Chapter 562 De Bruyne returns, the power of Manchester City’s twin stars

Guardiola's adjustments have had a certain effect. In the 10th round of the Premier League, Manchester City defeated West Bromwich Albion 4-0 away from home.

With the advantage of goal difference, they temporarily regained the top spot from Arsenal.

However, Manchester City's lead is very weak. There are already two teams with the same points as them in the standings, namely Arsenal and Liverpool.

With a huge victory, Manchester City defeated Barcelona 4:1 at home in the Champions League group stage, avenging the previous round.

In this game, Lin Quan completed a hat trick and Aguero also scored a goal.

Gundogan also performed very well. He sent two very crucial assists. His post-match score was second only to Lin Quan, and he was the player with the second highest score in the Manchester City team.

Even experts from all walks of life have to admit that Gundogan is quickly integrating into the Manchester City collective and his performance is getting better and better.

However, just when the outside world thought that Manchester City had regained its form with two big wins in the league and the Champions League, in the league match three days later, Manchester City was upset again, and was tied 1:1 at home by Mills Deburg.

This game is a pity. Manchester City took an early lead after the start, but failed to expand their lead.

Seeing that the opponent had no fighting spirit, Guardiola replaced Lin Quan, who had been almost full attendance during this period, to rest in the second half of the second half.

As a result, in stoppage time, the opponent took advantage of a set kick to equalize the score, which wiped out Manchester City's lead that they had maintained for almost a whole game.

After the game, there was a lot of criticism of Guardiola from the outside world.

Many experts believe that Guardiola should not have replaced Lin Quan so early.

In the absence of good passers such as De Bruyne and David Silva, Lin Quan is not only a scorer, but also an offensive organizer in Manchester City's frontcourt.

Once he comes off the field, it will be difficult for other players to get the support of their teammates and cannot threaten the opponent's goal. This gives Fort Mills a chance to counterattack.

The criticism from the outside world is actually not unreasonable. Under the current circumstances, Lin Quan's importance to the entire team has greatly increased.

He shouldered the responsibilities of several people by himself, including turning into a siege cone and knocking on the opponent's door when his teammates were unable to open the situation.

He also has to take on the role of an organizer, transporting shells to his teammates and providing them with support.

More importantly, after Kroos left the team, the only person in the Manchester City team who can control the rhythm of the game is Lin Quan.

Therefore, he must also assume the role of a court commander, observe the dynamics of the enemy and ourselves on the court at any time, and control the timing of offense and defense.

It is already very difficult to do one job well, let alone shoulder three heavy responsibilities at the same time. You can imagine the pressure on Lin's body.

It is precisely because of this that Guardiola replaced him in the second half to let him rest.

Because according to common sense, no one can complete the game under such huge consumption.

Guardiola's approach is not wrong, but he was unlucky. After the substitution, he was attacked by the opponent.

If Manchester City successfully won this game, the evaluation from the outside world would definitely be completely different.

After being tied at home, Manchester City's ranking quickly dropped to third place.

They have been in hot form recently. Liverpool beat their opponents 6:1 in this round and lead the Premier League standings with 26 points.

Behind them was Chelsea, who fell behind for a while but then quietly caught up.

Chelsea currently has 25 points, 1 point more than Manchester City, and is temporarily ranked ahead of Manchester City.

Arsenal was tied 1:1 at home by Tottenham in this round of North London Derby. The top position lasted only one round before falling to the familiar position of fourth.

…

After playing this round of the league, Lin Quan and his teammates packed their bags, went their separate ways, and returned to their respective national teams to report.

The world preliminaries are in full swing, and as the competition progresses, the competition for qualifying rights in each division becomes more and more cruel.

On November 13, Spain played at home and swept North Macedonia 4-0.

Due to the weak opponent, Lin Quan did not play in this game.

Originally, Del Bosque planned to let him play when the team was unable to attack, but unexpectedly his opponent gave a big gift at the beginning and used an own goal to help Spain open up the situation.

After taking the lead, the young Spanish players on the field immediately let go of their hands and feet, playing a ball that was pleasing to the eye and flowing smoothly.

Victor, Monreal, Aduriz and other substitutes who rarely have the opportunity to play on weekdays made great achievements in this game and gained valuable goals in their national team career.

There was only one main match in this round of FIFA international matches, but the national team was away for two weeks. So after Spain finished its match against North Macedonia, it took the time to arrange a friendly match with England.

It's strange to say that the British team is notoriously weak in competitions.

But in friendly matches, the British team's results were not bad.

In the last meeting between the two teams, the British team won the battle and broke Spain's undefeated streak.

In this game, the British team's performance was equally remarkable.

With data such as ball possession rate and number of passes lagging behind Spain by a large margin, they used their advantages of being tall and strong to adopt impact tactics, constantly raising the ball and then competing for the top. Point players and let them hit the goal directly.

If you don't win, go back and defend, and try again when you get the chance.

The physical advantages of the players on the British team are still very obvious. In addition, after their experience in the Premier League, they are obviously better than Spain in terms of physical confrontation.

Therefore, this seemingly simple tactic showed full power, and the British team even led 2:0 in the first half.

The British fans in the stands were so happy that their hands turned red. They were all so surprised. They didn't expect that their national team could be so good at beating the Spanish team!

If the British team can maintain this level, why can't they even qualify for the group stage of the World Cup?

During the World Cup in Brazil, the British team and the Italian team were placed in a group.

Before the game, all parties thought that Group D would be a battle between the two teams. Unexpectedly, in the end, two teams from South America advanced together, while the England and Italy teams were eliminated and both went home.

The team took a big lead and took the initiative.

Logically speaking, this game should be stable, but the British's old habits have happened again.

After taking the lead, they didn't know how to play anymore!

Del Bosque made eight substitutions in a row. The physical confrontation between these players on the field is not as good as yours, right?

Then I will bring up another group of people and continue to spend time with you.

This trick really worked. The British players who had already played half the game before had a hard time relying on their physical strength to defeat the Spanish players due to their reduced physical fitness, especially when they encountered a group of players who had just come on the field. , a player with abundant physical fitness and high morale.

The coach of the British team looked at it and said, "This is not going to work. If you use this trick, I can use it too!"

So, he also made substitutions and replaced them with five freshmen.

However, the power of the same move in the hands of different people is different.

Although these new British players still have advantages in physical confrontation, their skills and experience are not as good as those of the previous players. Therefore, using the same tactics, the power they exert is far less than that of their teammates.

As a result, the situation of the game reversed, and Spain began to gradually take the initiative.

In the 89th and 92nd minutes of the second half, Spain scored two goals in a row. Morata and Isco each scored one goal to help the team even the score.

This result is quite acceptable to both parties!

The British regained their confidence in the Spanish team, which laid the foundation for their future rise.

Spain, through this game, tested the strength of many young players in the team, and also enriched their experience in dealing with this type of physical impact team.

When returning to the club from the national team, Lin Quan got good news: De Bruyne, who was injured in the Nou Camp and Barcelona game, has now returned to the team from injury and is undergoing adaptive training.

If his condition recovers well, he may play on behalf of the team in the next round of the league.

Of course, there is no need to think about the starting lineup. No matter how short the team is, Guardiola will not be able to put a person who has just returned from injury into the starting lineup.

The next day, Lin Quan saw De Bruyne on the training ground.

This guy seems to be in good condition, unlike some players who suffer psychological shadow due to injuries.

Judging from his careless look, he seemed to be fine.

De Bruyne's return has made the atmosphere in the team much more relaxed.

During this period, Manchester City suffered a lot due to the lack of attacking midfielders.

Everyone is also fully aware of the importance of De Bruyne. His return means that Manchester City's weakest link will be made up. The invincible Manchester City is about to return.

Two days later, in the 12th round of the Premier League, Guardiola indeed put De Bruyne into the 18-man roster.

Seeing De Bruyne's name on the squad, every Manchester City fan who traveled with the team was very excited. Even though De Bruyne hadn't played yet, they still shouted De Bruyne's name loudly.

"Haha, it seems I'm quite popular among the fans!"

De Bruyne felt a little embarrassed when he saw this. Lin Quan usually enjoyed such treatment, but he didn't expect that after being injured once, such treatment would fall on him.

"You can hurt it a few more times if you like!"

Lin Quan glanced at him and teased.

"Ahem, it's better not to do that. After being injured, I couldn't move in bed. It felt terrible!"

Lying in bed like a useless person, with no initiative at all. De Bruyne never wants to experience it again.

…

I don’t know if it’s because the team’s condition has begun to pick up, or because De Bruyne has boosted the team’s morale on the bench.

Manchester City were in good overall shape in this game. They scored a goal not long after the first half. It was Lin Quan who assisted Son Heung-min.

At the end of the first half, Manchester City expanded their lead. This time Lin Quan scored directly with a free kick.

Seeing his teammates killing everyone on the court, De Bruyne on the bench couldn't sit still.

These guys are playing so well and have such a big lead. Will they not have a chance to play in the second half?

Based on his understanding of Guardiola, if Manchester City's advantage is still so great in the second half, Guardiola will probably not arrange for him to play and delay his playing time for another round.

Sure enough, at halftime, in the locker room, Guardiola did not mention De Bruyne's appearance in the second half.

Even when it started to rain over the stadium in the second half, Guatu asked someone to give De Bruyne a down jacket, fearing that he would catch a cold.

It can be said that it is a collection of thousands of favors, which makes De Bruyne himself a little flattered.

However, at this moment, the situation on the field changed.

The opponent took advantage of the rain that caused the Manchester City players to make mistakes in cooperation and successfully completed a counterattack to bring the score back to one.

Guardiola frowned, was he about to be defeated again?

He glanced at De Bruyne, hesitated for a long time, and finally asked De Bruyne to go to the sidelines to warm up.

This is what it means to make oneself appear!

De Bruyne was overjoyed when he saw this. He took off his down jacket and coat, ran to the sidelines and started to warm up meticulously.

The fans in the stands saw De Bruyne warming up. They didn't even look at the ball. They locked their eyes on him, waiting to see the moment he came on the field.

Five minutes later, De Bruyne came on the court after warming up.

And he did not live up to the expectations of the head coach and fans. It only took De Bruyne 8 minutes after coming on the field to use a very penetrating pass to find Lin Quan who ran out of the space. Lin Quan received the ball. After the ball, he spikes the ball, changes direction and then accelerates. After passing the defensive player, he enters the penalty area and sends the ball into the opponent's goal again.

There was a very wonderful and tacit cooperation between the two.

Just like they have done many times at Werder Bremen and Manchester City.

Only De Bruyne can complete such a pass, and only Lin Quan can achieve such movement and breakthrough shooting.

The twin stars that have continued from the Werder Bremen era to this day are undoubtedly the best offensive combination of this era, if not one.

Lin Quan's goal also killed the suspense of the game. Manchester City will no longer be reversed by its opponents.

In the end, with Lin Quan's brace, Manchester City defeated Crystal Palace 3:1 in an away game and won a valuable victory.

With this victory, Manchester City moved up one spot to second place in the league.

The team at the top of the list is no longer Liverpool. The Red Army was unexpectedly tied by Southampton and overtaken by Manchester City, falling to third place.

Currently at the top of the list is a team that no one expected - Blues Chelsea.

Chelsea, which defeated its opponent 1:0 in the away game, has won a terrifying six consecutive victories.

If they can maintain this winning streak, no one can take the league title away from them.

The Blues, who have been dormant for many years, seem to finally have a chance to win the league title again!