Due to participation in the FA Cup, the thirty-fourth round of matches was postponed.
But it no longer matters to Manchester City.
In the away game against Wolves, they won 2-0 away with the goals of Robin van Persie and Hazard.
…
April 24th, the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals.
Manchester City went to Old Trafford to challenge Manchester United away.
The first leg was 2-0 at home, which allowed Manchester City to be more comfortable and start steadily. In the 17th minute, Gareth Bale scored a goal with an assist from David Silva.
But Manchester United successfully equalized the score in the 53rd minute of the second half, and the scorer was Sneijder.
However, before the end of the game, Suarez received a pass from Lichtsteiner and scored a very exciting volley, allowing Manchester City to exceed the score again.
In the end, Manchester City won 2-1 away from home and the total score was 4-1, successfully eliminating Manchester United and reaching the Champions League final again.
This battle shocked the whole of Manchester.
Everyone can feel the strength of Manchester City. After winning the Champions League and the Triple Crown last season, it was amazing enough. This season, they have shown unprecedented dominance.
From the Community Shield before the season, to the subsequent European Super Cup, to the Club World Cup in December, to the League Cup at the end of February, to the early Premier League championship in April...
Manchester City has shown strong overall strength this season, making all competitors feel powerless.
And now, the FA Cup has reached the final again, and the Champions League has also reached the final again. Gao Shen is getting closer and closer to his quadruple crown.
Especially in the semi-finals, when they stepped on the corpse of their city rivals Manchester United and rushed into the Champions League final, it made the whole of Manchester a sensation, especially Manchester City fans across the city, who took to the streets crazily.
That night, the whole city of Manchester was in shock!
Ferguson also expressed his congratulations to Gao Shen at the post-match press conference.
"He is an incredible head coach and the most successful current head coach. He has reached the Champions League final for the fourth time. I am looking forward to seeing him win the Champions League championship for the fourth time and create unprecedented history!"
"He deserves this honor!"
Ferguson said that after seeing Gao Shen, he deeply felt that he was old and his energy was not as good as before.
"I know that I have mentioned retirement many times in the past few years, and every time I was reluctant to leave, but this time I think it is time. I am considering and studying retirement after the end of next season."
Ferguson's words immediately shocked everyone in the audience.
At the age of seventy, he is only more than a year away from the oldest record set by the late legendary coach Bobby Robson.
Facing the surprised reporters, Ferguson explained that today's professional football has higher and higher requirements for coaches, and the age of coaches is getting younger and younger. He thinks this is a good thing.
"Young people will have more ideas than us and be more able to accept new things. They will be more creative in thinking and better at embracing high technology. This is a good thing for football."
Ferguson specifically mentioned Gao Shen again.
"I plan to go have a drink with him later. As we all know, he doesn't drink, but he should drink this drink, because this will probably be the last time I invite him to drink at Old Trafford."
"Gao Shen gives me a very strange feeling. He is not like a person of our era. He has a very unique forward-looking attitude. I think this is the most unique thing about him."
"So, he is always leading the trends and trends in football, and I know that he is always exploring and thinking, which is very good."
"From him, I see the future of professional football. He is only thirty-one years old. If he coaches to my age, he still has forty years."
When he said this, Ferguson couldn't help laughing.
The entire press conference room also laughed.
But everyone felt that behind the laughter, there was still some sadness and helplessness.
Shakespeare said in Hamlet: Death is the fairest thing in human society.
Then, time is the most ruthless thing in the human world.
No matter who he is, no matter how many contributions he has made to the entire world, he will never escape the ravages of time.
But there is also a saying that time is the driving force of human development.
Because life is limited, if you want to continue your bloodline and leave your own traces as much as possible in your limited life, you must keep working hard and making progress.
But, after all, this is a literary statement.
Specific to a person, specific to a point in time, specific to Ferguson at this moment, he should be more envious.
Young, so good!
…
When Manchester City double beat Manchester United in two rounds, there will be another Manchester derby on the weekend.
But this game is meaningless.
The championship has long been settled.
Instead, it was as far away as Milan, Italy.
In another matchup held one day later than Manchester City, Bayern Munich defeated AC Milan 2-1 at home and lost 1-2 away from AC Milan. The two sides played to a 3-3 draw.
Then it entered overtime, and no one scored, forcing a brutal penalty shootout.
In the end, Bayern Munich relied on their tenacious mental will, especially the outstanding performance of veteran goalkeeper Bute, to turn the tide, and finally saved three consecutive penalty kicks from AC Milan.
Bute, who will soon be 38 years old, showed stable strength in this crucial decisive battle.
But there is still some anxiety behind advancing to the finals.
The first is Bute. He will retire at the end of this season. This has been decided for a long time.
Bayern Munich once tried to introduce Neuer to replace Butt, but Manchester City refused without hesitation.
Now, it has become an open question as to who can take over from Bute.
The loudest voice is Ter Stegen, who has performed well in Monchengladbach this season, but it is also revealed that Bayern Munich also appreciates Leeds United goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who plays in the British Championship.
Hoeness even publicly stated that Courtois has the potential to become the world's top goalkeeper. "He should come to Bayern because they have the best team and experience in the world to cultivate top goalkeepers."
In addition to showing favor to Courtois, Hoeness criticized the team's main midfielder Toni Kroos without naming him.
The reason was that Toni Kroos refused to take the penalty kick in the brutal penalty shootout.
"Players who have the ability to take penalties and should take them choose to back down. This is a great shame!"
Toni Kroos gave his own explanation for rejecting the penalty kick. He explained that he lacked confidence because he missed the penalty kick before.
"It's always easier said than done. Whoever said you can score a penalty kick blindfolded should let anyone take the penalty. I can't."
"When I feel that I am not sure enough, I will choose to give it to others instead of forcing myself. That is irresponsible to myself, my teammates, and the team!"
Obviously, Kroos was unhappy with the criticism from Hoeness.
The team has already advanced to the finals. There was no need to say anything about this originally, but as soon as Hoeness was revealed, he immediately became the focus of the major media.
This made Toni Kroos feel very uncomfortable.
But no matter how uncomfortable it is, what can I do?
It is not easy for a player from East Germany to integrate into a West German team.
At least at Bayern, Toni Kroos has never felt that he is a direct descendant of local football.
Compared with Thomas Muller, Bastian Schweinsteiger and others, Toni Kroos feels that he is not valued by them.
Especially since there has been news that Bayern wants Dortmund's talented midfielder Gotze.
If Gotze comes, will there still be a place for Toni Kroos?
…
On the evening of April 30th, Manchester Derby.
In the thirty-sixth round of the Premier League, Manchester City faced Manchester United at home.
Ferguson has been blocking Lass Diarra, which forced Manchester United to use the combination of Carrick, Sneijder and Park Ji-sung in the midfield. This made the situation very unfavorable for the away Red Devils.
When the game reached the 36th minute, Manchester City got an excellent opportunity.
At the top of the penalty area, Van Persie headed the ball against a pass from his teammate and passed it to Lichtsteiner, who then passed the ball. Sturridge broke into the penalty area and shot successfully, opening the scoring for Manchester City.
After that, no matter how Manchester City attacked, Manchester United defended the goal.
In addition, this game is actually irrelevant, so neither side particularly cares.
In the end, Manchester City defeated Manchester United 1-0 at home.
Sturridge scored the only goal of the game.
…
Three days later, the 34th round of make-up matches in the Premier League will be held.
Manchester City challenge Norwich away.
As Gao Shen said before, the current intelligence shows that Norwich is the team with the healthiest salary and revenue ratio in the Premier League this season, only 49%. This is simply a model for a Premier League team.
You know, Queens Park Rangers, also a newly promoted team, reached an astonishing 100%.
It is worth mentioning that Swansea’s salary ratio is actually not high.
Both teams are worth learning from Leeds United.
They all have a common characteristic, they basically vigorously promote young players, as well as some practical players who are in their twenties and mid-twenties but have little reputation.
These two types of players are not very valuable, but their annual salaries are not high either, but as long as the team has a mature set of tactical ideas and introduces the right players, it can often perform well.
I admire Norwich in my heart, but on the pitch, Manchester City's performance has never been merciful.
Suarez scored a hat trick, Gareth Bale scored twice, and with goals from Robben and Rakitic, Manchester City finally beat Norwich 7-0 away from home.
It is certainly not impossible to adopt this cost-effective way of playing, but the overall strength is relatively limited.
Facing the wolf-like Manchester City, Norwich simply couldn't stop it.
Gao Shen does not intend to make Leeds United like Norwich or Swansea, but wants to be better than them.
Because his cost-effective gameplay is not something other teams can learn.
