Chapter 1 Zhao Gang Prepares to Show His Might

Zhao Gang opened his stat panel again. Advancing in the Champions League had given him a large number of unrestricted system points, plus the system points from the Road to the Ball King, assists, and goals.

This time, all of his attributes were maxed out.

Including shooting, physique, stamina, interception, tackling, heading, dribbling, speed, and set pieces.

This time, Zhao Gang was ready to go all out.

On May 2nd, Manchester City had already arrived in Barcelona as a team.

By the afternoon of the next day, the area around Camp Nou was already exceptionally lively.

Countless Barcelona fans appeared there, wearing their red and blue jerseys, already impatient.

Now that Barcelona had lost Xavi, their midfield control seemed to have declined somewhat, but they were still one of the most powerful teams in world football.

Because their absolute core, Barcelona's iconic figure, was still there.

Messi, the most skilled player in the world.

Competing with midfielders in assists and passing, and with forwards in goals.

In addition, there were two other famous partners, Neymar and Suarez.

Meanwhile, Zhao Gang was not too affected. He was even wondering how Westfalen, without as many people as Camp Nou, had forged the most terrifying home stadium in Europe.

Unfortunately, they were eliminated by Barcelona, otherwise, he could have experienced the passion of Westfalen.

Zhao Gang and Hummels had an agreement that started during the Europa League last season, and this agreement had not been realized for two seasons.

He could only blame Dortmund for being too weak.

When Zhao Gang heard the introduction at the entrance and the not-too-loud boos from Camp Nou, he didn't care.

But if his former teammate Xiluo was there, it would be interesting. This guy would only become more manic when he heard these boos. If he accidentally scored a goal, he would definitely rush into the stands to protest.

The louder you yell, the more excited he gets.

Zhao Gang didn't have that kind of perverse taste, so even if there were boos, he just pretended not to hear them.

The players from both sides stood on the field.

The referee raised his wrist and kept looking at the time.

Finally, the referee blew his whistle.

The Champions League semi-final focus battle officially began!

The sound of Barcelona fans cheering resounded like the sky was falling.

It wasn't like the stadium surrounded the fans, it was more like the fans surrounded the stadium.

The giant wave-like sound came one after another, sweeping across the entire stadium.

The Barcelona players were of course used to it.

This was already their daily routine, where they could unleash even stronger combat power.

The Manchester City players were a little unnatural, because they had been kicked dizzy here last season. Now, hearing the familiar cheers, it was like a ring of fate covering them, making them a little apprehensive.

Manchester City chose sides, and Barcelona kicked off.

The ball went to Busquets' feet.

Busquets looked around left, right, front, and back. Both sides were relatively cautious, after all, it was the Champions League semi-final, and no one wanted to reveal defensive flaws.

Busquets stood there, the ball at his feet, his stance was very similar to that of the century assist when Messi inspected Real Madrid's defense.

Zhao Gang stood not far away. He had taken the initiative to talk to Guardiola about tactics for this game.

He would not only be responsible for passing, but also for shooting at crucial moments.

Most importantly, he would put more attention on defense.

Although Barcelona's midfield had lost Xavi, Busquets and Iniesta were still one of the most powerful combinations in Europe.

Moreover, as teammates, the two cooperated seamlessly and were very tacit.

Once the midfield and forwards played a smooth cooperation, it would be a tragic failure for Manchester City.

Zhao Gang's speed and physical confrontation could restrict Barcelona's midfield.

Especially his current reaction ability, tackling and interception were top-notch, able to see through the opponent's potential passing intentions.

With Fernandinho's cooperation, the two could play a very good interception role in the midfield.

Cutting off the connection between midfield and frontline, and maximizing the threat of the MSN combination.

As soon as Busquets made a move, Zhao Gang stuck to him.

This made Busquets a little uncomfortable. He wanted to find Iniesta, but found Fernandinho following closely, leaving him with no passing route.

As soon as Zhao Gang's confrontation came up, Busquets knew that this kid was not so easy to deal with.

He was experienced and didn't just try to break through Zhao Gang forcefully like Pogba.

Busquets passed back first and slowly organized.

At the same time, Messi and Neymar also began to fall back to support the midfield.

The forwards weren't just fixed there waiting; they had very strong breakthrough and ball-holding abilities, and would immediately support when the midfield was threatened.

And as soon as these two retreated, they almost instantly solved the midfield problem.

It was impossible for Manchester City to besiege and intercept all four of them.

The cooperation between Neymar, Iniesta, and Messi could smoothly bring the ball to the front and look for opportunities.

On the field, after three minutes of confrontation, Manchester City instantly fell into a passive situation.

It was really that Messi, Neymar, Iniesta, and Busquets' personal abilities were too strong. It was difficult for Manchester City to succeed in single defense, so they could only retreat to the backcourt and compress space.

In such a large passing range in the frontcourt, it was impossible for Manchester City to restrict Barcelona's mid-front.

And this passive scene didn't last long.

Manchester City was compressed very tightly, seemingly without much gap.

But Barcelona's front trident was too tacit.

As South American players, they had extraordinary creativity, and once the three of them also understood teamwork, it was simply a disaster.

The opponent's disaster.

In the 15th minute of the game, Messi used his personal ability to dribble all the way on the right, not tall, but very fast.

After a series of feints, he passed the ball to Suarez, and then took Otamendi away.

In order to prevent Suarez and Messi from playing a cooperation, Otamendi could only keep up with Messi's pace.

And Suarez didn't turn around, or even stop the ball, but directly knocked the ball with his back to Neymar, who had moved into the penalty area from the outside!