At midnight on January 28, when referee Teixeira blew the whistle to the end of the game, Messi stood at the penalty spot at Villarrell Love Song Stadium, raised his head and looked at the dark night sky, his eyes full of confusion.

What's wrong with Barcelona?

Why is this happening?

The red scoreboard in the stands of the Love Song Stadium showed the final result of the game, zero to zero, neither side could score. No matter how Barcelona organized and planned the offensive frantically, they still failed to create a threat.

Messi was the first to be hit, he missed at least three single shot opportunities.

The first time was in the 17th minute of the first half, Alves made a direct pass, and Messi, who successfully counterattacked, broke into the penalty area and formed a single shot. The ball passed the goalkeeper, but it missed the right post and failed to score.

Messi then made a wonderful pass and a free kick, which made his opponent suffer. Villarrell's defender paid the painful price of three yellow cards in order to stop Messi, but Barcelona is always a little bit short of the goal.

In the last ten minutes, almost all Barcelona players rushed over, and everyone was on the offense. Messi got a one-on-one chance at the 87th and 89th, but both times they were resolved by Villarrell's goalkeeper Diego Lopez.

The solo shot with three excellent chances didn't score at once. Messi was extremely dissatisfied with his condition tonight.

The kick-off time is 22 o'clock, and it is almost midnight after the kick, but this does not have any problem with Messi, who is used to Spanish schedules, because midnight is the beginning of the night for Espanyol.

Tired, this is Messi’s biggest feeling now.

Not only is it the fatigue of playing a ninety-minute game, but it is also the physical and psychological fatigue brought about by a long weekly double competition in recent times, which is something that people who have not experienced it personally cannot understand.

It can even be said that this is a physical and psychological ordeal.

Due to the European Cup this season, the schedules of major European leagues have been tightened, and the first round of La Liga this season was adjusted to January due to the strike of the Players' Union. In addition, the schedule of the Cup of del Rey makes January's events extremely intensive.

From the end of the winter break, starting from January 4, teams such as Barcelona and Real Madrid will usher in a devilish schedule that lasts forty days. Each week is a double match, with fourteen games, seven La Liga games, six King's Cup and one Champions League in 40 days. Everyone must get used to this density of games that is nearly three days.

It can be said that since the winter break, Barcelona has not done any rest and immediately entered a high-density and high-intensity intensive schedule. Moreover, every game is very important and every game is under heavy pressure.

Because Barcelona is currently lagging behind Real Madrid by as many as thirteen points, and if the league is hopeless, the cup will become more important.

It would be fine if it was just that, but what was even more deadly was that people in the first team began to get injured frequently.

Pique, Pedro, Iniesta, Sanchez...

Faced with the devil's schedule, Barcelona began to pay the price for the team's lineup shortcomings.

Guardiola's team has always been expensive, not expensive, and the first team lineup is not abundant, but in the devil's schedule, players began to suffer injuries. Before playing Villarreal, there were even only fourteen players in the first team to use.

Fourteen players!

Eleven went up, and only three players sat on the bench. In order to make up the numbers, four young players had to be drawn from the second team to come up for emergency rescue. But now, the Devil's schedule is not over yet.

What should I do if there are the remaining games?

More importantly, this game was tied, but Real Madrid reversed Zaragoza 3-1 at home. Yang Yang made a pass and shot, assisted to equalize and score a goal that reversed.

In other words, Real Madrid's lead has expanded to fifteen points.

despair!

This is an extremely desperate gap!

Messi can't even imagine how the team will face the next schedule when it is so hugely behind Real Madrid?

The reasons for the team's current difficulties are many aspects, including both player problems and management problems, and the coaching staff will definitely not be able to escape.

From the summer training in the pre-season to the thin lineup of the first team, to the unstable mentality of the players, resulting in consecutive away points lost in the first half of the game, to the fact that the physical crisis and insufficient bench thickness have completely erupted, directly causing Barcelona to be in a state of irreversible consequences.

There are seventeen rounds in La Liga, and Barcelona is 15 points behind Real Madrid, which is a gap that is basically impossible to reverse.

What's even more terrible is that in the next fifteen days, Barcelona's devilish schedule will continue.

In the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey, Barcelona faces Valencia and Real Madrid faces Athletic Bilbao. This will be a battle of battle and will also decide the winner in early February. Let's see who can enter the Copa del Rey final.

Messi wiped his face hard, shook off the sweat in his hands, turned around, and looked at his teammates. He found that everyone's face was the same as him, so confused, so panic, and so uneasy.

Many people say that Guardiola will leave after the end of this season because he is completely disappointed with the team's current situation; some people say that Barcelona will strengthen signings this summer, and Neymar will come to the team to change the current situation of the team's excessive dependence on Messi; some people even say that Guardiola is determined to clean up...

All kinds of rumors and various news are emerging one after another. Even the people in the Barcelona team don’t know which ones are true and which ones are fake. The only thing that is certain is that they have lost a bad season!

Fifteen points behind in the twenty-one round, which almost sentenced Barcelona to death!

…………

…………

"We played very well, had a positive running, and had a large range. I hope to win the remaining seventeen games and all the points, just like we fight tonight, and just keep playing like this, we will surely have another wonderful season."

Guardiola publicly expressed his affirmation of the players' performance at the post-match press conference.

If someone who doesn't know, after hearing this, he will definitely think that Barcelona has won.

Then Guardiola changed his mind, "It's a pity to draw, but there's nothing to blame. I hope to convey my belief in fighting to the end of the bloody battle to the end. Now we should try our best to win all the remaining games."

Fifteen points behind, Guardiola admitted that it was indeed very difficult. He also admitted that the team made too many mistakes in the previous period, which also exposed many problems, but he never mentioned what mistakes and what problems occurred.

Everyone knows that he is in a disagreement with the management, and he always feels that Rossell has not given him enough trust and support.

When there were reporters asking whether Real Madrid would win the La Liga championship, Guardiola said generously, "I won't agree with the argument that Real Madrid will win the La Liga championship now, because there are still seventeen rounds left, everything is still possible. I can only say that Real Madrid has a great possibility to win the championship, but we still have a chance."

"We are undoubtedly going through a devilish schedule, but there is nothing to complain about. As Barcelona players, we should have been used to the rhythm of playing every three days over the past few years. All we have to do is to go all out and continue to fight for victory."

As for Barcelona, ​​Guardiola said helplessly that falling behind for fifteen points is indeed quite serious, "But we must continue with all our might, right?"

...

Barcelona drew Villarrel away and gave in another two points, Real Madrid led 15 points, basically locked in the league championship ahead of schedule.

This news quickly ignited media fans in European football and around the world, and countless people were celebrating Real Madrid.

After all, at the level of strength of the two superstars in the Western Premier League, the 15-point gap is impossible to be filled, but Real Madrid still dare not be careless at all.

The day after defeating Zaragoza 3-1 at home, after learning that Barcelona drew with Villarrell by zero to zero, Real Madrid's locker room spontaneously organized, initiated by captain Casillas, deputy captain Ramos and the team's top star Yang Yang. Taking advantage of the rest time after the nap, an internal locker room meeting was held at the training base of Valdebebas.

The meeting did not even invite anyone from the management and coaching staff to attend, with only first-team players and several youth team players who followed the first-team training, such as Carvajal, Nacho, Hesse and Vasquez.

At the beginning of the meeting, captain Casillas told everyone straight to the point that the 15-point lead was indeed obvious enough, but it was not enough to ensure that Real Madrid won the championship, and Real Madrid's goal was not just La Liga.

"Barcelona is facing a devilish schedule, and we are the same. Therefore, our experience of Barcelona should arouse our vigilance and attention. We must give up all luck and arrogance. We need to play every game in the next game and win every opponent."

At this time, in Real Madrid's locker room, you must not have any blind arrogance and pride.

Thanks to Benitez for laying a foundation of insight for Real Madrid during his coaching period, not only the tactical framework and defensive system, but also the rotation mechanism. Real Madrid has played in the first team so far this season, and the total number of players playing in the first team games is more than 30. Although Ancelotti's rotation is not as orderly as Benitez, it is indeed doing a good job, which makes Real Madrid full of momentum.

Ramos also delivered a speech later, inspiring all teammates to be cautious and to play every game down-to-earth and strive to achieve more brilliant results this season. This is not only for fame, profit, but also for honor.

Yang Yang followed the two captains and made a speech. His words were very simple, just a few words.

"This season is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and maybe this one is the only one in many of us in our careers."
Chapter completed!