The halftime break passed in the blink of an eye.
The players filed out of the dressing room and onto the pitch.
In the tunnel, Li Mingyu jogged along, eager to get back to the game.
"Hey! Kid!"
Hearing a voice, Li Mingyu looked over with some curiosity.
Ramos was looking at him with a smirk.
Li Mingyu glanced around, pointed at himself, and asked, "Are you talking to me?"
Ramos leaned in close to Li Mingyu and whispered in his ear, "Yellow-skinned monkey, watch yourself in the second half. Don't get too cocky!"
With that, Ramos flashed a look of disdain and strode out of the tunnel.
Hearing the racial slur, Li Mingyu was filled with fury.
Although he held Spanish citizenship, he took great pride in his yellow skin and black hair because of his father, and his Chinese was so fluent that no native speaker could ever find a flaw in it.
Watching Ramos's retreating back, Li Mingyu wore a grim smile; for the first time in his nineteen years, he hated someone this much.
Messi walked past Li Mingyu and, noticing his off-kilter mood, asked with concern, "What's wrong, Li? Are you not feeling well?"
Li Mingyu waved his hand and said, "Captain, in the second half, I want to..."
Upon hearing Li Mingyu's words, Messi looked shocked. After giving him a long, serious look, Messi burst into laughter and said, "Li, go for it. I've got your back!"
The words "I've got your back" warmed Li Mingyu's heart. He felt incredibly lucky; with a humble mentor like Messi, he felt right at home at Barca.
Back on the pitch, the referee blew his whistle, and the second half officially began.
Karim Benzema kicked the ball backward and took a step into Barca's half, marking the start of Real Madrid's first attack.
Real Madrid's tactics for the second half were clear: they had to ramp up the offense. After all, they were already down by three goals; if they didn't push forward, they were as good as dead.
After a few quick passes, the ball returned to Real Madrid's right flank.
Valverde and Isco executed a beautiful wall-pass, leaving Li Mingyu, who had tried to intercept, chasing shadows.
Li Mingyu stopped his pursuit and slowly drifted toward the center line.
This positioning made Ramos, who was preparing to join the attack, pause and frown at Li Mingyu.
Barcelona's defensive intensity was immense, and Real Madrid's attack was cautious; if there was no opening, they passed it out immediately, never risking a careless ball forward.
What a disciplined team.
After a few more passes, Barca's defense showed a tiny gap, and Isco seized it. After receiving a cross from Casemiro, he created space and unleashed a high-quality long-range shot from thirty meters out, aiming for the top corner.
Just as the Real Madrid fans were ready to cheer, a giant hand suddenly reached out. Ter Stegen, the Barca goalkeeper, soared through the air with his body fully extended, tipping the ball over the crossbar with one hand.
Ter Stegen got up and let out a roar, warning his defenders not to lose focus.
Pique broke into a cold sweat; it was his fault for being distracted by Karim Benzema's sudden run, which prevented him from stepping up to block the shot earlier.
If not for Ter Stegen's sharp concentration, Barcelona would have conceded right at the start of the second half.
Isco was also deeply frustrated. He had felt the strike perfectly off his boot and was already preparing to celebrate, only to be denied by the keeper.
What a buzzkill.
Real Madrid corner.
Isco stood at the corner flag, preparing to take the first corner of the second half.
Seeing the corner, Ramos immediately sprinted into the Barca penalty area, jostling with the defenders.
Ramos was lethal in the air and often scored spectacular headers during Real Madrid's set-piece routines.
This season, Ramos had already recorded three headed goals.
Seeing Ramos move up, Barca sent Busquets to help mark him!
Isco signaled the corner tactic and sent a high-quality curling ball directly into the Barcelona box.
For a moment, the penalty area was in chaos as a group of players tangled together.
Ramos's eyes lit up; the ball was right in his zone, so he took two quick steps to shake off Busquets.
Busquets, an excellent performance artist out of La Masia, saw Ramos's arm coming and didn't hold back, bracing himself with his own arm.
The two men's arms became instantly entangled.
The ball sailed over their heads, and neither could jump to contest it.
They both fell to the ground, letting out simultaneous cries of pain.
However, by then, the ball had already been headed away by Umtiti at the far post.
Messi received the ball at the edge of the box and, without a second's hesitation, played a diagonal pass to the accelerating Li Mingyu.
Only Varane stood between Li Mingyu and the goal.
Facing Varane's defense, Li Mingyu accelerated, kicked the ball hard ahead of him, and with a flick of his hand, shoved away the arm Varane had extended to grab him.
Li Mingyu sprinted, caught up to his own pass, cut inside, and charged straight toward the goal.
A one-on-one.
Courtois watched Li Mingyu's movements with a calm expression. The moment Li Mingyu charged into the penalty area, he lunged forward like a tiger breaking its chains, lowering his center of gravity to block the angle of Li Mingyu's shot.
Li Mingyu stared at Courtois with a blank face and unleashed his signature move: Ronaldo's iconic Pendulum Dribble.
Thanks to the increase in his strength and physical resilience, his physical condition was now more formidable than ever.
The range of the Pendulum Dribble was even more exaggerated.
Courtois was not spared; he dove to one side while cursing, watching helplessly as Li Mingyu slipped past him on the other side and tapped the ball into the net, breaching the goal of Real Madrid.
0:4.
At the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, Li Mingyu had completed his first-ever haul in El Clasico.
The entire Santiago Bernabeu Stadium was as silent as a graveyard.
Some veteran fans couldn't help but shed tears as they watched Li Mingyu's recent move. Back in the day, Real Madrid had possessed such a superstar who frequently used the Pendulum Dribble to humiliate the goalkeepers of visiting teams.
Who would have thought that the tables would turn, and now, it was Real Madrid being humiliated!