Now in this group, Manchester City and Bayern both have 11 points. Manchester City has a goal difference of six and Bayern has a goal difference of seven. However, because Manchester City drew with Bayern one to one in the away game, they are now ranked fourth.
1. In the last round, you only need to draw 0-0 with Bayern to get the first place in the group. However, if you lose the game or draw with a goal, you will be surpassed by Bayern.
Manchester City fans don't care much about this situation. Entering the knockout stage is a victory. Whether they are first or second, it will not make any difference to them.
After the previous two consecutive victories, Manchester City has begun to infinitely narrow the gap between the top two. Their points have reached 31 points. Liverpool and Chelsea are still tied for first place. However, their advantage over Manchester City is only
There are two points left. If Manchester City can perform better next, surpassing them does not seem to be a big problem.
For Manchester City, they reached the knockout round for the first time in the Champions League, which greatly improved their condition. In the following games, they achieved quite good results along the way and showed their performance.
Top status!
In the fifteenth round, Manchester Derby, Manchester City tied with Manchester United one to one after rotating part of their main players.
In the League Cup quarter-finals, Manchester City defeated Stoke City 3-1 away from home and advanced to the semi-finals.
In the sixteenth round, Manchester City swept Fulham 3-0 away from home.
In the last round of the Champions League group stage, Manchester City had a head-to-head battle with Bayern at home. In the end, they defeated Bayern with a score of 4 to 3, won the first place in the group, and qualified with their heads held high!
In the seventeenth round, Manchester City defeated Everton 4-1 at home.
In the eighteenth round, Manchester City beat West Bromwich Albion 3-2 away from home.
After playing the 18th round of the league, Manchester City ushered in the draw ceremony for the Champions League knockout round. Manchester City, who qualified as the first place, once again encountered a strong enemy. In the draw ceremony, they met the best player who won the second place in the group.
A strong opponent - the team he last coached, Inter Milan!
After Dick left Manchester City, Moratti hired Mancini to coach Inter Milan. However, Inter Milan did not play particularly well that season. In the last round, Ibrahimovic scored twice if he had not played injured.
Helped Inter Milan win Parma, then Inter Milan would lose the league championship in the last round. In the Champions League, they also stumbled and qualified as second in the group, and finally lost to Liverpool.
In the room, Mancini could not suppress the players at all. After the end of the season, Moratti fired Mancini, and then invited Mourinho, who was dismissed from Chelsea...
But it is obvious that Mourinho also needs time to reorganize an Inter Milan team. Now Inter Milan is indeed in a good situation in the league, but they stumbled in the Champions League. In the group stage, they even
Being suppressed to the second place by Panathinaikos, UEFA will naturally not let go of such a gimmick. The contest between Manchester City and Inter Milan is enough to make people excited.
Dick didn't care about this, because the previous competition for first place in the group was not because Dick wanted to encounter a relatively weak team in the knockout round. He knew that UEFA would make Manchester City suffer in such a game.
Strong enemies, competing for first place in the group are just to enhance more confidence. What Manchester City lacks now is the confidence in the Champions League!
As for meeting Mourinho again and meeting Inter Milan led by Mourinho, it is nothing more than a good fight. Now Inter Milan is also in a moment of pain. The lineup Dick left behind at that time was old.
Mourinho probably has a lot of headaches, especially on the front line. Tony transferred and left, Pandev's performance was ups and downs, Cruz is getting older and his magic is no longer there, and only Ibrahimovic is the top player.
, Adriano's condition has declined, and the top striker no longer exists.
In the midfield, Figo is getting older, and Perrotta's condition has begun to decline. Mascherano and Sneijder alone are not enough, plus the top-notch backline trained by Dick on the defense.
The defense has also begun to age. Cannavaro and Materazzi are both quite old and can hardly play the entire game as the main force. Mourinho is now in pain. Although Chiellini has outstanding abilities
, but it still takes time to hone.
What Dick and Mancini left for Mourinho was also a relatively mess.
After knowing who their opponents were in the knockout round, Manchester City seemed to be stimulated. In the next round of the league, they swept Hull City 5-0 at home. Just halfway through the schedule, they finally surpassed Liverpool and Chelsea.
, occupying the first place in the standings with 44 points!
Liverpool ranks second with 42 points, while Chelsea and Manchester United are tied for third with 41 points. The competition for the top four is still fierce!
Arsenal has paid the price for their large number of sales. They have only scored 32 points now. Unless there are too many changes in the second half of the season, it seems unlikely that they will qualify for the Champions League——
The rise of Manchester City has harmed the interests of more than just one team!
Before the New Year, Manchester City continued their efforts and beat Blackburn 3-2 in the twentieth round of the league, continuing to lead the standings. Manchester United and Liverpool both won, but Chelsea stopped their progress. They were defeated by Rich
Lemm tied the game at 2-2, and the gap between them and Manchester City widened to five points!
The Premier League, which has no holidays, gave Manchester City a break after the New Year. For two consecutive cup games after the New Year, Dick sent out a substitute lineup to cope with it. Even though the League Cup had entered the semi-finals, Manchester City finally won.
In the third round of the FA Cup, they defeated Nottingham Forest of the English Championship 3-0 at home. In the first round of the League Cup semi-finals, they defeated Manchester United 0-1 at home. Both sides sent out substitutes, but Manchester City's substitutes
The performance was a little better than that of Manchester United's substitutes...
After playing the League Cup, the following weekend is the time for the FA Cup replay. The league is temporarily suspended, which means that starting from the New Year, Manchester City's main players can rest for nearly three weeks - to some extent.
To put it bluntly, this can be regarded as a kind of winter break...
However, not having a holiday for a long time will inevitably make the players feel irritable, so during Christmas and New Year, Dick always takes time to let the players take a day off. Recently, he only takes a day off after playing a game.
Let the players relax enough, because soon, Manchester City will continue to play in intensive games!
Finally, after a break, Manchester City ushered in the twenty-first round of the game. Finally, relying on a goal from Alves in the second half, Manchester City beat Wigan Athletic 1-0 at home and achieved their longest six-game winning streak this season.
Liverpool, who had been competing with Manchester City, had no choice but to stop their progress because of fatigue. They were held to a 0-0 draw by Stoke City, leaving a four-point gap behind Manchester City! Manchester United, on the other hand, has been winning consecutively. They are now
They are the least behind Manchester City, only three points.
What makes Manchester United fans happy is that although they are still three points behind Manchester City, in the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-finals, their team gave Manchester City a heavy blow at Old Trafford.
In Germany, Manchester United defeated Manchester City 4-2 at home. It avenged the first round and also cost Manchester City the chance to enter the final. At the same time, Tottenham also entered the final. Manchester City stopped in the League Cup semi-finals.
Dick also felt a little regretful about losing this game. After all, if he could win this championship, it would be a bonus of 10 million pounds - but since he lost, it may not be a good thing. Manchester City does not need to compete in the League Cup final.
He has put too much energy into it. This season, Dick's biggest goal is the Champions League. On this basis, he can give up the league championship, let alone the League Cup.
In the same way, in this season's FA Cup, he will also only allow the substitutes to maintain their condition in such games.
In the fourth round of the FA Cup over the weekend, Manchester City challenged Derby County away from home. In this game, they were eventually tied 1-1 by Derby County. There will be a make-up game in early February - Dick didn't care about this, it was all happening anyway.
Coming off the bench and playing one more game can also give them one more training opportunity. There are many good players in Manchester City now, especially in games like this. Vidal has also improved very quickly. After Deco's recent start,
In the case of decline, Vidal can completely replace Deco and become the core of Manchester City's midfield!
Compared with Deco, there is definitely a big gap in Vidal's experience, but his running ability and confrontation ability are much better than the current Deco, and his ability to organize offense is only a little worse, making him a
The main force itself is Dick's idea. He has learned very well from Deco in the past six months. Next, Dick will gradually give Vidal more opportunities.
Manchester City's main players, who had been resting for more than a week, performed extremely well in the next 22nd round of the league. Although they only defeated Newcastle 2-1 at home, Newcastle did not gain much in the entire game.
Chance, Martins scored a goal just by relying on a sneak attack. This victory brought Manchester City's winning streak to seven games. At the same time, as Liverpool suffered another draw in this round, the gap between them and Manchester City has widened.
At six points, even if they are not involved in the Champions League, there is not much hope if they want to use Manchester City's opportunity to play in the Champions League to narrow the gap...
At this point, Manchester City's biggest opponent is still Manchester United - after the draw with Manchester City, Manchester United also achieved seven consecutive victories, including a 3-0 victory over Chelsea at home, showing an extremely strong state.
, chasing after Manchester City!
The difference between this season and last season is that Manchester City will also play in the Champions League this season. Although Manchester United is still three points behind Manchester City, they can definitely fight with Manchester City until the end!
Whether it is the Champions League or the league, Manchester United will fight with Manchester City until the end. They will not give up until the last moment!
"As expected of Manchester United... it is indeed the strongest team since the establishment of the Premier League! This season we do not have the advantage of the schedule, I am afraid there will be some trouble... However, if there is no such an opponent, then the game will be too insignificant.
It’s interesting, this season, if we can fight with Manchester United until the end and win a heavy enough championship, then such a game will be enjoyable and valuable enough!”
Dick said to Charlotte in high spirits, in the final analysis, he is still a head coach, and only under such circumstances can a head coach show his most brilliance!
