Star Card System

Dembele's shot caused a burst of exclamations at Old Trafford.

Perrin on the sidelines cursed: "Fxxk! It was so close to scoring."

But Mourinho next to him was not in a hurry: "It doesn't matter, this has just started, and it's still early to decide the winner."

"Dembele is indeed threatening."

"But he is not a big threat, he is a quantitative, not a variable."

Perrin nodded and agreed with Mourinho's statement.

Yes, Dembele's strengths and weaknesses are very obvious, and it is indeed a quantitative.

In addition to the opening shot, he was still very active afterwards.

Running, dribbling, passing, and the frontcourt are all his figures.

But he is still the quantitative in Mourinho's words.

And the real variable in this Barcelona team is Messi.

Dembele is very active, while Messi has been silent.

In the first few minutes of the game, Messi has not performed too well.

He helped his teammates to make the ball in the frontcourt, like a screw.

Even Suarez had a shot outside the penalty area.

But Messi didn't.

Facing Manchester United's retreat, Messi was very calm.

For him, there was no rush.

After all, for a star of his level, it only takes a moment to score a goal.

Manchester United's defense was very stable at the beginning, and Messi didn't have a particularly good opportunity for the time being.

He tried his best to pass the ball in the middle and front court, helping his teammates create opportunities while attracting the attention of the opponent's defense with his reputation.

At the beginning, Dembele had a shot, Suarez also had a burst shot, and Paulinho also inserted a long shot from the back row.

But they were all perfectly saved by De Gea.

In this game, the Spanish goalkeeper still maintained a top competitive state.

Until the 12th minute of the game, Messi suddenly broke out.

Taking the ball on the left, Messi knocked it across the middle.

Iniesta passed the ball back without stopping, and the ball came to Busquets' feet.

Busquets paused for a moment, and before Pogba could steal the ball, he passed it to the left side and passed it back to Messi again.

Messi knocked it sideways again!

At this time, Iniesta had already advanced and landed accurately!

Diagonal pass without stopping the ball!

Messi followed!

A wonderful two-on-one match!

On the left side, Messi received the ball and moved it inside, rushing directly into the penalty area!

Valencia was left behind by him!

At this time, he couldn't kick at all, as long as he kicked, it would be a penalty!

Messi had firmly locked his position!

Central defender Lindelof rushed to steal the ball!

In this game, he replaced Phil Jones, who was suspended for a red card, as a starter. Mourinho took a fancy to his running ability.

But in front of Messi, Lindelof was still too young.

After a fake move, Messi's feet deformed, dribbled the ball to the outside, and passed Lindelof who kicked the ball!

Messi has space to shoot!

Kick, shoot!

De Gea was ready to save the ball, and he concentrated on the last save!

But the ball did not fly to the goal!

He stretched out his foot and directly intercepted the ball!

The ball hit the leg of the Manchester United player and bounced to the midfield!

It was Xia Xing!

At some point, he had already cruised outside the penalty area, and the moment Messi cut inside, he was ready!

A decisive tackle dissolved Messi's shot into thin air!

Wonderful defense!

The ball bounced to the center circle, Matic fought for the ball, and finally, after entanglement with two Barcelona players, the ball hit Busquets' leg and bounced out of the sideline.

Manchester United's out-of-bounds ball.

This Barcelona attack surprised both Barcelona and Manchester United players.

Manchester United players did not expect that Messi actually launched an attack from the left side this time.

Usually Messi is always on the right side. He is a left-footed player. He can create good opportunities by continuously controlling the ball with his left foot and suddenly cutting inside.

Messi's previous wonderful goal of dribbling past several players was mostly scored on the right side.

In this game, Messi actually switched positions with Dembele and went to the left side.

This was unexpected by the Manchester United players.

This was Valverde's tactical arrangement.

He wanted to confuse Manchester United's defense in this way and catch Manchester United off guard.

Their tactics were considered successful.

Messi's advancement on the left side did catch Manchester United's defenders off guard, so they were almost scored.

But the Barcelona players did not expect that the one who finally destroyed this attack was Manchester United's captain Xia Xing!

Xia Xing has been active on the left side, which is even more unshakable.

Even if he occasionally runs in the middle, it is for large-scale running.

Xia Xing is still often on the left side.

But this time he actually ran directly from the left side to the right side and completed a perfect tackle.

What a wonderful defense.

And Xia Xing's next move surprised the Barcelona players.

He gave up his position on the left side and began to defend Messi man-to-man!

This is beyond everyone's expectation!

Since his debut, Xia Xing has never played man-to-man defense.

After all, his characteristic is large-scale running. No matter what level of offensive players, it is not worth spending a top star to take care of them alone.

Especially since Xia Xing also has strong offensive ability, man-to-man defense is really a waste.

But today is a special case.

Since he just blocked Messi's shot, Xia Xing began to turn into a ghost and followed Messi closely.

Never leave!

Man-to-man defense!

Messi had never expected this to happen.

In his past experience, countless defensive players had closely marked him, and there were even cases where a team sent two defensive players to follow Messi.

But today, he was in trouble.

A few minutes later, Barcelona attacked again, and the ball was passed three times and fell twice, and it came to Messi's feet again.

But just as Messi received the ball, someone kicked it instantly!

It was Xia Xing!

Before Paulinho passed the ball, Xia Xing predicted in advance and rushed in front of Messi!

With this advance prediction, Xia Xing blocked the ball at Messi's feet!

Then he used his body to squeeze Messi away, making it impossible for Messi to counter-steal!

This is a rare case of Messi being intercepted!

Three minutes later, Xia Xing's wonderful performance again!

This time it was on the body!

Messi cleverly retreated quickly to receive the ball, then turned and accelerated, trying to pass Xia Xing.

But Xia Xing directly got on the body and squeezed Messi away!

The ball fell to the feet of Manchester United players again!

Continuous passing, Barcelona counter-grabbing, Manchester United's crisis is still not resolved.

Messi began to retreat to the right, and Xia Xing followed closely.

When the ball reached Messi's feet, Messi suddenly accelerated!

For the Argentine genius, his ability to combine man and ball is absolutely world-class!

It is not an exaggeration to say that he is the world's number one at the moment!

But Xia Xing's speed is not slow either!

Catch up quickly, even if he can't steal the ball, Messi has no space to pass or cut inside!

Messi was squeezed away by Xia Xing, and the forced pass was steadily caught by De Gea who attacked!

Manchester United successfully defended again!

This is the third time Xia Xing has successfully defended Messi during this period!

In front of Xia Xing, Messi was completely stared at!

Barcelona is in a stalemate at this moment! (End of this chapter)