CHAPTER 152: CHAPTER 51: BIG TROUBLE

Camp Nou

All the Barcelona fans stood up, their eyes burning as they looked at number 27, Bojan.

This La Masia prodigy, considered one of the most outstanding talents of the ’90 generation, seemed to have Messi’s spirit within him at this moment. He precisely found a gap in the Real Madrid lineup, slipped through it, and bypassed Cannavaro.

One-on-one with the keeper.

Iker Casillas Fernandez!

Bojan faced Casillas without a hint of hesitation, executing a delicate chip aimed at the far corner.

Casillas was completely deceived.

Just when everyone thought it was a done deal, and Bojan was about to raise his arms to celebrate, basking in the cheers that Messi once enjoyed at Camp Nou, Casillas’ restless toe nudged the bottom of the ball.

The ball scraped past the side of the post.

"Saint Casillas!"

"Saint Casillas!!!"

"A perfect save."

"Even after being tricked by Bojan."

"Relying on his outstanding awareness, Casillas used his toe to deflect the ball."

"Who could have expected that?"

"Who could!"

At Camp Nou, Barcelona fans were full of disbelief; they couldn’t believe Casillas managed to save that ball.

Even Rijkaard couldn’t help but make a sound of frustration.

Meanwhile, Schuster laughed out loud; one of Capello’s major faults last season was not trusting Casillas, believing Casillas couldn’t protect Real Madrid’s goal.

Yet Schuster supported Casillas firmly, and Casillas’ excellent display at the goal was, in another sense, his triumph.

Bojan’s long hair fell on his cheeks, his heart pounding; he couldn’t believe what he had seen.

This missed shot dealt a huge blow to Barcelona; if such a shot couldn’t breach Real Madrid’s goal, what more could they do?????

Eto’o glanced at Bojan, muttering under his breath, casting a resentful look at Chen Zhong, and an even more displeased one at Bojan.

In this match, Barcelona lacked control over the field’s circumstances, making it hard to create effective offensives, and Eto’o naturally became the sacrificial lamb on the attack front. He mostly appeared in the midfield and forward scrambles, attracting the opponent’s players’ attention to create space for his teammates.

Especially after Bojan came on, Eto’o was even farther from the goal.

But Bojan missed the shot.

If it had been me in that position, the ball definitely would have gone in.

"Real Madrid is playing quite comfortably in this match."

"But Raul and Van Nistelrooy seem a bit out of form."

"They always fall just short of getting the ball in."

"We can see Rijkaard and the assistant coach discussing tactics at the sidelines."

"But clearly, they don’t have any good solutions."

"When Puyol was substituted, Rijkaard didn’t take the chance to remove a defensive player for an attacking one to increase the team’s impact."

"Instead, he brought on Zambrotta."

"Zambrotta had little effect after coming on."

"Rijkaard’s conservative substitution strategy may draw criticism from the Catalonia media after the match."

"It’s worth noting that there are still offensive players like Messi, Gudjohnsen, Henry on Barcelona’s bench."

"Bojan replaced Xavi, and aside from creating an excellent opportunity at the start."

"It only made Barcelona’s offensive organization more chaotic."

"Barcelona now resembles a scattered sandpile; their offense is just solo efforts."

"Maybe Rijkaard is waiting for a hero to step up, but clearly, no such hero has emerged."

"Recently, there has been news that Barcelona wants to invite Mourinho to be the team’s new coach."

"If it were Mourinho, he might have brought on attacking players early on."

As the match time dwindled, Barcelona grew more anxious, yet Real Madrid’s midfield continued to operate methodically because they had a universal formula.

That was to give the ball to Chen Zhong, then let Chen Zhong play it out.

And trying to limit Chen Zhong was a tall order because around Chen Zhong were nearly seven players: two center-backs, two side-backs, and the midfielders and forwards in front and to the side.

An omnipresent inverted triangle strategy unless Barcelona brought two or three players at once to surround Chen Zhong; otherwise, they had no way to deal with him.

Among them, Eto’o found this the most exasperating. In one scene, he was seen rushing toward Chen Zhong, who then passed the ball to the side to Marcelo. Marcelo, Pepe, and Chen Zhong formed a triangle, waiting for Eto’o to approach before passing it again, leading Eto’o around.

Eto’o was even seen jumping in frustration and flailing his arms while muttering to himself.

The match ended with a score of 0:1.

Real Madrid ended Barcelona’s 34-match home unbeaten streak on the road.

In the last moments, Bojan carved out a chance for Barcelona, but before he could enter the penalty area, Chen Zhong came from the side and pushed him out.

This was their first encounter since the youth Champions League, but this time, the once-tentative Bojan could now look Chen Zhong in the eye.