Rebirth Football Simulator

Chapter 154 Conquering the Ittihad
On August 8, in the second round of the Champions League play-offs, Manchester City played against Steaua Bucharest at home.

Manchester City played all off the bench, and even Yaya Toure and Joe Hart both got the chance to start.

In the end, relying on Delph's goal, Manchester City beat the Stars 1:0 at home, eliminated their opponents with a score of 6:0 in two rounds, and successfully advanced to the Champions League.

In this season's Champions League play-offs, two teams from the top five leagues were eliminated.

意甲No.3的罗马两回合1:4输给葡超No.3的波尔图，西甲No.4的比利亚雷亚尔两回合1:3输给法甲No.3的摩纳哥。

From the 10/11 season to the present, in the seven consecutive seasons of UEFA Champions League qualifying, only AC Milan in the Serie A team successfully passed the 13/14 season, and all the other six seasons were eliminated.

Udinese twice, Naples, Sampdoria, Lazio, Rome once each.

This is really a disaster-level performance.

But Monaco was a little surprised, they actually eliminated No.4 in La Liga.

La Liga has been able to occupy the top spot in the European War for a long time, which is naturally outstanding.

In the UEFA Champions League qualifiers, La Liga teams have always had a high probability of qualifying.

So this time Monaco eliminated Villarreal, it was a small upset.

After the UEFA Champions League qualifying round, the group stage draw will be held soon.

Among the four teams in the Premier League, Fox City has the best draw. They were drawn into a group with Porto, Bruges and Copenhagen, and there is basically no suspense about advancing.

After all, they are the Premier League champions, so they can directly become the first team and try to avoid other strong teams.

In addition, Arsenal was drawn into a group with Greater Paris, Basel, and Ludogorets, which is also a simple group, depending on whether the Gunners take the first place in the group or the second place in the group.

Tottenham were drawn into a group with CSKA Moscow, Leverkusen and Monaco.

This can be regarded as a random stewing death group, the strength of the four teams is relatively average, and everyone has a chance to advance.

But no matter who advances, it will be difficult to make a difference in the knockout round.

At least the European media generally think so.

And the English media also stated that Tottenham is undoubtedly the strongest team.

Even with some twists and turns, he was able to advance successfully in the end.

Manchester City, as the second tier team, was assigned to Group C.

The first team in the group is Barcelona, ​​the third team is Monchengladbach, and the fourth team is Celtic.

There is no doubt that the biggest highlight of this group is Guardiola's return visit to Barcelona.

In terms of overall strength, it shouldn't be a big problem for Manchester City to advance from this group.

But we also need to pay attention to Borussia. The other party is also a top five league team. If Manchester City is accidentally eliminated, it will be a big shame.

Moreover, Manchester City has to try their best to suppress Barcelona and advance to the first place in the group.

After all, the first promotion in the group will have a big advantage in the draw of the top sixteen.

The reason why Manchester City was able to create a historical record in the Champions League last season was that they advanced to the top of the group, and then picked up a free opponent Dynamo Kiev in the top [-].

By the way, Zhang Chaoqiang's former club Lyon was drawn into a group with Juventus, Sevilla, and Dinamo Zagreb.

During the summer transfer period, in addition to selling Zhang Chaoqiang, Lyon also sold Umtiti to Barcelona.

The offensive and defensive cores were all sold out, which led to a very obvious decline in Lyon's overall strength.

In the French Super Cup at the beginning of the season, they were beaten badly, losing 1:5 to Paris.

Now that they are assigned to this Champions League group, they may not necessarily win Sevilla.

It can be said that the current situation of the old club is not ideal.

After the Champions League grouping is confirmed, it is natural to discuss the favourites.

According to the mainstream opinion, Barcelona is the first favorite for the time being, Bayern is the second favorite, and Real Madrid is the third favorite.

Huang Saren is still very stable.

Followed by Juventus fourth, Manchester City and last season's Champions League runner-up Atletico Madrid tied for fifth.

※※※

On August 8, in the third round of the Premier League, Manchester City played against West Ham United at home.

"The other matches of this round of the league are over. Both Manchester United and Chelsea have successfully won the game and completed the first three consecutive victories in the Premier League."

"As long as Manchester City wins the Hammers at home, they can also join the three-game winning streak..."

The Premier League has only played three rounds in the new season, and there are only three teams left without losing points.

The defending champion Leicester City seems to be unable to replicate the magic of last season, so the true ownership of the Premier League championship has to return to the traditional strong team.

Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, these three teams are more likely to be champions.

In fact, the odds of winning the Premier League given by the gambling company are Manchester City first, Manchester United second, and Chelsea third.

At the Etihad Stadium, Manchester City fans have long been waiting in the stands.

The last round was an away game, so this game is Zhang Chaoqiang's official debut at the Etihad Stadium.

Zhang Chaoqiang led the ball boy to the field, and there was a huge shout immediately in the stands.

"Super Zhang!! Super Zhang!!"

Through a hat-trick, Zhang Chaoqiang has officially won the recognition of Manchester City fans.

There were a large number of fans wearing the No. 25 jersey, and they all came to support Zhang Chaoqiang.

When Zhang Chaoqiang transferred, the key numbers in the Manchester City team were occupied in advance. Aguero wore No. 10 and Sterling wore No. 7.

No. 9 is still available, but that is the number of the center forward.

After careful consideration, Zhang Chaoqiang still chose the same number as Lyon's - No. 25.

In fact, many important players in the Manchester City team wear miscellaneous jerseys. De Bruyne wears No. 17 and David Silva wears No. 21.

So it's not a big deal for Zhang Chaoqiang to wear a size 25.

The game officially started, and Manchester City quickly launched an offensive wave.

Relying on the performance of Payet and Moses last season, the Hammers achieved a good seventh place in the Premier League and qualified for the Europa League.

But during the transfer period, Payet returned to Ligue [-] Marseille, and Moses joined Chelsea, so the team's strength has declined.

Therefore, in this season's Europa League qualifiers, the Hammers were eliminated by the Romanian team Giurgiu Astra and missed the main match.

Facing such a team, Manchester City naturally does not need to be polite, just win the game steadily.

In the 10th minute of the game, West Ham United grabbed the ball but failed to attack. David Silva took the ball in front of the penalty area and quickly launched an offensive.

Zhang Chaoqiang received the pass in the middle circle, accelerated forward decisively, and instantly broke through the encirclement circle that the three defensive players of the Hammers were trying to form.

"Well done, Super Zhang!!" In the Etihad stands, Manchester City fans cheered, excited to witness Zhang Chaoqiang's performance.

The Chinese fans present were even more excited and kept waving the five-star red flag in their hands.

Zhang Chaoqiang dribbled the ball straight to the goal of the Hammers. England midfielder Noble tried to intercept, but he pulled his left foot and passed the opponent directly.

Italian defender Obonna came to block the ball. Zhang Chaoqiang tapped the heel of his right foot and knocked the football to the left side of his body.

The football galloped against the turf like a cannonball, heading straight for the West Ham United goal.

West Ham goalkeeper Adrian kept bending over to catch the ball, but the football had already flown past his feet and crashed into the net.

"Goooooooooooal———————"

"Super Zhang!! Beautiful long-distance attack to score!!"

"It was a fast and violent half-court run. Super Zhang broke through the Hammers' defense alone and poured the ball into the opponent's goal!!"

"In the last round of debut, Zhang Yong scored a hat-trick, but he still felt that it was not enough. In this game, he quickly presented a halftime attack."

"In just two games, Zhang has become the new favorite of the Etihad Stadium and has quickly become No.1 in the hearts of Manchester City fans!!"

Zhang Chaoqiang rushed to the sidelines to celebrate, and the Manchester City fans in the stands cheered excitedly.

A large number of fans took advantage of the broadcast camera to show the number 25 on the back of the jersey.

At this time, the domestic commentator also said excitedly: "It seems that Zhang Chaoqiang has conquered the Etihad Stadium in only two games."

※※※

After Zhang Chaoqiang rushed to break the goal, the next game became very simple.

In the 27th minute, Sterling received De Bruyne's through push and scored.

In the 48th minute, Fernandinho made another beautiful long shot to expand the score.

Although the Hammers pulled back a goal in the 62nd minute, it has nothing to do with the overall situation.

On the contrary, in stoppage time, Sterling scored another goal and scored twice.

In this way, Manchester City defeated West Ham United 4:1 at home and successfully won the opening three consecutive victories.

(End of this chapter)