El Clasico--It's Here! (Seeking Collection, Seeking Recommendation)

The Valencia goalkeeper was cursing again; here it came.

However, this time, Li Mingyu did not leave the Valencia goalkeeper too much to fret over. After entering the penalty area, he fired a low shot with his right foot into the bottom corner, completing the goal.

0:4, another hat-trick completed.

The referee blew the final whistle shortly thereafter.

Eight games, four hat-tricks, and one haul of four goals.

Terrifying!

Every team across Europe was envious of Barca's blind luck.

Even though the entire team had gradually been sinking into the abyss, the question that interested everyone most—whether Messi would leave Barca—was likely to have an answer soon.

In the summer of 2020, an event that shocked the entire football world occurred: Messi officially issued an ultimatum to FC Barcelona regarding his departure.

Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were the superstars who had dominated the football world for over a decade.

The Best FIFA Men's Player had been synonymous with the world's top players since 1991.

In 2008, Cristiano Ronaldo, who was playing for Manchester United at the time, won this prestigious honor for the first time.

In 2009, it was Barca's Messi who claimed the title of The Best FIFA Men's Player.

By 2010, The Best FIFA Men's Player and the Ballon d'Or merged to become the FIFA Ballon d'Or.

From 2010 to 2015, out of six Ballon d'Or awards, Messi took home four, while Cristiano Ronaldo secured the other two.

For a time, the two were known as the peerless titans of world football.

Starting in 2016, the selection for The Best FIFA Men's Player was once again organized by FIFA.

In 2016 and 2017, for two consecutive years, Cristiano Ronaldo outperformed Messi, winning the crown of The Best FIFA Men's Player twice in a row and leveling his honors with Messi.

In the following three years, only Messi won The Best FIFA Men's Player again in 2019, while the other two were won by Luka Modric in the World Cup year and the god-like Lewandowski in 2020.

Today, although Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi remain the top tier of world football, the emergence of a large number of excellent players has brought back the era of fierce competition that existed years ago.

Sure enough, after this match ended, news came out of Barca that Messi's agent—his father—had already arrived in Barcelona to restart contract renewal negotiations for Messi.

This finally allowed the still-anxious Barca to settle their hearts.

Because their next opponent was their rival in El Clasico, Real Madrid.

Real Madrid's form had become very unstable since they let go of their star player, Cristiano Ronaldo.

Currently, among the top twenty players on the scoring list, only Karim Benzema was included, and he had only 15 goals.

Messi, who ranked first, had seen his attacking attributes seemingly reactivated since Li Mingyu joined the team, scoring consecutively to reach 33 goals. It is worth noting that before Li Mingyu joined, Messi had only 19 league goals.

After one red card suspension and one match ban, he scored 14 goals in the following 6 games, including two hat-tricks and one terrifying five-goal haul.

Because Li Mingyu's scoring efficiency was so dazzling, it caused people to overlook that Messi, the bloodthirsty killer, was opening his gaping maw and baring his fangs that glinted with cold light.

Ranking second on the scoring list was Li Mingyu, with 19 goals in 8 games, surpassing Suarez, who ranked third with 18 goals.

It took Messi 25 games to score 19 goals, while Li Mingyu only needed 8; it was truly terrifying!

During this week of training, the entire Barca squad held closed-door sessions, and the outside world could not obtain any information about the team.

This was because this match was far too important.

They had to travel to Santiago Bernabeu Stadium to challenge the third-placed Real Madrid.

Currently, Real Madrid was only 4 points behind FC Barcelona. If they lost this match, they would not only fall further behind the league leaders but also face the danger of being caught by Real Madrid.

It could be said that both sides were determined to win this match.

In recent years, the Spanish El Clasico had become the most eye-catching match in the football world, known as the Century Derby.

Every time the two teams clashed, the eyes of the entire world would turn to Spain, focusing on these two clubs.

The atmosphere at Real Madrid was even more solemn.

This was because Real Madrid not only had to face the challenge of FC Barcelona this weekend, but they also had a Champions League quarter-final to play in the middle of next week.

They were facing the Red Devils, Liverpool, who had nothing left to play for in the Premier League.

Liverpool was currently ranked eighth in the league, with the gap to fourth place having widened to ten points. With only 6 games left, there was likely no possibility of them squeezing into the top four to qualify for next season's Champions League.

Therefore, their only thought now was to win the UEFA Champions League.

Because only in this way could Liverpool qualify for next season's Champions League.

Thus, Real Madrid would be facing a hungry Liverpool, which was bound to be a tough battle.

If Real Madrid were not facing FC Barcelona, they might have eased up slightly on this match to preserve the stamina of their main players in preparation for the Champions League quarter-final next week.

But since the opponent was FC Barcelona, Real Madrid did not want to lose to their rival on their home turf.

Therefore, for FC Barcelona, this match was also a head-to-head battle.

On April 11, at 15:00 local time in Spain, the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid hosted the highlight of the 2020-2021 La Liga season: El Clasico.

Santiago Bernabeu Stadium is the home ground of the Spanish giant, Real Madrid.

The 81,044-seat Santiago Bernabeu Stadium was packed to capacity, and outside the stadium, a large number of fans from both sides gathered in the grand plaza, watching the big screens and singing their respective team anthems to support their sides.

This is El Clasico, this is the Century Derby; the clash between the two most successful clubs in world football has become the most important day in the entire footballing calendar.

From 1902 to the present, the two teams have played 276 matches in El Clasico, with FC Barcelona currently leading with 115 wins, 61 draws, and 100 losses.

Among active players, Messi has scored 26 goals in 43 matches against Real Madrid in El Clasico, far ahead of any other player.

Messi has scored two hat-tricks when facing Real Madrid.

In the entire hundred-plus-year history of El Clasico, only Marti Ventolra of FC Barcelona has managed a haul of four goals in a single match, back in 1935.

The great battle is on the verge of breaking out.

In this morning's Champions League, Real Madrid did indeed score three goals at home; the Great Prophecy has succeeded!