In the 31st minute, Deco launched an attack, picking out Eto'o as he dropped deep to receive the ball.
Normally, when defending against a forward who drops back, you stay tight behind him to disrupt his movement—just like Márquez did earlier against Su Hang.
But Diarra and Kompany didn't dare defend Eto'o that way.
Eto'o was extremely agile, with explosive acceleration and lightning-quick turns.
If they stepped in too close, a single turn would see them beaten instantly.
So they could only give him space.
That was precisely why Eto'o—despite being under 1.8 meters tall—could still function as a pivot striker.
This was known as a mobile pivot, completely different from Su Hang's style, which relied on strength and height to play as a physical target man.
Su Hang's approach was far more stable.
Eto'o's, on the other hand, would completely break down against small, quick defenders. Once his pivot role disappeared, the team's entire attacking structure would collapse.
Real Madrid used to have defenders like that—Cannavaro was the textbook example.
Unfortunately, he couldn't play in this match.
The aging Helguera, meanwhile, was utterly incapable of containing Eto'o.
Bang!
Eto'o laid the ball back to Xavi.
Xavi slipped a through pass to Messi.
Messi took it in stride, smoothly controlling and beating Raúl Bravo before cutting into the box, clean through on goal.
Casillas adjusted his position, bracing himself.
Messi originally intended to curl a left-footed shot into the far corner.
As a left-footed player, he was extremely confident in his shooting. He could even place this shot right into the top corner—virtually a guaranteed goal.
But in the next instant, his body tensed.
He remembered what had just happened—how his long shooting wind-up had allowed Su Hang to slide in and steal the ball.
Immediately, Messi changed his plan.
He swung his left foot again and chose to shoot at the near post instead.
That way, he could get the shot off faster.
The ball would travel straight toward goal, rather than arcing across the box before bending into the far corner.
That second option was far easier to disrupt.
And who might disrupt it?
The answer was obvious.
Messi was worried Su Hang might suddenly appear on his left and ruin everything.
But fate had a sense of irony.
Casillas had already committed, judging that Messi would go for the far corner. When Messi suddenly shot near post, Casillas had no time to react.
The ball slipped past him cleanly, flying toward the near post.
Then—
Clang!
It smashed into the post and bounced out for a goal kick.
"Oh! What a shame!"
"Messi has already wasted two golden chances today!"
"The first time he stood still waiting for the ball. The second time he rushed the shot at the near post, prioritizing speed but losing accuracy."
"His dribbling is exquisite, very reminiscent of Ronaldinho—but why is his finishing so rough?"
"If he'd curled that shot to the far post, it probably would've gone in."
"There wasn't a single defender within two meters of him. Why was he in such a hurry to shoot near post?"
Only after watching the replay on the big screen did Messi realize—
Su Hang hadn't been on his left at all.
It was a shadow.
A shadow born from the fear that Su Hang might suddenly appear from his left side and disrupt him again.
A fear created by that first, brutally unexpected tackle.
In the 37th minute, Real Madrid launched a counterattack.
Helguera sent a long ball straight over midfield, finding Su Hang.
Su Hang brought it down, drifted out to the left, then played a sweeping diagonal pass to Raúl on the right.
Raúl took the ball, feinted a pass toward Beckham on the wing, then turned inside, beat Márquez, and unleashed a long-range shot.
Clang!
The Camp Nou goalposts showed no favoritism.
After denying Messi earlier, they now denied Raúl as well.
Only then did Barcelona's fans finally let out a breath of relief.
Derek Rae commented:
"What a pity. If Raúl had scored that, the pressure on Real Madrid would've eased significantly."
"Don't be fooled by the 2–1 scoreline. In terms of the overall situation, Barcelona hold a clear advantage."
"Real Madrid can only create chances through counterattacks."
"Barcelona are threatening on both flanks, but Real Madrid can only rely on Su Hang to generate danger. If this continues, Barcelona will eventually equalize."
"The midfield gap is obvious—not only can they not supply Su Hang with service, Su Hang actually has to drop back to help with build-up and defense."
"It's really hard to imagine where Real Madrid will find a midfield conductor after Zidane's retirement."
In the 38th minute, Ronaldinho received the ball centrally and dribbled toward the right half-space.
After drawing a double team, he laid it off to Messi and made a forward run.
Diarra was shaken off instantly, but he recovered and moved to block the passing lane between Messi and Ronaldinho.
But Messi played with real intelligence.
Instead of immediately playing a one-two with Ronaldinho, he dribbled laterally, moving into the space Ronaldinho had just vacated.
With Ronaldinho gone, that area was suddenly wide open.
From there, Messi could either shoot from distance himself or slip a pass to Deco overlapping on the left.
Either option was dangerous.
Real Madrid's defensive line became slightly disorganized.
Bang!
Messi seized the moment and threaded a forward through ball to Ronaldinho.
The ball sailed cleanly past Diarra.
Ronaldinho collected it deep on the right side of the box and swept a low ball across the face of goal, completely bypassing Casillas.
Eto'o and Beckham were both arriving at the far post.
Eto'o slid in to finish, taking Beckham down in the process.
But the collision threw him off balance. Although he got a touch, the ball went wide and out of play.
Real Madrid players immediately rushed toward Eto'o.
Beckham rolled on the ground in visible pain.
The referee stepped in at once to stop things from escalating.
Real Madrid's medical staff came on to treat Beckham.
Fortunately, the tackle only looked dangerous. Beckham wasn't injured and was able to continue.
Eto'o was shown a yellow card.
It was the kind of challenge that could easily have been a red.
In the 40th minute, Barcelona continued their relentless assault.
Eto'o drove forward down the left with a series of feints, pushing all the way to the left edge of the penalty area.
During this stretch, Sergio Ramos was being battered repeatedly by Ronaldinho and Eto'o.
The key problem was that their styles couldn't be more different.
Ronaldinho's dribbling was deceptive, with exaggerated movements and feints.
Eto'o's runs relied almost entirely on raw speed and physical force.
Caught between these two extremes, the young Sergio Ramos finally collapsed.
While defending Eto'o, he instinctively used the habits he'd developed against Ronaldinho—expecting a big change of direction.
He shifted his center of gravity early to react.
And promptly slipped, falling flat right in front of Eto'o.
Eto'o was stunned.
That was it?
This was La Liga's top young defender?
Way too weak!
Bang!
Eto'o cut inside, drew Casillas off his line, and squared the ball across goal.
Ronaldinho stormed into the box, creating a two-on-one situation, and calmly slotted the ball home.
Camp Nou exploded.
"GOAL!"
"King! This—this is what a real king looks like!"
"Ronaldinho!"
"He's no worse than Su Hang!"
"What Su Hang can do, Ronaldinho can do as well! But what Ronaldinho can do—Su Hang can't!"
"Two–two! Ronaldinho brings Barcelona level!"
"Su Hang, give back the Ballon d'Or you stole from Ronaldinho! He's the best player in the world over the past year!"
The Barcelona stadium announcer led the crowd in a furious chorus of condemnation aimed at Su Hang.
...
(Full Series)
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