God Of football

Chapter 145: Another Goal

Fans waved their scarves and chanted”Barça! Barça!” A father lifted his young daughter, both grinning ear to ear.

A group of supporters in the front held a banner that read: ” Our Polish Cyborg”

”PEDRI is the future of football! That pass was unreal!”

”Lewandowski proving why he’s still one of the best strikers in the world!”

”This is vintage Barça! Quick, clean, and lethal!”

Words like these flowed around the stadium as the Barca fans glazed over their early goal.

Izan sat on the bench, watching the scene and just smiled. ”That pass was brilliant” he muttered as the referee restarted the match.

Having taken the lead, Barcelona seemed poised to dominate, controlling possession with their signature tiki-taka passing.

Their midfield trio dictated the tempo, recycling the ball effortlessly and probing for gaps in Valencia’s defensive setup.

Full-backs surged forward to overload the flanks, while their wingers stayed wide, stretching Valencia to its limits. Valencia, however, was far from passive.

They regrouped quickly, setting up a compact defensive structure and looking for opportunities to hit Barcelona on the break.

Valencia’s counter-attacking threat became evident by the 10th minute when a misplaced pass in Barcelona’s midfield allowed Valencia’s winger to sprint down the right.

His cross was dangerously whipped into the box, but Barcelona’s centre-back intercepted it with a crucial clearance.

This moment served as a warning sign for Barcelona, who began to show glimpses of vulnerability under pressure.

As the match progressed, the intensity heightened. Barcelona’s intricate build-up play created several half-chances.

In the 20th minute, their winger dazzled the crowd with a mazy dribble past two defenders before firing a shot that was parried away by Valencia’s goalkeeper.

Despite their dominance, Barcelona struggled to convert their possession into a second goal, with Valencia’s defence holding firm.

Valencia grew into the game, buoyed by their ability to disrupt Barcelona’s rhythm. By the 30th minute, their high pressing began forcing errors.

A misplaced pass from Barcelona’s backline gifted Valencia a golden opportunity. Their striker, Hugo Duro latched onto the loose ball, but a superb save from Barcelona’s goalkeeper kept the scoreline intact.

Moments later, Valencia came close again when a long-range effort narrowly missed the target.

The game grew more physical as the half wore on. In the 35th minute, a crunching tackle on Barcelona’s striker, sparked a heated exchange, with players from both sides surrounding the referee.

The tension only added to the drama, as Valencia pushed for an equalizer while Barcelona sought to extend their lead.

In the dying moments of the half, Barcelona nearly doubled their advantage.

A sweeping move down the left flank saw their winger cut inside and unleash a powerful shot that rattled the crossbar.

Valencia responded with a last-gasp corner-kick with the ball falling outside the box, but the strike, just outside the penalty area, flew inches wide of the post.

The halftime whistle blew with Barcelona holding a slender 1-0 lead. While they had dominated large spells of the game, Valencia’s resilience and counter-attacking threat ensured the match remained finely poised.

Valencia’s players walked into their dressing room with a mix of frustration and determination.

The narrow deficit was not insurmountable, and their performance in the latter stages of the first half gave them hope.

After they entered, Ruben Baraja didn’t waste any time, giving them the pep talk.

”Listen up!” he barked, pointing at the tactical board. ”They’re good, but they’re not invincible.

We’ve rattled them. Keep exploiting the flanks and be clinical on counters. One goal, and they’ll crumble under pressure.”

The players huddled around the board, nodding as the manager outlined their adjustments. Valencia’s captain, a seasoned midfielder, chimed in.

”We’ve been here before. Stick together, stay focused, and don’t give them space to breathe. We can take them.”

In one corner of the room sat Izan. He stayed quiet, observing every word from his coach and teammates, trying to absorb the atmosphere.

One of Valencia’s assistant coaches walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. ”You good, Izan?” he asked.

Izan nodded and smiled. After hearing Izan’s answer the assistant Coach left him alone.

After a while, Ruben Baraja finished with his talk.

Glancing around, the Valencia manager called Izan over as the players prepared to head back out. ”How are you feeling,” he said, looking the young player straight in the eye.

”I’m okay. Just a bit bored watching from the bench.” Izan said. Baraja smiled at his answer before patting him on the back.

”Don’t worry, I’ll spice up your evening very soon”

As the team exited the dressing room, the noise from the crowd grew louder. Izan followed at the back, glancing around the tunnel.

His eyes met another prodigy of the la Masia academy in Lamine Yamal who was coming on after half-time but the latter quickly glanced away.

”What was that” Izan thought as he walked out of the tunnel. The cheers of the crowd met the players at the end of the tunnel, ready to go for another second-half showing.

After the players got onto the pitch, the home crowd started their chants. Not wanting to be outdone, the Valencia fans also stepped up.

...

”I can get why, you’re on the bench, But why me?” Pietro, who sat beside Izan on the bench, said.

” I was spectacular in our past few matches but now against Barca, I end up on the bench. This is injustice”.

”You should be glad you’re on the bench; if I was the Coach, I’d make you play for the reserve squad”.

”Oh shi-! , where the heck did you come from.” Pietro screamed at Mosquera who was in the seat behind him.

Mosquera laughed but didn’t continue the conversation as the players on the pitch now stood in their positions.

.....

Fweeeee,

”Welcome back to the second half of this exciting clash between, FC Barcelona and Valencia CF. An exciting fight was fought in the first half, but only Barcelona had a goal to show for its efforts.

Barcelona looking to add more to their tally have brought on their teenage sensation Lamine Yamal. Another talk of the town after Valencia’s Izan.

He’ll be looking to prove himself again against this Valencia side”

The second half began with Valencia on the attacking end. They had wanted to take advantage of Barca’s lax defence, but their attack ended up being thwarted by a good save from Barcelona’s Ter Stegen.

The Valencia crowd sighed in frustration after the chance was missed but they were in no situation to worry about the missed chance.

After the save from ter-stegen, Barcelona’s left-back gem, Balde, took the ball and started a counter.

The Valencia team scrambled to get the ball back, but Balde switched play, sending the ball to Araujo on the right.

The sudden switch left almost the entire Valencia team on the left side of the pitch. Following this, Araujo charged forward with the ball.

Although a defender, Araujo’s dribbling wasn’t bad at all, with his short run ending in a pass to Pedri.

Javi Guerra, together with Pepelu, decided to double-press Pedri, but it was not effective.

After slipping away from the two, Pedri sent the ball behind Gaya.

The loose ball set off a chase between Gaya and Lamine Yamal, but the youngster was faster than his older counterpart.

Getting to the ball, Lamine flicked the ball back with his left leg before slightly pushing it with his right.

This action caused the ball to go through the legs of the onrushing Gaya but the defender held onto the jersey of Lamine.

Seeing as he couldn’t go any further, Lamine passed the ball into the middle of the box, meeting Pedri’s run who blasted the ball into the back of the net.

The Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys erupted into cheers once more. The Barcelona fans celebrated the goal that put their hearts at ease after the first.

Pedri, who scored, ran, pointing at Lamine Yamal, who had made the goal before jumping onto the teenager.

Ruben Baraja, who stood on the touchline, held his face in his hands after Barça’s goal.

He glanced at Izan on the bench but shook his head to clear his thoughts.

”Let’s wait a bit,” he thought as he glanced back at the pitch. After celebrating, the Barcelona players returned to their half of the pitch.

The scoreboard now read 2-0 for Barcelona. After the match restarted, Ruben Baraja sent out a few instructions to the Valencia team.

From the onset, they stationed themselves in their half, playing around the Barcelona team.

”Valencia have taken a somewhat Familiar approach to the game. How daring. Playing in a tiki-taka style against the team that was built on it.” The commentator gave his input.

Standing on the touchline, Barcelona legend and manager Xavi Hernandez smiled at the scene in front of him.

”Good Times” he muttered under his breath as Barcelona continued to push forward. ”Wait, get back, get back!”.

Xavi shouted from the touchline after noticing that the Barcelona defensive line was already in the opponent’s half of the pitch, but a long ball had already been sent down Barcelona’s half.

Diego Lopez who had already started running before the ball, got to it near the throw-line.

Getting to the ball, Diego López ramped up the pace, kicking the ball ahead before running to catch up to it.

After getting to the byline, Diego López raised his leg to cross but a figure suddenly blocked his path.

The Valencia fans were screaming for him to pass but Diego López wasn’t passing. With a flick, he tried to evade Araujo but the latter held onto Diego’s shoulder.

Trying to get free, Diego López shifted his weight to his right but the scream that sounded the next moment made the referee blow his whistle.