A week later, the second round of the Premier League.
No one expected that Blackpool, who suffered a big upset in the first round, would lose 6-0 to Arsenal in the first game of the second round away from home.
Little Tiger Walcott scored a hat trick, Arshavin, Diaby and Chamakh each scored a goal.
After the Gunners drew with Liverpool in the first round, they unleashed an offensive feast in the second round.
After Tottenham lost to Manchester City in the first round, they defeated Stoke City 2-1 in the second round away game with Dzeko's brace.
The real shocker was Chelsea.
Carlo Ancelotti's Blues beat Wigan Athletic 6-0 away with Anelka and Kalou both scoring twice.
In two rounds of league games, Chelsea scored a total of twelve goals, which is simply shocking.
Wigan Athletic conceded a net ten goals in the first two rounds, which can be considered shocking.
Coincidentally, in another game at the same time, Newcastle defeated Aston Villa 6-0 with Andy Carroll's hat-trick.
Manchester United, which defeated the Magpies in the first round, defeated Fulham 2-1 on the road.
…
On the evening of August 22, Manchester Intihad Stadium.
Manchester City plays Liverpool at home.
When the stalemate reached the 23rd minute, Harvey Martinez, Lichtsteiner and Robben conducted a continuous one-on-one on the right and passed the ball to the forward puller.
Kitich's feet.
The Croatian midfielder dribbled the ball into the right side of the penalty area and then passed it back to the front of the small penalty area. Suarez rushed over his head, but David Silva stopped the ball with his left foot and pushed the shot, opening the scoring for Manchester City, one to zero!
After that, Liverpool launched a fierce counterattack.
Benitez's team performed very bravely both at the start and when they were falling behind. They even had four consecutive kick-off opportunities in Manchester City's penalty area. Thanks to Neuer's consecutive saves, this
Talent can keep the goal in check.
After changing sides in the second half, neither side made any adjustments. However, in the 62nd minute, Manchester City took advantage of a corner kick. Kompany headed the ball forward and Suarez hit the goal from close range.
Expand the score.
Two to zero!
The whole game was very stalemate. Both sides had certain opportunities, but Manchester City seized them, while Liverpool was defeated by Neuer. The German goalkeeper made consecutive wonderful saves to keep the goal.
In the end, Manchester City defeated Liverpool 2-0.
Even though the game was 2-0, in fact, it was a stalemate and Manchester City had a near miss.
Liverpool's overall strength is still very strong, but due to financial constraints, the Red Army has not made any big signings this summer.
With one draw and one loss in the first two rounds of the new season, Liverpool's start was not ideal.
The most important thing is that Torres, the leading scorer, has not been excited enough so far this season.
…
"Congratulations, Gao!"
When Gao Shen walked to the visiting team's coaching bench, Benitez politely extended his hand to him.
"Thank you, Rafa, it was a great game."
A smile appeared at the corner of Benitez's mouth, which always felt a bit perfunctory.
No wonder, after all, we just lost.
"You are very strong this season and have made a lot of signings. It seems that your ambitions are not small." Benitez's tone sounded a little dull, but after thinking about it carefully, he was still a little envious, even a little bit bitter.
Based on his personality, I guess he is thinking in his heart at this moment: If you give me the same strength of signings, I can still win!
Of course Gao Shen would not care about this with Benitez, because to a certain extent, Benitez is right to think so.
The rules of the game in professional leagues are: money is not everything, but without money nothing can be done.
Many people will question Gao Shen's large-scale signings this summer, thinking that Gao Shen is too extravagant.
Not to mention anything else, there are so many forwards like Suarez, Robin van Persie, Giroud, Sturridge and Robinho sitting on the front line, which is simply a waste of resources.
But how did they know that this was also part of Gao Shen, Mansour and Mubarak's plan.
Platini's [Financial Fair Play] policy is about to be implemented. The transition period of two to three years is Manchester City's last chance. They must build a stable top lineup as soon as possible to allow this team to gain a foothold among European giants.
among the list.
If they want to rely on stable operations, it is impossible for Manchester City to compete with G4 in a short period of time.
Just like last season, after Manchester City won the championship, Arsenal fell out, and the Gunners had to rely on selling people to stay afloat, otherwise they would fall apart.
But it is obvious that this road is like drinking poison to quench thirst, but Wenger has no choice but to do this.
After selling Robin van Persie and Adebayor, Wenger brought in a Chamakh. How much would that cost?
Doesn't Wenger know that Chamakh can't replace Robin van Persie and Adebayor?
No, he knew, but he had no choice, he had no money.
As Mansour himself said to Gao Shen, "I don't care about this loss. What I care more about is whether you can bring our Manchester City to a higher position!"
The promise given by Gao Shen is, "I will work hard to build Manchester City into a brand new giant in the shortest possible time!"
And Europe's giants can never do without the same stadium.
Champions League!
This is where Gao Shen and Manchester City fit in.
They all want the Champions League!
For Mansour, Gao Shen has spent more than 300 million euros. If he can build a wealthy team, he will make a lot of money, and he will work hard to build his football empire in the future.
Start with Manchester City!
…
Although in the second round of the Premier League, Manchester City's performance was far less eye-catching than Chelsea's, and it was not even as explosive as Newcastle's, but the victory lies in stability.
Beating Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 and Liverpool 2-0, Manchester City's performance was eye-catching enough.
With these two victories, coupled with Blackpool's huge defeat to Arsenal, Manchester City has successfully taken a step forward and ranked second in the Premier League, with the same points as Chelsea, but the goal difference is only half of Chelsea's.
Three days later, after the Champions League qualifying rounds were completed, the thirty-two teams that reached the group stage were officially announced.
UEFA's official website also immediately ranked these 32 teams in European competition points and divided them into four tiers.
There is no suspense that Manchester City has no European war points at all and has been assigned to the fourth tier.
In fact, there is nothing surprising, because it is obvious.
But what really surprises people is that Real Madrid, which is full of superstars, was ranked in the second tier.
This is such a big joke!
When Gao Shen saw the European War points rankings, his first reaction was, shady!
A complete shady story!
He even almost called Platini to ask him if he had made a mistake in his calculations?
Real Madrid was the Champions League champion in 2006!
"But in the past four years, Real Madrid has stopped in the top 16." Carlo reminded Gao Shen with a wry smile.
Only then did Gao Shen realize the problem.
The European war points are calculated for five years, but in this way...
"That's right, if Real Madrid still fails to make a breakthrough in this year's European war results, next season's European war points will be even worse!"
Sometimes, not to mention sophisticated, even Carlo can't understand why Real Madrid, which is full of superstars, misses the Champions League quarterfinals?
It doesn't make sense to always be stuck in the top 16, doesn't it?
With Real Madrid's strength, no matter how you look at it, it won't reach this level, right?
The only explanation is that it is not a problem of strength, but that the team cannot perform as well as it should.
It might be the head coach, it might be the tactics, it might be the player psychology...
The three Premier League teams, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool, have all entered the first tier, which means that Manchester City will definitely encounter one of Inter Milan, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, AC Milan and Lyon.
In the second tier of teams, in addition to Real Madrid, teams such as Werder Bremen, Naples, Benfica, Valencia and Shakhtar Donetsk are also very strong.
As for the third pot, Manchester City will have a higher chance of winning, but there are also teams like Ajax, Schalke 04, Braga and Spartak Moscow.
The biggest problem for the Russian team is the schedule, which is too far away.
Needless to say, in the fourth gear, Manchester City is the biggest thorn in the side.
"We shouldn't always be so unlucky, right?" Sari looked at Gao Shen and others with a wry smile and asked.
The group of death is destined to be the group of death. The key depends on how deep this hell is.
If you can meet a team like Lyon, it would actually be pretty good. You can have fun through hardships and happy funerals.
If you are unlucky and get a draw like Barcelona, then Barbie Q. The only advantage is that Real Madrid will be avoided in the second pot.
This is the first time Manchester City has played in the Champions League after the reorganization. Although many players have good experience, it is still the first time for the whole team to play. It will be better to slowly fight monsters and upgrade. It is best to be weak first and then strong.
schedule.
"Just wait. From a probability perspective, the probability of us winning the lottery is 100%." Lucas smiled.
"Why?" Sarri was puzzled.
"If you remove the five teams after the three Premier League teams in the first pot, the space for us to choose is already very small. Add the teams in the second and third pots, and our final results will be poor anyway.
It’s not going to be good, and that’s the tragedy of fourth-tier teams.”
In fact, this is not only true for Manchester City, but also for teams such as Real Madrid and Naples in the second tier.
They must meet the first team, it is inevitable.
"So, be open-minded, give up your illusions, and prepare to fight!" Lucas was a little excited.
how to say?
In fact, the league is very long, and it is more of a protracted game, which tests the team's overall combat capability.
But the cup competition is different, especially when it comes to the knockout rounds, it is really tense and exciting. Not only Lucas, but Gao Shen also misses the Champions League knockout rounds very much.
He enjoys the feeling of eliminating his opponents!
This is something the league cannot give.
…
On the evening of the 26th, Grimaldi Convention Center in Monaco.
The annual Champions League group stage draw ceremony and UEFA awards ceremony officially kicked off here.
Manchester City arranged for chief executive Gary Cook to attend the event.
Gao Shen and his coaching staff did not leave after the day's training, but continued to stay at the club to watch the live broadcast of the lottery and awards ceremony.
Gao Shen doesn't care about the latter, because Barcelona will definitely win.
What he is most concerned about is the drawing of lots.
Even if it is a death group, you still have to know who you have drawn!
