Chapter 201: The Final Battle for the Pinnacle of Acting Skills

A few minutes later, the referee issued the second yellow card of the match for Pedro elbowing Carvalho while contesting a header.

The shock of receiving two yellow cards in quick succession made the players realize that the referee had tightened his standards, and both sides became more restrained in their actions.

In the 37th minute, Messi's long-range shot from outside the penalty area was blocked by Marcelo and went out of bounds, giving Barcelona a corner kick opportunity on the right.

Guardiola on the sidelines immediately perked up, anticipating the outcome of this tactical corner kick combination.

Xavi stepped up to take the corner. He delivered the ball close to the grass towards the goal. Pedro, near the edge of the six-yard box, received the ball and also passed it out of the box close to the grass. Alves received the ball near the top of the penalty arc. At the moment of receiving the ball, Messi and Villa began to move towards the left side of the penalty area, as if to receive Alves' pass.

Khedira and Ramos immediately moved over to prevent Barcelona from shooting from the left. Four or five players from both sides moved to the left, which just created space in front of the goal for Alves.

In the instant the space in front of the goal opened up, Alves took a shot directly from outside the penalty area, the ball flying straight towards the goal, grazing the grass.

This corner kick tactic was specially designed by Barcelona against Real Madrid. It involves the entire ball traveling on the ground. Given the height of Barcelona players, they have no advantage in heading the ball, but in terms of pure footwork, Real Madrid is far inferior to Barcelona.

However, Guardiola was disappointed. This tactical corner kick caught the other Real Madrid players in the penalty area off guard, but it did not escape Casillas' sharp eyes. Casillas quickly got down and pressed the ball firmly onto the grass.

After making the save, taking advantage of the open space in Barcelona's defense, Casillas immediately got up and launched a long ball, and Real Madrid launched another quick counter-attack.

The moment Casillas caught the ball, alarm bells rang in the minds of the Barcelona players, who began desperately retreating back to their own half. But the ball is always faster than people. By the time Ronaldo reached the ball's landing point, not only were the Barcelona players retreating from Real Madrid's goal far away, but Mascherano and Busquets, positioned in Barcelona's half, were also unable to catch up with him for the ball.

Cristiano Ronaldo calmly controlled the ball, turned and dribbled down the left flank towards Barcelona's half. Busquets, who was relatively close, cut diagonally from the center, while Mascherano retreated into the penalty area to assist goalkeeper Pinto in guarding the goal and preventing Ronaldo from taking a long-range shot.

The players from both sides, dressed in pure white and red and blue jerseys, ran at full speed behind Ronaldo, and from the air, they seemed to be swarming towards Barcelona's backfield like a flock of sheep moving from place to place.

Busquets has made up his mind to teach Ronaldo a lesson. In a few seconds, it will be the moment of the ultimate acting showdown. Who will be the better actor, him or Ronaldo? Who will be the best actor among best actors? We'll find out in a few seconds.

This match will decide both the Copa del Rey and the Oscars.

However, Ronaldo did not give Busquets the opportunity to prove himself through his performance; before Busquets could get close, Ronaldo had already crossed the ball.

After receiving the ball, Fino continued his run towards Barcelona's half. At this point, he was only a dozen meters away from Barcelona's penalty area, with only goalkeeper Pinto and Mascherano in front of him.

Fino dribbled at full speed, and with no one around to interfere, he kicked the ball forward, then accelerated to catch up, striding straight into the Barcelona penalty area.

As Fino approached the Barcelona penalty area, Mascherano was already there to meet him. Pinto, standing near the goal line, was also keeping a close eye on Fino's feet, ready to make a save at any moment. It wasn't that he didn't want to take the initiative, but Fino's reputation for dribbling past goalkeepers in the penalty area was well-known, so he might as well stay in front of the goal and adapt to the situation.

In the instant he faced off against Mascherano, Fino shifted his feet slightly, lowered his right shoulder, and pushed the ball with his right foot, making a move to break through to the right.

Mascherano immediately stepped to his left to block, but Fino did not actually break through from the right. His right foot simply circled the ball clockwise once before pulling it back. After deceiving Mascherano into shifting his weight, Fino used the instep of his left foot to gently push the ball forward and to the left, getting past Mascherano on the left. Then he suddenly accelerated, avoiding Mascherano's outstretched hand that reached out to grab his jersey.

Fino proved with facts that he is the man who truly stands at the pinnacle of acting on the field—(note: this refers to feints, not faking falls).

After dropping back to the defensive midfield position, Fino's opportunities to dribble past defenders and make solo runs decreased significantly, but his basic skills remained solid. His stepover move was fluid, concise, efficient, and pleasing to the eye.

After getting past Mascherano, Fino entered the Barcelona penalty area, where Barcelona players were already catching up behind him.

Fino didn't continue dribbling, but instead faced the far corner of the goal, swung his leg, and shot.

Pinto reacted very quickly, lunging towards the far corner of the goal the instant Fino kicked the ball. However, he soon realized he had made a mistake, as Fino once again made a right-footed circling motion around the ball, turning it three-quarters of the way around before flicking it towards the near corner of the goal.

Pinto lunged in the completely wrong direction.

Because it was a flick of the ball, the ball wasn't very fast, but Pinto, who had already landed at the far corner of the goal, was powerless and could only watch helplessly as the ball skimmed along the grass and into the net.

"Gooooal! In the 39th minute, Real Madrid launched a quick counter-attack. Cabrini found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper in the penalty area and flicked the ball into the near corner of the goal. Real Madrid took a 1-0 lead!" the commentator shouted. "Cabrini's series of moves were absolutely beautiful. His stepover over Mascherano was perfectly timed, and then he used a half-step to deceive goalkeeper Pinto and put the ball into the empty net."

The commentator then jokingly remarked about Ronaldo: "Ronaldo really needs to learn how to use stepovers from Cabrini. Cabrini's stepovers are real stepovers, Ronaldo only knows how to use stepovers, he doesn't know how to dribble past opponents."

Fortunately, Ronaldo can't hear the commentator's teasing right now, otherwise he would be stomping his feet in anger. Right now, he's happily ruffling Fino's hair.

Mourinho excitedly pumped his fists a few times on the sidelines.

After Fino scored that goal, Real Madrid immediately took the initiative in the rest of the game. He wanted to see what Guardiola would do next!

The referee checked the time, stopped Real Madrid's celebration, and returned to the center circle to prepare for the restart.

As Fino returned to his own half, he tidied his hair and headband—his hair had just been ruffled into a mess by Ronaldo.

There aren't many players with long hair in the Real Madrid team. Apart from Fino, only Ramos and Khedira have relatively long hair. Moreover, the two of them like to use headbands to tie their hair tightly to their scalps, unlike Fino, who only uses a thin headband to fix the hair in front of his forehead to prevent it from obstructing his vision, while the rest of his hair flows freely as he runs.

This is the feel of Milan, or rather, Serie A. Maldini, Nesta, and Pirlo all embody this spirit, as does Fino, who grew up surrounded by it. This makes Fino's style stand out remarkably in the Real Madrid dressing room.

After he fixed his hair, he casually asked Alonso, who was retreating with him, "Xavi, what do you think of me cutting my hair short?"

Alarm bells rang in Alonso's mind. Fino's long hair was incredibly beautiful; her soft, flowing strands even seemed to drift into his dreams on the night breeze. How could he possibly cut them?!

“You’ll look good with any hairstyle, but your current hairstyle suits you perfectly, so why cut it?” Alonso tilted his head and looked at Fino, his tone natural and casual.

"Wouldn't it be strange if I was the only one with hair this long in the locker room?"

“Absolutely not! They’re so envious. Actually, many of my teammates want this hairstyle too, but they don’t have your dashing and free-spirited vibe, so it wouldn’t look good on them.” Alonso gave an example: “Didn’t you notice that Granero once tried to copy your hairstyle? Because it looked too much like a bandit, he had to cut it off.”

"Really?" Granero's hair was curlier and coarser, and Fino couldn't tell that it was the same hairstyle. He thought Granero's hair was messy because it matched his nickname "pirate".

"Yes," Alonso nodded solemnly. "Don't cut it, everyone really loves it, it looks amazing!"

“Okay,” Fino replied casually. It was nothing to him anyway; he was just saying it offhand.

By this time, they had reached the vicinity of the center line. After finishing their conversation, they jogged a few steps back to their own half and took their positions, waiting for Barcelona to kick off.

Barcelona's attack was intercepted in midfield by Fino and Khedira, and Real Madrid's subsequent counter-attack was also thwarted by Barcelona outside the penalty area.

At the end of the first half, the score remained unchanged, with Fino scoring the only goal of the first half.

During halftime, the commentators began to review the highlights of the first half, with Fino repeatedly deceiving Mascherano and Pinto to score into an empty net being the most important moment discussed by the commentators and guests.

"That dribble and shot were absolutely beautiful; it's a visual treat no matter how many times I watch it," the commentator exclaimed.

The commentator agreed: "Cabrini is a phenomenal all-around player. He is the sharpest weapon and the strongest shield. He has excellent technique, speed, strong overall vision, and is extremely intelligent. Unless they are his mortal enemies, no fan would not love Cabrini after watching him play."

"Yes," the commentator added. "And despite his outstanding individual abilities, he's not a lone wolf, but a team player. He has a very stable mentality; he enjoys winning games and doesn't care whether he's the most outstanding player. We often see him give shooting opportunities to his teammates. He doesn't care about individual performances, but when the team is in dire straits, he can step up in time to turn the tide and use his strong individual ability to open up a path to victory for the team."

The commentator nodded repeatedly: "In the attacking third, Cabrini is an invincible weapon; back in midfield, he's a master strategist. Lippi and Mourinho have a truly keen eye. Even though Cabrini shines so brightly as a striker, they still decided to move him to midfield. Back in midfield, Cabrini has a wider field of vision, and his organizational and defensive talents are further showcased. We're seeing a stronger Cabrini."

"Of course, I have no intention of offending Ancelotti." The commentator added, "We all know that Cabrini came from Milan. In the season when he debuted in the first team, Milan's midfield was full of stars, but the attack was seriously lacking. Perhaps this is why Cabrini started his career as a striker."

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Author's note: Thank you everyone for your support! [Laughing]