Chapter 701: Poaching from Bayern
After returning to Munich from Paris, Su Dong immediately went with the team to Turin, Italy, to challenge Juventus away.
This is the last game of the group stage.
In the fifth round of the group stage, Juventus handed over a very good situation to Bordeaux and lost 0-1 to Blanco's team away from home, so that now they are in a very passive situation in qualifying for the group.
In the last round of the group stage, Bordeaux will challenge Zurich away and Juventus will play against Bayern at home.
No matter how you look at it, Bordeaux has a better chance of winning.
Before the game, the Italian media were hyping it up, hoping that Bayern would show mercy, after all, they had already qualified as the top team.
The same is true for Heynckes. None of the main players such as Sudon, Robben, Modric, Marcelo and others played.
But when the game really started, Juventus was in chaos before Bayern even started to show their strength.
In the first ten minutes or so, Bayern had continuous chances and kept shooting, even hitting the post once.
Although Juventus scored a goal later, Bayern quickly equalized the score.
Juventus played more and more anxiously, but was finally defeated by Bayern's counterattacks again and again.
Four to one!
In the absence of main players such as Su Dong and Robben, Bayern actually defeated Juventus 4-1 away.
Not to mention Juventus, even Bayern themselves couldn't believe it.
In fact, if Bayern hadn't performed poorly, this would have turned into a massacre.
Heynckes said in a puzzled tone at the post-match press conference, "This is an unexpected victory!"
Who says it’s not true? Bayern was clearly planning to let Juventus win, but they still played like this. Who can be blamed?
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Bordeaux won 1-0 against Zurich away from home. In the end, Bayern and Bordeaux advanced together, and Juventus finished third.
After the game, Juventus was strongly criticized by the Italian media, especially Ferrara, who was really a poor coach.
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This weekend, in the 16th round of the Bundesliga, Bayern will challenge Bochum away.
In the 23rd minute of the game, Olic made a cross from the left, Sudong stepped forward and volleyed the ball, scoring the first goal for Bayern, one to zero.
Ten minutes later, Schweinsteiger made a straight pass, Sudong advanced to the left side of the penalty area, kicked the ball near the baseline, and shot the ball into the far corner at almost zero angle, scoring another goal for Bayern, 2-0.
Olic then scored twice, while Thomas Muller and Robben, who came on as a substitute, each scored a goal.
Bayern eventually won 6-0 against Bochum away from home.
Since the 17th round was already played ahead of schedule, Bayern's first half of the game ended early.
Needless to say, Bayern won the half-time championship early on.
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Bayern chartered a special plane directly from Germany to Abu Dhabi.
In this regard, Bayern has always been willing to invest.
The special plane carrying Bayern directly arrived in Abu Dhabi, where they were warmly welcomed by local fans.
The organizers also attached great importance to Bayern's arrival and the reception standards were extremely high. The hotel they stayed in was the top local Emirates Palace Hotel. A training ground was also arranged for Bayern's use.
In the past few years, Bayern has almost always gone to the Middle East for training during the winter break. They are very familiar with places like the UAE and Qatar, and are no strangers to Abu Dhabi, so they can adapt faster.
Due to the tight schedule, Bayern went to the training ground immediately after arriving in Abu Dhabi.
This attracted a lot of local fans to watch. The stadium was surrounded by fans wearing traditional UAE costumes. When they saw the Bayern players appear, they were all very excited and many of them were shouting Su Dong's name.
After the past few years, Bayern's development in the Middle East has greatly influenced the region. It has also signed three regional sponsors in the Middle East, earning substantial income every year.
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Bayern's first opponent in the Club World Cup is the Central American champion team, Atalante from Mexico.
This team advanced in the previous round by defeating Auckland City from Oceania 3-0, so their strength is not bad.
However, according to the traditional impression in the past, in the Club World Cup, only the Copa Libertadores champion from South America can barely pose a threat to the Champions League champion team, especially a star-studded team like Bayern.
Both Su Dong and Bayern's players were relatively relaxed during training, mainly adjusting their own conditions and coping with jet lag.
In fact, the three-hour difference between Munich and the UAE does not have a particularly big impact on Bayern.
The players now insist on training, get a good night's sleep, and will be able to participate in the game full of energy tomorrow.
But before the end of the training, Bayern's newly appointed sports director, Nerlinger, who was traveling with the team, was seen walking into the training ground with a group of Emirati people wearing white robes and white headscarves, talking and laughing.
The robe of the leader was obviously different from the others. It was dark brown and particularly eye-catching.
Su Dong looked from afar and found that the man was none other than Manchester City's behind-the-scenes boss, Mansour.
This is Abu Dhabi. Mansour is one of the most powerful men in the UAE and the owner of Manchester City. It is not surprising that he is here. It seems that he just had a chat with Nelinger.
I wonder what they talked about? ...
Mansour's coming to visit the set with such a large entourage was certainly not without purpose.
He first welcomed the Bayern stars on behalf of the UAE and Abu Dhabi, and also promised to provide comprehensive services to Bayern during the Club World Cup and wished Bayern players good results in Abu Dhabi.
Afterwards, he talked with players on the team including Heynckes, Lahm, and Sudong.
Robben has returned from injury, but whether he can play in the Club World Cup depends on the specific situation, but it is definitely too late for Ribery.
This made Mansour quite disappointed. He was originally looking forward to seeing the Bayern trident give a wonderful performance to the fans in Abu Dhabi. However, he admired Su Dong the most.
That night, Mansour hosted everyone from Bayern for dinner at the hotel where Bayern was staying.
The club is still responsible for the players' diet. After all, the diet of professional players still needs to be controlled.
After dinner, Mansour invited Sudong to meet him as a fan.
The meeting place is in the hotel's luxurious suite, which is exclusively used by Abu Dhabi royal family members and distinguished guests.
What surprised Su Dong was that in addition to Mansour, Soriano and Begiristain were also there.
…
When old friends meet in a foreign country, they can’t help but exchange pleasantries.
Mansour was very patient and always kept a spring-like smile on his face, not feeling left out at all.
Soriano and Begiristain both flew here from Manchester on a private jet, and needless to say, their purpose was for Sudong.
In fact, everyone in Bayern knows about it, and probably even Nelinger himself knows it, but Su Dong’s contract only has half a year left. If he really wants to leave, no one can stop him.
"In recent rounds, the team's results have improved, but it is still ranked eleventh in the league. Guardiola is very dissatisfied with the team's performance. The team's current problems are very obvious. Offense, ball possession and defense are all very problematic." Begiristain sighed. It is really very difficult to transform a Premier League team into a ball possession team.
How many years did it take Wenger to build Arsenal? How much effort did he put in?
Guardiola has just started coaching and lacks experience. In addition, Manchester City's lineup does not really meet his requirements. As a result, he is very depressed and feels like he can't do anything.
After listening, Su Dong nodded and said, "The offense on both sides is OK, but the middle lacks threats. Santa Cruz is not dominant enough and cannot withstand the opponent's central defender and defense. As a result, Manchester City's current style of play is very limited."
Good tactics also require the right players to execute them.
Guardiola's tactics are actually very good, especially the midfield. The three midfielders consisting of David Silva, Busquets and Gareth Barry actually played awkwardly, but still firmly controlled the ball.
This summer, Manchester City originally wanted to buy Modric, but Bayern attached great importance to the midfielder and did not intend to sell him.
This is not surprising. Modric is now the core of Bayern's midfield and his role is more obvious than Schweinsteiger.
The defense is equally shaky, even the goalkeeper.
Guardiola has mentioned more than once that he wants a better goalkeeper. Neither Given nor Joe Hart is the type he likes, and they are even far from the type he likes. What he wants most is the type of Valdes and Neuer, preferably Neuer.
But Bayern is not short of money. Is it possible to snatch players from Bayern, especially Neuer?
Su Dong guessed that Mansour should have talked to Nelinger in the afternoon, but he didn't know what the specific results of the discussion were.
Soriano and Begiristain could also hear some clues from Su Dong's words.
It’s not that Su Dong is ignoring Manchester City, but he has always been paying attention to Manchester City.
Here he has the senior management that he is familiar with and the coaching of Guardiola, whom he admires. Mansour is also determined to recruit a large number of players and build a strong and competitive team as soon as possible. More importantly, Manchester City is one of the very few teams that can afford Su Dong's salary. The remaining two teams are probably Manchester United and Real Madrid.
As for Chelsea, Abramovich's wealth has shrunk significantly since the subprime mortgage crisis, and he can't afford the huge cost of introducing Su Dong.
The biggest obstacle restricting Su Dong from joining Manchester City is his performance.
With Su Dong's strength and influence, Manchester City's competitiveness will definitely be greatly enhanced, but at the very least, Manchester City must perform at a sufficient level, such as entering the European war zone.
You can't even get into the European competition zone, are you going to let Su Dong fight in the league alone with a group of old and weak soldiers?
Soriano and Begiristain have also been communicating with Mendes and know what Su Dong is thinking, so they have been repeatedly emphasizing that Manchester City's goal this season is the European war zone.
Judging from the current performance, it is very difficult to enter the Champions League, because the other Premier League giants are also very tough.
Manchester City's goal is to reach the Europa League.
"We are now in the semi-final of the League Cup," Begiristain said.
(End of this chapter)
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