Chapter 457: Power of Faith (Everyday Transition)

Time passed.

Valverde indeed became pragmatic.

He absorbed the painful lesson from the first leg.

He set up a low, compact defensive shape, refined the details of positional defense, and tenaciously withstood Chelsea's onslaught.

"Barcelona are playing very patiently."

"Due to aging in midfield and various factors of the old‑new transition, they've been forced to give up their beloved possession game."

"Even after spending four hundred million euros over two summer windows, can they still not solve the old‑new transition problem?"

"Getting back to the match, Valverde's tactical ability to handle pressure is still high—he's a good coach."

The two commentators were filled with mixed emotions.

Thinking back, how glorious the European‑champion Red‑and‑Blue Army once was.

25th minute of the match.

Li Kang surged forward to the left side of Barcelona's penalty area.

His steps almost synced with Fàbregas's through ball.

He arrived.

The ball arrived too.

He cut into the box.

"Roberto and Piqué reacted quickly."

"They blocked the opponent's path for advancing laterally inside the box."

"Rakitic also came over to help defend!"

"Li Kang carried the ball a few steps toward the arc, but had no shooting angle and was about to be forced out of the penalty area."

From God's perspective, Azpilicueta appeared on the outside of the left side of the penalty area.

At that moment Li Kang turned sideways, facing the goal.

He tapped the ball with his heel.

The ball shot along the ground toward the left byline.

Azpilicueta kicked a cross.

Thud!

The ball spun and spun, arcing toward Barcelona's penalty area!

Morata and Diego Costa leapt up together!

"Double Ghost Striking the Door!"

"They didn't get a touch at the near post."

"At the far post, what a gorgeous sight!"

Stamford Bridge, the crowd erupted again.

Barcelona didn't give up.

The mature Umtiti blocked the angle for Diego Costa's header shot!

Smack!

Chelsea's reliable striker opted for a lay‑off!

The ball fell toward the left side of the goal.

Hazard slid in and shot from the ground.

Open goal!

Too bad his legs are too short...

He can't reach it!

Ter Stegen rushed down, securely gathering the ball.

The stand behind the goal first let out a sigh of regret.

"How lucky!"

"Barcelona escaped danger."

"Hazard was just a whisker away from finishing the shot."

"One only regrets short legs when they're needed."

Hazard, frustrated, lightly punched the turf; Piqué propped him up by the armpit and lifted him.

Ter Stegen held the ball, about to launch a quick restart, when he suddenly stopped, waved his right hand, and directed the attackers' positioning.

-【Chelsea truly luxurious, fielding two different types of top‑class strikers at once, their positional threat is immense.】

-【Double Ghost Striking the Door.】

-【Perhaps because the Li Kang–Kanté–Fàbregas combination can do the work of four midfielders, Tuchel let Diego Costa and Morata start together.】

-【Barcelona have improved; Valverde has done a decent job this half‑season. Come on, we still have a chance to level the score!】

"Messi's beard is so long—why doesn't he shave it?"

"He's looking more and more like a gold miner."

"Let's see Barcelona's attack this time!"

"With Messi as the pivot, the Red‑and‑Blue Army's formation shifted into a narrow 3‑4‑3 as they advanced."

"Alba moved forward."

"Rakitic got up front and pressed both of Chelsea's centre‑backs!"

"Suárez went wide!"

Messi's passing organization is simply like having God's perspective!

The passing route is too reasonable!

Single-core leading the team!

Xavi-style progression!

In the thirty-meter area, Messi receives a teammate's pass again, starts moving to the right flank! Accelerate!

Barcelona's attack has sped up.

Valverde's expression began to get excited; after holding out so long in the first half, he could finally use the sudden formation change to complete the advance.

Chelsea players easily completed their defensive positioning.

Kante, David Luiz, and William simultaneously double-teamed Messi.

They did not rush in recklessly, but instead constructed a narrow space.

Messi slowed his speed.

He touched the ball with the instep.

His upper body remained vertical.

Then a fierce shoulder dip!

The Chelsea trio seemed electrified — their minds kept up, but their bodies couldn't!

An astonishing scene came into being.

They did not wait for the peak step frequency of the world's two-footed ball king.

With a sharp "pop" sound.

The ball's trajectory was like a tiny toothpick, slipping through the gaps between people.

Exquisitely perfect!

Messi in midfield is simply an artist!

Yinniesita!

After Messi passed the ball, he accelerated toward the central channel.

The close-range audio equipment again transmitted a sharp "pop" sound.

Yinniesita didn't get entangled with Fabregas, and struck the ball with one touch!

The ball lightly flew toward the top of the arc of Chelsea's penalty area.

Rakitic in a striker's formation had already leaned back against Cahill.

Li Kang did not provide cover, quickly retreated to defend the penalty area, making up for the gap left by David Luiz.

Cannot provide cover.

Barcelona's attack now uses Rakitic as its axis.

The left flank features a beefed-up version of Suarez and Dembele.

The right flank is Messi.

Three finishing directions.

Still a one-touch pass.

Three passes, two exchanges!

Rakitic passed the ball to Messi on the right flank!

Here it comes!

Can they equalize the score?

After receiving the ball, Messi surged into the right side of the penalty area.

The ball seemed to stick to his feet.

Facing the blue mass of bodies in Chelsea's penalty area.

He lowered his center of gravity.

His body leaned forward.

Another shoulder dip.

He pushed his step frequency to the limit.

If we say that the midfield Messi a few months ago was half a step into the ball king realm, then tonight's Messi is the historical peak of an attacking midfielder.

Attacking combination.

Starting to coordinate.

Charging alone into the dragon's den.

One person turned the blue army's positions upside down.

One person broke through the entire defense.

A heavenly deity descended to the mortal world.

Stamford Bridge, waves of exclamations like thunder before a heavy rain.

He's past!

Messi is past!

He's past again!

Messi!

Messi!

Buffon is very calm.

He quickly adjusted his defensive position with small steps.

As Barcelona's finisher shifts position, he constantly makes anticipatory adjustments.

He is about to face the toughest test since joining Chelsea.

Too bad.

His mind keeps up.

His body can't keep up.

Messi has already dribbled to the bottom of the goalpost.

Buffon feels somewhat overmatched, never keeping up with the opponent's rhythm, and doesn't have time to adjust to the best defensive position.

Where is he?

All of Chelsea's teammates building the wall defense were blown away by this kid Messi!

Despair.

The icy despair completely shrouds the Italian youngster.

Suddenly.

A tall figure blocks his front.

Like a beam of light.

Perhaps this moment is eternity.

Chelsea number 10 versus Barcelona number 10.

The breeze by the Stamford Bridge riverbank lifts their clothes.

Boom!

"Oh no!"

"No time to see what happened."

"Li Kang and Messi fell at the same time!"

"The referee's call is... a corner kick!"

"From the slow-motion replay, there's no problem!"

Messi glumly punched the turf twice.

He got up and helped Li Kang to his feet.

Then he smoothed his hair, walked toward the corner flag area, went halfway, suddenly bent over, and kept retching.

Buffon grabbed Chelsea's core's face and sucked loudly...

Li Kang quickly dodged and wiped his face.

At this moment he only felt his mind empty.

In his vision, Nesta's phantom stood proudly, angrily roaring,

but the frenzy spreading out was dejection and loss.

Other legendary phantoms shattered one by one, turning into specks of starlight that merged into Li Kang's body.

The London Six Divine Beasts weakly crawled at his feet, their cartoonish phantasms gradually drifting away with the wind.

-【King vs King!】

-【Destroying-type Midfielder vs Attacking-type Midfielder.】

-【Messi's shot was blocked, Li Kang cleared for a corner—who actually won?】

-【Nobody won, nobody lost.】

-【Messi's stamina can't sustain this high-intensity play; he'll soon switch to walking mode.】

-【Li Mingdeng's stamina is also an issue; over these two seasons it's gotten higher, running all over the pitch, sprinting consumes more energy, Chelsea should learn from Real Madrid and let Li Mingdeng serve as a second-half core like Bale.】

-【To be honest, if Barcelona hadn't wasted their 400 million, Valverde would have succeeded Enrique two years earlier, and their Champions League record would surely be great.】

The Barcelona fans traveling with the team saw hope of equalizing the score.

"Messi!

"

"VamosBarca!

"

"ForcaBarca!

"

Valverde disregarded his image, yanked off his tie, and clapped vigorously.

Tuchel also couldn't resist wanting to give Messi and Li Kang a thumbs-up.

Dino put away his little notebook and couldn't help remarking:

"No matter how refined the tactic, it's hard to suppress a superstar's performance."

"The transformed Messi is too intimidating."

"Fortunately, Barcelona now has only one Messi."

"Even more fortunately, Chelsea has Li!"

Time passed second by second.

Both sides rebuilt.

The LED scoreboard in midair remained stuck at 1:0.

The Chelsea fans shouted in exhilaration: aside from that one time Messi descended like a god, Barcelona could no longer mount a decent attack, instead resembling a turtle shrinking into the penalty area under Chelsea's siege... if not for the crossbar and goalposts helping out, disaster would have already struck.

Beep! Beep-beep~

The referee blew the whistle for halftime.

Li Kang and his teammates left the field slowly amid the applause of the blue army fans.

Yinniesita's stamina is about exhausted... he can now only play high-intensity matches for around 65 minutes.

Even in high-intensity matches, Messi cannot launch many attacks.

Others cannot threaten our defense.

What limits this Barcelona team's potential is stamina.

As for any adjustments by Valverde, the law decides the match.

Fabregas' homesickness flared up; after muttering a lot, he tightly embraced his La Masia friends in the tunnel.

Buffon was unusually agitated; none of the trials he had faced over the past half-season were as perilous as tonight.

He and his teammates described Li Kang as a deity descending to the mortal world.

They kept calling him 'savior' and 'father'...

This drew loud laughter from everyone.

Chelsea locker room.

After Dino finished reviewing the first half's offensive and defensive details.

Tuchel began adjusting the resource allocation for the second half's 45 minutes.

Especially the stamina arrangements at different time points.

When to quicken the pace.

When to slow the pace.

In every match, Chelsea's head coach's deployment differs.

Alright, no need to worry about the opponent in the next Premier League round!

Second half, full firepower!

Li Kang lay on the massage chair as Morata and the masseuse helped him relax his leg muscles.

The system prompt sounded softly.

【You have gathered a large amount of the Power of Faith...】

Barcelona locker room.

We cannot be slaughtered by Chelsea again!

What we defend is not just a score line, but Barcelona's honor!

They are not frightening.

Coaching staff across Europe have already offered many suggestions on how to counter this Chelsea team.

What we seek is not merely to equalize the score.

Turn it around!

We want to overturn Chelsea!

Valverde's voice isn't very loud, but it's full of power.

This power stems from Messi's descent as a deity.

The Barcelona players' bodies shuddered, their blood boiling!

Messi sat quietly in his chair, lost in thought.

Hope...

Hope that tonight is the last time this season we clash with Chelsea.

The fifteen-minute break ended quickly.

Accompanied by deafening cheers.

Both sides' players returned to the pitch!

CCTV5! CTV5! Good evening, viewers, welcome back!

This is the live broadcast of the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League Group C final match.

The second half of the Chelsea versus Barcelona match!

The temporary score is 1:0.

Both head coaches have not yet made any substitution adjustments.

Beep!

Accompanied by the referee's whistle.

The match officially begins.

Chelsea in possession.

Diego Costa kicked off and passed the ball back to Li Kang.

An unstoppable blue storm began to gather.

Barcelona's formation steadily retreated.

After several passes, Li Kang had just crossed the midfield circle and received Kanté's pass.

Start sprinting!

Here it comes!

Chelsea overall speeds up!

Hey!

Rakitic grabbed Li Kang!

Interrupt the opponent's attacking rhythm.

In the slow-motion replay.

La Ji Di Qi grabbed Li Kang's waist with one hand.

The two stumbled and fell onto the grass.

The head referee blew the whistle.

Facing Ba Sa's super engineer, they issued a gentle verbal warning.

La Ji Di Qi helped Li Kang up, feeling embarrassed.

"Chelsea should take this opportunity to quickly take a free kick!"

"Huh?"

"What are you thinking?"

"The foul spot is 40 meters from the goal! Can you still shoot directly?"

Li Kang, forward.

He suddenly wanted to try.

David Luiz and William looked at each other... it's not impossible.

But with the opposing goalkeeper Te Er Shi Te Gen prepared, it's basically impossible to loft the ball into Barcelona's goal.

On the sidelines.

Dino wanted to say something.

Tu He Er waved their hand: "Listen to Li."

The assistant coach quickly echoed: "Boss, I think the same as you."

On the other side.

Ba Er Wei De frowned, muttering: "Chelsea is definitely wasting time."

Te Er Shi Te Gen and Ba Sa's defenders were a bit dazed.

Quickly set up a "dispersed, wide-spaced" wall.

Cannot be careless.

If Li Kang unleashes something like a "Ka Luo Si-style super cannon," we'll again become the background board in a classic.

Chelsea captain Ka Xi Er also signaled teammates to widen the gap.

"Don't interfere with Li's free kick!"

"No way!"

"Li Kang wouldn't really want to shoot from this position, right?"

"Ba Sa fans in front of the TV don't need to worry about the match time being delayed."

"This season, Ou Zu Lian is strongly advocating pure playing time!"

The commentator suddenly realized this remark was somewhat inappropriate.

Added extra time.

Ba Sa is also going to get beaten.

【Blue Angel (Legend Module) triggered.】

【All Power of Faith consumed!】

【Energy materializing...】

The night wind brushed against black hair and blue clothing.

In Li Kang's vision, a blue silhouette gradually condensed.

Lewokusen number 10.

Qia Er Han Ao Lu!

Bei lai yin, your king has returned!