November 1, 19:00 London time, Manchester Etihad Stadium.
After a winter rain at noon, the temperature in Manchester dropped sharply, reaching 3-5 degrees Celsius.
But the coldness with its magical attack still cannot stop the people of Manchester City and their passionate heart for the team.
The stands at the Etihad Stadium were filled with crowds of people, flags were waving, and people were shouting, shrouding the entire stadium in waves of heat.
Whether it is Guardiola, Manchester City fans, or Manchester City players like Chu Zheng, life has not been easy recently.
In the ninth round of the Premier League, Manchester City was tied 1-1 by Southampton away from home, and then lost the game against Manchester City 1-0 in the fourth round of the EFL Cup.
Guardiola's worst record in his coaching career has been refreshed to six games without a win.
Especially being eliminated by rivals Manchester United in the same city, this made some Manchester City fans very dissatisfied, and some fans even openly questioned Guardiola's coaching ability.
The media also attacked Guardiola and Manchester City with great joy.
Today it is said that the tactics that Guardiola brought to Manchester City are problematic, tomorrow it is said that Manchester City's existing player configuration does not match Guardiola's tactics, and the day after tomorrow it is said that a certain player is dragging down the entire Manchester City team. There are different opinions.
But in comparison with Arsenal and Liverpool, who have been undefeated in 9 and 8 games and ranked second and third in the Premier League standings, Manchester City's trend of driving higher and lowering is an indisputable fact.
However, two days ago, in the 10th round of the Premier League last weekend, Manchester City, playing away from home, swept West Bromwich Albion 4-0 at the Hawthorn Stadium, which could be regarded as stopping the decline in time.
But the game against West Brom was not recognized by the media.
Many major newspapers and media in Europe believe that there is a huge difference in strength between the two teams, and that Manchester City is just cheating, which does not explain any problems.
Even a small number of Manchester City fans agree with the views of these media. They also feel that this game is not very convincing.
But most fans are on Guardiola's side. They think Guardiola has done a good enough job so far.
So today, in addition to supporting the team, most Manchester City fans also want to see whether Manchester City's recent recovery is real or just an illusion.
Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool currently have 23 points, ranking first in the Premier League with a weak goal difference.
But the gap between Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester City, ranked 4th and 5th, is only 1 point and 3 points. As long as Manchester City makes the slightest mistake, they will immediately be pulled down by the BIG6 members behind them.
At 19:30 London time, players from Manchester City and Barcelona were already lining up in the player tunnel.
As soon as Chu Zheng came over, he saw a smiling Messi walking towards him.
This time, the meeting between the two was much warmer and cordial. The two hugged each other with the strange eyes of Barcelona and Manchester City fans.
Chu Zheng smiled and said: "Did Thiago like it after receiving my signed jersey?"
Hearing Chu Zheng mention this, Messi suddenly looked weird and said with a helpless smile: "That little guy hung your jersey in his room and didn't let his mother help him clean it.
It smells like sweat and I dare not go near it."
"Haha!" Chu Zheng was instantly amused.
The two didn't chat for long, and soon returned to the queue.
Not long after, under the leadership of the referee, the players from both sides slowly walked out of the tunnel, and violent cheers suddenly broke out in the Etihad stands.
Driven by the on-site DJ, every Manchester City fan in the stands used the loudest volume to put pressure on the Barcelona players playing away games.
But compared with Camp Nou, which can accommodate 100,000 people, the Etihad is still inferior.
After a pre-match communication ceremony, the exciting Champions League theme song sounded throughout the Etihad Stadium.
As the singing ended, the starting lineups of Manchester City and Barcelona appeared one after another on the live broadcast screen.
Manchester City:(4141)
Goalkeeper: Caballero
Defenders: Zabaleta, Otamendi, Stones, Kolarov
Midfielder: Fernandinho
Midfielder: Sterling, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Chu Zheng
Forward: Aguero
"Aguero started on the striker. In the weekend match against West Brom, Akun Aguero found his shooting boots. With the assists of Chu Zheng, Gundogan and De Bruyne, he scored twice. In a sluggish state
The recovery is extremely obvious.”
"In the midfield, Chu Zheng appeared on the left today, but it's still unclear where he will appear. Guardiola's deployment of troops has never been that simple."
"Yes!" Zhang Lu nodded and looked at the information collected by the pre-match program team on the table. "Manchester City ranked 4141, with Fernandinho as a single midfielder."
"I think this is a bit risky. The first round of the contest between the two sides has proved that Fernandinho cannot handle it."
"So today I personally feel that Manchester City should have two defensive midfielders. Guardiola cannot make one mistake twice."
"It depends on whether Chu Zheng or Gundogan will retreat further."
"On the back line, Guardiola vowed yesterday that the team must consider the situation without a right back. Today he sent Zabaleta, who is doubtful due to injury. Guardiola sent his old friend Enrique before the game.
A big smoke bomb!"
"Haha, it's really bad!" Zhang Lu said happily.
As soon as the words were said, Barcelona's starting lineup appeared.
Barcelona:(433)
Forwards: Neymar, Suarez, Messi
Midfielder: Andre Gomez, Busquets, Rakitic
Defenders: Digne, Mascherano, Umtiti, Roberto
Goalkeeper: Ter Stegen
"On Barcelona's side, three positions have changed compared to the first round."
"On the front line, no one can replace the MSN team."
"In the midfield, because Iniesta tore the lateral collateral ligament of his right knee in the league and was injured, Enrique chose to come on as a substitute in the first round. Andre Gomez, who has performed well recently,
.”
"As for the defense, Enrique sent Roberto as the right back today, and Mascherano partnered with Umtiti as the left center back..."
At exactly 19:45, the famous Austrian whistler Kaushoy blew the whistle to start the game.
On the field, Manchester City, wearing a blue home jersey, attacked from left to right.
Messi kicked the ball out, and Manchester City's formation quickly pressed forward as a whole.
Barcelona saw Manchester City pressing forward and had no choice but to pass the ball all the way back to the penalty area, but Manchester City still refused to give in and pressed high.
But after the first round at the Nou Camp, Enrique was clearly on guard against Manchester City's high-position press.
Facing the menacing Manchester City, Barcelona players broke through the high position and pressed the ball very quickly and timely, so much so that Manchester City's opening attack was so lonely.
For the next ten minutes of the game, the scene fell into an anxious confrontation.
Barcelona and Manchester City are like a duel between masters. No one is willing to make mistakes, no one is willing to make easy moves, and they must guard against their opponents.
In terms of player positioning, Barcelona has nothing to say. The player positions are basically the same as the starting lineup.
As for Manchester City, Zhang Lu guessed half of it right.
After the game started, De Bruyne was active on the left wing, and Chu Zheng was active in the midfield position.
But when it comes to dropping back to help Fernandinho, there is no fixed personnel.
Chu Zheng, De Bruyne, and Gundogan are chosen randomly. Whoever is farther back will go back.
On the sidelines, Guardiola couldn't sit still because they couldn't get the ball and rarely reached the front of Barcelona's penalty area for ten minutes.
Barcelona's overall formation today was very high up front. It can be said that the depth of the defense behind them was completely exposed under their noses.
As long as Aguero, Sterling, or Chu Zheng can move forward in time, and the passing and running cooperation is more tacit, then it will be easier to penetrate Barcelona's defense, and it can even be fatal with one blow.
But the problem is that within these ten minutes, the ball cannot be grabbed, and even if the ball is grabbed, it cannot be released, or in other words, it cannot be released smoothly at the first time.
In the 11th minute of the game, Kolarov dribbled the ball along the left wing.
But he stopped when he reached the left area of the center circle. Barcelona's defensive personnel were quite dense in the rib area, and the player's precise positioning prevented him from finding a passing route.
After hesitating for a second or two, seeing Busquets attacking, Kolarov quickly passed the ball to the right and knocked Gundogan, who was retreating parallel to Fernandinho.
After taking the ball, Gundogan advanced along the ribs, but before he could run far, he was flanked by Messi and Rakitic.
After seeing this, Chu Zheng quickly retreated to the right.
As soon as he was in position, Gundogan knocked the ball over.
Chu Zheng stopped the ball and turned around almost simultaneously.
However, the moment he started to speed up, Messi and Andre Gomez on the arc of the center circle attacked from both sides.
The tall Gomez bumped directly into Chu Zheng from the right side.
This guy was very smart. He didn't make any unnecessary moves. He was ready to stick close to Chu Zheng, wait for their legs to collide, and then trip Chu Zheng.
As a result, the moment he pressed forward, a huge force rebounded, and Gomez suddenly leaned back and almost fell down.
But if you kill one, there will be another one.
Messi on the left side of Chu Zheng used the trick of wrapping around.
In terms of speed, he was not afraid of Chu Zheng at all. After catching up, he blocked Chu Zheng directly.
Although Messi's defense is not very good, the frequency of this guy's feet makes Chu Zheng extremely afraid.
In order to avoid the ball being touched by Messi, Chu Zheng quickly spiked the ball and spun around.
Turning around to face the left, he grabbed the lead from Busquets and quickly passed the ball with his left foot to De Bruyne who was starting from the wing.
From the wing, seeing the ball coming, Barcelona's defense stood flat. Near the arc of the center circle, Aguero and Sterling were ambushing the Barcelona defense. De Bruyne twitched his left foot, and suddenly
The ball flew high into the middle.
At the same time, Aguero rushed out of the middle, but when he got the ball in the left rib area at the top of the arc and was about to shoot, the whistle suddenly sounded.
Seeing that he was holding the flag high, Aguero was so angry that he threw down his hands.
In the LeTV live broadcast room, Zhang Lu clearly saw the situation during this period. He smiled and said: "It's a little early!"
"Barcelona's thinking today was very clear and clear. They pressed up and were not afraid of Manchester City hitting behind them."
"Why?"
"Because so far, Barcelona has choked Manchester City's ball out."
"That is to say, your Manchester City side has just grabbed the ball, and Aguero, De Bruyne, and Chu Zheng are all running in front. At this time, all you have to do is get the ball out.
But today, after Manchester City steals the ball, at least two Barcelona players control it every time. They don't let you send the ball out immediately. This is Enrique's response strategy today."
After hearing Zhang Lu's analysis, Zhan Jun agreed and said with a smile: "But the problem is that Barcelona must seal all the ball points.
Otherwise, once Manchester City seizes the opportunity, with the speed of Chu Zheng, Sterling and Aguero, Ter Stegen will be in danger."
"That's right!" Zhang Lu nodded with a smile, "At Chu Zheng's point just now, three people from Barcelona couldn't control it even though they tried to control it continuously. It's a pity that Aguero and De Bruyne didn't form the best tacit understanding, otherwise it would have been a direct goal.
ball."
"There is another problem!" Zhang Lu changed the topic after saying that, "That is that Manchester City can't get the ball now."
"Barcelona obviously strengthened their passing skills today. This is Barcelona's starting point. Even if you get the ball and let others grab it, you won't be able to grab it."
"Whoever grabs Huanshi will walk around you, and then you will be honest."
"Haha!" Zhan Jun couldn't help but feel happy after hearing Zhang Lu's funny words.
At the scene, Guardiola could no longer sit still. He stood in the coaching area and shouted.
"Chu!!!"
"Chu!!!!"
"..."
Chu Zheng heard the shouts of his boss. He turned his head and looked over, and saw Guardiola, who was constantly gesticulating, pointing his index finger to the sky, and then turning his palm into a knife and slashing at the air in front of him.
gesture.
Chu Zheng immediately understood Guardiola's intention, which was to ask him to play more directly. If the ground is not accessible, he can walk in the air.
The tactical changes delivered by Guardiola were exactly what Chu Zheng wanted.
From the beginning of the game to the present, Chu Zheng is also one of the players who has the most success among all the players on the Manchester City field. He has also been missed by Barcelona several times, and then he became more honest.
Soon, the scene Guardiola wanted to see appeared.
In the 15th minute of the game, because Fernandinho rushed up all the way, Chu Zheng retreated to the midfielder position.
Seeing the ball pass back to Caballero's feet at the top of the arc, Chu Zheng quickly retreated.
After getting the ball, Chu Zheng turned around and took a look at the straight defense line near Barcelona's midfield, and then without any hesitation, he launched an attack with a long pass.
The moment Chu Zheng passed the ball, Aguero, Umtiti and Mascherano on the arc of the center circle started chasing the ball at the same time.
The landing point was at the top of Barcelona's arc, but unfortunately, although Aguero used his speed to get rid of Mascherano and Umtiti, Ter Stegen struck out promptly and decisively, and stopped the ball firmly.
Underfoot.
On the sidelines, Guardiola applauded the court, indicating that the attack was beautiful.
In Guardiola's eyes, although this attack was not successful, the intention was right and completely correct.
"That's right!" Zhang Lu in the live broadcast room nodded repeatedly after seeing Manchester City's attack. "After a few hits like this, Barcelona's defender will be afraid, so he won't press so high.
Already."
"In this way, Barcelona's overall formation must be recycled to alleviate the pressure on Manchester City's defense."
In the 18th minute of the game, Barcelona got a free kick on the right rib about 45 meters away from the fans.
Messi kicked the ball out and landed on the right side of the penalty area, looking for Suarez.
But Chu Zheng started almost at the same time as Suarez, constantly blocking the inside line and blocking Suarez behind him with his body position.
Caballero rushed out to the left, saw Chu Zheng blocking Suarez, and gave the ball directly to the baseline.
Goalball.
Soon, Caballero took the goal kick. He did not kick it directly, but handed the ball to Otamendi to the right.
After receiving the ball, Otamendi advanced in a straight line and came to the upper left corner of the penalty area. When he saw Neymar attacking, he directly passed the ball directly to Sterling in the right rib area of the center circle.
But Sterling did not stop the ball and stretched his foot to stop the ball to Busquets in front of him.
Facing the incoming ball, Busquets raised his foot and poked it in the air, and the ball flew forward to Rakitic.
Fernandinho saw Rakitic turning his back to get the ball, and he quickly stepped forward.
However, before he could reach him, he saw Rakitic turn to the left, also without stopping the ball, raised his right foot for an alley-oop, and passed the ball forward to Suarez behind Fernandinho.
Suarez quickly turned around and chased the ball to the left.
Facing Otamendi's attack, he once again pushed the ball to the upper left corner of the penalty area without stopping.
This kind of continuous passing did not let the ball land at all, so Manchester City could not touch the ball at all, let alone win the ball back.
Fortunately, Otamendi's turn was not too slow. He quickly retreated along the left rib at the top of the arc and got stuck inside to block Neymar.
Entering the penalty area from the upper corner of the penalty area on the left, Neymar saw a passing gap on the left side of the penalty spot. There was a passing gap in the area to the left of the top of the arc. There were no Manchester City players. He suddenly made a cross pass, trying to find Messi.
West.
But the moment after passing the ball, Messi suddenly flashed a blue shadow on the back left side.
Chu Zheng fought back in time and reached out to intercept the ball.
The ball hit the inside of Chu Zheng's right foot and bounced to the back left.
Immediately afterwards, Chu Zheng quickly turned to the left, blocking Messi behind him. After completing the turn, he raised his right foot and vigorously pulled out the ball that fell in front of him.
Immediately, the ball went straight to the right rib of Manchester City's half circle, and accurately found Aguero who stayed in front of the ball.
"Beautiful!!!!!!!!!" Zhan Jun exclaimed in the LeTV live broadcast room.
"Artistic stopping and passing!" Zhang Lu also looked in amazement. "I definitely thought about it. I deliberately stopped to the left back, then turned around to follow up, and directly looked for Aguero to attack."
"This kind of offensive method that combines interception and launch is something only Chu Zheng can do."
At the scene, Enrique was also frightened when he saw Chu Zheng's saucy operation, and it felt as if someone had hit him hard in the heart.
At the landing point, Aguero used his chest to perfectly unload the ball at his feet.
At this time, Mascherano behind him was stuck, and Digne in front of him was also rushing back quickly.
Faced with this attack from both front and back, Aguero simply turned around and led to the wing.
After getting Mascherano and Digne behind him, Aguero found that these two guys did not retreat but advanced, and dared to join forces to grab it, so he suddenly turned to the left, followed the trend with his right foot, and directed the ball towards
Cut out two or three meters to the left.
Then Aguero completed his turn and accelerated.
Faced with Aguero's magical move, Mascherano and Digne were caught off guard. They could only watch as Aguero completed his turn and overtook on the outside, dribbling the ball towards his own penalty area.
Fortunately, Umtiti was not slow and retreated to the right rib area of the penalty area in time to block Aguero from the outside.
At this time, De Bruyne, the other half, also moved forward along the left rib. Sterling, who was originally on the right rib, was also rushing towards the center.
After bringing the ball to this position outside the upper right corner of the penalty area, Aguero did not choose to pass the ball, but cut directly inside.
After successfully reaching the baseline, Aguero passed the ball across the middle, but was kicked into the stands by Mascherano.
"fool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Suddenly, the Etihad Stadium erupted into rapid exclamations, followed by a burst of violent cheers!
Although the goal was not scored, the team's performance satisfied the Manchester City fans at the scene. They firmly believed that the goal would come sooner or later if they kept playing like this.
