In the first round of the Champions League, Manchester City faces a very strong opponent. They will face Fiorentina at home, while Bayern will face PSV Eindhoven away.
Manchester City fans are looking forward to this game. They hope to see their first Champions League victory at home. After returning to the Premier League, Manchester City has only played in the UEFA Cup and has never played in the Champions League.
, it really makes them feel very uncomfortable to see their opponents from the same city showing off their power in the Champions League every season...
And now, with huge investment and Dick's command, they defeated Manchester United last season and won the league championship. This season they are going to attack the Champions League championship. How can they not let it go?
Are they excited and excited?
For Fiorentina, this season is also the first time they have returned to the Champions League after being relegated - although they performed well in the 2005-06 season, they lost hope of participating in European competitions due to the Calciopoli incident.
That season, they also failed to reach the top four due to too many points deductions. Finally, last season, they entered the top four and qualified to participate in the Champions League again!
The last time they entered the Champions League, they still had Batty and Rui Costa in their squad, but now, Fiorentina is completely different from what it was then.
However, no one expected that Fiorentina surprised everyone in the first half in the away game, including all Manchester City fans...
Gilardino, who joined Fiorentina this season, played to his top level. He received passes from Zauri and Mutu and then scored the ball into the Manchester City goal. At the end of the first half, Manchester City was at home.
Two goals behind!
Fortunately, they were not greatly affected by the two-goal deficit in the second half. Under Dick's command, they quickly launched a counterattack!
After Di Natale received a pass from Torres and pushed into the far corner of the penalty area to regain a point, Manchester City launched a wave of offensive. In the end, Yaya Toure beat the opponent's defender in the penalty area and scored with a header to tie the score.
equalize!
After being two goals behind, he equalized the score. Although Dick did not win the game, he seemed very satisfied with the result of the game.
"A draw will disappoint me? No, I am very satisfied with this draw. It is normal for the players to be a little nervous and unable to let go in the first half. After all, half of them have never played in the Champions League, and Fiorentina is also a team.
A very strong team. In the unfavorable situation of being two goals behind, we were able to tenaciously equalize the score and get the first point in the Champions League in the new century. This is already a very good result. I don’t think the home encounter
How will a draw cast a shadow on our qualifying prospects? There are six games in the group stage. Generally speaking, we can get a chance to qualify within ten to thirteen points, so we only need to win three more games to qualify.
——If we are in the shadow, then we are in the shadow all the time, and life would be too boring."
Dick seemed very satisfied after the game, and he was indeed very satisfied. Manchester City didn't play very well in the first half, and they were a little uncomfortable with unfamiliar opponents. Moreover, two years later, Florence's lineup was not the same as when Dick was there.
There have been quite a few changes. After falling behind by two goals in the first half, he was able to quickly boost his morale and complete the counterattack in the second half, keeping the pressure on Florence. For Dick, this situation is better than winning a game.
important.
Only games like this can bring enough tests to the players, allowing them to progress faster and adapt to the atmosphere of the Champions League.
"Now everyone knows that Champions League games have always been more difficult to play, because the teams participating in the Champions League must have tough nerves and rich experience, and in any Champions Cup game, there are no
Some people will give up easily, because it is related to money and income. Every step forward, the club's income will increase a lot. Except for teams with little promise, as long as they are ambitious teams, they will not win in the Champions League.
Giving up the opportunity to show off oneself... This is the scariest thing about the Champions League. Now, we are facing such a game, so we must concentrate all our attention on the game and cannot relax at any time. At the same time, we need to
Giving everything we have in the game...this is the most important thing about the Champions League, do you understand?"
Taking this opportunity, Dick also let the players understand the cruelty of the Champions League. Although he has won many Champions League titles, Dick has never underestimated this most glorious competition for European clubs.
However, just as UEFA's slogan says, this is the best game, with the best players and the best head coach. Only under such circumstances can you stand on the highest podium, that is the best way.
The best of the best!
In the previous two consecutive games, Dick sent all the main players despite the fact that most of the main players were tired after participating in the national team competition. But next, Dick will use rotation to give the players a rest. After all,
From now on, Manchester City's games will almost always be double matches a week. If there is no rotation, the iron man will have to be scrapped - I didn't see that the Ghanaian buffalo Essien, who was known as "can play a game in a day", is now suffering from injuries.
Already? After all, a person’s physique has its limits...
So in the next game against Portsmouth, Dick sent out a mixed lineup.
Goalkeeper Hart, defenders Alves, Richards, Cahill, Sun Jihai, Sun Jihai played as left back, midfielder Barton, Vidal, Deco, forward Bale, Di Natale, Benzema.
Only half of the main players in such a lineup are either goalkeepers like Hart, players like Alves who have not yet been confirmed as the main players in the national team, or players like Deco who have retired from the national team, or
For players like Di Natale, whose game does not consume too much energy, Dick wants the players to take a rest.
However, this substitute lineup went on a killing spree in the game.
In the 13th minute of the opening, Benzema received a cross from Bell after a forced breakthrough, and volleyed from the back point to score, catching Portsmouth off guard!
Seven minutes later, Deco took a corner kick, and Cahill, who assisted, grabbed the first shot in the penalty area and headed towards the goal to expand Manchester City's lead!
After taking a two-goal lead in the first half, Manchester City began to control the ball more. Vidal and Deco, two technical players, worked well together. Deco controlled the rhythm, and Vidal charged into the battle. This approach made Manchester City's midfielder
It started to be full of technicality, which also put Portsmouth's midfielder at an increasingly disadvantaged position.
Manchester City did not score a goal in the rest of the first half, but Portsmouth was overdrawn a lot. This made their disadvantage even more obvious in the second half. Manchester City continued to use offense to tear apart their defense!
In the 57th minute, Benzema passed the ball diagonally to Bell outside the penalty area. Bell used his speed to break into the penalty area and then raised his foot to push the ball into the far corner. The ball accurately flew past the opponent's goalkeeper and flew into Portsmouth.
the door!
The score of 3 to 0 did not stop Manchester City. Eleven minutes later, Alves, who provided the assist, broke through and crossed the ball. Di Natale appeared at the spot where the ball landed and made a light shot, which opened the door for Manchester City.
Scored the fourth goal!
Seeing that it was already 4-0, Dick began to change players. Sturridge, Dunn and veteran Hart, who had played less this season, were all sent on the field. However, Manchester City's offense is now fully up.
It didn’t save any face for Portsmouth at all...
In the 78th minute, Hart took a free kick from the left. Vidal grabbed the first shot at the back point and turned his head towards the goal to expand the score to 5-0!
In the 83rd minute, Benzema scored twice and scored his third goal in Manchester City. Although the opportunity to play is not very stable, Benzema has proved his value.
Six to zero! The biggest massacre in the Premier League so far this season. Manchester City still achieved this despite sending a large number of substitutes. This gave a powerful counterattack to the unfavorable remarks after being tied in the Champions League!
"We just need time to adapt in the Champions League! Once we adapt, we will win the Champions League!" Countless Manchester City fans are communicating like this.
In the third round of the League Cup in midweek, Manchester City continued to send out all substitutes and continued to make progress. They defeated Derby County 4-1 at home and advanced to the fourth round of the League Cup.
After this period of rest, the physical fitness of Manchester City's main players has almost recovered, but in the following period, Manchester City suffered two consecutive draws.
First in the sixth round of the league, because the next midweek was the Champions League match against Bayern, Dick continued to rotate half of the main players in this game. However, Manchester City's performance in this game was somewhat disappointing.
As expected, they were leading 2-1 away from home, but were equalized by Wigan Athletic at the last moment, ending their four-game winning streak in the league.
The next game was the second round of the Champions League. Manchester City challenged Bayern away from home. In this game, Manchester City performed very well. Although it was an away game, they had a difficult game with Bayern. In the first half,
Bayern's Klose and Toni's strike partner did not get any chance. Instead, Benzema broke through and assisted Torres to score a goal that broke the deadlock. Although in the second half, Toni forced Kompany to pass the header and assisted.
Klose grabbed a point in the penalty area to equalize the score, but this one-to-one draw was not disappointing at all.
"We played better each game in the Champions League... The draw in the last game proved how strong we can be in the Champions League, and this draw proves how strong we are against those players.
The top teams can always gain the upper hand and gain an advantage to a certain extent. This situation is very good, at least it proves that we have enough strength in the Champions League. Strength is the basis for creating miracles. With this
Only with our strength can we have the possibility of hitting the Champions League title in the next Champions League. Our players have gone from being in awe of the Champions League at the beginning to becoming confident now, because they have the ability to win the Champions League.
With outstanding performance, we have already felt Bayern's strong strength at the Allianz Arena. We hope that in the final round of games, we can let Bayern feel our capabilities at the City Stadium."
After this round of the Champions League, Dick was also satisfied with Manchester City's performance. If the draw at home in the last round was not a favorable situation, then in this round, the draw with Bayern in the away game was not favorable.
