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"Holy shit!!"
Even for Kevin De Bruyne, a star who made his name in the Bundesliga, standing in the Camp Nou stadium, everywhere he looked, dense crowds formed a spectacular red and blue mosaic.
The four stands formed a unified whole, looking like a giant work of art from an aerial perspective!
Such a shocking scene made De Bruyne's chest surge, and he, who wasn't particularly nervous, couldn't help but feel his hands and legs tremble.
"Lance, aren't you nervous?"
"Not at all, it's just a small occasion."
"That's just like you."
De Bruyne gave a thumbs up.
Little did he know, Lance had been to Camp Nou last year.
He had indeed been nervous seeing such a sight then, but coming a second time, he was naturally familiar with it and could put on a show.
"We are indestructible
We score goals repeatedly
No one is your opponent
Powerful Barcelona is invincible
The flag is flying high
Red and blue are its colours
The team is fighting bravely
Let's shout its name—
Barcelona! Barcelona! Bar—ce—lo—na—"
Luckily, it wasn't yet 2022.
The renovated Camp Nou stadium would be able to hold 100,000 people!
Lance couldn't imagine how spectacular that would be.
The current 90,000 people were terrifying enough.
Away team players inevitably felt an omnipresent pressure!
"We will completely crush our opponents at home today and advance to the Champions League final. This is my guarantee to all the fans. Please believe me, believe that we can do it. We can defeat anyone."
Messi said these words with a firm tone in a pre-match interview.
He had absolute confidence in Barcelona.
Barcelona had no pressure in the league, having already defeated Real Madrid two rounds in advance to win the La Liga title.
In the La Liga match over the weekend, Barcelona completely rotated its second-team squad, allowing the main players to rest fully and conserve their energy.
And playing at home, they had the support of 90,000 fans behind them.
In contrast, Bayer Leverkusen had just gone through a title-deciding battle over the weekend, with almost no rest for their main squad.
Their main centre-back, Van Dijk, had an unstable injury and was temporarily on the bench.
With these shifts in momentum, Barcelona had no reason to lose.
Many experts made predictions before the match.
Over 80% of voices believed Barcelona had a higher chance of winning.
Even during the live broadcast on Spain's national television, Spanish gold-medal commentator Jose Angel, guest commentator, Real Madrid legend Hierro, and retired Barcelona former captain Puyol were discussing this issue before the whistle blew.
"It's a pity that the two Madrid giants were eliminated, otherwise we might have seen La Liga teams meet in the Champions League final for two consecutive years."
Hierro's tone was a bit regretful.
Puyol took the opportunity to tease:
"You Real Madrid still aren't good enough, getting eliminated by others with two 3-0 scores, that's too frustrating. This season's Champions League still depends on us Barcelona."
"That's right, Barcelona should be the team with the highest probability of winning, with no weaknesses across all three lines. Their attacking trident is unbeatable."
"How do you two predict today's score?"
"I guess Barcelona is very likely to win decisively, 2-0, with a total score of 4-2."
"I also believe Barcelona is invincible at Camp Nou. Although their Asian player is strong, he might not be able to perform at Camp Nou. I predict a 3-0 victory."
Hierro and Puyol's predictions were both very optimistic.
As the players finished their pre-match handshake, the screen showed the starting lineups for the match.
Barcelona 4-3-3
Goalkeeper: Marc-André ter Stegen
Defenders: Alves, Piqué, Mascherano, Alba
Midfielders: Busquets, Rakitić, Iniesta
Forwards: Messi, Suárez, Neymar
Bayer Leverkusen 4-2-3-1
Goalkeeper: Leno
Defenders: Kimmich, Maguire, Antonio Rüdiger, Nathan Aké
Midfielders: Rolfes, Lars Bender
De Bruyne, Lance, Son Heung-min
Forward: Firmino
"For Barcelona, Xavi is temporarily on the bench, with Rakitić starting."
"For Bayer Leverkusen, Van Dijk is not playing temporarily. Both sides have key players missing. But Van Dijk's absence for Bayer Leverkusen is more critical."
"Van Dijk grew into a top Bundesliga centre-back within a season. He is the defensive cornerstone of Bayer Leverkusen. Antonio Rüdiger is relatively less stable than him, so Bayer Leverkusen's defence might have some hidden dangers."
"Conversely, Xavi's absence will not affect Barcelona's overall strength. This season, Rakitić has also grown into a key midfielder for Barcelona, performing excellently in both attack and defence. Barcelona still has the overall advantage..."
In any case, the Spanish fans understood.
The commentators analysed it over and over, and Barcelona was winning big!
With the right timing, location, and people, what could Bayer Leverkusen use to fight Barcelona?
A week ago, at their home ground in Germany, Bayer Leverkusen almost lost, let alone an away game.
"To be honest, Bayer Leverkusen has made it this far purely by Lance's sheer willpower. Football, after all, still depends on team strength. Lance is strong, but today it has to end here."
Real Madrid legend Hierro commented sharply without reservation.
The chief referee for this match, Cüneyt Çakır from Turkey, stood at the centre circle.
With the whistle in his mouth, his gaze was fixed on his wristwatch.
90,000 people at Camp Nou counted down in unison.
Accompanied by deafening shouts, both the players on the pitch and the fans in front of their televisions inevitably felt nervous, yet also secretly excited and expectant!
Every fan facing such an important match found it truly difficult to remain calm!
"10, 9, 8, 7—"
"3, 2, 1—"
Beep—
The moment Suárez passed the ball to Messi, and Messi passed it back to Iniesta, the 2014-2015 Champions League semi-final, a crucial battle that attracted worldwide attention, kicked off!
The life-and-death match between Barcelona vs. Bayer Leverkusen had begun!
Here it comes!
Lance's eyes lit up, and he quickly rushed towards the Barcelona half.
To disrupt Barcelona's passing and control, and to look for counter-attacking opportunities, Lance was very well prepared.
Template equipped: Bachira Meguru - S (Fusion value 100%)
Template equipped: Hyuga Kojiro - S (Fusion value 47%)
Template equipped: Cannavaro - C
Rage value: 0%
Assisting character: Nagi Seishiro - S (Fusion value 100%)
Assisting status: On
He had planned to break through 50% in the second leg against Barcelona.
Unfortunately, the [Hyuga Kojiro] template never managed to break through, preventing him from unlocking Skill 2.
Lance could only grit his teeth and play this match for now.
Equipped with the [Cannavaro] template, he could maximise his defensive contributions and create counter-attacking opportunities.
"...Wearing red and blue is the home team Barcelona, attacking from left to right. Wearing black is the away team Bayer Leverkusen, attacking from right to left. Barcelona kicks off first. Rakitić... Oh! That ball!!"
The match had just begun.
CCTV5 commentator Duan Xuan was about to give some usual opening remarks and analyse the strengths of both teams with guest commentator Xu Yang.
After all, in such an important match, both Champions League semi-final teams would be very cautious, making it almost impossible to give the opponent a chance.
Who knew that as soon as the whistle blew, the situation on the pitch suddenly changed!
Rakitić was a little lax with the ball.
Seeing Lance rush up, he didn't pass the ball immediately, but instead tried to show off some fancy footwork to get past Lance.
He never expected Lance's speed to be too fast.
And his positioning was cunning enough.
With a lightning-fast poke of his foot, he nudged the ball away, and at the same time, used his rich experience to squeeze into position, blocking Rakitić behind him!
Without 10 years of defensive experience as a defender, it would be impossible to execute such a smooth tackle!
Barcelona lost the ball at the start!
Bayer Leverkusen created a counter-attacking opportunity in the attacking third!!
"Lance!! Intercepts the ball and passes to De Bruyne!!"
"Barcelona presses up, beautiful!!! De Bruyne, a chipped pass over Busquets, to Lance!"
Outside the box, De Bruyne's chipped pass was equally unexpected.
The moment Lance received the ball, only Iniesta had returned to defend him.
Under the astonished gaze of hundreds of millions of people worldwide, Lance, just outside the box, lightly flicked the ball with his right foot, evading Iniesta's press, and then powerfully struck it with his right foot!
Bang—
A loud bang echoed over Camp Nou!
The ball became a cannonball, blasting towards the goal!
Tiger Shot!
"Lance—it's a goal!!! A world-class strike!!"
"Only 7 seconds into the match!! Lance blasts open Barcelona's goal!! This goal sets a new record for the fastest goal in Champions League history!"
"Bayer Leverkusen leads 1-0 away from home!! With a total score of 3-2, they have the advantage!!"
Huh?!
In the Spain National Television live broadcast room, guest Hierro was still bragging to Puyol about Barcelona's passing and control.
In an instant, they conceded a goal just 7 seconds into the match?!
Hiss—
Hierro and Puyol exchanged glances, seeing the horror in each other's eyes!
No way, is this Asian man a devil?
What's going on!