Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

As their upcoming opponent in the Champions League final, Cristiano Ronaldo is paying close attention to Real Madrid's every move, especially Lin Feng's.

He certainly wouldn't miss such an important match as the Spanish El Clásico.

Since Manchester United didn't have a match today, Ronaldo was glued to the TV early, waiting for Sky Sports' live broadcast.

Both teams are very strong, and the match was very intense, which immediately captivated Ronaldo.

As expected of El Clásico in La Liga, it truly lives up to its name.

The atmosphere of the Bernabéu Stadium and Real Madrid's white jerseys seemed to have a certain magic for Cristiano Ronaldo, making him unconsciously immerse himself in it, even fantasizing about himself wearing a white jersey, his favorite number 7 jersey, and running wildly in the Bernabéu Stadium.

"Goal!!!!"

"Incredible goal!!"

The roars of the two commentators jolted Ronaldo out of his reverie. He looked closely and realized that Real Madrid had actually scored, and it seemed that Lin Feng was the one who scored.

Just then, the TV broadcast switched to a replay of the goal. When Ronaldo saw Lin Feng score with his signature knuckleball, he jumped up from the sofa in the living room.

His pupils dilated violently, and a storm raged in his heart.

He discovered that Lin Feng not only knew how to throw the free kick, but he could even throw it better than he could!
This completely unsettled Ronaldo.

……

Like Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and many of his players are closely watching the outcome of this match.

Manchester United just played against Barcelona in the Champions League, and using Barcelona as a benchmark can help Manchester United assess the strength of this Real Madrid team.

Although Manchester United eliminated Barcelona, ​​their victory was far from easy.

This can be seen from the total number of goals scored by the two teams. In the two legs of the home and away games, the two teams only scored a total of 1 goal. This shows that Barcelona's strength is very close to theirs, and the outcome is 50/50. Either team could win.

In light of this, Ferguson believes the match between Real Madrid and Barcelona should be quite close.

There's no possibility of them throwing the game in this El Clásico. Barcelona, ​​aiming for revenge, might just put on an exceptional performance.

However, Real Madrid scored less than ten minutes into the game.

Sir Alex Ferguson, who was thoroughly humiliated, twitched his lips slightly, feeling equally surprised: How come this plot is different from what I imagined?
Has Mourinho abandoned counter-attacking tactics and switched to an offensive approach?
……

In a corner of the stands at the Bernabéu Stadium, sat a special spectator.

This man had deep-set eyes, thinning hair, and a receding hairline that had long since reached the top of his head; he was none other than Josep Guardiola, the coach of Barcelona B team.

There are rumors that Barcelona's management intends to have Guardiola take over the team after Rijkaard leaves.

Meanwhile, the young coach, who is rumored to be about to take over Barcelona's first team, was making notes in his notebook with a serious expression.

His notebook contained the names of many players, some with an X next to them and others with a checkmark.

Some of the players' names originally had checkmarks next to them, but after watching the match, Guardiola changed his mind and put big crosses over their names again.

Guardiola is about to submit a coaching plan to the Barcelona management, which includes a purge of the current squad and the signing of new players.

Originally, Guardiola had a good impression of some players because he didn't have much contact with the first team.

But as the game continued, he saw Barcelona's defense gradually collapse under Real Madrid's overwhelming offensive.

The defensive line composed of Zambrotta, Puyol, Marcos, and Abidal was like a giant funnel, and no one could stop it.

Midfielders like Xavi, Iniesta, Deco, and Yaya Toure were completely overwhelmed by Real Madrid's midfield, especially Lin Feng, who practically toyed with Barcelona's midfield.

On the front line, apart from Messi's continued outstanding performance, Ronaldinho and Henry's performances were simply a huge disappointment for Guardiola.

Is this the same Emperor and Football Genius he knew from his football days?

It's fair to say that, apart from Messi, the other players performed very poorly.

He didn't know if it was Rijkaard's incompetence or the players on the field who were incompetent.

But he knew that if he purged these corrupt elements from the team on a large scale, Barcelona's future would not be good!

Of course, a poor performance in one game does not mean a poor performance throughout the entire season.

Some players have performed quite well this season, and Guardiola can't possibly get rid of all of them.

Therefore, in Guardiola's notebook, the players whose names are crossed out are currently only a small fraction of the team, such as Gudjohnsen, Ronaldinho, Pinto, Henry, Deco, Edmilson, Dos Santos, Ezquerro, Oleguer, and Jorkela.

Guardiola has already figured out how to implement reforms after taking office.

He first demonstrated the courage of a warrior cutting off his own arm by carrying out a large-scale purge within the team, thus establishing his prestige.

He also eliminated dissidents, cultivated his own confidants, and excluded foreign players who did not conform to his football philosophy.

He will retain players who align with Barcelona's football philosophy, especially those who come from La Masia's youth academy, so that he can implement the new tactics he wants to promote at Barcelona.

For Barcelona, ​​a patient terminally ill, it is unlikely that their condition will improve unless drastic and sweeping reforms are implemented.

With Real Madrid rapidly rising, if Barcelona cannot adjust quickly and keep up with Real Madrid's pace, they may be completely left behind by Real Madrid in the future.

Thinking about this, Guardiola felt a sense of mission welling up inside him.

He firmly believes that Barcelona will be rebuilt and revived under his leadership.

……

Just as Guardiola was ambitiously sketching out Barcelona's future blueprint in his mind, on the Bernabéu Stadium, Barcelona was being relentlessly whipped by Real Madrid like a spinning top.

In the ninth minute, Lin Feng's free-kick goal seemed to press the accelerator button for the game.

In the following twenty minutes, both sides launched increasingly fierce attacks, and goals came one after another.

In the 18th minute, Messi combined with Iniesta in the attacking third, then made an unstoppable breakthrough into the penalty area, and scored from a tight angle despite Casillas's block, helping Barcelona temporarily equalize the score.

"Messi's exceptional individual skill helped Barcelona equalize the score!"

"This is a response to Lin Feng's goal just now. La Liga doesn't belong to Lin Feng alone!"

The Catalan television commentator roared in an excited tone.

Compared to Lin Feng's previous free kick, Messi's goal was more spectacular and visually stunning, which made them incredibly proud, with everyone feeling that Messi had outshone Lin Feng. In contrast to the biased Catalan commentators, the two Sky Sports commentators were much more impartial:
"Messi's breakthrough and shot were indeed brilliant, but we can't forget Iniesta's assist."

"Yes, Iniesta is definitely an underrated player, and I think the potential of him and Messi as a duo hasn't been reached yet. In the future, the two of them will likely deliver even more spectacular performances for the fans!"

"La Masia has recently produced a group of outstanding talents, such as Messi, Fabregas, Iniesta, and Xavi, all of whom came from La Masia. And in addition to these players..."

There are also many young talents waiting for their chance, such as Pique, Bojan, Busquets, and so on.

Both British commentators expressed some envy when Barcelona's La Masia youth academy was mentioned.

Manchester United's Class of '92 was also brimming with talent, and it was thanks to that group of players that Ferguson led Manchester United to its rise.

Now, seeing the explosion of talent from La Masia's youth academy, many people have a premonition that Barcelona will likely establish a new dynasty in the future.

But that's clearly not the time!
Seeing Messi score a goal with his powerful individual skills, Lin Feng didn't feel anxious or jealous.

Because he is the one defending the title, Messi is the one challenging it.

In the 23rd minute, Lin Feng suddenly accelerated after receiving the ball, got rid of Xavi's entanglement, and before Puyol could tackle him, he played a through ball into Barcelona's penalty area.

Real Madrid captain and the original CR7 Raul appeared like a ghost in the ball's passing lane, poking the ball into Barcelona's goal once again.

The score became 2-1, with Real Madrid taking the lead again.

Although Lin Feng did not score a goal directly, he helped the team with an assist.

The pressure has once again fallen on Messi.

Compared to Lin Feng's calm and composed demeanor, Messi immediately lost his composure after seeing Lin Feng score another assist.

The stark 2:1 scoreline stung Messi's heart.

The experiences of losing to Lin Feng in the World Youth Championship, Golden Boy Award, Golden Ball Award, and El Clásico over the years seemed to reappear in his mind like a nightmare.

Messi can't understand why, despite his outstanding performance this season, he's always just a little bit worse than that other person.
In terms of goals, assists, team performance, and individual honors, he lost to his opponent in almost every aspect.

Am I destined to be nothing more than a follower?

Do not!
That's not how it is! Ronaldinho said I'm the next king of football, Maradona handpicked me as his successor, how could I, Lionel Messi, possibly fall here?!
Messi is eager to prove himself with a goal, to prove that those people were right, and to prove that he is better than Lin Feng!
However, having learned from their previous experience, Real Madrid focused on strengthening their efforts to limit Messi.

Mourinho's tactics against Messi are very simple:
Since we can't stop Messi from breaking through and dribbling after the ball is passed to his feet, then we shouldn't let him receive that damn ball!
Therefore, Real Madrid constructed two strong interception networks on the field to target Iniesta and Xavi, who were passing the ball to Messi.

The backfield was mainly composed of defensive midfielders Mascherano and Diarra, who specifically targeted Iniesta and Messi, not only denying Messi the chance to receive the ball, but even preventing Iniesta from getting the ball.

Meanwhile, in the attacking third, Lin Feng held Haaland to a standstill, making him feel utterly helpless.

Harvey tried to use his signature ball-handling spin to get rid of Lin Feng, but found that this move was not effective at all. Although the opponent also pressed forward, he was not reckless, and even if he completed the spin, he could not get rid of the opponent.

To make matters worse, every time he was about to use this move, Lin Feng would immediately call his teammates to take advantage of his reduced speed after turning around and surround him.

Now, Xavi has gone from being Barcelona's midfield engine to Real Madrid's attacking breakthrough point.

In the 38th minute of the first half, Lin Feng accurately predicted Xavi's move and made a decisive tackle to steal the ball.

Immediately, Real Madrid launched a quick counter-attack in the attacking third.

After Lin Feng dribbled to the top of the penalty area, he passed the ball to Raul on the left side of the penalty area. Raul understood perfectly and played a one-two pass with him in the penalty area before passing the ball back to Lin Feng's feet.

When Lin Feng received the ball again, only the Barcelona goalkeeper was left in front of him.

Facing the well-prepared Valdes, Lin Feng calmly slotted the ball into the far corner, once again sending it into Barcelona's goal.

The score became 3-1, and the Bernabéu Stadium was in complete ecstasy.

Before the first half was even over, Barcelona had already conceded three goals!

This match was so exciting to watch!

Lin Feng, who scored twice, rushed to the corner flag and performed his signature celebration.

"Sigh!!!"

Tens of thousands of fans in the stadium once again sang in unison, almost everyone was enjoying themselves, except for the Barcelona players and fans who looked grim.

Valdes kicked the ball hard into the net. Xavi's eyes were glazed over, as if he hadn't recovered from the mistake he had just made.

Meanwhile, in the attacking third, Messi, who witnessed Lin Feng score again, stood with his hands on his hips, looking down at the grass beneath his feet, seemingly lost in thought.

On the Barcelona coaching bench, Rijkaard slumped in his chair, his face filled with exhaustion and numbness.

When was the last time Barcelona were defeated twice by Real Madrid in a single season?
He couldn't remember, but this situation certainly hadn't occurred in the last twenty years.

In other words, under Rijkaard's leadership, Barcelona inadvertently set another record, but it was not a glorious record, but a disgrace.

Haha, what an undignified way to leave!
He had already heard rumors that the Barcelona club's management, especially President Laporta, was dissatisfied with his coaching performance and planned to replace him with that young guy from the B team.

In that case, rather than waiting for the club to fire him, he might as well resign voluntarily and leave with dignity.

With this in mind, Rijkaard plans to announce his resignation immediately after the match, which can be seen as his way of giving an explanation to the team and fans for this defeat!

……

In the stands, Guardiola shook his head repeatedly as he watched Barcelona suffer such a crushing defeat away from home.

Barcelona is doomed in this match. If they can't adjust in time in the second half, it will probably be much more than just conceding three goals.

This match could very well turn into a tragedy.

For two teams with a century-long rivalry, they would never give up any opportunity to humiliate their opponent.

If Barcelona were leading at this point, would they go easy on Real Madrid?
Absolutely not. They will only seize any opportunity to kick Real Madrid while they're down, and do everything they can to score more goals and rub salt into Real Madrid's wounds.

Conversely, Real Madrid's attitude towards them is the same!

Thinking about this, Guardiola suddenly hesitated, wondering if he should leave the field early.

Because he didn't want to see his favorite team humiliated like that. (End of Chapter)