Chapter 1260 - 294: Barça’s Dual Emperors, Fresh Attire and Lu’s Steed (15,000-word - )_8

"If we get the chance, we can give it a try. Bar?a’s system doesn’t really allow for shots from the halfway line, right? But just now everyone was applauding me."

"You can do it too. As long as you control the number of times, no one will blame us."

Canisell nodded, indicating that he’d learned something.

It’s not that he can’t cross; his crossing technique is actually pretty good.

The reason he couldn’t fully adapt after coming to Bar?a is precisely because Bar?a has no use for his crossing skills. Of course his performances wouldn’t be great.

Ava on the left is in the same situation, but Ava can also play as a left winger, so it’s not a big problem.

In the 36th minute, Bar?a once again kicked the ball into the Ajax half.

Canisell and Mateo played a one-two, and Mateo carried the ball and ripped Ajax’s left flank to shreds.

He passed the ball back to Canisell and then cut inside off the ball.

Ajax immediately focused their marking on Mateo.

In this situation, there’s a fifty percent chance that Canisell will look for a channel to pass to Mateo, and Mateo will take a few dribbles after receiving and create a threatening shot.

And there’s another fifty percent chance that he can’t find a route and so will pass it back.

But this time, Canisell nudged the ball forward and took up a crossing stance.

Ajax’s left-back almost burst out laughing.

A cross?

What, you think you’re Real Madrid?

Your forwards’ average height is 1.73 meters, your midfield’s average height is 1.70, and if you don’t count the holding mid Burgos, it’s only 1.70.

To be precise, the three core players Mateo, Ortiz, and Hernandez have an average height of exactly 1.70 meters, and the height difference between them is less than 2 cm.

Cross for who?

For the opposing center-backs to pad their aerial duel and clearance stats?

"There is no sky above Barcelona’s pitch" — this is exactly what they mean.

The Ajax left-back signaled with his eyes to Canisell: go on, cross it!

Bang!

Canisell rebelled—screw it, I’m crossing.

The ball flew into the Ajax penalty area, with excellent angle and curve.

Peterk felt that something was off.

He had originally been about to focus on covering for Mateo, but now he suddenly remembered that the player in the area behind him should be Lu Yang!

Lu Yang is definitely not short.

Peterk made a snap decision and jumped on the spot.

This position is relatively advanced; an ordinary center-back jumping here might misjudge and overshoot the ball.

But Peterk is a full 1.93 meters tall, and with his excellent athleticism, he could have got up and blocked the ball.

But in the next instant, the light in front of his eyes dimmed.

A shadow had already appeared above him.

Lu Yang had started his sprint and jump early, taking over Peterk’s vertical space.

Peterk couldn’t get off the ground.

Glide!

Hang time!

Lu Yang was like a man flying in mid-air, his waist and abdomen arched backward, a truly phenomenal core.

He stayed up so long that as long as Lu Yang didn’t come down, Peterk simply couldn’t jump.

No one knew how long it lasted.

With a bang!

Lu Yang’s head crashed violently into the ball.

Lion’s Head Shake!

The ball slammed into the far corner of the goal like a bomb.

Power and technique combined!

The Ajax goalkeeper was completely helpless against this header.

"GOAL! A brace!"

"Lu Yang is killing it out there!"

"He actually outmuscled the tallest man on the pitch, Peterk, and scored a thunderous headed goal!"

"Bar?a don’t lack headers, but what Bar?a lack are headed goals scored by their forwards in dynamic attacking moves!"

"Lu Yang has patched up every gap in Bar?a’s game!"

"Will this Bar?a, just like Lu Yang has just shown, take off into the skies? Let’s wait and see!"

Right after Lu Yang scored.

Because he had blocked Peterk’s vertical space, his lower body inevitably collided with Peterk’s.

When a person’s feet are off the ground, being hit in either the upper or lower body can easily cause them to flip sideways, because there’s no balance.

Lu Yang lost his balance.

He’d gone in with a full sprint and jumped very high; if he landed badly, an injury was definitely possible.

But Peterk instinctively reached out and wrapped his arms around Lu Yang, helping him regain his balance.

Lu Yang avoided the dangerous scenario of being slammed sideways into the ground and landed on both feet steadily.

"Thanks!" Lu Yang thanked Peterk.

Peterk nodded, but his expression was grim; clearly, he was still unhappy about conceding that goal.

At this moment, a lot of applause broke out on site.

It was from the Bar?a fans, for Peterk.

This was an act that showed great sportsmanship and civility.

Of course, it could also be understood as an instinctive act of fandom and protecting their idol.

Looks like Peterk is a true Lu fan, not some fake Manchester United kid who only thinks about beating Lu Yang.

By the end of the first half, Bar?a were cruising with a two-nil lead, and everyone felt refreshed and invigorated.

In the second half, under the threat of Lu Yang, Bar?a finally produced that flowing, mercurial passing-and-possession game.

Mateo also got two great shooting chances.

But his finishing touch deserted him today; he kept coming up just short of a goal.

In the 64th minute.

Mateo once again beat two men in a row down the right.

But this time he didn’t force a shot by faking space; instead, he passed the ball directly to Lu Yang.

Mateo’s passing is actually razor-sharp.

When he dribbles past players, he often brushes right up against them, but because his dribbling frequency is so high and his rhythm so hard to read, his opponents don’t dare stick out a foot. So even players much taller and stronger than him, as long as they don’t want to foul, can only let him lean on them and are powerless to stop him.

At that moment, right after Mateo passes, he almost immediately makes an off-the-ball forward run.

The defenders marking him either get blocked by him or follow him; in any case, they can’t put any pressure on the target of Mateo’s pass.