Chapter 1 A Problem

Recently, Lin Jia had a problem weighing on her mind, something she longed to say but didn't know how.

She and An Ke had been officially together for over three years, yet they hadn't moved forward. They remained a cohabitating couple. As a woman, Lin Jia certainly didn't want that for the rest of her life, and it was impossible.

But every time she saw An Ke's exhausted expression after training, the question she'd prepared would get stuck in her throat.

"When are we getting married?"

An Ke had never mentioned marriage to her. Since becoming the captain of Bayern Munich, he always seemed very busy. Bayern Munich had the nickname "Hollywood of Football" in the Bundesliga; there were many stars, and naturally, many conflicts. He often had to handle disputes between players, coordinate the relationship between the higher-ups and the players, and there were many social engagements he couldn't refuse.

Maybe he'll have time to think about it when he retires... Lin Jia comforted herself in her heart.

In a relationship, being together for too long always leads to various conflicts, some of which even jeopardize the future of the two. An Ke had been in a bad mood lately, and Lin Jia tried to avoid provoking him on sensitive issues, striving to cherish their relationship.

The sound of a cup shattering came from the living room, and Lin Jia quickly grabbed a broom and ran out.

An Ke looked at his hand and muttered to himself, "I've been too tired lately..." After saying that, he went upstairs to rest by himself.

Lin Jia squatted down and carefully picked up the glass shards, being careful not to cut her fingers. She sighed softly; this was the fourth cup An Ke had broken in the past three days.

※※※

An Ke was alone in the bedroom, getting ready to close the door. He clearly saw the doorknob; his distance judgment was correct, and his hand could reach it with a little more extension. But when he exerted force, he grabbed nothing!

The doorknob in his eyes was like a phantom, his hand easily passing through it.

He reached out again, still grabbing empty air.

An Ke angrily punched the door, this time hitting it solidly. With a bang, the door was finally closed.

Lying on the bed, he held his right hand in front of his eyes, examining it as if trying to figure something out.

"I guess I'm still tired?" After looking for a long time without seeing anything, An Ke put his hand down, rolled over onto his stomach, and fell asleep, muttering to himself.

※※※

Goalkeeping coach Kahn shot a soccer ball towards An Ke. He crouched to receive the ball, but unexpectedly, the ball leaked through his legs and rolled into the goal behind him.

"Stop!" Kahn shouted, then strode in front of An Ke, roaring at him, "Boy, what's wrong with you lately? You're letting these balls through?! Too many social engagements? Or did becoming captain make you so arrogant you don't know your limits?"

An Ke didn't know how to explain to his former captain. He could only lower his head and grit his teeth, saying, "I'm sorry, let's do it again, I'll try harder!"

Kahn glanced at An Ke, then turned and walked back.

The subsequent training went much smoother. An Ke returned to his normal level, and the roar of Kahn, the Lion King, lessened a lot.

※※※

In the 23rd round of the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich faced Cottbus away. Judging from the difference in strength between the two teams, this game had no suspense. Although Bayern was playing away, victory was taken for granted.

Unexpectedly, the final result of this game was 2:1, with the home team Cottbus winning. This shattered the expectations of many experts. What made them even more surprised was that the most stable player, An Ke, sleepwalked through this game. It was his two very low-level, very amateur mistakes that allowed Cottbus to defeat their strong opponent. The Cottbus players who scored at the time couldn't believe their shots could actually go in.

Once, An Ke misjudged when diving to receive the ball, the ball hitting his chest and rebounding out, just in time for a Cottbus player following up to push it into the empty net.

Another time, the opponent took a corner kick, and An Ke shouted and rushed out to get the ball. Unexpectedly, when he jumped up, he realized he couldn't reach the ball... A failed rush out, the ball flew past his hands, and the Cottbus defender guarding the back post easily headed the ball into the empty net...

These two mistakes made Kahn on the coaching bench shake his head.

After the game, An Ke received the lowest score in the team. Many media outlets enlarged the photo of him looking helplessly at the ball in the goal and placed it on the front page. Even without any text explanation, everyone could see that it was the figure of a loser.

An Ke's poor performance was unanimously criticized.

In the next round of the German Cup, An Ke's performance was godlike, completely blocking Bremen's offense. Bremen had twenty shots in the whole game, with fifteen shots on target. With such a terrifying hit rate, the score was still zero. An Ke saved five sure-goal shots, one of which was right on the goal line, which An Ke blocked with his toe.

The commentator of that game kept shouting, "This is the An we know! This is the normal An! He's an insurmountable wall in front of Klose!"

As a result, this performance made Kahn shake his head again on the coaching bench: "I know you're a neurotic goalkeeper, but you can't be this neurotic! One game terrible, one game great, the coach's heart can't take it..."

In that game, thanks to An Ke's superhuman performance, Bayern Munich won 2:0 against Werder Bremen on the road, gaining the most crucial victory in the two-legged tie. After this game, An Ke once again received the highest score in the team from the German media, and all the criticisms against him disappeared, replaced by the utmost praise and flattery.

An Ke ignored the media's behavior. He knew that's how soccer was. If you perform poorly in one game, you're immediately thrown into the eighteenth level of hell. But as long as you perform well in another game, the media will be as affectionate as long-lost brothers, lifting you up to heaven.

And when An Ke was being scolded, Lin Jia worried about him. Now that she saw everything was getting better, her heart could finally relax for a while.

But what no one expected was that in the following league game, An Ke's performance became strange again, making no sense to anyone. Although he didn't lose this time, it wasn't thanks to him, but to the forwards' desperate goals that the score was tied 2:2 at the last moment. Despite this, An Ke couldn't avoid the media's overwhelming scolding after the game, because both of the opponent's goals were related to his low-level mistakes...

Bayern Munich fans also bluntly said that the current An Ke was incomprehensible. One game his performance was like sleepwalking, and when everyone was scolding him, the next game he performed as if possessed by God. Then everyone would be optimistic about him again, pinning their hopes on him, but he would sleepwalk again...

Because he was the captain, he still had the club's trust. But Kahn felt that this couldn't go on, and he had to find a chance to talk to An Ke alone, even though he wasn't the type to talk to people's hearts. When he was a professional player, his usual method of teaching his teammates was to grab them by the neck and roar, or simply bite their ears...

And his private conversation with An Ke couldn't be seen by Michel Rensing. This kid was very sensitive, and if he saw it, who knows what he would think. Now that An Ke was in bad shape, they still had to rely on him in case of an emergency.

Rensing was trained by Bayern Munich's youth academy. He had been a starter in Bayern Munich's various levels of teams since he was a child, until he met An Ke... His competition with An Ke for the starting goalkeeper position had lasted for four seasons. To be honest, in Kahn's view, both were very talented goalkeepers. It would be a pity to give up either one. Rensing's advantage was his youth. He was only twenty-four years old and was Bayern Munich's future. An Ke's advantage was his rich experience and illustrious reputation. No coach would have the guts to make a world-class goalkeeper a substitute.

In order to ease the goalkeeper competition, the club had been loaning Rensing out for the past few seasons. He performed excellently in every team he went to. Every time the loan period expired, he would return with purchase requests from the other club, but Bayern refused them all.

An Ke had just celebrated his thirtieth birthday, and for a goalkeeper, thirty was the golden age. The club's consideration was to continue to let An Ke be the starting goalkeeper and let Rensing get experience outside, preparing to take over An Ke's position. The purpose of recalling Rensing this season was to cultivate his feelings for Bayern Munich, so that he wouldn't forget where he came from after being away for too long. There were precedents for this. The former full-back Lahm was loaned out for a long time, and his feelings for Bayern Munich faded. Then Fiorentina took advantage of the opportunity, and the club's executives regretted it after seeing his performance at Fiorentina.

Therefore, An Ke and Rensing had a tense relationship. An Ke didn't care, but the key was that Rensing was a little narrow-minded, and he was always worried about this and that... So Kahn had to try to be fair to both of them, secretly hoping that Rensing would be loaned out as soon as possible...

That's why Kahn wanted to "find a chance" to talk to An Ke.

※※※

After training that day, An Ke was showering in the locker room. At first, he was just showering, but later he was just spacing out under the water. The strange changes happening in his body lately had made it impossible for this naturally optimistic person to smile anymore. He was somewhat aware of the seriousness of the problem, and a feeling of unease quietly emerged from the depths of his heart.

Today's training was criticized by Kahn again, because his performance was indeed very poor. What would happen if this situation continued? An Ke didn't dare to think about it for the first time.

It took him half an hour to finish the shower. When he came out, the locker room was empty. Everyone had left, leaving only him. An Ke wrapped a bath towel around his lower body and sat on a chair, continuing to space out. He didn't want to rush home. Every time he saw Lin Jia's worried eyes, he felt especially stung, making him even more uneasy.

※※※

Kahn closed the door of his office, signaling the end of his day's work. The rest of the night was for indulging himself. He was a beast of the night.

Passing by the players' locker room, he found that the door was ajar, with light shining through the gap. Logically speaking, the players should all be gone by this time. Who was still inside? Or did the last person to leave forget to turn off the lights and close the door?

Kahn pushed the door open and happened to see An Ke sitting on a chair, spacing out.

"An?" He was a little surprised, and An Ke was also surprised.

Kahn quickly reacted. Wasn't this the environment he needed most? Besides the two of them, there wasn't a single outsider, perfect for talking.

"Why aren't you home yet?" Kahn said with a smile. "Are you like me, a beast of the night?"

An Ke shook his head: "I don't know, I just wanted to find a quiet place to rest."

Kahn sat down next to An Ke. "I feel like you've aged thirty years overnight? Because of your recent poor form?" He was asking a question he already knew the answer to, but it would be better if An Ke said it himself.

An Ke wasn't a fool: "Oliver, you're asking a question you already know the answer to. You were scolding me during training this afternoon."

Kahn chuckled twice. "Since we all know what's going on, I won't beat around the bush. I want to know what's causing your current situation? I've been watching you play for almost eight years, ever since you were at Dortmund. I've never seen you have such a large and rapid fluctuation in form like this time. What exactly is going on?"

An Ke shook his head in pain: "I don't know... I feel like I've lost control of my body, and I can't do some very simple movements..."

Kahn frowned. He felt that An Ke wasn't lying, but he didn't understand why this was happening, what the situation was, and couldn't find an effective solution.

Seeing Kahn's troubled look, An Ke finally laughed: "Don't worry, I think maybe I've just been too tired lately."

Kahn looked up at An Ke: "It seems like you need a rest. So An, how about I give you some time off?"

※※※

Everyone saw Fiorentina's move to completely abandon the league. They even fielded mostly substitutes in the game against their league rival AC Milan, and naturally, they lost 1:3 to Qiu Suhui's Milan without any suspense. Zhang Jun wasn't even on the roster, which disappointed Qiu Suhui. He had wanted to face Zhang Jun's Fiorentina at the San Siro and have a classic duel between the two teams that would be recorded in history.

Although it was understandable to conserve strength in the league because the Champions League quarter-finals were coming up soon, it was the first time Sabato had so blatantly given up a game. It seemed that Fiorentina really wanted to win a championship, otherwise Sabato wouldn't have suddenly changed his usual style.

Zhang Jun and Krull watched their team being thoroughly ravaged by AC Milan on the road on TV, but they were powerless. Who told them their Champions League opponent was a tough team?

When Zhang Jun led Fiorentina to attack the Champions League for the first time, he fell at the feet of this team... No, he should say he fell at the hands of one person.

Although that game made Zhang Jun re-evaluate himself and created Fiorentina's incomparably glorious three seasons, the pain of being completely defeated by someone was still fresh in his mind. Fiorentina wanted revenge, and he wanted revenge. After four years, they finally had the opportunity to meet again in the Champions League. He didn't know when the next reunion would be, or whether Zhang Jun would still be at Fiorentina at that time.

He didn't have time, and Fiorentina didn't have time. This debt must be settled now, and then they would step on the opponent's corpse to reach the top of Europe and offer the last beautiful memory to Ren Yudi.

On April 1st, the first leg of the European Champions League quarter-finals, Fiorentina challenged German giant Bayern Munich away, and Zhang Jun challenged An Ke away.

※※※

Rensing had been in a good mood these past few days, feeling refreshed. He walked with his head held high during training, especially in front of An Ke. He was as proud as a victorious rooster. The only thing that annoyed him was that An Ke wasn't as depressed as he had expected, which lessened his sense of accomplishment as a victor.

Because Kahn, the goalkeeper coach, told him that he would be starting both the midweek and weekend games, and An Ke would be his substitute. As long as a goalkeeper wasn't injured or in terrible shape, starting meant playing the entire game. This was the first time he had taken the starting spot without An Ke being injured, so how could he not be happy?

The young Rensing began to eagerly look forward to the midweek game.

※※※

The team's situation was critical, leaving only the Champions League as a path forward, so Zhang Jun wasn't in the mood to call An Ke for jokes before the game. But when he saw that the person standing in front of the Bayern Munich goal was not An Ke, but an unfamiliar kid, he was a little unprepared.

"What exactly is going on?" Zhang Jun muttered to himself, looking at An Ke on the bench.

An Ke noticed Zhang Jun was looking at him and shrugged.

Zhang Jun felt like he was being made a fool of. He came with full enthusiasm to seek revenge, but the opponent had changed from a powerful nemesis to an unknown pawn. As soon as the game started, anger drove Zhang Jun to launch a fierce attack on Rensing's goal, he wanted to completely crush this kid until An Ke was forced to take the field.

The poor Rensing was originally full of beautiful dreams for this game, and then felt hopeful for his future. He didn't expect to meet an angry Zhang Jun.

My limited playing time can't be wasted on a kid like you! An Ke, get out here!!

"Oh my god! The game has only been going on for seven minutes, and Fiorentina has already had five shots! Is this still Bayern Munich's home field?" the commentator exclaimed.

In the 18th minute of the first half, Fiorentina launched an offensive from the center. Zhang Jun faced the siege of three defenders, forcibly broke into the penalty area, and then unleashed a powerful shot. The ball rolled into the net from between Rensing's legs!

Fiorentina led the home team Bayern Munich 1:0!

After conceding this goal, Rensing still had the mind to loudly scold his defensive teammates for their poor defense, "Three people let him in, were you sleeping?!"

Near the end of the first half, Zhang Jun seized the opportunity to score again. This time, it was a beautiful long shot from outside the penalty area. Rensing used all his skills but couldn't stop the ball from going into the upper right corner of the goal!

After scoring, Zhang Jun roared at the Bayern bench. An Ke could only pretend not to see him, remaining silent and expressionless. And Kahn, sitting next to the head coach, was shaking his head again.

He really didn't expect that Fiorentina, who was bullied by everyone in the domestic league, still had so much energy. He also didn't expect that Zhang Jun, who had been injured so many times, was still so brave. Even if his team's defenders used foul tactics, they couldn't stop his breakthrough and goals... Has he really been injured?

Just in the last second of injury time in the first half, Krull also had a shot that hit the post. Bayern and Rensing escaped a disaster. If they had been beaten 0:3 in the first half, then the second half would have been basically meaningless.

Despite this, the situation was still very serious. Conceding two away goals at home, how could Bayern play the away game? Bayern coach Sammer was pacing back and forth on the sidelines, looking anxious and dissatisfied.

He could only hope to make effective adjustments during the half-time break, boost the team's morale, and overtake in the second half.

What Kahn didn't expect was that Bayern did change in the second half. They went crazy, but Fiorentina was even crazier than them!

After hitting the post once in the first half, Krull finally didn't miss again. He beautifully dribbled past Bayern's entire defense, and then jokingly used his heel to kick the ball into the goal, as if he was mocking Rensing.

Having conceded three goals, Rensing had completely lost his fighting spirit. He even stopped scolding his teammates, just staring blankly at the ball in the goal. Kahn covered his face, unable to bear to watch the "future of Bayern's goal" perform so badly. He knew that Rensing's performance was completely ruined, although there hadn't been any mistakes yet, he was not far from making them.

As if to verify Kahn's jinx, only two minutes had passed since Krull's goal, Zhang Jun received a cross from Leo D'Arno in the penalty area. He used his chest to stop the ball in front, smoothly dribbled past Bayern's defense, and then lifted his foot to shoot! This time, Rensing pounced on Zhang Jun's shot, but fumbled! As if assisting Zhang Jun, he hit the ball back to Zhang Jun, and Zhang Jun naturally wouldn't be polite to this gift, lifting his foot to shoot again, the ball flew into the goal without any resistance!

4:0! Fiorentina completely suppressed Bayern Munich!

Zhang Jun, who scored a hat-trick, wasn't very excited. On the contrary, he felt a little bored - bullying a child wasn't a glorious thing. Facing this goalkeeper whose hands were trembling, there was no sense of accomplishment in scoring more goals.

Rensing's hope game was ruined, and wasn't his revenge game the same? And the culprit who caused all of this was sitting on the sidelines, looking like it was none of his business, which made Zhang Jun grit his teeth.

Three minutes after completing his hat-trick, Sabato replaced Zhang Jun with John Jones, and his carefully prepared revenge came to an end. Although he scored three goals alone, for him, it wasn't a game worth remembering.

For another person, it was definitely not a game worth remembering either. Rensing's confidence was completely destroyed in this game. He had always thought that there was no difference between him and An Ke, and even that he was better than An Ke. He was the best among all the goalkeepers in Germany. As long as he sat in Bayern's starting goalkeeper position, his career would become bright. As for Zhang Jun... well, he used to be very strong, but now that he was a glass man, he was no longer good. Like An Ke, this world belonged to young people, and the old guys should make way...

Unexpectedly, he was so humiliated by an old guy. There weren't many forwards who could score a hat-trick in a game where he was guarding the goal, he could count them on five fingers. Zhang Jun actually did it so easily, was he still human?!

But facing Zhang Jun in his prime, An Ke could completely block his shots, preventing Zhang Jun from scoring any points. Was he still human?

For a moment, Rensing suddenly felt that he was nothing. He had always thought that he was so great, but it turned out that he wasn't even one ten-thousandth as good as others...

The game ended with a score of 4:0 without any suspense, Bayern's disastrous defeat and Fiorentina's big victory. This result basically announced that Bayern Munich's road in this season's European Champions League had come to an end. In the next round, would they have any possibility of scoring five goals in a row and not letting the other team score a single goal in Fiorentina's "devil's home"?

Yes, but the probability was the same as a UFO falling from the sky and hitting your head.

Zhang Jun was really angered by An Ke, and didn't even call An Ke when he left Munich.

Even if An Ke played in the game back in his home field, it couldn't be called "revenge," because they had never lost to Bayern Munich at home.

※※※

The team lost the Champions League, and Kahn's troubles came again. As a goalkeeper coach, goalkeepers were his responsibility. An Ke's form was inexplicably low, and now Rensing, the only hope, also had no confidence. He even solemnly proposed to him during training that he wanted to be a substitute for the weekend league game. He needed to know that actively requesting to be a substitute was something that the extremely ambitious Rensing would never have said before.

Kahn persuaded him for a long time, hoping that Rensing would regain his confidence and continue to play. He didn't want to replace the players just when they were in a state of failure, because it would cause very serious damage to them.

But this time, Rensing was determined not to do it, and his persuasion was useless. Rensing just insisted on letting An Ke start and he would be the substitute.

With no other choice, Kahn consulted Sammer and then agreed to Rensing's request. In this way, Bayern Munich's main goalkeeper competition ended with Rensing's active concession.