WebNovels

Chapter 1092 - Chapter 1091: Busquet is targeted

"After the halftime break, Real Madrid should have made some tactical adjustments. Currently, they haven't made any personnel changes, which means Ancelotti still trusts the current lineup."

"For Real Madrid, they must be prepared to defend well, especially handling Messi's ability to roam and Neymar's breakthrough skills. Only then can they free up the midfield and strengthen the attack on the front line!"

González offered some advice to Real Madrid. After watching the entire first half, Real Madrid's rhythm was indeed a bit chaotic.

They wanted to attack in front, but couldn't defend at the back!

And if they couldn't defend at the back, they couldn't attack in front. The overall rhythm was being dictated by Barcelona, and communication wasn't thorough, leading to everyone having their own ideas, and the game naturally became a bit messy.

However, González still believed in Real Madrid's ability to adjust.

After all, over so many seasons, Real Madrid has experienced many ups and downs, playing both in favorable and unfavorable situations. There have been even more extreme scores, but they still tenaciously secured victories.

However, the opponent was not easy to deal with. Given Barcelona's inherent ability and their system that excels in passing and control, Real Madrid had to seize every opportunity.

For them, any opportunity could be the key to equalizing or even turning the tide!

The entire Camp Nou stadium was filled with joyful singing, as Barcelona fans were singing, celebrating their current leading position.

Three goals!

Leading by three goals at halftime!

They hadn't played such a game in these past few seasons.

They had been two goals ahead at halftime before, but Real Madrid still equalized.

This had bothered them for a while.

And now, leading by three goals, they had further assurance.

Coupled with no major issues with the lineup at this time, they became even more confident.

Hoo~~~~

Suker stood on the field, letting out a long breath.

A look of solemnity welled up in his eyes.

This game against Barcelona should be their most passive one yet.

But Suker still believed they had a chance to turn the game around.

However, there was only one opportunity.

They had to seize it!

And the person he targeted was Alexandre Song, playing as the lone defensive midfielder!

"Come on, guys!"

Watching the Referee exit the center circle, Suker turned and roared, "Let's show them what we're made of!"

The Referee blew his whistle!

Under the sharp whistle, the second half of the game began.

As soon as the game started, Suker charged towards the opponent's half with great force.

Real Madrid fans knew very well that Barcelona would focus more on ball control in the second half. They wouldn't have too much attacking desire; for Barcelona, simply holding steady would secure the victory.

Therefore, Real Madrid had to press into Barcelona's half. Only by doing so could they force the opponent out.

Fierce confrontation began the moment the second half started.

When Benzema pressed, his movements were very big and fierce.

This slightly startled Barcelona players, but they still successfully passed the ball away.

For them, passing the ball was an unconscious action, ingrained in them.

It was not a difficult thing!

In the entire football world, one Barcelona, one Arsenal!

These two teams place immense importance on ball-playing ability, testing every position and every player for their ability to pass the ball out.

It can be said that without the ability to play the ball out, without the ability to pass accurately, then one loses the opportunity to be favored by these two teams.

However, even with such exquisite passing ability, facing overly intense pressing still made them extremely passive.

Just like Barcelona now, they wanted to get the ball out as quickly as possible, forcing Xavi to drop back to receive it.

And after Xavi dropped back, he saw Real Madrid's even more intense pressing. Helplessly, he could only send the ball out along the flank.

He couldn't play with fire in his own half; once a mistake occurred, the problem would be big.

Xavi sent the ball to the left side, which was Neymar's flank.

Suker saw this and couldn't help but let out a breath.

Finally, they forced the ball out!

After Neymar received the ball, he maintained his first-half posture, making an attacking move.

Others wanted to hold back, but for Neymar himself, if there was an opportunity to show off, why not take it?

Therefore, he didn't seriously execute a 'steady' playing style, but rather was eager to try something on the flank.

Casemiro saw this and immediately stuck close to him.

Behind Casemiro, Srna was also standing by, ready for action.

Bang!

Casemiro directly collided with Neymar, but only grazed his arm, failing to cause much interference to Neymar.

Neymar, however, executed a simple V-pull. After Casemiro changed direction again, this guy connected with an inside cut. The continuous feints left Casemiro struggling to cope.

"Still not going in!"

Neymar shook off Casemiro, looked up at Srna, and found that the latter still hadn't stepped forward, which made him a little confused.

Just as he continued to approach, Messi's anxious voice came from the side.

"Watch out behind you?"

Before Neymar could react, he felt someone applying immense pressure from the side.

Especially a strong leg directly cut across, desperately trying to win the ball.

"Damn it!"

Neymar cursed under his breath, quickly adjusted his stance, trying to maintain control of the ball.

At the same time, he was also looking for Messi's position to complete the transfer.

Just as Neymar locked onto Messi, about to pass the ball.

Srna suddenly moved sideways.

"Don't even think about passing!"

Not only Srna, but Casemiro also charged over again.

Suddenly, Neymar was surrounded.

"Pass it out!"

Messi shouted anxiously.

But Neymar couldn't hold on for long, and the ball was poked away by Casemiro.

"Cover for me!"

Srna shouted to Casemiro, then bypassed Neymar and went straight after the ball.

Upon reaching the vicinity of the ball, Srna simply glanced up, then immediately drew his bow and arrow.

"Suker!!—"

Srna roared.

At the same time, Suker had already started to move!

Another long pass at a 45-degree angle.

The ball diagonally crossed the field, flying towards Suker's front.

However, the landing spot of this pass was a bit far, Suker estimated it, and then suddenly accelerated his pace.

On the other side, Alves also retreated a few steps, quickly judging the landing spot.

He reconfirmed Suker's position and understood that he had the advantage for this landing spot!

Just as Alves was thinking this, as Suker approached him, he suddenly pushed off the ground, and his entire body launched into the air, his left foot lifted high, actually intercepting the ball flying in the air.

Suker jumped very high, and his touch point was also very high.

Based on his years of flexibility training, even with such a movement, Suker had excellent ball control ability.

Alves's eyes widened as he watched this scene.

Completely different!

Their methods of predicting the landing spot were completely different!

He predicted the ball's ground landing spot.

But Suker, relying on his jumping ability, actually intercepted the ball in the air.

Suker and the ball landed at the same time. Alves couldn't retreat, so he immediately counter-attacked.

But at this moment, Suker lightly hooked the ball, actually moving horizontally along the edge of the penalty area.

Alves saw that he couldn't catch up and could only call for support.

"Song! Stop him!"

Alexandre Song immediately rushed towards Suker.

As he approached, Suker's speed slowed slightly, which made Alexandre Song's heart tense.

This was Suker's signal for a feint!

Suker gently slowed the ball's rolling speed, and at the same time looked at Alexandre Song and suddenly made a sharp stop.

Even though it was a sharp stop, Suker's body was slightly tilted to the left, clearly, the inertia had not completely disappeared.

The most crucial thing was that Suker was actually staring into his eyes!

Alexandre Song looked into Suker's eyes.

Suker was also looking into Alexandre Song's eyes.

The former's eyes were full of aggression, while the latter's were visibly flustered.

Should I stick out my leg?

Should I stick out my leg?

Die if I must!

Alexandre Song suddenly stepped to the left. At this moment, a hint of joy appeared in Suker's eyes.

His left foot lightly brushed the top of the ball, taking a feint step to the left, and at the same time, using the support of his left foot, he suddenly pushed off the ground, his left foot again touched the ball horizontally, and his right foot pushed forward with the momentum.

A simple and practical La Croqueta, directly bypassing Alexandre Song.

And the latter, under this maneuver, lost his balance and sat down on the ground.

"Damn it!!—"

From the Barcelona bench, Enrique suddenly stood up, his nervous palms trembling slightly.

"Stop him!!!"

Enrique exclaimed, his voice somewhat shrill.

At the same time, Barcelona's center-back Piqué also rushed forward.

"He's going to shoot! Block him!"

Piqué knew clearly that this position was already within Suker's shooting range.

With the angle pulled open, Suker, with his ability, was bound to shoot.

But he didn't see that as he lunged forward, behind him, Benzema also turned his head to look at Piqué's vacant position, then turned back to look at Suker.

At this moment, Suker's eyes also turned to Benzema.

Their eyes met!

Benzema immediately started moving diagonally.

And Suker immediately delivered a through ball!

The ball rolled past Piqué and behind him.

And in that position, Benzema arrived diagonally next to the ball.

Before Mascherano could arrive, he suddenly twisted his waist and directly turned and shot!

The shot had immense power; although the angle wasn't tricky enough, its advantage was the extremely close distance.

The Barcelona Goalkeeper didn't even have time to react before the ball grazed the right post and entered the goal from the near post.

49 minutes!

Just four minutes into the second half, Real Madrid seized a counter-attacking opportunity, with Suker assisting Benzema to pull one goal back!

"Gooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaal!!!"

"Here it comes! Here it comes! Here it comes!"

González shouted excitedly; "What did I say? What did I say? Real Madrid will definitely make adjustments, and after their adjustments, it only took them four minutes to pull one goal back. They still have plenty of time to continue playing."

"This attack was still created by Suker on the left wing; his unique judgment of the landing spot and the through ball that tore open the defense after getting past Alexandre Song were all brilliant!"

"Of course, Benzema's choice to turn and shoot while almost facing away from the goal was also very risky, but it was a great boost to morale!"

"A clean and crisp goal, no problems at all!"

The Referee was also stunned for a moment, then turned and pointed to the center circle, blowing his whistle.

Just as Benzema was about to celebrate, he saw Suker rush into the goal, pick up the ball, and run back.

Benzema then came to his senses; he didn't celebrate either and followed Suker directly.

"What a brilliant pass!"

Benzema high-fived Suker.

Suker: "I didn't have a shooting angle, Piqué had already blocked it, and I just happened to see that you noticed the space Piqué left open, so I just passed the ball directly."

"That was a great goal!" Benzema continued to praise.

Suker nodded; "You shot it beautifully too!"

"Right!" Benzema immediately became happy.

He also thought such a difficult turning shot was very cool.

"Again!"

Suker steadily placed the ball in the center circle, then waved his hand, signaling Barcelona to kick off quickly.

Of course, Barcelona would definitely stall for a bit.

On the Barcelona bench, Enrique and his Assistant Coach were also discussing with their heads bowed.

One conceded goal wouldn't cause them to be so alarmed.

But the opponent was Real Madrid!

Since 2009, they had struggled to win even one match!

Facing this conceded goal, their stress response appeared, and they all became a bit flustered.

The Head Coach was like this, let alone the players.

"Busquets, warm up!"

Enrique suddenly turned his head and shouted.

Busquets was stunned!

What the heck?

You want me to go on now?

Don't you know how Suker targets him?

Facing Suker, Busquets himself felt like he was a liability.

But alas, the Head Coach thought he was useful?

Enrique had his reasons!

Busquets being exploited by Suker mostly happened in the second half, when Busquets had already been continuously attacked by Suker, leading to a severe decline in his stamina and concentration.

Therefore, the problem of a collapse would only appear in the second half.

But now, putting a fully State Recovery Card Busquets on the field, he could still hold on for the remaining time.

The most crucial point was that Alexandre Song was indeed struggling to keep up.

Furthermore, Busquets's presence would be more beneficial for midfield ball control.

But Enrique didn't know that Suker was targeting Busquets!

He wished Busquets would come on earlier; after all, he still had a State Recovery Card he hadn't used yet, and then he would equip [Busquets's Consciousness], and everyone would die!

He wasn't here at Camp Nou to seek a draw, but to take away three points!

Bang!!

Suker's long-range shot grazed the goalpost and flew out of bounds.

Although it didn't hit the target, it still scared Barcelona into another cold sweat.

Alexandre Song again failed to keep up with Suker, or rather, was directly bypassed.

Even Xavi couldn't hold Suker back; it was only with Xavi's pulling that Suker's shooting accuracy slightly decreased.

"Substitution!!"

Enrique couldn't bear it anymore!

If they held on any longer, the problems would become even greater.

In the 59th minute, Barcelona made the first substitution!

No one expected that Barcelona, who were leading, would make the first substitution.

They had more room for error, but they couldn't withstand the psychological pressure Suker was exerting.

Busquets and Rakitić stood by the sideline.

Both of their expressions were somewhat helpless.

This wasn't a good job!

They were very likely to be blamed!

But now, Alexandre Song and Xavi were clearly struggling to keep up with the rhythm, so they had to be substituted.

"Enrique still wants to strengthen midfield control!" Ancelotti said with a smile; "He still doesn't think his defense can stop us."

"Keeping the danger outside the penalty area is the first thing any Head Coach would consider, especially since Barcelona has a bit of a psychological shadow when facing us." Zidane said, then asked; "Aren't we making a substitution?"

Ancelotti turned his head and asked; "Who do we bring on?"

"Pato and Isco!"

Zidane pondered for a moment and gave his answer.

Pato would replace Bale, which was to further strengthen the offense; of course, Pato would also inherit Bale's task, he needed to continuously track back to defend.

This wasn't the time for him to act childish; if he dared to disobey now, Suker would beat him up without Ancelotti even needing to intervene.

As for Isco, he would replace Kaka.

Real Madrid's midfield positioning would also form an inverted triangle, with a single defensive midfielder and attacking positions for the left and right central midfielders.

After all, Real Madrid was trailing, so the most important thing for them was offense!

Ancelotti looked at Zidane, smiled, and nodded; "Let's make those changes!"

Zidane immediately negotiated with the fourth official to make the substitutions simultaneously.

Ultimately, both Barcelona and Real Madrid made substitutions.

Barcelona:

Alexandre Song and Xavi off.

Busquets and Rakitić on.

Real Madrid:

Bale and Kaka off.

Pato and Isco on.

Both sides made substitutions, but Barcelona felt a bit uneasy.

Mainly because Real Madrid scored a goal.

And also because Xavi, their midfield core, was substituted off.

It's not that they didn't trust Rakitić, but he wasn't as familiar or as steady as Xavi.

With Xavi off, the captain's armband fell to Iniesta.

In this match, Iniesta's performance wasn't outstanding.

Xavi was in the midfield!

With Messi and Neymar taking up resources in the attack, Iniesta's room to maneuver was limited.

But even under such circumstances, Iniesta still delivered a relatively stable performance, which connected Barcelona's entire rhythm.

However, the real test had just begun!

Facing Real Madrid's continuous attack, how should they respond?

And how would they limit Suker next?

Suker's eyes were fixed on Busquets.

"Finally!"

He directly brought up the system panel, equipped [Busquets's Consciousness], and then used a State Recovery Card.

His entire body felt lighter, but the fighting spirit in his mind was still burning brightly.

Busquets also subconsciously looked at Suker; after their eyes met, Busquets immediately turned his head away.

His expression was extremely aggrieved; Suker staring at him made his heart pound faster.

It was as if he was being targeted by some jackal or fierce beast, which made him very uncomfortable, but also very afraid!

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