his best passing technique to deliver a through ball, immediately piercing Barcelona's flank. Błaszczykowski would then dribble in and threaten Barcelona's goal within 15 seconds of the start. Everything was well-planned, and Jin Hayes indeed shook off Yaya Touré, skillfully dribbling past a tackle and executing a Marseille turn around Keita.
Originally, Jin Hayes's move was perfect; he had already lifted his foot to pass the ball. Keita, enraged at being bypassed by Jin Hayes, grabbed his collar from behind, forcefully pulling him to the ground. This was still a good outcome for Borussia Dortmund—a direct free-kick opportunity on the front-left, about 26 metres out. The angle was perfect; both Nuri Şahin and Jin Hayes had a chance for a direct free-kick.
At worst, they could cross it into the box for Mats Hummels to head it towards goal. However, the referee Tom Henning Øvrebø, almost right in front of the two players, astonishingly ignored this obvious foul.
Keita pulling down Jin Hayes caused Jin Hayes to fail to complete his pass, and as he fell, he kicked the ball to Xavi's feet. Xavi turned without hesitation, immediately played a through ball forward, directly finding Lionel Messi on the right.
Borussia Dortmund players were all charging forward, completely unprepared for this move. Even Şahin and Captain Sebastian Kehl were still complaining to the referee about the foul.
Keita's pulling action was obvious to anyone with eyes; it would be considered a foul even in the more lenient Premier League, yet it wasn't in the Champions League?
Referee Øvrebø ignored them, running with the ball towards Barcelona's attacking half, with both hands outstretched, signalling for play to continue.
Jin Hayes, lying on the ground, didn't even have time to complain. He immediately got up and rushed back to defend his half. Messi had already burst into the penalty area. Fortunately, this shooting opportunity was too good, surprising Messi. He was usually surrounded by heavy obstacles, taking shots under pressure.
This time, with no defenders around, Messi's shot felt a bit off. His left-footed curling shot went slightly wide, skimming the post and flying into the stands. Roman Weidenfeller nearly had a heart attack, still shaken. The Borussia Dortmund players, frantically running back, also stopped, all breathing a sigh of relief.
"Hey!!!"
Could the hot-tempered Jürgen Klopp tolerate this?
"What the fuck? Man? What the fuck?"
"Language!" The fourth official's face was stern. "Stop your aggressive language and behaviour, or I will have reason to ask the referee to card you."
"My God, you—" Before Klopp could utter the F-word, he was pulled away by Željko Buvač.
"What the hell? Don't pull me!"
The furious Klopp even vented his anger on Buvač, but his assistant, knowing his personality well, calmly persuaded him: "Something's not right, you absolutely must not be impulsive! Calm down, Jürgen, calm down!"
"Damn it!" Klopp lowered his voice, letting out a curse from deep in his throat, and kicked a water bottle as if to vent his frustration.
"What's going on with the referee?"
"Not sure. I'll go speak with the fourth official."
On the field, Captain Kehl kept complaining to Øvrebø.
"Referee, that was clearly a foul! Keita pulled him!" He even grabbed his own collar to demonstrate. No matter how exaggerated Kehl's actions were, Keita's foul just now was far more exaggerated. The bald referee Øvrebø, however, remained expressionless.
"Physical challenges are reasonable on the field. I didn't see any obvious foul from him."
"Are you blind? It's right there, can't you see it?"
"Are you questioning me?!"
Øvrebø, with his burly build and bald head, already looked like someone from the streets, and he aggressively questioned Nuri Şahin face-to-face. Şahin didn't back down at all, almost getting into a fight with the referee, but Kehl pulled him away in time.
"No, referee, we just want to reasonably complain about the opponent's foul."
Øvrebø might have felt a bit uneasy, clearing his throat. "I have my own judgment on the scale of fouls. You just play the game, but if you speak disrespectfully again, I will issue a card directly! Last warning!"
"This—"
Øvrebø walked away with his head held high.
Şahin was trembling with anger. He rushed towards Keita: "You fouled!"
Keita merely shrugged, indicating he didn't understand Şahin's German-accented English.
"Forget it, Nuri."
"Jin, they're going too far."
"Heh heh heh—"
Jin Hayes just sneered.
He knew very well that the famous football incident from his prophetic dream had most likely fallen upon Borussia Dortmund. In the vision, Michael Ballack and Didier Drogba were almost yelling in the referee's face, but was it useful?
No. Chelsea still couldn't escape the "Stamford Bridge incident."
Wasting breath on the referee was futile and would only affect his own mentality. Even if Jin Hayes wanted to rush up and deliver a right hook to the referee's jaw, he wanted to argue with Barcelona. Being rational, only by trying to maintain a stable mindset and having the whole team stay calm and continue the match was the optimal solution.
Between passion and victory, Jin Hayes was more willing to choose victory, even if it meant enduring for now. If playing against Barcelona in the previous match was hellish difficulty, then what level of difficulty was this match?
Theoretically, it was a 0% win rate.
Perhaps he really had to be like the later Doctor Strange, finding the one possibility out of 14,000,506 outcomes.