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The Barcelona team bus drove into the Calderón.
Messi, dressed in a suit and carrying a bag, walked down quickly with an expressionless face.
Reporters, photographers, and fans were all blocked outside by security.
Still, many reporters shouted loudly to attract Messi's attention.
"Messi! Messi! Will you win today?"
"Messi, can we have an interview?"
Messi ignored them, walking forward with his head down, only his brows tightly furrowed.
No wonder, he was the player with the most Ballons d'Or, recognised as the world's best before Lance appeared.
What's wrong with being a bit of a superstar?
Neymar, behind him, was in good spirits, not at all nervous about the Atlético Madrid match.
He walked down chewing gum, even taking the time to sign an autograph for a fan.
"Neymar, are you confident about today's match? How is Barcelona's form?"
Neymar smiled faintly at the camera:
"Of course, I'm confident. We Barcelona haven't lost yet. Atlético Madrid is strong, Lance is strong, but I believe we will easily defeat them."
MSN's form was indeed good.
In the first 14 rounds, Messi, Suárez, and Neymar were all on the top scorers list.
Messi had 10 goals, Suárez 7 goals, and Neymar 6 goals.
In any other league, Messi's goal-scoring efficiency would be enough to top the scoring charts.
However, looking at the current La Liga top scorers list, Lance was far ahead with 16 goals!
Messi and Neymar combined only had as many goals as Lance.
Perhaps this was one of the reasons for Messi's expressionless face.
Atlético Madrid was hot on their heels, Lance repeatedly created famous moments, and more than half of all La Liga's attention was drawn to Lance.
Coupled with Lance's "Barcelona nemesis" halo, Messi simply couldn't be happy.
After the interview, Neymar quickly caught up, putting his arm around Messi's shoulders.
"Leo, don't walk so fast."
"I'm not."
Messi responded flatly, his pace still not slowing.
Neymar was already used to it.
Whenever Messi mentioned Lance, he would get this unapproachable look.
"Don't bother him, let him be for a bit."
Iniesta stopped Neymar.
"But I'm worried..."
"It's okay, once we get to the stadium, he'll definitely find his form."
Iniesta had been with Messi for so many years that he knew Messi better than his own wife.
With just a look from Messi, Iniesta could understand his thoughts.
"Alright."
Neymar sighed softly, hoping Messi could really adjust his form.
Today was a crucial battle for Barcelona, a six-point match.
The only one who could contend with Lance was Messi...
"This pivotal match of La Liga Round 15 is about to begin, and both teams' players have entered the pitch!"
At 2:55 AM, the commentator's voice rang out from the television.
Countless fans had already set their alarms and woken up to watch this important "Spanish National Derby 2.0"!
The viewership ratings for CCTV5 surged late at night, at one point surpassing many popular prime-time programmes.
Fans were eagerly counting down the days for this day to arrive.
The football forums, Douban Lance group, Lance Bar, and Weibo were all buzzing with excitement.
"Oh no, I'm so nervous!"
"Can we win today? Barcelona seems to be in great form."
"Believe in God Lance!"
"If Atlético Madrid can't win, no one in the world can beat Barcelona, so let's believe!"
"Go, God Lance!"
Everyone was still quite anxious.
The outcome of today's match was really hard to predict.
The odds were also quite close.
Home win 1.78, draw 2.76, away win 2.01.
As the players entered the pitch, close-up shots constantly switched between star players like Lance, Messi, Neymar, Griezmann, and Suárez.
Lance and Messi had the longest screen time.
When the two lined up to shake hands, the director also specifically gave a close-up shot.
Unfortunately, there wasn't much of a story.
Lance and Messi both shook hands normally.
Lance still had a faint, almost imperceptible smile, whilst Messi's brows were tightly furrowed, looking deeply troubled.
"Is he really okay?"
Barcelona manager Luis Enrique was very concerned about the team's absolute core.
His pressure must be immense.
"Don't worry, we have to believe in Leo."
...
"Let's first look at the starting lineups for both teams before the match."
"Both sides have fielded their main lineups."
Atlético Madrid 4-4-2
Goalkeeper: Oblak
Defenders: Juanfran, Giménez, Godín, Filipe Luís
Midfielders: Saúl, Gabi, Koke, Griezmann
Forwards: Torres, Lance
Barcelona 4-3-3
Goalkeeper: Ter Stegen
Defenders: Alves, Piqué, Mascherano, Alba
Midfielders: Busquets, Rakitić, Iniesta
Forwards: Messi, Suárez, Neymar
"The two teams have faced each other 156 times in La Liga, with Barcelona winning 69, drawing 37, and losing 50, giving them a relative advantage."
"In the past 10 encounters, Barcelona has remained unbeaten against Atlético Madrid. Last season, they defeated Atlético Madrid twice in the league."
When reading these statistics before the match, the commentator also felt a pang of worry for Atlético Madrid.
In the past, Barcelona had an absolute advantage over Atlético Madrid; Atlético Madrid had never won a match.
Barcelona could be considered Atlético Madrid's strictest father.
However, Barcelona also had its own strict father.
"Of course, since Lance joined Atlético Madrid, the team has also made a qualitative leap."
"To date, Lance remains unbeaten against Barcelona, eliminating Barcelona in the knockout stages for two consecutive seasons, earning him the title of 'Barcelona nemesis' from European media."
"Perhaps Lance's presence today can help Atlético Madrid turn the tide and achieve their first victory..."
The 60,000 fans at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium thought the same.
Before Lance arrived, Atlético Madrid struggled to win.
Today, Lance would definitely be the key.
"Lance—"
"Lance—"
"Lance—"
The shouts of tens of thousands of people at the scene converged into a huge roar that soared into the sky, as if to make the entire city of Madrid hear it.
Lance was initially full of confidence, having prepared for today's match for a long time.
He vowed to overtake Barcelona and claim the top spot in the league table!
However, when Lance stepped onto the pitch, and habitually equipped today's template, Lance suddenly froze.
"Wait a minute? What's going on?"
Template Equipment Slot 1: Empty
Template Equipment Slot 2: Empty
Sub-template Slot: Empty
Assist Template Slot: Empty
Oh my goodness!
Damn it!
"Lance, are you okay? You look off."
The observant Torres immediately noticed Lance's change in expression.
Torres was already standing over the ball, ready to kick off at any moment.
"Don't worry, I'm fine. I just felt like sneezing."
To avoid affecting his teammates' confidence, Lance casually brushed it off.
But internally, he was anxiously trying to equip the template.
The referee already had the whistle in his mouth, watching the hands on his wristwatch tick, ready to start the match at any moment.
The fans in the stadium also excitedly counted down in unison.
In his frantic state, the system seemed to have frozen, not moving at all.
Normally, Lance wouldn't need to do much operation.
The system's equipment slots would automatically apply the configuration from the previous match.
But Lance, to train himself, had removed the equipment slots in the past few matches, relying entirely on his own strength to play.
And precisely in such a crucial match, the system froze, can you believe it?
With templates like Bachira Meguru and Hyuga Kojiro, playing against Barcelona wouldn't be a big problem.
Without template buffs, the difficulty suddenly skyrocketed!
From a normal ARPG (action role-playing game), it escalated to the highest difficulty of a soul-like game.
It was like a first playthrough of Black Monkey, without levelling up or allocating points, going directly to challenge the hidden boss Yang Jian.
How was he supposed to play like this?!
Lance didn't have time to figure out what was wrong with the system, the referee had already blown the whistle!
"Ding—"
Beep—
Accompanying the whistle was a barely audible notification sound.
Unfortunately, Lance couldn't pay attention to that now!
Torres tapped the ball, Lance received the ball and passed it back!
"CCTV, CCTV!"
"Dear viewers, you are now watching a match from the 15th round of the 2015/16 Spanish La Liga."
"Currently, La Liga's second-placed Atlético Madrid is hosting the league leaders, Barcelona!"
"The match has begun!"