A Hat Trick Is This Easy (Please Vote, Please Support)

"Huang Kaiwen got there first in front of goal, haha, he collided with Inzaghi. That just shows that top-class attackers all think alike."

Ancelotti was in no mood to laugh.

He stared nervously at the pitch. When he saw Huang Kaiwen get back up without a scratch, he finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Hey, kid, if you hadn't gotten in the way, I would've scored."

As they walked back, Inzaghi muttered.

Huang Kaiwen put an arm around his shoulders and said, "Next time. I'll let you have the next one, okay?"

"That's a promise."

Inzaghi cared deeply about his Champions League goal tally.

He even dreamed of challenging Gerd Müller's record of 68 goals.

"Don't worry. If there's a chance, I'll definitely give it to you."

A few minutes later, Kaka drove forward with the ball but was closed down by several opponents, forcing him to pass back. After receiving it, Seedorf sent the ball to Andrea Pirlo in the center circle.

Pirlo looked up and saw that the opposition defense was pushed high. As expected, he immediately launched a long pass.

The ball whistled over the Shakhtar Donetsk defensive line.

Seeing the ball head to the right, Inzaghi felt that Pirlo was being a real bastard. He was playing on the left today—did Shevchenko have Inzaghi's instinct for getting on the end of chances?

It would be a wasted pass anyway.

But at the crucial moment, Huang Kaiwen, who had been drifting along the defensive line, burst into action.

He ran into the box and held Bagg against his back. As the ball dropped, he cushioned it with his chest, sending it slightly forward, then swung through with another volley.

This time, it was with his right foot.

Bang—

Still the bottom-right corner. Shakhtar Donetsk goalkeeper Jan Lastuvka instinctively stuck out a foot, but still could not prevent the goal.

Jan Lastuvka's scalp tingled.

The shot had been too powerful. He had no time to make a save.

AC Milan's number 10 did not look like he possessed that kind of strength at all. It made no sense. All he could do was dejectedly fish the ball out of the net.

Huang Kaiwen had already run back to embrace Pirlo, who had provided the assist from midfield.

Huang never forgot the man who dug the well when he drank from it. Whenever he scored, he remembered the one who set it up.

Every teammate had to feel the love.

Football had never been a one-man sport.

Every player who stepped onto the pitch contributed to the team's victory.

Holding Pirlo, Huang Kaiwen felt incredibly noble.

He definitely was not just trying to build good relationships with his teammates so he could recover from injuries on a high salary.

The traveling fans shouted Huang Kaiwen's name from the away stand. Their past experiences had left them pessimistic about his condition, but Huang Kaiwen had really come through today. He had played nearly an entire half without getting injured.

If he could keep this up, AC Milan would have no trouble crushing Inter Milan and Juventus.

At halftime, Ancelotti hurried over with several towels and handed them to the players, then leaned close to Huang Kaiwen and asked with concern, "How do you feel? Is anything bothering you physically?"

"I feel great, Coach."

"Good, good, good. That's good. If you feel uncomfortable in the second half, tell me early and I'll take you off."

"Okay, Coach."

Huang Kaiwen was both touched and amused.

His injuries had turned even an honest man like Ancelotti into this.

When Huang Kaiwen returned to the dressing room with Sheva and Kaka, he was greeted by enthusiastic applause.

"You played brilliantly today, mate."

"Two goals in your first Champions League match—that's fantastic!"

"I haven't scored yet today," Inzaghi muttered.

Huang Kaiwen immediately went over to comfort him. "Don't worry, you'll definitely score. I'll give you a chance later."

"You said the same thing just now, and then you scored yourself."

Huang Kaiwen shrugged. "You can't blame me for that. Andrea's pass went straight to the right side of the box. Even if I hadn't shot, you wouldn't have reached it."

"Yeah, it's all that bastard Andrea's fault. He's settling a personal score!" Inzaghi jumped up like a rabbit whose tail had been stepped on and pointed at Pirlo as he shouted.

"Idiot."

Pirlo shot Inzaghi a disdainful look.

The two of them got along quite well.

After all, handsome men always appreciated one another, even if they were not the same kind of handsome as Kaka and Huang Kaiwen.

This AC Milan side might not have been the undisputed best team in the world, but when it came to looks, they could crush all of Europe.

"Alright, you played well today."

Ancelotti did not say much. After offering a few words of encouragement, he said, "You've done a great job finding your form again. Keep it up in the second half. Come on!!!"

At the start of the second half, Shakhtar Donetsk made two substitutions in quick succession to strengthen their attack.

"Shakhtar Donetsk are preparing to make a desperate last stand. They're already two goals down, so they might as well go for it. They still have a chance if they gamble."

"It's not a bad idea, but it depends on who they're facing. Ancelotti's AC Milan are a Champions League-winning caliber side. It won't be easy to pull back two goals against them."

When Ancelotti saw the substitutions, his face was full of disdain.

A team without wide players was bringing on three forwards. Were they really going to rely on just one fullback for support?

Ancelotti had completely forgotten that before Huang Kaiwen arrived, Milan did not make much use of the wings either. Their usual formations did not even include wingers.

After the substitutions, Shakhtar Donetsk looked even more disorganized than before.

Their defense had weakened considerably.

When Kaka carried the ball, he only had to get past one defensive midfielder to reach the edge of the box. For a Ballon d'Or-caliber talent like Kaka, that was as easy as eating and drinking.

With a few rapid strides, he left Tuzalem, that big, dark, powerful man, behind him.

Then he immediately played a one-two with Inzaghi and charged to the edge of the penalty area.

Seeing that things were going badly, Srna ignored the yellow card already hanging over him and lunged in from the side with a sliding tackle. The Brazilian fell onto the turf, clutching his ankle and rolling around.

Oh?

He dared to touch Huang's brother?

That was a direct insult to Huang.

Huang Kaiwen rushed over and shoved Srna to the ground. The German referee hurried over to separate them, showed Srna a second yellow card, and sent him off.

"You put your hands on him too, so you need to be booked as well."

The referee even explained himself as he showed Huang Kaiwen a yellow card.

Huang Kaiwen simply replied in German, "Whatever."

After Kaka pulled himself up with Huang Kaiwen's help and moved around a little, he felt fine and sent the team doctor away.

"Do you want to take it?"

Pirlo asked as he walked over.

Huang Kaiwen's free-kick technique had left a deep impression on him. Normally, players practiced free kicks with a fixed shooting stance, but Huang Kaiwen had used two different stances for two free kicks, and the trajectories had been completely different.

A knuckling shot with no spin at all, and a curling shot with fierce rotation.

Even Pirlo felt that Huang Kaiwen's talent for free kicks far surpassed his own.

A guy who had never received professional training could effortlessly strike the ball in multiple free-kick styles—what kind of concept was that? Pirlo even suspected that, given time, Huang Kaiwen would become the best free-kick specialist in football.

So even though his own free kicks were good, he still felt inferior in front of Huang Kaiwen.

"Forget it, you take it. I believe in you, Andrea."

Huang Kaiwen patted Pirlo on the shoulder.

Pirlo turned to stare at Huang Kaiwen, deeply moved. "Then I'll take it!"

After setting himself, Pirlo began his run-up, swung his arm, and clipped the ball over the wall toward the left side of the goal.

It looked certain to go in, but at the crucial moment, Shakhtar Donetsk goalkeeper Jan Lastuvka stuck out a foot and deflected it over the byline.

"That was so close. The ball almost went in."

"Pirlo is excellent at free kicks too, and Huang Kaiwen has a great free kick in him as well. Milan are really formidable from set pieces."

"Although they didn't score, they still have a corner."

Standing in the box, Huang Kaiwen immediately made his decision when he saw the opposing players' positions.

He chose to stand in the middle.

After Pirlo took the corner, Huang Kaiwen immediately surged forward.

As he neared the near post, he leaped high into the air and flicked a header onto the ball before Bagg could get to it.

He was only a meter from goal. In the blink of an eye, the ball flew in.

Hat trick!!!

Thanks to Iron Triangle 12138 and reader 20201104233413434 for the rewards.