Chapter 87 Dreams come true, an unprecedented fourth birthday!(1/2)
The Manchester City fans at the Etihad Stadium fell silent again. They couldn't understand why the team had tried so hard but still couldn't bring a victory at home.
Manchester City's performance today has been quite outstanding. Facing the offensive line that can be said to be the best in Europe, Manchester City's defense has performed exceptionally and withstood many attacks that should have been unstoppable.
Not to mention the midfield and frontcourt players on the offensive end, with limited input of troops, the frontcourt players used concise, clear, fast and powerful counterattacks to bring them a dream for nearly an hour.
Now this beautiful expectation seems to have been completely shattered. A draw seems to be the final result that Manchester City can achieve after trying its best.
For this unsatisfactory result, Blue Moon fans began to slowly accept it. This is still a good result, isn't it?
Compared with the four disastrous defeats they suffered in the previous two years, a draw in which Barcelona tried its best and relied on Messi's explosive talents to turn the tide seems really acceptable.
But why are we still a little unwilling? Why can't we happily leave the victory at the Etihad Stadium!
Why do we, Manchester City, always have to suffer so much in the Champions League?!
Why do we always face the strongest opponents? Why have we not won a victory for many years?
We have bought so many stars, we have the best head coach, and we are already the dominant player in the Premier League, but why are we still so powerless in the Champions League!
The unwillingness not only fills the hearts of all Manchester City fans, but also the Manchester City players in the stadium.
We don’t want a draw that is packaged with wonderful words such as excitement, strong duel, and passion after the game.
We just want our own victory!
"Zhao Jinge! De Bruyne! David Silva! Aguero!"
Several Manchester City fans in the corner began to shout out their most trusted players with full resignation.
Since they can give us a sixty-minute dream, they may not be able to give us a truly happy ending.
Driven by this small group of Manchester City fans, the shouting of players' names intensified, and soon all the Manchester City fans in the stadium were chanting for their favorite players.
Their desire for team victory is written on their faces and integrated into the names of their beloved ones:
Here we pray to God that our heroes will bring us victory and glory!
The Manchester City players, who were already unwilling to give up, listened to the loud shouts of their fans and instantly became full of fighting spirit.
Time is not over yet, everything is still possible and unknown.
Guardiola on the sidelines also felt an unprecedented cohesion in Manchester City for the first time.
This force connects the hearts of everyone in Manchester City. It is unwillingness, expectation, desire and bond.
Starting today, Manchester City under Guardiola is finally on the right track.
Offensive, Guardiola pointed his finger at the exhausted Barcelona players in the opposite half:
"Have you seen your opponents?! Crush them, crush them, and bring victory to Ittihad!"
"Bring victory to Ittihad!"
"Have you heard the cheers from the audience?! No matter what suffering they suffer, no matter what ending they face, Blue Moon fans will never give up.
This force also rekindled the fighting spirit of Manchester City players!
Did you hear their cries?!
Bring victory to Ittihad!
The strength of Barcelona has completely inspired everyone in Manchester City to work together and fight to the death!
The current Manchester City is truly a team with a steel soul. Until the last second of the game, Manchester will never die!"
Guardiola also quickly made the decision to make substitutions, replacing Fernandinho, who had a mediocre performance in this game, and David Silva, who was somewhat exhausted.
Replaced by Sterling and Gundogan.
"Manchester City's formation has changed to a four-three-three formation with Gundogan, Yaya Toure, and De Bruyne as the midfielders, and Zhao Jinge, Aguero, and Sterling as the forwards.
It can even be said that all six of Manchester City's midfielders and frontcourt players can be used as forwards. In a fully offensive formation, Guardiola's Manchester City will make a desperate charge in the final stage of the game!"
The assistant referee on the sidelines raised the sign indicating stoppage time. Due to the celebrations after the two teams scored many goals in the first and second half, the referee gave seven minutes of stoppage time.
Enrique's face, which had just calmed down, suddenly became ugly again. Seven minutes! With the current state of Barcelona's players on the field, can they withstand seven minutes?!
Except for the three new players, everyone else is already exhausted and at the end of their game.
Enrique quickly directed from the sidelines. He had already known himself, and of course he would not have any delusions of winning the game. He quickly directed Mathieu and Vermaelen, who had just been replaced, to stand next to Pique.
Roberto and Alba also shrunk to both sides of the penalty area, and Barcelona changed to five defenders at the end of the game.
Rakitic, Iniesta and Rafinha, who just came on the field, lined up at the front of the penalty area.
Neymar and Suarez also recovered in front of the three, with a 550 formation. Barcelona now just wants to delay the time until the last moment of the game as soon as possible.
If I can get a point from a draw, I will be satisfied.
The next time we play at home, we will teach this group of Manchester upstarts who don’t know the heights of the world a profound lesson. If it weren’t for their lack of physical strength, it’s still unclear who will win in this game?!
Guardiola sat on the bench with his chin in one hand and looked serious, while Luis Enrique sat on the coach's bench, sinking like water and feeling uneasy
The game restarts. On one side is Manchester City, which is in ruins, and on the other side, Barcelona is clinging to the end. The most brutal collision between the two sides is about to begin!
In a fanatical atmosphere of cheering, Manchester City restarted their attack at kick-off.
Manchester City, who were in obviously better shape, quickly took the initiative on the field and gradually pressed forward.
The players in the frontcourt played fast, precise, delicate and smooth passing and cutting coordination.
Barcelona, which was strictly defensive, could only rely on intensive defense to stop Manchester City's offensive before they knew it, and they were determined not to let them break into their own penalty area.
In the second minute of stoppage time, Zhao Jinge received De Bruyne's pass from the left and suddenly started dribbling in.
The double attack between Rafinha and Suarez was avoided by his sudden burst of change of direction and smash.
The explosive power and speed of this instant start are unmatched.
After Zhao Jinge made a fake move in front of Mathieu, he moved the ball to the right and after one step of adjustment, he suddenly took a shot from a position 24 yards away from the goal!
The football flew straight to the upper left corner of the goal, and all Manchester City fans were looking forward to the goal.
Ter Stegen saved the ball with a world-class save!
Amid the sighs of Manchester City fans in the audience, Manchester City quickly organized another corner kick attack.
Although he failed to get a good chance, the football released by Pique once again flew into the area controlled by Manchester City players.
Gundogan grabbed the second ball of the ball at the top of Barcelona's penalty area and immediately launched a counterattack.
After Sterling received Gundogan's pass on the right side of the frontcourt, he directly changed the direction of the ball to pass Alba and cross the ball.
Alba, however, was well prepared. He grabbed the position first and then collided, causing Sterling to fall to the ground.
The referee blew the whistle for a foul and Alba received a yellow card.
Alba looked calm and committed a tactical foul. It won't affect anything, as long as these damn seven minutes can be delayed.
Sterling climbed up from the turf. Foul actions like this are common in the Premier League.
Sterling is a little different now than he was at the beginning of the season. In normal training, he takes fewer unnecessary shots and plays more of a support role to help his teammates get shooting opportunities.
He runs hard and tears apart the opponent's defense. When his teammates create opportunities for him, he tries to seize them. At other times, he has to work hard to create opportunities for his teammates!
This is Sterling's current awareness. After a quick free kick, Sterling found that Zhao Jinge was in a deadlock in the attack on the left side of the center. Rakitic and Iniesta were approaching Zhao Jinge.
In the dense defense, Zhao Jinge, who had little space to speed up, ran into a lot of trouble.
At this time, Sterling decisively ran to the center to actively respond!
Zhao Jinge saw his running and accurately passed the ball diagonally! After the ball was released, Zhao Jinge immediately ran forward
Alba noticed that Sterling stepped forward to receive Zhao Jinge's pass, so he rushed towards Sterling decisively, and Vermaelen also quickly double-teamed.
If Sterling turns around with the ball, he will encounter Vermaelen's attack. If he doesn't turn around, Alba will probably intercept the ball.
At this time, Sterling did not do as many useless dribblings as usual, but calmly knocked the ball back behind him.
Gundogan followed up with several stops, and he got rid of Neymar who was marking him.
Pique decisively stepped forward to intercept in the middle of the penalty area. If he didn't intercept, Gundogan would have entered the long-range shooting range!
How tough are the Germans' feet? This has been verified by many teams.
Zhao Jinge passed by Pique and Gundogan fired the ball, but the ball was passed to the front and right of the penalty area. Zhao Jinge just made a cover for his pass.
De Bruyne quickly moved forward to get rid of Roberto, and continued to stop and drive towards the middle of the penalty area.
Barcelona's two central defenders, Mathieu and Vermaelen, are both afraid of De Bruyne's potentially earth-shattering long-range shot!
Therefore, they tightened the defense in the middle, and Vermaelen was already taking steps to prepare for the attack.
But at the same time, Zhao Jinge made a diagonal move and almost crossed with De Bruyne!
When Vermaelen was about to reach him, De Bruyne deftly passed the ball to the right side of the penalty area with his right foot!
The football passed over Mathieu's head and fell to the area behind him.
When Mathieu turned around, he raised his hand to the linesman to signal that Zhao Jinge was offside, but the linesman didn't say anything!
Manchester City's attacking group played an unprecedented and exquisite coordination!
Pique returned to the defensive penalty area. Although there was still some distance from where the football landed, if Zhao Jinge stopped the ball, he would still have a chance to catch up and steal the ball.
To be continued...