Dominating Football with Perfect Ball Control

Chapter 275: 275. The Camp Nou’s king is here!

Check out advanced Chapters on P@treon: [email protected]/CosmicKaminari

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The Stamford Bridge Massacre.

One of the most controversial matches in Champions League history, described by the media as ”the darkest moment in Champions League history.”

2008-2009 Champions League semi-final second leg, Chelsea vs. Barcelona.

The first leg ended in a 0-0 draw, and the second leg took place at Chelsea’s home ground, Stamford Bridge.

In the 9th minute of the match, Chelsea midfielder Essien received a pass from Lampard and scored from inside the box, putting them 1-0 ahead.

From then on, Chelsea took control, making it highly likely they would reach the Champions League final for two consecutive seasons, with two Premier League teams meeting in the final for two consecutive seasons.

At that time, the Premier League was quite dominant, and UEFA President Platini was not pleased with this situation. He preferred to support La Liga’s ascent.

Thus, the subsequent direction of this match gradually became surreal.

In the 24th minute of the match, Drogba broke into the box, and Barcelona full-back Abidal fouled him by pulling his jersey, causing Drogba to lose his balance and fall inside the box.

According to FIFA rules, such an obvious hand action should have resulted in a penalty.

However, the referee, Norwegian Tom Henning ?vreb?, ignored it and made no call.

In the 56th minute, Barcelona was still trailing.

Drogba was tackled to the ground inside the box by Barcelona defender Touré.

Referee ?vreb? made no call.

In the 79th minute, Anelka fell inside the box, and Barcelona defender Touré was suspected of a foul.

Referee ?vreb? still made no call.

In the 82nd minute, this was the most controversial decision.

Anelka’s pass inside the box hit Piqué’s arm.

Piqué’s arm was unnaturally extended, and there was a clear intention to touch the ball.

From any angle, it was a clear penalty, with undeniable evidence.

There could be no reason to miss it.

However, referee ?vreb?, under pressure from everyone at Chelsea and enduring boos from the entire Stamford Bridge stadium, blatantly let this penalty go!

The previous decisions, even if misjudgements, could at least be explained away.

But not calling this penalty, there was absolutely no logical explanation!

Chelsea thus missed their best chance to kill the game, and Barcelona escaped due to the referee’s special favouritism!

In injury time, the 93rd minute, Iniesta scored to equalise, 1-1.

In the 95th minute, Chelsea midfielder Ballack’s shot hit Barcelona forward Eto’o’s arm.

It was another handball inside the box, and again, the arm was not tucked against the body.

With the arm extended, touching the ball, another clear penalty offence was missed by referee ?vreb?.

Chelsea missed their last chance to win!

The repeated missed calls completely enraged Chelsea, and emotions ran high!

The scene of Ballack furiously roaring at ?vreb? became a classic moment.

Drogba shouted to the live camera: ”It’s a disgrace!”

This was a disgrace in the history of football!

The match ultimately ended in a farce.

In an era without VAR technology, the referee’s decisions were the only standard.

No matter how many appeals or penalties after the match, a loss was a loss.

Chelsea was tragically eliminated, and Barcelona eventually reached the final, defeating Manchester United to win the title, becoming the first ”sextuple winner.”

Marca harshly commented after the match: ”Iniesta and the referee conspired to send Barcelona to the final.”

Amongst fans, the controversy surrounding this match lasted for a long time.

Barcelona fans vehemently denied ”biased officiating,” but it was also a fact that Chelsea suffered unfair treatment.

As time passed, the ”Stamford Bridge Massacre” gradually faded from memory, and Lance hadn’t thought of it before the match.

However, the outrageous call by the referee just now, reminded Lance of Chelsea’s experience back then!

Lance was always vigilant about Neymar’s breakthroughs, and he tracked back quickly, hoping to help his teammates.

Seeing that Neymar was about to burst into the box, Lance went to help Kimmich double-team him.

Lance watched as Kimmich, without making any foul, saw Neymar fall as if he were a fragile old man trying to extort money, exaggeratedly falling in the box.

Kimmich had only brushed shoulders with him, with no hand action and no foot contact.

Yet Neymar was rolling on the ground clutching his leg?

Crucially, referee ?ak?r, without consulting the linesman, immediately awarded a penalty and showed Kimmich a yellow card!

WTF?

No, mate?

The Bayer Leverkusen players couldn’t help but surround the referee to demand an explanation.

Left-back Nathan Aké even received a yellow card from the referee’s raised hand!

Bayer Leverkusen’s mentality instantly crumbled.

If not for captain Rolfes desperately holding them back, it would have been difficult to avoid two red cards.

”This is infuriating!! He’s clearly a biased referee!!”

”Keep your voice down, do you want another card?”

”Are we just going to accept this injustice?”

Nathan Aké was filled with righteous indignation, and everyone else was also furious.

But what could they do?

The referee had already made his decision, and without VAR intervention, Bayer Leverkusen was powerless to change it.

Everyone’s mindset was already in disarray.

Goalkeeper Leno, in his anger, failed to guess Messi’s penalty direction, and Messi easily converted the penalty.

2-1, aggregate 4-3! Barcelona led!

Bayer Leverkusen might be eliminated from the semi-finals for the second consecutive year due to a controversial penalty.

In the latter half of the first half, Bayer Leverkusen was almost exclusively committing retaliatory fouls.

Lars Bender fouled Messi, earning another yellow card.

The defence already had 3 yellow cards in key positions, making their situation precarious.

Lance, De Bruyne, Son Heung-min, and Firmino had no choice but to drop back into the box.

Utilising the defensive advantage of the [Cannavaro] template, Lance gritted his teeth and sprinted to put out fires, barely managing to withstand Barcelona’s relentless possession-based attacks.

The moment the half-time whistle blew, Lance even felt a sense of relief, as if he had been released from prison.

”Fuck!!!”

”Schei?e!”

Shit!

Sighs and German curses filled the changing room.

Everyone’s face showed anger and helplessness.

If Barcelona had simply dominated with possession, the Bayer Leverkusen players would have had nothing to say.

But what did it mean to rely on the referee?

The baseless penalty and yellow card affected their mentality, and the balance between the two sides was now broken.

Barcelona’s possession-based attack would certainly not let up in the second half.

Bayer Leverkusen’s three key yellow cards in the midfield and defence, would inevitably make them cautious, afraid to make tackles.

Neither coach had any solutions at this moment.

They could only offer futile comfort to the players.

With heavy hearts, Bayer Leverkusen walked out of the changing room to face the challenges of the second half.

”Lance, do you think if we’re eliminated in the semi-finals this time, the fans will curse us?”

”Of course not, Kevin, you’ve been great.”

”But we still lost, didn’t we?”

”There’s still 45 minutes in the second half, don’t give up! You, cheer up!”

De Bruyne’s despondent eyes annoyed Lance.

He couldn’t help but punch him on the shoulder.

This punch finally brought De Bruyne back to his senses, and he smiled apologetically:

”Sorry, Lance. You make your runs, and I’ll pass to you.”

”I trust you.”

Lance still trusted the passing of the future world-class midfielder.

The coaching staff was not without purpose either.

Considering Barcelona’s offensive prowess, Bayer Leverkusen changed their formation.

De Bruyne moved deeper, forming a three-man midfield with Rolfes and Lars Bender.

Lance moved forward and to the right, becoming a right-sided inside forward.

He formed a new trident with Son Heung-min and Firmino, attempting to find counter-attacking opportunities with more flexible runs.

In their desperate situation, Bayer Leverkusen unveiled their recently secretly practised 4-3-3 formation.

De Bruyne also played in his future most adept midfield position for the first time.

”Oh? We see that Bayer Leverkusen has changed their formation in the second half. This will increase their defensive solidity, and also add more possibilities for counter-attacks...”

CCTV5’s Xu Yang noticed Bayer Leverkusen’s tactical intentions.

He couldn’t help but wonder if De Bruyne’s deeper role would create a chemical reaction with Lance.

The time advanced to the 63rd minute, indeed!

Bayer Leverkusen won the ball back in their own half.

De Bruyne immediately delivered a precise long pass to the right wing, directly to Lance!!

”Beautiful!! Lance!”

”This is a good opportunity! Three against three in the attacking third!!”

Barcelona’s two full-backs, Alba and Valdes, had both pushed forward to assist the attack.

Behind them, there were only Piqué and Mascherano.

Busquets was marking Lance.

Lance, Firmino, and Son Heung-min were all advancing together!

This might be Bayer Leverkusen’s best chance after holding back for 15 minutes!

[Monster Dribbling!]

Under the effect of the [Bachira Meguru] template, Lance dribbled forward with great momentum!

His footwork was exquisite, with continuous step-overs and changes of direction that left Busquets dazzled.

In an instant, he feinted to the right, then sharply changed direction and cut inside to the left, Ronaldinho’s signature ”Elastico” used effortlessly by Lance.

He shook off Busquets in a flash, sweeping past him like the wind!

Eliciting a collective gasp from the 90,000 people at Camp Nou!

”Beautiful!! Lance!!! He’s past him!!”

The elegant and comfortable dribbling, struck fear into Mascherano!

He didn’t dare to press forward, as he might very well be dribbled past by Lance.

Mascherano could only keep retreating, trying to pressure Lance’s dribbling direction in front of the box.

Seeing Mascherano and Piqué retreating steadily, nervously defending on the edge of the box, Lance looked up at Marc-André ter Stegen’s positioning, and without any warning, he suddenly shot from 26 metres out!!

”Lance... oh!! A sudden long-range shot!!!”

Bang—

A fierce tiger!

A powerful cannon shot caught them off guard!

It looked like it was heading straight for the top corner of the goal!

Mascherano almost instinctively stretched out his arm inside the box, like a volleyball block, blocking Lance’s long-range shot!

The overwhelming power left Mascherano’s arm numb, and he was inwardly horrified!

”Is he a devil?”

Duan Xuan was incredibly excited at the sight!

”Oh!! Penalty!! Penalty!! This is an undeniable handball!”

”Mascherano intentionally handled the ball inside the box!! Bayer Leverkusen is about to get a crucial penalty opportunity!”

If the penalty was converted, it would be a 4-4 draw.

Bayer Leverkusen would erase their away goal disadvantage and be level with Barcelona!

Duan Xuan didn’t even consider the possibility of it not being called.

After so many years of commentating on football, he knew it was a penalty without even thinking.

Even the Catalonia commentators were sighing, knowing it couldn’t be avoided.

”Mascherano’s defending was problematic, how could he use his hand to block the ball? This is bad...”

Wait?

Whilst everyone was waiting for the referee to blow his whistle, Turkish referee ?ak?r showed no reaction at all! He merely pointed to the corner flag, indicating a corner kick.

Mascherano’s obvious handball, was only called as the ball hitting his hand?

Just a normal out-of-bounds?

”You’ve got to be kidding me!! Damn!”

Lance instinctively wanted to rush over and argue with the referee.

Before, he was the one holding others back.

Now, who could tolerate such biased officiating? Not hitting the referee meant he was emotionally stable.

”How did you make that call? You can’t see the penalty?”

”Are you questioning my officiating?”

Referee ?ak?r immediately raised his hand and showed a yellow card.

Everyone was stunned.

Duan Xuan, seeing this, couldn’t even think of how to explain it away.

”This makes me think of the Stamford Bridge Massacre; ?ak?r’s officiating today is even worse than ?vreb?’s back then.”

Duan Xuan was practically saying the referee was biased.

Seeing Lance still wanting to argue with the referee, his teammates quickly pulled him away.

”Lance, calm down! Calm down!! Don’t be impulsive!”

De Bruyne held Lance tightly, fearing that his strong words would earn him a red card.

Losing a goal wasn’t important, not getting a penalty wasn’t important, but if Lance was sent off, it would truly be over.

”Lance!!! We’ll try something from the corner kick!!”

Lance then regained his composure.

Arguing with the referee was indeed useless besides wasting time.

As things stood, they could only try their best to find opportunities.

After a brief confrontation, De Bruyne went to the corner flag to take the kick.

Lance clenched his fists and stood at the edge of the penalty area, looking thoughtfully at the [Rage Value: 200%] on his system panel.

Barcelona wasn’t even pretending anymore, huh?

They even managed to get my rage value to 200%.

Lance laughed in anger, a cruel arc forming on his lips.

Since you want to play dirty, then don’t blame me for using immortal methods to punish you!

Today, even if the King of Heaven himself came... that’s right, I’m introducing myself!

I, Lance, am the King of Heaven at Camp Nou!