This is unimaginable for the players of Villarreal!

As the undisputed spiritual leader of Camp Nou, Puyol's role on the pitch is needless to say, but in the new season, Puyol's more key play is the dressing room, as we all know, Barcelona's poor performance in the past two years has caused chaos in the dressing room, and the captain's poor management ability is the key, so whether Puyol can reunite the dressing room in the new season will largely determine the trend of Barcelona's season.

Before this, Santo Thiago and others thought that Barcelona could be so successful because they spared no expense to introduce core players from various teams, including Henry, Alves and others, but judging from the current reaction of Barcelona players, they are really convinced by Puyol! It's really unity!

At this point, this game will undoubtedly be tougher than previously thought! And the Barcelona defense, led by Puyol, is bound to cause huge problems for Sant-Tiago.

Santiago, who was straightening his belt, was suddenly slapped from behind, and when he turned around, he found a fair-skinned, curly-haired Barcelona player looking at him with a grin in his position.

"Hey, Leo!" Seeing Messi's extremely friendly face, Santiago also laughed instantly, and it turned out that this person was Santiago's teammate Messi of the National Olympic team. Although the big battle is imminent at this moment, it has not affected the greetings between the two, and time flies by for more than half a year since the Olympic final that changed the trajectory of Santy's career, but Santy still feels like he is the next day.

"Good luck Santi, it's going to be a great game!"

"Cut"

When the players from both sides walked into the Camp Nou with the exciting shouts, the Barcelona fans, who had already been unable to hold back their excitement, let out a tsunami-like cheer, and the game was about to officially begin! This is the moment they are looking forward to, as long as they beat the visiting Villarreal to win the title at home and lift the 08-09 La Liga crown, which is the moment that everyone wants.

After standing still on the field, Santhiago couldn't help but search the stands, and soon he found the man he had been waiting for in a nondescript stand, the king of the ball Maradona.

Emotions that had never been revealed before were revealed, and then Santi withdrew his gaze and began the final preparations.

"The referee from Switzerland, Horst, blew the whistle for the start of the game, and Barcelona player Messi drove the ball, and the game officially began!"

"Audience friends, you are now watching the 2008-2009 La Liga 35th round Barcelona home game against Villarreal, this game is administered by Swiss referee Horstel, in this game Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola still follows the team's usual 4-3-3 formation, from the front to the back of the forward line is Henry, Eto'o, Messi three people.

From this attacking combination, we can see that the common characteristics of Thierry Henry, who are both physical and capable of handling the ball, are speed and agility, which have a clear advantage against the tall, typical South American centre-backs. ”

"The strong explosion effect of the two wings will put a lot of pressure on Villarreal, and whether they can successfully limit Henry and Messila is extremely crucial for Villarreal in this game!"

"Of course, although such a combination of strikers has a very strong impact, it has very high requirements for the midfield, not only to be able to send the ball in time, but also to have strong control, but fortunately, this is the most lacking for Barcelona today."

"With Real Madrid's defeat on the road yesterday, Barcelona only need a win to win the league title three rounds ahead of schedule. The two sides have met 19 times in the league history, with Barcelona winning 8, drawing 3 and losing 8, of which 4 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses at home are considered equal. ”

After the start of the game, the players of both sides did not communicate much, and immediately plunged into a tense and intense game.

As Chilean engineer Manuel Pellegrini expected, Barcelona immediately started the game with a very rapid attack backed by strong morale and a monstrous home advantage, and in the third minute, Andres Iniesta, who scored a crucial away goal in midweek Champions League stoppage time, burst into the penalty area, but fortunately Gonzalo Rodriguez made a timely tackle to block the next possible threat.

In the 7th minute, Alves crossed from the right, and Eto'o's volley from outside the edge of the six-yard box went wide, and everyone in Villarreal broke out in a cold sweat.

In the 10th minute, Abidal sent in a low cross from the left, Xavi's shot from 16 yards on the right side of the penalty area went just wide of the left post, and Villarreal goalkeeper Vieira was furious and shouted at the fragile backline in front of him.

It was humiliating for Villarreal to be seized by their opponents in just ten minutes to finish three shots, especially as goalkeeper Vieira. Every time he received a ball from the sidelines, he silently told himself that there would be no next time, but every three minutes that annoyed him, it would happen! It just drove him crazy!

Vieira's roar undoubtedly represents the truest feeling in the hearts of everyone in Villarreal at this moment, and in such a situation, Santi knew that he could not continue like this, and let his opponent continue to run rampant, so he took the lead and led his teammates to launch a counterattack with the ball at his feet.

"Cazorla received a pass from Santhiago and faced this Barcelona centre-back Puyol, oh? A ferocious tackle destroyed the ball, and Cazorla fell to the ground, referee Horstel did not make a penalty, and Cazorla was very dissatisfied! But to no avail, the game went on! ”

"Damn!" Seeing Horstel shake his head, Cazorla pounded the turf hard, which in his opinion was a foul!

"Get up! Are you all soft eggs? Cazorla had just stood up and was about to get back into the game, but Puyol, with curly hair, said disdainfully as he passed him.

Santi's approach was well received by everyone, and the single-minded Villarreal quickly surprised the Barcelona who had the advantage of being at home, and in the next five minutes they launched a fierce attack on the side of Barca, which was completely anti-guest-oriented.

But the end result was a lot of thunder and little rain. Barcelona's backline was completely incomprehensible, not only were they able to limit Leeds United's attacking players well, but they were also able to seize opportunities to break the ball like Puyol did, and become an important initiator of the transition from defense to attack.

And this situation is what Villarreal's players did not expect, although before the game coach Pellegrini repeatedly emphasized the strength of the Barcelona team's central and back line and cannot be underestimated, but to be honest, these Villarreal players really did not expect Puyol to be so strong, never expected Puyol to slap them with his own actions, and beat them to shame, even Saint-Thiago returned home in front of Puyol.

It was precisely because of this steal that Barcelona got the opportunity to switch from defense to attack in the sixteenth minute of the game.

Xavi, who is located in the midfield, took the ball and pressed towards the middle, and I don't know if the Villarreal players noticed when Barcelona counterattacked, these two times when Barcelona attacked were directly advanced from the middle, and did not move forward from their strong side in the past, which made Villarreal coach Manuel Pellegrini also very puzzled, he didn't understand why Barcelona would make such a choice under the control of captain Puyol and vice-captain Xavi, which is almost incredible.

You must know that whether it is against Henry or Messi, it is difficult for the opposing defenders on their side to defend against each other by themselves.

But then the answer was soon revealed, it turned out that Barcelona had premeditated this time.

In this counterattack, Barcelona crossed the halfway line after Xavi took the ball and began to attack Villarreal's half, at this time Villarreal's midfielder Santhiago naturally would not let the opponent break through so easily, while he stepped forward first, he also commanded Cazorla and Senna to lean to the sides respectively. Santi's purpose in doing this is very obvious, he is to put the pressure on himself in the middle and does not want to let the Barcelona players take advantage of the two sides, there is no doubt that Santi's approach and ideas are commendable, and he is also confident in the face of Xavi to intercept it near the half.

But Saintty had forgotten one thing, and that was what Cazorla and Senna were thinking.

When Sainti motioned for them to move towards the flanks, it occurred to both of them that Barca's first two attacks had been driven through the middle, and judging from their behaviour and Xavi's movements at this time, it was natural that this time was the same. It's not that they don't trust Saint-Tiago's ability, but in the concept that both of them should step forward to help defend and fill in the position.

So when Xavi continued to hold the ball and pressed forward, and Santhiago also met it, both of them consciously or unintentionally pressed a few steps towards the middle, which has the advantage that if Santi really misses or Barcelona suddenly increases the number and strength of the middle, then Cazorla and Senna can support in time.

Of course, the two are not stupid, and at the same time they also put their position on Xavi's passing route to the sides, and with Xavi as the center and on the same line with them are Barcelona's two wingers, Henry and Messi. It can be said that the approach of the two not only ensures safety, but also echoes Santiago.

But what the two didn't expect was that this time Barcelona did not choose to break through from the middle, nor did they choose to pass to the two wingers to play the ball behind them, but made a choice they did not expect, and confused their choice with two attacks.