Lazy Genius Striker [EN]: Chapter 119

Bba-Bba-Bba-Bba-

The intro, so familiar to European football fans, begins to play.

~Ce sont les meilleures équipes~

~Es sind die allerbesten Mannschaften~

~Les grandes équipes~

~The champions!~

The spine-tingling chant begins.

The moment the Champions League theme song is played in the London Stadium.

All of West Ham’s home fans, filling the stadium, stand up, ready to watch the game of Europe’s best teams with emotional expressions.

“To hear this live…”

“It’s like a dream. I’m so overwhelmed.”

Lohan and Ban Seok-ho, who came to the stadium, were also deeply moved.

They never imagined they would hear this song here, even two years ago.

The Champions League was just someone else’s party.

But now that the party is being held at their house, they can’t help but be deeply moved.

“The opponent is the problem…”

“Thanks to you, I feel the Champions League atmosphere, but it will be a difficult game.”

Being able to watch the Champions League game live is great, but the problem is that the opponent is Barcelona.

To think that a team that would have been fine to meet in a later stage is the first opponent in the group stage.

“How’s their recent form?”

When Ban Seok-ho asked, Lohan sighed.

Lohan doesn’t have time to analyze even La Liga games usually, but he has watched most of Barcelona’s games since the group stage draw was confirmed.

Lohan’s impression after finishing the analysis was that the current Barca is definitely strong.

“La Masia’s [Barcelona’s youth academy] golden age has returned. The old Barcelona’s unique tiki-taka [a style of play characterized by short passing and movement] has been completely revived. It’s impossible to take the initiative with ordinary pressure. Rather, the teams that put pressure on them were devoured by Barcelona.”

“It would be more comfortable to sit back, then.”

The current Barcelona is a team that dominates the game by pushing the possession rate to the extreme.

That football, once famous as tiki-taka, changed the hegemony of European football.

Barcelona is aiming to regain the top of Europe once again with the revived new tiki-taka.

“What makes that possible is the midfield trio. The midfield formed by the three of them really makes the opponent suffocate.”

“We’ll have to compete with finishing, then.”

“That’s right. In the end, we’ll have to aim for a counterattack, like when we faced Man City. Of course, the opponent’s attack is also formidable.”

It is clear that they are formidable opponents.

The overall composition of the squad is quite different in terms of experience and quality.

Although their style is similar to Man City, there are many clear differences, so there is a high possibility that they will struggle with the tactics of an opponent they are meeting for the first time.

Above all, the players who are playing in the Champions League for the first time will inevitably be nervous.

Today’s game is one where even a draw would be satisfactory.

However,

“But they’re not a team we can’t beat. Because we have Johan.”

“I hope our academy can show that it’s not inferior to La Masia.”

West Ham has Johan.

If they believe in that and play the game, there is nothing they can’t win.

“Let’s go!”

“Show them! Our football!”

Half expectation, half tension.

With the loud cheers of the crowd,

“Beeeep-!”

West Ham’s first Champions League game began.

“Let’s all keep one thing in mind. Nothing is different. Today is just another ordinary home game. Take a look around the stands. It’s the same scenery you see every week. Don’t be nervous, let’s just do what we always do.”

What Jamie, the coach, said to the players just before the game started.

The West Ham players who were preparing for today’s game looked visibly nervous.

Among the players starting today, only Shay Bellamy has played in the Champions League.

All the others had no experience.

Of course, nothing changes just because it’s the Champions League.

The rules of the game don’t change, and the game time doesn’t change either.

It’s just that the opponent is a La Liga team, not a team they face every week.

Moreover, fortunately, the first game is being played at home.

Even if they have no experience, there seems to be no reason to be nervous.

But still, they can’t help but be nervous.

I thought it would be okay, but the story changed again the moment I heard the Champions League theme song.

The two sides are not in sync right now. Play will continue with a throw-in from Barcelona.

Well, West Ham. First of all, they need to reduce mistakes. There have already been several passing mistakes in the early part of the first half.

They shouldn’t give Barcelona possession of the ball so easily. Once they give it to them, it will take a long time to get it back.

Early in the first half.

West Ham players make a series of minor mistakes.

Looking at the way they are making passing mistakes even in easy situations, it is clear that they are all nervous.

On the other hand, the Barcelona players looked relaxed.

Their experience was richer than that of the West Ham players.

Gabi, to Pedri. Pedri, back to Gabi.

Barcelona is constantly passing the ball back and forth. The number of passes is already accumulating on a second-by-second basis. They will continue to try to increase their possession rate.

Pass, pass, pass.

Barcelona gradually began to take control of the game by exchanging short passes in the midfield.

It must be frustrating for the opposing team, but the movements and passing plays they show are honestly admirable.

The Barcelona players seemed to be moving purely on instinct.

The smooth, perfectly coordinated understanding between each other.

The Barcelona players on the field now had been working together for at least 5 years.

In addition, if you consider that they have been playing football under the same philosophy, it would be more than 10 years.

Most of them are from Barca’s youth academy, La Masia.

So much so that there is even a saying that there is a separate Barca DNA.

The sight of Barcelona players moving together, bound by one philosophy, was quite impressive.

“Hey, they’re wasting so much time!”

“If you’re going to attack, do it, and if you’re not, just give us the ball!”

“Did you come here to pass? This isn’t your training ground!”

Of course, that doesn’t matter to West Ham fans.

It just looks like they are wasting time meaninglessly.

However, they also realized one thing.

Looking at the skills of the guys who are protecting the ball, it seemed like it would be quite a headache if they conceded the first goal.

It seems like West Ham won’t have many chances to attack today.

So, defense will be important in the end. If they concede a goal, it will be quite frustrating, because there won’t be many chances to make up for that goal.

West Ham seems to know that, and they are focusing on defense by lowering their defensive line considerably.

Bellamy’s presence will be a great help to West Ham. He is a player with Champions League experience and has experience facing Barcelona.

West Ham is lowering their line rather than interfering with the opponent’s passing play with strong pressure.

Barcelona is also unable to attempt forward passes easily due to the West Ham defense, which is densely filling the dangerous areas.

Bellamy’s presence was definitely noticeable.

Bellamy continued to designate the positions of his teammates and control the line, and thanks to that, the players, who had been visibly nervous, gradually began to find their form without panicking.

Anyway,

Such a confrontation between the two teams continued for longer than expected.

20 minutes into the first half. There is still no opening goal. The possession rate of both teams is 26 to 74. There is a big difference.

Barcelona takes that much possession in almost every game. The important thing is the number of shots. They have only managed 3 shots so far.

West Ham is determined to block them, so Barcelona seems quite frustrated.

Barcelona is starting to get impatient little by little because West Ham’s defense is more solid than expected.

Regardless of their actual strength, West Ham is a team in Pot 3 anyway [referring to the Champions League draw seeding].

From Barcelona’s point of view, they had to get 3 points.

Aside from that, the Barcelona players thought they were playing several levels above West Ham.

The score should reflect the game, as they are overwhelming the game in terms of possession and chances.

However, it is frustrating because the opponent is holding on by playing ‘unbeautiful’ football, only defending to the death.

So, from around the 20th minute of the first half.

Barcelona began to attack more actively.

What West Ham was aiming for today started from now on.

Pedri, passes forward. Iago Quintes receives the ball. He will try to dribble! Ah, Bellamy’s tough defense!

A foul is called. But it’s a good cooperative defense. Even though it’s a dangerous area, West Ham can defend a little rough, as long as they don’t get a card.

West Ham is definitely superior in terms of physicality, right?

That’s the point. It will be difficult to beat Barcelona players technically, so they have to use their physicality. They have to be threatening. Even if it’s not a direct free kick, they can defend even if they give up a free kick.

As Barcelona began to increase the ratio of forward passes, West Ham responded with rough defense.

Certainly, Barcelona players kick the ball beautifully. It’s hard to keep up with them in terms of technique.

However, Barcelona has weaknesses in terms of physicality.

West Ham was planning to use that point to harass the opponent.

Of course, the referee for today’s game was not a Premier League referee, so he was not as lenient with fouls as in the league.

But there was no need to be afraid of fouls.

West Ham has the advantage in height.

They were confident that they could block even if they gave up a set piece.

West Ham continued to intimidate the opponent through rough play and induce their frustration.

“Is this a foul?”

“Pushing foul.”

“I didn’t push him hard. It’s because they’re weak.”

Bellamy, who committed the foul, protested loudly so that everyone could hear, and then returned to his position.

And the Barcelona players who heard that frowned.

Some of Barcelona’s players already had bad feelings towards Bellamy.

They had suffered during the Euros.

They had a memory of being angry with Bellamy during the Euro final, and that was why they wanted to show him a lesson today.

Was it thanks to that?

The Barcelona players started to get agitated more easily than expected.

Another foul! West Ham is getting rougher and rougher. Uh-oh, the Barcelona players seem to be getting excited.

Quintes is shouting something at Bellamy.

After that, a series of rough plays continued, and there were scenes of Barcelona players showing nervous reactions.

“Ah, really. They keep falling down for no reason, so the game can’t proceed.”

“They can’t do it with football, so they’re resorting to martial arts.”

“Do only women play football in Spain?”

“I heard that islanders are ignorant, but they’re more so than I thought.”

The players of both teams continue to exchange trash talk.

In the end, the atmosphere of the game became more and more intense, and it exploded around the 40th minute of the first half.

“Beeeep-!”

This time, Barcelona committed a foul.

Bellamy was the one who fell down due to the foul.

Bellamy fell down, complaining of great pain, and the referee issued a warning.

Honestly, if it was a Premier League referee who knew Bellamy well, a warning might not have been issued for the foul.

But it was Bellamy’s amazing acting that made it inevitable for a referee who was not familiar with Bellamy to issue a warning.

Of course, the Barcelona players were just as vocal.

“Stop acting and get up!”

“Shameless bastard! Are you being a hypocrite!”

“Don’t be dirty! You’re dirtying football!”

The agitated Barcelona players rushed to Bellamy, who had fallen, at the same time.

The West Ham players also rushed in, as if they were trying to protect him.

In the end, the war of nerves between the two teams began to lead to arguments and physical confrontations.

“Want to fight? Are you confident?”

“Oh, now you’re showing your true colors. Why, do you think you can’t win with football?”

“Do you think you’re winning? Can’t you read the scoreboard?”

“Do you think it will be this score when the game ends? You’re just defending to the death?”

“You’re attacking to the death, but you haven’t scored a single goal yet.”

“I heard your team’s academy is famous, but I’m disappointed. Is that all they teach there?”

“I guess your academy doesn’t teach football, it just teaches passing. That’s not football, friends.”

“If it’s not football, how did a player who has received the Ballon d’Or [an annual football award presented to the best male player] 7 times come out? None of your academy graduates have even been close to the Ballon d’Or, let alone win it?”

The players are having a slightly childish argument.

But then, it was then.

“Can you guys stop wasting time and go back to your positions?”

A large wall was created between the players who were agitated and rushing towards each other.

It was Johan, who had been watching from afar.

Johan couldn’t stand it and ran over because the game was delayed as the war of nerves between the two teams continued for a long time.

“It’s not like you guys received the Ballon d’Or, why are you bragging about it?”

“The guy who will receive the Ballon d’Or this year is here? Are you in a position to brag about it?”

“…”

At Johan’s appearance, the Barcelona players suddenly shut their mouths.

It felt like provoking them with the Ballon d’Or had backfired.

What good is it if a La Masia senior has won the Ballon d’Or several times?