After listening to Messi's request, Guardiola didn't immediately agree with him readily, but fell into deep thought.

Guardiola wasn't Martin O'Neill. Their coaching philosophies were different, and the cards they held in their hands were also different.

Although everyone said that Guardiola, like O'Neill, sacrificed the interests of the rest of the team to make a star.

But Guardiola felt that his Barcelona hadn't reached the point of Liverpool. Moreover, after taking over the team again, he was consciously trying not to highlight Messi too much. He hoped that this group of players in Barcelona would not develop a Messi dependency—look, from this point of view, he was indeed different from O'Neill. O'Neill couldn't wait for the whole team to rely on Chen Hero, while Guardiola did the opposite.

He hoped that Barcelona would be a whole, not a team composed of Messi plus twenty or so random people.

He emphasized the team's cooperation, and it had been like this since he first coached Barcelona.

Even for Messi, who was very capable of scoring goals, you could see that he had more than ten assists to his teammates in a single season. In this regard, Messi had never been a selfish person.

He was completely different from that Ronaldo of Real Madrid and Chen Hero of Liverpool.

Messi had fewer shots but more goals than them, which also showed that he wasn't that kind of selfish person.

He never expected that Messi would come to him now and tell him that he wanted unlimited firing rights and wanted to be more selfish…

Modifying the tactics wasn't difficult. Everyone would pass the ball to Messi, and then just watch Messi perform. The question was whether doing so was correct.

Messi knew what Guardiola was hesitating about, and he said, "I guarantee that I won't completely put personal interests above the interests of the whole team, Pep. When the team needs me to be selfless, I will be selfless. I just hope that when we are sure of victory, or when the situation hasn't reached that point, I can be allowed to be a little selfish…"

"Only in the Champions League?" Guardiola asked.

Messi shook his head: "No. All matches."

"But isn't he competing with you for the Champions League Golden Boot?"

"This is total war, Pep."

When he said this, Messi's eyes flickered with a pleading light.

Obviously, he cared very much about the contest with Chen Hero, even though he had always pretended to be indifferent…

The pleading look in Messi's eyes stunned Guardiola for a moment—how long had it been since he had seen such a Messi?

With Messi's fame and his soaring status in football, as well as his increasing age, he was becoming more and more like a world-class superstar. He was becoming more and more confident, believing that he was the best and the best player in the world. Yes, many people thought Messi was humble and low-key, but that was because they didn't know that Messi was actually very arrogant in his heart, except that he didn't choose to express it in extreme ways like Ronaldo and Chen Hero.

The arrogant and confident Messi believed that no one in the world could stop him. He was now only one World Cup champion away from being formally crowned king and becoming the third recognized king in world football.

How could such a confident person show such a weak expression?

Guardiola had only occasionally seen it very early on, when Messi had not yet become the number one in the world. At that time, he was relatively weak. He would cry bitterly and almost collapse in the locker room after losing the game—this had even become a handle for his opponents to mock and humiliate him.

But now, Guardiola had never seen Messi shed a tear again. Even if he lost an important game, even if the media blamed him for the loss, he would just clench his lips and stubbornly face the failure alone.

It was precisely because he already possessed such qualities that Guardiola felt relieved to let Messi be the leader of the team. Because he believed that Messi was not just a talented player, but also a qualified leader.

To be able to make such a strong leader show a pleading look, Chen Hero… was indeed not simple…

He couldn't bear to disappoint Messi, he cared for Messi like his own child, carefully protecting him.

He thought about it, and the current situation was indeed quite cruel for Messi. Chen Hero could get the unconditional support of the entire Liverpool team. All the Liverpool players were like they had been brainwashed. Not a single one expressed dissatisfaction with Martin O'Neill's indulgence of Chen Hero, but instead went out of their way to help Chen Hero. They were helping him at all costs.

On the other hand, Messi was really fighting alone. He himself hadn't provided Messi with much help in terms of tactics. On the contrary, sometimes he even asked Messi to shoulder more responsibilities, even including defense…

In comparison, Chen Hero was truly happy.

He didn't have to defend at all. He didn't have to do anything but score goals. He only needed to run to a place, and then someone would bring the ball to him. It was almost like the state of "food served to his mouth and clothes handed to him."

It was no wonder Messi felt wronged. Liverpool was using the strength of the whole team to help Chen Hero reach the top, but Messi hadn't received such support. He would naturally think, if he also got the support of the whole team, how could Chen Hero be so rampant?

Guardiola also felt that it was unfair to Messi. This was an unequal competition.

And to be honest, he didn't want Chen Hero to win either. Because that person was a typical villain who would become rampant as soon as he gained power. His aversion to Chen Hero came from the inconsistency of the two sides' philosophies. He couldn't appreciate people like Chen Hero, even if he could score more goals, he wouldn't have the idea of digging Chen Hero to Barcelona.

Letting such a person win was not only Barcelona's failure, but also a disgrace to football!

Guardiola nodded.

"Okay, I promise you, Leo. You can have unlimited firing rights, and you don't have to frequently come back to participate in defense. Just use your best way to keep scoring goals."

※※※

When Messi left Guardiola's place, he had a smile on his face. He was satisfied.

With the support of the coach, there was nothing to hold him back in terms of tactics.

He could devote himself wholeheartedly to the competition with Chen Hero.

Not only in the Champions League, but also in the league and the Copa del Rey, he had to keep scoring goals. He would never allow his record of seventy-six total goals in a single season to last only one season! Otherwise, he would become the biggest laughingstock in international football!

People would only remember him as a loser, a poor fellow who was only successful for one season.

And Chen Hero would be on top of him, bossing him around, enjoying the praise and cheers of others.

People would only remember the creator of the new record, and how many would remember the holder of the old record?

Messi didn't want to be Chen Hero's foil.

He couldn't tolerate this scene happening.

Now he had scored thirty goals in La Liga, two more than Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid.

But this didn't satisfy him. Because Chen Hero had scored forty, a full ten more than him!

In terms of total goals in all competitions, he currently had fifty-one, which was also thirteen goals less than Chen Hero.

The gap was obvious, but Messi wasn't worried. On the contrary, he was full of confidence. Because he had the support of the coach and the whole team. Barcelona would use the strength of the whole team to help him, and he didn't believe he could still lose to Chen Hero.

The former Messi was like he was playing football with lead blocks tied to his legs. He was never able to exert his full strength, and falling behind Chen Hero was also a helpless move. Now he had shaken off all the burdens, was lightly armed, and the power that had been suppressed for a long time would explode completely.

A gap of thirteen goals, wasn't it just a few games?

On this point, Messi was still quite confident in himself.

※※※

The Spanish and other foreign media that reported on La Liga soon discovered that Barcelona's tactics were slightly different from before.

Although it hadn't changed from Barcelona to Real Madrid, it was still different from before.

That was that Messi had gotten more shooting opportunities.

At first, everyone didn't pay much attention when watching the game.

But when the media released the technical statistics of the game after the game, everyone discovered the clues.

Messi's number of shots was the highest in the team, five more than Pedro, who was second.

In addition, the number of passes Messi gave to his teammates dropped sharply.

"This scene is a bit familiar…"

A reporter who was analyzing the game by watching the game video muttered. In the picture on the TV screen, Messi appeared raising his hand to ask everyone for the ball. Soon Pedro, who was holding the ball, passed the ball to him, and then he directly dribbled the ball into the penalty area…

"It's like the whole of Barcelona is serving Messi alone… Messi is like the sun, and other Barcelona players are orbiting around him…" a print media reporter wrote on the manuscript.

"Messi is a bit selfish. Even if a teammate had a better position than him in this game, he didn't choose to pass the ball, but tried to shoot. Although Barcelona eventually won the game relying on their strong strength, I think Guardiola should carefully investigate what happened within the team…" A fan was quickly typing on the keyboard on the online BBS, writing down his views on the game. He was a football commentator who was quite famous in the online world. Every article of his would be sought after by many netizens and had many fans. Of course, he was also a staunch Barcelona fan.

……

The print media reporter who was writing the manuscript suddenly took his hand off the keyboard and slapped his forehead.

Damn, how could I forget?

Isn't this the treatment that Chen Hero enjoys at Liverpool?!