The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills

But he suddenly stopped short, feigning a move to cut inside and shake Pique.

Startled, the Barça center-back quickly stopped as well.

When he saw Wang Shuo take that step with his left foot to cut inside, Pique also shifted his position, preparing to continue blocking him.

But unexpectedly, Wang Shuo's footwork was too fast. He suddenly chopped the ball from his left foot back to his right, then exploded forward, abruptly charging toward the byline.

How could Pique have ever expected Wang Shuo to pull a move like that?

As he reflexively tried to change direction and give chase, his planted right foot slipped, and his legs went straight into the splits.

After bursting forward, Wang Shuo charged past Pique's right side, driving toward the right corner of the six-yard box. Facing the onrushing Valdes, he made a series of quick adjustments with his feet, swayed his upper body, and then suddenly unleashed a furious shot with his right foot.

The ball shot past Valdes at lightning speed and drilled into Barça's goal.

"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!"

"2-2!"

"The match is tied again!"

"Dortmund has successfully equalized in the 64th minute!"

"What a dramatic turn of events!"

"Both teams have been playing at an incredibly fast pace in the second half, with neither side giving an inch!"

"This is an absolutely brilliant match!"

"Dortmund has capitalized on the defensive vulnerabilities left behind by Barça's high-pressing attack."

"That long pass from Gundogan was perfectly placed."

"Wang Shuo's subsequent play was a demonstration of absolute, world-class individual skill."

"We can see Pique appears to be injured."

"The slow-motion replay shows his foot slipped, and he went into the splits."

"That looked painful. Hopefully, it won't affect the rest of his match tonight."

"Let's look at Wang Shuo's Breakthrough again. He's so agile, and his changes of pace and direction are so quick. He doesn't move like a player who's 1.8 meters tall at all. Pique couldn't keep up with his rhythm whatsoever."

"I believe this goal from Dortmund should serve as a wake-up call for Barça."

"If you overextend yourself, you might just do the splits. Just ask Pique."

...

Pique limped off the pitch.

Guardiola walked over nervously, asking about his condition with a concerned look on his face.

"That damn guy... I don't know how he does it. I can't keep up with his pace at all!"

Pique was still cursing under his breath, clearly furious about the goal he had just conceded.

"It's alright, we still have time," Guardiola comforted him.

After the team doctor gave him a quick treatment, Pique stood up and moved around a bit, jumped in place a few times, and even did a short sprint.

"It seems to be nothing serious."

With that, Pique walked back to the sideline, waiting for the referee's signal to re-enter.

At almost the exact same time, a Dortmund player was also standing on the sideline, ready to come on.

Center-back Santana!

Guardiola was not surprised to see this.

The twenty minutes of fast-paced, end-to-end football since the second half began had taken a huge toll on both teams.

Especially Dortmund.

Without possession, they were already expending more energy. Coupled with their tactical style, their stamina drain was bound to be far greater than Barça's. A substitution at this point was only natural.

Not only that, but Guardiola also guessed that this substitution was for a midfielder.

It had to be either Götze or Gundogan!

Because with Santana coming on to play center-back, Hummels would move up to defensive midfield to partner with Sven Bender.

So who would be coming off?

The answer was revealed soon enough.

Santana replaced the young Götze.

According to the real-time match data, Götze's activity level had dropped sharply in the last five minutes.

Clearly, his stamina was nearly depleted.

After the substitution, Hummels moved to form a double pivot in defensive midfield, and Gundogan pushed further forward.

It wasn't just Dortmund who were feeling the strain; Barça was also struggling to keep up.

Especially after Wang Shuo's lightning-fast strike had pierced their defensive line, Barça had to be more mindful of the space in behind.

So, they began to use the stoppage for Dortmund's substitution as an opportunity to try and slow the tempo.

Klopp, on the other hand, made his second substitution in the 70th minute.

Grosskreutz came on for Reus.

While Barça had yet to make any changes, Dortmund had already used two of their substitution slots.

But the benefit was that after the substitutions, Dortmund's suffocating midfield press and high-press tactics were maintained.

It just meant that, comparatively, Wang Shuo had to run more and cover a wider area.

This filled Guardiola, on the sideline, with envy.

"Look at him. It's past the seventieth minute, and he can still run like that."

But Guardiola wasn't planning on making a substitution.

In truth, he didn't know who he could bring on.

Other than team captain Puyol, his best players were already on the pitch.

Messi and the midfield trio were untouchable, and he couldn't rashly change the defensive line either.

So who was left to change?

It was better to just maintain the status quo.

One thing was obvious: as their stamina dwindled, Dortmund's overall defensive formation was gradually dropping deeper.

By the 75th minute, their midfield press was mostly being executed outside the 30-meter zone.

"They're about to break!" Villanova said excitedly.

Guardiola nodded, walked to the sideline, and pulled aside the right-back on his side of the pitch, Alves.

"Tell them that Hummels and Subotic are both on yellow cards."

"Attack them more!"

In reality, Guardiola didn't actually want to get the two players sent off.

The lesson from last season's match against Inter Milan taught him that sometimes, getting an opponent sent off—leaving them a man down—only makes the remaining players more unified. They shed their psychological burdens and focus solely on defending.