Chapter 919: The King of Football is Reborn
Chelsea tied 1-1!
Arsenal tied at 1-1! The Red Devils Manchester United tied at 1-1!
When the first leg of the Champions League group stage was over, the whole of Britain was shocked to find that the three traditional Premier League powerhouses were all tied, and the scores were all strangely one to one.
Was this agreed upon by all three teams? Or was there some black hand behind the scenes controlling the outcome of the game? Otherwise, how can we explain the strangeness of the three 1-1 draws? However, the conspiracy theory was finally shattered in Manchester City's 2-0 victory over Dortmund, but it was replaced by the theory of surprise.
Last season, Manchester City replaced Liverpool and broke the monopoly of the four major families on the Premier League. This was already surprising. Now the three traditional powerhouses are all tied at home and away. On the contrary, Manchester City, which was participating in the Champions League for the first time in history, won 2-0 at home against Dortmund. This is too surprising.
Are Manchester City’s opponents too weak?
Obviously not.
Dortmund is widely acknowledged to be the strongest team in the fourth tier, better than Napoli, which Arsenal faced, not to mention Benfica, which Manchester United faced, or Valencia, which Chelsea faced.
Whether it is from the players' value or the team's past performance, Dortmund is recognized as the number one team among the fourth-tier teams. After all, this is a brave team that almost dethroned Bayern Munich from the Bundesliga throne and is not afraid of any opponent at all.
But Manchester City still defeated Dortmund at their home ground relying on the team's hard power.
Anyone who has watched this game will not doubt Manchester City’s ability to fight tough battles.
Dortmund still insisted on what they were best at, that kind of violent and fierce style of play, with fouls, tricks and various aggressive tactics emerging one after another, and also played their sharpest and quick counterattacks, but at the Etihad Stadium, the Hornets still returned home with regret.
Many British media believe that Manchester City was able to beat Dortmund in this game thanks to two contributors, one in front and one behind.
In the front, Su Dong scored twice. Not only did he score two goals himself, he also created many opportunities for the team, including two one-on-one shots for Di Maria and Sanchez, but his teammates did not handle it calmly enough.
Finally, Su Dong was elected the best player of the game, which was well deserved.
Dortmund coach Klopp said at the press conference after the game that Manchester City's goal shortly after the start made Dortmund play very passively. "We are like fighting a life-and-death struggle with our opponents with shackles and chains. This has greatly constrained us and we have not played to our due level at all."
Klopp was not willing to admit that Manchester City's passing and controlling tactics were unsolvable, nor was he willing to admit that Dortmund's performance was restricted by Manchester City's passing and controlling tactics. However, he insisted that the Hornets' players performed very well and basically played to their strengths, and it was only Su Dong's goal that solved the game.
"I know that many people think that our ball possession data in the game is very poor, but I want to say that facing such an opponent, we must give full play to the players' willpower, especially when we are behind 0-1 for a long time."
Klopp said that Dortmund is a united team, which makes him very satisfied.
"In Manchester, it's absolutely a pipe dream to want to compete with Manchester City for control of the ball. We have to win the game in our own way, not learn from our opponents to do things we are not good at."
Klopp said that he had two requirements for tonight's game. One was to get to the front court as quickly as possible after grabbing the ball, and the other was to avoid making mistakes in defense.
"In fact, the players implemented both requirements very well, but unfortunately, we faced Su Dong tonight."
Klopp said that Su Dong is the king of football, Pele, among active players.
"I have known him for many years. He has always maintained a very high level, which requires a lot of training on weekdays to accumulate and maintain. He can play as sexy as Latin American players, as diligent as German players, as strong as Nordic players, as flexible as Spanish players, and as impactful as English players..."
"He can do everything you can imagine. He is like a perfect offensive machine. No one knows how to defend him. Perhaps the only thing that can stop him from scoring more goals is time!"
Klopp also mentioned another Manchester City player, Courtois.
The Belgian goalkeeper saved many of Dortmund's sure-shot scoring opportunities in this game, which made Klopp very angry.
At the press conference, he publicly stated that his team should actually score more goals than Manchester City.
"But unfortunately, there was a wall in front of their goal tonight and our shots were always blocked."
"I know my players tried their best but we just couldn't get past this young goalkeeper."
It is quite normal for Su Dong to receive praise from the opposing coach, but for Courtois as a goalkeeper, this is a bit difficult, especially for Manchester City.
Manchester City was notoriously poor at goalkeeping last season. Although Joe Hart conceded few goals, it was mostly due to the strong defense. He actually made quite a lot of mistakes himself. So far this season, Courtois' goal has not been breached.
This definitely came as a surprise to everyone.
Back then, Van der Sar created a record of more than 1,300 minutes without conceding a goal in the Premier League. He was a role model for many players. Courtois's record of not conceding a goal has just begun and is far from being comparable to his predecessors. Even compared with goalkeepers such as Cech, he is inevitably slightly inferior. But he is only 19 years old and is still very young.
Guardiola also praised Courtois by name in the post-match press conference, believing that he showed the level of a world-class goalkeeper in this game and won the recognition of the locker room and everyone.
"I know that his idol is Van der Sar, and now, I want to tell him that he is walking on the path that Van der Sar once walked. I hope he can keep up the good work and strive to perform better in the next game."
Not only the Manchester City head coach, but the British media has also changed its attitude towards Courtois.
As we all know, the media in all countries protect their own players. As long as British players perform a little better, the media will immediately start to get excited and report that they are the reborn king of football, which is miraculous. However, so far, no adult player in England has been able to meet the expectations of that year.
When Joe Hart was competing with Courtois, the English media unanimously supported Joe Hart, believing that the England goalkeeper should naturally become the main force of Manchester City, and there was no need for any reason at all.
At that time, Guardiola was under a lot of pressure for supporting Courtois and was often criticized by the media.
But gradually, with the competition between the two players, Joe Hart and Courtois took turns to play. Although it was only the beginning of the season, everyone has basically seen the characteristics and differences of the two players. Joe Hart was indeed not adapted to Manchester City's tactical style of play, and Courtois did perform better and more stably than Joe Hart.
Before tonight, when Courtois replaced Joe Hart in the starting lineup, the voices of doubt and accusation were obviously much smaller. After seeing Courtois' outstanding performance, the media's voices were obviously much smaller at the post-match press conference.
Some media even asked Guardiola whether he was sure that Courtois would be Manchester City's main goalkeeper in the future. This is obviously very weak.
This is equivalent to asking Guardiola, does Joe Hart still have a chance?
If it were in the past, how could the uncrowned British media ask such a question?
As it turns out, they have basically recognized Courtois' performance, but are still trying to get opportunities for Joe Hart.
Guardiola's reply was also very official. He said that there is no so-called distinction between main players and substitutes in Manchester City. Anyone who is in good shape, performs well and trains hard can play in the game.
"The goalkeeper position is a bit special, but we will still rotate and choose the best and most suitable players to start to ensure the stability of the team's performance and results."
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The club defeated Dortmund 2-0 at home and won the first Champions League match in its history.
Manchester City won unanimous praise from the media and fans after the game.
L'Equipe, a leading French media outlet, commented that although this is the first time Manchester City has participated in the Champions League, "there is no doubt that Guardiola's team has the strength to compete with the top teams in Europe."
L'Equipe believes that Manchester City has the best head coach Guardiola, the best superstar in the world, Suarez, as well as a group of outstanding players such as Di Maria, Sanchez, David Silva, Pepe and Busquets.
"Mansour's strong financial resources have enabled Manchester City to have a group of extraordinary stars before participating in the Champions League. They have both talent and rich experience, and can perform stably in the highest level of the Champions League."
L'Equipe believes that the victory in the European Super Cup has given Manchester City a boost of confidence.
"Barcelona is the best team in European football in the past few years. They have a gene for passing and controlling the ball that is deeply rooted in their bones. In the eyes of many people, Manchester City is a replica of Barcelona, from the management to the head coach and even the player configuration."
But in the European Super Cup, Manchester City defeated Barcelona in the most Barcelona way.
"Although Mourinho argued after the game that Barcelona's main battlefield was not the European Super Cup and they did not put the European Super Cup first, everyone knows that this is just a reason to comfort themselves after losing the game."
"After beating Barcelona, Manchester City has the strength to compete with any team in the Champions League. Whether in the Champions League or in the Premier League, Manchester City's performance is amazing."
L'Equipe reiterated the importance of Su Dong to Manchester City, and even quoted a sentence that Guardiola has said many times.
"Whether in terms of spirit or competition, Su Dong is the team's irreplaceable leader!"
(End of this chapter)
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