Rise of a Football God-Chapter 450: The Yamal show [2]

Halftime. 2-2.

While the players walked down the tunnel for the halftime, the commentators could not help going lyrical about the stunning first half that they witnessed between these 2 footballing giants and archrivals.

"What a half!"

"What a game!"

"This first half, it was the Lamine Yamal show!"

"That first goal, oh my word!"

"Vinicius scores, and yet Yamal says… 'I can't be outdone!' He scores a solid contender for the goal of the season award to equalize the game".

"Jude Bellingham strikes next, fed by Vinicius and yet once again, Yamal is not satisfied. The second goal was less glamorous but considering that they were losing, FC Barcelona fans around the world loved it nonetheless".

"What a performance!"

"It's Vinicius vs Yamal today".

During halftime, Hansi Flick had only a few words for his players.

He didn't have a lot of things to say to them, they played a good game. He simply commended them for the performance, encouraging them to be more defensively disciplined in the 2nd half.

A few minutes later, second half started…

As soon as the game started, FC Barcelona started an attacking sequence that was straight out of the training ground.

As soon as the ball was passed to Pedri, Sam started running down the pitch. Then, Pedri played a long lobbed pass towards Sam.

It took the Madrid defense a moment for them to realize the threat, but by then, it was already too late. Sam was already about overtaking the Madrid defense as the ball descended when Rudiger made a crazy decision.

He lunged at Sam recklessly, elbowing his face with his hand.

"…"

For a few seconds, as Sam collapsed to the ground from the impact, he felt nothing and then, suddenly, the pain came.

It was sharp, biting, as if something cracked in his face.

"Ugh!" Sam groaned, writhing in pain on the pitch.

FWEEEE!

The referee's whistle reverberated, blowing for a foul as he gave Antonio Rudiger a straight red card.

But that was not enough. Sam was the most important member of the FC Barcelona squad this season. And to see him be brutally brought down in such a manner, the FC Barcelona players were incensed.

Gavi rushed up to Rudiger immediately, angrily standing up for his friend as he had to be held back by Raphinha in the end.

The referee already gave a red card, so there was not much they could do.

The Real Madrid players couldn't even protest the decision; Sam writhing in pain on the ground was enough evidence. Besides, more evidence was on his face, the blood flowing from his face.

For a moment, panic settled in the stadium as the medic rushed to the pitch, attending to Sam who was in a world of pain.

Clearly, something broke in his face.

There was a clamor in the stadium stands as FC Barcelona fans watched their star player writhe in pain, anxiety and fear written all over their faces.

In the end, Sam was stretchered off the pitch.

And with him, Rudiger also trudged off the pitch to a chorus of angry boos from the FC Barcelona fans.

With that, Real Madrid was left to play the rest of the game with just 10 men but with Sam out of the pitch, FC Barcelona just lost a big part of their game plan.

Both coaches made changes.

Hansi Flick substituted Ferran Torres in for Sam, while Carlo Ancellotti made a more defensive change, bringing David Alaba for Dani Ceballos as he tweaked the formation of his team on the pitch.

With just 10 men now, to close up the space that Rudiger's absence left in their formation, Real Madrid changed to a 4-4-1 formation.

Kylian Mbappe was the only man left in attack as even Vinicius Jnr. was now tasked with a more defensive role this game.

FWEEE!

The referee blew his whistle again, the signal to continue the game.

Raphinha stood before the ball, about to take the free kick. After receiving a signal, he did a short run before hitting the ball.

He hit the ball well but it was too close to the goalkeeper as Thibaut Courtois claimed the ball from the air after a simple dive.

Then, rushing forward, he threw the ball long, quickly starting a counterattack but Kylian Mbappe barely started running when he was clattered on by a stalwart Inigo Martinez.

"Ahh!" Kylian Mbappe screamed in pain before collapsing to the pitch.

No one knew if Inigo Martinez did it deliberately as a form of revenge for Sam, but that action made the tension in this stadium rise even further as the referee blew his whistle again, showing the defender a yellow card.

The Real Madrid players protested the decision but the referee paid them no mind, giving the signal for the game to continue.

The game continued.

With 10 men, Real Madrid suffered.

FC Barcelona played like soldiers at war, repeatedly going on attack raids on the Real Madrid 18-yard box as Thibaut Courtois was forced into constant goal-saving mode. He was barely keeping his team in the game.

The game became more physical, more brutal, more tension-filled and this time, even Madrid, famous for riding chaos could not ride the Catalan chaos.

BAM!

Raphinha struck in the 74th minute, sending a powerful volleyed shot into Courtois' near post. The towering Belgian would catch that shot any other day but the chaos already spiraled, and today, he made a blunder, letting the ball in.

Courtois cursed as Raphinha ran away in celebration.

Lamine Yamal provided the assist after another crazy dribble from the right and cross. Today was simply the Yamal show.

And to solidify his claim to the game, Yamal struck again.

This time, from a corner kick.

As soon as the corner was played in by Raphinha, a scramble started in the Real Madrid 18-yard box and amid the chaos, Lamine Yamal thrived as soon as the ball fell to his feet.

With his ball control and tight-space dribbling, he passed through 2 Real Madrid players like they were not there, suddenly one on one with the goalkeeper.

And then, he simply rolled it to the bottom corner past Thibaut Courtois.

BOOM!

The Spotify Camp Nou erupted again.

If Lamine Yamal was a caterpillar still growing in his cocoon before, after that goal, he blossomed, becoming a butterfly.

Lamine Yamal scored the first hattrick of his career.