Chapter 401 The final sprint before the finals

Chapter 401 The final sprint before the finals

After assigning other people's tasks and daily training, Guardiola also gave his own requirements.

At this time, the Champions League semi-final between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich has ended successfully.

At the Allianz Arena in Munich, the Real Madrid Trident performed unstoppably. With a clean victory of 3 to 1, they successfully defeated Bayern Munich with a total score of 5 to 2. They got the remaining ticket to the final. Real Madrid and Manchester City will compete for the second consecutive time. Meet in the Champions League final this year!

The two strongest teams in Europe this season will compete at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. Will Real Madrid achieve a gorgeous revenge after the personnel replacement, or will Manchester City break the curse and become the first team in the Champions League after the restructuring? A defending champion, all expectations will be revealed in early June.

After determining the opponent he would face in the Champions League final, Guardiola also took advantage of the situation to formulate a series of training plans.

"Daily training must be strictly implemented, especially the counterattack training after losing the ball."

Guardiola said seriously.

This training is to ensure that the team can quickly organize a counterattack after losing the ball at the feet of a team with extremely sharp counterattacks like Real Madrid, so as not to be rushed by the opponent and open the door wide.

Manchester City has had this happen frequently when facing Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus, and their awareness in this area needs to be further improved.

To put it bluntly, the players have not yet reached the level of perfection in grasping the timing of offensive and defensive transitions.

This is not to say that Manchester City's players lacked a tacit understanding and were a bit rough in various defensive aspects, but because Real Madrid, with Bale and Neymar, currently Europe's sharpest wings and Europe's No. 1 midfielder, is counterattacking quickly. Has a natural advantage in finding defensive loopholes.

As long as there is a slight loophole, it may be exploited by Modric and Toni Kroos. As long as there is a certain space, the breakthroughs of Neymar and Bale will come as scheduled, and there is Benz who is still sleeping and has not fully recovered. Tyrannosaurus rex.

Every team has its own DNA and its own unique style.

Manchester City's style has never been to be defensive. Regardless of age or experience, Guardiola does not think it is a good idea to use defensive tactics when facing Real Madrid in the Champions League final.

Manchester City did not choose conservative tactics last season, and they will certainly not choose to give up the initiative this season.

It can be seen from this year's two Champions League group matches that teams that give up the right to take the initiative to attack are under too much pressure in such a top-level dialogue.

Even if there is a strong enough defense, the psychological pressure on the players will be the straw that breaks the camel's back.

What's more, Manchester City has never been a conservative team. Let's not talk about whether Manchester City players will make mistakes under high pressure, but whether the players can adapt. This is a big problem.

On the contrary, physical fitness and running are Manchester City's advantages, and their ability to pass and cut the ball is also good. This makes Guardiola believe that Manchester City can compete with Real Madrid in Cardiff for a thousand years.

Guardiola is not afraid of Real Madrid's positional battles. The only thing he fears is being hit by Real Madrid's counterattacks. Therefore, targeted defensive training is still necessary.

Not relying on defense and conservative tactics to win, but having an impregnable defense line is definitely the basis for the team's victory.

At least you can push the game to penalties if you don't want to lose.

Besides, Real Madrid is indeed very strong and has a lot of stars, but it is not completely without loopholes. Manchester City does not necessarily have no chance at all. The key depends on how the troops are arranged and how they perform in the game.

Guardiola's arrangements, the coaching staff and the players participating in the meeting all understood what he meant.

After all, they and Guardiola are very experienced in how to play in the Champions League final, and Guardiola and all Manchester City players are very familiar with Real Madrid, an old rival, which is something that no other team has. Advantage.

In this case, Guardiola's choice is the best choice.

As for the other FA Cup final, it will be held on May 28. Manchester City's opponent in the final is their old rival Chelsea.

Chelsea, who had a hard time defeating Arsenal in the semi-finals to qualify for the final, certainly wanted to give Manchester City a strong enough sniper in the last championship that they could compete for this year.

Mancini's team is well prepared, and no matter what, Mancini doesn't want to end up with nothing in his first year back in the Premier League.

If they can defeat Manchester City and successfully win the FA Cup, this will be the best proof and blessing for Chelsea's hard work in reorganizing this year.

The FA Cup final and the Champions League final are only one week apart. This is also quite troublesome for Manchester City's preparations. It also means that their players participating in the FA Cup do not have enough rest time to prepare for the Champions League final. .

But if you just send a full substitute lineup to face the menacing Chelsea, this is impossible.

It has already reached the final, and it is the FA Cup that was not won last season. Guardiola and his Manchester City players will not give up willingly like this. Guardiola can only arrange as much as possible with enough talent. A fault-tolerant lineup to cope with the last two finals!

"Everyone!"

After Guardiola finished explaining all the things, he looked at his players and did some mobilization.

"Now, I believe everyone is aware of the situation the team is facing. First of all, I would like to thank everyone for their hard work and dedication over the past year. Every one of you has contributed most to the team being able to get to where it is today."

Every player looked at Guardiola in high spirits. Manchester City's achievements are also their achievements and will be an indelible glory in their careers.

"We have worked hard for a year and prepared for a year. Now, we have finally ushered in such an unprecedented and infinitely bright prospect. Like each of you, I am very excited and full of expectations."

"But the more this happens, the more cautious we must be, the more we must take steps step by step, make good use of every training session, play every game well, and do everything well. We must have the best spirit, To meet every game and every challenge that comes next.”

"I believe that in the end, we will be able to achieve a result that satisfies everyone!" Guardiola did not say what result he wanted, but everyone knew it.

The league championship has been won, and the League Cup championship has also been won.

Manchester City's next biggest challenge is the FA Cup final and the Champions League final.

Once they win the championship, they will be the four crown champions this season. Although they already won a triple crown last season, if they can win an unprecedented four crowns this season, it will be a unique miracle in the entire history of football!

Manchester City wants to achieve the quadruple crown!

To achieve the quadruple crown, you must defeat Real Madrid in the Champions League final! Beat Chelsea in the FA Cup final!

On the evening of May 13th, at the Etihad Stadium, Guardiola once again used a rotation strategy and played against West Brom with a semi-substitute lineup.

This team ranked in the middle of the league sent a full lineup to face Manchester City, and it also deployed a strong offensive lineup of four, three, and three, aiming not to become the background version of Manchester City's championship celebration.

Moreover, all teams in the Premier League are currently proud of defeating Manchester City. In this case, which does not affect the overall situation of the league at all, it is understandable that West Brom wants to give it a try.

But only four minutes into the game, Zhao Jinge received a pass from his teammate in the middle, threw away the defensive player and cut in to the right side of the arc, hitting the goal with his left foot, opening the scoring for Manchester City, one to zero!

After getting off to a good start, Manchester City continued to pursue West Brom and created opportunities continuously.

In the 17th minute, after Sterling cut in from the right, he suddenly separated. David Silva, who came in from behind, passed the ball to the center of the penalty area. Zhao Jinge scored a header from close range, giving Manchester City another victory. Two to zero!

Under Manchester City's powerful attack, West Brom got a goal back in the 31st minute.

Karim made a diagonal pass to the back during the counterattack. Otamendi, under interference from his opponent, did not go far when he headed the ball to clear the ball. Cabayor seized the opportunity and headed the ball into the far corner, regaining a game for West Brom.

After changing sides in the second half, Manchester City still launched a fierce attack.

In the 47th minute, Fernandinho made a sudden shot from 26 meters away and hit a long shot that penetrated West Brom's goal and expanded the score again, three to one!

At this moment, the game can be said to be decided.

But Manchester City continued to launch a fierce attack on West Brom and kept creating chances.

In the 59th minute, another pass from Sterling came from the right. Zhao Jinge pushed the ball from behind and shot from close range. As a result, the football hit the side of the post and bounced out of the penalty area. Sterling's follow-up shot was saved by the goalkeeper.

A minute later, Cancelo made a pass from the left and sent the ball to the right side of the penalty spot. Sterling volleyed and hit the crossbar.

After entering the 60th minute, Guardiola saw that the overall situation was decided and began to make substitutions in an attempt to stabilize the advantage.

West Brom also knew very well that they were unable to resist.

Although West Brom's head coach wanted to change the situation through substitutions, he was ultimately unable to do anything about it.

Manchester City defeated West Brom 3-1 at home and continued their unbeaten record.

The game went smoothly, and Manchester City also showed its ability to steadily defeat its opponents. This made the whole of England look forward to Manchester City's next two finals.

Manchester City fans even chanted in the stands of the Etihad Stadium at the championship award ceremony after the team's victory that they wanted a quadruple crown!

After the game against West Brom, on May 18, Manchester City challenged Burnley away from home. This was also Manchester City's last Premier League game of the season. Guardiola once again used a rotation strategy and played with a full substitute lineup.

In the 23rd minute of the first half, Zhao Jinge scored a goal for Manchester City. It was David Silva who advanced and then provided an assist. David Silva, who has started two consecutive Premier League games, has determined that he will not Starting in the latter two finals, Guardiola will use him as a substitute.

David Silva has no complaints about this. Instead, he used his outstanding performances in two consecutive Premier League games to help Manchester City easily lead their opponents.

However, before the end of the first half, Otamendi, who replaced Kompany, made a mistake and was seized by Burnley. Midfielder Zaharov shot a long shot and broke the Manchester City goal. Evened the score.

In the following game, Manchester City began to pursue Burnley, who successfully fought back. They took 38 shots in the game and 13 of them were on target.

But they just couldn't score again, and they could only regretfully draw with Burnley 1-1 away from home, ending all the Premier League games this season with a draw.

However, this draw will not affect the overall trend of Manchester City. The championship trophy is in hand, and a draw will be a draw.

After scoring four goals in the last two league games, Zhao Jinge also successfully ended this league journey full of gains and fruits with a terrifying goal record of fifty goals in a single Premier League season.

Some flesh injuries in the Champions League semi-finals did not affect his performance in these two Premier League games at all, allowing him to continue his hot state in the Champions League semi-finals, which also made all the media and fans in Europe look forward to it What kind of performance Zhao Jinge performed in the subsequent two finals!

And his fifty goals in a single Premier League season also broke the record for the highest number of goals in a single Premier League season that he set last season. In addition to breaking the scoring record in a row, his fifty goals in the Premier League also broke the record. It has been confirmed that he will win the European Golden Boot this season.

Barcelona has not performed well in La Liga this season. Messi's own performance has also been affected due to Barcelona's overall downturn.

Thirty-four games, thirty-two starts, and thirty-seven goals. Although the Argentine football champion won the La Liga Golden Boot, compared with Zhao Jinge's terrifying firepower in the Premier League, it is undoubtedly a far cry from it!

As for Cristiano Ronaldo, who moved to Ligue 1, due to his poor form at the end of the season, he only scored 32 league goals. Although he also got the Ligue 1 golden boot as he wished, compared with Zhao Jinge's stable performance in the league , Cristiano Ronaldo's performance in Ligue 1 this season is definitely not as good.

Aubameyang’s 31 goals in the Bundesliga Golden Boot, Borussia Dortmund, and Mertens’ 28 goals in the Serie A Golden Boot, Napoli, are also far behind Zhao Jinge. It can be said that Zhao Jinge’s terrifying scoring firepower in the Premier League is ahead of the rest. The four golden boots are at the same level!

Defeating the best of both worlds and winning the European Golden Boot is definitely a wonderful thing for Zhao Jinge!

After the final games of the five major leagues have concluded one after another, the eyes of all fans around the world are focused on the upcoming national cup finals.

The FA Cup showdown between Manchester City and Chelsea is also one of the most watched cup competitions in various countries. With the expectations of all Premier League fans, this competition for the final domestic championship in England is gradually approaching the match date.

(End of this chapter)