No. 435: If Barcelona is the Cosmos, then what is Wolves?
In the midst of war in Europe, the annual Club World Cup is being held in the United Arab Emirates, with champions from five continents battling it out for the final trophy of the year.
Champions League winners Barcelona undisputed a 3-1 win over Mexican side Atrante in the semi-finals to advance to the final. The other team that reached the final was Estudiantes, winners of the Copa Libertadores.
The European champions and South American champions meet in the final, which seems to have become a tradition of the Club World Cup, and they represent the highest level of football in the world today.
At 7 o'clock in the evening of the 19th, at the Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, the final of the Club World Cup began.
The Club World Cup is also the only missing trophy in Barcelona's championship window, after Cruyff's "Dream Team" and Rijkaard's "Dream Team II" both missed the Toyota Cup and Club World Cup.
Barcelona, who wanted to win this trophy, was a little nervous at the beginning of the game, and in the 36th minute, the Estudiantes took the lead in the goal, Dias crossed diagonally from the left, and Poseli pressed Abidal to head into the bottom left corner from eight meters in front of the goal!
1 to 0!
In the 42nd minute, Messi took a free kick, Ibrahimovic tried to volley it, but goalkeeper Alwell grabbed the ball first.
At the end of the first half, Barcelona fell behind 1-0, and after half-time, players from both sides returned to the field. Barcelona, who were behind the score, launched a tidal attack.
Three minutes into the second half, Ibrahimovic slipped past De Salvato on the left side of the box and slid a left-footed volley off the far post from 12 yards!
In the 51st minute, Ibrahimovic plugged in the left rib, and Henry turned to get rid of the defender and was picked up by Alwell from a small angle. Ibrahimovic then cut into the box from the left, but Alweer struck in time to block the angle with his body.
In the 55th minute, Alves' long-range shot was blocked by a defender!
Barcelona missed a great chance in the 60th minute when Thierry Henry's cross from the left was saved by goalkeeper Alweir. Pedro's right-footed volley at the back point didn't touch it!
In the 62nd minute, Ibrahimovic picked up a pass from the left flank to outflank Pedro, but Dias chased back and shoveled the ball to goalkeeper Alwere.
In the 69th minute, Pedro burst into the right side of the penalty area and shot from a tight angle was blocked by Alweir at the near post with his foot.
In the 76th minute, Messi took a quick free kick near the right sideline, Alves crossed diagonally to the back point, and Pique's volley at a small angle on the outside of the instep was blocked by Alwell.
In the 79th minute, Xavi crossed from the right, Ibrahimovic hit the ball six meters from the goal, and Guardiola scratched his head on the sidelines.
Time is coming to an end. Pep Guardiola began to redeploy his troops, bringing on Nunez for Perez, Toure for Sergio Busquets and Hevren for Thierry Henry.
Barcelona's turnaround occurred in the 88th minute, Xavi's middle pick pass was rubbed into the penalty area by the opposing player's header, Picker pressed the defender's header relay, Pedro left side of the goal seven meters from the header shot, Alweir, who performed well in this game, was halfway through the attack, and could only watch the ball fly over his head into the net!
One-to-one!
Barcelona at the end of the game. Equaliser!
After 90 minutes, the two sides were evenly matched and had to go to extra time, with Barcelona fighting to settle the battle in extra-time, while Estudiantes wanted to drag the game into a brutal penalty shoot-out.
A great battle of attack and defense unfolded in front of the world. At the end of the first half of the time trial, Estudiantes stubbornly blocked Barcelona's wave after wave of attacks, and the time entered the second half of extra time.
At the critical moment, Messi stepped up. In the 110th minute, Alves made a diagonal pass from the right, and Messi flew into the bottom right corner seven meters from the goal. Barcelona 2-1!
With this goal, Barcelona defeated the Estudiantes with great difficulty, won the fifth trophy of the year, and achieved the first unprecedented five crowns in history!
At the end of the game, Guardiola's eyes filled with tears of happiness, his first season at Barcelona was so brilliant. That night, Barcelona had no sleep, their team made history!
Barcelona won the Club World Cup against Estudiantes and after the awards, Pep Guardiola took part in the post-match press conference. Pep Guardiola remains respectful, saying: "I'm just very, very happy that the team has taken an important step. ”
The Spanish media highly praised Barcelona for accomplishing this feat, and even the mouthpiece of Real Madrid sang praises for Barcelona at such a time.
"Congratulations to Barcelona on winning the Club World Cup and achieving an unprecedented five-time title! ”
Marca said: "It's a day for the whole of Spain! ”
As for the media in Catalonia, who completely lifted Barcelona to the sky, the newspaper Le Monde Sport exclaimed: "Who else can Barcelona not beat? ”
"Barcelona is the strongest team in the universe!"
Team Cosmos quickly became another name for Barcelona.
The media in other European countries have also praised Barcelona, after all, Barcelona is an unprecedented five-time champion, for such a team, can you still criticize him?
The British have mixed emotions, on the one hand, they have always been unconvinced by Barcelona's achievements. If the Champions League semi-finals were not for the help of the referee, could Barcelona reach the final? But on the other hand, Barcelona's performance in the Champions League final was really impeccable.
The Club World Cup final comeback victory, Barcelona not only won praise in Spain, but also left the British media speechless.
However, the statement of the World Sports newspaper made them unbearable and too arrogant.
The Daily Mail published a signed article: If Barcelona is the Cosmos team, then what is the Wolves team?
"In the past year, the achievements of the Spanish giants Barcelona are undoubtedly admirable, if it were not for Wolves, they would have won all the championships they participated in, and achieved the Grand Slam - six crowns!"
"A Spanish media outlet shouted, 'Who else can't Barcelona beat?' When did you forget about the UEFA Super Cup? ”
The Spanish media and the British media are like a pair of enemies, the media of the two countries have been earning red faces on "who is the first league today", and now Barcelona has won the five crowns, and the British media are not used to the Spanish media's tone of "Lao Tzu is the first in the world".
The Daily Mail article seems to have found a direction for the British media, so the British media took out the European Super Cup, and even brought Wang Rui out.
"Thinking about the UEFA Super Cup, Wolves played Barcelona and couldn't find the north, Cosmos? God, are they invincible? ”
"Is Messi amazing? How many goals did he score against Manchester United? It's just one goal, but Wang has scored five goals.
Let's not talk about the game against Manchester United, let's talk about the game against Chelsea, how many goals did Messi score in the two legs of the Champions League semifinals last season? Zero balls! Wang staged a reversal with a hat-trick of free kicks in the Premier League match that ended not long ago! ”
"The Spanish media suffer from amnesia, have they forgotten how Barcelona failed in the UEFA Super Cup?"
In the face of the ridicule of the British media, the Spanish media immediately counterattacked, believing that the British media was "saying that grapes are sour if you can't eat them".
For the UEFA Super Cup, they thought it was an "accident", and if Barcelona had taken that game seriously, the result would definitely not have been like that.
The war of words unfolded between the media of the two countries, and Wang Rui, who was recuperating from his injuries, watched the drama in amazement. (To be continued.) )