Villarreal

Yellow Submarine.

This is the last match before the Ballon d’Or results are announced, still at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

The three players most likely to win this year’s Ballon d’Or are Chen Zhong, Iniesta, and Xavi, with Barcelona occupying two of the top three positions.

Many Barcelona fans feel regretful; if Real Madrid didn’t have Chen Zhong with his extraordinary statistics surpassing Messi, then Barcelona might have swept the top three places for the Ballon d’Or this time.

If such an achievement is attained, it would mark the third time in history that a club monopolized the top three places for the Ballon d’Or, with the previous two instances belonging to Milan.

Furthermore, if someone from Barcelona wins this Ballon d’Or, it will be the eighth time the Barcelona Club wins it, tying with Juventus and Milan for the most awards.

La Liga will also earn its 14th win, nearing Serie A’s record of 18 wins.

Oh, of course, this time La Liga is bound to have its 14th win, because Chen Zhong is also playing for Real Madrid Club in La Liga.

Ever since this Ballon d’Or top three list was predicted, there has been persistent praise for the La Liga as the number one league.

France’s "Team Report" stated: "This year’s Ballon d’Or will be special because a non-World Cup champion player has a huge chance of winning the Ballon d’Or; this will be an unprecedented feast."

"In a World Cup year, it’s the first time a non-World Cup player wins the Ballon d’Or."

And lately, when it comes to football, without exception, discussions revolve around the Ballon d’Or.

Among them, "Football Emperor" Beckenbauer remarked on the top three candidates: "It is not surprising for Barcelona players to be at the forefront of the selection."

"The secret of the Spain National Team lies in learning from Barcelona. The essence of modern football is ball control and suppressing the opponent; in this regard, Guardiola’s Barcelona does it better than anyone else."

"If football only looked at team performance, undoubtedly, Iniesta and Xavi both have the qualifications to win the Ballon d’Or, but unfortunately, Chen appeared, his personal performance is simply unassailable."

In the 2009-10 season, Chen Zhong represented Real Madrid in 58 official matches and scored 75 goals, winning the La Liga Golden Boot and the European Golden Boot with 48 goals in La Liga, becoming the top scorer in the Champions League with 11 goals, and the top scorer in the King’s Cup with 16 goals.

He helped Real Madrid win the Spanish League championship and the Spanish King’s Cup.

In terms of both honors and statistics, he surpassed Messi, who had four Silver Boots; if it weren’t for Chen Zhong, even Messi’s data alone would be astonishing.

At the same time, last season Chen Zhong individually won several awards including La Liga’s Player of the Season, La Liga’s Midfielder of the Season, La Liga’s Best XI, League’s Best Rookie, and FIFPro’s Best Young Player.

In the new season, even though Chen Zhong’s performance has fluctuated somewhat, his inclusion in UEFA’s Team of the Year and FIFA’s Team of the Year is almost a certainty; if it weren’t for Chen Zhong, this season should have been a harvest year for Barcelona.

Yet even as Chen Zhong put forth such extraordinary performances, Barcelona still had plenty of supporters.

After all, the football Barcelona showcases is something other teams find difficult to reach because the team has a group of geniuses who have won various championships, a group of warriors loyal to a single philosophy.

Barcelona’s "Father of Football" is Cruyff, but in fact, today’s Barcelona has already surpassed the "Dream Team," this is without a doubt.

Historically, never have so many youth academy members aided Barcelona in achieving invincibility.

And now, even if Barcelona does not have an outstanding record against Real Madrid with Chen Zhong.

Fans still persevere, Mourinho’s Real Madrid, which has Chen Zhong, is merely the final challenge Barcelona needs to overcome.

After all, in the eyes of Barcelona fans, the times have changed; in the past, who would put Barcelona and Real Madrid on the same level? But now, many new fans regard Barcelona and Real Madrid as teams of the same tier.

In the past, among the divisions of world football, Real Madrid was always one of them, even holding the largest share. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Yet, the successful bridging of Barcelona’s Dream Team II and III over five years has caused a revolutionary change in the entire football landscape.

To put it more thoroughly, world football now has two skies, one still led and divided by Real Madrid, while the other is raised by La Masia’s Barcelona.

Why does Florentino value Chen Zhong so much?

On one hand, it’s because many people used to say: "The youth team cultivated by several pieces of La Masia grass can surpass the gold of Real Madrid."

On the other hand, it was the former Bojan, who now is "well-behaved," who once made Florentino embarrassed in front of the media, saying: "The geniuses are all with us!"

And Chen Zhong’s emergence became a strong retort.

It also completely cured Florentino’s once hidden grievance.

Politics don’t emphasize tradition but opportunism, football doesn’t emphasize opportunism but tradition.

The football tradition unearthed by La Masia has grown into a towering tree, from Cruyff to Van Gaal, from Van Gaal to Rijkaard, from Rijkaard to Guardiola; from Xavi to Iniesta, from Iniesta to Messi, from Messi to Bojan, from Bojan to Pedro... La Masia produces geniuses, forms playing styles, and inherits thoughts.