Chapter 606 An Opportunity

Chapter 606 An Opportunity

The game continued after Barcelona's goal celebrations.

The Catalans were still on fire, even after scoring the second goal. They continued applying pressure on Juventus' defensive set-up with their Tiki-Tiki style while trying to find spaces to exploit all over the field. They were relentless with their attacks while dominating sixty percent of the ball possession.

The Juventus players, on their part, were performing below par. Their tactics were a mess, and they couldn't check the performance of the more driven Barcelona players. The Old Lady players could only hold on for dear life as they waited for half time, the only time they could reorganize.

Regrettably, the old saying held true for Juventus, and bad things came in twos or threes. When everything was going downhill, something worse happened sooner rather than later.

The Juventus players had stuck to their game plan even after conceding the two goals. They had remained compact in midfield and defensive as a whole. They had focused on preventing Barcelona from advancing into forward areas by crowding out those central areas in front of their box.

But the same issue that had caused them to concede the first two goals still impacted them. Their narrow 4-3-1-2 formation, focusing on numerical superiority and compactness in central areas, left a lot of gaps on the flanks. The same problem allowed Barcelona to exploit their lack of wingers and the acres of space in the wings to create another goal-scoring chance during the 39th minute.

Lionel Messi was once again the man who initiated Barcelona's brilliant passage of play. He drifted into the central areas and connected with a pass from Sergio Busquets before working his ball magic.

The little Argentine wonder skillfully skipped past Arturo Vidal before cleverly switching play to the left side of the pitch with a sudden long pass over the middle. He pinged the ball to Jordi Alba on the opposite border of the penalty area, who skillfully exchanged a lightning-fast one-two with Neymar to break into the box from the left side.

The Juventus defenders couldn't scramble back in time and prevent the damage before the Jordi-Neymar quick combination ended with Luis Suárez receiving the ball within the box.

Luis Suárez, on his part, was as composed as ever. He turned and twisted to avail space for himself and force a shooting angle. Then, just as suddenly, he hammered a carpet shot through the defender's legs and found the bottom left corner to score Barcelona's 3rd goal on the night during the 40th minute.

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Juventus FC 0 : FC Barcelona 3

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Conor McNamara chuckled and continued with the game commentary. "Well, the game has restarted, and Juventus are on the attack for the first time in what has really been a while. Claudio Marchisio is on the ball. He passes to Arturo Vidal, who in turn finds Carlos Tevez."

"Carlos Tevez on the ball. He turns and plays the ball to Zachary. Zachary has controlled it well. Oh, what an intelligent set of skills. Zachary has skipped past Ivan Rakitić with a brilliant display of footwork. He plays the ball back to Tevez. Oh, it's a foul!"

"Javier Mascherano, one of Barcelona's center-backs for the day, has taken out Carlos Tevez, his countryman, with a ruthless sliding tackle just a few yards away from the box," the commentary continued. "The referee has shown him a yellow card and awarded Juventus a free-kick in a dangerous area with only two minutes remaining to half time. This could be a chance for Juventus to grab a lifeline for this game."

"Indeed," Steve Bower, the second commentator, agreed. "Juventus have Zachary, one of the most lethal dead-ball specialists in the world. If he can make something out of the free-kick, it could be the beginning of Juventus' comeback in this UEFA Champions League final."

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Zachary's heart was beating fast and hard with tension as he took a few steps back after placing the ball on the free-kick spot. He knew what was at stake, so he couldn't seem to contain his anxiety.

If he could find the back of the net and score, his teammates' morale would explode, and Juventus would have a better chance at making a comeback during the second half.

But if he failed to convert, the situation would be different. His team would head into halftime while demoralized, and that could push them to continue performing below par during the second half.

That was how crucial the free-kick was at that point in the game. It could literally decide which team would have the momentum during the second half of the UEFA Champions League final.

'I must score.' Zachary resolved. He took a deep breath and started observing the situation ahead of him.

The referee had already finished organizing the placement of the wall. Some Barcelona players, including Neymar, Sergio Busquets, Gerard Piqué, Luis Suárez, and Ivan Rakitić, had already taken their positions in the defensive wall.

But that wasn't the end of Barcelona's defensive arrangements. Andrés Iniesta, the Barcelona captain, had lied down behind the defensive wall to block any avenues of a potential carpet shot below the wall that might threaten his goal.

Lastly, the other Catalans were tightly marking the Juventus players in the box while Ter Stegen, the keeper, was between the posts, watching Zachary like a predator watching its prey.

That was how far Barcelona had gone to ensure Zachary wouldn't convert the free-kick. That was how serious the Catalans were in stopping any chances of Juventus making a comeback. They wanted to crush any hopes of Juventus before seeing their win through during the second half.