Football: Starting from the Ronaldinho template

Chapter 373 A humiliating defeat by a large margin

The situation at the Emirates Stadium is becoming increasingly unfavorable for Barcelona.

After Iniesta's failed croquet attempt was intercepted by Fabinho, the ball was passed to Qin Ming.

Busquets, as the brains of Barcelona, ​​quickly became a key player.

Qin Ming used almost the same method, taking a powerful step to pass right by him without even giving him a chance to foul.

Umtiti stood in the way of the road, completely unaware of his right side, where Dembele made a quick forward run, and Roberto, overlapping on the wing, also found a weakness in Barcelona's defenses.

Snapped!
The ball swept past Dembele and headed straight for Roberto.

"Hey, it wasn't a mistake, it was intentional!"

"Roberto!"

"He just happened to be out of position from Alba and dribbled the ball into the Barcelona penalty area!"

"Will you do it yourself?"

Roberto did indeed choose to come himself, but he gave a false signal beforehand: Morata in front of the goal and Qin Ming on the edge of the penalty area.

This made Ter Stegen's judgment a beat too slow.

Whoosh! The football mercilessly scurried into the goal from the bottom right corner in the next second.

Arsenal 2-0 Barcelona!

The goal was scored by former Barcelona player Roberto, who again chose not to celebrate.

Some teams and fans lack vision.

He still needs to have it.

Roberto clapped lightly to thank the Arsenal players who were cheering for him, and was immediately surrounded by his teammates, filling the stadium with hearty laughter.

The silence of the Barcelona players was deafening, causing Barcelona fans to cover their faces in anguish.

They performed well in the league and had a smooth run in the Champions League knockout stage, so why did they turn into such a mess when they met Arsenal?

They cast their expectant gazes toward Messi.

However, the Argentinian seemed a bit tired, with his hands on his hips and his head down.

Bellerin watched his former teammates laughing and joking, and his heart was filled with mixed feelings, as if a bottle of mixed emotions had been spilled.

Courtside.

Valverde glanced at the bench and thought that Neymar's departure was actually a bad thing for both Barcelona and himself.

No one benefited.

If Neymar had stayed at Barcelona, ​​today's game wouldn't have been so difficult.

Because relying solely on Messi's individual breakthroughs is only effective against weaker teams. Against strong opponents, Messi would need to have a second breakout performance.

But Messi was already very tired as the league approached its end.

Years ago, his vomiting problem hadn't been completely resolved, and now Valverde is using him to the extreme.

It could even affect the World Cup in August.

On the other side, Wenger clenched his fist and waved it twice. For him, Barcelona was the biggest source of regret.

Just imagine.

If Arsenal had won the Champions League that year, would they have needed to sell their captains every year? Would they have gone so many years without a title and ended up in such a sorry state?

So no matter how many times he beats Barcelona, ​​he will be just as excited as he was during that match.

Pat Rice, on the other hand, didn't care about his image at all. He hugged the strength and conditioning coach next to him and kept mumbling incoherently.

The game quickly resumed.

Despite being two goals down, Barcelona's form hasn't changed much. You could say they're like the old Arsenal, only able to perform well when they're winning, not when they're losing.

How did Arsenal change?
Valverde's gaze lingered on the figure of Arsenal's number 10.

Wenger spent £90 million to bring back not only an excellent player, someone who could be the core of beautiful football, but also a leader who could support the backbone of the Gunners.

Such people are probably even rarer than geniuses.

Valverde thought of former Barcelona captain Puyol, and wondered if the players' mentality would be different if he were still with the team.

Beep!
The first half ended on the nerves of Barcelona fans, who watched as their penalty area was under constant threat, with Qin Ming repeatedly penetrating their defense. The feeling was indescribably terrible.

Back to the locker room.

Qin Ming stretched and sat back down in his seat. "Today was pretty easy. There was no pressure for the first 45 minutes. I wonder if the other side will come back in the second half."

"Believe me, they can't do it."

Morata said with certainty.

After chatting casually for a while, the professor clapped his hands and said, "Let's stick to our plan and try to extend our lead at home as much as possible to prevent any unexpected events."

As the saying goes, anything can happen in football.

Who knows, Barcelona might just be able to create a miracle at home.

This season presents Arsenal with numerous accolades to strive for, including an unbeaten league title, breaking the Champions League title defense curse, and the chance to win seven titles. Therefore, they must be extremely cautious.

The second half of the game started soon.

Barcelona's players showed signs of improvement, launching a threatening attack at the start of the game that nearly allowed Suarez to score.

Fortunately, Van Dijk touched the ball, changing the trajectory of his shot.

"Pretty!"

Cech stood up and clapped vigorously.

Partnering with teammates like Van Dijk and Kanté, he feels very secure as a goalkeeper.

Look at De Gea.

Despite his own exceptional abilities, his teammates were all terrible. Putting himself in De Gea's shoes, Cech, who was usually silent, felt like swearing.

"Keep going!"

Van Dijk grinned and directed the corner kick defense.

He has been with Arsenal for almost two seasons and can be said to be gradually reaching the peak of his career. He has a chance to defend the Champions League title, which he never dared to dream of before.

He cherishes all of this.

Barcelona opted for a tactical corner kick, sending a low ball to Messi for the run-up.

Swish!
Matthews's dribbling move left Monreal stunned.

Just as Messi touched the ball again with his left foot, Kanté boldly stretched out his foot from the side, his studs slightly brushing against the ball.

"People may only notice how sharp Arsenal's attack is and overlook their defense!"

"When the overall tactics are attack-oriented, Arsenal are hit by counter-attacks more often than any team in the Premier League or even in Europe!"

"But why do they always manage to win?"

"It's precisely because of excellent defensive players like Kanté and Van Dijk!"

He Wei hadn't finished speaking.

The ball had already been passed to midfield, where Fabinho headed it on and flicked it to Dembele.

The latter tapped the ball in mid-air without stopping it.

"Qin!"

Dembele saw Qin Ming deftly flick the ball with his right foot, but his body was clearly positioned past the ball.

This is wrong!

Dembele opened his mouth wide before he could figure out what the problem was.

Qin Ming flicked his leg backward, his heel precisely catching the ball, and then casually unleashed a rainbow of color like a magician.

Pique was beaten again.

Even with a yellow card on his back, he didn't dare to commit a foul, so he could only pull on Qin Ming slightly. When he found that Qin Ming's center of gravity was very stable, he immediately let go.

Once Qin Ming caught up with the football, he seemed to transform into a wild horse.

Running across Barcelona's half, Ter Stegen was desperate. He made a tough decision and took the initiative, not wanting to be a frog being slowly boiled in water.

Because he knew that in a one-on-one situation, no goalkeeper in the world could rival Qin Ming. De Gea couldn't, Courtois couldn't, and neither could he.

Snapped!
Qin Ming easily executed the high-speed chip shot, which was once considered Messi's signature move.

Another rainbow shines at the Emirates Stadium.

When the ball fell into the goal, the cheers that erupted from the crowd made Ter Stegen's ears ring. He turned around and sighed helplessly.

Is this still Barcelona?

"First in La Liga? Arsenal seems to be playing very easily, like they're playing against West Ham United!"

"Or is it that the entire Barcelona squad is out of form?"

Even Zhan Jun couldn't help but ask.

Barcelona is playing quite strongly in La Liga. Although the gap between them and Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid is not large, they are still in first place.

How could they perform so poorly in London?

Valverde also wanted to know the answer to this question. He felt that his players might have psychological trauma, just like when Arsenal often faced Bayern and them before, they would always be anxious and overthink before each game.

He had Paulinho warm up in preparation to replace Busquets.

The Brazilian swallowed hard. Even though he was in good form, he was still facing Qin Ming, who was the most admired player in Brazil and even rivaled Neymar.

He was still a little guilty.

Busquets was substituted off dejectedly, glancing at Vermaelen on the bench.

This is also the former captain of Arsenal.

Fabregas is gone, but he's still at Barcelona. I wonder how he's feeling now?

Paulinho's introduction of the game alleviated Barcelona's predicament.

People say that if Barcelona asks Paulinho to block a missile, he will do so without hesitation.

But sometimes having the ability to execute is not enough.

Qin Ming was as cunning as an eel, constantly darting to either side of the lane or switching positions with Morata.

Paulinho even felt that Qin Ming didn't know what he wanted to do next.

He was panting heavily after playing for less than twenty minutes.

"I feel that if Barcelona returns to La Liga in this form, they may run into big problems in the last few rounds, giving Atletico Madrid or Real Madrid a chance to come from behind."

"if it is like this"

"Barcelona may change coaches again. I wonder who they will choose this time?"

Zhan Jun predicted.

With less than ten minutes left in the game, Wenger made several adjustments, keeping Arsenal quite busy.

The final three opponents are Manchester United, Leicester City, and Huddersfield Town.

The one we should pay the most attention to is Manchester United.

If we're talking about which team Manchester United hates the most, Liverpool should be number one, Arsenal is probably second, and their city rivals Manchester City are third.

Arsenal's 49-game unbeaten streak was also ended by Manchester United.

That match not only rewrote Premier League history, but also became a landmark battle in the rivalry between the two teams.

For example, Pizzagate happened after this match.

Van Nistelrooy's first goal for Manchester United came from a challenge between Rooney and Campbell in the penalty area.

This ruling is controversial.

This also resulted in Campbell not speaking to Rooney for six months.

It was even described by fans as a "notorious game," and the referee, Riley, was criticized for many years and was even said to be Sir Alex Ferguson's personal referee.

Wenger also harbored resentment over that match.

"There is no fairness in the world of football; it's all about the abuse of power. Getting the referee on your side is more important than anything else!"

This is what Arsenal fans shouted at him after the match.

Reyes was also traumatized by Neville's reckless tackle in that match; otherwise, Bergkamp might have had a truly excellent successor.

Wenger snapped out of his turmoil.

The match continued, and Arsenal were not satisfied with the 3-0 scoreline.

Qin Ming still wanted to score.

"Coutinho, who came on as a substitute, was very active!"

"Why does he seem different now compared to when he was at Liverpool?"

"It seems to have lost its spirit!"

Coutinho cut inside but didn't take a long shot; instead, he passed the ball across to Messi.

The latter's physical limitations became apparent at this moment.

The forced shot failed to threaten Cech, who caught the ball and swung it around in a wide arc.

Swish! He threw the ball towards the center circle, where Qin Ming held off Paulinho and passed it to substitute Cazorla.

The latter easily unloaded the ball and pulled it again.

Just as Rakitic was about to pounce, Bellerin was nutmegged by him.

"Amazing!"

Qin Ming felt that Cazorla, with his scientific rotation this season, was even more formidable than last season.

It seems that some people need rest to perform at their full potential.

As he spoke, Qin Ming didn't stop. He quickly moved forward to receive a pass from Cazorla and took a shot from the edge of the penalty area.

The key is to strike unexpectedly.

Ter Stegen actually made the save, and Morata, in front of the goal, turned around and found a ball in front of him.

He instinctively jabbed forward.

"Qin shoots!"

"Morata scores on the rebound!"

"Arsenal thrashed Barcelona 4-0 at home, treating them like a relegation team from the Premier League!"

"too exaggerated!"

Paul Dutton said incredulously.

He originally thought that Arsenal would at most score 3-1 or 2-0 today, but who would have thought they would score four?

The camera panned across the faces of the Barcelona players.

Frustration filled everyone's expressions, and Bellerin even refused to shake hands after the match, disappearing straight into the players' tunnel.

He didn't know how to face his old teammates.

After shaking hands with the Barcelona players, Qin Ming watched the referee's departing figure with regret. If that last shot had gone in, he could have taken home the match ball for today.

Unfortunately, Ter Stegen managed to pounce on it.

Mundo Deportivo: Valverde's substitutions and ineffective in-game adjustments are the main reasons for Barcelona's defeat in the Champions League semi-final. Although the La Liga title is still in the running, the Espanyol's tactics have been heavily criticized, and being eliminated by Arsenal could very well be the final straw that breaks his job!
The Guardian: Will Barcelona change managers after the season ends? Given Barcelona's early elimination by Arsenal, this is now a highly probable scenario.

4-4-2: No team has ever come back from a four-goal deficit in the first leg of a Champions League knockout stage match to advance. Can Barcelona become the creator of a miracle?
The European football world is discussing this humiliating defeat that was a disgrace to Barcelona.

The other match was held the following day, with Real Madrid winning 2-1 against Liverpool at home. Cristiano Ronaldo and Benzema scored for Real Madrid, while Salah scored for Liverpool.

People started discussing again who would advance to the finals.

"If Liverpool and Arsenal meet in the final, it would be most advantageous for Arsenal, as they have not lost to Liverpool for three consecutive seasons."

"However, Real Madrid's recent performance, especially in the Champions League, can be described as very resilient."

"After their title defense dream was shattered by Arsenal last year, they definitely want to let Arsenal taste what it feels like to have their dream shattered and stand on top of Europe again."

"But not before that."

"We'll first see if Manchester United can end Arsenal's unbeaten run like they did fourteen years ago!"

(End of this chapter)