In this match, FC Barcelona had to travel to Valencia's home ground, Mestalla Stadium, to take on La Liga powerhouse Valencia.
Valencia had traditionally been one of La Liga's strongest teams, having won the league title multiple times.
But this year, Valencia had run into some trouble. A large number of injuries had left the team's performance far below what was expected of a traditional powerhouse, and they sat in eleventh place in the league.
They weren't in danger of relegation, but they had virtually no chance of breaking into the top six and qualifying for European competition.
As a result, the mood within Valencia was deeply divided. Some wanted to fight for it, while others felt there was no point.
The team's head coach had already been replaced, and the current manager, Gracia, was at a loss.
Now, facing a Barcelona team on a tremendous run of form, Valencia was filled with despair.
At 8:00 p.m. local time, the referee blew his whistle, and the match officially began.
FC Barcelona, wearing their yellow away kits, launched the first attack.
As usual, Li Mingyu sat on the bench, watching the action on the field with anxious attention.
Messi, who had dominated the previous match, continued his excellent form.
With the ball at his feet, he repeatedly drove at Valencia's defense.
Valencia's defenders were on high alert. They all dropped back and set up Parking the Bus.
In the tenth minute of the first half, Messi played a through ball that ripped open Valencia's defense. Dembele raced onto it, went one-on-one with the keeper, and struck the ball—only to send it sailing into the stands.
Watching Dembele fail to convert such a clear-cut chance, manager Koeman angrily kicked a water bottle beside him.
With Li Mingyu's sudden rise, Dembele's days had become difficult.
Four years ago, Dembele had joined Barca for 130 million euros, and everyone had placed great hopes in him.
But over the years, he had failed to live up to his price tag.
Dembele's contract would expire next June.
Barca had been trying to renew his contract, but negotiations had stalled because the two sides couldn't agree.
Now, with Li Mingyu's rise, Dembele felt that Barca might be ready to give up on him.
It was true that Li Mingyu was Dembele's equal in every respect except stamina. What's more, his scoring efficiency was leagues ahead of Dembele's.
With such a promising talent on hand, who would still want a basket of rotten apricots like Dembele?
Dembele had to make the most of the matches in which he could still start and prove himself. Otherwise, he wouldn't fetch a good price when sold; his market value would fall, and his wages would drop with it.
But haste made waste.
Dembele wanted to prove himself on the pitch, but rushing things only made matters worse.
Messi had a good relationship with Dembele and wanted to help him.
He kept passing to Dembele, who repaid his faith by continuing to squander chances.
In the space of twenty minutes, Dembele took four shots: three on target and one off target.
The opposing keeper seemed inspired, diving and reaching to keep every one of Dembele's shots out.
On Barca's bench, Li Mingyu kept getting to his feet, ready to cheer whenever a goal went in. Each time, he ended up clutching his head in regret before sitting back down.
Koeman's patience had its limits. Dembele's poor performance was slowly wearing it away.
But with halftime approaching, Koeman managed to resist the urge to substitute Dembele before the break.
After all, making that kind of substitution would be a huge blow to a player's pride.
The referee's whistle rang out.
After Dembele sent a shot skimming just wide of the post, the first half came to an end.
First-half statistics.
Barcelona, possession: 79%–21%.
Shots: 12–0.
Shots on target: 7–0.
Goals: 0–0.
They had dominated but failed to score.
It wasn't that Valencia's defense had been especially good. It was more that Dembele, who had taken six shots without scoring, had played the opposing keeper into form.
Valencia's keeper, Cillessen, was an average goalkeeper. He had conceded forty goals in thirty matches—not a particularly high number, but not a low one either.
But today, Cillessen was in superb form. He had kept Dembele's shots out from the opening minutes, and he had also made some brilliant saves against Griezmann and Messi.
A goalkeeper's form was a strange thing. When he was on fire, he could hold off an entire army by himself; when he was off his game, he could be downright awful.
Looking at Cillessen, surrounded by his teammates, and then at the dejected Dembele, Koeman furrowed his brow and headed back to the locker room.
Away team's locker room.
Koeman entered, and found the atmosphere inside heavy and subdued.
They had created so many chances in the first half and still failed to score. It had dealt a serious blow to Barca's morale.
Messi wasn't the kind of star who liked to rally his teammates with words. He preferred to lead by example.
After a moment of silence, Koeman said, "For the second half, Li Mingyu will replace Dembele!"
As soon as he heard this, Dembele sprang up from his seat, kicked away the "obstructive" chair, and stormed out of the locker room.
Koeman's face turned ashen. He hadn't expected Dembele to have the nerve to openly defy him.
Koeman said coldly, "We'll keep the same tactics in the second half. Messi, Griezmann, Li, and De Jong, I need you to be more aggressive. Try to break through quickly—that's how we'll dismantle their defense!"
"Understood!" Li Mingyu shouted.
But once he'd finished, he realized he was the only one who had responded. He scratched his head, feeling a little embarrassed.
Everyone saw Li Mingyu's adorably clueless expression and burst out laughing.
The mood in the locker room lifted again.
Koeman wore a relieved smile.
Looking at how obedient Li Mingyu was, then thinking of Dembele's defiant attitude, Koeman's expression turned stormy once more.
[Congratulations, host! You successfully checked in at Mestalla Stadium and received the iron will and long-range shooting ability of Valencia legend Gaizka Mendieta.] 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 improved across the board.
What made him happiest was that his stamina had finally surpassed the first-team threshold.
Gaizka Mendieta was one of the most important witnesses to and architects of Valencia's resurgence in the 1990s. At the peak of his career, both his club and national team had revolved around him.
But his transfer to Lazio in the summer of 2001 was considered one of Spain's most notable transfer failures in years. To everyone's surprise, Mendieta became a mere spectator in Italian football.
Still, his iron will and outstanding abilities as a midfield conductor had left a deep impression on everyone.
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