The reason why this game is not less popular than the game between Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona is precisely because Manchester City and Monaco have never met for the first time in the previous stage of European elimination.
The match record between Guardiola and Jardim is also blank, so this makes this confrontation between the two sides full of uncertainty.
On the field, as the game progressed, the pace of the game between Manchester City and Monaco became faster and faster unknowingly, and in the blink of an eye, a confrontational trend was formed.
In the 14th minute of the game, Manchester City got a throw-in opportunity near the right center line of the half.
Walker took advantage of Jiang Lai and Bakayoko not retreating in front of him and quickly threw the ball behind them.
Chu Zheng turned the ball around and followed up the ribs.
Seeing Fabinho rushing towards the center from the left, Glick, who was supposed to be in the center of Monaco's defense, was also brought to the center by Aguero's run, causing Glick and Monaco's right rib.
There was a huge gap between Sidi Bei and Chu Zheng quickly realized that this was an opportunity.
The next second, Chu Zheng suddenly made a highly concealed arc pass while running, hoping to get the ball from Sidibe to Risane in the right rib area at the top of the Monaco arc.
At the moment of passing the ball, Sane in the ribs on the other side started to speed up and went straight to the right rib area at the top of the Monaco arc.
But Sidibe, who was on the inside on his right, was not slow either, and was very alert. He saw the gap between him and Glick in advance, and then quickly sprinted forward to the right.
However, the arc was drawn out by Chu Zheng, but the force was slightly smaller.
As a result, the ball came to Sidibe and was intercepted.
"nice shot!!!"
"The idea is right, but the strength is not enough! It's a little small!" Zhan Jun said with a cheerful smile.
On the field, Sidibe stopped the ball with the instep of his right outside foot, quickly turned around, and then swung his leg to distribute the ball to his right.
Bernardo Silva quickly ran from the center to the flank and received Sidibe's pass.
De Bruyne quickly started lateral and followed out.
Near the center line, Bernardo Silva took the ball and entered the wing before turning around.
De Bruyne found the right opportunity to go up and steal the ball.
As a result, Bernardo Silva spiked the ball to the right with his left foot, sent the ball forward with his right foot, and used quick foot movements to avoid De Bruyne cleanly.
Taking the ball to the center line of the wing, Sane rushed back from behind and directly collided with it.
But Bernardo Silva made a flexible kickback, not only dodging Sane's overhand attack, but also withstanding Sane's impact, firmly protecting the ball at his feet.
At this time, Yaya Toure was already on the center line of the ribs. When he saw Bernardo Silva rushing towards him with the ball, he went up and kicked it.
But it turned out to be empty.
Bernardo Silva was such a thief that he was well prepared and poked the ball directly under his crotch, then ducked and passed Yaya Toure.
Then suddenly there was a scalpel thrust from the ribs to the middle.
The ball rolled from the front right side of Kompany, who turned to chase back, to Mbappe between him and Kyle Walker on the left.
The line and speed of the ball were so exquisite that Kompany could only stare.
On the left side of Mbappe, Walker saw that the captain was helpless and could not keep up with Mbappe. He quickly prepared a response strategy for Mbappe after receiving the ball.
In front of the penalty arc on the right side, Walker squeezed to the right like a tank when Mbappe received the ball.
Mbappe was a little unable to withstand the squeeze of Walker's body, and his dribbling line shifted to the right.
When the two entered the area on the right side of the penalty spot in the penalty area, like a supercar, Mbappe was directly shoveled by Walker's forklift into the wall of Otamendi who rushed back from the ribs.
The next second, being pinched by Walker and Otamendi, Mbappe lost the ball.
After sitting on the ground and seeing Otamendi clear the ball into his own backcourt, Mbappe was so angry that he smashed the lawn to vent his frustration.
Mbappe glanced at Walker, who was panting beside him, with a look of helplessness. Basically no one in Ligue 1 could put as much pressure on him as Walker.
On the sidelines, Guardiola's heart was pounding and he applauded Walker for the third time.
Guardiola really didn't expect Walker to be able to do this to this extent today.
This time Walker's defense is also full of wisdom and experience. The most valuable thing is Walker's composure.
During the entire defensive process, Walker did not stretch his legs. He just focused on occupying the position and driving Mbappe away from the center until he hit Otamendi who was in position.
The Manchester City fans at the scene also gave warm applause!
Encouraged by the applause, Manchester City soon launched a fierce offensive to retaliate.
In the 16th minute of the game, Fernandinho and Sane broke away from the defense of Mbappe and Bernardo Silva through continuous two-person passes on the left side of the frontcourt.
Fernandinho turned around and quickly passed the ball directly to Sterling outside the upper corner of the penalty area.
Sterling took the ball and turned to face the penalty area, and was quickly surrounded by three Monaco players in a triangle position.
Sterling was not in a hurry, and after just half a second, Chu Zheng appeared on the end line of the penalty area on the right side of the Monaco arc.
Seeing Chu Zheng in place and then stepping into the Monaco penalty area, Sterling suddenly knocked the ball horizontally and then quickly drove forward behind Fabinho.
At the moment when Fabinho, La Ji Xun and Glick behind Chu Zheng formed a triangle position and prepared to surround Chu Zheng, Chu Zheng did not stop the ball.
Facing the ball rolling quickly in front of him, Chu Zheng gently rubbed the ball with the inside of his left foot at the moment the ball jumped between his legs.
Immediately afterwards, the rolling path of the ball became parallel to the end line of the penalty area, and went straight to Aguero in front of the penalty spot.
"Oh ho!!!"
"Chu Zheng leaked, and there are eyes on the back of his head!!!!!!!" Zhan Jun and Zhang Lu both looked straight.
Chu Zheng's slip-ups were another stroke of genius.
This leak not only allowed Glick on his right back to miss, but also immediately transferred the ball to the center of the penalty area, which was weakly defended.
At this time, there was no one on the other side of the penalty area, behind Aguero and Mendy next to him.
At the top of the arc, seeing the ball roll laterally towards Aguero, De Bruyne reached his heart and suddenly started diagonally into the penalty area and hit the ribs.
Before the penalty kick, Mendy tried to push Aguero out of his position to get the ball.
But after the two faced each other, Mendy felt that Aguero was shorter than him, but his body was so hard that he couldn't move the power coming from him for a while.
However, just when he was thinking about how to destroy the ball or block Aguero from turning around with the ball, Aguero followed suit and surprised him.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Aguero stretched out his left foot to hook the ball and raised it, and unexpectedly missed the ball again.
“Back point!!!”
"De Bruyne!! Opportunity!!!!!!!!!" Zhan Jun and Zhang Lu said in unison
From the back of the penalty area, De Bruyne hit the ball.
Although Jiang Lai behind him was very fast, his body was a big weakness, which kept De Bruyne stuck behind him and unable to squeeze forward.
Outside the upper corner of the small penalty area, De Bruyne carried Jiang Lai behind him and pushed the ball forward.
The next second, there was a bang, and the ball actually hit the outside of the far side post and bounced in front of the goal. Glick, who felt it in time, cleared the ball and went to the sideline.
"Bluff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Huge exclamations resounded throughout the Etihad Stadium!
Seeing that his push shot was rejected by the goalpost of his home stadium, De Bruyne covered his mouth with his hands, full of regret like countless Manchester City fans.
He felt very good after the ball left his feet, but he didn't expect it to hit the center post.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk! Excellent coordination, continuously leaking the ball and spinning the Monaco defense. It's a pity that De Bruyne is a bit unlucky."
In LeTV's live broadcast room, Zhan Jun and Zhang Lu looked very excited.
The consecutive misses by Chu Zheng and Aguero were simply a stroke of genius.
Coupled with Sterling's forward cover, Monaco's defensive players completely misjudged the direction of Manchester City's attack.
After this attack, the pace of the game continued to accelerate, making the fans in the stands on all sides scream and scream in excitement.
Manchester City's side is focused on attacking Monaco's right wing, while Monaco's side is also focused on using high positions and group counterattacks to deal with Manchester City.
In the 17th minute of the game, Chu Zheng and Sane cooperated like a collision with the wall. Sane went down to catch the ball and then passed it back in an inverted triangle.
Chu Zheng followed up and succeeded with a push shot, but Sane was offside.
The goal was invalid, and Etihad screamed for a while!
In the 19th minute of the game, Fernandinho took the ball from the wing and wanted to find Sane in the upper corner of the penalty area, but Bakayoko, who was chasing after him, took off and looked back at the moon to clear the ball.
The ball fell to Fabinho on the wing.
Fabinho made a long pass without stopping the ball.
At the right rib position of Monaco's center circle, Mbappe reached the landing point early.
But Otamendi behind him is not slow either.
As a result, Mbappe, who was backing up, rubbed his heel and passed directly.
The ball was rubbed behind the two of them, and then Otamendi was ejected and eaten alive by Mbappe who started with speed.
Fortunately, Kompany was there and quickly entered the ribs and blocked Mbappé's left front side, preventing him from cutting in to the center.
After entering the thirty-meter area, Mbappe was forced to slow down.
Seeing Falcao coming in from the middle, Mbappé raised his foot and swung it. As a result, the little chicken thief feinted a shot.
After Otamendi fell to the ground and slipped in front of him, the guy calmly stuffed the ball into the ribs of the other half.
At the penalty spot, Walker quickly moved laterally, blocking Mendy in time as he took the ball into the penalty area, and blocked Mendy's right foot and shot path into the far corner.
Seeing that he was about to miss the shooting angle, Mendy had to use his left foot to shoot into the near corner.
But it is a pity that the person standing in front of Manchester City today is not the Chilean regent.
Ederson, who blocked the near corner of the goal, quickly got down to the ground and blocked Mendy's shot out of the baseline.
In the blink of an eye, Monaco took a corner kick.
Yaya Toure and Fernandinho hit the ball from the back, allowing Mbappe to hit the ball from close range.
It's a pity that Mbappe used his face, and the ball he hit directly hit the side netting outside the goal, almost scaring the Manchester City fans to death.
In the 22nd minute of the game, Manchester City continued to control the ball in the backcourt.
Monaco's side may have been a bit fierce in the first 20 minutes. They rushed a bit fiercely, so they needed to take a breather, and it was rare that they did not press high in the frontcourt.
So Kompany and others passed the ball continuously from the backcourt to the left and right, slowly dropped the ball to the center circle, and then divided the ball again and moved to the left.
After attracting the focus of Monaco's defense to the wing, Fernandinho, who took the ball on the center line, suddenly made a cross to the right.
On the midline of the ribs in the center circle, Chu Zheng stopped the ball with his right foot, and then quickly relayed the ball with his left foot to start the attack with a long pass.
The ball was accurately guided by Chu Zheng directly to the upper corner of the penalty area on the other half.
Sterling unloaded the ball perfectly, then went directly to the bottom, and then suddenly passed the ball back through an inverted triangle to De Bruyne in the upper corner of the penalty area.
After De Bruyne got into position, he directly passed the ball low in an awkward posture.
There was no one following Aguero in the middle, so he followed up and shot directly in front of the goal.
But the shot line was too straight, and the ball bounced off Subasic's thigh, and Raggi behind Aguero made another timely clearance.
On the sidelines, Guardiola was so annoyed that he covered his face and threw away his hands.
In fact, starting from the 20th minute of the game, the rhythm of the offensive and defensive transitions between Manchester City and Monaco was already dizzying, and it seemed that they had reached their peak.
Sometimes within a short minute, Manchester City and Monaco can quickly complete an attack that threatens the opponent's goal.
This fast-paced offensive battle made countless fans who watched this game hooked.
Although it is already four o'clock in the morning in China at this time, these domestic fans are not only not sleepy at this moment, but also feel warm on their bodies.
If the attack continues like this, it's only a matter of time before a goal is scored.
Chu Zheng lived up to the expectations of domestic fans who stayed up late to watch the game.
In the 28th minute of the game, Chu Zheng came to the left sideline to catch the ball.
Sidibe also quickly pushed up, right in front of Chu Zheng's left side, blocking Chu Zheng's route to the baseline.
Facing the strong Sidibe, Chu Zheng didn't want to go head-to-head. Although he couldn't suffer a loss, he probably wouldn't take much advantage.
And it's too close to the sideline, so it's easy to go out of bounds if you're not careful.
So Chu Zheng stood on the spot and feinted to the left and right, but Sidibe didn't waver very much and stayed stuck in position, which shows his rich defensive experience.
The next second, Chu Zheng straightened up again. When he saw Sane quickly stepped in and restrained Fabinho, who had originally planned to come over to rob him, Chu Zheng instantly had an idea in his mind.
Since simple fake moves won't work, let's give Sidibe something more difficult.
Paying attention in his mind, Chu Zheng suddenly pushed the ball towards his right foot with his left foot, and then his body tilted sharply to the right.
Suddenly, Sidibe was a little confused about Zheng's true intention, and subconsciously took a step forward to the left.
As a result, this step opened a gap in the wing space behind him.
The next second, Chu Zheng abruptly regained his center of gravity, and then used his right foot to dunk the ball that had just rolled over from the crotch of the moving Sidibe.
Then Chu Zheng ejected and started chasing the ball along the sideline.
Behind Sidibe, Fabinho's position selection is very subtle. He can not only fill in for Sidibe at any time, but also keep an eye on Sane who is moving inside behind him.
Seeing Sidibe being breached, he quickly followed up on Chu Zheng.
A second later, he took over from Sidibe and blocked Chu Zheng from the outside again.
At the same time, Sidibe and Bernardo Silva were also rushing over.
Sane was also very smart. He quickly ran into the penalty area from outside the upper corner of the penalty area and immediately took away Bernardo Silva, which relieved the pressure on Chu Zheng.
Seeing Chu Zheng take the ball into a dead end, Manchester City fans felt extremely sorry. Some fans even felt that Chu Zheng was a little too sticky with the ball.
This kind of ball should be passed back on the sideline just now to reorganize the attack.
However, in the next second, Chu Zheng, who was in front of the baseline, suddenly brought the ball back and brought Fabinho back.
After running one meter, Chu Zheng bumped into Sidibe head-on.
Sidibe found the right opportunity and directly attacked.
However, before Sidibe could stretch out his feet, Chu Zheng turned around again, stepped forward, and accelerated with another ejection.
Although Fabinho was caught off guard, he still gritted his teeth and followed Chu Zheng from the inside.
When Chu Zheng came to the front line of the bottom line, he was blocked by Fabinho in front and Sidibe was entangled in the back.
Seeing Sidibe squeezing from behind Chu Zheng, Fabinho found the opportunity and stepped forward to steal the ball.
But the moment he stretched out his foot, Chu Zheng seemed to have had a premonition. He suddenly pushed the ball forward to the right with the outside of his right foot, and was about to rush past Fabinho.
Fabinho turned around quickly.
However, the moment he turned around, Chu Zheng used the inside of his right foot to smash the ball toward the baseline.
This time Chu Zheng not only rushed past Fabinho, but also caused the pendant Sidibe behind him to directly collide with Fabinho, causing them both to fall to the ground.
"Oh ho ho!!!"
"Continuous changes of direction, Fabinho and Sidibe collided!"
"It's so flexible, even two people can't trap Chu Zheng!" Zhan Jun and Zhang Lu praised repeatedly in the live broadcast room.
On the field, after crossing the penalty area line along the baseline, Chu Zheng bumped into a Monaco player again.
Facing Bernardo Silva, Chu Zheng did not make any delayed movements. A quick change of direction from left to right made the tall center back Raj lose his center of gravity, standing upright like a felled tree.
He fell down and watched Chu Zheng break through by hitting the ball along the baseline.
"Another one falls!!!!" Zhan Jun and Zhang Lu continued to shout, feeling numb all over after being exposed to Chu Zheng's show.
On the field, after the third successful breakthrough, Chu Zheng had already arrived in front of the goal post. Seeing Subasic looking at him eagerly, Chu Zheng tipped the ball backwards without thinking.
The next second, Walker, who had penetrated from the ribs, rushed to the back point at an extremely fast speed, jumped up hard, blasted the ball over Mendy's head, and hammered the ball into the top corner of the goal from close range.
"boom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"goal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Suddenly, the Etihad Stadium exploded like a boiling oil pan filled with ice water, and the cheers were like a stormy wave!
"Kyle Walker!!!!!!!!!" Zhan Jun also cheered in the LeTV live broadcast room,
"But at least 80% of the credit for this goal must be attributed to Chu Zheng."
"Chu Zheng's continuous breakthroughs from the wing were so flexible that Fabinho and the other three couldn't even touch the ball. In the end, Chu Zheng led them into each other and they both fell to the ground!"
Hearing Zhan Jun's words, Zhang Lu also smiled and said: "Chu Zheng's psoas muscles on both sides are particularly strong, and he can quickly change directions at any time."
"Not only does Chu Zheng dribble the ball very quickly, he also touches the ball faster than others, making it difficult for defensive players to find a point where they can put their foot down."
On the sidelines, Guardiola once again pumped his fists and roared in celebration, and was conquered by Chu Zheng again.
On the field, Walker ran a meter or two after scoring, then quickly turned around to greet Chu Zheng. Soon, Manchester City fans gathered in the right corner area to celebrate wildly.