Football: Starting from being abandoned by Barcelona

After the Champions League group stage, Chelsea soon faced Manchester City in the league.

This season, Manchester City's start was not ideal. In the first 8 rounds of the league, they only achieved 5 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss, and ranked fourth with 17 points, which was obviously below expectations.

Chelsea's start was much more unrestrained. Currently, they have won 8 consecutive games and 24 points

, which makes them top the list. The two teams are of equal strength. This time they are playing at home. Chelsea has full confidence and opportunities to win this crucial battle.

However, if Manchester City wants to return to the top of the standings, they must defeat the Blues this time.

Chelsea also attaches great importance to this game. They regard it as a touchstone for the title of the best coach.

The above are just the performances in the league. From the perspective of European wars, Chelsea and Manchester City are also facing different situations.

Chelsea gradually ensured their qualification through away games in the Champions League group stage, while Manchester City's group was full of heroes, and every game was a tough battle.

Manchester City just came back from Moscow in the last round. Before that, they had to deal with strong teams such as Bayern Munich. Frequent heavy battles consumed too much of their physical energy.

These undoubtedly increased the difficulty for them to win in this strength duel.

For Manchester City, which is in poor form, many Chelsea fans have begun to think about the team's 9-game winning streak.

With this mentality, the Chelsea fans at home are enthusiastic, and the game kicked off in this atmosphere.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Petr Cech

Defenders: Ivanovic, Luiz, Cole, Terry

Midfielders: Ramirez, Lampard, Li Lei, Mikel, Hazard

Forward: Torres

Manchester City (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Joe Hart

Defenders: Zabaleta, Martin Demichelis, Matija Nastasic, Gal Klich

Midfielders: Samir Nasri, Yaya Toure, David Silva, Fernandinho, Javi Garcia

Forward: Sergio Aguero

Both teams adopted a relatively stable 4-2-3-1 formation. Chelsea's luxurious frontcourt firepower remained, and Li Lei got the chance to start again.

Manchester City uses Aguero as the spearhead, and its strength should not be underestimated.

"Dear fellow players, I didn't expect that we would meet again so soon. We saw that our little Leo got the starting spot again!"

At this time, Gao Yi appeared on the screen in the live broadcast room with a cute and handsome face, which made the atmosphere in the live broadcast room very lively.

"This time the opponent is Manchester City, which is definitely a heavyweight battle, but playing at home, plus the recent hot form, I believe the Blues will definitely win!"

"Our Leo is almost becoming Chelsea's trump card. He must play well this time and try to score a goal instead of just wasting time outside.!"

"I suspect you are driving, but I have no evidence!"

"Haha, no matter what, we must fully support Li Lei! I will not return home until Manchester City is killed!"

Compared with the enthusiasm of the fans, Li Lei and his teammates were fully focused on the field, ready to face the challenge of Manchester City.

Li Lei carefully observed the opponent's formation, moving his feet to keep himself in a state of readiness at all times.

The other members of the Blues on the field also looked solemn, and everyone was preparing for this duel.

Although playing at home has advantages, Manchester City's strength cannot be underestimated.

After the game starts, both teams will choose an active offensive style of play, because the starting formations of the two teams determine that neither of them is allowed to give up their positions, which will inevitably stage a fierce offensive and defensive battle.

Li Lei does not need to think too much on the defensive end, but he also needs to consider how to drive the striker and stimulate the offensive firepower of the superstars, which is his business.

With the referee's whistle, Manchester City won the right to kick off, and the two sides quickly entered the game state. The atmosphere on the field was hot and tense.

At the beginning, Manchester City controlled the ball and advanced, while Chelsea launched a deterrent high-pressure pressing, trying to steal the pass and limit the opponent's rhythm.

For Chelsea's high-pressure pressing, Manchester City The backcourt was not defeated or rushed to pass the ball, but maintained a very calm formation.

Relying on the advantage in numbers, they calmly passed the ball under their feet to resolve Chelsea's pressing, and did not rush to attack.

As a result, a tug-of-war was formed on the field, with both sides observing and testing each other. For a while, it was difficult to tell who was better.

However, maintaining a high-pressure position would consume a lot of players' physical energy. When the time came to the 22nd minute, Chelsea's midfielders gradually couldn't keep up with the rhythm of high-pressure pressure and became out of touch with the frontcourt.

Manchester City defender Zabaleta seized this opportunity At the right moment, a precise long pass was made to Nasri who was advancing alone.

Nasri used his speed advantage to gradually get rid of Schurrle who was facing him.

Facing Nasri who had already entered the rib area, Lampard, who was filling in the position, could only slide to clear the ball, and the ball rolled out of the boundary.

Lampard's emergency sliding action was too fierce and completely exceeded the safety line, so he was given a yellow card warning by the referee.

At the same time, this was also the first yellow card of the game so far.

Nasri's out-of-bounds ball was successfully intercepted by Chelsea players, which changed the offensive and defensive situation on the field.

In the 27th minute, Lampard made a long pass directly to Li Lei, and the Blues launched a quick counterattack on the field.

However, Li Lei's rapid advance was disrupted by Manchester City's midfielder Garcia, for which Garcia was given a yellow card warning by the referee.

After receiving Schurrle's throw-in, Li Lei and him completed a wonderful two-on-one cooperation on the left.

The ball returned to Schurrle's feet, and he began to break through the Manchester City penalty area.

Just as the ball was about to enter the penalty area, Manchester City defender Zabaleta pulled Schurrle to the ground from behind.

This time it was obviously a foul outside the penalty area, but it also saved Manchester City from danger.

In the 31st minute, facing Zabaleta's obvious foul, the referee did not hesitate to directly show the third yellow card of the game.

Even if Manchester City players explained and put pressure, the referee's decision did not change.

"This is Chelsea's home ground. I only make decisions according to the rules.,���"Be careful!" the referee thought to himself.

Manchester City received two yellow cards in 5 minutes, which forced them to restrain their actions and be a little hesitant.

Chelsea used the free kick just now to directly blast open the Manchester City goal.

Torres came to the penalty spot, took a deep breath, and then shot a piercing arrow straight to the upper left corner of the goal.

Faced with such a tricky attack, Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart was powerless and could only watch the ball go into the net.

This goal opened the record for Chelsea and also put Manchester City in a passive position.

"GOOOOOOOOAL！"