Messi's fans were also immersed in their own adulation. In their eyes, Messi was the world's best. As long as he was on the field, the opportunity for free kicks should not belong to those two others.
The match continued. With a whistle from the referee, De Gea kicked the ball away.
Messi replaced Odegaard and immediately moved to the attacking midfield position to organize the offense, which was also his role at PSG.
His playing style was familiar, but the biggest difference between this new team and PSG was Cao Baming's playing style.
As far as he understood, it wouldn't take long to familiarize himself with the system.
Cao Baming's gaze swept across the field rapidly, always ready to do something. If an opportunity arose, it generally wouldn't wait for you for too long; you had to be prepared in advance to seize it!
After Messi came on, Cristiano Ronaldo's expression visibly changed, the alteration extremely subtle!
In the following minutes, both top superstars delivered brilliant performances, yet there were no goals. Time ticked by.
There wasn't much time left to begin with. At this moment, the timer by the bedside showed 89 minutes.
Less than a minute remained until the end of regular time.
Just then, the assistant referee immediately raised another sign displaying a number. The number shown was a 4.
This indicated that the total duration of added time would be 4 minutes.
If that was the case, then there was still a chance!
Cao Baming's eyes flickered. The ball was currently at his feet, and he still had a supreme secret treasure card unused.
With the current score, the match was already won at 3:1, a very beautiful victory. If he scored one more goal, he could achieve a hat-trick in this match, which would indeed be beneficial for the season's mission.
If he could achieve three consecutive hat-tricks, wouldn't he directly receive the reward for Season Mission One, a top-tier talent skill card?
But thinking that Messi had just arrived for his debut, and although he had only played for 20 minutes, Cristiano Ronaldo had scored. He himself hadn't scored personally yet, making him seem a bit pathetic!
Although Messi's face appeared calm, composed, and he was seriously observing the situation on the field, he must have been very disappointed in his heart.
It might not be apparent on the surface, but these two players had always been in an unspoken competition. If Cristiano Ronaldo scored in this match and Messi didn't, then the direction of fan and public opinion would completely change!
Cao Baming could no longer stand it. It was clearly not a technical issue for Messi, but merely a lack of good luck!
He had already secretly made a decision in his heart. Now that regular time had ended and stoppage time had begun, he was determined to provide Messi with an assist in the next 4 minutes!
At this moment, the ball was still under Cao Baming's control. Several midfielders tried to press him, but trying to snatch the ball from his feet was not an easy task to begin with, let alone when Manchester United's players' stamina was already significantly declining.
Cao Baming quickly scanned the field, locating Messi's position. Just then, their eyes suddenly met.
In that instant, Messi seemed to understand Cao Baming's intention and suddenly began to run forward from behind a defensive midfielder beside him!
Top players don't need words to communicate. A look, a movement, is enough to convey everything.
This wasn't some mystical默契 (mòqì - tacit understanding) or luck, but rather their understanding of the game had reached the highest level. Thus, heroes saw eye to eye!
Seeing Messi's proactive run, Cao Baming didn't hesitate. He drove horizontally, drawing the attention of the two players beside him to the other flank.
He could have directly sent a lob pass to find Messi, who was making a run, to set him up for a shot. However, according to system analysis, the success rate of passing to that position was a mere 49%.
But passing through Vieira on the other side, executing a one-two combination and advancing to the front before passing would be much better!
In a moment, Cao Baming made up his mind. He decided to dribble past the defense himself. When the opponent's defensive line's attention was drawn to him, he would then pass the ball, allowing Messi to easily finish it!
It was likely a comfortable tap-in that Messi hadn't experienced all season!
Cao Baming's mind began to imagine Messi hugging his thigh and expressing his gratitude after the match!
"System, activate [Fei Niao] skill!"
Instantly, Cao Baming's own speed increased by 50%. With the increase in speed, the frequency of his dribbling also increased.
From the spectators' perspective, it was impossible to tell how many feints Cao Baming's feet were making. As he dribbled forward, his entire body was performing feints in different areas.
Within one second, he could perform at least two feints consecutively to confuse opponents. This was why wherever he went, opponents were left in disarray!
The two midfielders were easily bypassed by Cao Baming, as easily as walking down a street in the morning.
He then executed a simple one-two pass with Vieira on the wing. As one of the most synchronized teammates with Vieira, Vieira naturally understood his intention. Upon receiving the ball, he passed it back directly without needing to control it.
At this moment, Cao Baming's gaze swept across Manchester United's final defensive line. Under the leadership of captain Maguire, the entire line had retracted inward.
Within a few seconds, at least three defenders had focused their attention on Cao Baming's feet!
"Hurry up and provide cover! This guy isn't easy to defend!"
"Be careful he shoots from there, don't let him get past you!"
Manchester United's defense line became instantly tense. Their tension was evident on their faces, which Cao Baming could see at a glance.
This situation was exactly as he had hoped to see!
At this moment, Henry and Martinelli both began to move forward, but only Messi personally ran over to link up with him.
Cao Baming felt helpless in his heart. He was fully capable of handling this ball himself; he didn't need any support.
And it was Messi's first time playing with him, so he naturally didn't know about his abnormal abilities. Moreover, Messi himself had already transformed into a selfless style of play, not personally finishing unless absolutely necessary!
As expected, it was you, Messi!