Chapter 202 King's Cup Champion

In the second half, neither Mourinho nor Guardiola made any substitutions.

Real Madrid are more solid and aggressive in defense, and will not give Barcelona any easy chance to get close to the penalty area.

Trailing behind, Barcelona became more focused on possession, cautiously passing the ball around in midfield and refusing to attack easily, fearing they might lose possession again and be caught on the counter-attack by Real Madrid.

Real Madrid was naturally delighted with Barcelona's performance, as they were in the lead. They couldn't be happier if Barcelona just kept passing the ball around until the end of the match, allowing Real Madrid to lift the trophy.

When the game remained unbroken, Guardiola made the same decision as in the previous match: temporarily abandoning midfield penetration, moving more down the flanks, increasing the pace, and taking advantage of Real Madrid's counter-attacks when they were not fully back in defense.

In the 53rd minute, Mascherano and Adriano combined to dispossess Di Maria and launched a long pass forward to Iniesta, initiating Barcelona's counter-attack.

Iniesta launched another long pass before Khedira could close in, targeting Villa on the outside of the penalty area. At this point, Ramos, who was marking Villa, had not yet returned to the Barcelona half, and Pepe was blocking Villa's path.

What a small world!

Even with a yellow card already on his back, Pepe didn't back down when facing Villa, and went straight for a sliding tackle.

Villa, however, was prepared. He dribbled past Pepe and broke into Real Madrid's penalty area, where only Casillas was in front of him.

Villa knows all too well how strong his national team captain's save ability is. After a one-on-one opportunity, he was extremely cautious with his tackle, trying to avoid Casillas's save range as much as possible.

However, because he was too focused on the angle, Villa wasted this one-on-one opportunity. He did avoid Casilla, but the ball hit the outside side netting.

In the stands, a sigh rang out from the Barcelona fans wearing red and blue jerseys.

In the 62nd minute, Barcelona launched another counter-attack from the right flank.

Pedro received a pass from Xavi and entered Real Madrid's penalty area from the right wing. This time, he learned from Villa's mistake and shot directly without hesitation, but he did not clear Casillas' hands.

A few minutes later, Messi was brought down from behind by Alonso while dribbling past him. The referee showed Alonso a yellow card and awarded Barcelona a free kick.

Messi took the free kick himself, but it hit the wall.

After abandoning their midfield penetration strategy, Barcelona's counter-attacks became increasingly rapid, and Real Madrid's defense gradually showed weaknesses under Barcelona's repeated attacks.

In the 72nd minute, taking advantage of Real Madrid's unsuccessful attack, Barcelona launched another quick counter-attack.

After receiving the ball in the Barcelona penalty area, Pique passed it straight to Xavi, who then launched a long pass from Barcelona's half to Messi on the left flank. Messi then began his dazzling individual dribbling performance.

He squeezed past the retreating Ramos not far from the halfway line, dribbled the ball at high speed towards the Real Madrid penalty area, Khedira stepped forward to block him, but he easily got rid of him with his speed, Pepe slid in from the middle, he gently chipped the ball forward, then jumped over Pepe who was blocking his way, controlled the ball and continued to approach the Real Madrid penalty area...

The entire Mestalla Stadium erupted in cheers. Not only were Barcelona and neutral fans applauding Messi's brilliant dribbling, but Real Madrid fans were also stunned.

Messi's dribbling style has its own distinct characteristics. He runs with an extremely fast pace, touches the ball very frequently while dribbling, and never lets the ball out of his control, making it very difficult for defenders to find a suitable opportunity to intercept the ball.

Especially in densely defended areas, he can make consecutive touches in a very short time, and achieve rapid and frequent changes of direction in narrow spaces, making it impossible for defenders to defend against him and leaving them with no way to tackle.

It's not uncommon for Messi to dribble past three or four players in a single attack. When Barcelona's passing and control faltered, Messi was the key to Barcelona's comeback.

Amid the cheers and shouts of the fans, Messi's breakthrough continued. After beating three players, only Carvalho remained between him and Casillas.

Behind him, a large number of players in white jerseys were desperately chasing back, with Fino and Marcelo leading the charge.

Facing Carvalho, who was waiting outside the penalty area, Messi used a series of changes of direction to make Carvalho lose his balance and could only spread his legs to maintain his balance. Then Messi nutmegged Carvalho, passed him on the left side, and hooked the ball back.

After easily getting past Real Madrid's fourth defender, Messi smoothly entered Real Madrid's penalty area, where only the waiting Casillas stood between him and the goal.

Casillas chose to take the initiative, and while Messi and Carvalho were entangled, he had already come out from in front of the goal. After Messi entered the penalty area, Casillas made a diving save.

Casillas's diving save caused Messi to stumble, and the ball briefly slipped out of his control. But the next second, Messi had already stepped to the left to avoid Casillas and then used the inside of his left foot to flick the ball back to his feet.

After Casillas fell to the ground, Messi calmly took a step and used his right foot to push the ball towards the far corner of the goal, facing an open goal for Real Madrid.

Amidst the anticipation of thousands of Barcelona fans, the commentator shouted: "Messi avoided Casillas's attack and took a shot! Goooo... Ah?"

The commentator's excited voice came to an abrupt halt. Just as the ball was about to cross the goal line, a white figure rushed over, hooking the ball back into the penalty area. The ball was then kicked back into Barcelona's half by a teammate, and in the ensuing scramble, it rolled out of Barcelona's half's goal line.

After the ball went out of play, the live broadcast began to replay the scene that had just happened in front of Real Madrid's goal from multiple camera angles. Only then did the commentators and viewers in front of the TV fully understand what had just happened.

As Messi shook off Khedira, Fino and Marcelo, who had retreated, had already crossed the halfway line and were sprinting at full speed toward Real Madrid's penalty area.

Messi's dribbling speed is fast, but Fino's full-speed sprint without the ball is even faster. In the original speed shot, Fino has already left a blur, only a white shadow can be seen moving forward! Forward! Forward!

As Messi dodged Casillas and took a shot, Fino finally caught up from the right. At the crucial moment when the ball was about to cross the goal line, Fino stretched out his foot and hooked the ball out, falling into the net in the process.

Marcelo, who was following behind Fino, got the ball. With Messi still lurking nearby, Marcelo had no choice but to launch a long ball into Barcelona's half, taking the danger away from Real Madrid's goal.

"My God, Cabrini saved Real Madrid's goal!" the commentator exclaimed. "Messi's spectacular dribble past five players was unstoppable, a top-tier technique so precise and delicate it's practically an art form. It's such a shame he didn't score. But Cabrini's long-range save was another kind of art; that lightning-fast speed is simply breathtaking..."

Casillas returned to the goal, gave Fino a high five, and then grabbed Fino's hand to pull him up.

That was a close call! Casillas wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

As Messi dribbled past his opponents, Mourinho and Guardiola on the sidelines were watching Messi's legs intently, their hearts pounding. When Fino cleared the ball, Mourinho clenched his fists and roared, while Guardiola shook his head in disappointment.

Mourinho checked the time; there were less than 20 minutes left in the match.

Mourinho used two substitutions in a row.

The first substitution was Adebayor replacing Higuain. Just like in the previous match, Adebayor was brought in as a tall target man in Barcelona's penalty area to tie down Barcelona's defense and increase Real Madrid's ability to press high up the pitch.

The second substitution was Albiol replacing Ronaldo, adding another center-back in front of the goal to solidify the defense.

At the same time, Mourinho gestured to the players on the field. Except for Adebayor, who stayed in Barcelona's half to wait for a counterattack, all the other players withdrew to Real Madrid's half. Real Madrid completely switched from attack to defense, setting up a dense "iron wall" formation, making it even more difficult for Barcelona's attack.

Barcelona continued to look for attacking opportunities, but when their opponents focused on parking the bus, Barcelona, ​​lacking a tall striker, struggled to get the ball into the penalty area.

Moreover, when Barcelona press forward, there are large gaps behind them, which become Adebayor's "playground" if they are caught on the counter-attack.

In the remainder of the match, Barcelona's several attacks failed to produce any results, and they almost conceded a long-range shot from Fino to extend their lead.

As the match drew to a close, all the players and staff on the Real Madrid bench stood up, arms around each other, waiting for the whistle to blow.

When stoppage time reached its final second, the referee finally blew his whistle.

Real Madrid defeated Barcelona 1-0, becoming the team that had the last laugh in the Copa del Rey.

Some of the sharp, piercing whistles sounded like heavenly music at that moment, plunging all the Real Madrid fans who heard them into ecstasy. They rushed onto the pitch together, embracing their teammates tightly, expressing their excitement and joy at that moment.

"Dear viewers, the 2011 Copa del Rey final has officially come to a close. Real Madrid defeated Barcelona 1-0 with a goal from Cabrini, winning the Copa del Rey after a 18-year absence."

After the match ended, the commentators quickly broadcast the match statistics.

"The statistics are in. Barcelona leads by a wide margin in possession with 62%, and they also have more shots on goal (13) than Real Madrid (11). However, 6 of Barcelona's 13 shots went wide, 4 were blocked by Real Madrid's defense, and only 3 truly tested Casillas. On the other hand, Real Madrid had 6 shots that threatened Barcelona's goal, including the only goal of the match..."

Mourinho immediately went to Guardiola's side and shook hands with him.

Facing Mourinho's smug face, Guardiola smiled good-naturedly and said, "Congratulations, José."

Guardiola's reaction greatly diminished Mourinho's joy.

He wanted to see Guardiola hysterical, furious, enraged, and enraged, rather than casually offering a "congratulations" as if he didn't care about the game at all. He felt like he had punched cotton.

"Guardiola is known for his disgusting ways," Mourinho thought to himself.

After Mourinho left, Guardiola went to his disheartened players and hugged and comforted them one by one.

When he passed by Fino, he struck up a conversation with her.

"Finni, congratulations." Guardiola patted Fino on the shoulder.

“Thank you, Mr. Guardiola.” Fino smiled politely and reservedly.

“Just call me Pep. I’ve already called you Fini, haven’t I?” Guardiola casually put his arm around Fino’s waist, tilting his head and smiling as he looked into Fino’s eyes.

Fino nodded somewhat indifferently.

"Your performance tonight was absolutely outstanding, Finney. Even though I already have Messi, I'm still captivated by you."

"Thank you." Fino's expression remained polite and reserved.

Guardiola is no good. Fino still remembers how Guardiola toyed with Ronaldo in the first half of the El Clásico. Who knows what kind of tricks he's up to now.

At that moment, Alonso came over and pulled Fino out of Guardiola's arms.

"Hey, Pep, don't seduce our little guy, he's not going to Barcelona."

"Congratulations, Xavi." Guardiola shrugged noncommittally and turned to walk towards his other disciples.

He certainly didn't intend to bring Fino back to Barcelona, ​​but he really wanted Fino.

He won't stay at Barcelona forever. Let's build a good relationship; maybe one day we'll cooperate.

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Author's Note: Maldini's "what if" scenario is now complete! Those who like this story's direction can bookmark it in advance on my author page~ [Let me see!]

Thank you everyone for your support! [Thumbs up]