God of Rain Battles

When the players from both sides returned to the pitch, every step made them feel as if they were wading through a river, splashing through water.

One kick sent the ball flying with water spraying everywhere, droplets racing even faster than the football.

In some severely flooded areas, a simple touch of the ball sent ripples spreading out in every direction.

The football seemed to be swimming across the water.

Even so, the match proceeded as scheduled.

The referee took a lap around the field and ultimately decided that the game could continue.

That was also related to the weather forecast.

This heavy rain appeared set to continue for two days.

If they did not play now, they would not be able to play at all today.

A Champions League semifinal could be paused for a while, but it could not simply be rescheduled halfway through.

There were only forty-five minutes left, no matter what.

The players on the field just had to endure it.

The whistle blew.

The second half officially began.

What should they do when faced with extreme conditions?

In fact, Barcelona had already provided the answer in the previous match.

Those continuous chipped passes could minimize the impact of standing water on the ball.

Barcelona had also specifically worked on their aerial passing combinations in training.

But back then, Barcelona had only wet the pitch and the football.

It had not been anywhere near as soaked as it was today.

When a football was merely wet, its feel was not all that different from normal.

When the foot struck it, the force transferred at the moment the ball contacted the boot, along with the ball's deformation, squeezed the water away, clearing the moisture from between the ball and the boot.

So at the moment of contact,