Two bizarre goals had completely crushed Getafe's players' fighting spirit.
Lady Luck was on their opponents' side. How were they supposed to play a match like this?
Later in the game, Li Mingyu assisted Griezmann's goal, the last of the match.
5–0. Barcelona had secured another resounding home victory.
With 32 rounds played, Barcelona ranked second in the league with 23 wins, 5 draws, 4 losses, and 74 points.
At the top were Atletico Madrid, with 24 wins, 5 draws, 3 losses, and 77 points.
Real Madrid, in third place, were now only four points behind Barcelona, so they still had a chance to challenge for second.
There were six league matches left, and every one was a battle for survival. No one wanted to fall behind at the final moment.
The good news for Barcelona, though, was that both Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid had Champions League commitments.
In the quarterfinals, Real Madrid faced Premier League giants Liverpool, while Atletico Madrid took on Ligue 1 powerhouse Paris Saint-Germain.
Preparing for the Champions League was bound to affect both teams.
Having been knocked out of the Champions League early, Barca could only console themselves with that small advantage.
Li Mingyu still lived in Barcelona's player dormitory, much to everyone's surprise.
After all, Li Mingyu's current salary made him one of Barcelona's top earners: ten million euros after tax. He couldn't compare with a superstar like Messi, but he was still among the top ten.
At present, Li Mingyu was earning nearly 200,000 euros a week. In theory, he could easily buy a house of his own.
But Li Mingyu felt it wasn't time to enjoy himself yet. Besides, Barcelona's player dormitory was quite comfortable. Most importantly, it was close to the training ground, giving him more time each day to work on his training.
Although the star abilities he'd gained were powerful, he still needed to strengthen and consolidate them.
His potential value on the attribute panel was very high. According to the system's feedback, if he stopped training and let himself go, his potential value would drop. And that drop was irreversible. Once his potential value fell, even signing in later to obtain the abilities of a superstar wouldn't make up for it.
So Li Mingyu never dared to let his guard down, not for a single day.
Every day, Li Mingyu was the first to arrive for training and the last to leave.
Head coach Koeman was very pleased with his dedication.
By comparison, Koeman had also taken note of the lax attitudes of certain players.
Thursday's training session.
Early in the morning, Li Mingyu was already at the training ground, running laps.
His stamina was his weakest attribute, so running laps every day was an essential part of his training.
By the time he had run ten kilometers, the others were only just beginning to trickle in.
Messi smiled at Li Mingyu, drenched in sweat, and praised him. "Li, you're really impressive. I hope you keep it up!"
Li Mingyu nodded. Getting praised by his idol excited him more than anything else.
Once everyone had arrived, Koeman was ready to begin the day's training session.
The sound of hurried footsteps rang out. Everyone looked over and saw a dark figure stumble onto the field.
Koeman's face darkened. Him again!
Dembele was disheveled and looked as if he were still hungover. He yawned, waved to head coach Koeman, and said, "Sorry, traffic!"
Buddy, that sounds more like drunk driving!
Without waiting for Koeman's permission, Dembele rejoined the group. Koeman angrily rebuked him. "Mr. Dembele, if you don't want to play football, you can choose not to come!"
Dembele said nothing. He lowered his head and muttered something in his hometown dialect. Who knew whether he was cursing Koeman's family.
Li Mingyu frowned.
Dembele was acting like this because he knew he was an indispensable starter for Barca. He half-assed every training session, slacking off whenever he could. He had no sense of professionalism at all.
Besides, Dembele's contract was due to expire in June of next year, and Barca had already rejected his hopes of securing another big contract with them.
But Dembele wasn't worried. Barca were still short on attacking players. Everyone had seen Li Mingyu's stamina problems. His scoring rate was astounding, but he couldn't last the full match. That was his biggest weakness right now.
However, after Li Mingyu's contract details were made public, Barca's attitude had once again left Dembele uneasy.
Dembele's agent had repeatedly asked to reopen negotiations over his contract extension, but Barca hadn't responded. They had only said that this was the most critical point of the season, and they hoped everyone would put the team first. Contract negotiations could wait until after the season.
After the season?
Dembele felt Barca was just stringing him along. Li Mingyu's biggest weakness was his stamina, but one summer would be more than enough for him to address it.
By then, Koeman would definitely make Li Mingyu his first choice, while Dembele would most likely be banished to the bench—or even shown the door.
Dembele had been very frustrated the night before and had drunk too much. He woke up dizzy and made his way to the training ground, only to arrive late. This enraged the head coach and drew criticism from many of his teammates.
But when training began, Dembele became much more enthusiastic.
The displeasure on Koeman's face slowly faded.
After all, Barca still had to rely on Dembele to spearhead attacks down the left. In particular, the next match after the one coming up would be El Clasico, watched by the whole world. They would travel to Santiago Bernabeu Stadium to take on their bitter rivals, Real Madrid.
And the penultimate round might be a battle for survival as well: an away match against the current league leaders, Atletico Madrid.
At a time like this, Koeman didn't want his team to undergo any changes. Any disruption could have unpredictable consequences for the team.
Dembele wasn't stupid either. If he openly defied Koeman, he wouldn't benefit from it. Next year was a contract year for him, and if he couldn't put up respectable goal numbers, his market value would fall.
After finishing the day's training session, the players left the field in small groups.
Li Mingyu began his extra training.
Koeman watched Li Mingyu's retreating figure, his eyes filled with approval.
How could anyone not like such a hardworking young man?
Especially since he was a genius Koeman himself had discovered. He was one of Koeman's own men!
Koeman jotted down a few notes in his notebook, then hurried off the training ground.
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