Chapter 994 Champions League Knockout
Chapter 994 Champions League Knockout
For the article on the "North London Horn", Manchester City did not express any views or responses.
After all, it was a very small newspaper, and its influence was limited to the North London area. At the beginning, it gained some attention by arguing with Rongguang, but soon they gradually faded out of the public eye and returned to their original state.
So now the "North London Horn" is so obsessed with competing with Manchester City, in fact, not many people can see it.
Even the Arsenal fans in North London feel a little tired-you were brave enough to stand up for our Arsenal at the beginning, but now you have been clinging to this matter for so long, it is too boring... What we want to watch is news related to Arsenal. Who wants to see Manchester City dangling in front of their eyes all day long?Don't you think the name is annoying enough?
Against Stoke City in the FA Cup game, Manchester City used exactly the same starting lineup as they played against Bolton in the previous game.
Stoke City's tactics this time are no different from the last time the two sides played against each other, and they are still full of aggression.
The players played tenaciously.
But Manchester City, who played with a substitute lineup, did not fall into a hard fight this time.
Manchester City, who were playing at home, launched a very violent attack on Stoke City's goal amidst the cheers of tens of thousands of fans. This kind of attack was completely unprecedented when Stoke City played against Manchester City at home.
And because it was Manchester City's home game, the referee was stricter than before for those fouls against Manchester City players, which added some trouble to Stoke City's tactical implementation.
In the end, Manchester City defeated Stoke City 3-0 cleanly at their home court, without giving Stoke City a chance.
Rong Guang scored a goal and assisted a goal in the game, which is the biggest contributor to Manchester City's victory. However, when he was interviewed by reporters after the game, he repeatedly emphasized that his teammates performed very well. Football is a collective sport. Without the outstanding performance of his teammates, even if he performed well, it is impossible to win this game.
The reporters all knew that Rong Guang was being modest, but when they heard Rong Guang say that, they still wanted to roll their eyes.
For others, football may really be a team sport, but for you, whether football is a team sport is really hard to say...
What do you say if your teammates don't perform well, and you alone can't win the game, what will it say to Stoke City's league?
But the reporters misunderstood it. Rong Guang did not say this because of his modesty. He is not very humble.
He said this in order to send a message to his teammates - I cannot do without you, so everyone must work hard!
Regarding the matter of being undefeated in the league, he has never discussed this issue with his teammates. He just hopes not to increase the pressure on his teammates, lest they think it is a task that must be completed-for Rongguang himself, this is a task that must be completed, but Rongguang believes that his teammates are not obliged to bear this pressure with him.
So he chose to remain silent and let himself shoulder this responsibility and pressure.
If the teammates perform well, that's fine.
If the performance is not good, I help them win and let them win.Solve their problems and reduce stress.
But he will not directly tell his teammates about it, he will only tell everyone tactfully in this way.
No matter how good he is, he still needs his teammates.
He didn't want to be a lone hero, and he knew that being a lone hero would not accomplish his goal.
Football is really a team sport.
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No.20 Seventh round, Manchester City's last round of the league before the first round of the Champions League quarter-finals.
Manchester City vs. Liverpool.
This is not an easy opponent to deal with, especially Liverpool now.
The league has played 26 rounds, and Liverpool ranks sixth.At the beginning of the season, Liverpool's ranking was worse. Now they have caught up, and they naturally want to make their league rankings higher.
Now they have 44 points, only one point away from Aston Villa, who is fourth in the league.
So their desire for victory is very urgent.
In this game, Benitez considered that the next quarter-final of the Champions League with Lyon, and it was an away game, so he adjusted the lineup for the game against Liverpool.
He did not follow the lineup of the first two games, but replaced some of the main players.
After all, the next game is against Lyon, and these main players have not played much in the first two games, so they must find out the state of the game, otherwise, if they directly play against Lyon in the Champions League knockout round, I am afraid they will suffer.
Benitez does not dare to be careless in the Champions League. He knows that this is completely different from the Premier League.
In the final game against Liverpool, Manchester City shook hands with them 0:0 at home.
Liverpool wanted to win the game, but Manchester City's counterattacks continued to threaten them.Let them have no way to attack with all their strength.
Although Manchester City counterattacked very sharply, they were almost unlucky in this game. Rong Guang had a shot and a header in the game, but both were rejected by the post.
It is a pity that this game did not win, but this did not affect the mood of the Manchester City players, and it did not even make the Manchester City fans too concerned.
After all, the next quarter-final of the Champions League against Lyon is up.
For the Champions League knockout, Manchester City fans can be said to have been looking forward to it for a long time.
Manchester City's performance in the Champions League group stage was very good, which boosted the confidence of Manchester City fans and made them look forward to the next knockout stage.I want to see how the team can perform in the Champions League knockout rounds.
Hasn't there always been a saying before?
The UEFA Champions League group stage and the knockout stage are completely different events. Being able to perform well in the UEFA Champions League group stage does not mean that you can also perform well in the UEFA Champions League knockout stage.
After all, the opponent's mentality is completely different from his own in the group stage and knockout stage.
In the group stage, those strong teams may not try their best. After all, the group stage consists of six games. If there is a mistake in this game, it can be made up for in other games.
But the knockouts won't work.Two games determine the outcome. If you fail to play well in one game, it may directly affect the final result.
Therefore, some teams may not perform very well in the Champions League group stage, but after the knockout stage, their performance is getting better and better, and it becomes very difficult to deal with.
So it makes sense that the knockout rounds are the real test for City.
If Manchester City wants to be the dark horse in the UEFA Champions League this season, then they have to test their quality in the knockout round.
After the game against Liverpool, Liverpool fans are still annoyed that they did not win Manchester City away, but Manchester City's attention has long been out of it.
The Manchester Evening News began reporting on Lyon, City's opponents in the knockout stages of the Champions League.
Starting from his history, he talked about their seven consecutive championships in Ligue [-] and their wonderful performance in the Champions League.
"...After the results of the draw for the round of [-] came out, I know some Manchester City fans think they have drawn a good draw, but I have to remind them that Lyon is not a soft persimmon that can be pinched casually. In the Champions League, Lyon has much more experience than Manchester City, and they are a team that will not be at a disadvantage against Real Madrid. If Manchester City can beat Real Madrid twice, then at least Lyon is suitable for their team..."
"For Benitez's team, the team as a whole lacks the experience of participating in the Champions League, which is a relatively big problem, especially in the knockout stage. As the game deepens, it needs more experience..."
But "Manchester Evening News" also talked about Manchester City's advantages.
"...This is a team that is on the rise. Their desire for the Champions League is very great. This motivation will help them overcome some lack of experience. And although the overall lack of experience, Manchester City's players do not lack Champions League experience. Moreover, they have one of the biggest advantages, that is...Rong! Yes, Rong is Manchester City's biggest advantage, I believe many people think so. How long Manchester City can go in the Champions League this season, the most important factor is Rong's personal performance..."
After this article, the newspaper posted a photo of Rong Guang holding up the Champions League trophy, but the difference is that the Manchester Evening News did a little photoshopping. Originally, Rong Guang was wearing a Bayern Munich jersey. After all, he won the Champions League when he was playing for Bayern Munich.
However, the "Manchester Evening News" put Manchester City's jersey on Rong Guang's body and replaced Bayern Munich's jersey.
This will definitely make Manchester City fans very happy to watch, but it makes many Chinese fans feel that "Manchester Evening News" really doesn't understand what "saving character" is...
If they directly PS a picture of Manchester City winning the championship before the game, they are not afraid of inheriting the title of "Champions League Sixteen" from Real Madrid?
In China, everyone is also very concerned about this game. After all, this is Rongguang's return to the Champions League knockout round after two seasons-in the 2007-2008 season, although he also participated in the Champions League, he only played in the group stage due to serious injuries.
So if you only look at the Champions League knockout rounds, Glory has indeed not played in two seasons.
How the European media viewed the game, the Chinese media all truthfully relayed back to China.
As you can see, for this game, the European media generally believe that the two teams are evenly matched, and neither team has an advantage.
They think this game may be a tug of war.
In this way, under the eyes of everyone, the Manchester City team left Manchester by plane and flew to Lyon, France, to prepare for their away game.
For many people, the second half of the season may not really start until this time...
(End of this chapter)