Green Journey

Chapter 481 We have no choice!

As the domestic competitions of various countries come to an end one after another, football fans all over the world are also turning their attention to the final decisive battle of the upcoming eighth round of the UEFA Champions League.

Among the eight Champions League matches, the most watched are the matches between Manchester City and Monaco, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, and Leicester City and Sevilla.

Among these three games, the game between Barcelona and Paris is the most popular.

Judging from the score, Paris Saint-Germain 4-0 Barcelona in the first round, Barcelona seems destined to be eliminated.

But there are still many fans who are optimistic that Barcelona, ​​who owns the Argentine champion, can lead Barcelona to a comeback at the Nou Camp and complete an unprecedented miracle in the history of the Champions League.

The second is the second-round duel between Manchester City and Monaco, because the offensive capabilities of these two teams are too strong, and the football they play is very entertaining.

Although Monaco was kicked 6-3 by Manchester City in the Etihad Mona in the first round, the hot attacking scene made countless fans climax after another.

Although Monaco lost the game, many fans who supported Monaco believed that it was only the failure caused by coach Jardim's tactical mistakes.

If Monaco hadn't withdrawn their formation and continued to attack Manchester City, it might be hard to say who would win the game.

Therefore, many people think that Manchester City, which will play away in the second round, still has a certain probability of overturning.

The enthusiasm for the Champions League match between Leicester City and Sevilla was entirely brought about by Leicester City, the dark horse in this year's Champions League.

The Premier League champions last season had to fight for relegation this season, but in the UEFA Champions League, they went through consecutive rounds, and even reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League when no one was optimistic about it. miraculous thing.

In the first round, Leicester City went to Sevilla at home. Although they lost 2-1 in the end, Leicester City did not lose to Sevilla in the away game.

In this round, Leicester City will fight at home. As long as Leicester City can keep a clean sheet against the away team Sevilla and score a goal, they will be able to eliminate Sevilla, break into the quarter-finals of the Champions League, and become Leicester City. The pioneer in the history of the Techeng team, creating the best record in the history of the team in the UEFA Champions League.

With Ranieri's ability, it is not too difficult to get a clean sheet from Sevilla.

After all, the Italians play defense, which is the ancestor of all European teams.

Although Serie A has long lost the dominance of the small World Cup, the Italian football tradition is still defensive.

The Italians have never stopped studying the art of defense, and the art of defense has penetrated into their bones and genes.

For Leicester City, the only problem is how to score the winning goal.

But in the eyes of the outside world, this may not be very difficult.

Because although Chu Zheng and Kanter, who created the myth of the Blue Fox, left, Vardy, the civilian striker, and Algeria's Mahrez are still there.

Although the goals and assists of the two have declined this season, their level is still above the average, and they are still top-notch players in today's football.

As for other teams, they have obvious strengths and promotion advantages, and there is a high probability that there will be no difference in the result.

Such as Bayern and Arsenal.

The Gunners were kicked 5-1 by Bayern in the first round, and the internal strife within the Gunners is still continuing. Even if they play at home this time, the possibility of a headwind comeback is very small. Now Wenger has lost the magic of his early years.

As for the match between Leverkusen and Atletico Madrid, there is not much suspense.

In the first round, Leverkusen was kicked 2-4 by Atletico Madrid at home and scored 4 away goals, which also sentenced Leverkusen to death.

With Simeone's ability and Atletico Madrid's style, there is a high probability that Leverkusen, who will go to Atletico Madrid's home court in the second round, will be crushed to death by Simeone's iron-blooded bus.

As for Juventus and Porto, Real Madrid and Naples, the strengths and weaknesses are obvious, and there is almost no suspense. The outside views are very consistent. Real Madrid and Juventus are guaranteed to advance.

On March 3, at the Stade Louis II in Monaco.

This stadium is the home stadium of the Monaco club, but it is also the home stadium of the Monaco national team.

The Louis II Stadium is very small among the well-known stadiums in Europe, and can only accommodate 18500 fans.

This stadium looks small to the outside world, but to the locals, it is a big stadium, because Monaco's population is only 3.5 people.

In fact, Monaco can be regarded as a world country. Some fans are misled by Monaco's matches in Ligue [-] and subconsciously think that Monaco is a city in France.

In fact, it is not, it is a city-state, a seaside city.

Monaco is the second smallest country in the world, with a land area of ​​only 2.08 square kilometers, of which 0.5 square kilometers were reclaimed from the sea.

The Louis II Stadium was built on this 0.5 square kilometer land.

For this expedition to Monaco, Manchester City came two days in advance.

In addition to the reason for Manchester City players to adapt to the local climate in advance, it is also forced.

There is no airport in Monaco.

Therefore, Manchester City had to take a special plane to Nice, France first, and then take the team bus that drove to Nice in advance to Monaco.

Anyway, Chu Zheng and the others were tortured enough along the way.

It was said that it was two days in advance, but when they arrived in Monaco, there was only about a day left to get used to it.

At around 6 o'clock in the afternoon that day, after warming up and returning to the visiting team's locker room, Guardiola quickly came to the tactical board and began to review the tactics, so that every player would have a clear idea of ​​how to play in the upcoming game.

Although today is an away game, Guardiola is still not ready to defend.

No way, forced.

Manchester City is a bit unlucky these days.

In terms of morale, under the blow of the Premier League's two consecutive draws, it is definitely not as sharp as the winning streak.

If it was just this impact, Guardiola didn't take it too seriously.

However, the house leak coincided with the continuous night rain, and non-battle casualties suddenly appeared in the team, and they were all defensive players.

After the 28th round of the Premier League a few days ago, Kompany experienced calf muscle discomfort after the game.

In order to prevent Kompany's injury from getting worse, he will definitely not be able to play today.

As a result, less than 24 hours after arriving in Monaco, Kyle Walker actually contracted the flu. Last night, he was so feverish that he was so confused that he was almost sent to the hospital.

The absence of these two defenders brought Manchester City's now stable defense back to its original shape, which really caught Guardiola by surprise.

Now that Guardiola has no cards in his hand, he has to restart veterans such as Sagna and Clichy.

Of course, this also forced Guardiola to change the plan he had made in Manchester and change the tactical strategy of this game to the main offensive tactic.

Guardiola is very aware of Monaco's offensive strength, and their current defensive strength is absolutely unstoppable.

So it can only be a last stand.

Guardiola pins his hopes on the midfield.

As long as Chu Zheng and the others can display the powerful attack power of the first round, they can suppress Monaco's powerful offensive to a certain extent.

After explaining the tactics based on the tactical board, Guardiola looked at the players sitting in front of their respective lockers and suddenly smiled. Chu Zheng and others looked at each other for a while.

Usually when reviewing the tactics before the game, Guardiola always keeps a straight face, giving people a feeling that he has fully devoted himself to the game.

"Boss, are you crazy?" Foden, who was sitting next to Chu Zheng, lowered his voice, "I actually saw him laughing, God, this is really terrifying!"

"Shut up!" Chu Zheng turned his head and stared, and Foden immediately fell silent.

At the same time, Jardim next door is also doing pre-war mobilization.

"Our opponents are strong, we all know this, but, I believe we have enough strength and ability to meet the challenge."

"Manchester City's attacking ability is very strong, but they also have a weakness, that is, they have a defense that is much worse than ours."

Jardim's sudden self-mockery made Mbappe, Jiang Lai and others in the Monaco dressing room laugh out loud.

After the laughter fell, Jardim put away her smile and said, "Tonight, the only request I ask of you is to be good at taking advantage of their defensive weaknesses."

"Finally, I want to say that you are the best group of players I have ever managed. Believe me, you are no worse than those Manchester City stars!"

"I want to say that I am honored to be able to work with you. Regardless of the outcome of the game, we are a great team. Believe in yourself, believe in each other, and let's create miracles together!"

Jardim's last words were almost roared out.

For a while, a wave of chicken blood that was imperceptible to the naked eye instantly spread in the Monaco dressing room, infecting every Monaco player.

Even the shy Jiang Lai's eyes were full of fighting spirit.

"Fight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Fight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Fight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"..."

For a while, the Monaco locker room roared again and again, and the morale was extremely high!
At 19:30 local time, Manchester City and Monaco players appeared in a slightly narrow player channel, waiting for the referee to lead the game.

Not long after, the two sides led the young players on the stage, and the passionate Champions League theme song resounded through the Louis II Stadium.

In a blink of an eye, the UEFA Champions League theme song ended, and the Monaco home fans in the stands on all sides immediately began to play demons.

The Monaco fans sang and cheered for a while, and waved their flags and shouted for a while, or they used interactive slogans and noise-making methods to put psychological pressure on the Manchester City players.

Although the Louis II Stadium is small, there are more than 6000 Monaco fans for this game. It is not too much to say that people from half of the country came to watch the game.

Excluding some tickets sold to neutral fans, the number of Manchester City fans who traveled with the team was less than [-].

But even so, the Manchester City fans in the small stands belonging to Manchester City are also cheering for the team in their own way.

At 19:40, the starting lineups of both sides appeared in the broadcast footage.

Monaco: (442)

Goalkeeper: Subasic

Defenders: Sidibe, Andre Raj, Germerson, Mendy
Midfielders: Bernardo Silva, Fabinho, Bakayoko, Lemar
Forwards: Germain, Mbappe
Manchester City: (4141)

Forward: Aguero
Forwards: Leroy Sane, Chu Zheng, De Bruyne, Sterling
Defender: Fernandinho

Defenders: Kolarov, Otamendi, Stones, Sagna
Goalkeeper: Ederson
In the live commentary booth, I saw Manchester City's starting lineup through the small TV on the table. Manchester City's official live commentator Martin and Smith both showed worry.

Although Monaco fell behind 6-3 in the first round, Monaco had three away goals.

Therefore, as long as Monaco scored 3 home goals in this game, it would be enough to push Manchester City into the abyss.

It is not impossible to score 3 goals or more at home.

But Monaco also has a concern, that is, they have to prevent Manchester City from scoring at home.

In addition, there is another good news, that is, Falcao, who has been in a brave state recently, was injured, so today Monaco sent Germain as a substitute.

In terms of scoring efficiency, Germain and Falcao are not at the same level at all.

Therefore, this is a favorable factor for Manchester City.

But without Falcao, Monaco still has Mbappé.

Compared with Falcao, Martin and Smith are more afraid of Mbappe after seeing the super powerful impact of this young striker who is known as the French New Henry in Ligue [-].

Kompany and Walker were on the defensive line in the first round, and they were rushed into that state by Monaco's offense. Today, Kompany and Walker are gone, and two veterans, Kolarov and Sagna, are on the field. Got it.

Martin and Smith knew without thinking that these two veterans could not withstand the impact of Mbappe and Lemar.

And today there is another in the middle of the road that makes them even more headaches, Stones, who is playing like a ghost.

Thinking of these three people, Martin and Smith felt very insecure, as if the defense line was full of loopholes.

At the same time, Lineker, Ferdinand and guest Gerrard are also conducting pre-match analysis on the lineup of the two sides in the BBC live broadcast room in London.

"Compared with Monaco, perhaps Manchester City's defense is the right choice." Lineker looked at Manchester City's lineup and smiled.

In his opinion, the best choice for Manchester City is to retreat and play defensive counterattack.

As long as Monaco is not allowed to score, even if Monaco has three away goals, it will be eliminated because of the total score behind.

But Fernandio and Gerrard's views are completely opposite to Lineker's.

This is the difference in thinking between forwards and midfielders.

Especially Gerrard, he is already the head coach of Liverpool's youth training echelon.

Starting from the head coach's thinking, he sees it more clearly than Ferdinand and Lineker.

Gerrard pondered for a while, and when Ferdinand finished speaking, he nodded and said, "I don't think so. Look at Manchester City's midfield. Except for the four players in the back line, the rest of the players are all inclined to attack. Even Fernandinho is also balanced."

"So, if Guardiola wants to adopt a defensive strategy, then he doesn't need so many offensive players. Chu is a perfect midfielder."

After the words fell, Gerrard paused for a moment, and then said convincingly: "So I think Guardiola's tactics today are still offensive. He wants to use more goals to kill Monaco."

Hearing Gerrard's analysis, Lineker and Ferdinand both fell into serious thinking.

Soon Ferdinand gave another possibility from the perspective of the defense line. He said: "Perhaps the absence of Walker and Kompany affected Guardiola's choice."

Hearing this, Lineker and Gerrard both nodded.

It is indeed possible.

Because of Monaco's strong offensive strength, Manchester City's defense today is likely to be unable to defend.

So it's better to attack, use offense instead of defense, and score more goals to end the suspense of both sides' promotion.

(End of this chapter)