Chapter 84: A Series of Ups and Downs

Seeing that it was impossible to turn the game around, Marcelino immediately took a gamble, substituting Dos Santos for the fullback Mario, instantly shifting the Yellow Submarine’s formation to a pure attacking 3-5-2. Marcelino's substitution yielded immediate results: with the 3-5-2 providing more midfield presence, Villarreal finally seized the initiative, capitalizing on their numerical advantage. Denis, after a series of feints, slipped past Messi, who had been troubling him all match—after all, the Argentinian forward was never famed for his defensive prowess.

And Messi's defensive enthusiasm... everyone knows how that goes.

After bursting past Messi, Denis found open space ahead. Advancing a couple of steps, he pushed the ball forward with the instep, choosing a low, direct pass before the defenders could block him.

Dai Zhiwei suddenly darted into the left side of the penalty area, perfectly syncing with Denis’s pass.

"Fierce Tiger Shot!"

From the left side of the box, Dai Zhiwei unleashed another powerful strike. For reasons unknown, whenever he triggered his system skills, he couldn't help but call out their names in a rather theatrical manner.

He struck the ball with force and precision! Yet, the shot—one Dai Zhiwei felt was nearly certain to score—deflected off Piqué’s outstretched arm and bounced out for a corner.

"Handball! Handball!" Dai Zhiwei spread his arms and cried out to the referee, but the official only awarded a corner.

"Is this the advantage of the La Liga giants?" Though this match was at the Estadio de la Cerámica, Dai Zhiwei felt Villarreal didn’t enjoy much of a home advantage at all.

After fruitless negotiations with the referee, Dai Zhiwei grumbled but quickly moved on, preparing for the corner.

Castillejo took the left corner, and Dai Zhiwei, at the near post, feinted and drew out two Barcelona central defenders, causing them to misjudge the ball’s flight. At the far post, Bailly met it six yards out, but his header, unfortunately, went wide.

"Oh... damn it!" Dai Zhiwei's eyes widened—this miss was harder than scoring. Bailly must have mistaken the header for a clearance!

Just as Villarreal began to dominate, the tide suddenly shifted.

Near the halfway line, Bruno took unnecessary risks and was dispossessed by Suárez. The latter wasted no time, immediately launching a blind pass. Neymar received the ball, exchanged a quick one-two with Messi, and broke through the Yellow Submarine’s defense.

At that moment, a wide gap appeared in front of Villarreal’s box. Neymar calmly adjusted, took a lateral step, and fired. The ball skimmed the post and crashed precisely where the crossbar meets the upright, rebounding into the net.

2-0. Barcelona effortlessly extended their lead!

This was Neymar’s 27th goal of the season, 21 of which came in the league.

Now, everyone knew Villarreal was in serious trouble.

The goal was Neymar's, but Messi’s movement had created the space, and it was Messi who provided the assist with the one-two.

With a two-goal lead, Barcelona's players noticeably lost their edge, especially Messi, who returned to his strolling mode.

Losing to Barcelona wasn’t unacceptable, but preferably not at home.

To equalize, Marcelino played his final card, urgently substituting Bakambu for Soldado. Though Soldado had better chemistry with Dai Zhiwei, Bakambu offered greater impact than the exhausted Soldado, who had played seventy minutes.

Bakambu, on entering, relayed Marcelino’s tactical instructions to his teammates, unifying their attacking mindset.

Strengthen wing attacks—both flanks flying forward. The fullbacks would push up without hesitation, providing support, coupled with moderate central penetration. This was Marcelino’s plan for Villarreal’s final twenty minutes.

It was simple, but with only twenty minutes left, Villarreal had no time for elaborate tactics; better to rely on Dai Zhiwei and Bakambu to pressure Barcelona’s defense and decide the outcome.

At Marcelino’s urging, Dos Santos, the fullback, boldly advanced to support the attack. After a one-two with Bruno, breaking through Roberto’s defense, Dos Santos glanced at the movement in the box and decisively sent in a cross from the right.

Dai Zhiwei’s position was unfavorable; as he anticipated Dos Santos’s cross, Piqué had already positioned himself in Dai Zhiwei’s path.

Having played a full season since his rebirth, Dai Zhiwei had picked up many tricks. Out of the referee’s sight, he forcefully pushed Piqué out of the spot he’d claimed.

Dai Zhiwei then surged forward and, meeting Dos Santos’s cross, executed a powerful header without jumping—like a lion shaking its mane.

Yet, the shot was too direct, and the goalkeeper pushed it out for a corner.

Despite Piqué’s complaints to the referee about Dai Zhiwei’s foul before the header, the official paid no heed.

Though Piqué was a big name in La Liga, referees who disliked him were legion.

Castillejo placed the ball at the corner flag, exhaled deeply, and, at the referee’s whistle, launched a powerful corner.

Dai Zhiwei tried to repeat his trick and shove Piqué, but this time, both had their hands up, tangled like inseparable lovers.

He could only watch as the ball sailed over his head, but chaos reigned at the far post, and someone knocked the ball into the net.

Villarreal pulled one back, 1-2—there was still hope!

Dai Zhiwei saw no teammates celebrating, but he didn’t care. He fished the ball out of the net and sprinted to the center circle.

Only then did he notice Mathieu, clutching his head in despair.

“Such misfortune! He’s only just come on as a substitute—already scored an own goal?”

After the restart, Barcelona controlled possession with crisp passing.

There’s a saying: “Strike while the iron is hot, twice and it cools, thrice and it’s done.”

Having weathered Villarreal’s renewed push after the restart, Barcelona survived the Yellow Submarine’s triple assault.

Wing attacks aren’t particularly difficult to defend, and Villarreal’s flanks lacked a player of Robben’s caliber. Barcelona quickly shored up their defense and even threatened Villarreal’s goal.

Initially, Barcelona’s defenders were simply passing the ball to run down the clock, but then Neymar played a diagonal ball to Turan, who fed it to Messi not far ahead. Unexpectedly, the Argentinian suddenly opted for a long diagonal pass.

The timing was perfect; the ball bounced off the ground, and Rakitic shook off Bruno to arrive just in time.

Without adjusting his stride, Rakitic struck the ball with his left foot—a long-range shot. To keep the bouncing ball down, he sacrificed power, and though the angle was good, Asenjo stretched mid-air and caught it securely, neutralizing Barcelona’s surprise attack.

Time slipped away like water. Dai Zhiwei thought they had just entered the 80th minute, but when he turned, he saw the fourth official on the sidelines raise the board indicating three minutes of injury time.

“No time left!” Dai Zhiwei muttered, frowning.

Not just him—every player in yellow knew it. Villarreal’s attacks abandoned short passes and tight combinations; once a player had the ball, he launched it long, aiming directly for Dai Zhiwei or Bakambu in the box—but with little success.

Minutes ticked by, and the regular ninety minutes were gone; the match entered the final three minutes of stoppage time.

Seeing their long-ball strategy failing, Bruno, as captain, urgently called on his teammates not to blindly hoof it. At that moment, Dos Santos on the right prepared to cross, and Roberto, expecting another delivery, stretched to block the passing lane.

But Dos Santos, having heard Bruno’s shout, calmed himself, faked a cross, and broke past Roberto’s defense.

He carried the ball to the right edge of the box, then crossed again. With no one marking him, the quality was high; the ball sailed over Barcelona’s entire back line to the far post.

Bakambu surged forward and, unmarked, headed for goal, but Mathieu managed to block it just enough that the ball went slightly wide.

“Hurry, hurry, hurry!” Marcelino urged from the sidelines.

This corner was Villarreal’s all-or-nothing moment; all players except Asenjo rushed into the box. Trigueros took the corner, but Turan cleared the first ball.

In a sea of towering players, Turan—barely 1.75 meters—did well to head it clear, but who collected it outside the box was beyond his control.

Castillejo retrieved the ball outside the box and immediately lofted it back in.

Inside the area, chaos erupted—bodies everywhere!