Chapter 476 The last hope of the Premier League!

Manchester City's first goal completely changed the situation of the game.

Dynamo Kiev, who originally planned to wait for the arrival of rain and snow and take advantage of the snow on the field to launch an attack, was forced to launch an attack in advance.

There is not much time left in the first half. If they cannot equalize as soon as possible, they will return to the locker room with a disadvantage.

The opponent will definitely make tactical adjustments during the halftime break, and it is likely to be more difficult to play in the second half. Even if there is rain, snow and the advantage of home court, they may not be able to score.

In short, the longer it takes, the worse it will be for them.

However, when the opponent has an extremely fast wing player like Son Heung-min in the opponent's lineup, and they just scored a goal with a quick counterattack, it may not be a wise move for them to press out and attack aggressively at this time!

Sure enough, after Dynamo Kiev pressed out, Manchester City's offense began to tilt towards Son Heung-min, focusing on using his speed to make a fuss.

In the 44th minute of the first half, after successfully intercepting an attack by the opponent, Manchester City followed suit. Cross sent a long pass in the backcourt, and Son Heung-min started at high speed and ran wildly with the ball.

This time, the opponent's defensive players did not dare to underestimate him and moved towards him.

However, as soon as they moved, Son Xingmin immediately passed the ball.

Lin Quan followed up and volleyed the ball into the goal without stopping the ball.

Manchester City only used one counterattack to easily expand the score to 2:0!

Although this goal was not scored by Son Heung-min, his speed and assists were crucial.

Dynamo Kyiv's players were panting from the frontcourt to the backcourt. Most of them didn't even have time to get into position, and the ball was already lying in their own goal.

This kind of blow, like a heavy hammer, left them all speechless.

Frustrated, helpless, desperate, and hesitant!

All kinds of emotions filled their hearts. It was extremely difficult for them to score a goal, but the opponent's goal was as easy as eating and drinking.

This makes them not know how to play in the next game!

Two goals behind, this is worse than the situation just now.

What's even more frightening is that this is an away goal. If the Manchester City people return to Manchester with two away goals like this, then the next game will basically not be played.

But now, what can they do?

There was only the last minute left in the first half, and they still couldn't find a way to break through Manchester City's goal.

On the contrary, the opponent's counterattacks were always accurate, leaving them in a dilemma.

Dynamo Kyiv's players spent the first half in a state of confusion, not even knowing how they got back to the locker room.

On the other side, the Manchester City players, with two goals in hand, were much calmer and calmer in mentality.

In the locker room, Guardiola praised the players for their outstanding performance in the first half, especially Son Heung-min.

This made Son Heung-min very happy. In his mind, this was the first time Guardiola publicly praised himself in the team.

During the period when David Silva was absent due to injury, he temporarily took the starting position, and with his outstanding performance during this period, he felt that he had the confidence to compete for a main position.

"The style of play in the second half remains unchanged for the time being. We have the lead and don't have to worry mentally. We just wait for the opponent to take the initiative to attack and we can seize the opponent's weaknesses to counterattack.

However, it should be noted that the snow outside is getting heavier now, and the competition venue may become very slippery in the second half. Everyone should be careful not to get injured! "

Guardiola heightened expectations with the words 'don't get injured'. Judging from the score, they have basically won this game, but if someone is injured at the end of the game, then the victory will be lost. The joy will be diluted a bit.

For this reason, he planned to make substitutions in the 65th minute and replace several key players.

The fifteen minutes ended quickly and the second half began.

Dynamo Kyiv's coach indeed made some adjustments to the team's tactics during the halftime break.

They began to simplify their offensive tactics as much as possible to avoid passing too many passes during the offense and being intercepted by their opponents.

After simplification, they began to play high balls and long passes.

The wide players on both sides began to frequently drop the ball into the penalty area, allowing their high center forwards to fight for the top.

When counterattacking, they also omitted the transition in the midfield and started the ball directly from the backcourt, looking for the forward with their big feet, allowing the forward to fight for the top or pass to the opponent from behind.

Although this tactic is simple and crude, it still has a certain effect.

Several of their shots created a lot of chaos in the Manchester City penalty area.

Although Navas has been bouncing in front of the goal in this game and trying hard to maintain his condition, the temperature on the scene was still too low, and his condition was obviously affected.

In the 55th minute of the second half, a shot from the opponent caused him to take the shot, which almost led to tragedy. Fortunately, he was saved by Kompany's goal line at the last moment, which narrowly ensured the safety of Manchester City's goal.

Although the goal was not scored, the opponent's morale was greatly encouraged.

As the snow increases, the ground of the stadium begins to become slippery, and when the football rolls on the ground, the resistance it receives due to the presence of snow also increases.

This caused Manchester City players to make many mistakes during the passing process. The opponent's attack took advantage of Manchester City's mistakes.

Guardiola looked at the time and saw that it was not yet 65 minutes, but he felt that he could not delay it any longer.

Therefore, he decisively made substitution adjustments, replacing Kroos and De Bruyne, replacing Fernandinho and Sane, and retreated Lin Quan to the attacking midfielder position.

After Sane came on the court, Jesus' position retreated and changed from a single arrow to a frontcourt engineer.

Guardiola has long discovered that this kid has balanced abilities in all aspects.

He can be seen on both offense and defense, and he plays very smart. When he is in the frontcourt, he also likes to entangle the opponent's defender, interfere with the opponent's ball, and buy time for his teammates.

If his tasks in this area are increased, he will become a defensive forward.

But now, what Manchester City has to do is very simple, based on defense, setting up its own fence, using the speed of the two wings, Lin Quan's broad vision and outstanding footwork, passing a good ball and killing it completely. Just compete!

It doesn't matter if you haven't waited for such an opportunity. Anyway, Manchester City's lineup has already overflowed with defensive capabilities.

Even if the venue affects their performance, after the weakening of Manchester City, the defensive ability is still stronger than the opponent's offensive power. It is quite difficult for the opponent to score goals!

"How despicable!"

"Is Manchester City going to set up a steel barrel formation?"

"Why do you have the nerve to be the defending champion?"

After seeing Manchester City's substitution choices, all Dynamo Kyiv fans broke their defenses and started yelling curses.

You, Manchester City, are so powerful, but you actually launched a defensive counterattack against a weak team like us. Isn't this too shameful?

Guardiola, haven't you always criticized Mourinho's team for playing ugly, utilitarian football?

So what are you doing now?

What's the difference between you and Mourinho?

If Guardiola heard this sentence, he would probably quibble:

Isn’t the weather bad for me?

If it hadn't snowed, Manchester City would of course have put up a fight with you. Would I, Manchester City, be afraid of you?

But with the snow falling so heavily, wouldn’t it be a fool’s errand to continue to pass the ball as before?

Didn’t you see that even Kroos and De Bruyne made mistakes in their passes before?

This is enough to prove that ground attack cannot be played. Since it cannot be played, of course he must be more pragmatic.

The head coach of Dynamo Kyiv did not scold Manchester City for being shameless like the fans did. At this time, he no longer had the mind to think about it.

Manchester City's first substitution disrupted his tactical arrangement. With the addition of a defensive midfielder, their offense became more difficult.

Moreover, the opponent's forward seemed to have changed his playing style. He began not to catch the ball or participate in the offense. Instead, he was like a piece of candy, constantly looking for harassing players on the home team holding the ball.

He had never expected this style of play beforehand. Who would have thought that Manchester City actually had such a talent in their lineup?

What makes him most uneasy is that while Manchester City's lineup has strengthened its defense, it has not weakened its offensive capabilities.

It seems that two core midfielders have been replaced. They should be missing an organizational core and their offensive threat will be greatly reduced.

But Lin Quan wore many hats and accomplished this task brilliantly.

After retreating to the midfielder position, he did an excellent job in organization, scheduling, transfer and attack, and even passing threatening balls.

With him around, Dynamo Kyiv's defensive players didn't dare to take it lightly, because if they were not careful, it would be easy for him to find a flaw and send a fatal pass.

In the second half, Manchester City launched several fast breaks from the wing. Although they failed to score for one reason or another in the end, it was enough to threaten Dynamo Kiev's goal and prevent them from doing what they did at the end of the first half. Pressure like this all the time.

However, what was supposed to come had to come. Seeing Sane and Sun Xingmin waste the opportunities they created one after another, Lin Quan personally took action.

In the 75th minute of the second half, he took advantage of a free kick opportunity and scored directly with a free kick, rewriting the score to 3:0!

This goal can be said to have completely killed the suspense of the game, so after Lin Quan completed the goal, the Manchester City players rushed forward one after another. Even the players on the bench were wrapped in down jackets and rushed to the court crazily to participate in the celebration. .

Looking at their excitement, people who didn't know it thought Manchester City had won the Champions League!

The Kiev fans in the stadium's stands felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured on their heads at this time, and their hearts felt cold.

Those fans who were shirtless and playing drums and cheering had quietly put on their clothes at some point.

They just didn't know if they were severely cold. Even though they were wrapped in thick down jackets, they still felt surrounded by the bone-chilling cold air and did not feel any warmth at all.

After Guardiola saw Lin Quan's goal, he immediately used up the last substitution in his hand.

He replaced Lin Quan and replaced Iheanacho.

Jesus' position retreated to the front midfielder, and Iheanacho stood out in front.

Seeing the opponent moving the frontcourt players around like they were playing platter, the Dynamo Kyiv coach couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

It's really not unfair to lose to Manchester City. Their opponents are much stronger than them.

Apart from anything else, these Manchester City players are generally versatile in adapting to multiple positions, which is something they don't have at all.

No wonder Guardiola's teams can always make tricks in their formations. With so many versatile players under his command, it's no wonder that they can make tricks!

Although Jesus is also very comprehensive, he is only 19 years old and still lacks experience.

In the 87th minute of the second half, the opponent took advantage of his delaying mistake to launch a counterattack and scored a goal, helping the home team save some face.

However, this goal came too late, there was not much time left in the game, and the players of Dynamo Kyiv did not have much fighting spirit.

In the end, the game ended and the score was fixed at 1:3.

Manchester City achieved a complete victory in the away game, and the advantage of 3 away goals and 2 goal differences has allowed them to enter the Champions League quarter-finals with one foot!

Since Manchester City is the last of the eight games in the first round of the Champions League knockout rounds, when their game ends, all the first-round games are also over, and the scores of several focus games are also released.

With the goals of Neymar and Cavani, Paris beat Chelsea 2:1 at home. Mikel scored for Chelsea.

Real Madrid beat Roma 2-0 away from home, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring a goal.

Arsenal lost to Barcelona 0:2 at home without any surprise. Messi scored two goals and was the only two players to score twice in this round. The other one was Lin Quan.

Juventus drew 2:2 with Bayern at home. In this game, the Old Lady struggled to catch up after conceding two goals first, and finally succeeded in equalizing the score. They showed the world their strong resilience and also made people happy. Those who had doubts about their strength due to their previous results in the group stage temporarily shut up.

However, Ribery was injured in this game and was not sent on until the 84th minute. Without Ribeiro's combination, Bayern is obviously not in its strongest state.

When Bayern returns to home in the next game, the outside world is still more optimistic about Bayern.

Of the three Premier League teams that entered the knockout round, only Manchester City won after the first round.

Arsenal and Chelsea both lost, and both losses were ugly.

Especially Arsenal. Although Barcelona lost Neymar and its strength was greatly weakened, it is still not something Arsenal can defeat.

In front of Barcelona, ​​Arsenal seemed to have encountered their destined nemesis. They played without any structure, and the number of passes and ball possession rate were less than half of their opponents.

Sanchez, who wanted to prove himself, was guarded by his former teammates in this game and had no chance at all.

Every one of the Gunners fans who watched the whole game was in despair. The home game was played like this, and there was no chance for the away game.

The Gunners' Champions League journey this season may come to an end here.

The fans of Chelsea next door are also gloomy. After the introduction of Neymar to Paris, the overall strength has improved a lot.

They were completely suppressed by the opponent on the road, with a ball possession rate 22% less than their opponents and more than twice as many shots.

If it weren't for the poor ability of Paris Saint-Germain's forwards to seize opportunities, the score of this game would definitely not be 2:1.

The gap in hard power makes it difficult for Chelsea people to be optimistic.

As a result, Manchester City has become the last hope of the Premier League!