The referee on the field had been badly shaken. A foul that vicious had taken place in a match he was officiating—something that could seriously damage his career!
But when he saw Barcelona's players charging at Real Valladolid's right-back, Olaza, like enraged bulls, he hurriedly blew his whistle as hard as he could.
Don't lose your heads!
We can't let this turn into a fight!
Damn it!
Real Valladolid's players knew their side was in the wrong, but they couldn't just stand by and let Barca's players bully Olaza. They rushed over, too.
Still, they knew better than to start throwing punches, and tried to calm everyone down with reason.
But Barca's players were practically going out of their minds.
Li Mingyu had won them over not only with his skill, but also by treating everyone to a Chinese meal. He had become one of their own.
What's more, Li Mingyu had come up through Barca's youth academy. He was one of their own, and they felt a natural urge to protect him.
It was like watching someone kick your own child to the ground. Even the calmest parent would be furious.
Messi didn't join the others in confronting the opposition. Instead, he went to Li Mingyu, knelt beside him, and asked anxiously, "Li, how are you feeling?"
Messi felt the question was almost pointless. Any footballer knew what happened when someone slid into your planted foot from behind.
His Achilles tendon had to be torn. He could only hope it wouldn't end his career.
That was what Messi hoped with all his heart.
This season, Barca had been hitting their stride. At such a crucial moment, to have one of their key substitutes—or, really, a first-choice player who happened to start on the bench—suffer a career-ending injury in such a pointless match would deal an immeasurable blow to the team's morale.
Koeman was stunned on the sidelines. When he saw Li Mingyu brought down, he didn't fly into a rage. Instead, he slowly crouched down, holding his head in his hands. The despair on his face was plain for all to see.
The team doctor didn't wait for a signal from Koeman or the referee. He grabbed his medical bag and rushed straight onto the pitch.
Li Mingyu felt a sharp pain in his heel. As a professional player, he knew exactly what kind of foul he'd suffered and what the consequences could be.
But strangely, as he lay on the ground with a hand on the Achilles tendon of his left foot, he could still feel his ankle moving freely.
"Li, how are you feeling?"
The team doctor, Sandro, was a middle-aged man with a thick beard. As he reached Li Mingyu, his foot slipped and he fell flat on his back. He didn't even seem to notice. Scrambling back up, he hurried over to Li Mingyu and asked tensely.
"It hurts a little," Li Mingyu said through gritted teeth.
Sandro's eyes were bloodshot. He gently supported Li Mingyu's left foot, then carefully examined it with his assistant.
While they were checking him over, chaos on the pitch threatened to erupt.
All the stadium security staff rushed out and gathered below the stands, trying to stop fans from charging down onto the pitch.
Olaza stood at the very back of his team, his face full of guilt and unease. He knew how vicious his tackle had been.
He really had lost his head in the heat of the moment. Li Mingyu had dribbled past him too many times, and every time it happened, the entire Camp Nou roared with jeers. The negativity had been building inside him.
So when Li Mingyu got past him again, Olaza completely lost control and made that vicious tackle.
"Mr. Messi, I need you to restrain your players right now. We absolutely cannot let this turn into a fight!"
Referee Cruz came over to Messi with a grave expression and spoke earnestly.
Messi's eyes were full of hatred, but he also knew the team was on the brink of disaster. If a large-scale brawl broke out, Li Mingyu wouldn't be the only one facing consequences. The other players could be punished by the football association, too. They might not only lose the league title—they could even fall out of the top three.
Messi had no choice but to suppress his anger, go over to the others, and calm his teammates down.
With both teams' captains stepping in, the players returned to their respective halves.
Messi also went over to the stands and tried to calm the fans, who were on the verge of losing control.
Everyone's attention turned to Li Mingyu, who was lying motionless on the ground.
After examining him for a long time, the team doctor and his assistant looked at each other in confusion.
Damn!
It was just a tiny scrape!
Could Olaza's tackle from behind have only grazed Li Mingyu's planted foot?
That couldn't be right. Everyone had seen Olaza send Li Mingyu flying with that tackle!
Once the referee had brought the situation under control, he showed Olaza a red card and sent him back to the locker room.
He also gave Barca's furious players a verbal warning.
Olaza's punishment would go far beyond that red card. The foul was vicious, and his victim was a rising superstar. The football association certainly wouldn't go easy on him.
"Li, are you really all right?" Sandro asked, unable to believe it.
When he'd been tackled, Li Mingyu had been stunned, too. But after resting for a while, he realized he really didn't seem to be hurt.
The system! Li Mingyu suddenly understood.
[Host bound to Camp Nou. When playing at this stadium, the host's condition will always be at its peak, and his resistance to injury will always be at its maximum.]
Haha! No wonder he always played so well at home. And with his injury resistance at its maximum, it meant he could almost never get hurt when playing on home turf.
For an ordinary player, that tackle might have ended his career.
But when it happened to Li Mingyu playing at home, it had left him with nothing more than a tiny scrape.
Still, after what had just happened, the team doctor decided to play it safe and carried Li Mingyu off on a stretcher.
On the sidelines, Koeman was frantic with worry. He hurried over and asked how badly Li Mingyu was hurt.
Sandro stammered, unsure how to explain.
To the astonishment of the crowd, Li Mingyu stood up from the stretcher and hopped twice on the ground.
In an instant, joy swept through Camp Nou once more.
The fans applauded Li Mingyu, who had come through the ordeal unscathed.
But Koeman, whose heart had nearly stopped, immediately substituted Li Mingyu.
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