Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

After the start of the second half, the audience quickly noticed that Real Madrid had made a substitution.

Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola immediately noticed the opponent's three defensive midfielders formation.

"Is this a return to Capello's old tricks?"

The presence of three defensive midfielders will indeed cause some trouble for Barcelona's attack, but the extent of the impact remains to be seen.

After Pepe came on, Messi was the one who was most uncomfortable for Barcelona.

He found that Pepe was like a piece of chewing gum; whenever he went to the frontcourt, Pepe would stick to him and occasionally make small moves, which made Messi extremely annoyed.

In the 47th minute, Barcelona launched a counter-attack, and Xavi delivered a precise through ball to Messi.

But Pepe immediately closed in and seized the opportunity to bump into Messi.

The two are very different in physique; Messi's small frame can't withstand the impact of a strong man like Pepe.

Messi nearly lost his balance and missed the opportunity to pass the ball forward. After stumbling and regaining his footing, he could only pass the ball to the right wing.

Eto'o saw Messi get the ball and immediately made a run forward, but when he got into space, he was surprised to find that Messi had passed the ball to the wing instead of to him.

When Alves passed the ball into the penalty area again, Eto'o was already offside, and the linesman immediately raised his flag.

The Cameroonian stood inside the penalty area, gesturing angrily to Messi. Messi, unable to express his frustration, didn't argue with Eto'o further, but instead glared at Pepe.

Pepe grinned at Messi: "Do you like my passion?"

Messi ignored him and ran back with his head down, but Pepe wasn't going to let him go. She followed him around and kept nagging, starting her trash talk harassment mode.

Barcelona had no answer for the time being against Real Madrid's impenetrable wall of steel built in front of the penalty area.

Their attack relies heavily on Messi's performance, but when Messi is contained and there is a lack of sufficient passing space in the attacking third, Barcelona's passing game becomes empty, lacking threatening attacks and shots, making it somewhat boring to watch.

When Barcelona's attack faltered, Real Madrid's attack actually improved.

The biggest benefit of Pepe's appearance is that it strengthens the midfield and stabilizes the defense, freeing up Lin Feng to focus more on the attack.

In the 51st minute, Lin Feng combined with Higuain and then sent a through ball into the penalty area from the left side of the attacking third.

After being frustrated for most of the game, Raul cleverly seized the opportunity and then unleashed a powerful shot towards the goal.

At the crucial moment, Valdes made a crucial save, diving to his feet and making a spectacular save.

Raul, having missed a golden opportunity, squatted on the ground, clutching his head, his face full of frustration.

What a great opportunity, and he just wasted it!
If the team loses this game, not only the fans, but even he himself will not be able to forgive himself.

Startled, Guardiola stormed to the sidelines and roared at his own defenders.

Two people were defending against one opponent, yet Raul still managed to get the ball and even manage to shoot!
This is practically a crime!

Criticized by the coach, captain Puyol felt ashamed and shouted to his teammates, telling them to cheer up and be careful to guard against the opponent's attack.

Pique, who was also criticized, was somewhat indignant. Guardiola was just a rookie coach with no honors.

Why are you so arrogant?

Real Madrid took a corner kick, the first header was cleared by a Barcelona player, Real Madrid players controlled the second ball outside the box, and then the ball was passed into the penalty area again, but it was cleared by the opponent once more.

In matches where the ball is in the air, Pique's height advantage is really too obvious.

Real Madrid's two forwards are only 1.8 meters and 1.84 meters tall, respectively, both of whom are shorter than him.

With him around, it's very difficult for both Raul and Higuain to get the ball.

Fortunately, Real Madrid was not in a hurry. After their attack failed, they quickly tightened their defense, retreated to their own half, and set up their defense, waiting for the opponent to attack.

So the game returned to its previous rhythm, with Barcelona constantly passing the ball around in the attacking third, but they just couldn't break through Real Madrid's defense. Most of their passes became meaningless lateral and back passes, with very few forward passes, as they were afraid of making mistakes and giving the opponent a chance to intercept the ball and launch a counter-attack.

This rhythm lasted for more than ten minutes, and it seemed that neither side had any good ways to break the deadlock, so the game was temporarily deadlocked.

The situation on the field remains even. Although Barcelona has a certain degree of initiative, their advantage is not obvious in terms of the score.

At least the Barcelona fans at Camp Nou were getting a little anxious when the score remained deadlocked.

Although Real Madrid's form has been inconsistent this season, their overall strength is still formidable. Barcelona usually wins decisive victories against other teams, but they seem to struggle against Real Madrid!

[It's fair to say they encountered obstacles in their attack, not that they were frustrated. After all, Barcelona had nearly 70% possession and far fewer shots than Real Madrid. If anyone was feeling frustrated, it was definitely Real Madrid!]

Under Barcelona's tactical approach, traditional technical statistics have become completely distorted.

Even if Barcelona loses the game, their possession rate will still be far ahead of their opponents.

With more possession, there are naturally more shooting opportunities, so Barcelona leads in statistics such as the number of shots.

But viewers who watched the game had a feeling that Barcelona's many shots posed less of a threat than Real Madrid's two previous counter-attacks.

When Real Madrid launched a quick counter-attack, Barcelona fans were genuinely terrified, their hearts nearly jumping out of their chests.

Barcelona's tactics still have room for improvement. If they play more high-stakes matches, allowing Guardiola to identify and correct the team's weaknesses, the future Barcelona will only become stronger!

There's not much to say about Mourinho's counter-attacking tactics; most teams can play them.

However, the tactics that Guardiola devised are not something that every team can learn.

Therefore, the outside world is extremely interested in it and very curious about how far it can develop in the future and whether it will lead a new generation of tactical revolution in football.
Previously, Barcelona had only played against weak and ordinary teams, and had not encountered any strong top teams, so it was difficult to expose the weaknesses of this style of play.

Without finding weaknesses, there is no way to improve. However, this match exposed Barcelona's one-dimensional attacking methods, too many ineffective passes, and an over-reliance on Messi's form and performance. Once Messi is out of form, the team has few good ways to break through when faced with dense defense and midfield strangulation.

This requires Guardiola to refine Barcelona's attacking tactics after the match and diversify the team's offensive options to cope with opponents of varying strengths.

In the 70th minute, Barcelona made a substitution, with Henry being replaced by young Pedro.

Although it was just a like-for-like substitution, the younger, more energetic, and physically fit Pedro posed a significant threat to Real Madrid's defense as soon as he came on.

Although Pedro was far from his peak at this time, his exceptional chemistry with other La Masia academy graduates gave him a natural advantage. His tireless running and tackling put immense pressure on Real Madrid's right flank, disrupting their formation.

Harvey saw all of this.

In the 75th minute, after Messi's failed attempt to break through in the attacking third, he passed the ball back to Xavi.

Xavi had already spotted the huge gap on the right flank and made a wide pass to the right.

Barcelona's right-back Dani Alves was already ready, and after receiving the ball, he quickly delivered a cross to Messi, who was making a forward run.

Messi attempted to chip the ball over his opponent, but the experienced Cannavaro anticipated his move and intercepted the ball. However, before Real Madrid could even breathe a sigh of relief, Pedro regained possession.

After winning possession, Perez made a hypothetical pass, sending the ball into the penalty area.

Eto'o burst out from behind like a wild horse, scoring with a low shot from a tight angle inside the penalty area.

The score is now 2-1!

More than 70 minutes into the game, Barcelona finally took the lead they had been dreaming of!
After scoring, Eto'o truly resembled a cheetah in full swing, his legs moving with incredible speed as he sprinted wildly across the field.

Meanwhile, the entire Camp Nou stadium erupted in cheers.

Guardiola excitedly hugged and celebrated with his assistants, while the substitutes on the bench rushed onto the field the moment Eto'o scored.

This is not a simple league match; it is the highly anticipated Spanish El Clásico, a life-or-death struggle between two century-old rivals!

"Damn Real Madrid, they're like a rock in a latrine, stinking and hard!"

"Heh, no matter how much they resist, they'll still fall at our feet, won't they?"

"I'd love to see Real Madrid players slinking away from Camp Nou with their heads down and tails between their legs after the game!"

"The game isn't over yet. Let's keep going and score more goals to teach Real Madrid a lesson—there's only one king in La Liga, and his name is Barcelona!"

巴萨球迷叫嚣着要给皇马人一个教训，2:1的比分他们并不满意，他们想要看到球队将比分扩大为3:1、4:1甚至5:1！

……

Conceding a goal at this point in time is very demoralizing for Real Madrid. Under the opponent's high-intensity pressing attack, the players were already very tired, both mentally and physically, and had even reached their limit.

Now, conceding another goal suddenly turned the draw into a deficit, and a sense of frustration and dejection quickly spread throughout the team.

Many players have even lost their fighting spirit and feel that they are doomed to lose.

Raul and several veteran players tried to calm the players down, but to little avail.

The players were so frustrated that they didn't even want to listen to Mourinho's roars from the sidelines, so what good could a few words of comfort from others do?

Seeing this, Lin Feng didn't waste words comforting his teammates, but instead spoke to them in an extremely firm tone:
"Once you get the ball, pass it to me, and I'll handle the rest!"

Seeing Lin Feng's resolute gaze, his teammates seemed to regain some of their fighting spirit.

"No problem, Mascherano and I will team up to steal the ball from Messi, I guarantee we'll get it to you, Lin!"

Peipei was the first to stand up and express his opinion. He had a very good relationship with Lin Feng, and could even be considered Lin Feng's number one underling.

"I know Messi very well in the national team, and I know some of his playing habits. I'll do as I say and try to steal him from him later!"

Mascherano also stepped forward and, despite his own family ties, shared what he knew about Messi's playing habits with his teammates so that they could better counter Messi.

"Brother Lin, I'll draw the defenders' attention up front and give you more room to maneuver!"

Gonzalo Higuain also volunteered to join the team. He had almost no outstanding performance in this game. It is foreseeable that if Real Madrid loses the game, he will be criticized by fans and the media for his poor performance on the field.

At that time, some people will probably question whether his price tag is reasonable and whether he deserves a top club like Real Madrid!

As the team captain, Raul is the last person who wants to see Real Madrid lose, especially to their arch-rivals like Barcelona!

So even though he was extremely exhausted and his physical strength was nearing its limit, he still gritted his teeth and said:

"Count me in too. When we counter-attack later, Higuain and I will split up to create space for you and distract the opposing defenders. You just need to dribble forward!"

……

The goal conceded dealt a significant blow to Real Madrid's morale, while Barcelona's morale soared.

After taking the lead, their players finally felt relieved and relaxed, and their offensive coordination became smoother than before.

In the 77th minute, a miscommunication between Casillas and Ramos almost led to a major disaster. After Barcelona intercepted the ball in the attacking third, Messi's left-footed long-range shot from the edge of the penalty area almost grazed the post and went out of play.

If that ball had been just a little bit more inward, Barcelona could have extended their lead to 3-1!

Conceding two goals within two minutes could completely shatter Real Madrid's morale.

However, the crisis was not over. Less than a minute later, Pedro broke through on the left and cut the ball back. Busquets made a feint outside the penalty area, but instead of shooting, he set up his teammate and gently passed the ball to Xavi.

Xavi raised his foot and shot, the ball heading straight for the goal.

At the crucial moment, Casillas stepped up and made a diving save to push the ball out of bounds.

Barcelona missed several scoring opportunities in just a few minutes, leaving the Barcelona fans in the stadium sighing with regret.

But the fans didn't blame the players on the field; in their view, Real Madrid had been completely out of their minds.

If they continue playing like this, it's only a matter of time before Barcelona scores their third goal.

In the 81st minute, Eto'o's long-range shot from the edge of the penalty area was once again saved by Casillas, and Messi's follow-up shot was also saved by the quick-reacting Casillas and went out of bounds.

In those few minutes, Saint Casillas transformed into a wall of sighs, saving every shot from the opponent, leaving Barcelona fans wanting to curse.

[Keep attacking! I refuse to believe their goalkeeper can stay this stellar!]

However, just as the Barcelona team was gearing up, a sudden change occurred on the field! (End of Chapter)