Chapter 490: Chapter 490

Laporta watched Calderon celebrate without expression, his face so dark it seemed like it could drip with ink.

He already regretted agreeing to Calderon’s request to sit together in the stands to watch the game.

Laporta thought that with Huang Kaiwen injured, sitting in the stands could show Barça fans what an outstanding club president he was.

Now that Huang Kaiwen was playing and Real Madrid had scored, Laporta felt like a clown.

After his excitement, Calderon said pretentiously, "Johan, don’t panic, Barça has many excellent players, maybe Ronnie or Messi will score in a while."

With a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, Laporta asked, "Would you trade Kevin for Ronnie and Messi?"

Calderon almost choked on his saliva and quickly said, "We still have to consider the player’s wishes."

He’d have to be sick in the head to agree.

Just having Huang Kaiwen on the home stands to heat up water would bring in a significant income for Real Madrid, perhaps even more than what he could earn playing.

If not for the fear of exposure, Calderon would have wanted to offer opponents third-party bonuses to keep Huang Kaiwen up in the stands as much as possible.

As long as Huang Kaiwen could play in a few key matches each season, being involved in more commercial activities, Real Madrid could reap many benefits, and of course, he could get a little something too.

The two chatted sporadically.

Essentially, both were trying to show off to the other, and Laporta just hadn’t expected Huang Kaiwen to be able to play.

Before The Sun newspaper leaked that Li Changlong might not play, Laporta had already been giving it the cold shoulder.

He and Rijkaard hadn’t mentioned that name in a long time.

Today, Li Changlong wasn’t included in the big roster either.

Laporta never thought this secret could be kept forever.

Afterward, he planned to expose that kid even less, reducing the negative impact of the matter as much as possible; when the contract was up, he would not renew it and let the person get lost.

Thinking about this, Laporta felt his teeth itch with hatred.

That detestable woman had always misled him, saying if he signed Li, he could sign Huang Kai.

Laporta, in a moment of folly, had been eager to sign Huang Kai and had been duped.

Laporta saw this incident as a tremendous humiliation.

Watching Huang Kaiwen celebrating with his teammates, Laporta felt like an idiot who had helped increase summer wages; Huang Kaiwen landed a high salary, Real Madrid won both commercially and competitively, and Calderon got quite a few benefits, making him the butt of the joke!

Like Calderon said, now he could only look forward to Ronaldo and Messi making an impact.

On the field, Barcelona restarted play with a pass back.

The key players of the Dream Team began to show their prowess.

Their powerful midfield control was what gave Rijkaard the confidence to use a 343 formation.

Deco received the ball on the left and was immediately under pressure, quickly passing it sideways to Iniesta.

Barça’s midfield setup appeared to be a flat structure, but in reality, their positioning was very flexible.

After the Real Madrid player pressed, Barça’s four midfielders began to form three dimensions.

Max held back, Iniesta moved forward, and Deco and Xavi went left and right, creating an irregular diamond in midfield.

De Jong rushed towards Xavi, as Ramos had already distributed photos for them to remember the Barça players. Today, when attacking, he was responsible for Puyol; when not pushing forward, he had Xavi in his sights.

Being at Real Madrid for over a month, he had already figured out the team’s survival rules.

Even without the gratitude for Huang Kaiwen and the coach’s suggestion to sign him, fighting for the number ten jersey was also a team credo. De Jong thought that if he could tackle the foul-committed Xavi today, he would definitely secure his place in the team after his suspension ended.

Having thought it through, De Jong didn’t immediately go for a dirty tackle.

As one of the highly educated among the players, De Jong had a clear mind.

Noticing that Xavi held the ball for too long and dribbled slowly, he rushed towards Iniesta instead.

After Iniesta was pressured by De Jong and Guti, he quickly passed back to Xavi on the right.

De Jong ran after the ball again, heading from the center forward, not rushing to press but prepared for Xavi’s passing route.

Xavi wanted to pass to Messi, but Huang Kaiwen noticed and immediately turned to stick close to Messi.

When De Jong reached Xavi’s side, he was ready to take him down.

Xavi, dribbling, suddenly pulled the ball with his right foot, making small circles on the spot, and after one rotation, successfully shook off De Jong by two steps, then directly passed the ball back to Iniesta.

De Jong was too slow with his foot, missed the ball, and ended up stabbing Xavi’s ankle instead.

The referee, seeing Barcelona with the ball, put the whistle to his mouth but didn’t blow it.

Iniesta, after receiving, played a quick pass back to Deco, who angled a long pass to the flanking Eto’o.

Eto’o sent the ball through the middle of Raul and Guti to Ronaldo.

Ronaldo, with his back to goal, used his left foot to shield the ball. While turning, his right foot caught the side of the bouncing ball, skillfully evaded Diarra’s foot to complete the turn, and after a couple of lateral dribbles, Ronaldo made a lofted pass in front of Ramos.

Messi, racing from the right, caught up with the ball. Unfortunately, Ronaldo’s pass was too long, and Messi chased it out of the penalty area.

The fouling De Jong was warned by the referee.

"Wow, Barça’s attack is really beautiful!"

"Indeed, this time the midfielders constantly switched play. Eto’o moved wide and passed to Ronaldo, who then distributed the ball from the center to the right. Barcelona’s play this time shifted the direction of attack and stretched Real Madrid’s formation. Although the last pass was too strong, they still gave a warning to Real Madrid; they can’t just chase the ball."

Raul shook his head, "Not so easy to play against."

As a top professional, he felt the strength of Barcelona in that attack.

"Whether it’s easy or not, we still have to play!"