The first half came to an end.
The score stood at 3–0.
Although Athletic Bilbao were down to ten men, their desperate defending and tenacious spirit had kept Barcelona from turning their dominance into goals during the final ten minutes or so.
What shocked Li Mingyu most was the crowd. Even when their team was backed into a corner, the fans never stopped singing, and their cheers of encouragement for the players rang out one after another.
What kind of team was this?
Most La Liga teams would have given up by now.
But against Athletic Bilbao, no matter how many goals you scored, they would still try to bite a chunk out of you.
Back in the locker room,
Koeman took the time to remind everyone that they could ease off a little in the second half.
After all, the fouls Li Mingyu had suffered in the previous match still made Koeman's heart pound with fear.
With the score and momentum where they were, the match was practically won. There was no need to keep pushing themselves in the second half.
Messi had let most of his anger out, scoring three goals and getting an opponent sent off.
He felt much better now.
The fifteen-minute break passed in the blink of an eye.
The referee's whistle sounded.
The teams switched ends and play resumed.
Barcelona's attacks had clearly slowed down.
But Athletic Bilbao didn't fall for it. They stayed holed up like a tiger in its den.
Barcelona passed the ball around in midfield, watching as Athletic Bilbao refused to press them. It was an awkward sight.
Under the deafening boos from the crowd, Barcelona had no choice but to push their attacking line farther forward.
But the players up front could clearly feel how much more aggressive Athletic Bilbao's defense had become.
"They're porcelain. They don't dare go toe-to-toe with us. In the second half, I want everyone to defend more aggressively. I refuse to believe the referee will dare send all of you off!"
"In the second half, I want to make them afraid to enter our penalty area!"
"Remember, this is San Mames Stadium. This is Basque territory."
"Have you all forgotten how we beat them here two months ago?"
"So what if we're a man down? We Basque people have never been afraid to fight!"
"Show them what the Basque spirit is made of!"
During the break, Athletic Bilbao's head coach, Marcelino, roared furiously.
Loud shouts echoed from the home team's locker room, matching the roar of the fans in the stadium.
Barcelona did look hesitant when faced with such aggressive defending.
They couldn't build any forward momentum in attack.
Even Dembele, who had been outstanding in the first half, stopped taking on defenders after being brought down hard twice in the second half.
Koeman watched the game from the sidelines, his brows knitted tightly.
With Dembele out of the game, Messi felt as if he were fighting alone. After several attacks came to nothing, he grew impatient and started trying long-range shots.
But you couldn't score a spectacular goal like that every time.
After one shot sailed several meters over the crossbar, Messi angrily kicked the turf and spat.
In the 70th minute, Koeman made his first change.
Li Mingyu replaced Dembele, who had lost his appetite for attacking, and took up a position on the left wing.
[Congratulations, Host. You have successfully checked in at San Mames Stadium and received the wing-play skills of Athletic Bilbao legend Lizarazu.]
Attacking ability: 85(92)--86(93) Ball control: 80(85)--82(87) Dribbling: 80(92)--82(93) Speed: 88(99)--89(99) Passing: 80(85)--82(87) Explosiveness: 80(85)--82(87) Physicality: 70(80)--73(82) Strength: 75(80)--77(83) Stamina: 70(75)--75(80) Defensive ability: 40(50)--60(80) Tackling: 50(60)--60(75)
This time, the skills he gained improved him across the board. After all, Lizarazu had been an exceptionally well-rounded player.
Lizarazu was French and had been France's regular left back for years. He was one of the best left backs in the world at the time, and had also won every major trophy in football.
Although Lizarazu was French, his presence at Athletic Bilbao didn't mean the club had abandoned its principles. He was Basque himself.
Lizarazu was born in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, just a twenty-minute drive from Spain's Basque Country.
That was why a Frenchman like Lizarazu had played for Athletic Bilbao.
In the past, Li Mingyu had played as a center forward, both in the youth team and the reserve team.
But after joining Barcelona's first team, he found the middle occupied by Griezmann and Messi, leaving him to roam the wings.
Even so, he still liked cutting inside. He didn't really have the makings of a winger, and often ended up occupying the same space as his teammates.
But once he gained Lizarazu's wing-attacking skills, a golden path suddenly opened up beneath his feet.
As soon as he came on, Li Mingyu received a pass from De Jong in midfield.
Since the team had been rattled by the opposition's defense and had grown reluctant to attack, Messi had returned to his familiar position on the right, leaving the middle to Griezmann.
Seeing Li Mingyu with the ball, Griezmann drifted over, ready to offer support.
But Li Mingyu could tell the opposing fullback had let his guard down.
After all, the defender had already made it clear with his rough play: Barcelona wouldn't get past him on this side.
Who knew that Li Mingyu was the kind of young player who feared nothing?
He'd been sitting on the bench for seventy minutes, and he felt as if he'd gone stiff.
The moment he stepped onto the field, he drove forward with the ball, charging at the opposition's back line.
Athletic Bilbao right back Lekue saw Li Mingyu brazenly charge straight at him and sneered. He was ready to give him a hard tackle and teach him that there was no getting past him.
Before the match, Lekue had known he might have to face two opposing players: Dembele and Li Mingyu.
Both were fast, but as far as Lekue was concerned, even though Li Mingyu's reputation had been growing, Dembele was clearly harder to deal with. After all, Dembele was more well-rounded.
Lekue also knew Li Mingyu's attacking patterns well. Most of the time, he cut inside; he rarely went down the line, and his crossing was merely average.
So Lekue blocked Li Mingyu's route inside, trying to force him down the wing, where he could pin him against the touchline and wait for a chance to steal the ball.
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