Messi stood in the defensive wall inside the penalty area, with his teammates Adriano and Alves to either side of him, followed by Pique and Busquets. Barcelona had clearly put considerable thought into its wall.
Valdes moved back and forth along the goal line behind them. At times, he leaned beside the right post and shouted at them to shift their positions; at others, he ran to the left post to adjust the wall's formation.
The purpose of a defensive wall was to help the goalkeeper block the angles of a direct free kick. Different goalkeepers would set up their walls differently based on their own strengths and the opponent taking the kick.
Tonight was a good example. Valdes had placed Pique and Busquets at the far-left end, while Messi, Adriano, and Alves were positioned farther to the right. Clearly, he had his own reasons for doing so.
Barcelona's players tended to be on the shorter side, which put them at a disadvantage when defending free kicks. Valdes was not particularly tall either, so he had deliberately placed Pique and Busquets—the two tallest players—at the near-post side.
It was obvious that he wanted Yang Yang to avoid the tallest players.
Messi stood in the middle of the wall, watching Yang Yang slowly back away in front of him, his heart filled with complicated emotions.
He did not harbor any ill will toward Yang Yang, but he had to admit that Yang Yang had always kept him under pressure, to the point where he sometimes found it hard to breathe.
Both were among the greatest superstars in world football, but whether in individual honors or team achievements, Messi was inferior to Yang Yang. So far, he had won only one Champions League title, while Yang Yang already had five.
Originally, he