In the fifteenth minute, Messi received the ball and burst forward, leaving the fullback marking him, Capa, with no choice but to reach out and pull him down. The referee didn't hesitate for a moment. He ran straight over and showed Capa a Yellow Gem War God Card.
Just fifteen minutes into the match, the starting fullback had picked up a Yellow Gem War God Card. For a back line that was already looking shaky, things had just gotten even worse.
There was no mercy on the football pitch.
After Capa was booked, Messi switched into attack mode.
He began to relentlessly test the opposing defense. With a yellow card already against his name, Capa's aggression began to wane.
As a result, the defense on that side was completely overwhelmed.
On the sidelines, Athletic Bilbao head coach Marcelino frowned deeply as he watched his back line teeter on the brink. It looked as though Barcelona would score on their next attack.
Marcelino turned and said, "De Marcos, get ready to warm up. You'll be replacing—"
Before he could finish, he heard the home fans letting out a series of terrified roars.
Marcelino's heart clenched. He hurriedly turned to look and saw chaos in his own penalty area. Through the commotion, he could just make out what looked like a Barcelona player down on the ground.
Marcelino charged straight toward the fourth official, not even caring that he hadn't seen what had happened. He shouted, "That's a dive! It was a dive, it had to be!"
The fourth official gestured for him to calm down. "Mr. Marcelino, only the referee can decide whether it was a dive. Please calm down and return to your position."
Still shouting, Marcelino looked toward his own goal.
The referee had already blown his whistle, and the ball had gone out over the goal line.
But had there really been a foul?
The referee hadn't had a good view of the incident. The penalty area had been packed with players.
And according to what he heard through his earpiece, the assistant referee hadn't seen it clearly either.
But with both teams arguing so fiercely, the referee had no choice but to signal that he was going to check VAR.
The referee jogged over to the video assistant referee's station on the touchline, put on the headset, and began watching the replay.
On the left, Dembele had the ball. He pulled off a beautiful nutmeg to get past the opposing fullback, then sent a low cross straight through the gap between the opposing defender and goalkeeper.
The center-back hadn't touched the ball. The goalkeeper stood on his line without coming off it, watching the ball zip past him.
But at the far post, Capa had been pinned behind Messi. As they ran, Capa had deliberately—or perhaps inadvertently—stepped on Messi's heel, sending him tumbling inside the penalty area.
The ball had also gone straight across the face of goal.
The referee watched the replay twice and confirmed what had happened.
He made a signal and pointed straight to the penalty spot.
Barcelona's players excitedly pumped their fists.
And that wasn't all. The referee ran over to fullback Capa and pulled two cards from his pocket: first a Yellow Gem War God Card, then he switched it for a Red Gem Promotion Card, sending Capa straight back to the dressing room.
Athletic Bilbao erupted in protest.
Fifteen minutes into the match, their starting right-back had been sent off, and Barcelona had been awarded a penalty. If they scored, the match would be 2–0. How were they supposed to play after that?
But the referee remained unmoved. He gestured for Athletic Bilbao's players to calm down and hurry off the pitch.
Seeing the referee reach for his Yellow Gem War God Card, the Athletic Bilbao players could only curse as they reluctantly left.
A satisfied smile appeared on Messi's face.
What goes around comes around.
The last red card hadn't been Capa's fault, but Messi held a grudge against all of Athletic Bilbao.
Messi placed the ball on the penalty spot, stepped back a few paces, and stared coldly at the opposing goalkeeper.
Athletic Bilbao's goalkeeper, Simon, began performing all sorts of flashy moves on his line, hoping to distract Messi.
But Messi had been through too many matches to fall for such a cheap trick.
The whistle blew. Messi charged toward the ball with unwavering determination and speed, flicking his left ankle. Goalkeeper Simon could only guess and dive in one direction.
But he regretted it while he was still in midair. Messi had chipped the ball.
As Simon hit the ground, the ball traced a graceful arc and dropped into the net.
Only a powerful mind could have allowed Messi to take such a coolly executed Panenka penalty in a moment so charged with emotion and a thirst for revenge.
On the sidelines, Li Mingyu also shouted excitedly.
He couldn't help but admire Messi's composure from the penalty spot.
Penalties were one of Li Mingyu's greatest nightmares. He had no idea when he would finally overcome it.
The game restarted with a kickoff from the center circle.
From the very beginning, Athletic Bilbao had been rocked by one heavy blow after another.
Their defense had already been on the verge of collapse. Now that they were down a defender, they were stretched even thinner.
Messi was completely unleashed. He roamed freely in the thirty-meter area, tearing the opposing defense apart.
In the thirtieth minute, Barcelona's front three combined brilliantly once again.
Griezmann, who had dropped into the attacking midfield position, played a through ball to Dembele, who had shaken off the opposing defender's challenge.
Dembele's flurry of step-overs sent the opposing center-back crashing down onto his backside. With only the goalkeeper in front of him, Dembele didn't get greedy. He instead played a cutback to Messi, who was charging forward.
Messi didn't let Dembele's unselfishness go to waste. He slid the ball into the net, beating the opposing goalkeeper.
After scoring, Messi leaped onto Dembele's back.
Carrying Messi, Dembele headed straight over to the visiting supporters, as if a king were making his rounds.
This was Athletic Bilbao's home ground, and fewer than a thousand Barcelona fans had made the trip. But they were the lucky ones.
Watching Barcelona's king, Messi, complete his hat trick in just thirty minutes, all one thousand Barcelona fans raised their hands in worship.
Everyone knew what this match meant to Messi. So even the usually headstrong Dembele had passed the ball back to him when he had an excellent chance to face the goalkeeper himself, just so Messi could enjoy a truly satisfying match.
Messi understood perfectly. He was deeply touched by everyone's generosity.
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