Chapter 126: There's No Need to Overcomplicate Things Against Barça – Just Stick to Counterattacks and Aerial Balls
After a brief exchange, Li Ang made his stance clear for the time being, and just as he had expected, nothing about the encounter leaked out within the team.
At the very least, this confirmed one thing: even if the Old Florentino had intentions of stirring something up, he was still exercising restraint for now.
Li Ang was quite sure that the old man hadn't just sent someone to contact him—there had to be more. But on the surface, as long as the team stayed unified and the locker room atmosphere remained calm, he wasn't bothered.
He'd said it before—he had mentally prepared himself for all of this.
As long as they got through this season, when Real Madrid was riding high and still burning with a fierce desire for trophies, if they could stick together and finish all competitions strong, claiming every title within reach, then he wouldn't care about the squad rebuild or reshuffling afterward.
From how things stood at the moment, the players and coaching staff were still united.
And if they kept winning, the chance of internal chaos exploding midway through was slim.
Of course, if Casillas went off and pulled another stunt like leaking locker room news to his girlfriend, then honestly, Li Ang would have nothing left to say.
At that point, it would mean fate itself was about to put an end to Mourinho's Real Madrid era of dominance.
All Li Ang could do now was hope that his luck wouldn't be so rotten again. Beyond that, there was nothing more he could say or do to warn Casillas.
"Just focus on myself—I can only make sure I do my part right."
With that silent resolution in his heart, Li Ang cast aside his worries and focused all his attention on the upcoming first leg of the Supercopa de España against Barcelona.
On August 23rd, with the squad fully rested, Real Madrid's starting players boarded a flight to Barcelona along with the coaching staff.
A year had passed, and now the two teams faced each other again—but this time, their mindsets were entirely different.
For Barça, this was a battle for revenge.
They were desperate to prevent Real Madrid from repeating their own miraculous six-title haul from 2009.
Every single Barcelona player had made up their mind—starting with the Supercopa, they would bring back their peak form and unyielding spirit to stop Real Madrid.
But for the Real Madrid players, winning the sextuple was their non-negotiable goal for the year.
When it came to determination? They weren't the least bit afraid of Barça.
When it came to strength? Well then, let's settle it fair and square on the pitch.
At the very least, they had absolute faith in Mourinho and the coaching staff's match preparations.
That night, at the thunderous Camp Nou, with more than 90,000 Barça fans raining down jeers, the Real Madrid squad completed their warm-up and walked onto the field with heads held high.
Before kickoff, Guardiola and Mourinho shared a few friendly words.
On the pitch, they might be at each other's throats, even trading insults—but off the field, their friendship was still strong.
Privately, they didn't treat each other as enemies at all.
But at this moment, the players on both sides had none of that so-called pre-match friendliness.
Messi was visibly serious today, and so was Cristiano Ronaldo.
After their routine handshake, the live broadcast cameras started panning away—but unfortunately, Li Ang happened to turn and flash Messi a big grin. He even seemed to say something.
Messi acted like he hadn't heard a thing and quickly darted away, but the cameras captured every second of that scene.
Well, just like that, the Barça fans who had paused for a moment let out another round of deafening boos.
They probably thought Li Ang was deliberately provoking Messi before the match.
But Li Ang just kept smiling. With his hair recently trimmed short again, he looked even more upbeat and full of energy.
Barça supporters clearly weren't fond of him, but neutral fans watching on TV started warming up to him a bit more after that moment.
Once the little pre-match episode ended, both teams took their positions on their respective halves of the pitch.
Before the referee blew the whistle, commentators from around the world quickly introduced the starting lineups and formations.
The home team, Barcelona, lined up with their signature 4-3-3 formation.
Valdés was in goal.
Their defensive line, from left to right: Adriano, Mascherano, Piqué, and Dani Alves.
In midfield, the classic iron triangle of Xavi, Iniesta, and Busquets.
Up front, Pedro and Alexis Sánchez occupied the flanks, with Messi spearheading the attack through the center.
As for Real Madrid, just as most media outlets had predicted before the match, they rolled out in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Casillas was between the sticks.
In defense, the healthy Fábio Coentrão took the left-back position, with Arbeloa on the right. Ramos and Pepe formed their unchanged central pairing.
The double pivot in midfield consisted of Li Ang and Xabi Alonso.
Essien was deployed as the attacking central midfielder, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Di María on the wings.
Benzema led the line as the lone striker.
That might've been how they lined up on paper, but commentators who had covered La Liga last season knew that Real Madrid's formation was incredibly flexible.
This setup could morph into a 4-3-3 or even a 4-4-2 depending on the situation. For Guardiola, preparing a match plan meant needing at least two or three contingency strategies.
The match kicked off on schedule, and in the roar of their home crowd, Barcelona started probing Madrid's midfield and backline with early, aggressive attacks.
Originally, Mourinho had considered deploying a 4-4-2 from the start—having Matuidi shadow Messi closely while freeing up Li Ang to partner Di María as central midfielders.
Physically and defensively, Matuidi seemed like a solid choice to try and contain Messi. That setup might've given Madrid more attacking momentum too.
But on the day before the match, Mourinho decided to play it safe.
The tactics that had worked well against Barça last season—there was no reason to abandon them now.
In other words, Mourinho still held Messi in extremely high regard and wasn't about to take even the slightest risk.
If Messi managed to blow past Matuidi one-on-one, that would not only lead to problems on the field, but also deal a blow to Matuidi's defensive confidence.
After much deliberation, Mourinho ultimately felt that Li Ang still gave him the most peace of mind.
Yes, Li Ang's strength was one factor—but more importantly, his mental toughness was unmatched.
He'd been torched by Messi so many times last season, and yet he never seemed to suffer any psychological fallout.
And when Mourinho saw Li Ang flashing that mischievous grin at Messi before the match, he couldn't help but chuckle and curse under his breath as well.
The midfield battle between the two teams looked exactly the same as last season.
Real Madrid stacked their defenses tightly in the middle, creating a barricade in the central midfield. If Messi managed to get through, Li Ang would be there to mark him—but as for Iniesta and Xavi, they could forget about following up easily.
Essien, while technically playing as an attacking midfielder, was actually functioning as a pushed-up defensive midfielder.
He wasn't there to man-mark Barça's twin engines, but rather to disrupt their rhythm, delay their build
The midfield clash between the two teams was exactly like last season.
Real Madrid had locked down the center of the pitch, setting up a dense defensive hedge. If Messi got through, Li Ang would mark him tightly—but as for Iniesta and Xavi, they shouldn't even think about casually joining the attack together.
Essien might've been positioned as an attacking midfielder, but today he was playing like a high-positioned holding midfielder.
His job wasn't to shut down Barça's twin midfield engines completely—just to apply enough defensive pressure to disrupt and slow down their midfield build-up.
And with Di María and Benzema also actively dropping back to press, that familiar suffocating defensive pressure immediately started to make Barcelona's players uncomfortable.
Of course, Guardiola hadn't come in without a backup plan.
Today, both of Barça's full-backs were taking on more responsibility in pushing the ball forward and helping with switching the play during attacks.
Even if Xavi and Iniesta couldn't both organize and create together, sacrificing one of them to draw Real Madrid's midfield attention would free up the other to supply Messi with steady service. That alone made this version of Barça far more functional than the one from last season.
As for the Li Ang problem—Messi had already discussed it with Guardiola pre-match. Guardiola had approved Messi's suggestion: Messi would act as the tactical decoy, dragging Li Ang away to create more chances for Alexis Sánchez to exploit the half-spaces down Real Madrid's flanks.
Sure, with Li Ang sticking to him like glue, Messi would have fewer clear shooting opportunities—but it wouldn't stop his dribbling or passing game.
And it was true: Li Ang couldn't possibly limit both Messi's shots and his distribution at the same time.
So when this Barça plan kicked into gear, Madrid did find themselves pinned down for a while in the early stages.
Thankfully, Alonso was quick on the cover. After Sánchez received a Messi through-ball and got a shot off just two minutes into the match, he didn't get another decent look for the next several minutes.
Pedro, on the other hand, did receive the ball several times in wide areas—but his crosses found no one.
Whether it was Sánchez or Messi slipping into the box after shaking off Li Ang's marking, neither of them got a touch on Pedro's crosses.
Pepe and Ramos were always one step ahead, clearing the danger decisively.
After observing Barça's new attacking plan for a while, Mourinho felt reassured. He wasn't entirely sold on Guardiola's "three little forwards" approach.
Not that Mourinho doubted Messi could play through the middle—Messi could dominate on the left, center, or right, same as Cristiano Ronaldo.
But just like Mourinho always made sure there was a proper center-forward ahead of Ronaldo no matter how he shuffled formations, Messi also needed a strike partner to draw defenders and create space.
And the longer an attacker stayed in the middle, the higher the risk of injury or muscular fatigue.
Guardiola's decision to play Messi centrally might've been fine against mid-table teams—but when facing elite European sides, it was like going into battle with one arm tied behind your back.
In other words, this setup might be the most efficient use of Barça's current personnel—but it still dragged Messi's threat level down from 100% to something below 90%.
That 10% drop? Don't underestimate it. Against top-tier opponents, that difference is massive.
Madrid's approach was to have Benzema batter the defense and Ronaldo swoop in to finish.
Barça's? Let Messi lead the charge, and have Sánchez or Pedro mop up the leftovers.
That kind of setup? Honestly, it was bizarre—and it was no wonder Mourinho couldn't buy into Guardiola's logic.
And once Barça's attack started to stall, Real Madrid's counterattacking machine roared to life—and suddenly, the Catalan defense was scrambling to put out fires all over the place.
Alves and Adriano pushing forward certainly helped alleviate some of Barça's midfield pressure.
By expanding the field and fully utilizing its width, they were able to stretch Madrid's formation.
But if the end product was missing—if the final shot didn't materialize—then no matter how aggressively the full-backs pushed, they still had to face the harsh reality of defending a counter.
Originally, Guardiola had hoped to stifle Madrid's long-ball counters by limiting Alonso's ability to receive and pass.
What he hadn't counted on was that Madrid had added a second playmaker on the day.
And with Li Ang stepping into the role of a secondary midfield core, his series of sharp, fast long passes completely caught Barça off guard!
Last season, Guardiola wouldn't have worried about that—Li Ang's long passing back then was just decent.
But now? Li Ang had grinded his long pass stat all the way up to an 83.
Maybe you couldn't call his passes pinpoint yet, but it was good enough to be upper-tier in La Liga!
The open spaces down Barça's flanks instantly became runways for Madrid's two wingers.
Guardiola had miscalculated, and now he could only shout anxiously for his midfielders to fall back.
But up against Madrid's relentless surges and nonstop crosses from the flanks, Barça's backline was being torn apart.
Once again—when facing Barça, don't overthink it.
Just hit them with defensive counterattacks and high balls!
Sure, Piqué was strong in the air—but he couldn't be everywhere at once. He was the only player on that backline with real aerial presence.
Madrid attacked from opposite flanks, with Ronaldo and Benzema each taking one side—leaving Mascherano and Dani Alves completely overwhelmed.
In the 21st minute of the first half, Di María broke down the right wing, blowing past Adriano and firing in a cross.
Piqué, thinking he had read Madrid's play, rushed to the far post to mark Ronaldo.
His confident grin froze instantly when he realized where the ball was actually going.
Right into the heart of the box—where Benzema was grinning ear to ear.
Mascherano, meanwhile, was probably cursing Piqué into oblivion in his mind.
Leaving him to deal with a towering center-forward in an aerial duel? Was Piqué even human?
Mascherano leapt up in desperation—but couldn't stop the collapse of Barça's backline.
In that moment, Benzema found absolute confidence in his ability to dominate.
With a powerful close-range header, he blasted the ball past Valdés into the net.
And once again, he shattered the fragile psyche of thousands of Barça fans watching on.
Friends, if you enjoyed the novel, you can subscribe to my Patreon channel.
Until November 30st, get 30% off both your subscription and the purchase of your novel. Thank you for your support.
Read 40 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/johanssen10