Chapter 528: Stepping Stones

At the moment when the football crashed into the net and fell into the goal, Diego Simeone, who was standing on the sidelines anxiously following the situation on the field, finally sat back in the coach's box with a smile on his face.

Barcelona failed to score when the score was evenly matched, not to mention that at this time, when the morale of the players was already plummeting after three goals, they could not pose a real threat to Atletico Madrid.

Although there are still nearly 40 minutes of game time after counting injury time, Deng Xuan, who is responsible for commenting the game on CCTV Sports, said in a somewhat strange tone after congratulating Atletico Madrid on its goal: "Although saying this will make many Barcelona fans unhappy, there is really not much time left for the Barcelona team." ”

Although Barcelona, who were three goals behind, launched a fierce attack on the opponent like a trapped beast, in front of Atletico Madrid, who was full of morale and decisively chose to shrink the defense, the threat they could create with low morale was also very limited.

Therefore, the result of the game was as Deng Xuan "expected", even if the Barcelona team was left with nearly 40 minutes, they only scored a face-saving goal in the 26th minute of the second half by Messi's curling ball at the edge of the penalty area.

Not only that, but after Barcelona pressed hard, the huge void left in the back field also extended Atletico Madrid's lead.

Just three minutes after Messi pulled a goal back, Koke received a cross from Juanfran in his own half, and after observing the position of the front court a little, he sent a long pass over the top in the middle of the field.

Diego Costa, who was on the move, pressed Baltra to return the ball to Alda Turan and then rushed in the direction of the opposition penalty area.

And Alda Turan, who received Diego Costa's return to the top, did not wait for the ball to hit the ground, and directly used the arch of his right foot to bring the ball to the huge gap on the left side of the front.

Although Danny Alves began to tug at Feng Quan's jersey before Alda Turan passed the ball, Feng Quan, who had an absolute advantage in speed and power, was not affected too much, but almost dragged the Brazilian star who was pulling his jersey directly to the turf.

At the same time, Diego Costa, who had been straight into the box, suddenly rushed diagonally towards the right side of the box, while Alda Turan, who had completed the pass, was running forward at full speed, ready to meet the attack of Fengquan.

In order not to make himself too embarrassed in front of more than 80,000 home fans, Danny Alves, who was dragged by the wind, had to reluctantly let go of his left hand that was pulling the wind coat. But when he readjusted his body and began to chase back quickly, Feng Quan had already dribbled the ball to the slightly left of the edge of the penalty area like an arrow from the string.

Coming to the edge of the penalty area, Feng Quan slowed his forward speed, and when Mascherano took the opportunity to get close from the side, Feng Quan immediately stepped on the ball with his right foot, and then used the sole of his right foot to pull sideways lightly, allowing the football to pass between the legs of Mascherano as he ran.

Immediately afterwards, after Feng Quan bypassed behind Mascherano, who failed to brake the car, to regain possession, and after a slight adjustment, he completed a curling ball at the top of the arc of the penalty area.

Although Valdés pounced on the right side of the goal the moment the wind finished shooting, before he could stretch his body, the ball grazed the post on the right side of the goal and burrowed into the net.

Fifteen minutes later, Feng Quan, who was rarely involved in the defense, retreated to the left wing of his own half on a whim.

Just when Messi was about to break into the penalty area by getting rid of the marking of Koke, Raul Garcia and Felipe Luiz with successive rapid changes of direction, he was suddenly hit by the wind on his right side and almost fell on the field with his shoulder.

However, Messi really deserves to be the person favored by the football king Maradona, even if he was almost knocked down, he still barely controlled the football at his feet with his superior ball sense, and passed the ball to the left side of the penalty area under the eyes of the wind full of surprise.

It's a pity that Neymar, who didn't expect Messi to send such a wonderful pass in such a difficult situation, failed to complete the start at the first time, resulting in the Brazilian barely completing the stab on his toes and finally being easily taken into the arms of Courtois.

The next moment, after seeing Feng Quan's gesture to ask for the ball, Courtois immediately understood and threw the ball vigorously to a position about six or seven meters in front of Feng Quan.

After seeing Courtois launch a hand-tossed attack, Xavi, Cesc Fabregas, Alves, and Busquets, the four Barcelona players close to the right flank, first screamed badly, and then they ran desperately in the direction of the wind at the same time.

However, just when the four of them were about to form a circle against Feng Quan, Feng Quan, who was dribbling at high speed, suddenly made a sudden stop, and then rubbed the ball to the relatively empty middle of the front court with the outside of his right foot, and then ran diagonally in the direction of the opponent's penalty area.

Diego Costa, who had already been ambushed in the middle, first took advantage of the situation to move the ball forward, and then used his strength advantage to crush Baltra like a heavy tank in the opponent's penalty area.

Although the crushing Diego Costa was getting closer and closer to him, Mascherano, who was the last barrier of Barcelona's defense, thought about whether he should step forward to help Bartra complete the tackle, or watch out for Diego Costa's choice to pass.

Moments later, when Mascherano saw that Bartra was still being dragged forward even though he was tugging on Diego Costa's shirt, he finally decided to step forward to help his team-mate.

However, the moment Mascherano started forward, a subtle and eerie smile suddenly appeared on Diego Costa's face. Immediately afterwards, Diego Costa sent a through ball towards the space behind Mascherano.

The next moment, the lightning-fast rush behind Mascherano first poked the ball with his toe to dodge Valdés' falling save, then stabilized himself a little before sending the ball into the unguarded goal.

Looking at the wind that stood in front of thousands of away fans with open arms, like a king accepting the "worship of the people", Messi, who was still in the Atletico Madrid half, was full of loneliness.

Messi, who has not yet celebrated his 27th birthday, although his body is at the peak of his professional football, a sense of powerlessness suddenly swells in the heart of the Argentine king at this moment.

Although he is stronger than Feng Quan from China in terms of foot skills, running without the ball, game creativity and other abilities, the opponent's strong physical ability is incomparable to Messi.

At that time, Barcelona under Pep Guardiola completed the immortal feat of the "Six Crowns" with their passing and control ability far beyond other teams. However, with the gradual aging of core forces such as Xavi and Iniesta, Barcelona's control of the game is also showing a downward trend year by year.

In today's football world, which emphasizes fast-paced and high-confrontation, a world superstar like Messi, who has excellent skills at his feet but average physical ability, will find it difficult to change the situation of the entire game on his own if he cannot get strong support from his teammates.

After more than half a season of La Liga's baptism, the wind that gradually tends to be an all-round world superstar is different. He can cut inside to the middle after tearing through the wide defence; can enter the penalty area to resist the opposing defender's pass, receive the pass from his teammates, and grab the point to score; It can also be like a sharp sword in the counterattack to the opponent's heart.

Of course, if Feng Quan wants to, he can also use his strength advantage to crush the opposing defender like a tank like Diego Costa. However, the "King of Speed" doesn't need to do that kind of "rough" work like his partner, after all, as long as he wants to speed up, even if the opponent pulls his jersey, he can't stop him from moving forward.

However, the most terrifying thing for Messi is Feng Quan's age, although his debut time is earlier than the other party, but the 20-year-old Argentine king does not have the ability that Feng Quan now has to change the situation of the battle by himself.

In fact, the moment Messi's heart felt powerless, it was already destined that this season's Barcelona would be a stepping stone on the road to Atletico Madrid's Champions League.

In the end, thanks to a hat-trick and a brace from Diego Costa, Atletico Madrid unexpectedly walked away with a big win at the Camp Nou and laid a solid foundation for themselves to qualify for the Champions League semi-finals.