Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

Seeing Lin Feng steal the spotlight, Messi was naturally unwilling to let the other steal all the limelight on his home turf.

In the 14th minute, Iniesta made a through pass to Messi, who, despite being surrounded and pressed by several Real Madrid players, miraculously broke through the crowd by using his incredibly fast pace and multiple changes of direction.

If Casillas hadn't rushed out in time to block Messi's shooting line, he might have actually scored!

Although the ball didn't go in, Messi's performance greatly boosted the morale of the entire Barcelona team and Barcelona fans.

The Camp Nou stadium erupted in cheers as fans chanted Messi's name, treating him like a god.

But in the blink of an eye, Lin Feng used the same trick again, drawing another foul in the attacking third and winning another free kick for Real Madrid.

This free kick is closer than before, and it poses a greater threat to the goal.

Valdes barely managed to save the ball after exerting tremendous effort.

But Valdes, who made the incredible save, showed no joy on his face; instead, he was filled with deep apprehension and worry.

This time I was lucky and managed to save the ball, but what about next time?

The opponent's ball is at a tricky angle and is very fast, posing a deadly threat to any goalkeeper.

Valdes wasn't confident he could keep making saves like that!
"Lin Feng's style of play is very clever. Since the opponent has intensified their pressing, he takes the initiative to engage in physical confrontations, attracts the opponent to double-team him, and then creates space to create opportunities for his teammates!"

"Yes, the most important thing is that the ball at his feet is very difficult to take away. Busquets is known for his intelligence when playing football, but he still has no way to deal with Lin Feng. If you want to take the ball, you have to foul, and fouling gives Lin Feng the opportunity to take a free kick in the attacking third!"

"Lin Feng's free-kick ability is obvious to all. If he continues to be given such opportunities, Barcelona's goal will eventually fall apart!"

"Guardiola must be having a real headache right now; his team is having problems on both the offensive and defensive ends!"

"I think Barcelona should go all out now and use all their attacking power to overwhelm their opponents. Defense is not their strong point. If they continue to trade blows like this, Barcelona is likely to be the ones to lose in the end!"

The Catalan TV commentators sounded noticeably anxious; like many Barcelona fans, they had high hopes for the match.

This match is crucial for Barcelona. If they cannot defeat their opponent, their hopes of winning the title this season will be very slim.

A draw is not enough, and a loss is a death sentence. Only by winning a game and breaking the opponent's winning streak can we possibly turn the tide!

Guardiola clearly saw the team's predicament. Although he knew that pushing forward to attack was very risky when they couldn't completely control the midfield, they had no other choice.

If Lin Feng keeps shooting like this, they'll be the first to concede a goal!
There was no other way but to use that move!

As the game progressed, Real Madrid players noticed that Messi was getting the ball more and more often.

Moreover, Messi is increasingly receiving the ball closer to the midfield.

Judging from the distance, Messi gradually moved away from the goal, and his threat to Real Madrid's goal should have decreased.

But the reality was quite the opposite. Messi, who received the ball in the middle and launched an attack, not only did not become less threatening, but actually became more so.

Compared to the frontcourt, the midfield has significantly more space, and because he drops back from the forward line, Real Madrid often struggles to mark Messi properly, sometimes leaving him unmarked.

The defender who was supposed to mark him couldn't possibly follow him all the way to midfield, could he?

This tactic works for teams that heavily emphasize rotation and defense, but Real Madrid is not a team with this kind of system.

Each player on the field has a relatively fixed area of ​​activity and a target to be marked.

Now that Messi has moved to midfield, the defensive responsibility theoretically falls to the midfielders.

However, Real Madrid only has three midfielders. If one of them is assigned to defend Messi, the other positions will be left open, making it easy for the opponent to exploit the gaps.

So, in the one or two seconds that Messi dropped back to receive the ball, Real Madrid's defense against him briefly weakened.

Barcelona created a numerical advantage in certain areas by dropping Messi back into the center, taking advantage of Real Madrid's inability to make targeted adjustments.

They quickly put this advantage to good use.

Starting from the 20th minute, Barcelona gradually found their rhythm, their passing became smoother, and their control of the game increased significantly.

Compared to players like Xavi and Iniesta, Messi, with his superior dribbling and breakthrough abilities, is obviously more difficult to defend.

With a numerical disadvantage in midfield, Real Madrid had to resort to fouls to stop his attacks.

As a result, the situation on the field reversed. Previously, Barcelona was committing fouls repeatedly, giving Real Madrid a series of free kick opportunities.

Now, it's Real Madrid who committed the foul, while Barcelona has been winning free kicks one after another.

Fortunately, Barcelona doesn't have any top-tier free-kick specialists. Messi tried a few shots, but they weren't very effective and didn't pose much of a threat to Casillas' goal.

But continuing to play like this would obviously be very disadvantageous for Real Madrid.

In the 34th minute, Arbeloa fouled Messi and received the first yellow card of the match. Messi's free kick went over the bar again.

In the 38th minute, Xavi played a through ball, and Iniesta's shot from the left side of the penalty area was saved by Casillas.

In the 41st minute, Pepe committed a handball foul and received a yellow card.

The situation was becoming increasingly unfavorable for Real Madrid, but Mourinho on the sidelines just frowned and pondered, showing no intention of making substitutions or adjusting tactics.

In the final minute of the first half, Marcelo's low shot from the edge of the penalty area on the left was saved by Valdes, and the referee immediately blew the whistle to end the first half.

Despite being on the back foot, Real Madrid withstood the opponent's offensive onslaught.

A draw is acceptable for Real Madrid.

Anyway, they are currently six points ahead of their opponents in the standings, so it's not them who should be worried, but Barcelona!

"You all played exceptionally well in the first half, and I'm so proud of you!"

As soon as Mourinho entered the locker room, he praised all the players who had come on.

Real Madrid had 45% possession in the first half, their highest possession rate in the last three El Clásico matches.

Against a possession-obsessed Barcelona, ​​Real Madrid's performance was truly impressive.

After all, they don't particularly pursue possession.

"But the team's attack wasn't good enough. Di Maria was a big threat on the right, but he was quiet on the left."

When he said that, Ronaldo felt that his coach and teammates were all looking at him.

This made him blush with embarrassment, and he immediately stood up to express his opinion:
"In the second half, I will increase the intensity of our attack, suppress the opponent's full-backs, and prevent them from easily pushing forward!" Mourinho nodded, acknowledging Ronaldo's attitude.

He continued, "Barcelona clearly wants to play attacking football, using offense to suppress us and thus reduce their own defensive pressure."

"The more they act this way, the less we can allow them to succeed!"

"In the second half, we need to look for more opportunities on both flanks, suppress the opponent's flanks, and prevent them from fully utilizing the width of the field, thereby forcing them to launch attacks from the middle and reducing our defensive area!"

Mourinho has been thinking about how to break Barcelona's tactics, although he hasn't come up with a good solution yet.

Actually, Barcelona is not without weaknesses. Their striker Ibrahimovic is out of sync with his teammates, which saves Real Madrid a lot of effort.

After the two sides switched halves, the second half of the game continued.

Neither team made any personnel changes at halftime, but Barcelona became more aggressive in attack.

Faced with Barcelona's relentless attack, Real Madrid did not confront them head-on, but instead opted to tighten their formation and use counter-attacks to threaten their opponents.

This has been Real Madrid's winning formula in the past few El Clásicos.

Barcelona fans still remember the amazing moment when Lin Feng single-handedly broke through the defense at Camp Nou and won the game by equalizing!
However, after suffering several setbacks, Barcelona became more cautious.

Even when Barcelona was attacking, Lin Feng was always accompanied by a defender to prevent him from suddenly getting the ball and launching a counter-attack.

Moreover, as soon as they lose possession in the attacking third, Barcelona will immediately launch a pressing offensive to regain control of the ball in the first instance.

If you really can't win the ball back, foul immediately. In short, you can't let Real Madrid execute their fast-paced attacks smoothly.

This tactic worked very well. From the start of the second half until the 60th minute, Real Madrid tried to launch counterattacks multiple times, but none of them succeeded.

However, this tactic did not come without a price, which was that Busquets, Harvey, and others who were defending against Lin Feng received two yellow cards as a result.

In the 61st minute, after completing several one-touch passes, Barcelona finally found an opportunity.

Iniesta, surrounded by two defenders, passed the ball to Messi. Messi dribbled into the penalty area, rounded the goalkeeper, and then fired a low shot from a tight angle.

At this point, Real Madrid's goal was empty, and almost everyone, including Messi, thought it was a sure goal.

However, a white figure came from the middle and slid in on the goal line, blocking the ball out of bounds.

On the sidelines, Guardiola's half-celebrated gesture turned into a shocked facepalm, causing an uproar in the stands.

Pepe's incredible goal-scoring save clearly exceeded everyone's expectations.

"Well done, Peipei!"

"You're amazing, kid!"

"Thanks to you for this goal, Casillas and the others will have to treat you to a meal later!"

Everyone surrounded Peipei and showered her with praise, making her feel embarrassed.

Morale is a very mysterious thing. Real Madrid's morale was a little low due to the opponent's continuous attacks.

But Pepe's incredible clearance was like a shot in the arm for her teammates.

Less than a minute after Barcelona completed their attack, Real Madrid launched their most threatening counter-attack so far!
In the 63rd minute, Lin Feng delivered a through pass from the middle, and Di Maria beautifully cut past Abidal on the left side of the penalty area before sweeping the ball towards the goal. Ronaldo and Benzema both slid in to score.

However, Real Madrid had Pepe's incredible save, while Barcelona also had Puyol's incredible clearance.

Despite the risk of injury, he managed to clear the ball out of bounds at the last second before Ronaldo's foot was about to touch it, and then he was tripped by Ronaldo.

"Puyol is really giving it his all for Barcelona!"

"Yes, there are less than seven months left until the World Cup. The risk of injury is very high now, and it is very likely that he will not be able to participate in next year's World Cup. Under such circumstances, he still dares to defend like this. I have to say he is really brave!"

After witnessing this rescue, commentators from several television stations couldn't help but feel admiration for Puyol.

In that situation, not every defender would dare to step up, especially with the World Cup approaching, when everyone is even more afraid of injuries.

At that moment, Vicente del Bosque, the coach of the Spanish national team, was in the stands at Camp Nou. When he saw Puyol being tackled, his heart was in his throat along with that of the Barcelona fans.

Puyol is not only the core of Barcelona's defense, but also the core of Spain's national team's defense. Without him, the team would be greatly affected if no replacement could be found.

Fortunately, Ronaldo pulled back his foot at the last moment, and neither of them was injured. They quickly got up from the grass, much to the relief of both sets of fans.

The game continued, and after Real Madrid launched a successful counter-attack, their offensive became sharp again.

In the 70th minute, Marcelo received a pass from his teammate and skillfully backheeled the ball to Ronaldo, who then dribbled past Pique and Puyol before breaking into the penalty area and creating a one-on-one opportunity.

Benzema has already advanced into the penalty area from the middle. If Ronaldo passes the ball at this moment, Benzema can directly shoot into an empty net.

But whether it was because he didn't see it or because he was too confident in himself, Ronaldo didn't choose to pass the ball and instead took it himself!
But his luck was clearly not good today. His one-on-one shot was blocked out of bounds by Valdes' right leg, and Real Madrid missed another golden opportunity.

Mourinho was very unhappy with Ronaldo's choice and kicked a water bottle on the sidelines in anger.

Guardiola, who was on the other side, was also unhappy with his team's defense. Just as he was about to kick a water bottle, he was hit on the head by a water bottle that Mourinho had kicked away.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to!"

When Mourinho realized he had accidentally hit someone, he quickly ran over to apologize.

Guardiola looked speechless: "Jose, if we didn't know each other, I would have almost suspected you did this on purpose!"

Mourinho firmly shook his head: "That's impossible. How could I possibly use such underhanded tactics? If I were to use them, it would be before the match!"

Guardiola: ? ? ? ?

Despite missing several good chances, Real Madrid's momentum had completely taken hold.

As their formation pushed forward, Real Madrid launched wave after wave of attacks.

In the 73rd minute, realizing he wasn't in good form, Ronaldo didn't shoot himself but passed the ball to Lin Feng, who was making a run forward. Unfortunately, the pass was a little too slow and was cleared by Valdes.

In the 76th minute, Lin Feng and his teammates completed a series of one-two passes in the attacking third, and then he drew his bow and arrow, as if he was about to shoot!

But when the opponent's attention was completely drawn to him, Lin Feng made a feint and passed the ball to the far post.

Di Maria, who had somehow appeared in the area, launched a diving header and headed the ball into the Barcelona goal. (End of Chapter)