"Hello, Eric."
In the administrative area of Camp Nou in Barcelona, Gao Shen met with the core management of Barça.
Gao Shen personally led the team, and as president of Barcelona, Bartomeu hosted a banquet to entertain him. Afterwards, in the administrative area, Gao Shen was introduced to many of Barcelona's current core executives, including Eric Abidal.
This former French international and cancer survivor had played for Monaco and Olympiacos after leaving Barcelona. After retiring and taking a break, he began working in Barcelona's management.
In 2018, he officially became Barcelona's sporting director, fully responsible for the team's transfer operations.
However, many of his transfers over the past two years have been heavily criticized.
In reality, this appointment is more symbolic. It's difficult to say how much real power Abidal holds within Barcelona's management structure.
It's fair to say that, outside of Barcelona, no one truly knows what's going on inside the club.
For example, few people know that while Abidal was serving as sporting director, Barcelona also brought in Getafe's former sporting director, Ramon Planes, a 53-year-old Spaniard, whose position at Barcelona was director of professional football.
Before Abidal took over, the sporting director role had always been held by vice president Jordi Mestre, who also attended the banquet hosted by Bartomeu for Gao Shen and his entourage.
Abidal, however, was not even qualified to attend.
This doesn't necessarily prove anything. It simply highlights how complex Barcelona's internal power structure is.
Even if Abidal does hold power, with Barcelona's current financial condition, how much can he really accomplish?
"I hope tonight will be a great match," Abidal said with a smile as he shook hands with Gao Shen.
"I hope so."
Before the match, both parties met and were all very courteous, showing no hostility at all.
At dinner, Bartomeu even discussed potential collaborations with Gao Shen. Barcelona was very interested in many of Gao Shen's business ventures.
The problem now was that these advanced services were expensive.
Unfortunately for Barcelona, Gao Shen's company was the only one in the European football world offering these kinds of services. They were the first to explore this new path.
More importantly, with Leeds United, Real Madrid, and PSG currently performing so well, their management teams had proven their capabilities. They would surely capitalize on this first wave and had no intention of lowering prices.
Gao Shen was still cautious about working with Barcelona.
Because he was still in the brand-building phase, and everyone knew how chaotic things were at Barcelona right now.
No matter how advanced the equipment is, it can't compensate for the damage caused by incompetent management.
...
Amid the cheers of nearly 100,000 Barcelona fans at Camp Nou, the two teams entered the pitch one after the other.
Tonight's referee was Damir Skomina from Slovenia.
Barcelona's starting lineup was a bit odd, especially when they took their positions and prepared to kick off.
The goalkeeper was Neto, the Brazilian who joined Barcelona from Valencia for €30 million in the summer of 2019. He had performed well at Valencia but had been underwhelming at Barcelona.
The back line consisted of Alba, Lenglet, Pique, and Semedo.
This was also their current first-choice backline.
Bellerin, whom they had signed from Leeds United for a high fee, currently ranked behind Semedo in the pecking order.
The midfield featured Busquets sitting deep, with Frenkie de Jong and Sergi Roberto.
That was one of the more unexpected decisions.
The front three were Griezmann, Aguero, and Messi.
But as they lined up for kickoff, Messi and Aguero stood in the center circle, Griezmann on the left side, Roberto on the right, and Busquets and De Jong positioned like a double pivot.
"Setién is clearly very wary of our flank attacks," Borrell said with a smile as he leaned closer to Gao Shen.
"That's normal. Our wing play is among the best in Europe," Gao Shen replied.
Leeds United were known for their strength in wide areas.
Setién had rested players like Felipe Anderson and Coutinho for this match, aiming to neutralize Leeds United's flank attacks at home. Otherwise, Barcelona's defense would be in serious danger.
If Leeds United scored first, it would be a major problem.
And looking at the lineup, Pochettino clearly hadn't held anything back.
Goalkeeper: Alisson.
Defense: Alphonso Davies, Ruben Dias, Militao, and Achraf Hakimi.
Midfield: Declan Rice as the holding midfielder, Bruno Fernandes and Valverde in central midfield.
Forwards: Vinicius, Haaland, and Sancho.
If there was a breakout player at Leeds United this season, it would undoubtedly be Alphonso Davies, the young left-back who had firmly established himself and put in excellent performances.
His only issue was that he was strong offensively but weak defensively.
Valverde had also emerged this season, becoming increasingly consistent and now a core presence in midfield.
And there was no need to say much about the attacking trio. Vinicius, Haaland, and Sancho were all young, fast, explosive, and had exceptional individual ability.
Leeds United's choice of lineup already showed their intent.
They were going all-out in attack at Camp Nou.
...
With Skomina's whistle, the match officially began.
Aguero and Messi tapped the ball back to Busquets.
But the moment he received the ball, Leeds United's front three — Haaland, Sancho, and Vinicius — pressed forward immediately. Bruno Fernandes and Valverde also stepped up aggressively toward the midfield line.
The front three pressured the ball carrier, while the second line cut off the passing lanes.
Leeds United's pressing structure was tight, and it forced a passing mistake from Busquets almost instantly.
The ball was intercepted by Leeds United at the halfway line.
After winning possession, Leeds quickly strung together a few one-touch passes, and Sancho received the ball before switching play to the left wing.
Alphonso Davies burst forward with pace, dribbling the ball at top speed.
"Leeds United's counterattack is lightning fast."
"Barcelona's players are retreating quickly, but Leeds United's attackers are charging forward with momentum."
"Alphonso Davies' run down the left is being supported by his teammates from the front, middle, and back."
Just 15 seconds into the game, Leeds United had already broken into Barcelona's penalty area from the left.
The entire Camp Nou gasped in shock.
Barcelona had lost the ball too early, and Leeds United's counterattack was overwhelming.
As Alphonso Davies received the ball on the left, Vinicius had already made a diagonal run into the left side of the box. Haaland in the center and Sancho at the far post were also entering the penalty area.
Leeds United's front three were devastating on the counter.
Alphonso Davies saw that Semedo had tracked back, so he slowed down and brought the ball into the box.
Just as Sancho entered the penalty area, Alphonso Davies suddenly accelerated to the byline, tricked Semedo, and cut the ball back toward the top of the box with his left foot.
Bruno Fernandes arrived from deep, met the pass first-time without taking a touch, and fired a powerful shot.
The strike was of extremely high quality. The ball flew like a cannonball and blasted into the left side of Barcelona's goal.
"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!
!
!
"
20 seconds!
"Leeds United have scored just 20 seconds into the match."
"A powerful shot from Bruno Fernandes on the edge of the box."
"1-0!"
Bruno Fernandes turned and sprinted off to celebrate, with his teammates chasing after him.
The Camp Nou was filled with gasps of disbelief from the Barcelona supporters.
Then came a deafening chorus of boos.
...
Gao Shen sat in the stands and turned to look around. Everyone was stunned.
Including himself.
No one had expected a goal to come so quickly.
Just 20 seconds.
Many guests were still finding their seats when the goal was scored.
Camp Nou isn't the Amazon Arena. There's no giant circular display, and many fans couldn't even see what had happened before the scoreboard changed.
Referee Skomina had already signaled the goal.
20 seconds!
Who would believe it?
Gao Shen noticed that Barcelona's executives, including Bartomeu, were in shock, which he found rather amusing.
Leeds United's preparations for this match had clearly been more meticulous and targeted.
For instance, the way they forced the turnover from Busquets in midfield was obviously premeditated.
Haaland led the press, while the others blocked passing lanes but deliberately left one gap, drawing Busquets in. Then Valverde intercepted and launched the attack.
It was a well-executed defensive setup.
By contrast, Barcelona's preparations were clearly lacking.
They probably still wanted to control possession at home and slowly play their game against Leeds United.
But Leeds didn't play by the rules. They struck hard from the start, catching Barcelona completely off guard and capitalizing with a goal.
"These kids are incredible!" Lucas couldn't help but exclaim.
"This is just the beginning!" Borrell was even more excited. "Give it a year or two, and when you look back, these kids will definitely amaze you. I'm really confident about that."
Their talent and potential were already evident. Leeds United had developed them well and given them plenty of minutes. Now they were growing rapidly.
In this situation, aside from injuries or illnesses, what could possibly stop these kids from succeeding?
"I feel like tonight's match is going a little too smoothly," Borrell joked, though there was a hint of pride in his voice.
Gao Shen and Lucas both laughed and swore at him.
But the truth was, scoring a goal in just 20 seconds was the absolute best start.
If Leeds United could maintain this momentum and beat Barcelona 3-0, 4-0, or even 5-0 tonight, it wouldn't be out of the question.
(To be continued.)