Chapter 992 Guardiola, can you have some backbone?
When the team returned to Manchester from Madrid, the opponent of the Champions League semi-finals came out.
As expected by the outside world, it was Barcelona.
Although they were tied 0-0 in the first leg away from home, Barcelona eventually defeated their opponents 3-1 at home with two goals from Messi and successfully advanced to the semi-finals.
As a result, Manchester City and Barcelona will meet in the semi-finals.
This is definitely the most exciting match in this season's Champions League so far.
Manchester City is known as the team with the most Barcelona traditions, whether it is the player configuration, the coaching style of the head coach, or even the club's management, all have a very Barcelona flavor. Even Barcelona godfather Cruyff said that Manchester City is the most authentic Barcelona football, while Barcelona is more of a mixed race.
On the one hand, this shows his dissatisfaction with Mourinho's coaching, but on the other hand, it is also a recognition of Guardiola.
There was even a saying before that Barcelona management wanted to bring Guardiola to Barcelona to coach in order to replace Mourinho, but in the end the plan was abandoned with Guardiola's contract renewal.
And now, Guardiola is going to take this team with the most authentic Barcelona bloodline to the Camp Nou. This is a highly anticipated and classic matchup for all fans around the world.
In addition, both teams are very strong.
Barcelona has Messi on the team, and he almost single-handedly led Barcelona all the way to the semi-finals.
In addition, powerful stars such as Iniesta, Xavi, Yaya Toure and others are also well-known to fans all over the world. This has allowed Barcelona to reach the Champions League finals consecutively in the past few years.
Although they only won one championship after reaching the finals three times, Barcelona's strength is evident.
Manchester City is equally unambiguous.
There is no need to say much about Su Dong. Stars such as David Silva, Toni Kroos, Di Maria and Sanchez have become household names as Manchester City's performance has improved in the past two years. Especially among Premier League fans, the strength of this group of players has long been recognized, which makes Manchester City full of talents.
From the group of death to AC Milan to Real Madrid, although Manchester City is participating in the Champions League for the first time, they have overcome all obstacles along the way and their performance can be said to be outstanding. They were able to reach the semi-finals, and their strength was also recognized.
Under such circumstances, the encounter between Manchester City and Barcelona was like a collision between Mars and the Earth, attracting strong attention from media and fans around the world, especially in the European Super Cup before the season, when the two teams had already had a match, and Manchester City was slightly better at that time.
After the Super Cup, Barcelona head coach Mourinho was under tremendous public pressure because he not only failed to play Barcelona's traditional style in front of Guardiola's Manchester City, but became conservative at the critical moment, which caused the team to miss a good opportunity.
Mourinho threatened to take revenge at the time, and now the opportunity has come.
What kind of tactics will Mourinho adopt when they meet again? This is definitely the focus of the world's attention.
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Manchester City did not have much time to think about their semi-final opponents, because after returning to Manchester from Madrid, the team quickly headed south to London to challenge Arsenal away.
This is the 32nd round of the Premier League.
The Gunners and Manchester City have both new and old grudges, and this battle is also of great relevance.
Judging from the current league situation, Arsenal aims to maintain its top four qualification in the league, which will give it an advantage in the competition with Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, so it must get as many league points as possible.
The best outcome would be to beat Tottenham Hotspur in the competition and get third place in the league, which would be a sure thing.
On the other hand, in last season's home game, Arsenal was humiliated by Manchester City, and Wenger and the Gunners were very angry about it. Now Manchester City has been fighting on multiple fronts for a long time, and the players are physically and mentally exhausted. They just fought hard against Real Madrid away from home. Although they advanced to the semi-finals of the Champions League, their life is still not easy.
Apart from anything else, Arsenal now has nothing but the league, so they can be said to be waiting for the opportunity.
Manchester City is different. They have to play in the Champions League and the league, as well as the FA Cup semi-final against Tottenham Hotspur in mid-April. It can be said that the pressure on Manchester City is enormous.
Under such circumstances, how could the Gunners be polite to Manchester City?
Of course, we should take advantage of his illness to kill him! From the perspective of honors, the only team that has remained unbeaten in the Premier League is Arsenal. If Manchester City continues to be unbeaten this season, it is entirely possible that the Blue Moon will become the second team, and the results will be better than Arsenal, which will inevitably make the Gunners feel a little disappointed.
You know, in the previous Premier League record of players scoring four goals in a single game, Arsenal stood out from the crowd, but now it has been snatched away by Su Dong, with five goals in a single game, completely destroying the foundation accumulated by Arsenal in the past few years.
It is the new hatred and old grudges that make Arsenal attach great importance to this game.
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Manchester City's performance in the game was indeed curbed by Arsenal.
The Gunners players had more energy and launched a fierce pressing attack on Manchester City from the start.
Although they adopted a defensive posture, their defense was very aggressive and did not leave any chance for Manchester City. Wenger even specially arranged Alexander Song and Arteta as double defensive midfielders to firmly protect the midfield.
Manchester City players have been fighting tired for a long time and their form has been up and down. Although they still controlled the ball, they were unable to organize an effective attack. Dzeko and Aguero in front were also unable to take on the team's offensive responsibility. Under the defense of Koscielny and Vermaelen, Manchester City's two forwards seemed a little mute.
This is also the result of Arsenal finding the most suitable central defender configuration for the team after a long period of adjustment. Koscielny and Vermaelen partnered up and performed quite well in the game.
The first half ended with a score of 0-0 as neither side was able to score, but Manchester City controlled the ball and wasted more opportunities, which was a bit regrettable.
After the second half, Arsenal still adopted a defensive posture.
In the 53rd minute, Aguero received a cross from Hazard on the left and headed the ball from close range, but the ball was tipped over the crossbar by Arsenal goalkeeper Szczesny. Unfortunately, he missed a good chance to score.
After that, Manchester City continued to organize and plan attacks, but failed to launch any threatening attacks. Instead, it was Arsenal's center forward Van Persie who frequently created threats in attacks and counterattacks.
Especially in the 70th minute, Alexander Song made a through pass. Van Persie received the ball from the right side of Manchester City, dribbled past Zabaleta and had a one-on-one shot. However, Courtois made a great save.
The Belgian goalkeeper started consecutively and conceded two goals in the last game at the Bernabeu, but he still performed brilliantly tonight.
This is also the most rare thing about Courtois. His psychological quality is really very strong.
The so-called strong psychological quality does not mean that he does not care about mistakes, but that even if he makes mistakes, he can still quickly calm down and adjust himself instead of being immersed in the feeling of frustration.
When the game reached the 75th minute, the score was still zero to zero.
Not only did Manchester City fail to suppress Arsenal, but as their physical strength declined, Arsenal frequently got opportunities to attack.
Guardiola finally lost his patience and used his ultimate move again.
Change to Su Dong! ...
Some people joked that Guardiola only had one way to command the game on the spot, and that was to replace Su Dong.
To quote the Guardian: Every time Manchester City encounters a crisis, it is when Su Dong is not there, and Guardiola usually solves the crisis by substituting Su Dong.
This statement was recognized by many fans, and even a reporter asked Guardiola in person: Can't you be a little more creative? Let's not replace Su Dong, okay? Guardiola always answered calmly: I'm not stupid.
Does that mean that every time Su Dong comes on the court, he can play well? The answer is not absolutely 100%, but basically there is no problem.
Just like in the game where Manchester City challenged Arsenal away, Su Dong came on as a substitute in the 75th minute, but just eight minutes later, Trippier made a back-up run on the right and received a pass from Thiago on the right side outside Arsenal's 30-meter zone. He stopped the ball, looked ahead, and immediately made a diagonal pass.
Trippier's 45-degree pass was very sharp and accurate.
The same is true this time.
The ball landed accurately on the right side of the small penalty area, and Su Dong got rid of Koscielny and moved forward from the back row. Only Vermaelen could barely keep up with his speed and explosiveness, but there was a certain difference in height between the two, so Su Dong jumped first.
Vermaelen didn't have time to catch up, so he could only stand there, looking up, watching Su Dong soar into the sky like a god, almost covering the range of Vermaelen's vision, creating a huge pressure.
Su Dong headed the ball from close range and it hit the far corner, and the ball flew to the left side of the goal.
Goalkeeper Szczesny was standing on the right side. When he reacted, he ran out quickly and blocked the ball with one hand, trying to block it out of the goal.
But Su Dong's header was too tricky, and although Szczesny tried his best, he still couldn't prevent the ball from entering the net.
The ball went directly into the left side netting and landed in Arsenal's goal.
The referee blew the whistle to signal the goal was scored.
At this time, Su Dong landed heavily on the ground, shouted loudly, turned around and rushed to the sidelines to celebrate the goal.
The Manchester City players on the field also chased out one by one, leaving only the Arsenal players. They all stood in the field in a daze, staring stupidly at the Manchester City players who were running out, especially the leader Su Dong.
Damn, are there really such incredible players in this world?
Give him a little gap and he can create a goal? How to play against such a player?
How could they possibly win? Especially Van Persie, who shook his head in disbelief.
He was very proud, but he really couldn't help but submit to Su Dong.
Comparing yourself to others will really make you angry!
(End of this chapter)
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