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Starting as a Defensive Midfielder at Real Madrid

Chapter 141: Wait, What? You Both Chickened Out? Just Fight Already! · Nov 11, 2026

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Chapter List (401)

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101 Chapter 101: Formation Core Leon — Bringing the XJBT Tactic to Real Madrid 2026-11-11
102 Chapter 102: You Can Be Better Looking Than Me, But Dirtier? Never—Because I’m the True Defensive Midfielder! 2026-11-11
103 Chapter 103: Don’t Panic, Xiao Ping—Barça Will Deliver 2026-11-11
104 Chapter 104: Breaking Through the Long Pass Barrier, Filling the Shortcomings 2026-11-11
105 Chapter 105: A Gift for Everyone—So No One Gets to Laugh at Anyone Else 2026-11-11
106 Chapter 106: When It’s a Friend, You Hit Even Harder 2026-11-11
107 Chapter 107: The Meaning of Real Madrid Is Victory—It Is Championship 2026-11-11
108 Chapter 108: They Came to Madrid Saying They Were Here to Win—And Got Beaten 3–0 Again 2026-11-11
109 Chapter 109: This Is Mourinho’s Trump Card—The Midfield Beast Trio PLUS Edition! 2026-11-11
110 Chapter 110: Barcelona, Salute This Season’s La Liga Champions! 2026-11-11
111 Chapter 111: A World Apart—You Can’t Turtle Up Against Bayern, Turtling Won’t Save You 2026-11-11
112 Chapter 112: I Told You—Leon Would Be the Key to Breaking Bayern Down! 2026-11-11
113 Chapter 113: On the Battle for Possession—Mourinho Says, “You’re All Trash Compared to Me” 2026-11-11
114 Chapter 114: Real Madrid’s Championship Aura Can’t Be Hidden Anymore—So They Won’t Hide It! 2026-11-11
115 Chapter 115: Barcelona’s Dynasty Has Ended—And Real Madrid Is Climbing to the Summit! 2026-11-11
116 Chapter 116: There’s No Shortcut to This Championship—Only Unity, Only Sacrifice 2026-11-11
117 Chapter 117: Equalized by a Header? We’re Not Bayern Munich! 2026-11-11
118 Chapter 118: Few Teams Are as Resilient as You—But I Just Want to Win 2026-11-11
119 Chapter 119: Let the Whole World Remember Our Names—We Are the Greatest Mourinho-Era Madrid! 2026-11-11
120 Chapter 120: When You Gaze Upon the Crown, Bow Your Head—And Salute the Treble Winners 2026-11-11
121 Chapter 121: In a Summer Window of an Arms Race, Madrid’s Selling Strategy Feels Out of Place 2026-11-11
122 Chapter 122: A New Era Begins—When the Young Replace the Old, Football Marches On 2026-11-11
123 Chapter 123: The New Generation Replaces the Old—A New Era in Football Has Arrived 2026-11-11
124 Chapter 124: We’re Still Growing—Real Madrid Is Still Growing! 2026-11-11
125 Chapter 125: If Anyone Forces Me to Pick a Side—I’ll Flip the Damn Table (Part 1) 2026-11-11
126 Chapter 126: There’s No Need to Overcomplicate Things Against Barça – Just Stick to Counterattacks and Aerial Balls 2026-11-11
127 Chapter 127: Watch Out—Here Comes Real Madrid’s Aerial Attack Squad! 2026-11-11
128 Chapter 128: Why Does That Number Ten Keep Charging Into Our Box?! 2026-11-11
129 Chapter 129: Luka, You’re My Natural-Born Midfield Partner 2026-11-11
130 Chapter 130: Winning a Trophy as Soon as You Arrive—So This Is What It Feels Like to Be at a Big Club? 2026-11-11
131 Chapter 131: The Fifth Trophy of the Year — Kings of Europe 2026-11-11
132 Chapter 132: The Birth of a New Midfield Duo — Twin Turbo Engines Engage! 2026-11-11
133 Chapter 133: So You Guys Are the So-Called New Kings of the Premier League? 2026-11-11
134 Chapter 134: You’re Not Vieira, and You’re Not Even Close 2026-11-11
135 Chapter 135: Li Ang Isn’t in the Top Five Defensive Midfielders—He Just Beat Two of Them 2026-11-11
136 Chapter 136: This Season’s ”Father-Son Match” Came Awfully Early 2026-11-11
137 Chapter 137: Sometimes, Charging Forward Is the Best Way to Break the Game 2026-11-11
138 Chapter 138: I Can Choose Not to Shoot—But You Don’t Dare Not to Defend 2026-11-11
139 Chapter 139: Farewell to the Jia Mansion—Same Atmosphere, Same Opening 2026-11-11
140 Chapter 140: Messi Drops Deep Early—A Smarter Barça 2026-11-11
141 Chapter 141: Wait, What? You Both Chickened Out? Just Fight Already! 2026-11-11
142 Chapter 142: Header Equalizer! Li Ang Only Scores in Clutch Moments! 2026-11-11
143 Chapter 143: Götze’s Hunger to Compete—The Battle of the ’90s Generation Stars 2026-11-11
144 Chapter 144: Come On—Show Us What You’ve Got, Challenge the Defending Champions! 2026-11-11
145 Chapter 145: Don’t Break Down—It’s Just That I’m Better Than You 2026-11-11
146 Chapter 146: We Are Here—Real Madrid Is Right Here! 2026-11-11
147 Chapter 147: Chaos Unleashed—Atlético Charges In Swinging a Giant Blade 2026-11-11
148 Chapter 148: Want to Advance? Now You Have to Look at Real Madrid’s Face 2026-11-11
149 Chapter 149: The Madman’s Temper—Public Opinion Erupts! 2026-11-11
150 Chapter 150: If You Can’t Get Past Li Ang, You Don’t Deserve to Face Pepe and Ramos 2026-11-11

”Wait a second... I didn’t time-travel back, did I? Is Messi actually dropping into midfield instead of playing up front?”

Li Ang stared in disbelief at the Argentine number 10, who had already drifted far from his line of sight. A question flashed through his mind, instinctively and incredulously.

He never expected Barça to deploy this version of Messi’s deep-lying role so early.

Sure, after his peak, Messi had adapted his game—dropping deeper to compensate for declining stamina while capitalizing on improved vision and passing range.

But this Messi? This was peak Messi. Wasn’t pulling him back a waste of his terrifying ability to blow through defenses?

Li Ang wasn’t the only one caught off guard. Mourinho, and most of Madrid’s players, were also visibly surprised.

And after the initial shock, everyone—including the fans and commentators—couldn’t help but shift their gaze to Li Ang.

He wasn’t thrilled with the attention. During the live broadcast, he even shrugged at the camera.

Come on.

Even if part of Guardiola’s tactical shift was to avoid Li Ang’s notorious marking, everyone who had watched past Clásicos knew how sticky his coverage was.

And under his tight marking, Messi still scored. Still assisted. Plenty.

In the commentary booth, He Wei and Xu Yang clearly understood that too—but it didn’t stop them from piling on the praise for Li Ang after talking about Messi’s surprise role.

But after the compliments, He Wei found himself at a loss. The rhythm of this Clásico was... different. Not worse, just strange.

Barça were playing extremely cautiously.

After taking kickoff, they didn’t press like usual, didn’t rely on technical superiority to pin Madrid back.

With Messi dropping deep, their midfield and defensive transitions were smoother.

Iniesta, operating wider today, was perfectly at ease. He had played on the flank before, and now with Messi sharing the playmaking load, he had more freedom to carry the ball forward.

But neither he nor Fàbregas tried to break through.

They just... held the ball.

Their control seemed confined to the central third. They weren’t even probing Madrid’s box unless they were absolutely sure.

And Madrid? They couldn’t figure out what Barça were up to.

No pressing. No overloads. No sudden breakaways.

So Mourinho wasn’t about to take the bait either.

Madrid wouldn’t overcommit forward and open up gaps for Barça to exploit.

The two managers—Mourinho and Guardiola—both glanced at each other from the sidelines.

Then, in a moment of mutual understanding, looked away again like nothing happened.

Yes, Guardiola had made the first tactical move.

But Mourinho? He wasn’t rattled.

This was Camp Nou. He wasn’t worried about boos from his own fans.

Three points were great. But one point away at Barcelona? That was perfectly acceptable.

Let them duke it out later in the season—Round 26 at the Bernabéu, maybe.

Mourinho could afford to take a breath. But Guardiola?

Could he?

The Barça board wasn’t exactly known for patience, especially after a poor summer transfer window.

Mourinho, calm as ever, gestured to his players: keep it steady. Don’t rush.

Then he casually sat back down on the bench.

Guardiola noticed this. And yes—it irked him.

But he wasn’t surprised. He’d predicted Mourinho would be unbothered by the early stalemate.

This wasn’t the old Mourinho who attacked the juggernaut Barça head-on. This was a Real Madrid capable of going toe-to-toe across an entire season.

A six-point swing match? Mourinho wasn’t interested.

And Madrid’s players? They understood their boss completely.

”The boss still wants a safe win. Barça want us to make the first mistake—too bad for them,”

Li Ang whispered to Alonso during a brief pause.

Xabi agreed. No reason to go full force into a Barça trap.

But then came Li Ang’s next sentence, which left Alonso speechless:

”Shame though. I was gonna invite Messi to dinner after we beat them again.”

Smack. Alonso swatted the back of his head.

”Quit dreaming. Focus on defending. If Messi scores a late winner, he’ll be the one inviting you out to celebrate!”

Li Ang just rubbed the back of his head with a grin and zoned in on Barça’s new flow.

Despite their conservative shape, Barça weren’t completely toothless.

With Messi dropping passes between the lines, Pedro and Iniesta got more touches in the half-spaces.

Sometimes Messi wouldn’t press forward. When the probe failed, his teammates simply recycled the ball back to him.

Other times, he’d lurk just behind Fàbregas or Pedro—then pounce with a sudden burst.

Li Ang tracked every one of these patterns.

When Messi moved too close to the box, he tightened up, forcing the Argentine to lay it off to Iniesta on the left.

When Li Ang didn’t close the gap fast enough, Messi would take a pop from distance.

Eventually, it all clicked.

The previous attempts to have Messi spearhead attacks, draw defenders, and feed the wings?

They didn’t work.

Guardiola saw it. So he pivoted.

No more ”tactics built around the core.” Now it was protect the core.

Fàbregas and Pedro? Tactical decoys.

Iniesta wide? Ball progression.

Messi? A pure free role, no limitations. No positional anchoring. He was the system.

From orchestrator to off-ball runner to long-shot taker—Messi did whatever he wanted.

And he didn’t even have to tangle with Li Ang that much.

It was smart. Clever. But flawed.

Keeping Messi out of the box helped preserve his stamina. Letting him shoot from outside helped conserve energy.

But it also took away his most lethal trait—his presence near goal.

Then again, what choice did Pep have?

Barça’s only elite scorer was Messi.

If he got swallowed by Madrid’s backline—and by Li Ang’s relentless coverage—Barça had no one else to shoulder the load.

At least from distance, Messi could find rhythm and fire off two or three good shots per match.

Because if Pedro or Fàbregas took those shots?

Even the Camp Nou crowd might boo their own players.

Messi had just enough stamina to do one of two things per match:

Constantly attack the boxOr build the play and shoot from range.

Not both.

When he tried to do both? Barça lost 1–3. Or 2–4.

Madrid had Li Ang, a man built for high-pressure duels and tactical counterplay.

Barça didn’t have anyone who could stop Ronaldo.

And Ronaldo? He had Benzema, Di María, and even a backup Higuaín all more clinical than Pedro or Sánchez.

Guardiola’s shift to protect Messi made sense.

But the summer transfer window had let him down.

He wanted Agüero, but City wouldn’t even answer the phone.

The only other target was Benzema.

He had no intention of going back to Ibrahimović—burned once, never again.

Barça had over 20 million euros to spend. But they did nothing.

Guardiola’s stubbornness left the board paralyzed.

And now, stuck with a half-finished squad and a stubborn coach, Barça were playing conservative just to get by.

For Pep, compromising his ideal tactics like this was already a huge emotional struggle.

But the fans? They didn’t get it.

They didn’t want to get it.

The murmurs in the stands grew louder.

Not quite boos—but close.

They stung.

Mourinho didn’t care. He was used to being hated.

But Guardiola? He heard every murmur. Every groan. He swallowed the discomfort and told himself:

”Stick with the plan. Finish what you started.”

And yet, as East Asian fans yawned their way through another pass-around-midfield sequence, one question echoed online:

**”We came here for fireworks. For goals. For chaos.

You two—five Champions League titles between you—and this is what you give us?

Just fight already!”**

Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.

Read 20 Chapters In Advance: /johanssen10

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