"Captain! You okay?"
"It's nothing! Captain!"
Crouching on the turf, Puyol received treatment from the team doctor.
It wasn't serious!
Although Vardy's shot had been powerful, Puyol's thick skull held strong—the impact hadn't broken his nose. After a quick treatment to stop the bleeding, Puyol returned to the field.
The referee signaled for play to resume.
Hao stood by the touchline, ready to take the throw-in.
Bar?a's players retreated to defensive positions.
At this moment!
Su found himself surrounded again by Xavi and Iniesta.
Seeing Su marked so tightly, Hao had no choice but to throw the ball backward into his own half.
Peer Kluge received Hao's throw, turned, and pushed the ball across to Atsuto Uchida on the right flank.
The game settled back into a positional battle.
Bar?a quickly reorganized their formation.
Noticing Uchida looking slightly overwhelmed with possession, Su immediately called out to his teammates!
He pushed Baby Baumann forward into an attacking midfielder role while pulling Hao to the left, forming a double pivot defensive midfield with himself and Peer Kluge.
Seeing Su's movement, Uchida immediately passed him the ball.
Su controlled it and turned!
Now attempting to attack through the center!
But the situation here proved different from the right flank.
Xavi charged toward him aggressively, while Pedro also closed in from another angle.
Unlike Messi, Pedro actually tracked back defensively.
Faced with converging defenders, Su didn't risk dribbling. He played a quick angled pass to Baby Baumann ahead of him, then immediately sprinted toward the right side of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.
However, before Baby Baumann could return the pass...
The young midfielder became entangled with Busquets, who had stepped up aggressively!
Despite benefiting from the Perfect Partner card's attribute boost, Baby Baumann still struggled against the world's top defensive midfielder.
Busquets—both a brilliant footballer and skilled actor—proved too much for the inexperienced Baumann.
While shielding the ball with his body, Busquets discreetly tugged at Baby Baumann's jersey with his right hand, hidden from the referee's view.
At the same time, with a slightly stronger tug, Busquets' pull made Baby Baumann lose his footing in panic.
Instead, Busquets cleanly poked the ball away with his right foot!
Bar?a counterattack!!!!
Busquets swiftly rounded the off-balance Baby Baumann, immediately surging forward with the ball toward the attacking third.
"That's a controversial turnover!"
"Busquets clearly committed a foul there!"
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"The referee was poorly positioned though - he couldn't possibly see Busquets' sneaky move outside his field of vision!"
"Baumann's inexperience shows here. If Busquets had been pulled like that, he would have screamed and gone down immediately!"
And at this moment!
On the pitch, Bar?a launched their lightning-fast counterattack!
Busquets carried the ball forward before slotting a precise pass to Xavi on the left flank!
Spotting the opportunity, Xavi delivered a right-footed through ball to Pedro, who was charging up the left wing at full speed!
Facing the cautious Uchida Atsuto,
Pedro didn't need any fancy moves.
Just a quick feint with his right foot combined with a subtle left-footed touch!
With this simple but effective maneuver, Pedro used his blistering pace and agility to blow right past Uchida Atsuto!
Schalke 04's right side was completely exposed!
Pedro, now clear of Uchida, didn't hesitate - he drove toward the box with his left foot and cut inside sharply!
"Dangerous situation!"
"Pedro is equally lethal with both feet!"
"Villa making a near-post run!"
"Iniesta following through the middle!!!"
"Bar?a's attack is relentless!!!"
As Pedro burst into the penalty area, he faced Metzelder's desperate sliding challenge.
But!
Pedro didn't take the shot!
He raised his left leg high in a shooting motion, then at the last moment pushed the ball square across goal instead!
The perfectly weighted pass rolled just beyond Metzelder's outstretched leg!
Villa raced onto the ball!
Schalke's center-back and captain Benedikt H?wedes, who had been tracking Villa in the box, couldn't afford any mistakes now. Seeing Villa raise his right leg, H?wedes threw himself to the ground, attempting to block the inevitable shot!
But Villa, after clearly winding up with his right leg, didn't shoot at all - he deliberately let the ball run through his legs!!!!
The football rolled straight to the waiting Iniesta!
"Danger!!!"
"Iniesta!!!"
"Shoot...!!!"
But Iniesta didn’t shoot!
He passed the ball instead!
Collecting Villa’s intentional dummy, he calmly slotted a diagonal pass to the right!
"Messi!!!!"
"No one’s marking him!!!"
"Neuer’s completely out of position!!!"
"Open net!!!"
Messi took a light touch to control the ball...
"PUSH SHOT!!!"
With no defender in sight, Messi guided the ball into the empty net!!!
"0:1!!!"
"FC Schalke 04 falls behind!!!"
And at this moment—
"GGGGGGG—OOOOOOO—AAAAAA—LLLLLLL!"
"GGGGGOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLL!"
"GOAL!!!!"
"Leo.....Me.....ssi....!!!"
Camp Nou erupted!
The stadium DJ screamed Messi’s name in hysterics!
This was the moment—
Camp Nou welcomed its true king!
Messi was immediately swarmed by jubilant teammates!
11th minute!!!
Bar?a struck first!
Just as everyone had predicted pre-match!
Bar?a clinically converted their third attacking sequence!
It began with Busquets’ interception—
Bar?a surged down the left flank—
Pedro easily bypassed Uchida Atsuto before orchestrating a mesmerizing three-way passing triangle with Villa, Iniesta, and Messi in the crowded penalty area—
All culminating in Messi tapping into an unguarded net!
Bar?a’s players celebrated wildly!
On the touchline, Guardiola clenched his fists and thrust his right arm skyward!
That familiar rhythm—
That trademark style—
That predictable outcome—
All of it—
Unfolding at Camp Nou just as it always did!
On the field!
The FC Schalke 04 players stood frozen in place.
They knew Bar?a's strength!
But they hadn't expected Bar?a to be this dominant!
This was clearly Schalke's attacking moment!
How had Bar?a scored so quickly?!
And with such effortless precision?!
Neuer, still in front of goal, slammed the turf in frustration!
There was nothing he could have done!
Bar?a's transition was lightning-fast!
He simply couldn't have reached it in time!
Schalke's captain slowly rose from the turf, his face etched with disappointment. He'd given everything - had he not made that block, Villa would surely have scored directly!
Nearly all Schalke players hung their heads in despair as they watched Bar?a's wild celebrations around Messi!
Was this the gap between them?
Su also felt a pang of envy watching Messi being mobbed by teammates.
This... this was a true superstar.
Yet at this moment,
Su found himself strangely reminded of Brazilian superstar Neymar, who would later arrive at Camp Nou with great fanfare.
That talented player came with a massive price tag, but even after rescuing Bar?a countless times, the loudest cheers always went to Messi!
This...
What was he thinking about now?
Shaking his head, Su turned to his disheartened teammates - especially the utterly dejected Baby Baumann.
He walked over to the young midfielder.
"Hey! It's only just begun - we've still got eighty minutes left!"
Giving Baumann an encouraging tap,
"Just pass to me when you get the ball, then make your forward run!"
"So what if we conceded once? We'll just score it back!"
Seeing Su's supportive expression, Baby Baumann felt tears welling up.
Every single time!
Without fail!
Su always appeared like an angel during his moments of greatest helplessness!
Baby Baumann nodded vigorously.
He didn't know how Su would break through Bar?a's defense, but he believed in Su completely!
He would just keep making those runs forward - Su would surely find him with the perfect pass!
There was no doubt about it!
To him, Su was nothing less than a footballing god!
