"If Barcelona plays this laid-back tonight, we might even be able to score double digits against them."
On the evening of February 16th, at Camp Nou in Barcelona, Gao Shen stood in the VIP box stands, holding onto the railing and watching the match on the pitch, speaking calmly and confidently.
At this moment, the highly anticipated match had just kicked off.
The international referee from the Netherlands, Bjorn Kuipers, had just blown the opening whistle.
The reason Gao Shen dared to say something so bold at the very beginning of the match—something that would shock countless people—was not because Leeds United thrashed Barcelona 9-0 at this stadium last season and hoped to surpass that this season.
That kind of thing doesn't happen in football. Football scorelines are never the result of simple calculations.
The key reason was that Barcelona did not show any fighting spirit right from the start.
What did that mean?
When Haaland passed the ball to Declan Rice, who then controlled it and returned it to Militão, it became very clear that Barcelona's players were pressing up extremely slowly.
Gao Shen noticed something: when Militão received the ball, he paused for a second or two, as if taken aback.
At that moment, Messi, who was the furthest forward for Barcelona, had just crossed the halfway line and was pressing Rice.
There was no pressure on the entire defensive line from Barcelona.
This was completely unacceptable.
Forget about a team like Barcelona, even in the current Premier League, no side would dare adopt this kind of passive approach.
Not only was the pace slow, the match also felt entirely pressure-free.
So, we saw Militão trap the ball, then stand and wait for Messi to slowly approach before calmly playing it to Rúben Dias.
Interestingly, halfway through Messi's press, as soon as the ball was passed to Rúben Dias, Messi changed direction.
From the VIP stands, Gao Shen could clearly see that Barcelona were defending in a 4-1-4-1 formation.
That is, the four defenders plus Busquets, Griezmann, and Felipe Anderson dropping back to form a midfield four with Pjanić and Frenkie de Jong, while Messi roamed freely up front.
But this was a very strange setup.
Because of it, Barcelona couldn't apply any meaningful pressure on Leeds United's midfield or backline.
Everyone knows Messi is already 33 years old. You expect him to attack, orchestrate play, and press non-stop?
Is that realistic?
"I suspect Koeman's tactics are primarily defensive, aiming to stabilize the midfield and backline, while letting Messi roam freely up top," Wenger speculated.
Ferguson shook his head. "That's slow suicide."
Who could argue with that?
If you're that deep and defensive, isn't it basically a counterattacking setup?
And they even gave up possession.
"Barcelona's problems are obvious now. The midfield lacks the ability to win the ball, and the players aren't running. That's a serious issue. If no one runs, the team can't operate as a unit."
Wenger shook his head, clearly puzzled. "Barcelona used to create numerical superiority in small areas through constant movement, then break down defenses with intricate short-passing combinations."
Back then, teams facing Barcelona had no choice but to defend desperately.
But now, Barcelona has voluntarily given up the ball. Isn't that absurd?
"Koeman is swinging from one extreme to another," Ferguson sighed.
Gao Shen chuckled. "Don't you regret retiring too early?"
Ferguson and Wenger, along with Carlo and the others around them, burst into laughter.
Everyone knew Ferguson had taken his fair share of beatings from Barcelona back in the day.
"Koeman probably had no choice. Their midfield just can't press anymore, and they still have to worry about our attacking trident." Gao Shen confidently pointed to the pitch. "Especially Haaland. I think Koeman just didn't trust Lenglet and Piqué to handle him."
Even in a two-on-one situation, Haaland still held the upper hand.
This was still the Champions League knockout stage.
"This is the biggest difference between Leeds United and Barcelona tactically right now," Wenger analyzed.
"Barcelona are completely disjointed. They're not a unit anymore. In contrast, Leeds United are pressing high with a fully coordinated team. The front three, with Haaland spearheading the attack, are like the arrowhead of the whole squad pushing forward in sync."
"To be honest, I don't think much of Barcelona anymore."
Wenger paused briefly, then added, "Even if they try to feel things out in the first half, their lack of intensity will only become more obvious as the game goes on, especially physically."
No one expected Barcelona to be so conservative in this game.
How conservative were they?
Leeds United themselves were caught off guard, not even sure whether to press aggressively.
It felt like the classic "empty city strategy."
Everyone had expected a brutal, hard-fought battle. The fact that the match started like this left them disoriented.
How absurd was it?
Just over three minutes in, Haaland drifted left into the attacking third to receive the ball. After taking possession, he skillfully dribbled laterally toward the center, entering the left edge of the penalty arc before laying it back for Valverde.
The Uruguayan midfielder charged forward and unleashed a powerful shot.
It went just over the bar.
The shot wasn't outrageous. Haaland's dribbling wasn't unbelievable either. The outrageous part was that there were four Barcelona defenders around him, and not one of them stepped up to challenge Haaland or even made contact.
It was as if they were defending with their eyes, just watching him go past.
"Something very serious must be going on in this team," Ferguson said with absolute certainty.
Otherwise, there was no reason for them to play with such a complete lack of fight.
Even if the players were tired, this level of effort was unacceptable.
"It seems Messi will be a free agent after this season," Gao Shen said, though he wasn't completely sure.
The media reports were chaotic and full of conflicting information. No one really knew what was going on.
This was also one of the problems Gao Shen now faced.
Before, as a transmigrator, he could roughly piece things together using his memories and current events.
But now, that advantage was slipping away.
He didn't even know for certain whether Messi would leave Barcelona on a free this summer.
As a result, he couldn't figure out what exactly was going wrong within the Barcelona camp.
Some outlets said Messi would leave on a free. Others claimed Barcelona were trying to renew his deal. Messi himself had said he wanted to stay. Based on all the signs, he seemed motivated to stay at Barcelona.
But who really knew the truth?
...
In the 12th minute, Barcelona created a decent chance.
Frenkie de Jong released a ball from the right side of the penalty area. Felipe Anderson cut inside and fired a shot.
But all the angles were blocked by Rúben Dias and the charging Alisson. The shot went straight into the goalkeeper's arms. No threat.
This is what Wenger meant when he said Barcelona were playing a one-man game.
In today's tactical era, if you fight alone, you'll always be isolated. There's no team structure.
Modern professional football is built around systems. If you don't play as a team and always rely on individuals, no matter how strong you are, even someone like peak Messi can't carry the team alone.
At that moment, a small incident occurred on the pitch.
Barcelona attacked down the left. Griezmann received the ball and tried to push the tempo, making a direct run forward. But from behind, Piqué shouted something, seemingly wanting to slow things down.
The attack ended up fizzling out.
As the players walked back, it was clear that Piqué was yelling at Griezmann, who was ahead of him.
Though it wasn't clear what he said, his expression and gestures weren't friendly.
He was probably saying something unpleasant involving Griezmann's family.
Griezmann reacted angrily. He clearly wasn't holding back either.
It wasn't just a brief exchange. The two kept going back and forth until Busquets stepped in to separate them.
This exposed Barcelona's biggest current issue.
Everyone knew exactly what the problems were. The disagreement was in how to fix them.
Piqué and Busquets wanted to maintain ball control. Griezmann and others believed that since they couldn't control possession anyway, they might as well play faster.
Barcelona struggled against fast-paced teams now.
But players like Piqué and Busquets were offended by that. They were old and couldn't run anymore. If the team played a high-tempo game, it would be unbearable for them.
Was the plan to run them into the ground?
These internal conflicts weren't new. The media had reported on them many times. Players even brought them up in interviews, though phrased differently.
All of that had now exploded onto the pitch.
It was unlikely that the live broadcast would have shown it, as it happened off the ball. The TV feed probably cut to a slow-motion replay of Barcelona's previous attack. So they would have missed it.
But in the stadium, Gao Shen and the others saw it all clearly.
When morale is low, leading a team becomes incredibly difficult.
When the team is performing and everyone's at their peak, all is well. But when results dip, finances tighten, and the players are aging and declining, what can be done?
Problems start to surface one after another.
Squad overhaul is always easier said than done. It involves many complications.
Gao Shen understood that very well.
Just like when he first managed Real Madrid. Wasn't it the same story?
But now, Barcelona seemed to be doing even worse than Real Madrid was back then. Many things might even end in total disgrace.
As for this match, judging from the first ten minutes or so, Barcelona was destined to lose.
The only question was by how many.
Gao Shen felt his ambitions growing. He was starting to wonder if they could win by double digits again.
Did he really think this was volleyball?
(To be continued.)