On the weekend after the League Cup, Manchester City faced Portsmouth at home.
With Giroud's goal in the 40th minute of the first half and Kompany's corner kick attack just before the end of the game, Manchester City defeated the Pompeii Legion 2-0 and temporarily got out of the shadow of being eliminated from the cup.
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Gao Shen once again reiterated at the post-match press conference that he remains patient with the players and believes that with time and adjustments, the players will be able to get out of the predicament quickly and the team will naturally get out of the trough.
In another focus match held on the same day, Ferguson really fulfilled his previous boast in front of Gao Shen.
Manchester United and Arsenal were in a stalemate for more than thirty minutes, but then Nani and Rooney scored two goals in four minutes.
After changing sides in the second half, Antonio Valencia scored a goal to help Manchester United seal the victory.
Although Arsenal subsequently scored a goal from Vermaelen, they eventually lost 3-1 at home to Manchester United.
Currently, Manchester United is ranked fourth in the Premier League. If Arsenal wants to break into the top four of the league, they must pull the Red Devils down.
But in such a crucial game, Wenger's team suffered a disastrous home defeat to a direct competitor.
Obviously, Arsenal’s reputation as a top-four finisher is no longer something they can keep.
On the other hand, Manchester United has been winning consecutive games since December and has achieved an astonishing momentum.
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One week later, the twenty-fifth round of the Premier League.
Liverpool defeated Everton 1-0 at home.
Chelsea defeated Arsenal 2-0 at home, with Drogba scoring twice.
The unlucky favorite suffered two consecutive defeats.
As Wenger said to Gao Shen before, he felt like a bus.
This season's Gunners' performance in the strong dialogue is indeed too poor.
Manchester United was at home and beat Portsmouth 5-0, winning another big victory.
After Manchester City won the last round, they challenged Hull City away from home in this round. Their performance was sluggish again and they lost 1-2 away from home.
This is also Manchester City's second league defeat so far this season.
Blue Moon's leading momentum is still good, but the poor performance since the winter break has made many people worried about Manchester City's prospects. After all, the team's performance in recent times is indeed far from the previous nineteen-game winning streak.
But Gao Shen argued that everything was within control.
"Every team has lows and highs, and we are no exception."
"Right now, we are in the trough, but I believe we will reach the peak soon."
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Sure enough, in the 26th round of the Premier League, Manchester City defeated Bolton 2-0 at home with the goals of Suarez and Robben, who returned from injury.
Liverpool defeated Arsenal 1-0 on the road with Torres' goal.
Unlucky Wenger, not only faced strong opponents in three consecutive rounds, but also suffered three consecutive defeats. The Gunners' current situation has obviously hit rock bottom. Even Wenger himself said that the possibility of reaching the top four in the league is becoming slim.
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The media also generally believes that with the current performance and lineup of the Gunners, it is increasingly unlikely to reach the top four in the league.
Also in this round, Manchester United drew 1-1 away with Aston Villa, and Chelsea lost 1-2 away to Everton.
Ferguson's team finally stopped their winning streak, and Ancelotti suffered a defeat.
After this battle, Manchester City breathed a sigh of relief.
There are still twelve rounds left in the league, and Manchester City is still the top favorite to win the championship.
Even after playing against Bolton, Gao Shen publicly stated that Manchester City had regained its form.
"We will bid farewell to the low point of the past month or so!"
The media were also generally satisfied with Manchester City's victory over Bolton. After all, Manchester City's two generals Robben and David Silva returned, giving Blue Moon even more strength.
As for Arsenal, after suffering three consecutive defeats, the possibility of the Gunners breaking into the top four is becoming increasingly slim.
After the twenty-sixth round, there will be nothing happening in the Premier League this weekend without Manchester City.
Not because of the national team match day, but because of the FA Cup.
This is also a consistent feature of the Premier League. The FA Cup is always held on weekends, but unfortunately, Manchester City has been eliminated, so Gao Shen can only train players at Carrington.
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After the last experience, Su Qing came to the UK this time without notifying Gao Shen in advance.
Gao Shen always does it secretly every time he returns home, just to surprise her, and this time she followed suit.
She was originally very worried because the media outside were saying that Gao Shen's Manchester City was in a huge crisis and could collapse at any time. Therefore, even though Gao Shen behaved normally in the video and on the phone, she was still worried.
Until she saw Gao Shen with her own eyes.
"I originally thought you would be quite depressed."
Su Qing came to Gao Shen's home in Cheshire from London on her own. After preparing Gao Shen's favorite dishes, she called Gao Shen and asked him to go home for dinner as soon as he finished training.
She knew that if she didn't make this call, Gao Shen would probably have to stay in Carrington until very late.
She was a little surprised to see Gao Shen, but she was more happy.
Not only was it a reunion after a long separation, but also because she saw confidence and a smile in her profound expression.
"There is nothing to be depressed about. We won a game recently and the players are in good condition after returning from injury." Gao Shen explained with a smile, "I have talked with all the players on the team in the past two days. In fact, their current situation
My condition is all right and I am in a good mood.”
Gao Shen and the coaching staff all agreed that this was a good sign for the team to get out of trouble.
"Is it because you were worried about me that you flew here to celebrate the New Year with me?" Gao Shen asked with a smile.
"How is that possible?" Su Qing shook her head shyly, her eyes were full of concealment, and she didn't dare to look directly at Gao Shen, "I just... my father and my mother have been too busy with business recently, and they can't take care of me.
,so……"
This is a really lame excuse.
But Gao Shen didn't point it out, he just smiled softly and said, "I'm so glad you can come over."
Su Qing said nothing and stared at Gao Shen with her affectionate eyes, which was more convincing than anything else.
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This season's Champions League has lost its depth and a lot of breaking news, but it still attracts much attention.
In particular, Naples, which has lost its senior players, Real Madrid, which has introduced many superstars, and Barcelona, which is aiming for revenge, are the most eye-catching focuses of this season's Champions League.
But after entering the knockout rounds of the top 16, the first round was a bit disappointing.
Ancelotti's Chelsea met Mourinho's Inter Milan, and the first leg of the match between the two sides was held at San Siro.
Chelsea scored first from Kalou, but Inter Milan equalized the score with Cambiaso's goal.
In the end, the two sides shook hands and made a draw.
Mourinho faced his old club and failed to win at home. Instead, he gave Chelsea an away goal. This was a very unfavorable situation for Inter Milan.
Gao Shen's former club Napoli still performed very competitively after undergoing a major purge this summer.
Allegri led the team to top the group, and when they challenged Louis van Gaal's Bayern Munich away from home, Benatia scored an early goal, but before the end of the game, Klose equalized the score.
In the end, both sides shook hands and made peace.
Manchester United faces AC Milan away from home.
Although Ronaldinho scored the home team's goal in the first three minutes, Scholes equalized and Rooney scored twice in the second half to reverse the score.
In the end, Manchester United defeated AC Milan 3-2 away from home.
After this game, the Red Devils have seized the initiative to advance. As long as they perform normally at home in the second round, I believe the possibility of advancement is very high.
In another game, Barcelona defeated Stuttgart 2-0 in an away game, with Messi and Sanchez each scoring a goal.
But what really attracted attention was Real Madrid's away game against Lyon.
Pellegrini's current coaching position is unstable and he urgently needs a victory in the Champions League knockout rounds to stabilize his position.
Facing Lyon away from home, the Chilean engineers also put together their strongest attacking lineup.
In front is the trident of Cristiano Ronaldo, Yin Guayin and Di Maria, with Kaka as the attacking midfielder. The four players form the offensive square in the frontcourt. It can be said to be one of the most luxurious offensive combinations in world football today.
Mohamed Diarra and Xavi Alonso form a double defensive midfielder to ensure the protection of the defense.
But as a result, Real Madrid lost to Lyon 0-2 in the away game.
In the 41st minute of the first half, Delgado volleyed ahead of Mohamed Diarra from the top of the penalty area and opened the scoring for Lyon. Only 83 seconds into the second half, Marcoon scored for Ligue 1.
The team won another victory.
If it was just a loss, it would actually be nothing, but the key point is that Real Madrid had fewer shots than Lyon when the ball possession rate was twice that of the opponent.
More importantly, Real Madrid performed very poorly throughout the game.
Valdano, the technical director who led the team, criticized the team very fiercely after the game, thinking that this game was "a bad result, a bad performance!"
Valdano later described it as "very bad."
"Our team's performance has been so up and down, I can't believe it, it doesn't look like Real Madrid at all."
"In the first hour, we did nothing. It was difficult for us to effectively put the football at the feet of our offensive players in the frontcourt. In the last half hour, we barely even had any midfield passes."
Valdano said this was incomprehensible.
Because in Real Madrid's midfield, there are world-class stars such as Diarra, Xavi Alonso and Kaka, there is no reason to play like this.
Pellegrini believed at the post-match press conference that the loss was related to Lyon's enthusiasm in running and fighting, which prevented the football controlled by Real Madrid from moving normally.
But in any case, losing to Lyon 0-1 in an away game is definitely an unacceptable result for the Galacticos, which cost more than 300 million euros, especially in the Champions League knockout round.
You know, since Gao Shen led the team to win the Triple Crown in 2006, Real Madrid has never advanced to the quarterfinals of the Champions League in the past four years.
There were originally high hopes for this season, but no one expected it. They lost 2-0 away from home in the first round.
After the disastrous defeat, Madrid and Spanish football once again heard the voice of deep nostalgia.
As the President's special envoy, Zidane set off from Madrid overnight to meet Valdano in London.
