Chapter 348: Chapter 347: Sometimes Football Is About Who Plays Dirtier (Happy New Year’s Eve)
However, after Lisbon Athletics scored their second goal, the match suddenly changed.
The chief referee, Gandour, bizarrely expanded his criteria for fouls.
Lisbon Athletics and Barcelona both favor technical gameplay, meaning they both prefer stricter officiating.
It inhibits violent fouls and muscular grappling from the opposing players.
From the referee’s primary duties, such strict officiating is more reasonable.
Referees are not maintainers of absolute fairness and justice; their main task is to make the match as smooth and spectacular as possible without altering the outcome.
A tighter officiating allows two ball-controlling teams to showcase their intricate cooperation when in possession; that’s sufficient.
Yet, as the match restarted, Gandour seemed quite indulgent towards Barcelona’s pressing, clearly inconsistent with his earlier officiating.
Quaresma, Viana, Deng Kai, and others all suffered from Barcelona’s foul-like tackles.
However, faced with complaints from Lisbon Athletics’ players, Gandour remained unmoved.
In the 40th minute, Deng Kai, after being pushed and tackled by Guardiola, rolled on the spot, began his chase back and brought down Guardiola with an equally foul move.
Beep!
The chief referee immediately blew his whistle.
And warned Deng Kai that one more foul like that from behind, and he would show Deng Kai a yellow card.
Guardiola sensed the change in the referee, but being at Barcelona, he had to seek advantages for his team, so he chimed in on the side, trying to get the referee to immediately book Deng Kai with a yellow card.
Deng Kai gave Guardiola a contemptuous glance, as if to say "wait and you’ll see, I’m still going to take you on."
Guardiola merely shrugged his shoulders, holding an even higher esteem for Deng Kai’s scope of mind and wisdom.
Being backstabbed by a business acquaintance on the pitch and still able to keep his cool without getting carded for disciplinary issues, this kid is terrifying.
No player has ever managed to do this at Deng Kai’s age, especially the more talented ones.
Zidane is currently recognized as the best midfielder in football, but even approaching thirty, he’s still quite hot-tempered. Instances where he gets booked with yellow or red cards due to losing his temper, which ultimately leads to his team losing, have happened time and again.
Are the character and restraint of Easterners this strong?
Guardiola knows very well that Deng Kai is not someone who gets scared easily.
Off the pitch, he led his Five Tiger Generals to knock out Argentine football hooligans.
In the 44th minute, the most controversial moment of the match occurred.
With Quaresma on the right wing dribbling magnificently, breaking into Barcelona’s territory and passing the ball too much to Deng Kai.
Deng Kai didn’t stop the ball and immediately created a threat with his shifting pass, sending the football deep into the left side of the penalty area.
Ronaldo made an off-ball run and was about to control the football in the penalty area.
Deboer came from the side and collided with Ronaldo.
It was an unquestionable penalty.
Although Ronaldo hadn’t fully controlled the ball yet, he had already gained an advantage over the ball.
Moreover, Deboer directly charged at the person from the side, not squeezing past Ronaldo in the same direction at speed.
It was a very clear and obvious decision to make.
Yet Gandour crossed his arms, indicating no penalty.
The Camp Nou erupted into cheers at once.
Over ninety thousand Barcelona fans, the majority of whom were also Spanish fans, gave Gandour a thumbs-up.
Ronaldo, infuriated, nearly spewed blood.
He jumped up on the spot and rushed towards Gandour.
Deboer, quick to react, positioned himself in front of Ronaldo to prevent him from changing the referee’s decision.
Ronaldo got even angrier, stuck his chest out, and barged Deboer away.
Deboer went down with the momentum.
The chief referee came over and produced a yellow card.
Ronaldo was so agitated that he stamped his feet.
Following the incident, other Lisbon Athletic players came to hold Cristiano Ronaldo back and engaged in a discussion with Gandour.
Gandour disregarded the complaints of Lisbon Athletic and dispersed the players.
The match thus entered half-time.
Including some broadcast stations started discussing the foul.
And the conclusion they reached was "Barcelona dodged a bullet."
If the ball had reached Ronaldo, even at a tight angle, his presence in the penalty area would have definitely caused trouble for Barcelona, and a goal would have been highly likely.
If they fell behind by three goals, Barcelona would really be in trouble.
Even if they scored three goals in the second half, it would only level the score.
There would still be a long way from winning.
Now, they seemed to be two goals behind, but in fact, if they scored the second goal, Barcelona could take the lead over Lisbon Athletic with a total score of five to five and the advantage of three away goals and advance to the final of the Europa League.
The situation wasn’t critical.
For a football powerhouse, scoring two goals at any time is reasonable.
Against Bayern Munich, Manchester United only needed two minutes.
With 45 minutes left against Lisbon Athletic, what’s there to fear for Barcelona?
...
Coming back after the half-time, Lisbon Athletic could not make any changes.
Their Large Circle Tactics already were a very conservative and secure way of playing.
But they couldn’t withstand Barcelona’s foul-intense pressing.
It was clear that Barcelona had emphasized the extent of defensive play during half-time, and their players seemed more confident in making big tackles than in the first half.
Because they no longer feared that their actions might result in a foul being called against them.
This led to Barcelona players playing increasingly smoothly.
In the 62nd minute, Rivaldo and Guardiola worked together, drawing enough defenders, then delivered a clever pass to Xavi.
Xavi also had good vision, and although he had a fierce confrontation with Deng Kai, his offensive performance for Barcelona was notable as well.
Xavi sent a through ball that found its way into the penalty area.
Simon accelerated inside the penalty area but was marked by Pepe.
The two competed in the penalty area.
In the end, Pepe stretched out his leg in advance to clear the football beyond the goal line, executing a beautiful defense.
However, when Pepe made that move, Simon also stretched his leg trying to reach the ball.
Of course, Simon didn’t reach it, but he couldn’t adjust his movement and ended up being tripped by Pepe, both tumbling to the ground.
Those who have played football know that the key to determining whether it’s a successful defense or a penalty lies in whether Simon touched the ball.
If Simon, with long legs, had touched the ball first, it would have been a foul in the penalty area by Pepe, resulting in a penalty kick.
But Simon didn’t touch the ball, and he was half a beat behind Pepe in their race for position, with Pepe consistently having the edge.
Whistle!
Gandour blew the whistle, pointing to the penalty spot, indicating that Barcelona had won a penalty kick.
Forget Pepe, even Simon himself was somewhat baffled.
How could those who play football not know that wasn’t a penalty kick?
"No! This can’t possibly be a penalty!" Pepe furiously charged toward Gandour.
Gandour responded with a yellow card and dispersed an agitated Pepe.
Schmeichel rushed out to hold the emotionally charged Pepe.
Deboer came back with experience, using his hand to cover Pepe’s mouth and talked to him, diverting Pepe’s anger.
[PS: In the new year, I wish everyone only positive, with any negativity never returning! May students have smooth studies, pass every exam, pass even if they are "luo," and may their success rate in confessions increase +1+1+1... May workers find work pleasurable, not get penalized for tardiness, maintain full attendance, and have paid bathroom breaks every day!]
