No one expected that this season's Champions League would suffer such a big upset in the group stage.
While Inter Milan has basically left the Champions League, Real Madrid has also been eliminated.
This immediately sparked heated debate around the world.
In the group of death, Inter Milan was ranked in the first pot, Real Madrid was in the second pot, Schalke 04 was in the third pot, and Manchester City was in the fourth pot. But after the five rounds of the group stage, everyone was surprised to find that
, the group points were completely swapped with the European war points.
Now Manchester City is ranked first, and they are the first to qualify.
Well, now, before the group stage is over, the two giant teams are out.
Many Spanish media, including Marca and AS, criticized Mourinho's formation and employment, believing that Real Madrid should have performed better in the home game against Manchester City.
Marca believes that Mourinho's ambition is that he wants to take care of both La Liga and the Champions League, but Real Madrid's lineup configuration is not enough to maintain two fronts, so Real Madrid is out of the Champions League.
From the current point of view, the group of death should be Manchester City and Schalke.
This shocked the media and fans around the world.
If Manchester City has invested heavily for three consecutive years and greatly improved the overall strength of the team, then why did Real Madrid, which also invested astonishingly, fail in the group stage?
Sacchi analyzed in his column that Mourinho was acclimatized at Real Madrid.
The legendary Italian coach analyzed that Mourinho paid great attention to defense, especially pressing, in Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan, but the same pressing was implemented in different ways.
"In the three teams before coaching Real Madrid, Mourinho almost never took the initiative to press opponents, but in Real Madrid, he wanted to play more modern football and wanted to catch up with the wave of advanced football.
There was a wave of tactics, so we can see that he started to control the ball, and he started to compress the three lines between 25 and 30 meters."
"The more important change is that his team began to actively press opponents."
Sacchi believes that this is a sign that Mourinho is actively seeking changes. Of course, there are factors such as Real Madrid's lineup and coaching environment, but Mourinho's own pursuit of breakthroughs is also the key.
"When coaching in the top leagues in Europe, you need to improve every day, otherwise you will fall behind!"
But it is precisely this kind of pursuit of breakthroughs that will also bring more troubles and troubles to oneself.
For example, Mourinho had to find that when he began to actively press his opponents, his originally most confident defense began to become looser, so he began to work hard to strike a balance between the two.
Specific to the game against Manchester City, Sacchi believed that Mourinho's formation was the best example of his mentality.
If you want to win, work hard to win, but don't worry about the defense.
His uneasiness about the defense prevented him, who had always been cautious and conservative, from letting go of his hands and feet to attack.
"This can easily lead to an interesting phenomenon, which is that when he faces a team that is relatively weak and difficult to threaten his own goal, he can often perform better and play more exciting football.
"
"But once he encounters a team that is equally strong or even slightly better, he starts to worry about gains and losses again."
Sacchi believes that this is a normal phenomenon and Mourinho needs to overcome it himself and find a solution.
As for Real Madrid, the biggest problem is still in the midfield.
"I watched the two games between Real Madrid and Manchester City. When Mourinho wants to take the initiative to press and press the opponent, the input of the frontcourt players is very critical, but not everyone in Real Madrid's frontcourt is actively involved.
This is very problematic.”
…
Gao Shen also defended Mourinho at the post-match press conference, believing that the team needs to give Mourinho more time. "I believe that Mourinho will be able to build a competitive team."
Powerful Real Madrid!”
But as soon as Gao Shen finished speaking, a reporter from a Spanish newspaper said to his face, "We hope more that you will lead Real Madrid, lead Real Madrid out of the current predicament, and break that damn curse!"
There was an uproar at the scene.
This anecdote after the game also spread all over the world the next day, becoming a talking point for media reporters and fans.
Real Madrid has been pursuing excellence for a long time, but this is the first time a media reporter has said this in person.
Although Gao Shen refused to respond to this sentence, it still triggered responses from countless Real Madrid fans.
Many Real Madrid fans have gone to Gao Shen's Twitter to leave messages, hoping that he can return to Real Madrid, lead the team out of trouble, and regain the glory of the past.
Even Spanish King Juan Carlos publicly stated in the media that Gao Shen is the head coach that best meets Real Madrid's requirements.
"At the end of the game, I saw Florentino at the door of the box and I told him clearly that we must bring back Gao Shen, because he is the best coach in the world and the most suitable coach for Real Madrid.
"
"I can't disclose to the public what he told me specifically. I can only say that I believe Gao Shen will definitely come back!"
"Gao Shen told me that Madrid is his home!"
This left Gao Shen confused.
Although, he does consider Madrid his second home, but he said this to Juan Carlos?
Damn it, this bad old man is really bad!
The promise of giving the throne to labor and capital has not yet been fulfilled, and now there are still rumors about labor and capital?
If it weren't for the fact that you are the king and I don't dare to touch you, I would have beaten you long ago, believe it or not?
…
There was a lot of fuss over the Champions League group stage, but Gao Shen quickly put it aside.
For Manchester City, the group stage is meaningless.
After returning to the UK, Gao Shen immediately started preparing for the game and began studying the game against Stoke City.
This is the fifteenth round of the Premier League.
Speaking of Stoke City, it is definitely a tough match at their home stadium.
Liverpool failed here, and both Manchester United and Tottenham were in danger here.
Gao Shen went to the away game with a rotating lineup and encountered Stoke City's tenacious sniper attack.
The two sides were in a stalemate until the second half. In the end, with two players, Zabaleta and Suarez, scoring two goals in ten minutes, Manchester City took away three points from the away game.
…
One week later, the sixteenth round of the Premier League.
Manchester City welcomed Bolton Wanderers at home.
After recharging their energy, Manchester City played a very exciting game.
In just 24 minutes of the first half, David Silva used a corner kick opportunity to assist Kompany with a header.
Twenty minutes later, before the end of the first half, Robben assisted Suarez and scored a goal to expand the score.
After a change of sides in the second half, in the 58th minute, another assist from David Silva allowed Suarez to score twice, expanding the score again to 3-0.
No one expected that Gareth Bale then assisted Javi Martinez to score in the 78th minute.
Iron tree blooms!
Who would have thought that Javi Martinez could also score goals!
Five minutes later, it was David Silva who assisted Van Persie to score a goal.
In the end, Manchester City defeated Bolton Wanderers 5-0 at home and won a hearty victory.
…
After playing Bolton, Manchester City still welcomed Schalke 04 at the Etihad Stadium.
The two sides have already qualified together. The outcome of this game actually has no meaning at all. It cannot even change the top spot in the group.
So, with a friendly attitude, Gao Shen and Magath shook hands and made peace.
In another game, Real Madrid challenged Inter Milan away from home, and the two sides also played 2-2.
In the end, the result of the group of death was that Manchester City and Schalke qualified together, Real Madrid went to play in the Europa League, and Inter Milan was eliminated.
This result also shocked countless people.
Who can believe that Real Madrid, which invested 4.5 billion euros in two years, could not even make it out of the group?
…
Over the weekend, in the seventeenth round of the Premier League, Manchester City went south to London to challenge the Hammers West Ham United away from home.
The head coach of West Ham United this season is former Chelsea coach Avram Grant. He is the coach who took Chelsea to the Champions League final after replacing Mourinho. Later, after moving to several teams, he coached West Ham United this season.
United.
However, unfortunately, West Ham United is currently ranked at the bottom of the Premier League.
Grant tried to boost the team's morale before the game and vowed that he would play against Manchester City at home.
But in fact, when it comes to the game, West Ham United still focuses on defensive counterattacks.
The Hammers' defense was unable to stop the wolf-like Manchester City. It lasted only three minutes, and Yaya Toure scored the first goal for Manchester City with his shot from behind.
After a change of sides in the second half, another long-range shot from Yaya Toure caused goalkeeper Green's release, and Suarez took the opportunity to make a follow-up shot.
Just eight minutes later, Robben's goal expanded the score to 3-0 again!
At this moment, West Ham United has basically declared collapse.
At the last moment of the game, Robin van Persie's goal directly sealed the victory for Manchester City.
4-0, Manchester City completely defeated their opponents in two consecutive rounds, and both played pretty good offensive football.
…
A week later, Manchester City ushered in their last game before Christmas, against Everton.
Moyes' team's current situation is also very unsatisfactory, ranking 15th in the Premier League, only four points away from the relegation zone.
When facing Manchester City away from home, Moyes tried to stabilize the situation with an opening attack, but in the third minute, Rakitic's long shot hit Jagielka and deflected into the goal.
He hit the goal guarded by Howard and opened the scoring for Manchester City.
After that, Suarez and Leighton Baines scored successively, leading 3-0 in the first half, basically sealing the victory.
But what is really surprising is that at the beginning of the second half, Nigerian forward Anichebe received two consecutive cards within five minutes and was directly sent off by the referee with a red card.
At this time, the game had only reached the sixty-minute mark.
In the next half hour, Manchester City launched wave after wave of fierce attacks. Although Everton defended tightly, they eventually lost 0-6.
Manchester City defeated Everton with six goals and once again won three points. It also made a good start for the upcoming Christmas and winter break schedule.
The draw for the knockout rounds of the Champions League was also held at UEFA headquarters.
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