King of the start, I'm the new king of the Azzurri

Chapter 227 Preparing for the Champions League (4K)

The English League Cup is naturally not as important as the league, so Guardiola made a large-scale rotation in this game.

This kind of operation also happened to their opponent, Leicester City.

For their weak bench, Leicester City naturally chose to focus on the league. Only by ensuring that there are no problems in the league can they get more "dividends"!
Leicester City, who chose to give up the cup, naturally did not have much strength to resist, and Manchester City won another victory.

48 hours later in the league, Manchester City made another victory.

For Manchester City, such a result is worth looking forward to in the league journey.

The UEFA Champions League knockout match is also attached here. Manchester City's road to promotion is not under great pressure. After all, their opponent is only Basel!

So they also put more focus on the league at this time.

After defeating Newcastle in the away game, Li Feng scored 27 goals this season, and also surpassed 10 assists!
This kind of data seems a little inferior, but the key thing is that Li Feng has scored more than ten goals this season, which is the first time in his career!

The center forward who has become more and more team has made Manchester City more difficult to deal with. At this stage, what Li Feng needs to "transform" is his passing vision.

After 20 rounds of the league, Manchester City still tops the list!

When all the games in January are over, Manchester City still occupy the top position. The only regret is that they lost the game against Liverpool, which is also one of their losses this season.

The 4-3 score made Manchester City fans feel a little uncomfortable, but the situation in the standings made the fans "forget" this unpleasant game.

After the end of the 25th round of the league, the situation of the Premier League standings has undergone new changes.

1. Manchester City: 68 points;
2. Manchester United: 56 points;
3. Liverpool: 50 points;
4. Chelsea: 50 points;
5. Tottenham Hotspur: 48 points;
The Premier League BIG6 occupies the forefront of the league, and it makes people feel that there is still suspense about the battle for the top four in the Premier League!

Manchester City is far ahead with 12 points, and Manchester United also has 2 games of fault tolerance. As for the three teams of Liverpool, Chelsea, and Tottenham Hotspur, if they want to compete for the top four, they need to see who can take the lead in stabilizing. live.

What makes people feel "fun" in this winter window is the "pull" between Liverpool's Coutinho and Barcelona.

From the perspective of bystanders, Li Feng is not very clear why Barcelona bought Coutinho.

The price of the final transaction was surprising, which also gave Liverpool an effective reinforcement.

With the arrival of Van Dijk, Liverpool's defense has also become much more solid.

This can also be seen from the results of Manchester City's visit to Anfield Stadium.

4-3, Manchester City narrowly lost by 1 goal!
If the centre-back hadn't been for Van Dijk, City might have killed the game.

In the end, Manchester City could only take away one loss in this game.

It is estimated that Manchester City's management also knows what kind of help a strong central defender can bring to the team.

But at this stage, excellent central defenders still need to be discovered slowly!
After 48 hours of torment, Manchester City still maintains their lead in the league, only from 12 points to 10 points!
At this stage, it is time for the relegation team to perform. I believe they are already in a "explosive" situation at this time.

Guardiola was relieved by a draw. For this crucial game, he had already prepared the rotation measures.

Apart from the results of the game, Guardiola cares more about the players themselves!
After all, the game is played by the players. As the head coach, what Guardiola needs to do is to keep the players healthy, so that the club's expenses are worthwhile.

The performance of the league has satisfied Manchester City's management, but they all know that to truly become another giant in the Premier League, then they need to make a breakthrough in the Champions League.

"Leading is still leading, but we need to maintain our state. Only in this way can Manchester City defend the Premier League title again this season!"

"As for the Champions League? Let's not talk about it for now."

Soriano conveyed the attitude of the boss behind the scenes, which is to defend the Premier League champion this season.

At this stage, the items needed for computer installation are almost one price a day!
But no one will dislike the previous state.

The game is not over for the time being, and Manchester City still gave the best "arrangements" for the pre-match arrangements.

In the first round of the Champions League knockout round, Manchester City defeated their opponents by a big score. After all, the strength gap between the two sides is still relatively obvious. If there is no accident, Manchester City will win the next victory.

With the promotion in the Champions League, Manchester City can be regarded as the best in the league.

After the 30th round of the league, the situation in the Premier League standings has really not changed much, but they can taste other feelings from it.

Attach the Premier League standings after 30 rounds:
1. Manchester City: 81 points;
2. Manchester United: 68 points;
3. Tottenham Hotspur: 61 points;
4. Liverpool: 60 points;
5. Chelsea: 56 points;
After this game, the competition for the Premier League championship can also be regarded as the final victory.

No one would have imagined that Manchester City would bring such a huge lead this season - 13 points!
What does the difference of 13 points mean?
Manchester City can lose three league games in a row!
Another point is the situation that makes the fans crazy. Manchester City's overall state is really too good.

There is another thing that makes Manchester City fans crazy, that is, Manchester City will face Liverpool, also from England, in the next Champions League match.

Since Van Dijk joined, Liverpool's momentum has risen.

Although they failed to take the lead, they still showed their good competitive state.

With the arrival of the Champions League knockout round, Manchester City, who played away, finally lost their away game with a score of 2-3.

For this game, Guardiola has a lot of ideas.

If you really want to talk about how to resolve the immediate problem, Guardiola's idea is still very simple-give the ball to Li Feng!

Although Van Dijk has brought a qualitative leap to Liverpool on the defensive end, it is still relatively rare for Van Dijk to limit Li Feng in one-on-one.

Losing the away game is not terrible. For Li Feng, the next home game is where Manchester City will go all out!

In the second half of the Champions League, Real Madrid's state is so good that the game is not over yet, they all put their chips on Real Madrid.

After the rest time, Li Feng returned to the training for the game again. They showed a good state, but it is not sure how good they can be.

In the "Manchester Derby" at home, Manchester City held a 2-goal advantage, and they were finally reversed by Manchester United led by Mourinho!
The end of the game also delayed Manchester City's hopes of winning the trophy early.

But as long as they win another victory in the next league, Manchester City can still win the Premier League trophy a few rounds in advance.

Before that, they still have a key game to play-the Champions League eight-to-four game, Manchester City will face the Red Army Liverpool at their home court.

For Manchester City in this game, they still have pressure. After all, they lost the game in the first round!
As in the pre-match press conference, Jurgen Klopp showed his strength. He boasted before the game that Liverpool will win the game and they will qualify for the next round of the Champions League at the Etihad Stadium !

For this reason, Guardiola had to respond at the pre-match press conference.

"Josep, I'm glad you're here. What do you think of Jurgen's speech?"

Hearing this, Guardiola smiled and spread his hands, saying that he had nothing to say.

The reporters were obviously not that satisfied with such behavior, so Guardiola responded before they asked again.

"The game hasn't started yet, I think we will fight until the last moment!"

The answer is quite satisfactory, but the determination in Guardiola's tone will continue to inspire the players.

Manchester City, which has one-on-one hard play, is naturally not afraid of Van Dijk, because this is not a tactic that Manchester City often uses, so they don't have many choices.

And now it's a life-and-death moment, Guardiola will naturally take out his bottom-of-the-box skill-hand the ball to Kevin De Bruyne!
As for whether to give the ball to Li Feng or play again, it depends on the specific situation on the field.

The next question was directed at the team's center - Li Feng.

"Josep, will you assign Li a heavier task for this game? If the final game is lost, do you think it will be Li's problem?"

Li Feng's question?
Guardiola couldn't help frowning.

Although Li Feng has a certain ability to retreat and organize, the team will not put the organization of offense on him. After all, he has a more important task-scoring goals!
"No, we will implement our tactics well, I believe they can defeat any opponent!"

"Welcome to the second round of the 8-to-4 Champions League. Manchester City is at the Etihad Stadium to face Liverpool who is coming to challenge. I am the commentator Zhang Jun (Zhan Lu)!"

For Zhang Jun, a familiar commentator partner, this game is really a torment.

As a diehard Liverpool fan, he naturally hopes that the team he supports can go further, but against Manchester City, he believes that this result really needs to be decided based on the team's performance at the time.

"It's really surprising that Liverpool can come here. If they beat Manchester City, it will help them to snowball themselves!"

"But this is Manchester City's home court. In recent years, Manchester City's home court is trustworthy. It is very difficult for Liverpool to get out of here!"

Zhang Jun thought that the game would be fought until the last moment, but Zhan Lu pointed out another problem-Liverpool's defense.

"Because of the joining of Van Dijk, Liverpool's performance on the defensive end has become more stable, but their right back may become a breakthrough for the team!"

The "weak" defensive attributes of the full-backs made Liverpool's wing defense like paper, but they have teammates to help, so the situation is not so bad.

But there is another point that the team needs to pay attention to is how to cover up that very obvious weakness for Alexander Arnold.

Some people may say that Manchester City's left-back Teo Hernandez is not also the team's oil bottle!
But the young Theo Hernandez has the potential to become a top full-back, and this game is the time to show himself.

"Welcome to the Premier League civil war in the Champions League. Judging from the previous round of the game, the height of Manchester City's defenders is not a small problem. Coincidentally, Liverpool's high-altitude ball ability has also been strengthened recently."

"The only thing that the fans need to pay attention to is whether Guardiola will make a move."

Whether it is holding the lead or the loser's bracket, Guardiola sometimes always has his own unique ideas, and it is this unique idea that allows them to get more "resources" on a regular basis.

"The referee on duty for this game is Laos. He is a referee with excellent law enforcement ability. I believe he makes this game more exciting."

"We also seize this little time at the beginning of the game to introduce the starters of both sides."

The game started on a rainy day. In order to win the game, Manchester City is also fully prepared.

"The temperature on site is 7-8 degrees Celsius. For the players, they need to warm up adequately so as to avoid strains."

"Manchester City adopted a rather strange formation - the 31213 formation, did not choose to line up the full-backs, which seems to put all the pressure on the defense on the central defenders."

"Goalkeeper: Ederson Morais;

Three medians: Laporte, Otamendi, Kyle Walker;
Midfielder: Fernandinho;
Midfielders: David Silva, Bernardo Silva;
Attacking midfielder: Kevin De Bruyne;
Forwards: Sane, Li Feng, Sterling! "

It seems that it's time for Guardiola to work again. Zhang Jun doesn't quite understand that the previous 433 was not used well. There is nothing to change.

The current Liverpool is even more particular about making a fuss on the road in terms of offense.

But now Manchester City seems to be able to abandon the wing and influence the game through the control of the midfield.

With such a choice, I don't know whether it should be said that Guardiola is thinking too much, or something else!
"Liverpool is still in the familiar 433 formation. With the arrival of Van Dijk, Liverpool's defense has become a lot more solid."

"Forwards: Mane, Firmino, Salah
Midfielders: Wijnaldum, Milner, Chamberlain;

Defense: Robertson, Van Dijk, Lovren, Alexander-Arnold;

Goalkeeper: Karius! "

Liverpool's injury situation should not be underestimated. Lallana, Matip, Eremcan, and Joe Gomez are all injured, so this can be regarded as the strongest lineup that Klopp can send.

What Manchester City needs to pay attention to is the two wings of Liverpool, especially the "link" between Salah and Alexander-Arnold.

Due to the lack of good midfielders, Jurgen Klopp has found another way, and he has influenced the direction of the game through the full back.

Such an arrangement can also better leverage Alexander Arnold's strengths!
"Milner's steal, it's Liverpool's turn to attack!"

(End of this chapter)