Chapter 7: Scoring Another Goal

Chapter 7: Scoring Another Goal

After celebrating with the substitute team, Luis was pulled up from the ground by his teammates.

A few close teammates even ruffled his hair before returning to their positions.

Not only the substitute players, but also some of the main team players congratulated Luis.

Deulofeu gave Luis a big hug and asked, "Luis, how did you do that just now?"

Scoring a goal while breaking through the entire defense is something even he, a regular winger, couldn't do.

But unexpectedly, it was accomplished by his friend who played as a defensive midfielder, which left Deulofeu feeling amazed.

"Do you want to learn?" Luis asked.

"Yes, yes!" Deulofeu quickly nodded.

"I learned it from Messi. If you want to learn, watch several of Messi's matches, observe and learn from them. You'll naturally get it!" Luis said with a serious face.

Originally, it was just a bluff, but he didn't expect Deulofeu to believe it.

"I see! No wonder I felt your dribbling style was familiar!" Deulofeu made up his mind. After the youth team's training session, he would go to the first team and learn from Messi up close.

As long as he persisted and learned from Messi every day, he believed he would succeed!

Luis was speechless, but he didn't want to discourage Deulofeu's enthusiasm. Moreover, it wouldn't be a bad thing for Deulofeu to show up in the first team more often.

This way, he would leave a certain impression on the coaches, and when they needed to promote players from the youth team in the future, they might consider him more easily.

...

The match continued, and because the main team was trailing, they were dissatisfied and increased their attacking efforts from the start.

They began using the first team's possession-based tactics, pressing heavily in the middle and front fields, crowding the opposition's passing space and lines, and increasing their chances of forcing mistakes.

And whenever the opposition made a mistake, they could immediately launch a threatening attack in the opponent's half.

The downside was that if they encountered a quick counter-attack from the opponent and couldn't intercept the ball in the advancing stage, their weak defense in the backline would become a fatal flaw.

Guardiola's possession-based tactics actually didn't improve the defense significantly; it was essentially a revolutionary defensive tactic.

The defensive method was to prevent the opponent from touching the ball.

Without ball possession, the opponent couldn't score.

Thus, they would collapse under Barcelona's siege.

After all, "if you defend for too long, you will eventually concede a goal!"

To counter this tactic, Mourinho had once developed a targeted fast counter-attack strategy during his time at Real Madrid.

The core of this tactic was to minimize the number of passes, players should not dribble the ball but quickly release it, preferably with a one-touch pass.

And the pass should not be lateral or backward; it should be forward.

The wingers should be fast and capable of running into positions during counter-attacks, providing suitable passing options for the players behind them.

The transition should be as concise as possible, avoiding a direct confrontation with Barcelona in the midfield.

They should bypass the midfield, launch the ball from the back, and make two or three quick transitions to the front, threatening the opponent's goal within a few seconds.

Once such a counter-attack succeeded, even if they couldn't score in the end, it would still create tremendous pressure on the opponents, leaving them unable to commit too many resources to the front.

To achieve this effect, the defending side needed a defender who could make accurate long passes and one or two fast and skillful wingers.

And coincidentally, the youth team had such players!

One of them was Luis, who had obtained Messi's attributes!

In the 18th minute of the match, the main team aggressively pressed in the opponent's half, causing consecutive mistakes from the substitute team.

After regaining possession, the main team launched a siege on the substitute team's goal.

However, due to the crowded penalty area, their attempts at goal lacked threat.

The ball was caught by the goalkeeper.

Luis glanced at the vacant half of the field and immediately signaled for the ball.

As the main team's midfield leader, Luis was treated like an older brother by the substitute team's players!

Without hesitation, the goalkeeper passed the ball to him.

The ball landed at Luis's feet. Two main team players immediately rushed forward, intending to intercept Luis's ball, just as they had done with the other substitute players before.

But Luis smoothly controlled the ball, evading a defender with a skillful turn.

He then used the opposing player as a shield, blocking the other approaching player.

It was a beautiful and fluid move, instantly creating an angle.

Without hesitation, he diagonally passed the ball to the substitute team's right winger, simultaneously signaling a tactical cooperation gesture.

The right winger received the ball and quickly surged forward, entering the main team's half.

The main team had only three defenders in their backline. One of them recognized the danger and immediately moved forward, trying to stop the substitute team's right winger.

The other two defenders retreated while preparing to cover the vacant positions.

The substitute team's right winger didn't dare to dribble the ball. Seeing the defending player blocking his path, he immediately passed the ball to his teammate in a diagonal forward direction.

The pass seemed to be misplaced, with no one in that position. It looked like a mistake.

But soon, a figure in yellow dashed forward and took the ball.

And it was none other than Luis!

"Stop him!" shouted the main team's center-back when he saw Luis in possession.

After making the pass, Luis immediately sprinted forward, snatching the ball before the defending player could reach him.

However, Luis didn't have a significant speed advantage, and the main team's defensive midfielder caught up to him.

The position was approximately 35 meters from the goal, and if Luis were allowed to continue with the ball, he would likely take a shot.

So, the main team's defensive midfielder immediately engaged, grabbing Luis's shirt and bumping into him, trying to bring him down.

If it were a formal match, he would have already made a tackle.

Even if he couldn't reach the ball, he would at least bring the player down.

But this was an intra-squad training match, and such a tackle could cause an injury to the opponent. Therefore, he didn't dare to tackle easily.

Luis was shorter and lighter than his opponent, and he was at a disadvantage in physical confrontation.

Being bumped by the defender, he immediately lost his balance.

Fortunately, the substitute team's left winger had already moved into position, so before Luis fell, he passed the ball.

After receiving the ball, the left winger quickly cut inside, approaching the penalty area.

Two defenders had to split up to defend him, but before they could close in, he passed the ball to the right side.

A forward player who was following up took a shot. The shot was on target, and the goalkeeper was prepared to save it.

But during the ball's flight, it deflected off the leg of a main team defender who was blocking the shot, changing its trajectory and went into the net.

At this moment, the main team players had just run back into the penalty area.

The score became 2-0!