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Chapter 240 - Chapter 239 The competition has just begun...

45+2nd minute of the match.

Due to Szczęsny's injury delaying the game for a few minutes, the Main Referee added a few extra minutes to the first half.

As a result, within these few minutes of added time, Arsenal suffered another heavy blow!

Barcelona took advantage of the moment of psychological slackness among Arsenal players as the first half was about to end. Xavi suddenly revealed his fangs, sending a through pass to the feet of Iniesta at the edge of the penalty area.

Facing this sudden through pass, Iniesta kicked the ball with his heel, and the football went directly between Koscielny's legs and rolled into the penalty area.

Messi, who had diagonally cut into the penalty area from the right wing, received Iniesta's clever pass and, facing Fabianski with his arms spread, directly took a shot with a slight outward curve.

The football almost grazed the grass, sliding across the ground in a beautiful arc.

Finally, the ball barely went past Fabianski's right fingertips and flew into the bottom left corner of the goal.

Messi scored a goal in the final moments of the first half, completing his personal brace, and also helped Barcelona extend their lead to 3:1, temporarily leading Arsenal by two goals.

At this point, the aggregate score over the two legs was 6:7, with Barcelona only one goal away from turning the tie around!

The suspense of this knockout round reached its peak at this moment...

No one could accurately predict who would have the last laugh after this match.

Barcelona only needed one half to narrow Arsenal's three-goal lead from the first leg to just one goal.

"GOOOOOOOOOOAL!!!"

"Number 10, Lionel Messi!!!"

"Oh my god, it's Messi again! The Argentinian has once again stepped up when the team needed him!"

"Barcelona scored a goal in the final moments of the first half, changing the score to 3:1. Now they are only one goal away from overturning the aggregate score."

"Arsenal is facing a big problem..."

After Messi's brace, the Barcelona fans in the stadium were once again in a frenzy.

On the bullet screen of hanger TV Station's live broadcast room, many comments predicting "Barcelona overturning Arsenal" had already appeared.

[Damn! This is Messi, this is the King of Ball, see? A brace in the first half of a life-and-death match, who else?]

[The real King of Ball has scored a brace, while the fake star has nothing so far... In my opinion, this match is a complete revelation of Fly's true form!]

[Nothing to say, two goals are greater than zero goals, Fly was completely defeated by Messi in this half!]

[Barcelona's comeback today is a foregone conclusion. Fly's first knockout in his Champions League career is about to end in a tragic reversal, how miserable...]

[It is Fly's honor to lose to King Messi. What right does a mere shooter have to compare himself to the great King of Ball?]

[Hehe... The dwarf fans upstairs are already possessed. They don't know that Fly usually starts to exert his strength in the second half. Why are you so anxious? Anyone would think Barcelona is already leading now!]

[Just waiting for Fly to slap these people in the face in the second half. I remember when we were at Emirates Stadium, Barcelona also led first and were finally beaten 6:3. This match is just a copy and paste of the first match...]

As the Main Referee blew the whistle for the end of the first half, the Arsenal and Barcelona players walked into the players' tunnel and returned to the locker rooms.

"Hey... Fly, don't cry after this match, hahahaha!"

"Americans, go home quickly. You are not qualified to play football. You should go play that rough and wild rugby."

"Messi will destroy you, I swear..."

As he entered the players' tunnel, Fly heard the jeers from the stands on both sides.

Although they were currently trailing 1:3, given Fly's personality, he wouldn't tolerate them either.

He made a "7:6" gesture, telling the Barcelona fans that they were still the trailing side, and then walked into the players' tunnel without looking back.

"Damn it... They are already trailing 1:3, yet they are still so arrogant. Who gave him the guts?"

"From now on, I am a lifelong hater of Fly. This is the first time I have seen such an arrogant away player at Camp Nou. It would be a disservice to him if I didn't hate him..."

"He's just a brat who likes to show off on purpose... Compared to the humble Messi, he's nothing!"

Back in the locker room, Wenger looked at the somewhat dejected Arsenal players in front of him, clapped his hands, and encouraged them:

"Kids, you have done very well... Although we have conceded three goals so far, Robin also scored a very beautiful goal."

"1:3, the advantage is still in our hands. We just need to calmly approach the second half, and we can win the match."

"Come on, kids, this is the closest we have ever come to defeating Barcelona. I believe you don't want to repeat the mistakes of the past few seasons, do you?"

As soon as he said this, the Arsenal players seemed to remember something and quickly responded:

"No, let's beat Barcelona!!!"

Fly even beckoned to Fabregas and Wilshere.

"Guys, you know... The second half is my world. Being two goals down now is nothing. I'll need your support then, please..."

Wilshere patted Fly's shoulder and said firmly:

"Fly, I believe in you unconditionally. We have lost to Barcelona several times. We cannot lose this time!"

Fly looked at Fabregas, who was slightly stunned, and then nodded:

"Don't worry, Fly, I know what's important. I won't be emotional..."

After the halftime break, the Main Referee blew the whistle to start the second half, and Arsenal had possession first.

47th minute of the match.

Clichy sent a cross from the wing, the ball was floated into the penalty area, and Abidal cleared it with a header.

Nasri, who won the second ball, faced Busquets, feinted and cut, then curled a shot into the dead corner of the goal from the edge of the penalty area after creating space.

Unfortunately, the shot hit the left post and went out for a goal kick.

49th minute of the match.

Xavi took a sudden long-range shot from 30 meters out, and the ball hit the crossbar and was cleared by Varane.

52nd minute of the match.

Fly received a pass from Wilshere on the left wing, faced the defending Alves, and directly used a pass-and-go to forcefully beat Alves with his speed.

After catching up to the ball, Fly dribbled straight inside, faced Piqué's frontal defense, changed direction twice in quick succession, and then quickly dribbled towards the byline, instantly breaking Piqué's positioning...

Fly, who had dribbled to the byline, swept the ball horizontally into the penalty area. The ball was touched by Abidal's thigh, slightly changing its trajectory and going to the right side of the penalty area. Nasri, who was pushing forward, just happened to receive the ball.

Then, with Maxwell interfering from behind, he took a shot, and the ball hit Busquets' calf in the crowd, deflected, and flew into the goal.

Arsenal 2:3 Barcelona, pulling one back!

The aggregate score between the two sides also reached 8:6, with Arsenal temporarily leading by two goals!

"GOOOOOOOOOOAL!!!"

"Oh my god... Barcelona's defensive midfielder Busquets made a mistake. He actually deflected Nasri's shot into his own goal. This is truly a huge, huge own goal!"

"According to the confirmation from the technical staff on site, this goal is an own goal, an own goal from Busquets. Oh my god... Could it be that even god favors Arsenal?"

"Of course, before this goal, we have to admire Fly's stylish performance on Barcelona's right wing, where he can do whatever he wants..."

"From Barcelona's entire right wing to the central defense, no one could stop him."

"With just a very simple pass-and-go, Fly completely destroyed Alves, one of the best right-backs in the world today!"

"Piqué behind him was still as helpless against Fly as in the previous match. The Spaniard had tried his best, but Fly only needed two very simple changes of direction and dribbles to easily shake off his defensive position."

"A masterpiece of aesthetic peak with extreme explosive speed and rhythm changes. With these two things, Fly has defeated countless strong teams!"

"When a lightning man who can run 100 meters in under 9.7 seconds can also change direction as easily as Lionel Messi, it is simply a nightmare for defenders."

"Fly has made his response. Barcelona still needs to continue attacking. They are still two goals away from achieving a comeback!"

Nasri found that his desperate shot had accidentally rolled into the goal, and he was completely hyped up...

Mimicking Van Persie's celebration, the Frenchman also went to the corner flag area and did a slide celebration.

"Wow, Bro, you are amazing. Thank you for stepping up at the crucial moment..."

Fly, uncharacteristically, sincerely praised his teammate.

Nasri was a bit unaccustomed to hearing the 'Crown Prince' talk like this, but he still nodded excitedly.

"Fly, the rest is up to you. I know that after 60 minutes, it's your world..."

"Don't worry, we will definitely qualify, I swear!"

Unlike the passionately celebrating Arsenal players, Barcelona was a bit dejected.

Especially the culprit, Busquets, who was lying on the grass at this time and didn't want to get up...

Scoring an own goal at a crucial moment when the team was trying to catch up was too damaging to morale!

"Sergio (Busquets), get up quickly, don't be discouraged. This is just an accident. We still have enough time to turn the match around. Believe in yourself, believe in your teammates..."

Xavi pulled up Busquets and offered comfort.

In the eyes of the 'Brain', this conceded goal was full of coincidences, and it would be difficult for Arsenal to replicate it.

The situation on the field was still in Barcelona's favor, and that was enough.

Both sides' players knew that the match had just begun...

It was still anyone's guess who would qualify.

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