Star card system.

Chapter 600: Give in, kill!

In this game, both sides played in a very chaotic manner.

Now the game has gone on for 30 minutes and there is still no goal.

At this moment, both sides seem to have lost their absolute offensive backbone, and they are all making ineffective passes and destruction in the midfield.

Not even a few decent shots.

Especially in the opening stage, Barcelona had several good shots.

But now, their offensive line is silent.

In these more than ten minutes, only Paulinho moved forward and hit a long shot high. In the remaining time, Barcelona rarely even had the chance to let the ball enter the Manchester United penalty area.

It's all because of one thing - Messi is locked down.

Rarely, Messi is locked down.

But if you look at the people defending him, you can understand.

Summer trip.

In today's international football, although there are not many players with excellent defensive capabilities in the midfield position, there are still some.

Kante and Xia Xing, the former Leicester City midfield defensive pairing, have been called the best defensive midfielder pairing of this era by countless football experts.

Of course, this is looking at Xia Xing as a defensive midfielder.

Regardless of Xia Xing's offensive attributes, just looking at defense, he is also super good.

Defending Messi in this game completely made Messi suffer.

At this stage, Messi rarely has the opportunity to control the ball and make moves. Most of the time, he seizes the time to deal with the ball as soon as it reaches his feet.

In the 37th minute of the game, when Xia Xing made another tackle and intercepted the ball, Messi shook his hand in frustration.

After shoveling the ball out, Xia Xing lay on the ground without getting up.

Although anxious, Messi went over and asked Xia Xing: "What's wrong with you? Are you injured?"

"It's okay. I'm tired. Just lie down for a while."

Messi stretched out his hand and pulled Xia Xing up. Xia Xing stood up with a groan, and then looked at the backcourt.

"Well, okay, my teammates are completely in place, OK."

Messi shook his head helplessly: "Xia, you are really a top defensive organizer."

"Thank you for the compliment."

"But don't you think your offensive talents were wasted?"

"I think a little bit."

"How about we all let go and attack and compare the number of goals scored?"

"Forget it, I still like to play football with you and be closer to you."

"Isn't that good..."

"Ha ha!"

Looking at the helpless Messi, Xia Xing smiled brightly.

Although this game was fiercely fought, Xia Xing looked very relaxed.

And this kind of relaxation makes the Barcelona players even more anxious.

Until the end of the first half, neither side scored a goal.

The referee blew his whistle and the first half ended.

When walking off the field, Messi complained: "Xia, I'm going to the visiting team's locker room, do you want to continue to follow me?"

"That's not necessary. We'll see you in the second half."

"I really don't want to see you again... I still want to suggest to you that I appreciate your offensive ability. We can let go of the offense and present a wonderful game to the fans."

"No, no, no, Manchester United fans prefer victory, whether it is exciting or not is secondary."

"Are you willing to guard the whole game? Aren't you going to attack?"

"Anyway, there is only one Messi in the world. If you defend well in this game, you will have more offensive opportunities in the following Champions League games." "..."

Messi was completely speechless.

Okay, let's leave it at that.

In the second half, the game changed sides and Valverde made tactical adjustments.

He allowed Messi to have a wider running range, especially the three-way cross-position with Suarez and Dembele, which was very active.

But Xia Xing didn't care.

You can go wherever you like, I'll follow you anyway!

Simply put, Manchester United's defensive players today are also quite capable of running. They were not driven by Barcelona's offensive line and still defended solidly.

Manchester United was determined to defend in this game, and Barcelona had absolutely no way to defeat Manchester United.

Time passed, 70 minutes of the game had passed, and Barcelona still couldn't attack for a long time.

Valverde has used up three substitutions and the formation has changed to 2-4-4.

They desperately need a goal now!
But Mourinho made decisive substitution adjustments. He removed Pogba and Ashley Young and replaced them with Herrera and Luke Shaw to ensure defensive strength.

Especially after Herrera came on the field, Manchester United completely changed into a four-back system.

Messi is still running hard, looking for scoring opportunities.

But it is too difficult.

In the 80th minute of the game, Lukaku was also replaced and Rooney came on as a substitute.

The reason why Rooney was replaced was not to strengthen the offense, but to stabilize the midfield.

After Rooney came on the field, he withdrew to the midfield. During this period, Rooney was mature and stable enough, and his usefulness in the field was obvious.

Barcelona pressed forward from all fronts until the 88th minute of the game.

Once Xia Xing made a clearance in the backcourt, he kicked the ball straight to the frontcourt!
Sanchez, the only forward left, rushed towards the ball!

At this time, Vermaelen is the only one left in Barcelona's backcourt!
Facing the faster Sanchez, he couldn't keep up!

Despite this, Vermaelen still sprinted quickly and used all his strength to tackle Sanchez!

Sanchez stepped forward and the ball passed, but he was knocked down!

The referee's whistle sounded!
"It's a penalty!

"The foul occurred in the penalty area!
"This was the last moment of the game and Manchester United actually got a valuable penalty!

"This is so dramatic!

"Sanchez has done a great job!
"Xia has made a meritorious service!
“The passing and running cooperation between the two actually created a miracle!

"Who would have thought that after defending Messi, Xia could quickly make a long pass and find Sanchez?
"Who would have thought that Sanchez could move so flexibly and still have plenty of physical fitness at this stage?

“The referee not only gave Manchester United a penalty kick, but also gave Vermaelen a red card!
"The Barcelona centre-back was sent off!
“In the two rounds of the game, one central defender from each side was sent off!

“But it’s clear that Barcelona’s situation is more serious this time!
"Even if Manchester United misses the penalty kick, they will still have to face the unfavorable situation of 10 versus 11!
“Even if it’s a draw at the last moment, they will still encounter huge physical problems in overtime!
“And they’ve now used up three substitutions!
“This game is actually over!
"Manchester United is only one step away from the Champions League quarterfinals!
"Let's see what happens next?"

Sanchez, who was shoveled to the ground, had already gotten up. Several Manchester United players who were in good physical condition rushed up and hugged Sanchez tightly!
"Dude, you're awesome!"

"If we score this penalty, we will definitely win!"

Although it was Sanchez who created the penalty kick, Sanchez had no intention of taking it.

On the one hand, Xia Xing is the number one penalty kicker in the team. On the other hand, he just suffered a slight ankle sprain, which will affect his strength and is not suitable for taking penalty kicks.

So Xia Xing took it over and did his part.

But Xia Xing did not go to the penalty spot.

He turned around and stuffed the ball into captain Rooney's arms.

"Captain, I don't feel very good about my feet right now. After all, I have been defending the whole game and I can't feel my shot.

“I’ll leave this penalty kick to you!
"Score a goal and beat them completely!"

(End of this chapter)