Chapter 249: Lin Quan's Sprint, Camp Nou's Silence!
"CCTV, CCTV!"
"Dear viewers, here we are broadcasting the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final match between Barcelona and Manchester City!"
Inside the CCTV studio, He Wei and Xu Yang quickly introduced the formations and starting lineups of both teams before speaking again:
"This is Lin Quan's first appearance at Camp Nou since leaving Barcelona. We wonder how he will perform against his old club today?"
As Lin Quan stepped onto the Camp Nou pitch, the anticipated jeers and insults did not materialize.
The Barcelona fans didn't attack him; instead, they simply ignored his presence.
They cheered loudly for each player who entered the field, chanting the names of Barcelona players in unison.
When the DJ announced the names of players like Neymar and Messi, the cheers reached a crescendo.
"We have Messi, we have Neymar, we don't need a player disloyal to Barcelona!"
Perhaps, this was their true sentiment at the moment!
Lin Quan just glanced around and then looked away.
He wasn't interested in knowing the thoughts of the Barcelona fans at the moment.
His only thought right now was to leave with a victory from here!
The referee for this match was Kuipers from the Netherlands.
He ranked third in the referees' ratings for the year 2013, indicating his outstanding ability.
Kuipers tended to be strict in his refereeing, and he liked to show cards.
In the history of the Champions League finals, Kuipers had shown a total of 12 yellow cards to the two teams in contention this season, making him quite a card distributor.
This was obviously disadvantageous for Manchester City, as they were accustomed to lenient refereeing standards in the Premier League. Suddenly encountering such strict refereeing could make them uncomfortable and prone to receiving cards.
At exactly 7:00 PM, with the sound of the main referee's whistle, the match officially began.
Wearing blue jerseys, Manchester City occupied the right side of the field, attacking from right to left.
While wearing red and blue jerseys, Barcelona occupied the left side of the field, attacking from left to right.
Barcelona kicked off, with Messi passing the ball to Neymar and then running forward himself.
Neymar passed the ball back to Iniesta and quickly moved to the wing.
Barcelona started the game aggressively. It was their home ground, and they didn't need to be conservative.
Amidst the cheers of the fans, Barcelona's players pushed forward massively, swiftly passing the ball among themselves. Manchester City's players began to experience the power of Barcelona's possession football.
In the 3rd minute, after several passes in the frontcourt, Barcelona suddenly made a through ball.
Before Harvey passed the ball, Messi had already started his run, instantly shaking off the defenders and receiving the ball at the edge of the penalty area.
He adjusted as if to shoot, attracting the Manchester City defenders to come forward, then quickly dribbled into the penalty area.
Both Sabaleta and Kompany were drawn towards Messi, rushing towards him.
However, Messi chose not to shoot but instead passed the ball to Neymar, who was rushing into the penalty area from the wing.
After receiving the ball, Neymar shot without stopping, posing a threat, but Joe Hart was very focused and managed to tip the ball over the crossbar with one hand.
"Stay focused, don't leave gaps on the wings!"
Joe Hart got up from the ground and loudly reminded his teammates.
Facing a top team like Barcelona, any mistake they made could lead to a fatal blow from the opponent.
Kolarov apologetically raised his hand, indicating that it was his mistake.
He didn't close down Neymar in time, giving him the opportunity to shoot.
Seeing Neymar miss, Messi rubbed his chin, lowered his head, and left the Manchester City penalty area, preparing to take a corner kick.
Neymar, on the other hand, was somewhat frustrated, holding his head in his hands. If he had scored this goal, he could have become Barcelona's hero.
The corner was taken, and Kompany won the header.
But there were only Barcelona players outside the penalty area, and the ball quickly returned under Barcelona's control.
Harvey attempted a long shot, but it hit a defending player and bounced back.
De Bruyne and Iniesta both rushed towards the ball, colliding with each other and falling to the ground.
The referee blew the whistle to stop the game and went to check on the injuries.
Fortunately, neither of them was injured, and the game quickly resumed.
The ball was awarded to Manchester City by the referee, but before they could pass it out, it was intercepted by Barcelona's pressing, and Barcelona continued to besiege Manchester City's goal.
In the first few minutes of the game, the situation on the field was very passive for Manchester City. The ball remained in their half, and their formation was heavily compressed. Even if they won the ball, they couldn't quickly spread out their formation and form an effective counterattack.
Seeing their team dominating, the Barcelona fans who came to Camp Nou were very excited, singing the Barcelona team song happily.
"We are the faithful in blue!"
"We share the same faith!"
"We have a name that dominates the world!"
"Barcelona!"
"Barcelona!!"
"Barcelona!!!"
Amidst the loud singing of the Barcelona fans, Barcelona launched wave after wave of fierce attacks against Manchester City.
In the 13th minute, Messi's shot after a breakthrough was blocked by Joe Hart with his leg.
In the 17th minute, Neymar's long shot went over the crossbar.
In the 22nd minute, Iniesta's shot from a follow-up hit the post!
...
Barcelona is getting closer to breaking the deadlock!
We can't continue like this; the team is too passive!
With this in mind, Lin Quan simply retreated and joined the defense.
In the 27th minute, the ball once again came to Messi's feet.
Just as Messi was about to dribble forward, he felt someone appear in front of him.
He instinctively looked up and his pupils contracted—it was Lin!
Why was he, an attacking player, coming back to defend?
"Here it comes, Lin vs. Messi at last!"
"Who do you think will win? xdm, who do you fancy?"
"Obviously, it's King Messi. Lin isn't a specialized defender. Defending Messi is like being a better-than-average pylon in front of him!"
"Haha, that's too much. Although Lin's defensive skills may not be top-notch, among forwards, he's pretty good!"
"True, but aren't forwards supposed to attack? Whose forward is meant for defending?"
Netizens found this amusing; forwards generally aren't strong defensively, so what's the use of being a good defender among forwards?
"Manchester City has been dominated for the first thirty minutes; judging by the scene, it feels like the two teams aren't even in the same league!"
"It's nothing. If you watch Barcelona play regularly, you'll know they always play like this. If you look at possession rates and such, the gap between the two sides is even more pronounced."
"Barcelona's possession and pressing are formidable, but whether they can convert it into goals is another story. This season, their attacking prowess seems weaker than last year."
"Indeed, last year Barcelona scored 115 goals in the league. Although there are still 7 rounds left to play this year, the gap of 26 goals feels impossible to make up."
"Wasn't Neymar supposed to be very strong? How come Barcelona's attacking power has decreased since he joined?"
"Neymar is indeed good, but Barcelona's midfield has aged. This season, Xavi's form has deteriorated compared to the previous season, and he's older now, lacking the energy he used to have. It's hard for him to play a full game, and once Barcelona loses Xavi's command and coordination, their attacking firepower drops significantly!"
"Barcelona must continue to strengthen the team this summer. If they don't reinforce the squad, next season's performance may further decline!"
On the field, Messi was only momentarily surprised.
Once he realized that Lin was an attacking player, not a defender, he had no worries.
Your defenders can't stop me, and having you here is useless!
Messi flicked the ball, preparing to dribble past Lin.
However, it seemed like Lin had anticipated his intentions; as Messi flicked the ball, Lin extended his foot to intercept.
Against an ordinary player, Lin might not have been able to defend successfully.
But Messi was different.
After all, Lin was using the template of peak Messi; he knew exactly what Messi was going to do.
Lin's move surprised Messi, who quickly adjusted to try to control the ball at his feet.
In the past, facing other defenders, Messi's move was foolproof.
But today, he met his match.
Lin's footwork matched his own, or even exceeded it.
Lin reached the ball first; he intended to pass it to Aguero near the center line.
Although Messi's footwork was a beat slow, he still managed to touch the ball, causing its trajectory to change.
The ball flew past both of them, heading behind Messi.
De Bruyne, lurking nearby, saw the ball flying towards him and his eyes lit up.
But before he could control the ball, he lost it under the pressure of Alves and Xavi.
After winning the ball, Xavi quickly passed it to Iniesta. Iniesta feigned a forward breakthrough but then back-passed to Messi, who had infiltrated the penalty area.
After shaking off Kompany, Messi chose to shoot towards the top left corner of the goal. The shot was high quality, but today Manchester City's goalkeeper Joe Hart turned into Saint Joe Hart, leaping high to block Messi's shot!
Seeing his shot saved by the opponent's goalkeeper, Messi couldn't help but scratch his head.
This goalkeeper, he's a bit abnormal today!
Lin Quan had just seen De Bruyne get the ball and had started to run forward, preparing to attack, but then the ball was lost.
At this moment, he was just about to backtrack when he saw Joe Hart save Messi's shot.
Without hesitation, Lin Quan immediately turned and ran towards Barcelona's half.
Joe Hart saw Lin Quan's movement and gave him a thumbs up in his heart.
Instead of immediately throwing the ball to Lin Quan, he threw it to Kroos near the edge of the penalty area.
Kroos also noticed Lin Quan's positioning, but he didn't pass directly to him. Instead, he quickly passed the ball to De Bruyne.
De Bruyne was closer to the center line; after receiving the ball, he glanced in Lin Quan's direction and sent a through ball directly to Lin Quan.
Manchester City's ground advancement was very fast. Before most of the Barcelona players had a chance to retreat to their own half, their counterattack had already crossed the halfway line.
"Defend, quick, defend!"
Seeing Manchester City's concise and efficient counterattack, Barcelona's coach Martino widened his eyes in horror.
This rapid advance reminded him of Mourinho's Real Madrid.
Could this be Manchester City's carefully prepared trump card?
Fortunately, he had Busquets as a backup!
Lin Quan had just crossed the center line when Busquets pounced, appearing in front of him.
As Lin Quan's national team teammate, Busquets knew Lin Quan's abilities too well.
At this moment, he absolutely couldn't rashly tackle him. In the internal training sessions in Spain, Lin Quan had already demonstrated what the consequences would be if someone rashly tackled him.
He glanced at his teammates; Pique was not far behind him, retreating towards the penalty area. And in front of him, Xavi was sprinting back at the fastest speed.
As long as they could delay a bit longer, until their teammates caught up or until they reached the edge of the penalty area, with Pique and Mascherano stepping forward to assist, they could stop the opponent's attack.
Busquets made an instant judgment; he abandoned the idea of pressing forward and instead began to retreat, focusing entirely on Lin Quan's movements.
Professor Busquets' plan was to exchange time for space, waiting for the opponent to make a mistake, or waiting for his teammates to come and assist him.
Against players like Lin Quan with extremely strong dribbling abilities, he alone couldn't defend.
So, what he needed to do was to pull Lin Quan into the defensive area of his teammates, forming a multiple-player encirclement to neutralize Manchester City's attack.
When a forward dribbles forward, having a defender maintaining a close distance from him would exert tremendous psychological pressure on the forward.
If the forward gets anxious during this period and exposes a loophole, the defending player can seize the opportunity to disrupt the ball.
Even if the forward remains calm and waits until both players enter the penalty area, the advantage is still with the defending player because there's a goalkeeper in the penalty area.
Therefore, retreating defensively is a very clever defensive strategy.
Unfortunately, the defenders or coaches at this moment did not realize this, but Busquets had already grasped this truth in advance.
Seeing Busquets' choice, Lin Quan frowned.
Retreating to compress space? This defensive method was quite cunning; the defenders didn't press forward, didn't easily tackle, and simply kept retreating.
When retreating, the speed of movement forward must be faster.
Thus, the distance between the two would gradually shorten, resulting in a smaller safe space between Lin Quan and Busquets.
When the space shrinks to a certain extent, it practically hands the ball over to the attacking player when they dribble forward.
If they don't want to give the ball away so easily, they can only slow down and control the ball at their feet.
Once their speed decreases, the quick counterattack will basically fail.
During his time at Liverpool, Van Dijk resolved numerous crises with this move, almost winning the Ballon d'Or as a defender!
However, Professor Busquets was not Van Dijk, and Lin Quan was not an ordinary player.
Originally, the distance between the two was gradually closing, but at this moment, Lin Quan not only didn't slow down but instead accelerated further.
Busquets widened his eyes, sweating behind his back.
Is the opponent intending to force his way through?
Busquets slightly lowered his center of gravity, assuming a posture ready to intercept.
When Lin Quan dribbled forward, the ball never left his feet too far.
For an average player, successfully controlling the ball within 1 meter of themselves is considered a success, but Lin Quan could control the ball within half a meter, just like Messi.
It's incredibly difficult to steal the ball from him at such a close distance!
But it's not entirely impossible; the key is to seize the opportunity!
Busquets was waiting for the opportunity at this moment!
When Lin Quan touched the ball and it left his feet, as soon as Busquets stepped forward, there was a chance to intercept the ball before him!
However, this opportunity only came once.
If he failed to steal the ball, Lin Quan wouldn't give him a second chance.
Busquets realized that his time was running out. At their current speed, if he didn't act quickly, Lin Quan would pass him in a few seconds.
Finally, when he saw Lin Quan touch the ball and the ball approaching him, Busquets made a move!
However, at the moment he made his move, Lin Quan completed another touch before him, kicking the ball away from his side.
Trap!
Busquets was horrified, realizing he had been fooled.
He quickly reached out, trying to grab Lin Quan's shirt.
This action could result in a yellow card, but if he did it subtly, pulling once and then letting go immediately, the referee might not notice.
Lin Quan was pulled by him, stumbled for a moment, almost losing his balance.
The main referee saw Professor Busquets' foul, but in favor of the attack, he signaled for the game to continue.
A great opportunity! Pique saw Lin Quan stumble and immediately chose to intercept!
No! Busquets happened to see this scene, but it was too late to warn his teammate!
Almost at the moment when Pique's foot was about to touch the ball, another foot came and kicked the ball away.
Pique was shocked and immediately turned around to make up for his mistake.
But Pique wasn't the type of player with a fast turning speed. By the time he completed the turn, Lin Quan had already entered the penalty area.
The teammate was passed too quickly and thoroughly, leaving Barcelona's goalkeeper, Pinto, with no time to advance.
He crouched slightly, nervously watching Lin Quan's movements, trying to judge the direction of his shot.
Lin Quan glanced at the goalkeeper's position, lifted his foot, and shot just before Mascherano could tackle.
This shot was almost identical to Messi's just now, aimed at the top left corner of the goal!
Although Pinto was prepared to save, he was old after all, and a 37-year-old veteran's reaction speed couldn't compare to 27-year-old Joe Hart's.
Moreover, Joe Hart had enhancements!
With a bang, the football hit the inside of the crossbar and post, bouncing into the net.
After being besieged for nearly 30 minutes, Manchester City broke the deadlock in the 29th minute of the first half.
The score was changed to 1-0, and Manchester City temporarily led by one goal.
This result surprised all the fans on the scene. Not only did Barcelona's fans not expect this outcome, even the Manchester City fans traveling with the team didn't expect it.
Being besieged for nearly thirty minutes, but scoring first?
Is this real? The Camp Nou fell into a brief silence. A few seconds later, huge boos flew towards the field.
Barcelona's fans were finally awakened!
(End of this chapter)
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