Chapter 465: Chapter 83: Pressing Down on You!

Santiago Bernabeu Stadium

The Real Madrid fans in the stands are still unaware of what’s about to happen; they continue to believe that the team will win this match under Chen Zhong’s leadership.

Their consecutive attacks, along with getting Maxwell a yellow card, seem to support this belief.

That is Real Madrid is controlling the pace of the game.

Merengues wave their scarves bearing the team emblem, singing loudly as if victory is within reach.

“Barcelona’s attack.”

“Messi gets the ball.”

“Chen Zhong!”

“Has transferred the ball to Xavi’s feet.”

“Barcelona’s skillful coordination.”

Chen Zhong decisively goes for a sliding tackle this time, almost taking the ball away from Messi’s feet. But Messi, known as “The Flea,” clearly shows how astonishingly agile he is.

He even has the time to flick the ball to Xavi and leap over Chen Zhong’s tackle.

Alonso, upon seeing Xavi with the ball, quickly presses him, but Xavi doesn’t stop the ball and makes a direct through pass.

This moment makes countless fans gasp in amazement.

“This pass.”

“Shows the level of Barcelona’s tactical cohesion.”

“He knows he’ll pass, he knows he’s there.”

“It’s purely instinctive.”

The ball threads through the Real Madrid players, and Pepe, who hasn’t had much screen time this game, becomes part of the background.

He tries to intercept Pedro at the edge of the box, but Pedro, who started early, gets a breakaway chance at the edge. His shot is very decisive and bold, with almost no adjustment or hesitation.

Facing a world-class goalkeeper like Casillas, he confidently chooses a shot from the edge of the box, aiming for Real Madrid’s lower-left corner.

Casillas has just shifted his focus from Xavi.

His reaction is quick, and his descent is fast.

But the ball is faster.

1:2

Barcelona has taken the lead.

“Goal!”

“Barcelona!”

“The connection between Messi, Xavi, and Pedro.”

“Continuous one-touch passing and rapid delivery, along with their skillful coordination.”

“Pedro decisively shot into the lower-left corner from the edge of the box!”

“1:2”

“Barcelona has taken the lead!”

After scoring the goal, Pedro celebrates wildly, waving his arms as he runs to the stand of Real Madrid’s die-hard fans and roars loudly. Naturally, this is met with quite a bit of jeering and cursing by fans.

Pepe is equally furious, as Pedro just scored in his defensive zone.

Being without much “screen time” in a match is already annoying, and now others are celebrating and provoking the fans in his territory, Pepe naturally won’t stand for it.

He runs up and pushes Pedro away, loudly questioning him: “Are you out of your mind?”

“Do you think you’ve won for sure?”

Pedro, after hesitating for a moment, decisively falls back as if he had just been heavily struck by Pepe, which makes Pepe laugh, revealing his white teeth as he looks at Pedro laughing.

Pedro feels a chill run down his spine from Pepe’s laugh.

At this moment, the referee runs over, glances at Pedro lying on the ground, and then looks at Pepe, decisively showing a yellow card.

This scene causes the Real Madrid fans in the stands to voice their dissatisfaction.

Chen Zhong also goes over trying to communicate with the referee, but the referee’s stance is clear; Pepe made a move, and the pushing action was obvious.

Pellegrini paces anxiously on the sidelines; Pepe’s temper is a ticking time bomb in the team’s defensive line, capable of exploding at any moment.

Last season, his temper caused him to be banned for over ten matches.

Guardiola, on the other hand, smiles after the team’s goal, with a strange look towards Pellegrini as if to say, “Didn’t you make any adjustments at halftime?”

“I knew it, I knew it.” Pellegrini paces back and forth on the sideline. Guardiola’s reputation in football is illustrious; his tactical style is familiar to some, favoring targeted adjustments. If there’s no adjustment in the second half’s play, they might be targeted by the opponent.

Pellegrini’s gaze shifts to Marcelo.

In this match, Marcelo’s position is left midfield, and Barcelona’s successful attack just now was mainly because they had one more player than Real Madrid in midfield.

One side is 442, one side is 433; Real Madrid needs to change formation.

Pellegrini’s gaze sweeps across the substitutes, options for midfield include Pirlo, Baptista, Granero, Parejo…

“Send Baptista on,” Pellegrini glances at Chen Zhong and then Baptista: “Let Baptista replace Marcelo.”

Francisco quickly understands Pellegrini’s intention; the team will change formation to 433 or perhaps 4231.

Negredo

C. Ronaldo, Chen Zhong, Kaka

Baptista, Alonso

They will form the team’s front line; Chen Zhong will become the team’s “brain,” serving as the first line of defense during defense and the “core” in offense.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep