Chapter 539: Little Manchester City vs. Blue Moon

Before Manchester City played against Monaco, the media interviewed Zhao Yi.

What people are most concerned about is of course which national team Zhao Yi will join under the genius clause.

Zhao Yi said that he hasn't made up his mind yet.

"If I haven't thought it through, then I really haven't thought it through. If I had thought it through and you asked me again, I would definitely answer.

There’s nothing to hide.”

Zhao Yi answered straightforwardly.

The reporter was also tactful and did not continue asking questions, but instead symbolically asked some questions about the Champions League match.

"We are of course confident that we can win the game, our goal is clear, to defend the Champions League title.

Monaco is a young team with great impact, just like us last season.

But they won't work the same miracles as we do.

Why? Because I'm not in the Monaco squad."

Zhao Yi gave a very straightforward reason.

Monaco participates in the French Ligue 1, but in fact Monaco is not a French team.

This team was established by the royal family of the Principality of Monaco. The Principality of Monaco is too small and there are not many teams in the country, so the Monaco team chose to join the French League.

Monaco has won the French Ligue 1 and the French Cup in history.

It also has a place in the entire history of Ligue 1.

But that was a very long time ago.

After the 21st century, Monaco rose again.

In the 03-04 season, they won all the way in the Champions League and reached the final.

It's a pity that the success fell short.

Defeated by Porto, a Portuguese Super League powerhouse led by Mourinho.

This is also Mourinho's masterpiece, and the top five leagues have gained a head coach with a strong personality.

So far, the last team outside the top five leagues to win the Champions League was still Porto.

No team from outside the top five leagues has won the Champions League since Porto.

Mourinho is very controversial, but his ability is unquestionable.

After the 04 season, Monaco's performance began to fluctuate again and it lost its competitiveness in Ligue .

It was not until the new owner took over Monaco and spent 2.5 million euros on buying players that the team's performance began to improve.

Last season, Monaco ended Paris Saint-Germain's four consecutive championships and won the Ligue 1 championship.

This season, the French Ligue 1 is still a duet between Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco.

The team's rising star Mbappe has performed well this season, averaging 1 goal and 0.4 assists per game over the first half of the season.

Monaco's attacking line is young, powerful and incredibly fast.

Manchester City's defense should have been able to deal with this kind of team, but unfortunately Kyle Walker and Stones were absent due to injuries.

Without Kyle Walker, Manchester City's right side is likely to have problems.

Falcao, who joined Monaco for 60 million euros, is a former Atletico Madrid striker who once scored a hat trick in the European Super Cup against Chelsea, helping Atletico Madrid win the championship.

He is now at the peak of his career, and partnering with Mbappe, any team's defense will find it difficult.

The strength of Monaco's midfield players should not be underestimated. The most representative attacking frontcourt player is Bernardo Silva.

People call him seat B.

If we follow Zhao Yi's original timeline, Monaco eliminated Manchester City in two rounds this season. Bernardo Silva performed very well and was bought by Guardiola to Manchester City at the end of the season.

Just like Kyle Walker, you perform well, you beat me, and I will buy you.

When Guardiola was at Bayern, his performance was average, but he did learn Bayern's operating strategy and poached players.

Are you good?

What can you do no matter how powerful you are?

I bought all your cores, let's see how powerful you can be.

In addition, Monaco also has a top midfielder, Fabinho.

After the end of this season's Champions League, he also landed in the Premier League and became an important part of Liverpool's revival.

Fabinho, who has almost no offensive ability, ranked 13th in the Ballon d'Or voting, which shows the defensive strength of this top midfielder.

He is fast, good at intercepting, has a very high basketball IQ, and is also good at ball control.

A truly ideal defensive midfielder.

Monaco also has another talented midfielder, Lemar.

Lemar's playing style is very similar to Iniesta. He doesn't show off his skills, but he can create excellent opportunities for his teammates.

This top midfielder joined Atletico Madrid for 70 million after the end of the season.

What Simeone values is his solid foundation and simple style of play.

As a member of the French national team, Lemar also won the World Cup as an absolute main player.

As an attacking forward, he can dribble and cross the ball, and his passing skills are delicate and accurate, allowing his teammates to receive the ball very comfortably, and his teammates can shoot directly without almost any adjustment.

Perform a volley.

More importantly, he was able to handle the fight himself.

He has strong individual combat capability and a good long-range shooting ability.

The French media called him "Little Zhao Yi".

Because his technical characteristics on the offensive end are very similar to Zhao Yi.

Another main midfielder starting, Bakayoko, is slightly less capable than these three, but is also good enough.

Because of his outstanding performance in Monaco, he finally joined Chelsea for 52 million euros, which is not much different from Bernardo Silva's 60 million euros.

Monaco has experienced a talent surge, with the midfield and frontcourt players all young and powerful.

The only thing lacking may be experience.

Facing Manchester City, they definitely have enough confidence and desire to fight.

Newborn calves are not afraid of tigers.

Manchester City was able to win the Champions League last season with a group of young players.

Why can't they do that?

Mbappe is eager to try, and Zhao Yi can be the core of Manchester City, conquering cities and defeating all opponents in the Champions League.

How could he not do it?

This year's Monaco is almost a replica of last year's Manchester City.

Moreover, the staffing is more reasonable and excellent.

If Manchester City did not have Zhao Yi last season, with the configuration of De Bruyne, Sterling and David Silva, it would be really a bit behind this group of young players who are about to shine in the world football.

Therefore, these young people from Monaco also want to be the new Manchester City!

This Monaco team has one thing in common with last season's Manchester City: they are strong in attack but weak in defense.

The defense was a little bit lacking.

There is only one left-back who is both famous and capable.

Mendy.

Selected into the French Ligue 1 best team last season.

He was also an important contributor to France's World Cup victory, and was eventually bought by Guardiola to Manchester City.

In this game, Manchester City was without Kyle Walker and Stones, so the quality of their defense was bound to decline.

Monaco's defense was never good.

In the eyes of the media, this game will be a real goal-scoring battle.

Both sides will definitely make efforts on the offensive end.

If you want to win the game, you can't rely on defense.