The referee checked his watch, precise to the second, and with a single blast of the whistle, the globally anticipated El Clasico began.
"Hello everyone, this is Tencent Sports bringing you the 34th round of La Liga, where Real Madrid hosts FC Barcelona for the Century Derby."
"As we all know, Barcelona is currently in red-hot form, with the rise of the young Chinese-heritage player Li Mingyu driving the entire Barcelona attack."
"Real Madrid, meanwhile, has seen a recent resurgence in form; in their last match, thanks to a goal from Karim Benzema, they snatched a last-minute victory against the visiting Elche at home."
"However, since Real Madrid faces Liverpool in the Champions League quarterfinals in the middle of next week, that match will inevitably have some impact on Real Madrid's performance today."
"Alright, the players are entering the pitch. Let me introduce today's starting lineups."
"For Real Madrid, it's the familiar 4-3-3 formation: Courtois in goal; the backline sees Marcelo return to the starting lineup, and it seems his injury hasn't affected him much. The two center-backs are Varane and Ramos, with Vazquez at right-back. The midfield consists of Isco, Casemiro, and Valverde, while the forward line features Karim Benzema, Rodrygo, and Vinicius."
"On the Barcelona side, they are also fielding an aggressive 4-3-3: Ter Stegen in goal; Lenglet and Pique in the center of defense, with Umtiti and Alba as the full-backs. The midfield features Busquets, Pedri, and De Jong. Up front, Li Mingyu starts once again; it seems his performances in recent matches have completely won over manager Koeman and the Barcelona squad. The other two are the familiar faces of Griezmann and Messi."
"As the referee's whistle blew, Messi tapped the ball back to De Jong, and the Century Derby officially kicked off."
[Congratulations to the host, you have successfully checked in at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium and obtained the Absolute Ball Sense talent of Real Madrid legend Zidane.] Offensive Ability: 88(93)--90(95) Shooting: 88(92)--90(94) Heading: 85(90)--87(92) Ball Control: 84(88)--90(99) Dribbling: 83(93)--86(99) Passing: 84(89)--86(93) Explosiveness: 84(88)--86(90) Physicality: 78(90)--80(92) Strength: 80(90)--81(91) Stamina: 80(90)--81(91)
This terrifying, all-around improvement—Zidane's Absolute Ball Sense—instantly pushed all of Li Mingyu's potential stats to the level of a top-tier player.
As long as he continues to train, Li Mingyu becoming a superstar on the level of Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo is absolutely not a dream.
Li Mingyu couldn't help but glance at the home team's bench, where a shiny bald head was chatting with an assistant coach.
In the midfield, Li Mingyu received a pass from De Jong, and Valverde immediately lunged forward, attempting to block Li Mingyu's advance.
No team dares to underestimate Li Mingyu anymore.
His threat level in Real Madrid's tactical analysis is already on par with that of Messi.
The managers only announced their starting lineups two hours before kickoff, and Li Mingyu's inclusion did indeed catch Zidane off guard.
Because after so many matches, everyone knew that Li Mingyu's weakness was his stamina, especially when facing an attacking team like Real Madrid, where Li Mingyu would likely be drained even faster.
Therefore, when setting up his formation, Zidane had assumed the starting left winger for Barcelona would be Dembele.
However, upon learning that Li Mingyu was starting, Zidane quickly adjusted his tactical approach: in the first half, they would attack the left flank where Li Mingyu was stationed relentlessly. If Li Mingyu didn't participate in defense, they would break through that side; if he did, it would play right into Zidane's hands.
As for Li Mingyu's speed, Zidane wasn't overly concerned. After all, when Bale was on the team, Real Madrid's players had been bullied by him enough, so they knew how to handle speed-based wingers!
But Real Madrid's intelligence was outdated; Li Mingyu was no longer the greenhorn who only knew how to rely on speed. Especially after acquiring Zidane's Absolute Ball Sense, Li Mingyu felt as though his legs could play the violin.
In the midfield, Li Mingyu received the pass from De Jong, saw Valverde rushing in to steal the ball, and executed a light drag-back, his body rotating 180 degrees as he glided past Valverde.
The fans at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium erupted in a chorus of boos.
The jeers caused Zidane, who was discussing tactics with his assistant, to look up in confusion. What's going on? A goal already?
But when he saw the ball was still in the midfield, he blinked, puzzled. What's the matter? The fans are acting strange today!
Marseille Turn!
Just now, Li Mingyu had used Zidane's signature move, the Marseille Turn, leaning into Valverde and stepping on the ball with such grace that he slipped right past him.
There was no trace of effort.
It was like watching an artist.
If Li Mingyu were wearing a white jersey, everyone would have mistaken him for Zidane!
Of course, that would only be true if Li Mingyu were willing to shave his head!
After bypassing Valverde, Li Mingyu accelerated and began a frantic charge down the flank.
Valverde only felt as if Li Mingyu had performed a magnificent dance right in front of him before disappearing. Realizing what had happened, he turned and gave chase.
Right-back Vazquez quickly closed in, preparing to halt Li Mingyu's progress.
However, Li Mingyu didn't even consider him a threat; he simply kicked the ball forward, passing it to himself three seconds into the future.
Vazquez had no choice but to curse under his breath and reach out, grabbing Li Mingyu's jersey.
Li Mingyu's current speed, explosiveness, physicality, and strength were no longer those of the man he used to be.
Although Vazquez had a grip on his shirt, Li Mingyu twisted his waist, dragging Vazquez along until he stumbled and fell to the ground.
Vazquez, sprawled on the pitch, looked at the scrap of jersey in his hand, his worldview on the verge of collapse.
One had to know that the quality of Barcelona's jerseys was world-class; his tug had actually torn the fabric, yet he still hadn't managed to stop Li Mingyu.
What a monster!