Chapter 329: Miracle at Camp Nou
After scoring, Wang Feng spread his arms and ran wildly on the sidelines. The roars and curses of tens of thousands of people were now praise and encouragement in his ears. The angrier the opponent, the stronger he proved himself to be.
Teammates chasing from behind surrounded him, each with a joyful smile on their faces. Especially the Real Madrid veterans like Raúl, who had been suppressed by Bar?a for years, now saw a glimmer of hope again!
"How can you run so fast, mate? I was thinking of supporting you, but the distance kept getting farther and farther," Raúl sighed. "Yeah, even Túram couldn't catch you and ended up falling flat on his face," joked Guti from the side, which immediately made everyone laugh. The mindset of all the players was particularly relaxed at this moment.
This conceded goal made Rijkaard on the sidelines furious. He angrily scolded the Bar?a players, "What stupid mistakes are you making? Continue defending when the referee doesn't whistle. Whether there's a foul or not, stop the opponent's attack first. Do I need to emphasize this point to you repeatedly?"
"Mark Wang Feng tightly, mark Real Madrid's counterattacks, transition quickly between attack and defense, move faster!"
The game resumed, with the impatient Bar?a players continuing to press the Real Madrid defense. However, they still couldn't break through. Then, in the 35th minute, Real Madrid once again intercepted the ball in their own half, with Heinze dispossessing Ronaldinho.
At that moment, the Brazilian wanted to make a directional breakthrough, but his body was no longer as agile as it used to be during his peak years. The Argentine defender seized the opportunity to tackle him and successfully intercepted the ball, not giving Ronaldinho a chance to counterattack.
Seeing that Bar?a's defense was quickly retreating, Diarra dribbled the ball past the midfield himself and then passed it diagonally to Reyes on the wing.
"Look at this Real Madrid attack. Reyes dribbles the ball down the wing towards the goal line, with nearby Xavi and Van Bronckhorst chasing back to defend. How will he choose to attack?"
"He passes to Wang Feng, who passes it back, a beautiful give-and-go! Reyes shakes off the defense, crosses, but Raúl couldn't get to it. Marcos clears the ball out of the penalty area, and Ramos in the frontcourt controls the ball to reorganize the attack."
"This attack didn't succeed, but Wang Feng's positioning was excellent. He didn't rush forward with Reyes but withdrew between Xavi and Van Bronckhorst."
"This not only helps the Spanish center-back block a defensive player but also attracts attention. After receiving the pass back, they form a give-and-go, allowing Reyes to calmly cross."
"Unfortunately, Real Madrid doesn't have a strong aerial presence in the box, otherwise, this could have been more threatening."
Ramos passed the ball to Guti on the left, "The Golden Wolf" glanced at the penalty area and sent a curved ball with his left foot, looping to where Wang Feng was on the right side of the penalty area.
The Chinese superstar was slightly interfered with by Puyol, unable to arrive at the optimal landing spot immediately. Seeing the ball about to pass by him, he stretched out his right leg to intercept.
But Marcos from the oblique front also pressed forward, the combination of front and back defense and poor positioning, even if he controlled the ball, it wouldn't pose a threat. In the blink of an eye, Wang Feng cleverly swept the ball with the outside of his left foot.
To others, it seemed like Wang Feng was stopping the ball with his leg, but instead of stopping firmly at his feet as usual, the ball rebounded to the other side, looking like he missed the control.
But this was certainly not a mistake. He immediately chased after the ball, using the outside of his left foot to produce a crescent-shaped shot, hanging directly into the top left corner of the goal, with goalkeeper Valdés a half-beat slow, unable to reach the ball.
"Goal! The ball's in! Wang Feng scores for the second time, widening Real Madrid's lead!"
"His control of the ball has reached an extraordinary level. The reception in the penalty area looks like a stop, but it's actually a flick. Marcos's approach inadvertently created space for the subsequent shot!"
"Of course, this can't be blamed on the Mexican defender, because if he didn't step forward to press, relying solely on Puyol wouldn't have stopped Wang Feng from shooting. It can be said that this is an unsolvable defensive problem."
"But all of this depends on Wang Feng's extreme control over the ball. Let's take a look at the slow-motion replay, it's like a masterpiece of art, one step further would have been interfered with by other defensive players, and one step closer wouldn't have completely escaped Marcos's defensive area."
"Just right, and all of this stems from a seemingly inconspicuous flick, Wang Feng is truly worthy of the title of World Footballer! From the first goal, we saw extreme speed, and from the second goal, we see extreme technique."
"The defending champions Bar?a are now truly in a quagmire. Will they suffer a humiliating defeat at Camp Nou?"
At the end of the first half, the huge electronic screen displayed the score: 0-3, with the home team behind and the away team ahead. In injury time, Wang Feng capitalized on a positional mistake by the Bar?a frontline, launching a cold arrow from outside the penalty area, piercing through the defense and catching goalkeeper Valdés off guard.
He completed a hat-trick! Real Madrid took a commanding lead in just 45 minutes, and the players walked into the dressing room from the player tunnel, laughing and joking, ignoring the angry boos from both sets of fans.
The Bar?a players, on the other hand, walked with their heads down, their faces heavy, passing through the player tunnel. "Softies! Trash! Why don't you go die?" Various malicious words made them even more ashamed. This was Camp Nou, their home ground!
If it weren't for the wire mesh barrier, these crazy people might have rushed up and torn them to pieces. Many rational fans chose to leave at this moment, unable to see any hope of winning.
Back in the dressing room, Rijkaard looked somewhat helpless at these players. Bar?a at this moment was like an elderly person in decline, the team as a whole was on a downward slope.
To be honest, Real Madrid's strength might not be better than Bar?a's, but they had Wang Feng. This player seemed to possess infinite vitality and energy, always coming through in crucial moments, something Bar?a lacked.
Ronaldinho? Look at the bulging belly he's developing. Eto'o? He's good at adding the finishing touch, but lacks the drive to break through. Messi? He's still too young. Van Nistelrooy? If he were really that good, he wouldn't have been gradually replaced by Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United.
"Ronaldinho, you're coming off later, let Belletti come on," Rijkaard said wearily, causing everyone to be taken aback, then realizing that the head coach was giving up on winning, trying to maintain the defense to avoid a slaughter!
The Dutchman understood in his heart that he was probably not far from being fired, but he wanted to leave with some dignity. No one noticed the fiery look in the eyes of 20-year-old Messi at this moment.
As the second half began, seeing Bar?a replace a forward with a defender, the Real Madrid players relaxed even more. However, they soon tasted bitterness. Just two minutes into the second half, Messi received the ball in the middle and quickly started dribbling. His petite body was very agile, shaking off the defense of Diarra and Gago along the way.
Pepe hurriedly stepped up to defend. Although he wasn't there for the previous game against Bar?a, he was greatly impressed by Messi's solo goal in the video he watched. He didn't want to be a background figure this time.
But his fierce defense failed. Although Messi nearly stumbled under his pressure, he still relied on his low center of gravity to squat and protect the ball under his feet, then suddenly stood up, shaking off the Portuguese.
The Argentine youngster then broke into the penalty area, adjusting his body continuously to evade defenders, and fiercely shot to penetrate Casillas's ten fingers, pulling one back for Bar?a!
His performance was far from over. In the 60th minute, he broke through again in front of the penalty area. This time, Pepe decisively fouled him, giving Bar?a a free kick from twenty-five meters out.
Messi wasn't originally the designated free-kick taker, but he volunteered to take it. With a run-up, he shot! The ball drew a huge curve in the air, bypassing the wall and heading straight into the corner of the goal, leaving even Saint Casillas helpless!
At this moment, everyone in Real Madrid felt uneasy. Wang Feng decided to have a word with Messi personally, but to his surprise, Messi's ball control seemed even better now, making it difficult to steal the ball from him easily.
Moreover, his playing style became more flexible. Instead of persistently challenging Wang Feng, he immediately coordinated with his teammates to attack after pulling the defense apart. In the 70th minute, he formed a give-and-go with Iniesta to shake off Wang Feng and immediately darted into the penalty area.
He moved like a smooth fish in the Real Madrid penalty area, successfully dodging one defender after another's attempts to block with their legs. Before losing his balance and falling to the ground, he used an incredible side-foot shot to breach the Galacticos' defense.
"Goal! The ball's in! Messi, Messi completes a hat-trick, and Barcelona stages a miraculous comeback!"
"This can only be called the Camp Nou miracle! At a time when everyone, even the coach, had given up, he hadn't! "
"I think at this moment, Barcelona fans can shout with excitement: Real Madrid has Wang Feng, but we have Messi!"
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