Chapter 65: When the Big Cat is Not Home (Part )

Less than half an hour later, Zamora, who was already 3 goals behind, put up some resistance. In the 22nd minute of the game, Zamora defender Candela made a long pass from the left to the back of the Barcelona defense line. The wing forward Emilio suddenly made a forward run and successfully got offside. However, the lob shot from 14 yards in front of the goal was predicted by Jorquera who jumped up and easily caught it...

This time, Zamora's counterattack seemed to provoke Barcelona's ferocity: "Well, you dare to resist... We just like this kind of rose with thorns!"

So Zamora was met with an even fiercer attack from Barcelona! Then one wave after another...

In the 29th minute, Gabri's long shot from 30 yards in the middle was confiscated by Vilchez.

In the 30th minute, Giuly's powerful shot from the right side of the penalty area was saved by Vilchez.

Then Iniesta took a corner kick from the right side, and Puyol headed the ball from 8 yards in front of the goal but it went wide.

Barcelona scored the fourth goal in the 36th minute of the first half. Barcelona won another corner kick opportunity. Last time it was Puyol, and this time it was Li Qi's turn to look for an opportunity in the penalty area.

The corner kick from the right side taken by Van Bronckhorst drew a beautiful arc and accurately went around the middle of the small penalty area. Then Li Qi got rid of the man-marking defense by fake running and jumped high 6 yards in front of the goal in the middle of the small penalty area and headed the ball!

Although the angle of the ball was relatively straight, the distance was too straight and the speed was too fast, so the ball hit the net over the goalkeeper's head... The goalkeeper wanted to raise his hands to block the ball, but he was a step too slow and instead looked like he was raising his hands in surrender.

Li Qi was also very excited after scoring the goal: "Yes! I was just thinking about getting some offensive data, but I didn't expect an assist and a goal, all without any effort... In addition, my heading skills have improved a lot! I have to give a thumbs up to trainer Lopez..."

……

Before the end of the first half, Barcelona had several chances to score, all of which were missed by Larsson and Giuly.

In the second half, Barcelona continued to attack with a 4-0 advantage!

Barcelona continued to score in the 51st minute. This time it was Larsson's turn to retreat and send a straight pass. Giuly cut into the right side of the penalty area and made a low cross without stopping the ball. Van Bommel, who was unguarded at the far post, easily made a shot from 7 yards in front of the goal and scored.

The score has reached 5-0; but obviously Barcelona's substitutes are not satisfied yet and want to change the score again!

In the 53rd minute, Van Bommel passed the ball to the right, and Giuly's powerful shot from 25 yards was caught by Vilchez because the angle was too straight.

In the 55th minute, Iniesta made a lob pass to the left side of the penalty area, and Larsson's volley was again blocked by Vilchez.

In the 58th minute, Van Bommel made a lob pass, and Giuly selflessly passed the ball to Larsson, but the ball was cleared in advance because the force was too weak.

In the 59th minute, Esquillo made a straight pass from the left, and Larsson made a low shot from 8 yards on the left side of the penalty area. The goalkeeper had already surrendered, but unfortunately the ball hit the near post and bounced out.

Then, in the 60th minute of the game, seeing the big lead, Rijkaard made a deployment of his troops, sending Maxi Lopez and Rodri, who were on the bench, to replace Esquero and Gabriel Gabri respectively.

In the 62nd minute, Maxi Lopez, who had just come on the pitch, had a chance to perform. Lopez received a surgical pass from Van Bronckhorst on the left side of the penalty area and got a one-on-one opportunity. Unfortunately, Lopez tried to dribble past the goalkeeper but was saved by Vilchez.

In the 63rd minute, Van Bronckhorst's cross from the left was cleared, and Larsson, who grabbed the clearance, was saved by Wilchez with a powerful shot from 20 yards in the middle.

In the 67th minute, Van Bommel made a long pass, Giuly chested the ball and broke directly into the right side of the penalty area, and then his shot from a small angle was saved by Vilchez.

In the 69th minute, Rijkaard replaced Belletti with Motta, but moved Li Qi to play as right back and let Motta try to play as center back.

Barcelona continued to expand the score in the 80th minute. Maxi Lopez received a diagonal pass from Li Qi and dribbled the ball at high speed into the right side of the penalty area in the frontcourt. He was tripped by Miguel who came back to defend. The referee decisively awarded a penalty kick.

So the Argentine took the penalty kick himself and shot hard into the upper right corner. This was Maxi Lopez's first goal of the season!

In the 82nd minute, Giuly passed the ball in the middle, Larsson dribbled into the penalty area from the left side and shot from 12 yards out, hitting the near post again and bouncing out of the bottom line, missing the chance to complete a hat trick.

In the 83rd minute, it was Li Qi's turn to take the corner kick from the right side. In the penalty area, it was Motta, the substitute central defender, who headed the ball from 7 yards in front of the goal. Unfortunately, the ball bounced off the ground and went wide of the far post.

In the injury time, Barcelona had a chance to change the score. Van Bronckhorst made a long pass from the left, Giuly made another decisive cross after breaking into the right side of the penalty area, but unfortunately Van Bommel's shot from 10 yards on the right side of the penalty area hit the near post and bounced out.

Bang! Bang! Bang! I didn’t count them all, but the Barcelona team hit the post at least three times in this game…

最终巴萨在主场以6球狂胜萨莫拉队，并以两回合总比分9比1的比分强势晋级05/06赛季西班牙国王杯的8强。

……

"Barcelona's entire team structure is very complete, and there won't be much change if each component is replaced." After the game, Barcelona's godfather Cruyff praised Rijkaard's team in his column.

Isn't it? In the last round against Zamora, Barcelona won 3-1 with substitutes. In this game, Barcelona made more thorough rotations. Only Puyol was the team's main force. Belletti and Van Bronckhorst were only semi-main players. The other 8 players were completely on the bench, but Barcelona still won heartily.

In the Premier League, even the leader Chelsea almost capsized when they sent out a lineup of mostly substitute players to face the cup game. But for Barcelona, ​​there are only five words to describe them, that is, invincible!

Rijkaard couldn't help but praise the players after the game, and even praised Ricardo individually: "Congratulations to our players, they have a very good attitude. The most important thing is that the team has demonstrated the spirit of collective struggle and completed our task... In addition to Larsson who scored twice, Li Qi, who had one goal and one assist, also performed very well. He hardly made any mistakes on the defensive end..."

However, the media did not capture the highlight of Ricardo, but instead focused on Barcelona's substitute frontcourt lineup. Larsson scored twice, Maxi made a long run to win a penalty for himself, Esquero and Van Bommel also scored goals, and the forward trident was extremely powerful.

The first three (except Van Bommel) are the candidates for Barcelona's No. 9 substitute that Rijkaard focused on.

For Larsson, Maxi and Esquillo, they had two coaches they needed to please in this game. One was Rijkaard, who was dressed in a neat suit in the coaching booth, and the other was Eto'o, who was wearing a funny hat in the stands.

The Cameroon Cheetah was given a long holiday today, but he still appeared in the stands with a solemn expression, closely watching every move of Larsson and the other two, looking like a serious and sneaky scout.

Eto'o's current status is very special. He is one of the core members of the "Who will replace Eto'o research group". Last weekend, he held a secret meeting with Rijkaard, Begiristain, Ten Cate and others to discuss who will take over the main striker position when he leaves Barcelona to return to his country to participate in the African Cup.

Before the game, Rijkaard had announced that he would send all three substitute forwards into the field. Eto'o's professionalism is beyond doubt. He has to see it with his own eyes before he can give his final advice.

However, as a team insider, Ricardo feels that since Esquero's performance as a center forward was proven to be unsatisfactory in the last round of the King's Cup, the veteran Larsson actually only has one competitor left, and that is the Argentine teenager Maxi Lopez.

……

But soon, Ricardo knew that Larsson actually had no competitors, because in the next round of the 19th round of La Liga, Rijkaard only put Larsson on the squad, and Esquillo and Maxi Lopez were not selected. After all, the Swedish veteran Larsson had won the European Golden Boot when he played for Celtic in the 00/01 season!

In addition, there is a new injury. Because Brazilian midfielder Thiago Motta injured his right knee again in pre-match training, he needs endoscopic surgery to repair the damaged tissue and will be out for 6 weeks; therefore, Ricardo once again got the opportunity to be included in the match squad.

Ricardo couldn't help but think: "It seems that after half a season of hard work, my appearance order has moved up a bit..."

……

During the weekend when Chiara was absent due to her aunt's leave, Ricardo was still a little uncomfortable and could only start to sort out the data that had been returned by the research institutions: "Damn it, Julian will not be back from the United States until next week, there is no chance to play a trick..."

Thus, Ricardo welcomed the focus match of the 19th round of the Spanish Football League in the midst of simple study and training. At 1:15 on Sunday, January 19, Barcelona played against Athletic Bilbao at home.

After this round of matches, Eto'o will go to Egypt to compete for his country in the African Cup.

In addition, the main lineup that was rested in the King's Cup on Sunday - Marcos, Edmilson, Deco, Messi, Ronaldinho and Eto'o all returned to the starting lineup, while Oleguer will replace Belletti as right back and Van Bommel will replace the injured Motta as the starting midfielder.

尽管由1米87的奥莱格替换仅有1米75的贝莱蒂，可是巴萨这个由普约尔、马科斯与范布隆特霍斯特组成的后防线阵容平均身高仅有1米80出头一点点。而对面的毕尔巴鄂竞技可是有1米93的略伦特这样的长人中锋的！

"Oh oh oh! That's the undercover brother!" Ricardo on the bench recognized the Spanish center who had passed him two good passes in the World Youth Championship!

Just when Ricardo was still sharing with his teammates on the bench Llorente's eye-catching performance in the World Youth Championship... just one minute into the game, Llorente on the field gave Barcelona a warning: after receiving a long pass from Yesté's free kick in the midfield, center forward Llorente made an acrobatic volley in the penalty area, which was only a few centimeters higher than the horizontal line!

Unfortunately, Bilbao's high-altitude operation did not arouse Barcelona's vigilance this time.

So in the 12th minute, Bilbao took a corner kick from the right side, and Llorente succeeded in grabbing the ball from the far point again, heading the ball from 6 yards in front of the goal, but unfortunately the ball was slightly off the near corner again.

And in the 16th minute, Bilbao, who believed that there was no chance of failure, finally took the lead!

After Yesté's tactical corner kick, Bilbao made a cross from the right side of the penalty area. This time, Llorente did not let the opportunity slip away. The Spanish center forward leaned on Marcos and headed the ball 8 yards in front of the goal in the middle of the penalty area. The ball went straight into the far corner! Valdés had no way to deal with such a close-range header...

Barcelona, ​​who were behind in the score, finally woke up from their dream, but faced with Bilbao's iron-clad defense, Barcelona was unable to organize a threatening attack. And it began to rain lightly at the scene...

But Bilbao almost expanded their lead in the 22nd minute: Yester again, the Bilbao midfielder made a lob pass down the middle, Etxeberria came in from behind and successfully made an offside, then broke into the right side of the penalty area and shot low into the far corner from 14 yards in front of the goal!

Fortunately, Valdes, who was concentrating, flew to save the ball, and then Marcos cleared the ball first.

It was not until the 30th minute of the game that Athletic Bilbao's physical strength and concentration declined, and Barcelona really created a chance to score!

In the 31st minute, Deco and Messi played a clever cooperation on the right, with continuous passes and cross-running, breaking through the defense line on the right; then the Argentine flea decisively crossed the ball to the middle at the edge of the penalty area, Eto'o followed up in the middle, and shot the ball 25 yards in front of the goal, but unfortunately the ball was slightly higher.

In the 33rd minute, Barcelona came back and won a corner kick. Deco took a corner kick from the right side, and Bilbao defender Murillo almost blocked the ball into his own goal when he competed for the header at the front point. Fortunately, Prieto blocked the ball in front of the goal and cleared it with a long kick.

In the 34th minute, Barcelona continued to press. Ronaldinho and Eto'o passed the ball to Athletic Bilbao from the left, pushing the defense into the penalty area. Ronaldinho suddenly passed the ball horizontally to Marcos, who followed up in the middle and shot directly from 25 yards in front of the goal without stopping. Unfortunately, the ball went wide of the post.

However, Barcelona's continued pressure finally paid off five minutes later.

Barcelona won a penalty in the 38th minute and equalized the score. Ronaldinho's father attacked from the left, attracted the defense and suddenly made a cross. Eto'o, who was in the penalty area, made a feint and suddenly ducked his head to avoid the ball...

The ball hit the hands of the young defender Amorebieta who was caught off guard. The referee Vitiennes was right in front of him and decisively awarded a penalty kick.

Ronaldinho's father would not let such an opportunity slip away. He deceived the goalkeeper with his miraculous steps and shot the ball into the net in one fell swoop! This was the Brazilian's 11th league goal of the season, and it also helped Barcelona tie the score to 1-1.

Then before the end of the first half, Bilbao's center forward threatened Valdes' goal twice.

First, in the 43rd minute, after Yesté’s left corner kick, Llorente successfully grabbed the ball in the middle and headed it in from 7 yards in front of the goal! Unfortunately, he failed to control the angle well, and the ball flew out like a cannonball and just went over the crossbar.

Then in the 44th minute, Llorente took advantage of his height and long legs, positioned himself to receive the high ball and then dribbled into the left side of the penalty area. He shot from 10 yards in front of the goal, but fortunately, Deco who was returning to defense made a timely tackle to block it.

The two sides entered the halftime break with a score of 1-1. However, in the locker room, Rijkaard did not make any adjustments to the lineup. He only told Oleger to mark Llorente when defending corner kicks and set pieces. He completely ignored Ricardo who was walking around the locker room on tiptoe to show off his height.

……