It's cheating, but Hazard

Chapter 32 The Great Substitution

In the 6th minute, Keita made a cross from the left bottom line.

Eto'o stopped the ball too far in the middle of the penalty area and was cleared by the defender.

Xavi shot with his right foot at the top of the penalty area, but the ball slipped past the goal.

In the 10th minute, Betis' defensive stalwart, Juanito, was injured and replaced by Lima.

In the 11th minute, Iniesta's cross from the left was headed out.

Alves volleyed with his right foot from outside the penalty area, but the ball hit the post and went wide.

17th minute, Betis corner kick.

Emana stood in the left corner area and looked up at the human wall.

Valdés stood uneasily on the goal line.

The referee blew his whistle.

Emana started running.

One step, two steps, three steps.

"boom--"

The ball flew through the air like an unextinguished cigarette butt, sparking sparks and burning a hole in the night sky.

Meli was at the front point, overpowering Busquets and jumping high.

"Snapped--"

The 'cigarette butt' was headed towards the goal by Meli.

Valdés seemed to be afraid of being burned by the "cigarette butt" and reacted a step slowly.

Then, the ball fell into the goal from Valdes' arm like a meteor.

Betis 1:0 Barcelona.

"Although Barcelona had more than 70% of the ball, their attack lacked efficiency and real threat."

"At present, Barcelona really cannot do without Charles, Henry and Messi."

"Although Charles played less time, his efficiency was amazing."

"Hleb has been unable to integrate into Barcelona's tactical system and has been unable to cooperate with his teammates. His dribbling is useless in front of the more flexible La Liga defenders."

"His off-ball running always fails to keep up with his teammates, and he cannot create enough width on the field, which in turn limits Alves's deep penetration."

"Similar to Hleb is Keita."

"Barcelona plays with three midfielders, with clear division of labor. Keita's offensive talent is limited, and it always makes people feel that he can't use his strength."

In the 22nd minute, Hleb passed the ball and Eto'o's shot from outside the box was saved by Ricardo.

In the 24th minute, Sergio Garcia made a 45-degree cross from the right, and Pique headed the ball from the center but it went over the top.

Mark Gonzalez scored with a low shot.

The unguarded Mark Gonzalez stopped the ball with his chest on the left side of the penalty area, then turned and shot.

Valdes fell to the ground to save the ball, but it was too far away and the ball still brushed past his fingertips and went into the goal.

Betis 2:0 Barcelona.

"Pique and Cáceres are not stable enough."

"They have talent and can make great tackles and interceptions. But obviously the most important statistic for a defender is not the number of great performances, but the number of stupid mistakes."

"Cáceres made a clearance error and gave the opponent a corner kick, which led to Barcelona losing the first point."

"I didn't expect that now it would be Pique's turn to head the ball over from the center."

In the 32nd minute, Xavi passed the ball straight, Iniesta made a cross from the left side of the penalty area, and Lima intercepted the ball before Eto'o at 6 yards. One minute later, Xavi passed the ball, Iniesta cut in from the left side of the penalty area, and shot with his right foot, but the ball was blocked by Meli.

"Barcelona's attack on the right side is almost paralyzed now, and they can only create threats through Iniesta's individual breakthroughs on the left."

Barcelona took a corner kick, but Pique elbowed Emana during the header and received a yellow card.

Then Emana's long shot went wide.

In the 37th minute, Abidal headed the ball towards the middle of the penalty area, and Emana volleyed the ball with his right foot in front of the penalty spot, but the shot went high.

In the 39th minute, Xavi passed the ball in a counterattack, and Keita's left-foot shot in front of the penalty area was saved by Ricardo.

In the 44th minute, Hleb passed the ball and Xavi's shot from outside the box went wide.

"Guardiola on the sidelines started to hold his head." "Affected by the FIFA virus, Guardiola had to make major adjustments to the starting lineup."

"But today Barca behaved like they were sleepwalking."

"Partnering with Pique and Cáceres, Keita as defensive midfielder, Hleb as right winger in place of Messi, and Alves who has no one to rotate with."

"These five players cost Barcelona a total of 5 million euros, an average of 8200 million euros per player."

"But now it seems that their combined strength is not as good as that of Charles, who is also a new player."

“At the same time, all of them are not as good as Real Betis’ midfield – Emana alone is outstanding.”

"You have to remember that Emana only cost Betis 700 million euros when he joined last summer."

"Pique and Cáceres each made a low-level mistake that directly led to the goal."

"Keita couldn't control the ball, couldn't win it."

"Hleb has been hiding from the TV cameras."

"Even Alves, who had been performing well before, has fallen into a slump."

"If Barcelona wants to win now, they can only hope that Guardiola will replace Charles and Messi."

In the second minute of stoppage time in the first half.

Iniesta passed three players on the left and entered the penalty area.

After being broken through, Juande knocked Iniesta down directly.

Referee Iturralde awarded a penalty.

Emana received a yellow card for protesting the decision.

Betis replaced the injured Lima with Monzon. Eto'o's penalty was saved by Ricardo, and the cheetah immediately made a follow-up shot to score.

Betis 2:1 Barcelona.

……

Soon, the referee blew the half-time whistle.

Charles waited for Guardiola to hug his players one by one before walking into the locker room.

Guardiola did not get angry at the sleepwalking performance of the five new players in the first half, nor did he intend to make substitutions in the second half.

As a water-drinking-cooler striker, Charles is well versed in reading the atmosphere.

Guardiola is not angry yet, but the team has already started to prepare to share the blame.

Xavi, Iniesta, Eto'o...it must be a non-stick pan.

Charles glanced at Pique quickly and then looked away.

Sometimes he had to admit that Jacques was right, and with his IQ he might not be able to beat Pique.

Judging from this game, if we lose, Hleb will definitely be blamed.

And it will be the biggest and darkest.

The fifteen-minute halftime break ended quickly.

Neither side made any substitutions at the start of the second half.

In the 48th minute, Pique cleared the ball not far away, Monzon stopped the ball in front of the penalty area and his long-range shot with his left foot was blocked by the defender.

In the 51st minute, Barcelona missed a good opportunity to equalize.

Alves passed the ball, Eto'o dribbled past the opponent with his heel, and then shot low with his right foot, which went wide of the left post.

In the 52nd minute, Xavi took a corner kick from the right side and Pique headed the ball from the center of the penalty area but missed.

One minute later, Oliveira passed the ball with his chest, the ball hit Pique's head and changed direction, Emana shot with the outside of his right foot on the left side of the penalty area, and Valdes rushed out to save the ball.

……

While Charles and Messi were still chatting on the bench, Vilanova finally came over and said, "Charles, Messi, get up and warm up."

"Guardiola still chose to follow the will of the people and did not continue to put Charles and Messi on the bench as mascots."

"In the 60th minute of the game, Barcelona made a substitution, with Messi and Charles replacing Hleb and Keita respectively."

感谢“书友20220725213919224”*4、“中点”*3、“书友20221110033815436”、“Tao Tao”*3、“浅水湾唲”*3、“云小天”*4、“天音十二律”*2、“一刀飞仙”*3、“乘筏浮海”*6、“力量之主”*4、“输液的医生只是为了龟根吗”*2、"我是一只大虫"的推荐票。



(End of this chapter)