"Napoli is launching an attack now! Barcelona's shot just now was really close!"

"Barcelona almost scored the opening goal!"

"What a pity! Pedro hesitated a little when he shot, otherwise he wouldn't have been stopped..."

The football is almost in Barcelona's half, but the commentator is still rambling about what just happened.

Earlier, Barcelona launched an effective attack. Xavi and Iniesta passed the ball continuously, while Messi suddenly cut inside on the wing, attracting the attention of Napoli's defense. Pedro on the left wing was temporarily ignored. So Xavi pretended to pass the ball to Messi, but suddenly twisted his body and passed the ball straight into the ribs of the penalty area. Pedro cut in diagonally from the wing and got the ball.

The critical moment came—De Sanctis rushed out almost the moment Xavi passed the ball, abandoning his goal. As for Pedro, he hesitated a little when he received the ball, not shooting directly. When he adjusted and shot again, it was right into De Sanctis's arms! The football went straight into De Sanctis's embrace!

That's how the whole process went.

Many people, like the commentator, were still thinking about this attack. If Pedro had scored this goal, Barcelona would have taken the lead. And in such a major game as the Champions League final, the team that scores first always has the upper hand. Especially the huge psychological advantage would allow Barcelona to play more smoothly. They would firmly control the entire game, and Napoli would have no hope of turning things around.

Barcelona fans were frustrated that Pedro had wasted such a great opportunity. Many people held their heads and looked at the field in disbelief, as if Pedro shouldn't have wasted this opportunity.

Napoli fans patted their chests and breathed a sigh of relief. Some were still making the sign of the cross on their chests, thanking God for his blessing.

Neutral fans were enjoying the performance of both sides in this attack and defense.

"Xavi's pass was awesome! He deserves to be the number one midfield master in football today!"

"Pedro's performance was a bit soft. Did he think the opportunity was too good?"

"De Sanctis's save was awesome! His attack was very timely! If it wasn't for him, Napoli would have fallen behind!"

"Look, look. No matter how Napoli defends, they will still have loopholes in the face of Barcelona's constant passing. Just now, everyone was too concerned about Messi, and let Pedro go. If the game continues like this, I think Napoli will concede a goal sooner or later. They just got lucky this time, but they may not be so lucky next time..."

Even the TV broadcast suddenly cut back to replay Pedro's one-on-one chance... Watching Pedro kick the football into De Sanctis's arms on the screen, many people, like him, leaned back and looked frustrated.

Who would have thought that at this moment, a huge uproar suddenly came from behind the screen.

The slow motion suddenly stopped and switched to the live broadcast of the game.

Napoli's attack had already reached Barcelona's half. This was a very sharp counterattack!

※※※

Cassano switched to the right side this time. He received a long pass directly from the backfield.

He turned around, facing away from the direction of attack, and stopped the football with his chest. Then, without wasting any time, he passed the football directly to Sanchez, who was coming up from behind.

Sanchez didn't dribble the ball either, but passed the football diagonally to the center. At this time, Hamsik had already rushed up.

He received Sanchez's pass in the correct position.

Up to this point, the above scenes were only visible to the audience at the stadium. Viewers in front of the TV were still watching the replay of Pedro's one-on-one chance.

When Hamsik directly transferred the football to the right wing without stopping, a huge uproar sounded in the stadium. Because whether they were frustrated or relieved, everyone realized that something was wrong.

Napoli got the football to Barcelona's thirty-meter area so quickly?

Barcelona was pressing forward just now, how could it be Napoli threatening Barcelona's goal in the blink of an eye?

What about Barcelona's players?

Except for a few defenders, everyone was still desperately running back to defend!

It's conceivable how fast Napoli's counterattack was!

The huge uproar came from this—everyone was shocked by Napoli's fast counterattack and the loopholes in Barcelona's defense!

As soon as the TV screen switched, everyone saw Arshavin receiving the ball.

※※※

The current situation is that Napoli has Cassano, Sanchez, Hamsik, Chen Yingxiong (Chen Hero), and Arshavin on the attack. Everyone else hasn't come up yet, and they are all in their own half.

As for Barcelona, there aren't many people currently defending in their own half. There are only two center backs, Pique and Mascherano, a defensive midfielder, Busquets, and a goalkeeper, Valdes.

Everyone else is still chasing desperately from behind.

Logically speaking, this shouldn't be the case. Barcelona's attack is world-famous, but in reality, their defense is also very strong. However, Barcelona's defense is not the kind of shrinking defense, waiting for the opponent to attack in their own half.

Their defense emphasizes on-the-spot counter-pressing. After losing the ball, they immediately surround and press, usually two or three people surrounding one person and pressing frantically. Under such frantic pressing, few players can control the football well. Hasty passes, even if they are not intercepted by the opponent, waste their good offensive opportunities, because it is almost impossible for such passes to be smooth.

By the time you finally organize the pass, Barcelona has already retreated to the backfield, and the space for attack will naturally be less.

But this time, Napoli didn't give Barcelona any chance to press them in the frontcourt. De Sanctis directly kicked the football to the frontcourt, giving it to Cassano. Next, whether it was Cassano, Sanchez, or Hamsik, none of them held the ball. They all passed it as soon as they received it.

Cassano passed to Sanchez, Sanchez passed to Hamsik, and Hamsik passed to Arshavin. In a few seconds, the football was transferred from the backcourt to the frontcourt, and from the right wing to the left wing.

Barcelona simply had no chance to implement their counter-pressing...

"Arshavin receives the ball!"

"Beautiful transfer, Hamsik's vision is very broad!"

"Napoli has now entered Barcelona's thirty-meter area!"

The commentators quickly threw the previous topic of Pedro's one-on-one chance to Java and shouted in unison.

※※※

Arshavin, after receiving the football, pretended to break through inside, tricking Mascherano, who came up to defend him, into taking a step back, but he kicked the football straight out. He goes on the outside!

Both full-backs rushed up to attack and are now running back like crazy. Currently, the only people really available in the penalty area are Pique and Busquets.

Busquets was originally a defensive midfielder. Seeing that the defense was empty, he had no choice but to retreat into the penalty area and play as a center back. Anyway, he has height, but his heading technique is a bit poor...

But it doesn't matter, Pique is there to compete for headers.

He only needs to... be responsible for interfering.

Their eyes are now only on one person. As for Cassano, who has already cut diagonally into the penalty area, and Hamsik and Sanchez, who have rushed to the edge of the penalty area... they don't care about them.

They are very clear that although they all look down on and despise this person off the field, the person who can pose the greatest threat to them at the moment is only that person.

※※※

In this attack, Chen Yingxiong hasn't touched the ball so far. He has been running. When Cassano ran to the wing to receive the ball, he moved towards Cassano, intending to meet Cassano. However, Cassano did not pass the football to him. He couldn't see him with his back to him...

Cassano directly passed the football back to Sanchez.

When Chen Yingxiong saw this situation, he quickly changed his running route, running back, all the way to the attacking midfielder line. He plans to cooperate with Sanchez. He acts as a wall. Sanchez passes the football to him, and then he inserts forward. He himself then passes the football back.

However, Sanchez didn't take this route. He did see Chen Yingxiong, but perhaps he felt that Chen Yingxiong was facing away from the direction of attack, and he was so far away from the goal, that passing the football to him wouldn't be of much use. Or he thought that passing the football to Hamsik would be more threatening than passing it to Chen Yingxiong.

In short, he passed the football to Hamsik.

Hamsik directly distributed the football to the wing, giving it to Arshavin.

At this time, Chen Yingxiong turned and ran into the penalty area.

He didn't touch the football in this series of runs, and the attack didn't seem to have anything to do with him. But he has to run, this is off-ball movement.

Having worked hard to practice off-ball movement for two seasons, this skill has long been integrated into Chen Yingxiong's body and become his instinct. Many times, he doesn't even need to think about how to run. His body will automatically take him there.

Like this time.

※※※

Arshavin tricked Mascherano, but didn't create an opportunity for himself to break through directly into the penalty area. Mascherano reacted quickly and immediately followed up.

It would be very difficult for him to break through. Although the temptation after the breakthrough is also very great...

He looked up. There is no one in Barcelona's penalty area at the moment, but the vision must be long-term. Everything is moving. No one is there now, but that doesn't mean no one will be there in the next second...

He adjusted his steps and crossed!

At the same time, Chen Yingxiong's right foot stepped onto the edge of the penalty area.

Then he exerted force and pushed off.

Chen Yingxiong jumped up!

※※※

Pique, who had been waiting for Chen Yingxiong to come to the door in the penalty area, was stunned when he saw Chen Yingxiong jump up just as he rushed to the edge of the penalty area.

Because this person's jump... seems a little early?