Stamina Finally Stops Holding Me Back (Seeking Collection, Seeking Recommendation)

For this match, FC Barcelona must travel to the Mestalla Stadium, the home ground of Valencia, to challenge the La Liga powerhouse.

Valencia can be considered a traditional powerhouse in La Liga, having won the league title multiple times.

However, Valencia has encountered some trouble this year; a slew of injuries within the squad has left their current performance far beneath their reputation as a traditional powerhouse, placing them only 11th in the league.

While they are not in danger of relegation, there is basically no hope of them pushing for the top six to secure a spot in European competition.

Therefore, the atmosphere within the current Valencia squad is very conflicted; some want to fight for it, but others feel that fighting is useless.

The team's head coach has already been replaced, and the current manager, Gracia, is at his wit's end.

Facing the surging FC Barcelona in this match, the mood inside the Valencia camp is one of utter despair.

At 20:00 local time, the match officially began following the referee's whistle.

Wearing their yellow away kits, FC Barcelona launched the first attack.

Li Mingyu sat on the bench as usual, watching the shifting situation on the pitch with tension.

Messi, who had been unstoppable in the last match, continued his fine form in this game.

He could be seen carrying the ball, constantly charging at the Valencia defensive line.

The Valencia defense, treating the threat with the utmost gravity, pulled everyone back to set up a "park the bus" formation.

In the tenth minute of the first half, Messi threaded a through ball that tore through the Valencia defense. Dembele arrived in a flash, faced the goalkeeper, and unleashed a strike—only to blast the ball into the stands.

Seeing Dembele fail to capitalize on such a golden opportunity, head coach Koeman on the sidelines gave a nearby water bottle a vicious kick.

Due to the sudden rise of Li Mingyu, life has not been easy for Dembele.

Four years ago, Dembele transferred to Barca for 130 million euros, and high hopes were pinned on him.

But over these years, Dembele has not displayed performance commensurate with his price tag.

Dembele's contract is set to expire next June.

Barca has been seeking a contract extension with Dembele, but talks have stalled due to a disagreement between the two parties.

Now, the rise of Li Mingyu makes Dembele feel that he might be abandoned by Barca.

Indeed, aside from stamina, Li Mingyu is not inferior to Dembele in any other aspect; furthermore, Li Mingyu's goal-scoring efficiency leaves Dembele in the dust.

With such a fine peach available, who would still care for this basket of rotten apricots that is Dembele?

Dembele must prove himself as much as possible in the matches where he can still start; otherwise, when the time comes, not only will he fail to fetch a good price and see his market value depreciate, but his annual salary will also plummet.

However, haste makes waste.

Dembele wants to prove himself on the pitch, but more haste, less speed.

Messi has a good relationship with Dembele, so he hopes to be able to help him.

Messi keeps passing the ball to Dembele, and Dembele, living up to Messi's expectations, keeps missing golden opportunities.

Within twenty minutes, Dembele had four consecutive shots, three on target and one off.

The opposing goalkeeper seemed to have divine help; facing Dembele's shots, he made save after save, keeping every one of them out.

On the Barca bench, Li Mingyu stood up time and again, wanting to shout for a goal, but each time he would hold his head in regret and return to his seat.

Koeman's patience also has its limits, and Dembele's clumsy performance slowly exhausted it.

But seeing that the first half was about to end, Koeman suppressed the urge to substitute Dembele before the break.

After all, such a substitution is too damaging to a player's self-esteem.

A whistle blew.

After a shot from Dembele grazed the post and went out, the first half ended.

First half statistics.

FC Barcelona, possession 79%:21%.

Shots: 12:0.

Shots on target: 7:0.

Goals: 0:0.

Dominating the game but failing to score.

It wasn't that Valencia's defense was particularly good; it can only be said that Dembele, who monopolized six shots without success, played the opposing goalkeeper into form.

Valencia goalkeeper Cillessen can only be described as a mediocre keeper; in 30 matches, he conceded 40 goals—not a huge amount, but not a small one either.

But today, Cillessen was in superb form; not only did he deny Dembele's shots from the start, but he also brilliantly neutralized several attempts from Griezmann and Messi.

A goalkeeper's form is a strange thing; when they are on fire, they are truly an impenetrable wall, and when they are bad, they are truly abysmal.

Looking at Cillessen surrounded by his teammates, then looking at the dejected Dembele, Koeman frowned and headed to the locker room.

Away locker room.

Koeman walked into the locker room, where the atmosphere was extremely heavy.

Having had so many attacking opportunities in the first half and failing to score a single goal had dealt a severe blow to Barca's morale.

Messi was not the type of star who liked to use words to boost morale; he preferred to lead by example through his actions on the pitch.

Koeman fell silent for a moment before saying, "For the second half, Li Mingyu, you're replacing Dembele!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Dembele stood up from his seat, kicked the "obstructive" chair aside, and stormed straight out of the locker room.

Koeman's face turned livid; he hadn't expected Dembele to actually dare to show him such blatant disrespect.

Koeman said coldly, "The tactics for the second half remain unchanged. Messi, Griezmann, Li, and De Jong, I need more aggression from you all. Strive to create a breakthrough quickly; that is the only way to dismantle their defense!"

Li Mingyu shouted loudly, "Understood!"

However, once he finished shouting, he realized he was the only one who had, and he couldn't help but scratch his head in embarrassment.

Seeing Li Mingyu's dorky expression, everyone burst into laughter.

The atmosphere in the entire locker room lightened up once again.

Koeman also wore a look of relief.

Looking at such an obedient Li Mingyu, then thinking back to the insolent Dembele, Koeman's expression flickered between dark and uncertain once more.

[Congratulations to the host, check-in at Mestalla Stadium successful. Obtained the Iron Will and Long-Shot Ability of Valencia legend Gaizka Mendieta.]

As Li Mingyu stepped onto the pitch at Mestalla Stadium, the system's voice arrived right on cue.

Attacking Ability: 86(93)--88(93)
Shooting: 87(92)--88(92)
Ball Control: 82(87)--84(88)
Dribbling: 82(93)--83(93)
Passing: 82(87)--84(89)
Explosiveness: 82(87)--84(88)
Physicality: 73(82)--78(90)
Strength: 77(83)--80(90)
Stamina: 75(80)--80(90)
Defensive Ability: 60(80)--75(85)
Tackling: 60(75)--70(80)

Li Mingyu's attributes had once again seen a comprehensive improvement.

What made Li Mingyu happiest was that his stamina attribute had finally crossed the threshold for the first team.

Gaizka Mendieta could be considered one of the primary witnesses and architects of Valencia's resurgence in the 1990s; at the peak of his career, both his club and national team revolved around him as the core.

However, his 2001 summer transfer to Lazio is considered one of the rarest and most significant failed transfers in Spain in years, as Mendieta unexpectedly became a spectator on the Italian pitch.

Nevertheless, his iron-like will and exceptional ability as a midfield conductor left a deep impression on everyone.