The first half ended with Man City temporarily leading 2–1.
During the halftime break, both teams made improvements and adjustments to address the problems exposed in the first half. Overall, however, there were no major tactical changes. They still adopted essentially the same approach as in the first half.
But no one had expected Barcelona to launch a wave of intense pressing as soon as the second half began.
Especially after Man City kicked off, they pushed forward in force and immediately unleashed frantic pressure on Man City's midfield and defense.
During one such pressing sequence, Joe Hart was disturbed by Messi. When he passed the ball to Marcelo, he failed to put enough power into it, allowing Pedro to intercept it first.
Everyone was horrified. Marcelo immediately rushed back and blocked Pedro, but the Barcelona winger still cut toward the inside channel and sent a ball in behind. Messi got to it before Pepe, controlled it, cut past Pepe, and fired with his left foot.
The curling shot tore straight through Man City's goal. 2–2!
The match was level once again!
Joe Hart pounded the grass in frustration.
Under Messi's relentless pressure, he had hurriedly tried to get rid of the ball. He had failed to notice Pedro near Marcelo, and the result was what everyone had just witnessed: Pedro assisting Messi's goal right before his eyes.
Such a basic mistake left Joe Hart feeling deeply embarrassed and ashamed to face his teammates.
He felt as though he had fallen into a vicious cycle.
The harder he tried to perform well, the more likely he was to make a mistake. The more mistakes he made, the greater the pressure became, and the more desperately he wanted to perform well...
He knew he was facing the greatest predicament of his