The way the situation unfolded completely exceeded everyone's expectations.
After Barcelona's devastating home defeat, many media outlets pointed fingers at their star player, Lionel Messi, with some Catalan media even describing him as a "cancer" within the team.
An overwhelming wave of public opinion quickly took over.
Many media outlets and Barcelona fans believed that Messi should be held accountable for the crushing defeat. More and more fans began to think that the club should let him go.
At this point, Messi's brother and agent, Rodrigo, publicly spoke out in the media, contradicting the pro-Barcelona narrative and stating that Messi was being treated unfairly.
"Someone is manipulating public opinion, trying to force Messi out of Barcelona!"
Rodrigo claimed this was not the first time such things had happened. Barcelona had experienced similar incidents before.
Now, it was Messi's turn.
"We can leave. In fact, Messi is seriously considering leaving Barcelona because he is incredibly disappointed with the current situation and what he has endured recently."
Rodrigo's statement further fueled public outrage.
Messi wants to leave Barcelona?
Catalan media and fans were in an uproar.
Especially when Diario Sport broke the news that Messi might leave on a free transfer. That caused unprecedented anger.
This was Messi.
A free transfer?
It was simply outrageous.
The media and fans once again launched attacks, accusing Messi of being ungrateful, saying he ignored everything Barcelona had done for him over the years, claiming the club had made him who he was, and now he wanted to walk away for free?
When Cristiano Ronaldo left Real Madrid, he at least brought in a transfer fee of €100 million.
At this time, Barcelona presidential candidate Laporta reappeared, reiterating his campaign slogan and once again promising that if he were elected president, Messi would definitely stay.
After all, it was during his previous tenure that Messi was promoted to the first team.
Throughout this period, Laporta continued to play the "Messi card" to build momentum for his campaign.
The way everything developed caught everyone off guard.
Even Gao Shen.
After returning to England with the team, he didn't pay much attention to the news from Barcelona because he already knew it must be chaotic.
But he truly hadn't expected that Barcelona would direct public opinion to target Messi.
Many things may look like media behavior to ordinary fans, but insiders knew that most of these stories were deliberately steered.
This was exactly why Rodrigo was so angry.
Back when Ronaldinho left Barcelona, didn't he also accuse the club of failing to protect him in the media?
And what's more interesting was that the ones behind the public attacks could very well have been the club itself.
People would ask, why?
The reason was simple. The team was underperforming, heavily in debt, and their financial situation was dire. Someone had to take the blame.
The coaches had already taken the fall. Sporting directors had been replaced repeatedly. But did anything actually change?
Wasn't it the same at Real Madrid under Florentino?
Eventually, even the president had to take responsibility and resign.
That was also what Florentino did most admirably. It was why Zidane and others respected him so much.
He didn't pass the buck.
But Barcelona's management was clearly shifting blame now, and they were shifting it to Messi.
Listen to what the media was saying. Didn't it sound like those toxic bosses who emotionally manipulate their employees?
When you work tirelessly, they criticize you, calling you a cancer, a parasite, a good-for-nothing. Then, when you're finally fed up and want to leave, they start guilt-tripping you, saying you'd be nothing without the company's support, that you owe everything to the company. When you talk about emotions, they bring up contracts. When you mention contracts, they talk about emotions.
In short, you owe them too much.
On social media, many fans and followers left messages asking Gao Shen to speak out. Several media outlets and TV stations also invited him for interviews, but he politely declined them all.
It wasn't until later that a Catalan media outlet fabricated a story, claiming that Gao Shen was planning to bring Messi to Paris Saint-Germain and that Messi had deliberately underperformed in the match for this reason.
The report was quickly picked up by many other media outlets, making it hard for Gao Shen to stay out of it.
He immediately posted a long article on social media, criticizing this phenomenon.
"I've always believed that regardless of a player's performance or a team's results, as long as the player is under contract, the club has an obligation to protect him and provide a sense of security. That's the bare minimum."
"But in the way Barcelona has treated Messi, I've seen none of that."
"I dare not say they're stoking the fire, but I can responsibly say they are absolutely allowing it to happen deliberately."
Gao Shen believed Barcelona's problem was very simple. Their tactics and squad were no longer effective, yet they lacked the courage to step out of their comfort zone. They just kept trying to patch up the tiki-taka system, dreaming of returning to their former glory.
"But I want to remind everyone, professional football will never stand still and wait for you."
Gao Shen even believed that Barcelona must now deeply miss Cruyff.
Why?
Because back then, Cruyff often criticized the club in the media. It wasn't always welcomed, but many times he made valid points. Now?
Barcelona had fallen this far, and still, no one dared to speak the truth.
That was the most tragic part.
As for Messi, Gao Shen felt that since it had come to this, he should just leave.
"I can understand his confusion and hesitation. In fact, I don't know him that well. We've never had private contact. I don't even remember if I have his personal phone number. But I think, with things the way they are, what's the point of forcing him to stay?"
"We Chinese have an old saying: 'A tree dies when moved, a person thrives when moved.'"
"Leave the past behind, start fresh, let go of the burdens, embrace a new life. I think that's a brave and worthy choice."
"At Messi's level, he doesn't need to prove anything to anyone anymore. The only one he needs to convince is himself."
Gao Shen's long article caused a massive stir.
Even the Catalan media paid close attention. Diario Sport and Mundo Deportivo reprinted it and published lengthy commentaries. Other media outlets followed up, trying to refute and even criticize Gao Shen in various ways.
No one understands you better than your enemies.
And Gao Shen was Barcelona's most troublesome and feared enemy.
Messi later called Gao Shen privately to thank him for speaking up.
They had a long conversation. Messi even revealed that he had evidence that the Barcelona management had slandered him, but he couldn't disclose it.
"Go. There's no point staying anymore," Gao Shen advised.
With things like this, if he didn't leave, was he going to stay and celebrate the New Year?
Messi didn't say much on the phone. He just kept thanking Gao Shen.
After that, Barcelona lost 0-2 away to Leeds United.
The White Rose eliminated Barcelona with an overwhelming aggregate score of 12-0.
After the match, Messi uncharacteristically stayed on the pitch and accepted interviews from the media.
The Argentine openly stated, "I will not renew my contract with Barcelona."
He revealed that it was a very difficult decision, but he believed the time had come.
"I've been at Barcelona for over twenty years. This place has given me everything, but I'm truly tired. I feel I can no longer contribute anything to the club, so I choose to leave."
Messi hoped that his departure would bring more opportunities to the club and wished for a swift return to glory.
"I will always be a Barcelona fan."
The words were graceful, but everyone knew that after all this time, to leave without conflict or resentment was impossible.
Unsurprisingly, as soon as the news of Messi's departure broke, it was met with a flood of criticism.
Media and fans criticized his remarks, calling it irresponsible to leave during a time of crisis.
But they all seemed to forget that not long ago, they were the ones accusing him of being a "cancer" in the dressing room.
This chapter closed for Barcelona, and Leeds United advanced to the Champions League quarterfinals with unprecedented dominance.
PSG and Real Madrid also advanced, along with Bayern Munich, who defeated Lazio with a 6-2 aggregate over two legs.
This season's Champions League quarterfinals featured mostly top European clubs, all incredibly strong, promising a fierce competition.
In the quarterfinal draw, Leeds United had the worst luck, drawing Bayern Munich.
This was the team ranked just behind Real Madrid in the odds to win the title.
Between the Round of 16 and the quarterfinals, Leeds United played seven matches, including six Premier League games and one FA Cup match.
In the league, Leeds first came from behind to win 2-1 away at Wolves, then narrowly beat Aston Villa 1-0 at home, but then lost 0-1 away to West Ham.
In their next three matches, they defeated Chelsea 1-0 at home, Fulham 2-1 away, and Sheffield United 2-1 at home.
Additionally, on March 20th, they secured a 3-0 home win over Southampton in the FA Cup quarterfinals.
The four teams that reached the FA Cup semifinals this season were Leeds United, Chelsea, Manchester City, and Leicester City.
In the subsequent draw, Leeds got the best luck, drawing Leicester City, while Chelsea and Manchester City would face off.
Whether in the league or FA Cup, Leeds heavily rotated their squad, giving the team ample rest and recovery time in preparation for the tough upcoming clash with Bayern.
This German team was a completely different beast from Barcelona. They were younger, more energetic, and very difficult to handle.
(To be continued.)