636 The New Playmaker

Barcelona's corner kick was launched but did not pose any threat to Nottingham Forest's goal. Up against tall players like George Wood, Pepe, Piqué, and Bendtner, Barcelona, who was not good at headers, could not take advantage of it.

Barcelona knew it as well, so their corner kick was low and fast, but George Wood still bumped it out as he rushed forward to the front.

It was the first time he had appeared on a television close-up. He successfully defended but did not defended against Messi. It was the poor Mexican center-back, Márquez, who was kept behind by him.

Messi was outside the box and did not go in to join in on the action. He knew Barcelona was not good at the header shot in the set-piece. The shot was likely to be hit out by the Forest team, with the worst case being the ball being confiscated by Edwin van der Sar. But if it came out, he could grab the second point of fall and form the second attack to continue the pressure on the Forest goal.