Chapter Fifty-Six: A Little Close

Looking at the Fiorentina players who were celebrating wildly on the pitch, Guardiola was completely stunned, and the situation in front of him was something he had never expected before.

Less than half an hour after the start of the game, his team was already down 0:2, and Guardiola looked at the dejected disciples on the field, at this time, he really hoped that his father's love would come.

It's a pity that at the door of the Fiorentina team, no matter how much Platini loves Barcelona, his godson, he doesn't dare to continue to blatantly do wrongdoing.

In the first leg of the previous match between the two teams, the media had already bombarded Barcelona, bombarded the referee, and even began to bombard UEFA.

Without the love of the godfather, Barcelona's dismissal was completely restrained by Fiorentina, although this game compared to the first game, Guardiola made a few adjustments, but now it seems that the effect is not very good.

Henry was moved to the middle of the lane, and the strong point ability in front of the goal was raised, but the aging former King of Highbury no longer has the speed of the past, and the frontal assault ability is not as good as Eto'o.

So far in the game, Henry has not even had a decent shot on goal, and most of the time, he can only rely on Messi's individual performance to threaten Fiorentina's goal.

Samuel Eto'o was also very bad when he was moved to the wing, he was not a striker on the wing, and although he had the pace, the ball from the wing was not his characteristic at all.

Now Barcelona can be said to have fallen into a predicament, the middle can't be opened, the kind of small quickness and small-scale tactical coordination that they were best at in the past can't be played at all in front of the Fiorentina midfield meat grinder.

In the last game, the wing attack that equalized for Barcelona at the last moment also lost its power because of improper use.

On the other hand, on the Florentine side, it is one word and one by one!

Through quick shots, wide transfers, relying on Degan's technique, control, and Mutu's speed to grab points, he kept creating danger in front of the Barcelona goal.

At this point in the game, when it comes to ball possession, Barcelona will definitely throw Fiorentina a few streets, but Fiorentina has no intention of competing with Barcelona for possession.

As for grasping the initiative on the field, let alone taking the initiative, just look at the game, Fiorentina and Barcelona are not on the same channel at all, even if Barcelona wants to bring Fiorentina into their frequency.

"Josep! If it goes on like this, even in the second half, it's too late for us to do something! Pep Guardiola's aide Vilanova walked up to him and whispered a reminder.

Guardiola didn't speak, just nodded, he knew that Vilanova was right, he was not Mancini, there was no hesitation in his personality, but how to solve the team's predicament now?

Guardiola doesn't have a charter in mind!

The biggest surprise in this game was that Fiorentina scored a leading goal through a quick counterattack as soon as he came up, which completely failed the tactical arrangement made by Guardiola before the game, and then attacked the middle, and let Barcelona fall into the trap, and has been fighting in the midfield, resulting in serious physical consumption of the players, and now it is impossible to move the direction of attack to the side.

The biggest headache for Guardiola is that Fiorentina's tactics are completely Barcelona's "TikiTaka" nemesis, whether it is in the midfield or on the back line, Fiorentina can always form a local personnel advantage, even if the players on the Barcelona field are skilled, no matter how tacit they cooperate, they can't break through Florence's defense.

On the other hand, although there are only two people on Fiorentina's front line, the threat of Deegan is too big, and it is not at all something that the young Pique can deal with, plus a poisonous snake Mutu keeps moving on the wings, which involves the team's defensive energy, so that Barcelona's best full-back assist in the past cannot be played at all.

Guardiola thought about turning around and walked to the coach's seat, subconsciously looked up, and suddenly saw Prandelli sitting in the stands, Guardiola has always thought highly of himself, but after meeting Prandelli, he knew what it means to have people outside the sky, this handsome Italian guy is completely his nemesis.

Taking advantage of a dead ball opportunity, Guardiola called Xavi to his side: "Xavi! Now we have to make a change, you go and tell Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto'o to switch positions and then you get the ball and you go to both wings, play more on the wings, that's our only chance! ”

As Barcelona's commander on the pitch, Xavi is of course aware of the current predicament facing the team, and if no changes are made, Barcelona will eventually be consumed by Fiorentina.

But will just having Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto'o switch positions and play two more wings solve the problem?

The answer is, of course, no, the Fiorentina players on the field have gone crazy at the moment, Barcelona wants to attack the wing, Fiorentina immediately meets it, you play on the side, I also play on the side, see who plays harder.

Not only Beckham and Modric, but Digan is also constantly leaning on the wings, making Barcelona's two full-backs Belletti and Puyol tired of coping, and they can't press half the court and participate in the attack.

Finally, towards the end of the first half, Fiorentina scored again, and after Digan took the ball and drew most of Barcelona's defensive experience, he suddenly sent a through ball towards the other side of the Barcelona penalty area.

Luka Modric quickly followed up and fired a volley that left Valdés looking at the ball and sighing.

“GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL! Luka Modric! Luca. Luka Modric! Rode's through ball completely penetrated Barcelona's backline, and Modric easily picked up the goal! 3:0! 3:0! We've won! ”

After the goal, the Fiorentina players rushed to the south stand, which was full of Fiorentina's most loyal fans, and the fans in the stands waved their fists and shouted the names of Modric and Degan, and the scene boiled instantly.

Prandelli in the stands also jumped up at the moment of the goal, hugging the fans around him who didn't know each other at all, he was not the head coach of Fiorentina at the moment, just an ordinary Fiorentina fan.

3:0!

There was confusion in the eyes of the Barcelona players, they already had a hunch that they could not win, just like last season, they fell in front of Fiorentina again, the only difference was that last time, they only reached the round of 16, this season, they are finally one step closer.

Pep Guardiola shook his head in disappointment and returned to his dugout, knowing that the game was over in the first half and that Barcelona would not be able to score three goals in the second half to complete the comeback.

Although the game played the way it is, Guardiola has nothing to complain about, the team's tactics are formulated by him, and every player on the field has performed very well, but it is a pity that his team is missing a strong center like Degan.

Pep Guardiola even began to fantasize that if Deegan is in his team, if he has a super combination of Deegan and Messi, and then with Messi as the core and Deegan charging forward, no team in the world will be able to beat Barcelona.

Although Digan has put Barcelona on the road to the Champions League title three times, who would say no if they could have such a player!?

At the end of the first half, both teams returned to the dressing room in different moods, and Fiorentina, who had taken a three-goal lead, did not celebrate in advance, because Digan said as soon as he entered the door that the celebration would be saved until after reaching the top, and now they need to fight.

On Barcelona's side, Pep Guardiola is still trying his last days, and although he knows that it will be difficult to win, as a manager, he can't give up yet.

The second half of the game was almost a replica of the first half, as soon as the game began, Fiorentina had a free kick opportunity outside the Barcelona penalty area, this time Digan did not give Beckham, a powerful shot, Valdés touched the football, but was powerless to prevent the ball from going into the net.

4:0!

At this point, there was no suspense left, and although there was still plenty of time left for Barcelona, no one would believe they could make a comeback.

I have to admit that even without the help of the referee and the love of the godfather, Barcelona has always been a strong team, but it is a pity that their small and fast tactics are completely unplayable after meeting Fiorentina, which is like mutual restraint, Fiorentina's tactics are Barcelona's emperor.

Messi is still working hard, he is indeed one of the best players in the world, although he is still a little immature, but the thin man has no hesitation to resist the future of Barcelona.

Fiorentina have already paid four yellow cards for defending him in this game, and it can be said that there has never been a time when Fiorentina has been so embarrassed.

Messi's efforts paid off in the 67th minute, when midfielder Xavi's pass was successfully countered offside and scored into the far corner.

But that goal wasn't enough to save Barcelona's fortunes, and five minutes later, when Digan slotted the ball into the Barcelona net for the third time of the game, the game was over.

5:1!

An unbelievable score, before the game, it is estimated that no one would have thought that Barcelona, which dominates La Liga, would be powerless in front of Fiorentina.

Pep Guardiola gave up completely, and he began to make substitutions, and the first to be replaced was Sergio Busquets, who endured 70 minutes of boos from the Fiorentina fans during the game and now doesn't know how to move.

Then Pep Guardiola replaced Messi, he didn't want Messi to continue to suffer the pain of defeat on the field, when Messi went off the field, the camera captured his eyes red, just forced to not let the tears fall.

A person in the stands also let out a long sigh at this time: "It's still a little bit close!" ”

This person is Messi's good friend Ronaldinho when he was in Barcelona, he came to watch the game, originally he expected Messi to complete the task he did not complete and defeat Degan, but now it seems that this task is still a bit difficult for the young Messi.

"Leo! Don't be discouraged, you can still be stronger, and when you get stronger, you will definitely be able to defeat him! ”

After Messi went down, the game has lost its meaning, Barcelona sent a very clear signal, they have given up resistance, although Fiorentina hates Barcelona to the core, but the opponents have surrendered, they do not need to continue to chase and fight, Fiorentina's assistant coach Antonelli also began to make substitutions, replaced by Arteta, replaced by Cavinagui, and even replaced by teenager Desiglio.

The next game was a bit dull, both sides were not on the game, they both wanted to end as soon as possible, the referee seemed to hear everyone's heart, when the time came to 90 minutes, the whistle was blown, announcing the end of the game.

In the mixed zone, Digan was immediately surrounded by journalists: "I am very happy with the result of this match, it proves that Fiorentina cannot be beaten by any team without external interference, and I am proud of my teammates, they did their best today!" ”

The game is only one aspect, and now people are more concerned about Degan's thinking next season, don't look at the transfer rumors on Kaka now, Degan, the younger brother of the Wright brothers, is not without the possibility of leaving. The previous salary cut incident has fully exposed the contradictions between Deegan and the club's management.

"I don't want to say anything about the future right now, I'll leave it all to the end of the season! I love the city of Florence, I love this team and I want to stay here if possible! ”

Of course, these are just Degan's expectations, and it is not known what others think.

At the post-match press conference, Antonelli, who was present in place of Prandelli, also praised the team's performance today, and finally summed it up with one sentence: "Everything was perfect!" ”

Guardiola, who tasted the bitterness of defeat, did not look depressed: "Yes! We lost today, it's my responsibility, my players played really well, and the responsibility for the defeat is all on me, but I don't think it's a disaster, I think it's a reminder that we're not doing well enough! We still have to work hard for the future! ”