I just wanted to play football, but I became a Hollywood god

It is said that the Theater of Dreams at Old Trafford is the home stadium of the Devils, but in fact the Etihad Stadium at Blue Moon is similar.

As soon as the Southampton bus entered the underground parking garage of the Etihad Stadium, you could already feel the atmosphere of Blue Moon fans outside the stadium.

The Manchester City club officials also attach great importance to this game, especially Gu Ranlai's participation. The Manchester City club does not dare to neglect at all, and the reception standards are higher than those for ordinary teams.

The main thing is to feel at home.

At noon, after having a meal in the restaurant, Southampton's players took a comfortable lunch break in the visiting team's locker room.

Manchester City used to be very poor, but since the tycoons from the Middle East took over in 08, Manchester City has suddenly become rich, and even the visiting team's locker room feels resplendent.

Not only are there game consoles, but they are also equipped with medical oxygen bottles.

The Etihad Stadium has 68 vvvip boxes, 6 themed restaurants, and all kinds of services.

After the lunch break, Coach Adkins took the players for warm-up training at the Etihad Stadium.

After training for about two hours, the Southampton team returned to the locker room, resting and adjusting while improving tactical details.

At 6 p.m., fans started arriving.

For this game, Manchester City officially gave the away team 9000 tickets, which was considered very polite.

In less than half an hour, the die-hard South Stand was filled with Blue Moon fans.

The square array in the west stand was filled with die-hard Saints fans wearing the red and white jersey No. 8.

The game hasn't even started yet, and even before the players have entered the stadium to warm up, the fans on both sides have already started singing the team anthem.

This game is the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup, and the winner will advance to the EFL Cup quarter-finals!
At the same time, the other three quarter-finals of the EFL Cup are also taking place simultaneously, namely Manchester United vs. Birmingham, Tottenham vs. Liverpool, and Chelsea vs. Arsenal.

It can be said that except for Southampton, the dark horse, the other teams are all Premier League giants.

From a certain perspective, Manchester City has won the lottery.

Of all the four EFL Cup quarter-final matches, the match between Manchester City and Southampton attracted the least attention from spinach.

The pre-match odds offered by William Hill for this game are 1.04 for home win, 10.0 for draw, and 6.0 for loss.

Judging from this odds, the betting companies have determined that Southampton will lose.

The handicap recommended by the betting company is also a two-goal win for Manchester City.

In terms of the strength of the two teams, Manchester City, which has world-class stars such as Tevez, David Silva, and Balotelli, is indeed extremely capable of crushing the English League One team Southampton.

In the main stand of the Etihad Stadium, only Chelsea's Emenalo and Liverpool's Edwards sat together today.

David Platt, Manchester City's scout and assistant coach, will watch the game from the bench today.

Without Pratt, Emenalo and Edwards always feel like something is missing.

"Edwards, what do you think of this game?"

"How else can I watch it? Just sit and watch."

"Haha, that's true, but the handicap is very unfavorable to Southampton."

"Manchester City does have the strength, and I expected this kind of handicap, but... I am still optimistic about the Southampton team with Gu Ran. Southampton really has a chance to win to the end."

"It's a pity that Pratt is not here today, so we can't see his scary face up close!"

"Hahaha!"

Edwards and Emenaro broke into laughter.

6pm.

The coaches of both sides attended the pre-match press conference together.

This pre-match press conference was obviously more grand than before, and many reporters from well-known media came to interview. Southampton's coach Adkins took the initiative to shake hands with Manchester City coach Robert Mancini and say hello.

It's not that Coach Adkins is inferior because he is the coach of a League One team, but Mancini is just too legendary.

Mancini was world-famous as a player, and after becoming a coach, he can also become a legendary coach.

If Manchester City hadn't impressed Mancini with huge sums of money, Mancini would have continued to coach Inter Milan.

As a player, Mancini started out at Bologna and reached his peak at Sampdoria. In his later years, he followed Eriksen and played a few years at Lazio.

Mancini wears the No. 10 jersey in the team. As a typical Italian No. 10, his style is closer to Roberto Baggio. His passing, control, shooting and other skills are very good. Mancini is also known as "the way of playing football". "The most Brazilian Italian", Mancini was one of the leaders of Italian football at his peak. You must know that the Italian League at that time was definitely the number one league in the world.

Mancini's character as a player was quite individual and impatient, and he would occasionally have emotional outbursts, but he was also passionate.

His coaching career started with Fiorentina and Lazio in Serie A. When he took over Fiorentina, Fiorentina was still struggling in the relegation zone. However, in less than half a season, he successfully led Viola to avoid relegation and also won the very valuable title at the time. Italian Cup Champion.

When he coached Lazio, Lazio was in financial crisis and the team was demoralized. However, since his arrival, whenever a goal is scored, Lazio players will automatically gather to perform the classic rowing celebration.

It can be said that Mancini is a very charming and cohesive legend.

However, Mancini cannot be regarded as a true master of tactics. After his success in Florence and Lazio, he was poached by Inter Milan, the strongest giant at the time. Inter Milan's configuration at the time was the strongest in Serie A and even the world. The club's lineup, but it is difficult for Mancini to control this starship. His tactical design is too idealistic, too assisting the offense and neglecting the defense. He also relies too much on the individual performance of the stars. When the situation is obviously unfavorable, he throws everything into one. The mentality of gamblers is very serious.

Therefore, in his first season coaching Inter Milan, his results were very dismal.

However, in the second season, the famous Calciopoli incident occurred in Serie A. The biggest competitors Juventus and AC Milan were eliminated. Inter Milan had no competitive pressure at all. Mancini easily won three consecutive victories. crown.

This is a great honor, but Mancini has not made substantial progress other than adding qualifications for a salary increase.

When the score was behind in a critical game, Mancini would still switch to the forward position, and even wanted to rush onto the field to play as a forward to save the team.

But in any case, Mancini is indeed a very personal head coach, and his personal charm has a great impact on the team.

After the pre-match press conference began, during the interview with reporters, Mancini first congratulated Coach Adkins on his amazing results, bringing a League One team to the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup.

Then, Mancini said that in fact, the value of the English League Cup is not too high, at least it is far worse than the Italian Cup. In the previous era, the Italian Cup could even be called a mini World Cup.

Mancini said that in order to ensure the condition of the main players, he does not plan to send all the main players in this game. His main goal of leading Manchester City this year is still to compete for the league championship. Of course, the draw of this game was very lucky, so they still have to win this game and advance to the semi-finals, and if there is a chance, they will go all out to compete for the League Cup championship.

Coach Adkins modestly said that it is a great honor to play with the star-studded Manchester City team. Southampton is also aiming to learn and gain knowledge today. As for the outcome, it can only be determined by God. I know - but we at Southampton have our own God.

When asked if Manchester City wanted to buy Gu Ran, Mancini said bluntly: "Yes, we at Manchester City are looking forward to Gu Ran's arrival. Gu Ran is young, very capable, and he has the ability to give us Manchester City brings fresh experience, and I have also watched his video highlights. We think he will be an important puzzle piece for the rise of our Manchester City. Of course, I also know that Southampton Club relies heavily on Gu Ran, but this is not something we consider. Even if we at Manchester City don’t poach, there will be other clubs poaching wildly, so we are not targeting Southampton, we just don’t want to be defeated by other giants.”

"As for how much money is needed to poach Gu Ran, this is not something I should consider. In short, as long as Gu Ran is willing, we have no problem spending any amount of money. If Gu Ran is not willing, then we will use money. Come and make him willing.”

When asked what strategy Manchester City will use to mark Gu Ran today, Mancini smiled: "Although Gu Ran is very strong, he is still a person after all. All members of Manchester City are stars, and our offensive line The level of luxury is definitely the configuration of the top three in the Premier League. I know that Gu Ran will score goals, and he will even score wonderful goals, but we will score more goals. This game belongs to us, Manchester City."

Coach Adkins said that he respected Coach Mancini, but he really couldn't agree with Coach Mancini's remarks.

Coach Adkins emphasized that Gu Ran is not for sale to the club.

The pre-match press conference ended in a less than friendly atmosphere.

At 7 p.m., the referee team came in to inspect the playing field.

After the venue inspection was completed, the away team Southampton entered the stadium first for pre-match warm-up training.

As soon as the Southampton players entered the field, the Saints fans cheered wildly.

The Manchester City Blue Moon fans booed wildly - after all, this is their home court, and if the away fans are allowed to outsell them, then the die-hard Blue Moon fans will definitely not be able to accept it.

Soon, Manchester City's players also began to warm up, and the entire Etihad Stadium suddenly burst into cheers like a mountain roar and a tsunami.

Just judging from the shouts of the fans on both sides, the Blue Moon team who played at home were completely defeated.

However, football matches are not judged by the cheers of the fans. If it were, China would have won the World Cup title long ago.

... (end of this chapter)