Chapter 122 The Darkness Before Dawn, The Devil's February Journey! (2 in 2)
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Tuo Lei Si Bu Xiang Ti Dan Dao
Chapter 122 The Darkness Before Dawn, The Devil's December Journey! (two in one)
After the game with Barcelona, the Manchester City team flew back to Manchester that night.
Since the end of the game that day, a large number of media have been mocking Manchester City crazily.
In the next few days, this fiasco will be the focus of discussion among fans all over the world, and all kinds of news mocking and belittling Manchester City are flying all over the sky.
Almost the entire European media are singing the praises of Barcelona.
It can be said that how high Manchester City was praised by the media before, how miserable it is to be thrown now!
Mansur also personally called to inquire about the current situation of the team. It is foreseeable that if Manchester City falls behind in this winter's game, then a new round of reorganization will be inevitable.
After returning to Manchester, Guardiola gave everyone a day's rest. In three days, they will face the next game, and a day's vacation is also precious.
Guardiola also hopes to use the vacation to relieve the pressure on the team.
After a precious day off, most of Manchester City's players have recovered from the fiasco of the last game. It is not a big deal to lose one or two games when they are not in good condition. As long as they can adjust and face the follow-up schedule That's fine.
After another day of resumption of training, City are heading into their final game of November:
The 14th round of the Premier League hosts Southampton at home.
This is the beginning of Manchester City's devil's schedule for the next two months. From this day to December NO.12, they will play against five opponents in [-] consecutive days.
After this series of intensive games, there is a ten-day idle period without games.
Then from December 22 to the end of December, Manchester City still has three games to deal with.
Although the schedule in January will be more intensive, Manchester City's supplements during the winter break will allow them to have enough supplements to survive.
For this Manchester City, which is gradually being updated, as long as they can survive the long winter night in December and last until the winter window comes in January, they will usher in a completely new change!
City's players have had plenty of rest time to recover before the three games at the end of December.
Therefore, starting from the match against Southampton on November 28, the two-week double match for half a month is the biggest test in their devil's schedule.
Southampton, currently ranked No.5 in the league, is the first stumbling block that Manchester City, which has just suffered a defeat, must solve.
The luckiest thing for Manchester City is that in this game, Sarnia, who had been out for half a month due to injury, returned from injury. Captain Kompany is also expected to return to the team in early December.
Otamendi, who was injured against Liverpool, was diagnosed with a minor fracture and will return from injury in mid-December.
As for David Silva, who has been injured for the longest time, he will be able to resume training in December, and he will be able to return to the team around the end of the month.
It is of course excellent news for Manchester City that the injured players can return to the team on time. As long as the injury does not repeat, it means that every few days, Manchester City will recover a lot of strength.
For Southampton, what they want to do is to take advantage of the Premier League overlord while Manchester City is weak.
As the head coach of Southampton, Ronald Koeman has lived a very nourishing life recently, and it can be said that he is full of ambition.
After taking over Southampton in the summer of [-], he led the team that broke into the Premier League for just two seasons last season to the seventh place in the league, and almost brought the team into the European war.
It's a pity that the strength of the Premier League's Big6 is completely beyond the reach of this newly promoted team, and it can only regretfully miss the European war.
Although he failed to go further, Ronald Koeman also created Southampton's best record in the Premier League.
This year, Ronald Koeman finally waited for the opportunity, taking advantage of the great opportunity of several strong teams collectively stretching their hips, and brought Southampton to the current fifth position in the league in one fell swoop.
And judging from the current situation, this season Southampton has a very good chance to stabilize its ranking, in the top six of the Premier League,
This breakthrough to a higher level made Ronald Koeman, the head coach of the team, even more pleased.
However, Ronald Koeman is still very cautious about facing the Premier League hegemony.
The Southampton players who did not consume energy in the European war had already made sufficient preparations under the guidance of Koeman before this game.
In Koeman's view, Manchester City, as the overlord of the Premier League, even if they suffer a defeat in the Champions League,
But back in the Premier League, he will never choose to be conservative at his home court. Even if Guardiola is willing to give up his face, Manchester City's fans and executives will not be willing.
Manchester City has no choice. They must use a hearty victory at their home court to wash away their shame in the Champions League and calm the current public opinion in Europe.
Since Manchester City needs a big victory, they must attack.
Under such circumstances, Southampton's tactical choice is very simple and clear, it can only be a defensive counterattack!
Koeman won't head-to-head with the Premier League overlord, counterattack?This would not be an option for a small team like Southampton at all.
It saves time and effort, and is simple. After Manchester City presses up and hits the space behind them, it is the most effective method!
Taking advantage of the aging of Manchester City's two wings, launching a fast break from the wing and attacking behind Manchester City is the tactical tone set by Koeman.
Then use his abundant physical fitness and necessary foul tactics to limit Manchester City's oppression and offense.
All tactics and execution are based on the physical fitness of the players.
Facing such a team that has just rested for two days, Koeman is going to run openly to drag down and block Manchester City's midfielders.
Of course, the focus of the restriction is still Zhao Jinge, Koeman is going to use his fellow Dutchman Van Dijk to stop this killer from Manchester City.
In Koeman's view, Van Dijk has a body that can become the world's top central defender. What he lacks is more game experience.
As long as Van Dijk can continue to grow, the Netherlands will gain a defensive core who may surpass Stam, so Koeman is definitely very concerned about the cultivation of his fellow Dutchman.
I hope to use high-quality games and the most powerful striker to polish Van Dijk's rough jade.
On the afternoon of the match day, Koeman in the visiting team's locker room got Manchester City's starting roster. Seeing Manchester City's right back, Guardiola chose Sagna, who had just returned from injury,
Coman immediately laughed happily. A veteran player who has just recovered is simply a target for him!
Thinking of this, Koeman looked at Mane, who had been introduced by himself and had become the sharp knife of the team's left attack, and the smile on the corner of his mouth became more obvious.
Needless to say, the impact of the Senegalese, as long as Sania can't pull his peak state, Manchester City's right will definitely not be able to stop Mane's impact!
As for a 33-year-old veteran who has just recovered from injury, will he return to the top in the first game of his comeback?
In Koman's view, this is simply whimsical!
"Sadio!"
Coman restrained his smile, and looked at Mane solemnly:
"In this game, you will be our main offensive point. The team's counterattack will start from your left. I need you to tear Manchester City's right. Can you do it? Don't tell me you can't pass a 33 year-old veteran!"
"It should be fine."
Mane replied with a smile, the white teeth in his grinning mouth were very eye-catching, attracting the attention of most people in the locker room.
Coman shrugged, a little helpless:
"Sadio, you should answer more imposingly, the atmosphere before the opening was lost by you!
Well, I have said everything else in the pre-match training.Virgil!You must be optimistic about Zhao and restrain him, the probability of us getting points will be higher.
Now let's give Manchester City some color and see! "
"Roar!"
The state and morale of the Southampton players have reached their best.
At 07:30 on the evening of the match day, the match between Manchester City and Southampton officially began, and Southampton won the kick-off.
In this game, Koeman sent his strongest lineup to fight in a four-two-three-one formation:
Goalkeeper: Stekelenburg.
Defenders: Bertrand, Van Dijk, Jose Fonte, Maya Yoshida.
Double defensive midfielders: Romeu, Wanyama.
Three front midfielders: Mane, Prowse, Steven Davis.
Forward: Sean Long.
With the whistle of the game, Manchester City, full of anger, was ready to vent their anger on Southampton.
Zhao Jinge was the first to press towards Southampton's hinterland, and his speed was very fast, forcing Southampton's midfielder to pass the ball back to his midfielder.
But soon Aguero and Sterling followed Zhao Jinge's footsteps and pressed over. Southampton's midfielder Wanyama immediately passed the ball back to the defense.
Jose Fonte, as one of Portugal's main central defenders in the European Cup next year, has a certain ability to pass long passes.
Just as he was about to play the ball from the backcourt, the three frontcourt players of Manchester City had rushed to not far in front of him.
It seems that the oppression is to be carried out to the end, and the ball is directly restricted from Southampton's backcourt, which does not give Koeman's team room to organize calmly.
Fonte quickly passed the ball back to the goalkeeper. His ability was not enough to allow him to send a long pass with sufficient precision when he was pressed.
Goalkeeper Stekelenburg received this hot potato, and the three of Zhao Jinge also pushed into Southampton's penalty area in an organized way and went straight to the goal!
Stekelenburg doesn't have the foot skills like Neuer, and the Dutchman sent the ball near the center line with a big foot.
Sitting on the coach's bench, Koeman's heart tightened. Is Manchester City's frontcourt pressure so firm?
How many rounds can you last with this kind of running? !
He kept a close eye on the situation on the field, as long as his players can survive the first 15 minutes, Manchester City's oppression will definitely stop, they definitely don't have enough stamina to maintain a long press!
The football flying towards the center line was controlled by Yaya Toure. This veteran has played three games in a row.
Not only him, but all the main players of Manchester City are like this. Although there are still many players on the bench, their strength cannot be trusted by Guardiola. Manchester City's replacement is imperative!
After Yaya Toure took possession of the ball, Manchester City immediately launched a counterattack. They must cherish every second of the opening and try their best to gain an advantage before their physical strength falls into a tight bottle.
Sterling dribbled the ball in from the left, and after collaborating with Aguero hitting the wall, the ball passed diagonally through the entire Southampton penalty area to find Zhao Jinge on the other side.
As Manchester City's striker, Zhao Jinge took the lead after receiving the ball and entered the penalty area from the right.
Van Dijk teamed up with left back Bertrand to double-team, trying to block Zhao Jinge's advance.
For the first time against the future Shiyi, Zhao Jinge was not careless, and suddenly stopped his forward steps, and half-turned to protect the ball, dodging Van Dyke's long legs.
Then, with his back, he pulled horizontally towards the middle of the way in, and Aguero firmly stuck Fonte's line on the other side.
Zhao Jinge didn't hesitate after realizing it, and immediately took two steps away from the restricted area.
On the line of the penalty area in the middle of Southampton, he suddenly turned and volleyed, trying to catch goalkeeper Stekelenburg by surprise.
The old Dutch goalkeeper did not react, but Zhao Jinge's volley was blocked by Van Dijk who was following him!corner kick!
Although the Dutch central defender was a little embarrassed by Zhao Jinge's dribbling route in the opposite direction, he still completed the defense in the penalty area by taking advantage of his positioning.
"Van Dijk, the central defender who was just bought by Southampton coach Koeman this season, can keep up with Zhao's movement in defense.
I have to say that he made a wonderful defense. If he hadn't blocked the ball, Manchester City might have scored in the opening stage! "
Koeman on the coach's bench also waved his fist excitedly:
"Nice job! That's it, Virgil! Freeze him!"
Naturally, Van Dijk on the field would not hear Koeman's cheering, and Van Dijk was actively involved in defending Manchester City's corner kick attack.
The tempo of the game was fast and City seized every opportunity to attack.
Judging from the scene, Manchester City, which has the advantage of possession, combined with its own frontcourt oppression, firmly controlled the initiative since the opening.
In the No.13 minute of the game, in addition to the frontcourt trio, Manchester City's midfielder, including Yaya Toure and De Bruyne, has begun to reduce the frequency of their own oppression.
Manchester City's most ferocious opening offensive is about to enter a rest period, and Southampton's players are finally about to get out of Manchester City's suffocating fast pace.
Southampton right-winger Steven Davies teamed up with returning striker Sean Long to grab the ball from Sterling after a [-]-yard danger zone scramble.
After finally grabbing the ball, Davis immediately followed Koeman's tactical deployment and transferred the ball to Mane on the left.
Compared with the flourishing Mane, the 32-year-old Davis no longer has the ability to run fast.
Mane, who had been activated on the left, received the ball and was about to cross the center line in the blink of an eye. Behind him was Zhao Jinge, who was chasing after him.
Guardiola has long guessed that Koeman will use his sharpest knife point as Southampton's main attack point.
In order to strangle Southampton's biggest threat, Guardiola put Zhao Jinge, the only player in the team who can compete with Mane in terms of speed, on the left side, hoping that he can use his defensive ability to limit Mane's speed. attack.
Just as the Senegalese was running fast, Zhao Jinge was slowly approaching from behind him. Zhao Jinge, who was running without the ball, had already stuck to Mane's side with a faster speed.
All the fans are watching the two chasing on the wing.
The contest of speed is always one of the most exciting scenes for human beings. All Blue Moon fans are cheering for Zhao Jinge!
Coman's mouth is also constantly sending out broken thoughts:
"Sadio, hurry up, hurry up!"
Zhao Jinge, who was shouldering the defensive task, took the initiative to use his shoulders to confront Mane the moment he attached him to Mane, trying to destroy the balance of the Senegalese.
As a winger with excellent body balance and confrontation ability, Mane can always gain an advantage in the confrontation when facing the pursuit of other wide players in the Premier League.
But this time the collision with Zhao Jinge shocked him. Zhao Jinge's explosive power and coordination are excellent among the top centers. He relied on his size advantage to firmly occupy the initiative in the confrontation on the side. .
Zhao Jinge first staggered Ma Nei with his shoulders, and before Ma Nei regained his body's center of gravity,
Forcibly speeding up to get in front of Mane, stretching out his foot to break the ball, and then handing the ball to Fernandinho on the back line, he immediately turned and killed back to Southampton's half.
After Fernandinho received the ball, without any delay, he took two steps forward and passed the ball long to Gundogan who retreated in the middle.
Gundogan received the ball at the center line, and he had been prepared for a long time. He saw a chance and sent a long diagonal pass with his left foot.
The ball was transferred to the right side of Southampton's penalty area and handed over to Sterling.
In the last few starting appearances, Sterling, who performed indescribably, stopped the ball. Today, he must seize all opportunities to improve his performance in Guardiola's mind as much as possible.
Because he got a message that Manchester City is considering introducing another winger in the winter. Sterling, who thought he was going to be righted, has put away his happiness and only wants to work hard to keep the starting lineup.
This time Sterling did not break through with the ball after receiving the ball. Before the little day player Yoshida Asa also approached, he quickly picked a pass and directly passed it to the middle of the frontcourt.
Both Aguero and Jose Fonte rushed to catch up, but De Bruyne, who was already at the top of the arc in the penalty area, settled faster and grabbed the football at the critical moment.
But when the Belgian midfielder was about to turn around after stopping the ball, Van Dijk blocked De Bruyne with his body in time.
The huge size gap between the two made it impossible for De Bruyne to turn around. After Van Dijk got stuck, he immediately stretched out his foot from behind to poke the ball. After returning to defense, Romeu also stretched out his foot from the front Steal the ball.
Of course, De Bruyne would not let the two get what they wanted. He desperately protected the football with his body, and leaned back desperately, trying to struggle to get out of the passing space.
The three were entangled at the front of the penalty area. In the end, De Bruyne barely crossed the ball before falling to the ground, and it was given to Zhao Jinge who was rushing from the backcourt!
Zhao Jinge, who was in the open position, did not give the Southampton players a chance to mark him. After catching up with the football, he directly kicked a violent volley from the left side of the top of the arc.
This shot was powerful and heavy, and the football hung straight to the right of Southampton's goal like a rainbow.
Goalkeeper Stekelenburg stood in the middle of the goal. The Dutch veteran didn't react at all.
He made a save when the football was almost in front of the goal, but he still failed to catch Zhao Jinge's furious shot.
"GOAL!!!! Zhao! Zhao Jinge's violent volley, the speed of the ball was so fast that there was no time for Stekelenburg to react.
After a full 7 minutes of oppression from the beginning to now, at the critical moment when Manchester City's oppression is about to come to an end, it was Zhao Jinge who stepped forward again and played the role of Manchester City's striker, giving the final word!
When Southampton was about to see the dawn, Zhao Jinge was thrown back into the darkness!
Starting from stealing Mane in the back defense, to volleying and volleying the pass from De Bruyne in front of the penalty area, Zhao Jinge used his non-stop running to take the lead for Manchester City!
Manchester City is now [-]-[-] Southampton! "
The entire Etihad Stadium erupted in an instant, and all Manchester City fans stood up from their seats, raised their hands high, and cheered wildly.
Zhao Jinge rushed to the sidelines quickly, celebrating his No.20 three Premier League goals this season.
Now he is only three goals away from Aguero, who won the Premier League Golden Boot with 26 goals last season!
Guardiola also roared excitedly from the coaching bench of the home team, waving his right hand to cheer Zhao Jinge!
Relying on Mane plus defensive counterattack, you want to take away points from the Etihad Stadium. Koeman, you don't take our Manchester City seriously!
No matter how cautious you are, just based on your idea of taking points from Manchester City, you are already arrogant enough!
Not everyone can touch even a weak tiger!
After Manchester City took the lead, they immediately launched a pursuit of the victory at the expense of physical strength. Guardiola had already made a detailed plan before this game.
As long as they can score two goals in the first three to ten minutes of the game when they are physically fit, Manchester City will take back the half-court defense in the next six to ten minutes to conserve energy as much as possible.
Even if some people say after the game that Manchester City is disregarding face, they can still use the first three 10 minutes of mad attack and the subsequent tactics of conserving energy to block the mouths of the media.
After only 7 minutes, Manchester City, which continued to press, found another chance.
After Zhao Jinge, who was active on the right side, received a goal from De Bruyne, he broke through the defense of Mane and Bertrand from the front.
And in Southampton's big penalty area, he changed to an inside cut, directly carried Van Dijk's defense, and passed the ball across to the middle of the big penalty area!
Aguero, who had been holding back for several games, caught up with the football before Jose Fonte. He stopped with his left foot, stopped the ball to his side, then turned slightly, and volleyed vigorously with his right foot!
This explosive shot in the penalty area created a thunderous momentum. The opponent's goalkeeper Stekelenburg relied on his body's natural reaction to hit the football with his finger on the goal line.
But the huge energy carried by the football made the ball break through the interception in the first half of his palm, and rushed into the goal strongly!
"GOAL!!!! Aguero! In the third game after returning from injury, he has recovered his form!
The thunderous shot told all the teams in the Premier League that he is still the Premier League Golden Boot last season, the man who performed miracles for Manchester City!
Even though he suffered injuries and a scoring shortage this season, Aguero is still young! "
The Etihad Stadium fell into a bigger carnival, and countless Blue Moon fans were thankful that their team did not fall into the shadow of failure, and they directly repaid the fans' expectations with a big victory!
The changes on the pitch completely disrupted Southampton's deployment, and everything they had planned had evaporated.
Koeman sat on the coach's bench with his mouth open. He never expected that after 15 minutes before the opening, Manchester City would still score two consecutive goals in a short period of time!
The wonderful performance of the two superstars is not something Southampton can resist at all. Just like MSN who played perfectly in the Champions League, Zhao Jinge and Aguero who are fully fired are also unstoppable!
After scoring the second goal, the Manchester City players immediately shrank back to their own half in accordance with the established plan before the game.
This kind of behavior made Koeman on the sidelines feel powerless. An opponent who is much stronger than you is even more humble than you. Such behavior did not leave Southampton any chance at all.
After the end of the first half, Guardiola decisively replaced De Bruyne and Yaya Toure with Fernando and Jesus Navas, creating rest time for the two main players as much as possible.
Gundogan has become the team's core midfielder, Sterling and Navas have become the team's two full-backs, and Zhao Jinge and Aguero have served as the team's double forwards.
Manchester City's formation changed to [-] and Southampton, who is still a conservative formation, stared at each other on the court.
Manchester City did not launch an active attack in order to save energy. After Southampton's organization advanced to the center line, it would be strongly intercepted by Manchester City's entire midfield.
One of the two parties does not want to, and the other cannot.Without the hearty offense in the first half of the game, this made the entire second half of the game extremely boring.
In the live broadcast room of Sky Sports, Andy Gray has been bored discussing the wonderful moments in other games with Lineker.
Finally, at the end of the game, Manchester City relied on two goals in the first half to beat Southampton at their home court. It ushered in a good end at the end of November, because next month's consecutive campaign opened a new one. Good head.
Zhao Jinge became the best player in the game by virtue of his excellent performance with one goal and one assist.
After the game ended, three days later, at 09:30 on December [-]st, Manchester City ushered in the Carabao Cup quarter-final opponent Hull City at home.
After encountering two Premier League opponents in a row in the League Cup, Manchester City was finally lucky to usher in an opponent in the English Championship.
This undoubtedly made Manchester City, who had a tight schedule, a big sigh of relief.
Guardiola did not hesitate to send a substitute lineup to play. Except for Sterling on the front line, no main players played.
Even the back line was short of manpower, and for the first time Manchester City's first parallel importer Mangala was used.
As a result, this guy who finally played once, actually scored an own goal in a defense in the penalty area.
Such a clumsy performance made Guardiola's face pale, and he regretted that he had expected him. He was really dizzy recently!
But fortunately, other Manchester City players did not pull their hips. Sterling scored twice in the face of low-level opponents. Manchester City's substitute strikers Boni and Jesus Navas each scored a goal.
In the end, Manchester City beat Hull City four to one and advanced to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup!
After getting off to a good start in December, at 03:30 pm on December 15th, Manchester City ushered in their No.[-] round of the Premier League and challenged Stoke City away.
In this game, Manchester City, who had been rehabilitated for nearly a week, played with all the main players, and captain Kompany also returned from injury, but Guardiola did not let him start the game out of prudent considerations.
Originally thought that Manchester City, which sent the main lineup, would win the victory easily, but because Fernandinho was not high enough in the defense line.
Manchester City at the Bet 365 Stadium, home of Stoke City, saw what is called the real "City in the Sky"!
Stoke City's strong throwing tactics allowed them to take the lead in No. 11 minutes of the first half.
The sideline sent the cannon directly to the penalty area. The 1.9-meter-two Stoke striker Anautovic overwhelmed the less than 1.8-meter Fei Bird with a header!
At the end of the first half, Zhao Jinge used his own running position to use a corner kick to equalize the score with a header.
But in the second half, Anautovic scored twice with a header in Stoke City's corner kick attack!
Before the end, De Bruyne scored a free kick to help Manchester City equalize the score.
In the end, Manchester City and Stoke City shook hands [-]-[-]!
Immediately after the evening of December [-]th, Manchester City ushered in the last round of the Champions League group stage at home, playing against Leverkusen at home.
Since the game between Barcelona and Roma had ended the day before, Barcelona beat Roma [-]-[-].
Ranked first in Group E with five wins and one loss in six games, Manchester City has lost the chance to catch up after one draw and one loss in four or five rounds, and has already confirmed the group's second qualifying.
Therefore, Guardiola simply gave up the game and sent a substitute lineup to face Leverkusen.
On the other side, Leverkusen, which has already confirmed the bottom of the group, has also lost the chance to compete for the third place in the group and play in the Europa League. They also sent a substitute lineup over.
In the end, in the last Champions League group match of this season, the Etihad Stadium ushered in a pair of rookies pecking at each other, but Manchester City's substitutes had the last laugh, narrowly beating Leverkusen's substitutes with a score of [-]-[-].
After this day, the UEFA Champions League group stage of this season is all over, and the qualifying places for each group have been determined. The draw ceremony for the Champions League round of 13 will be held four days later, that is, on the night of December [-]th.
On the evening of December 16th, Manchester City sat at home and ushered in their last opponent in the first half of December. In the No.[-] round of the Premier League, Manchester City played against Swansea at home.
In the end, they defeated their opponents with a score of [-] to [-], ending a week of double matches for half a month.
And extended his unbeaten rounds in a single season of the Premier League to No. 16 rounds.
This is a big chapter of 8000 words, and there will be a chapter of 4 or 5000 words later, it may be a little later tonight.
(End of this chapter)
After the game with Barcelona, the Manchester City team flew back to Manchester that night.
Since the end of the game that day, a large number of media have been mocking Manchester City crazily.
In the next few days, this fiasco will be the focus of discussion among fans all over the world, and all kinds of news mocking and belittling Manchester City are flying all over the sky.
Almost the entire European media are singing the praises of Barcelona.
It can be said that how high Manchester City was praised by the media before, how miserable it is to be thrown now!
Mansur also personally called to inquire about the current situation of the team. It is foreseeable that if Manchester City falls behind in this winter's game, then a new round of reorganization will be inevitable.
After returning to Manchester, Guardiola gave everyone a day's rest. In three days, they will face the next game, and a day's vacation is also precious.
Guardiola also hopes to use the vacation to relieve the pressure on the team.
After a precious day off, most of Manchester City's players have recovered from the fiasco of the last game. It is not a big deal to lose one or two games when they are not in good condition. As long as they can adjust and face the follow-up schedule That's fine.
After another day of resumption of training, City are heading into their final game of November:
The 14th round of the Premier League hosts Southampton at home.
This is the beginning of Manchester City's devil's schedule for the next two months. From this day to December NO.12, they will play against five opponents in [-] consecutive days.
After this series of intensive games, there is a ten-day idle period without games.
Then from December 22 to the end of December, Manchester City still has three games to deal with.
Although the schedule in January will be more intensive, Manchester City's supplements during the winter break will allow them to have enough supplements to survive.
For this Manchester City, which is gradually being updated, as long as they can survive the long winter night in December and last until the winter window comes in January, they will usher in a completely new change!
City's players have had plenty of rest time to recover before the three games at the end of December.
Therefore, starting from the match against Southampton on November 28, the two-week double match for half a month is the biggest test in their devil's schedule.
Southampton, currently ranked No.5 in the league, is the first stumbling block that Manchester City, which has just suffered a defeat, must solve.
The luckiest thing for Manchester City is that in this game, Sarnia, who had been out for half a month due to injury, returned from injury. Captain Kompany is also expected to return to the team in early December.
Otamendi, who was injured against Liverpool, was diagnosed with a minor fracture and will return from injury in mid-December.
As for David Silva, who has been injured for the longest time, he will be able to resume training in December, and he will be able to return to the team around the end of the month.
It is of course excellent news for Manchester City that the injured players can return to the team on time. As long as the injury does not repeat, it means that every few days, Manchester City will recover a lot of strength.
For Southampton, what they want to do is to take advantage of the Premier League overlord while Manchester City is weak.
As the head coach of Southampton, Ronald Koeman has lived a very nourishing life recently, and it can be said that he is full of ambition.
After taking over Southampton in the summer of [-], he led the team that broke into the Premier League for just two seasons last season to the seventh place in the league, and almost brought the team into the European war.
It's a pity that the strength of the Premier League's Big6 is completely beyond the reach of this newly promoted team, and it can only regretfully miss the European war.
Although he failed to go further, Ronald Koeman also created Southampton's best record in the Premier League.
This year, Ronald Koeman finally waited for the opportunity, taking advantage of the great opportunity of several strong teams collectively stretching their hips, and brought Southampton to the current fifth position in the league in one fell swoop.
And judging from the current situation, this season Southampton has a very good chance to stabilize its ranking, in the top six of the Premier League,
This breakthrough to a higher level made Ronald Koeman, the head coach of the team, even more pleased.
However, Ronald Koeman is still very cautious about facing the Premier League hegemony.
The Southampton players who did not consume energy in the European war had already made sufficient preparations under the guidance of Koeman before this game.
In Koeman's view, Manchester City, as the overlord of the Premier League, even if they suffer a defeat in the Champions League,
But back in the Premier League, he will never choose to be conservative at his home court. Even if Guardiola is willing to give up his face, Manchester City's fans and executives will not be willing.
Manchester City has no choice. They must use a hearty victory at their home court to wash away their shame in the Champions League and calm the current public opinion in Europe.
Since Manchester City needs a big victory, they must attack.
Under such circumstances, Southampton's tactical choice is very simple and clear, it can only be a defensive counterattack!
Koeman won't head-to-head with the Premier League overlord, counterattack?This would not be an option for a small team like Southampton at all.
It saves time and effort, and is simple. After Manchester City presses up and hits the space behind them, it is the most effective method!
Taking advantage of the aging of Manchester City's two wings, launching a fast break from the wing and attacking behind Manchester City is the tactical tone set by Koeman.
Then use his abundant physical fitness and necessary foul tactics to limit Manchester City's oppression and offense.
All tactics and execution are based on the physical fitness of the players.
Facing such a team that has just rested for two days, Koeman is going to run openly to drag down and block Manchester City's midfielders.
Of course, the focus of the restriction is still Zhao Jinge, Koeman is going to use his fellow Dutchman Van Dijk to stop this killer from Manchester City.
In Koeman's view, Van Dijk has a body that can become the world's top central defender. What he lacks is more game experience.
As long as Van Dijk can continue to grow, the Netherlands will gain a defensive core who may surpass Stam, so Koeman is definitely very concerned about the cultivation of his fellow Dutchman.
I hope to use high-quality games and the most powerful striker to polish Van Dijk's rough jade.
On the afternoon of the match day, Koeman in the visiting team's locker room got Manchester City's starting roster. Seeing Manchester City's right back, Guardiola chose Sagna, who had just returned from injury,
Coman immediately laughed happily. A veteran player who has just recovered is simply a target for him!
Thinking of this, Koeman looked at Mane, who had been introduced by himself and had become the sharp knife of the team's left attack, and the smile on the corner of his mouth became more obvious.
Needless to say, the impact of the Senegalese, as long as Sania can't pull his peak state, Manchester City's right will definitely not be able to stop Mane's impact!
As for a 33-year-old veteran who has just recovered from injury, will he return to the top in the first game of his comeback?
In Koman's view, this is simply whimsical!
"Sadio!"
Coman restrained his smile, and looked at Mane solemnly:
"In this game, you will be our main offensive point. The team's counterattack will start from your left. I need you to tear Manchester City's right. Can you do it? Don't tell me you can't pass a 33 year-old veteran!"
"It should be fine."
Mane replied with a smile, the white teeth in his grinning mouth were very eye-catching, attracting the attention of most people in the locker room.
Coman shrugged, a little helpless:
"Sadio, you should answer more imposingly, the atmosphere before the opening was lost by you!
Well, I have said everything else in the pre-match training.Virgil!You must be optimistic about Zhao and restrain him, the probability of us getting points will be higher.
Now let's give Manchester City some color and see! "
"Roar!"
The state and morale of the Southampton players have reached their best.
At 07:30 on the evening of the match day, the match between Manchester City and Southampton officially began, and Southampton won the kick-off.
In this game, Koeman sent his strongest lineup to fight in a four-two-three-one formation:
Goalkeeper: Stekelenburg.
Defenders: Bertrand, Van Dijk, Jose Fonte, Maya Yoshida.
Double defensive midfielders: Romeu, Wanyama.
Three front midfielders: Mane, Prowse, Steven Davis.
Forward: Sean Long.
With the whistle of the game, Manchester City, full of anger, was ready to vent their anger on Southampton.
Zhao Jinge was the first to press towards Southampton's hinterland, and his speed was very fast, forcing Southampton's midfielder to pass the ball back to his midfielder.
But soon Aguero and Sterling followed Zhao Jinge's footsteps and pressed over. Southampton's midfielder Wanyama immediately passed the ball back to the defense.
Jose Fonte, as one of Portugal's main central defenders in the European Cup next year, has a certain ability to pass long passes.
Just as he was about to play the ball from the backcourt, the three frontcourt players of Manchester City had rushed to not far in front of him.
It seems that the oppression is to be carried out to the end, and the ball is directly restricted from Southampton's backcourt, which does not give Koeman's team room to organize calmly.
Fonte quickly passed the ball back to the goalkeeper. His ability was not enough to allow him to send a long pass with sufficient precision when he was pressed.
Goalkeeper Stekelenburg received this hot potato, and the three of Zhao Jinge also pushed into Southampton's penalty area in an organized way and went straight to the goal!
Stekelenburg doesn't have the foot skills like Neuer, and the Dutchman sent the ball near the center line with a big foot.
Sitting on the coach's bench, Koeman's heart tightened. Is Manchester City's frontcourt pressure so firm?
How many rounds can you last with this kind of running? !
He kept a close eye on the situation on the field, as long as his players can survive the first 15 minutes, Manchester City's oppression will definitely stop, they definitely don't have enough stamina to maintain a long press!
The football flying towards the center line was controlled by Yaya Toure. This veteran has played three games in a row.
Not only him, but all the main players of Manchester City are like this. Although there are still many players on the bench, their strength cannot be trusted by Guardiola. Manchester City's replacement is imperative!
After Yaya Toure took possession of the ball, Manchester City immediately launched a counterattack. They must cherish every second of the opening and try their best to gain an advantage before their physical strength falls into a tight bottle.
Sterling dribbled the ball in from the left, and after collaborating with Aguero hitting the wall, the ball passed diagonally through the entire Southampton penalty area to find Zhao Jinge on the other side.
As Manchester City's striker, Zhao Jinge took the lead after receiving the ball and entered the penalty area from the right.
Van Dijk teamed up with left back Bertrand to double-team, trying to block Zhao Jinge's advance.
For the first time against the future Shiyi, Zhao Jinge was not careless, and suddenly stopped his forward steps, and half-turned to protect the ball, dodging Van Dyke's long legs.
Then, with his back, he pulled horizontally towards the middle of the way in, and Aguero firmly stuck Fonte's line on the other side.
Zhao Jinge didn't hesitate after realizing it, and immediately took two steps away from the restricted area.
On the line of the penalty area in the middle of Southampton, he suddenly turned and volleyed, trying to catch goalkeeper Stekelenburg by surprise.
The old Dutch goalkeeper did not react, but Zhao Jinge's volley was blocked by Van Dijk who was following him!corner kick!
Although the Dutch central defender was a little embarrassed by Zhao Jinge's dribbling route in the opposite direction, he still completed the defense in the penalty area by taking advantage of his positioning.
"Van Dijk, the central defender who was just bought by Southampton coach Koeman this season, can keep up with Zhao's movement in defense.
I have to say that he made a wonderful defense. If he hadn't blocked the ball, Manchester City might have scored in the opening stage! "
Koeman on the coach's bench also waved his fist excitedly:
"Nice job! That's it, Virgil! Freeze him!"
Naturally, Van Dijk on the field would not hear Koeman's cheering, and Van Dijk was actively involved in defending Manchester City's corner kick attack.
The tempo of the game was fast and City seized every opportunity to attack.
Judging from the scene, Manchester City, which has the advantage of possession, combined with its own frontcourt oppression, firmly controlled the initiative since the opening.
In the No.13 minute of the game, in addition to the frontcourt trio, Manchester City's midfielder, including Yaya Toure and De Bruyne, has begun to reduce the frequency of their own oppression.
Manchester City's most ferocious opening offensive is about to enter a rest period, and Southampton's players are finally about to get out of Manchester City's suffocating fast pace.
Southampton right-winger Steven Davies teamed up with returning striker Sean Long to grab the ball from Sterling after a [-]-yard danger zone scramble.
After finally grabbing the ball, Davis immediately followed Koeman's tactical deployment and transferred the ball to Mane on the left.
Compared with the flourishing Mane, the 32-year-old Davis no longer has the ability to run fast.
Mane, who had been activated on the left, received the ball and was about to cross the center line in the blink of an eye. Behind him was Zhao Jinge, who was chasing after him.
Guardiola has long guessed that Koeman will use his sharpest knife point as Southampton's main attack point.
In order to strangle Southampton's biggest threat, Guardiola put Zhao Jinge, the only player in the team who can compete with Mane in terms of speed, on the left side, hoping that he can use his defensive ability to limit Mane's speed. attack.
Just as the Senegalese was running fast, Zhao Jinge was slowly approaching from behind him. Zhao Jinge, who was running without the ball, had already stuck to Mane's side with a faster speed.
All the fans are watching the two chasing on the wing.
The contest of speed is always one of the most exciting scenes for human beings. All Blue Moon fans are cheering for Zhao Jinge!
Coman's mouth is also constantly sending out broken thoughts:
"Sadio, hurry up, hurry up!"
Zhao Jinge, who was shouldering the defensive task, took the initiative to use his shoulders to confront Mane the moment he attached him to Mane, trying to destroy the balance of the Senegalese.
As a winger with excellent body balance and confrontation ability, Mane can always gain an advantage in the confrontation when facing the pursuit of other wide players in the Premier League.
But this time the collision with Zhao Jinge shocked him. Zhao Jinge's explosive power and coordination are excellent among the top centers. He relied on his size advantage to firmly occupy the initiative in the confrontation on the side. .
Zhao Jinge first staggered Ma Nei with his shoulders, and before Ma Nei regained his body's center of gravity,
Forcibly speeding up to get in front of Mane, stretching out his foot to break the ball, and then handing the ball to Fernandinho on the back line, he immediately turned and killed back to Southampton's half.
After Fernandinho received the ball, without any delay, he took two steps forward and passed the ball long to Gundogan who retreated in the middle.
Gundogan received the ball at the center line, and he had been prepared for a long time. He saw a chance and sent a long diagonal pass with his left foot.
The ball was transferred to the right side of Southampton's penalty area and handed over to Sterling.
In the last few starting appearances, Sterling, who performed indescribably, stopped the ball. Today, he must seize all opportunities to improve his performance in Guardiola's mind as much as possible.
Because he got a message that Manchester City is considering introducing another winger in the winter. Sterling, who thought he was going to be righted, has put away his happiness and only wants to work hard to keep the starting lineup.
This time Sterling did not break through with the ball after receiving the ball. Before the little day player Yoshida Asa also approached, he quickly picked a pass and directly passed it to the middle of the frontcourt.
Both Aguero and Jose Fonte rushed to catch up, but De Bruyne, who was already at the top of the arc in the penalty area, settled faster and grabbed the football at the critical moment.
But when the Belgian midfielder was about to turn around after stopping the ball, Van Dijk blocked De Bruyne with his body in time.
The huge size gap between the two made it impossible for De Bruyne to turn around. After Van Dijk got stuck, he immediately stretched out his foot from behind to poke the ball. After returning to defense, Romeu also stretched out his foot from the front Steal the ball.
Of course, De Bruyne would not let the two get what they wanted. He desperately protected the football with his body, and leaned back desperately, trying to struggle to get out of the passing space.
The three were entangled at the front of the penalty area. In the end, De Bruyne barely crossed the ball before falling to the ground, and it was given to Zhao Jinge who was rushing from the backcourt!
Zhao Jinge, who was in the open position, did not give the Southampton players a chance to mark him. After catching up with the football, he directly kicked a violent volley from the left side of the top of the arc.
This shot was powerful and heavy, and the football hung straight to the right of Southampton's goal like a rainbow.
Goalkeeper Stekelenburg stood in the middle of the goal. The Dutch veteran didn't react at all.
He made a save when the football was almost in front of the goal, but he still failed to catch Zhao Jinge's furious shot.
"GOAL!!!! Zhao! Zhao Jinge's violent volley, the speed of the ball was so fast that there was no time for Stekelenburg to react.
After a full 7 minutes of oppression from the beginning to now, at the critical moment when Manchester City's oppression is about to come to an end, it was Zhao Jinge who stepped forward again and played the role of Manchester City's striker, giving the final word!
When Southampton was about to see the dawn, Zhao Jinge was thrown back into the darkness!
Starting from stealing Mane in the back defense, to volleying and volleying the pass from De Bruyne in front of the penalty area, Zhao Jinge used his non-stop running to take the lead for Manchester City!
Manchester City is now [-]-[-] Southampton! "
The entire Etihad Stadium erupted in an instant, and all Manchester City fans stood up from their seats, raised their hands high, and cheered wildly.
Zhao Jinge rushed to the sidelines quickly, celebrating his No.20 three Premier League goals this season.
Now he is only three goals away from Aguero, who won the Premier League Golden Boot with 26 goals last season!
Guardiola also roared excitedly from the coaching bench of the home team, waving his right hand to cheer Zhao Jinge!
Relying on Mane plus defensive counterattack, you want to take away points from the Etihad Stadium. Koeman, you don't take our Manchester City seriously!
No matter how cautious you are, just based on your idea of taking points from Manchester City, you are already arrogant enough!
Not everyone can touch even a weak tiger!
After Manchester City took the lead, they immediately launched a pursuit of the victory at the expense of physical strength. Guardiola had already made a detailed plan before this game.
As long as they can score two goals in the first three to ten minutes of the game when they are physically fit, Manchester City will take back the half-court defense in the next six to ten minutes to conserve energy as much as possible.
Even if some people say after the game that Manchester City is disregarding face, they can still use the first three 10 minutes of mad attack and the subsequent tactics of conserving energy to block the mouths of the media.
After only 7 minutes, Manchester City, which continued to press, found another chance.
After Zhao Jinge, who was active on the right side, received a goal from De Bruyne, he broke through the defense of Mane and Bertrand from the front.
And in Southampton's big penalty area, he changed to an inside cut, directly carried Van Dijk's defense, and passed the ball across to the middle of the big penalty area!
Aguero, who had been holding back for several games, caught up with the football before Jose Fonte. He stopped with his left foot, stopped the ball to his side, then turned slightly, and volleyed vigorously with his right foot!
This explosive shot in the penalty area created a thunderous momentum. The opponent's goalkeeper Stekelenburg relied on his body's natural reaction to hit the football with his finger on the goal line.
But the huge energy carried by the football made the ball break through the interception in the first half of his palm, and rushed into the goal strongly!
"GOAL!!!! Aguero! In the third game after returning from injury, he has recovered his form!
The thunderous shot told all the teams in the Premier League that he is still the Premier League Golden Boot last season, the man who performed miracles for Manchester City!
Even though he suffered injuries and a scoring shortage this season, Aguero is still young! "
The Etihad Stadium fell into a bigger carnival, and countless Blue Moon fans were thankful that their team did not fall into the shadow of failure, and they directly repaid the fans' expectations with a big victory!
The changes on the pitch completely disrupted Southampton's deployment, and everything they had planned had evaporated.
Koeman sat on the coach's bench with his mouth open. He never expected that after 15 minutes before the opening, Manchester City would still score two consecutive goals in a short period of time!
The wonderful performance of the two superstars is not something Southampton can resist at all. Just like MSN who played perfectly in the Champions League, Zhao Jinge and Aguero who are fully fired are also unstoppable!
After scoring the second goal, the Manchester City players immediately shrank back to their own half in accordance with the established plan before the game.
This kind of behavior made Koeman on the sidelines feel powerless. An opponent who is much stronger than you is even more humble than you. Such behavior did not leave Southampton any chance at all.
After the end of the first half, Guardiola decisively replaced De Bruyne and Yaya Toure with Fernando and Jesus Navas, creating rest time for the two main players as much as possible.
Gundogan has become the team's core midfielder, Sterling and Navas have become the team's two full-backs, and Zhao Jinge and Aguero have served as the team's double forwards.
Manchester City's formation changed to [-] and Southampton, who is still a conservative formation, stared at each other on the court.
Manchester City did not launch an active attack in order to save energy. After Southampton's organization advanced to the center line, it would be strongly intercepted by Manchester City's entire midfield.
One of the two parties does not want to, and the other cannot.Without the hearty offense in the first half of the game, this made the entire second half of the game extremely boring.
In the live broadcast room of Sky Sports, Andy Gray has been bored discussing the wonderful moments in other games with Lineker.
Finally, at the end of the game, Manchester City relied on two goals in the first half to beat Southampton at their home court. It ushered in a good end at the end of November, because next month's consecutive campaign opened a new one. Good head.
Zhao Jinge became the best player in the game by virtue of his excellent performance with one goal and one assist.
After the game ended, three days later, at 09:30 on December [-]st, Manchester City ushered in the Carabao Cup quarter-final opponent Hull City at home.
After encountering two Premier League opponents in a row in the League Cup, Manchester City was finally lucky to usher in an opponent in the English Championship.
This undoubtedly made Manchester City, who had a tight schedule, a big sigh of relief.
Guardiola did not hesitate to send a substitute lineup to play. Except for Sterling on the front line, no main players played.
Even the back line was short of manpower, and for the first time Manchester City's first parallel importer Mangala was used.
As a result, this guy who finally played once, actually scored an own goal in a defense in the penalty area.
Such a clumsy performance made Guardiola's face pale, and he regretted that he had expected him. He was really dizzy recently!
But fortunately, other Manchester City players did not pull their hips. Sterling scored twice in the face of low-level opponents. Manchester City's substitute strikers Boni and Jesus Navas each scored a goal.
In the end, Manchester City beat Hull City four to one and advanced to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup!
After getting off to a good start in December, at 03:30 pm on December 15th, Manchester City ushered in their No.[-] round of the Premier League and challenged Stoke City away.
In this game, Manchester City, who had been rehabilitated for nearly a week, played with all the main players, and captain Kompany also returned from injury, but Guardiola did not let him start the game out of prudent considerations.
Originally thought that Manchester City, which sent the main lineup, would win the victory easily, but because Fernandinho was not high enough in the defense line.
Manchester City at the Bet 365 Stadium, home of Stoke City, saw what is called the real "City in the Sky"!
Stoke City's strong throwing tactics allowed them to take the lead in No. 11 minutes of the first half.
The sideline sent the cannon directly to the penalty area. The 1.9-meter-two Stoke striker Anautovic overwhelmed the less than 1.8-meter Fei Bird with a header!
At the end of the first half, Zhao Jinge used his own running position to use a corner kick to equalize the score with a header.
But in the second half, Anautovic scored twice with a header in Stoke City's corner kick attack!
Before the end, De Bruyne scored a free kick to help Manchester City equalize the score.
In the end, Manchester City and Stoke City shook hands [-]-[-]!
Immediately after the evening of December [-]th, Manchester City ushered in the last round of the Champions League group stage at home, playing against Leverkusen at home.
Since the game between Barcelona and Roma had ended the day before, Barcelona beat Roma [-]-[-].
Ranked first in Group E with five wins and one loss in six games, Manchester City has lost the chance to catch up after one draw and one loss in four or five rounds, and has already confirmed the group's second qualifying.
Therefore, Guardiola simply gave up the game and sent a substitute lineup to face Leverkusen.
On the other side, Leverkusen, which has already confirmed the bottom of the group, has also lost the chance to compete for the third place in the group and play in the Europa League. They also sent a substitute lineup over.
In the end, in the last Champions League group match of this season, the Etihad Stadium ushered in a pair of rookies pecking at each other, but Manchester City's substitutes had the last laugh, narrowly beating Leverkusen's substitutes with a score of [-]-[-].
After this day, the UEFA Champions League group stage of this season is all over, and the qualifying places for each group have been determined. The draw ceremony for the Champions League round of 13 will be held four days later, that is, on the night of December [-]th.
On the evening of December 16th, Manchester City sat at home and ushered in their last opponent in the first half of December. In the No.[-] round of the Premier League, Manchester City played against Swansea at home.
In the end, they defeated their opponents with a score of [-] to [-], ending a week of double matches for half a month.
And extended his unbeaten rounds in a single season of the Premier League to No. 16 rounds.
This is a big chapter of 8000 words, and there will be a chapter of 4 or 5000 words later, it may be a little later tonight.
(End of this chapter)
