At this moment, Cao Baiming looked forward, and Messi was in a leisurely posture up front.
It's good for now. At least Messi isn't a Manchester United player. He's an Arsenal player, a teammate, and looking around, everyone in front of him is a familiar face from the club.
Upon closer inspection, the details were comparable to the real world. If he hadn't known it beforehand, he wouldn't have been able to distinguish them.
Instead of analyzing further, it was better to experience the match with a normal mindset and perhaps discover something significant.
Cao Baiming hadn't expected that the head coach of Bayern Munich would deploy a formation they had never used before, a 442, in this Champions League match!
What could this mean? Undoubtedly, it meant they had done extensive research on Arsenal's tactical system and specifically made a strategic adjustment to limit the opponent.
Just five minutes into the game, Cao Baiming had already discerned the opponent's tactical intention.
It appeared to be a conventional 442 system, but it was actually a well-laid net, more like a trap. If they attacked through the middle, they would be immediately double-teamed. If they attacked from the wings, they would be cut off at the midfield's "waistline."
Bayern Munich's counter-attacks, however, were perfectly timed to exploit Arsenal's weakest two flanks, which were also behind Cao Baiming.
At the seventh minute of the match, as expected, the problem occurred.
With a powerful shot inside the box, Müller scored the opener, giving Bayern Munich the first goal of the match.
Falling behind early was nothing new!
Cao Baiming's eyes flickered. He had to become serious and focused at this moment.
The game felt so uncomfortable, and the fundamental reason was being tactically targeted. Compared to his teammates on the field, he felt even more uncomfortable, a fact he could clearly see.
To break this deadlock, he would have to make the tactical adjustment himself. He had only glanced at Arteta standing beside him and could see that his troubled expression was no less than that of his teammates.
For the remainder of the first half, Cao Baiming pondered deeply for a way to break through but could only manage a reluctant compromise.
With a clear scoring opportunity, they managed to equalize just before halftime.
The halftime break arrived quickly, and Cao Baiming was unwilling to wait.
Since it was just a time bubble that he could control, he might as well skip it.
Just then, Cao Baiming thought carefully. A significant amount of time must have passed outside by now. He realized his previous actions weren't very graceful, and if he just slept through it, wouldn't it be incredibly awkward if the others in the locker room returned?
With this thought, Cao Baiming decisively exited the system.
As a white mist rose before his eyes, the scene before him was gradually encroached upon until it disappeared. After a few seconds, a dizzying sensation spread through his head, and then the real-world view gradually became clear.
The dim yellow lights of the locker room flickered on. The view within his sight was still empty. The familiar sofa, clothes rack, tables, chairs, and water bottles were all in their previous positions, undisturbed.
The air was so quiet...
After a few more seconds, he finally heard a rustling noise from outside. Cao Baiming quickly regained his senses and found himself sitting on the floor of the locker room.
The system's gentle reminder was indeed somewhat reasonable, but it had come too late!
Cao Baiming sighed helplessly, then pushed himself up with one hand, grabbed a bottle of mineral water, and returned to his seat.
He wondered, with so much time having passed, and having played half a match in the time bubble, why hadn't his teammates returned yet? Why hadn't anyone called him?
He glanced at Messi's black backpack, which was still on his usual seat. Messi always took this backpack with him when he left every day, but today it was left here. Could it be that he was still here?
At this point, Cao Baiming took out his phone from his pocket and saw the time displayed on the screen, finally realizing.
It turned out that only four minutes had passed from the moment the time bubble started until now!
Just like the two previous memorable experiences, the time perceived within the system was more than ten times faster than in the real world. This meant that even though he had gained several dozen minutes of memory, only a few minutes had passed in reality.
His teammates were probably still on the sidelines, listening to Arteta's lecture.
Fortunately, he had escaped this ordeal, Cao Baiming silently rejoiced.
Soon, footsteps could be heard from outside the door. With his extraordinarily keen hearing, Cao Baiming sensed them from afar. By listening to the pace and rhythm of the footsteps, he could tell who was approaching.
They had returned, and Arteta was leading the way.
With all that over, he mused that if time could indeed be more than ten times faster, perhaps he could experience the second half as well.
But using such a fantastic system solely for playing soccer felt like overkill, didn't it?
The more Cao Baiming thought about it, the more excited he became. As long as he could let his imagination run wild, the things he could achieve were far from simple.
In such a virtual world, he could do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted.
Thinking of this, everyone had returned.
Upon reflection, he finally remembered that the match he had just played wasn't a Champions League match at all; it was just an ordinary league game. The opponent was a team at the bottom of the Premier League table, Southampton.
Upon returning, Arteta remained silent, showing no intention of scolding Cao Baiming. Instead, his teammates swarmed him.
"Where were you just now? There was a fan interaction event, and we all went. But judging by the disappointment in their eyes, they were all your fans. It was so embarrassing!"
"Yeah, why weren't you there? What were you doing?"
"Some female fans insisted I sign a ball, but I looked everywhere and couldn't find one!"
"Do you think it was just any ball, you idiot! Sigh!"