I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

Chapter 856: Chapter 79: War Begins, the Final Gamble!

In the first 7 minutes, the players of Real Madrid and Barcelona engaged in an intense battle in the midfield. They fought for every inch, not giving an inch, with players rolling on the ground. Among them, perhaps the most impressive scene was when Chen Zhong tackled Messi.

Messi rolled on the ground, looking at Chen Zhong, with a flash of emotion in his eyes.

This... is such a familiar taste!

Compared to Pepe’s constant little tricks and his mouth full of curses, along with his ”dirty” actions, he still preferred Chen Zhong’s style, which was clean, concise, and brutal.

”The two teams have engaged in a very intense battle!”

”The match has reached the 7th minute!”

”Real Madrid’s ball transfer!”

”There’s some water on the field, the ball isn’t rolling!”

”Pedro!”

The heavy rain poured down, and there was already some water accumulation on the Camp Nou field. When Real Madrid attempted to transfer the ball, it slowed down significantly on the severely waterlogged right side.

At this moment, Pedro burst out like a cheetah in the rain, completing a crucial interception on the heavily waterlogged right side.

The Barcelona fans in the stands were ecstatic, and Guardiola also looked expectantly at the field, wanting to see if this attack could have a good result.

The ball quickly reached Iniesta’s feet, and Iniesta controlled it, swiftly advancing forward. This Spanish midfielder had long been one of the world’s top midfielders.

However, Real Madrid would not let him pass so easily.

Chen Zhong rushed in from the side, performing a precise and powerful slide tackle, leaving both the ball and player.

Real Madrid’s fans raised their arms, cheering for this steal by Chen Zhong. After getting up, Chen Zhong quickly picked up the ball and then chipped it toward the front field.

Higuain, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Di Maria, four players quickly surged forward.

”Real Madrid’s counterattack!”

”Higuain!”

”The ball control was a bit much, but it doesn’t matter!”

”There’s still a chance!”

The ball was aimed at Higuain, whose starting speed as this Argentinian center forward was extremely fast, but because of this, when he braked, the slippery turf caused him to skid slightly.

Higuain quickly stabilized his pace, stepping toward the ball.

Barcelona’s goalkeeper Valdes did not wait passively; he rushed out, leaving the goal to try to intercept the ball, but Higuain reached the ball first.

Higuain aimed at the far post and pushed the ball.

Valdes had no way, just turned his head to watch.

The ball grazed the post and flew out of the baseline.

”Ahhhhh!”

”Higuain’s shot bypassed the goalkeeper.”

”But it didn’t hit within the goal frame.”

”He missed a golden opportunity!”

Higuain, somewhat frustrated, held his head, having shaken off all the defenders and faced the goalkeeper alone, but failed to seize the opportunity, while Guardiola on the sidelines sighed in relief.

If Real Madrid had scored this goal, the total score would have become 1-2, and Barcelona would have been eliminated, with their advantage of away goals also evaporating.

Real Madrid’s fans issued sounds of frustration, while Barcelona’s fans sounded as if they had narrowly escaped disaster.

The match continued, and Barcelona, in the ensuing time, tried to stabilize the pace, and the rain began to lessen somewhat.

”Barcelona’s ball control!”

”A series of short passes!”

”Passed to Messi.”

”Messi withdrew to around midfield.”

”Chen Zhong moves forward!”

Barcelona’s strategy was clear—to find Messi, and once the rain lessened, they immediately implemented this strategy. In this match, Chen Zhong played Pepe’s original role.

Upon seeing Messi take the ball, he quickly stuck to him, and Messi had long noticed this. The moment Chen Zhong approached, Messi shifted and turned, then quickly accelerated.

This was completely within Messi’s comfort zone, and even for Chen Zhong, it was hard to defend against.

Alonso quickly advanced from the side, but Messi, already in motion and with high-frequency footwork, easily bypassed Alonso.

”Messi!”

”Bypassed Chen Zhong!”

”Extremely fast!”

”Passing again!”

”Continuously bypassed three defenders!”

Barcelona’s fans in the stands began to cheer for Messi’s performance, while Real Madrid’s fans watched as Messi surged forward, filled with concern.

Now Messi was more mature than in previous seasons.

His grasp of opportunities was also more accurate.

Cavaleiro, seeing this, had no choice but to take a risk, slide tackling from a rear angle. Messi, having just bypassed another player, hadn’t yet adjusted his steps and thus fell with the ball under Cavaleiro’s slide tackle.

The referee blew the whistle, issuing the first yellow card of the match.

Cavaleiro’s expression was somewhat peculiar after receiving the yellow card.

Meanwhile, Mourinho in the hotel was speechless; at this point, the main center-back had received a yellow card, so what to do next?

After getting up, Messi did not show any excessive actions, obviously thinking this penalty was quite reasonable.

In the ensuing time, both teams exchanged attacks and defenses rapidly, with Chen Zhong also intensifying his focus on Messi. During this period, Messi lost possession twice due to Chen Zhong.

One time purely relied on body, making Messi lose balance and tumble to the ground.

Another time, before Messi could take the ball, a clean, crisp slide tackle sent the ball flying.

Barcelona realized this period was wasted, attempting to find other methods, and Messi began to stroll, trying to decrease the focus on himself.

”Barcelona’s ball control!”

”Chen Zhong, intercepts the ball again!”

”Didn’t pass the ball away.”

”Taking the ball in midfield.”

Having intercepted the ball this time, Chen Zhong did not immediately launch it to the front as before. Just as Barcelona realized now wasn’t a good time to give Messi the ball, Real Madrid’s long passes and lofted balls weren’t suitable at this moment either.

After getting the ball, Chen Zhong swiftly advanced; Messi and Xavi attempted to recover the ball from Chen Zhong’s feet. Chen Zhong then made a direct pass to the side to Di Maria!

Di Maria’s left foot was very agile, quickly turning, adjusting his stance, and sprinted forward.

About to reach the penalty area.

Pique, with no hesitation, risked a slip to perform a slide tackle on Di Maria, who lost possession facing Pique’s aggressive slide tackle.

The ferocity in the scramble was apparent between the two teams.

Although Mourinho wasn’t present at this match, Barcelona fans often thought of him.

After Pique completed this slide tackle, the Camp Nou once again sang ”Why, why, why”, clearly targeting Mourinho’s question at the press conference.

Real Madrid’s fans didn’t back down, responding with songs. On the sidelines, Guardiola gave new instructions, clearly seeing some issues during this period.

On Real Madrid’s side, the head coach wasn’t on the sideline; assistant coach Kalanca clearly did not want to alter Mourinho’s pre-match tactics, or perhaps Mourinho had given no such authorization.

The match continued, but Barcelona gradually gained control of the game as the rain lessened.

The players also began to adapt to the slippery field.

At least incidents of falling and losing the ball due to slips became fewer and fewer.

Both teams began to get into the rhythm, fighting for a place in the finals.