Chapter 336: Chapter 335 "Hobbit Kay" Understands "Hobbit Sa
"As for the lineup of Lisbon Athletic, aside from Viana returning to the starting position, there were no changes."
"Ronaldo, Drogba, Quaresma"
"Viana, Deng Kai"
"Matthaus, Deschamps"
"Terry, Feng Te, Barzagli"
"Schmeichel"
"The camera showed the players’ tunnel, where Guardiola was chatting amicably with Deng Kai, their personal relationship quite good. It’s said that Guardiola had advised Van Gaal multiple times to sign Deng Kai, but in the end, Barcelona’s youth department put a stop to it. This is also considered an important reason for the split between Van Gaal and Guardiola."
"Simon greeted Quaresma, Viana, and Feng Te, with whom he needed to get more familiar. Ronaldo didn’t join them, and he seemed somewhat too proud, which might leave a poor impression in Simon’s mind."
"Rivaldo greeted Matthaus and Deschamps; they were old adversaries. Guardiola also went over, and many players from both teams knew each other well."
"From this, one could also see that Lisbon Athletic isn’t simply the dark horse and youth team that many fans believe. As Deng Kai said, their team is not lacking top stars."
"Even when encountering the constellation of stars from Barcelona, many in their team could greet the opposition."
"Such a social circle can indeed reflect many things. After all, in any circle, strength is the bottom line, and a person who can thrive in it relies not just on character, but strength is also very important."
"Alright, with the sound of the whistle, the match officially began!"
Initially, Lisbon Athletic controlled the ball and launched an attack, but they didn’t manage to pose a real threat.
Barcelona’s defense still had merit, and key to that was Guardiola’s command of the defenses and positioning.
His disadvantage was that entering the peak of his professional career, he suffered from consecutive injuries over two to three years.
His physical condition declined dramatically, his abilities did not improve but instead regressed, and he also failed to gain enough personal and team honors, to the extent that later generations, when evaluating him as one of the four midfield talents of the nineties, deemed him utterly undeserving, a complete letdown.
Considering Guardiola’s subsequent coaching thoughts and achievements, this is a classic case of:
Mind: I’ve learned it.
Feet: I’m ruined!
In the fifth minute, Barcelona organized an attack.
Lisbon Athletic retreated solidly, hardly giving Barcelona any chance to exploit holes.
But even under such tight defenses, Rivaldo suddenly unleashed a thunderous long-range shot in mid-stride, narrowly missing a chance to alter the scoreline.
The football almost brushed past the post before going out of bounds.
Two years ago, Schmeichel even conceded two goals to Rivaldo against Barcelona, and two years later, he was even less able to stop the opponent.
After all, he was already thirty-eight years old.
But this attack didn’t intimidate Lisbon Athletic.
With the support of the home fans, the Lisbon Athletic players quickly found their rhythm.
In the ninth minute, Viana, who ran to the left flank, passed the ball back to Matthaus. Matthaus then passed it to the approaching Deng Kai. Deng Kai let the ball roll and then sent out a skillful backheel pass with his right foot’s outer arch. Without turning his body to the right, he played the football to the right flank.
That allowed Quaresma to find a rather good opening.
As soon as Quaresma received the ball, he cut inside; after cutting halfway, Barcelona’s left-back Barjuan only then raced over.
This kind of last-minute defense is most prone to errors.
Quaresma executed a delicate nutmeg, effortlessly getting past Barjuan.
But Abelardo moved ahead in time, heading this way, and Quaresma, lacking the ability to continue dribbling past opponents, could only rush to sweep the football to the front of the goal before getting knocked over by Abelardo.
Near the small penalty area, Cristiano Ronaldo made an off-ball cut inside, ready to rush in and take a shot.
But the Barcelona center back Deboer made a decisive slide tackle, poking the football out of bounds before Cristiano Ronaldo could get to it.
This move could indeed be described as skillful and daring, as a misjudgment in the angle or contact point could easily have resulted in an own goal.
"Ah!"
After making a beautiful defensive play, Deboer immediately turned around and let out a morale-boosting roar.
It looked like a celebration with his teammates, but in reality, it was also a show of dominance aimed at Cristiano Ronaldo.
The experienced Barcelona stars knew exactly how to intimidate the younger players.
This roar could either scare Cristiano Ronaldo, making him too frightened to make his moves,
or it could enrage him, causing him to lose his composure and make poor decisions in his gameplay, leading to equally poor performance.
Of course, there was a very, very small chance it would annoy Cristiano Ronaldo and turn his anger into motivation, resulting in an exceptional performance!
But such an outcome was rare.
You had to be strong enough in the first place to have a foundation for such a burst of greatness.
You also needed to have resilient and unyielding spirit.
Moreso, your dedication to scoring and winning had to be greater than your commitment to your own temper and anger, which is what many people find most difficult to achieve.
Deboer didn’t believe Cristiano Ronaldo could do it.
Because although Cristiano Ronaldo was excellent, when seen in the context of European football, he was never the most talented or strongest player of his age group.
Even within Sporting Lisbon, there were three players who surpassed him in strength, performance, and talent: Quaresma, Viana, and Ibrahimovic. Even Deng Kai, who was inherently less gifted, could compete with him neck and neck.
Deng Kai: ???
Feng Te: Don’t talk nonsense, my brother Kai still has room to grow!
Simon: My mom still says that to me, and I’m twenty-two this year.
"Oh, Deng Kai is moving towards the corner kick area, which is typically where Viana takes the kicks."
As Deng Kai ran toward the left corner area, he called Cristiano Ronaldo over as he passed him, mainly to find time to communicate with him: "Ronaldo, their defensive line’s height is a big problem, use your head to sort them out, get what I mean?"
Cristiano Ronaldo’s pupils dilated: "Awesome idea, this approach is good. Truly worthy of Hobbit Kay, spotting Hobbit Sa’s fatal flaw at first glance. I knew something felt odd about playing with my feet today, should’ve been using my head!"
This exchange was also noticed by Maxa and Trigella.
"Deng Kai is probably still a bit worried about Viana’s injury, that’s why he’s taking this corner," Maxa was completely oblivious to the young man’s intentions.
"He has spotted Barcelona’s weakness and is discussing it with Ronaldo. He’s probably going to talk to Drogba and Quaresma next..." Trigella was somewhat speechless.
Bang!
Urged on by the referee, Deng Kai took the corner, but Cruyff cleared it with a header, posing no threat.
The Barcelona fans kept clapping, giving Cruyff a big round of applause.
But the Sporting Lisbon midfielders and forwards, reminded by Deng Kai, were now even more focused on the high-ball strategy.
If even Cruyff, a striker, had to clear aerial balls, didn’t that further highlight Barcelona’s lack of aerial defensive capability?
Air raid siren, sound it off!
