The first tumor in football

Chapter 199 Snowstorm is Coming
The moment Messi received the ball, he felt as if his back was hit by a truck.

This made him tremble, and he had to pass the ball back to Iniesta immediately.

Just as Song Wen was about to smile, he saw the referee running towards him and blowing the whistle.

"foul!"

Facing the referee who ran up to him, Song Wen spread his hands in confusion.

He didn't do any unnecessary actions just now, he just touched Messi in the most normal way.

He even tried to hold back a bit!

This intensity of physical confrontation is normal even if it is not in the Premier League, but in any league.

"I didn't do anything foul."

Hearing Song Wen's words, the referee said unhappily:

"I don't need any explanation from you. My eyes are the ruler! You! Are breaking the rules!"

Looking at the arrogant look of the referee in front of him, Song Wen laughed out of anger.

He nodded and stopped arguing with the referee.

Although he knew that the penalty standards in La Liga were not so strict, the penalty standards of each referee were different after all.

Perhaps today's referee particularly dislikes seeing physical collisions.

But when Atletico Madrid seized the opportunity to counterattack in the seventh minute, Song Wen had just received the ball when Busquets unreasonably reached out and pushed him down from behind. Song Wen realized that things did not seem so simple.

Because in the face of such an obvious foul by Busquets, the referee did not make any comment and directly signaled that the game should continue.

Song Wen stood up and shouted:
"Hey! Didn't you see his obvious foul?"

The referee glanced at Song Wen and chose to ignore it.

Costa walked over and silently pulled Song Wen aside.

"No need to explain. This is Camp Nou, you don't know Barcelona..."

Costa did not continue.

But Song Wen knew what the Spaniard wanted to say.

As expected, it is the referee team Barcelona.

When Godin had just stretched out his hand and hadn't even touched Messi's clothes, the referee blew the whistle again. Simeone, who was standing on the sidelines and witnessed everything, silently clenched his fists.

He thought of the Champions League match just one year ago!
2017, April 4.

That Barca vs Juventus game at Camp Nou!

Simeone still remembers the smell of sulphur that permeated the Camp Nou stadium that day, just as it does now.

That was the smell of Barcelona's extreme fans burning Buffon's portrait.

The only difference is that now Barcelona fans are burning the portrait of Song Wen.

Simone's nails dug deep into his palms, and the taste of blood spread in his mouth.

The cold light from the LED screen on the sidelines shone on his dark face, making the scar extending from his brow bone to his chin look hideous and terrifying.

He will always remember the smell of disinfectant in the Camp Nou locker room on April 2017, 4 - as disgusting as the cologne wafting from the referee at this moment.

The rain that day washed over the red and blue of Catalonia like God's tears. As the entire Juventus team huddled in the player tunnel, Chiellini was bandaging his bleeding knee.

Buffon was humming Pavarotti's aria, until the moment he saw the referee Kuipers, the Italian goalkeeper's pupils suddenly contracted.

"Gentlemen," the Dutchman wiped the UEFA badge on his chest, "this is the temple of football, watch your movements."

Seven minutes into the game, Dybala dribbled into the penalty area and Pique's studs clearly dug into the Argentine's ankle.

But Kuipers signaled the game to continue, and the broadcast camera captured the arc of Messi's mouth - that smile appeared on Neymar's face twelve minutes later. When Alves fell to the ground with his face covered without any confrontation, the referee pointed to the penalty spot without hesitation.

“That’s not a foul at all!” Buffon pulled the referee’s armband and yelled, raindrops forming icicles on his gray beard, “Look at the big screen!”

In response, Kuipers reached into his pocket, and the yellow card shone coldly in the rain.

The audio engineers in the broadcast truck later admitted that they had to mute the referee's threat of "I'll make you see blood if you make any more noise."

When the scoreboard showed 0-1, orange flames rose from the south stand of Camp Nou - extreme fans were burning the No. 23 jersey with Buffon's name on it.

Thick smoke carrying toxic mist from burning plastic drifted toward the field, but Kuipers signaled that the game should continue.

"That was the dirtiest 45 minutes I have ever seen." Simeone looked at the scene on the field and muttered to himself: "They are even cheating with the air! I just hope that today won't be..."

He remembered that when Mandzukic equalized the score with a header in the second half, the broadcast camera suddenly switched to the Barcelona bench, and the team doctor was putting an asthma inhaler into Busquets' mouth.

But when Khedira used an inhaler for the same reason, Kuipers immediately showed him a yellow card for "delaying time".

"The right to breathe, what a wonderful privilege." Simeone sneered in his heart.

In the 68th minute, Juventus defender Bonucci encountered the darkest moment in his life - when he used a textbook tackle to block Messi's one-on-one opportunity, the whistle blown by Kuipers almost pierced the rain curtain.

"Red card! Penalty!" The Spanish commentator danced in the box.

Slow motion showed that Bonucci touched the ball first, but the referee turned a blind eye to it.

When Messi stepped onto the penalty spot for the second time, Buffon's save was deemed "premature movement" by the referee, even though replays showed his feet were always on the goal line.

When the score became 0-3, Chiellini tore off the captain's armband and threw it onto the grass.

The broadcast screen then switched to UEFA President Ceferin, who was smiling and stuffing a Barcelona scarf into the inner pocket of his custom-made suit.

The most ironic scene occurred in the 89th minute, when Dybala was knocked over by Umtiti in the Barcelona penalty area, but Kuipers showed three yellow cards to the protesting Juventus bench.

The broadcast subtitles displayed statistics at the right time: Juventus committed 18 fouls in this game, while Barcelona only committed 2 - and the actual number of physical contacts was 41 to 79.

When the final whistle sounded, Allegri stopped UEFA officials in the mixed interview area: "You stole the dignity of Italian football!"

His answer came from the front page of the next day's Mundo Deportivo - a huge portrait of Messi with the caption "Football God" and in the corner a photo of Bonucci with a clown nose photoshopped into him.

UEFA's Disciplinary Committee issued a fine of 25 euros to Juventus for "defaming the referee".

At this moment, Simeone watched Godin being warned again by the referee, and suddenly understood why Buffon choked up at the retirement press conference: "The grass under the Camp Nou is covered with referee bones, each of which is engraved with the Barcelona team logo.

The snow was getting heavier, but the Atletico coach knew that the weather was never the real dirty thing.

At this time, the ball once again came to Messi's feet.

This time, Song Wen did not choose to move forward and press again.

He knew that if he followed the referee's penalty standards, then defending Messi would definitely not be worth it. First of all, he did not have any special defensive abilities.

Before that, he wanted to rely more on physical confrontation to consume Messi's physical strength.

And use speed to put more pressure on Messi.

But now, according to the referee's criteria, I'm afraid it will be difficult for me to succeed.

Or it may not be possible at all.

It is already difficult to defend Messi without committing fouls, let alone directly refusing physical contact.

If we only talk about defensive ability, then Atletico Madrid's central defenders are obviously better than ours.

So Song Wen immediately changed his tactics.

Instead of putting yourself in a back position and doing useless work, it is better to stand ahead and look for opportunities.

After all, Barcelona's ability to defend against counterattacks is not outstanding.

But at this time, Barcelona fans immediately became excited when they saw Song Wen no longer guarding Messi.

[You're so scared of giving me a tumor? I ran farther than a rabbit. 】

[You defend, you continue to defend! ]

The boos from Camp Nou were like poisoned blades, cutting the air around Song Wen's ears.

The Catalan flag at the top of the stands fluttered in the cold wind, and under the flagpole hung a crooked banner with Chinese characters: "The sick man of East Asia should go back to the zoo."

[This yellow monkey finally got scared! ]

The bullet screen on the giant screen scrolled wildly, and an extreme fan wearing a baseball cap pointed his mobile phone camera at Song Wen:
[Look at his position! He is at least 20 meters away from Messi! ]

At this time, Messi was dribbling the ball from thirty meters away, but Song Wen seemed to be welded to the center circle, without even a symbolic interception.

【White Flag Boy! 】

The screen was filled with expressions of surrender.

【Atletico Madrid bought a sculpture that can breathe! 】

At 14 minutes and 37 seconds into the game, the snow removal equipment on the roof of Camp Nou roared, and the flying snowflakes were illuminated by the lumens of light, like millions of silver swords piercing the night sky.

Busquets took two light steps in the center circle, the snow under his feet made a slight groan, and the midfield master suddenly pushed out a 45-degree long pass with the inside of his right foot.

Dembele cut in from the right wing, and at the same time Saul slid sideways, creating a half-meter-high snow wave, but the French winger gently lifted the ball.

The cheers from the home team's stands, which had not yet erupted, were abruptly cut off, and people saw Messi receiving the ball with his back in the 30-meter area.

At 14 minutes and 49 seconds, Messi's left shoulder sank to an almost exaggerated degree. At the moment when Koke's center of gravity was deceived to the left, the Argentine's right foot pushed the ball to the right.

This change of direction that goes against ergonomics caused Griezmann's sliding tackle to rumble past like a snowplow, only tearing off the snow on the edge of the red and blue No. 10 jersey.

Atletico Madrid's defense quickly built a mobile wall in the blizzard.

Godin and Jimenez executed cross-positions with military precision, and the two human fortresses always maintained a perfect distance of 1.5 meters.

At 15 minutes and 03 seconds, the Argentine magician stopped suddenly at the corner of the penalty area, and the grooves scratched on the snow by his special spiked shoes were as deep as three centimeters.

Savage's nervous center of gravity shook in an instant, and this subtle flaw was accurately captured by Messi - the ball shot with the outside of his left foot fell rapidly covered with snowflakes, and Oblak flew away!

"boom!"

The Slovenian goalkeeper hit the ball to the left side of the penalty area with one hand, but perhaps because there was snow and water on the ball, it flew to the other side for some reason.

There was ice on Song Wen's eyelashes, and the cold wind from Camp Nou wrapped in scattered snow particles hit his face.

He watched Messi get the ball again ten meters away and easily get rid of Koke. The referee was standing three steps away chewing gum - the guy had already disallowed two reasonable steals by Atletico.

In this situation, Messi was like a fish in water and rushed straight into Atletico's penalty area!

When the ball, covered with snow and mud, rolled to Messi's feet, Godin's pupils suddenly contracted. The Uruguayan defender retreated half a step, which was an instinct he had developed in his ten years at Atletico Madrid - when facing Messi, leaving half a meter of reaction distance was the way to survive.

Messi pushed the ball lightly with the inside of his left foot, and the ball slid along the grass to Savage's right side.

The Bulgarian center back was about to stretch his legs when he found that the speed of the ball suddenly slowed down - the grass soaked in snow water created a subtle resistance.

With just a hair's breadth of difference, Messi's right foot pulled the ball back like lightning, and the fried meatball passed the first defender.

"Stop him!" Godin's roar was drowned out by the noise of Camp Nou.

Jimenez rushed out from the side, and the two formed a perfect 45-degree pincer attack.

Messi's response was cruel: he first lowered his left shoulder to create the illusion of breaking through to the right, but at the moment when Jimenez's center of gravity shifted, he used the outside of his right foot to poke the ball into the gap between the two.

Savage tumbled back, his studs plowing four deep furrows in the turf.

Messi suddenly slowed down at this moment, and this counterintuitive stop made the Bulgarian slide three meters away. Amid the cheers from the south stand of Camp Nou, the Argentine flicked the ball with his left foot, and the ball drew a parabola over Lodi who was flying in the tackle.

Oblak left the goal and the Slovenian goalkeeper's save angle blocked nearly 90% of the shooting routes.

Messi made three subtle adjustments the moment he touched the ball:

Song Wen, who was standing far away, squinted his eyes and through the falling snow, he could clearly see that Mei Xi's ankle was bent inward 15 degrees, which was to make the ball rotate inward.

Then the place that touched the ball changed from the instep to the toes. At the moment of the final shot, Song Wen saw Messi's eyes looking towards the far corner.

The ball cut through the snow like a scalpel and passed through the five-centimeter gap under Oblak's armpit.

As the net shook violently, Godin's studs were only ten centimeters away from Messi's ankle - the Uruguayan couldn't control his strength and hit the goalpost with a dull thud.

"GOAL!!!"

Atletico Madrid's defenders turned around and looked at the ball in the net with regret on their faces.

They always felt that they only needed a little more to stop Messi from dribbling the ball.

But Messi can always have that little bit more!

"1:0!"

In the Douyin live broadcast room, Zhan Jun said:
"In the 15th minute of the game, Messi was like an empty space in Atletico's penalty area, dribbled past three players and helped Barcelona score the first goal!"

He was silent for a moment and shook his head.

"I have to say that Messi's goal was really amazing. Even as an opponent, I have to say that this might be the strength of the king of football. In fact, I haven't seen Messi play like this for a long time, maybe five years ago, maybe ten years ago. In Messi at this moment, I see that young Argentine boy."

(End of this chapter)