2:3. FC Barcelona had taken the lead at Atletico Madrid's home ground.
Li Mingyu had completed his hat trick again, bringing his goal tally to 35. He had officially surpassed Messi's 34 goals and taken first place in La Liga's scoring charts.
That domineering goal had plunged the entire Wanda Metropolitano Stadium into absolute silence.
Every Atletico Madrid player stared at Li Mingyu as if he were some kind of demon god.
After scoring, Li Mingyu stood right where he was, head held high, slowly turning to survey his surroundings with an air of command.
Just like a king surveying his realm.
The Atletico Madrid players around him all looked dejected.
He had surged through the middle, glided past Koke, and made the two center-backs' defense seem nonexistent. Then, when faced with the goalkeeper, the hotheaded young man who had exploded like a volcano moments earlier had somehow managed to deliver such a composed chip shot.
On the sidelines, Simeone's face had darkened.
Damn superstar.
Another one-man show from a superstar.
Atletico Madrid had achieved a great deal over the years, but their inability to hold on to superstars was the tragedy of a club like theirs.
Whenever a superstar emerged on the team and it seemed their fortunes were about to soar, a lucrative contract from one of the giants would whisk him away.
Simeone had already accomplished something remarkable by making Atletico Madrid competitive with Real Madrid and FC Barcelona in La Liga.
But he had still lost to a superstar.
With Messi gone, FC Barcelona had simply found themselves a Li Mingyu.
This young man's ability to finish off a game was absolutely on par with Messi's.
Simeone felt a trace of despair.
Cristiano Ronaldo's departure and the turmoil at FC Barcelona had made Simeone believe Atletico