I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

Chapter 462: Chapter 81: What Is Talent? (Part 2)

Guardiola was punching the air on the sidelines. This was the passing and control he wanted, this was the charm of tiki-taka football.

For this, sacrificing Yaya Toure and Zlatan Ibrahimovic was the right decision.

Their abilities were not in question, but they added a slight ”hesitation” to the tiki-taka, which was evidently incorrect.

Pellegrini’s expression became quite serious, just like other teams feared Real Madrid’s Chen Zhong, they also feared Barcelona’s Messi.

”This is the seventh time Messi has broken Real Madrid’s goal.”

”This season he has already scored 40 goals across all competitions.”

”He has scored 27 of those in the league.”

”This is also his sixth goal in the last three games.”

”It’s clear he wants to catch up with Chen Zhong’s goal tally.”

”This season, Chen Zhong has scored 52 goals in all competitions.”

”He has scored 34 of those in the league.”

”He leads the scoring charts by a considerable margin.”

”But if Messi continues to maintain his rate of two goals per game.”

”Then by the end of the season, he still has a chance to catch up with Chen Zhong.”

Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s ”silence” paved the way for Messi’s eruption, and perhaps Messi’s recent average of two goals per game in the last three matches firmed up Guardiola’s conviction to make Messi the team’s ”core.”

It’s no longer the era of the center forward being the sole goal scorer.

The era of the small-box king, Van Nistelrooy, has passed. Now the trend is for the center forward to create opportunities for the winger to cut inside, and Barcelona’s Messi as a false nine and Real Madrid’s Chen Zhong as a pseudo center forward are somewhat similar in that manner.

Sometimes, Guardiola would happily ponder, if he could have both Chen Zhong and Messi in his team, how could he let them coexist reasonably?

Merengue: In your dreams! Baldy!

Barcelona became more composed after scoring, and Real Madrid did not become anxious due to conceding a goal, as Chen Zhong kept energizing his teammates with his gestures and loud shouts.

Both sides were indulging in ”passing and control”, only Barcelona’s was more flexible and varied, whereas Real Madrid’s was centered around Chen Zhong.

”We can see that the possession rates of both teams are hovering around fifty-fifty.”

”This is unusual, as Barcelona’s possession rate generally hovers around 59%, which is more typical.”

”But now they are evenly matched with Real Madrid.”

”And in terms of passing success rate, Real Madrid has achieved around 80%, while Barcelona is slightly higher at 84.2%, with most turnovers occurring during offensive plays.”

Guardiola’s eyes seemed to be burning fiercely.

What did he see!

He saw Chen Zhong single-handedly enabling Real Madrid to play tiki-taka.

He was like a high-speed calculating CPU in the center, accurately distributing the ball to each player, and the players fed the ball back to Chen Zhong.

Both teams were continuously controlling the ball, constantly stretching spaces, and constantly contending.

With Chen Zhong as the ”core”, Real Madrid could actually compete with Barcelona in terms of ball control.

What an excellent sense of the big picture, control, and level of calmness.

Chen Zhong’s ability to shield and protect the ball once again refreshed everyone’s perspective.

Online, countless people were discussing this scene.

[I heard he was nicknamed the Monster during his youth team days.]

[If it weren’t for the jerseys, I couldn’t even tell which team was Barcelona!]

[Does it take tiki-taka to beat tiki-taka, magic to beat magic? But this Chen is incredible!]

...

Of course, it’s not all harmonious voices; some still pick fault with everything.

[Real Madrid has lost its own characteristics.]

[Chen is turning Real Madrid into Barcelona.]

[Tedious tiki-taka, we want smooth flowing attacks.]

...

These people are evidently not aware of Real Madrid’s style; Real Madrid had a passing control style for a long time, but they evolved with the times.

But if you talk about the longest style, as a Spanish team, Real Madrid’s naturally was tiki-taka!

Remember when Schuster became Real Madrid’s coach, he earned much fan favor by promising: ”Restore the traditional tiki-taka play!”

In the 35th minute, Marcelo crossed from the left wing, and Chen Zhong spectacularly connected a header from the back line, but unfortunately, it was saved by the goalkeeper.

In the 38th minute, Messi retreated to receive the ball, attempting to penetrate single-handedly again, but Chen Zhong fiercely tackled, taking down both ball and Messi.

Messi rolled on the ground in pain a couple of times.

Although Chen Zhong was going for the ball, he still clipped Messi’s feet.

The referee saw the scene yet made no call, not even a warning, which tempted Xavi to react, but his teammate came over to remind him that he was already on a yellow card.

Chen Zhong looked at Messi rolling on the ground, approached and said in a low voice, ”Can you play or not? If not, get off the field quick.”

”Or, you can try breaking through me once more.”

Messi lifted his head, anger mixed with a bit of grievance, his throat moved up and down as if about to spit.

But in the end, he held it back.

In the 2008 match against Malaga, Messi spat back due to being provoked constantly, and after the media coverage that followed, he became somewhat conscious of his image as a ”public figure.”

He’s neither ”bad” nor ”good,” just like any young player, that’s just his nature.

Don’t overly idolize, nor overly degrade.

Everyone has moments where they can’t control their temper.

Messi’s lips moved, but he merely slapped the grass and then stood up.

The grass suffered minor damage, but seemed fine.

Chen Zhong glanced at the referee who had been watching, raised an eyebrow as if saying, you see, he’s fine, I wasn’t going for him.

And the referee, likewise, raised an eyebrow, as if saying, I saw, but the next time, I’ll have to talk to you.

Chen Zhong’s actions evidently angered the Barcelona players.

In the 40th minute, Alves knocked Marcelo to the ground.

This action got him a yellow card immediately from the referee.

Alves was quite dissatisfied with the decision, pointing at Chen Zhong, ”What about him, huh?”

”Messi was on the ground, yet he got no yellow card!”

”He got the ball first!” the referee explained, simultaneously giving Alves a stern look, as if another word from him would mean a card.

The other players wisely zipped Alves’s mouth shut!

Seeing the referee had made his decision, Chen Zhong walked over and helped Marcelo up, asking, ”Are you okay?”

Marcelo looked at Chen Zhong with a bit of grievance, seemingly saying, I’m upset, I’m not okay, but I won’t say it.

Chen Zhong patted Marcelo’s shoulder, said nothing, but gave Alves a deep look.

The match continued, and near the end of the first half, Barcelona had an attacking opportunity.

Alves had the ball on the wing.

”Barcelona’s attack.”

”Alves!”

”What’s he going to do!”

”Chen Zhong!”

Alves desperately chased the ball, and at that moment, everyone saw a ”fierce” figure.

He was charging at full speed towards Alves and the ball!

In the stands, someone naively said, ”Chen, isn’t he going to slow down?”

”Like this, he’ll collide with someone!”

And the fan next to him gave him a look that said, ’are you an idiot’.