"It's okay, it's okay! Get back quickly and prepare to defend again!"

  Gao Shen shouted loudly from the sidelines.

  i had just squandered a great ce to give Napoli the lead in the eighth minute. But Gao Shen didn't bme him, these things happened.

  Even the best strikers in the world couldn't guarantee a 100% success rate, right?

  "Stay posed! Don't rush—be patient, just like we practiced!"

  "Pay attention to the sed ball! trol the situation! Don't get careless!"

  Gao Shen's voice echoed across the pitch as he directed his pyers from the teical area.

  Bara's goal kick was tested fiercely. Napoli won the initial header and quickly regained possession of the sed ball. But Bara's ter-press was relentless as they tried to win the ball back high up the pitch.

  Napoli weren't fazed. They calmly passed the ball around, pying it out from the back with short, sharp exges before sending it back to goalkeeper Handanovi?.

  Eto'o sprioward the goalkeeper, trying to force a mistake, but Handanovi? remained posed and passed the ball out to David Luiz.

  When it came to passing and ball trol, Napoli weren't g. The difference y in the philosophies of the two teams.

  Napoli were alrepared to py a direct pass when an opportunity arose.

  Bara, by trast, prioritized ball retention. Long passes were rare; they preferred tress gradually through intricate passing sequehis mi was deeply embedded in the club's footballing DNA.

  Gao Shen had once jokingly told Guardio, "Without the ball, you wouldn't know what to do."

  Napoli's tactical approach had already proven effective after their first dangerous attack.

  Gao Shen saw no reason to ge it. He tinued instrug his pyers to stay patient and disciplined.

  …

  On the opposite sideline, Guardio was busy adjusting Bara's tactical structure, especially their attag patterns.

  Napoli's defensive scheme was clearly well-prepared.

  With i droppio mark Busquets, Napoli's midfield trio of Rakitic, Biglia, and Thiago Motta perfectly matched Bara's midfield.

  Every time Messi dropped deep, Napoli's ter-backs held their positions while the midfielders stepped up to engage him.

  i's defensive involvement created a numerical advantage for Napoli in midfield.

  But there was a trade-off: Bara's ter-baow saw more of the ball and had greater freedom to push forward.

  Guardio didn't buy it.

  "He's baiting Yaya Touré to move forward," Guardio muttered through gritted teeth.

  Tito Vinova, standing beside him, was momentarily fused but soon grasped the point.

  "Do you think Gao Shen wants Yaya Touré to step into midfield?" Vinova asked, surprised.

  "Absolutely," Guardio said firmly. "Gao Shen is crafty. He never leaves gaps without a reason."

  His expression grew more serious as he spoke.

  He had his s about Yaya Touré.

  The Ivorian had been outstanding in Bara's ret Copa del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao, sg a crucial goal. His performance was so ving that Guardio couldn't justify keeping him out of the lionight.

  But pushing forward from ter-back carried signifit risks.

  If Touré lost the ball while advang, Napoli's terattack would exploit the space behind him just like they had done when Dani Alves ventured forward earlier.

  Bara's defensive pairing had its vulnerabilities.

  Piqué was tall and teically skilled but struggled with quick turns and recovery runs. Puyol was fearless in his tag but cked physical presence against powerful strikers.

  Guardio had opted for Touré as a promise. The Ivorian provided deferength but also had a natural tendency to carry the ball into midfield.

  "Tito, keep a close eye on Yaya," Guardio instructed. "Don't let him get carried away."

  Vinova hesitated for a moment, unsure if Guardio was being overly cautious. But he ultimately nodded.

  After all, Napoli was no ordinary oppo, they were Serie A champions and had reached the final with a brand of football that had stunned Europe.

  Still, Vinova didn't share Guardio's near-obsessive attention to detail. He was more tolerant of pyers taking risks, unlike Guardio, who demanded near-perfe.

  …

  Bara's attack struggled to find any rhythm in the final third.

  They maintaiheir passing game, cirg the ball from side to side, probing for weaknesses but Napoli's deferucture remained pad anized.

  Every time a Bara pyer received the ball he box, Napoli defenders swarmed the area, f the py backward.

  Possession remained Bara's lifeline.

  But after fifteen minutes, something ged.

  Bara suddenly increased the tempo. Their passes became quicker, their pressing more intense, and the energy in their front line surged.

  It was clear they'd realized the truth:

  If they kept pying at Napoli's pace, the night would only get harder for them.

  Ih minute, Bara finally created a promising opportunity.

  Messi delivered a pass from the edge of the penalty area to the left wing, where Henry received the ball. Fag Lichtsteihe French forward suddenly accelerated, shaking off the Swiss right-back, before sending a low cross toward the near post.

  Eto'o made a diagonal run into the box, but David Luiz stu tightly. Under pressure from the Brazilian defender, Eto'o was forced into a rushed shot that deflected off Luiz a out for a er.

  Xavi quickly took the er, and Piqué rose to meet the ball, but his header sailed over the crossbar.

  It was Bara's sed shot of the game.

  "Napoli's defensive anization is very impressive," the entator noted.

  "They haven't adopted a traditional low-block defense. Instead, they've created a tight, pact zone from the halfway lio the 30-meter area in front of their own goal. Once Bara tries to break through, Napoli's defenders immediately shift into position to close down the space."

  "The pyers are switg and c for each other seamlessly. It's clear they've rehearsed these movemeensively in training."

  Bara failed to vert that ce, but the opportunity gave them fidence.

  The side had always relied on their high-pressing philosophy. Now that they'd sniffed out a half-ce, they were eager to ramp up the pressure and pin Napoli back.

  They hoped to break the deadlock within the first twenty minutes.

  On the sidelines, Gao She barking instrus.

  "Stay calm! Don't get impatient! Stick to the pn!" he shouted, gesturing emphatically.

  "Keep your shape, stay focused on the sed ball!"

  Napoli's defensive discipline remained intact, but Bara was visibly increasing the iy of their press in midfield and the attag third.

  "The match has entered a tense phase," the entator observed.

  "Napoli has stayed posed, but Bara is gradually turning up the heat. The pressure is high on both sides right now."

  "The tempo has beeively slow so far, but once a goal is scored, the game could open up signifitly."

  "Big matches often start like this, cautious and cagey. But when the deadlock breaks, everything ges."

  Bara steadily advaheir defensive liil both Piqué and Yaya Touré were stationed he halfway line, cirg the ball bad forth. Meanwhile, their forward line pushed toward Napoli's penalty area, though clear-cut ces remained elusive.

  Messi repeatedly dropped deep to receive the ball, but Napoli's midfielders swarmed him each time.

  It was clear Napoli had id a trap for Messi, strug a defensive "cage" to ralize the Argentine.

  Still, Bara was gainiorial trol.

  The atmosphere resembled a on being carefully positioned, silent for now, but ready to fire at any moment.

  Beh the surface, the tension alpable.

  …

  "They say that when we push the defensive lio the halfway li means we're about to un all-out attack!"

  In the VIP se, Bara president Joan Laporta leaned ba his seat and ughed heartily. His fiden the team was unmistakable.

  From Laporta's perspective, Bara was the superior side. Napoli had enjoyed a stelr season, but their squad depth and global influence couldn't pare to Bara's star-studded lineup.

  Even more reassuring was the swirling rumor that Gao Shen would leave Napoli after the matanage Real Madrid—a move Laporta hoped would destabilize Napoli's focus.

  The best-case sario? Bara wins vingly tonight, Guardio bests Gao Shen, and the tter's fideakes a hit even before his rumored arrival in Madrid.

  Real Madrid was gearing up for a massive summer rebuild. If Gao Shen did take over, Bara would face serious petition.

  But a defeat tonight would give Bara the psychological upper hand.

  "Napoli's tactics are very stable," teical directiristain cautioned. "Their defense is rock-solid. They won't be easy to break down."

  He knew football's uability well.

  Bara appeared to have the upper hand, but if Napoli exploited a single terattack, the bance of the match could shift dramatically.

  This game wasn't as straightforward as Laporta made it sound.

  But the Bara president was unfazed.

  "Rex, Txiki. Look at the pitch. We're dominating. We'll win tonight!" Laporta decred with unwavering fidence.

  Winning this matd pleting the treble would t his legacy as Bara's greatest-ever president.

  Nú?ez? Gaspart? Rosell? Laporta wao surpass them all.

  He craved historical signifid was vihat this Bara side, with Guardio at the helm, would make that dream a reality.

  Almost as if to validate Laporta's optimism, Bara unched atack.

  Dani Alves sprinted down the right fnk, bining with Eto'o to deliver a cross into the box. David Luiz read the py, stepped forward, and blocked the ball at the near post.

  Unfortunately for Napoli, the ball bounced out to Xavi just outside the penalty area.

  Before Xavi could fully trol it, Biglia lunged in and clipped his foot.

  Howard Webb immediately blew his whistle and awarded Bara a free kick from a dangerous position.

  The Bara pyers reacted furiously, demanding a yellow card. Puyol led the protests, g Napoli's defenders were using stant small fouls to disrupt their rhythm.

  But Webb remained unmoved.

  In truth, Bara's pyers had been equally physical throughout the match. Webb's decision to let py flow aligned with the Premier League-style officiating he was known for.

  While Xavi prepared to take the free kick, Piqué and Yaya Touré jogged forward to join the aerial assault in Napoli's box. Even Busquets advanced from midfield, signaling Bara's iion to capitalize on this set-piece opportunity.

  On the sidelines, Gao Shen paervously.

  He shouted instrus to his pyers, urging them to stay sharp.

  His instincts told him that the moment he had been waiting for was finally here.