Chapter 492: Chapter 492

Looking at Huang Kaiwen’s form today, he knew it was going to be a tough battle.

Rijkaard didn’t plan to change the offensive strategy, but he also wanted to limit Huang Kaiwen.

Rijkaard put the beads back into his pocket and turned to ask his assistant coach, "Are those guys from Thailand reliable?"

The assistant coach shook his head and said, "But from what I’ve seen in movies, they’re pretty impressive."

"If the bald ones are no good, let’s try those with hair."

In his plans, he hadn’t anticipated confronting a healthy Huang Kaiwen.

He had never thought of any way to handle Huang Kaiwen; he had done everything he could before, and now he could only continue to try things off the field.

"Alright, I’ll call them and ask what they need."

The assistant nodded.

These people were brought in by Barça along with the bald ones, incidentally tapping into the Asian market.

He hadn’t expected to actually need them now.

While the two talked, Barça launched another attack on the field.

Max passed the ball to Iniesta on the left, who advanced with the ball down the left flank. Reaching the penalty area, Iniesta sent a through ball; Diarra stretched out his foot to block it, and Eto’o, who received the ball by turning his body, couldn’t stop it, and the ball flew to the front of the penalty area.

With his back to Salgado, Ronaldo quickly passed it back to Eto’o, who had fallen to the ground. Diarra once more stretched out his foot to poke the ball. Deco, standing in the middle, rushed forward to stop the ball. Eto’o, reaching the ball on the edge, smoothly passed it to the right where Messi, unguarded, took control of the ball, forming a clear chance. Messi advanced with the ball to the small penalty area and, as Casillas fell to the ground to defend, Messi pushed the ball with his left foot into the far corner of the goal.

"Young Messi scores his first goal in the national derby."

"After scoring, he ran towards the camera and showed the white T-shirt underneath, which read in Spanish, haha, Eto’o and Ronaldo, along with a few other older brothers, went over to celebrate together."

"Yes, young Messi’s performance today truly has been outstanding, and the message on his shirt must be ’God cheers for me.’ The young player’s performance seems indeed to be godsent. Today, Barça created several opportunities on the right, and Real Madrid’s defense still missed covering the right flank, a mistake that shouldn’t happen."

"As we mentioned earlier, Barcelona’s flexibility in positioning is evident. If you look at several of the attacks, Eto’o appeared on the left, right, and middle, and Iniesta’s position was also very flexible. The formation map shows Deco on the left, but during this attack, he had already rushed to the front of the penalty area, haha, ah, ah, with such a flexible attacking combination, you can’t treat them like any ordinary team. If Real Madrid wants to concede fewer goals today, one thing is to strengthen the defense on the right side, focusing on young Messi, and also they must handle their respective areas well, not chasing after the ball. Barça passes so quickly that chasing the ball will pull them out of position."

"True, the key to defending against Barça is that everyone must perform their defensive roles well. Right now, Real Madrid’s defensive line also has some issues; they’re not managing to defend one-on-one against the opposition, especially young Torres. Barça’s several attacks on the right side haven’t seen much contribution from him."

Messi celebrated and then ran back to midfield to wait for the ball.

He stood up tall and proud as he looked at Huang Kaiwen.

Huang Kaiwen smiled and said, "Nice goal, you’ll be even better in the future."

Actually, that goal didn’t really showcase Messi’s capabilities; it was primarily just a shot, nowhere near the thrill of peak Messi taking a pass from a teammate, dribbling past several players, then scoring on his own.

But he was still a brother of Yellow Ball King and also Kevin’s tea brand ambassador, so Huang Kaiwen felt he should give Messi more encouragement.

Upon hearing Huang Kaiwen’s words, Messi’s face broke into a brilliant smile.

Ronaldo was the senior of the first team, and Huang Kaiwen was his goal and good friend.

Now, receiving approval from both, Messi was overjoyed.

Real Madrid restarted play, and Messi, with his medium-length hair, quickly charged at Huang Kaiwen.

Not paying attention while passing, Diarra was intercepted by Messi, who pressured Huang Kaiwen with the ball from the center, advancing under the defense of Guti, De Jong, and Diarra. With his left foot, he sent a through pass that slid past Ramos and found Eto’o in the penalty area.

Eto’o’s shot from the left side of the small penalty area was blocked by Casillas out of the line.

"It’s exactly what you fear, Real Madrid’s defense line isn’t showing much today."

"Haha, they just lost focus on the right side, and now, if not for Casillas’ quick reaction, Real Madrid would have conceded another goal. Barça now has the first corner of the first half, let’s see this time."

Deco, after a running start, played the ball towards the near post, where Ramos and El Guerra in front of Eto’o headed the ball out of the penalty area.

Guti took control of the ball and instantly turned, hooking his left foot under the ball.

Bang—his long pass accurately flew towards Cassano in front.

Oleg, who had stayed back in defense, rapidly sprinted toward the landing spot and jumped up with Cassano, using his height advantage to head the ball beyond Cassano.

The two scrambled towards the ball without picking up speed.

Nearby Barça fans furiously cursed Cassano from the stands.

As Max returned to defend, with a flick of his foot, he turned and burst forward with the ball, encountering pressure and passing it to Deco on the left.

The Real Madrid counterattack hadn’t even started, and Deco was surrounded by up to four defensive players.

Deco attempted to lift the ball over Diarra in front, but Diarra blocked it with his foot, and the ball returned to Deco’s feet. This time, Deco quickly pulled the ball with his left foot, ran from the left to the middle, avoided De Jong’s sliding tackle, continued running forward with the ball, and upon reaching the front of the big penalty area, he played a cross to Eto’o from before Diarra’s eyes.