For other teams participating in the Champions League, Manchester City's two-goal victory over Inter Milan in an away game was enough to shock everyone - anyway, Inter Milan has been one of the strongest teams in Europe in the past few years. Last year Although they lost to Liverpool by two goals in the first round, it was in an away game and they still received two red cards. With Mourinho this season, although Mancini and Quare were transferred in the summer, Sima failed, but after all, they also have quite good strength, but now they are beaten 2-0 by Manchester City without temper at their home court. What kind of concept is this!
This means that Manchester City has completely reached the level of a top team, both in terms of real strength and mentality!
If Manchester City's strength was not exaggerated at the beginning of the season, then after training in the Champions League group stage, they have begun to mature. What is particularly frightening is that some of the young players in their ranks are still struggling. With progress, Benzema is getting better and better, Bell can also take on important tasks in many cases, plus Vidal, who can almost replace Deco The overall strength of Manchester City now is indeed terrifying!
This victory has undoubtedly boosted Manchester City's confidence again. Although they have been chased by Manchester United in the league and have only one point left in the lead, they are still undaunted and begin to believe that they can win in the league and in the league. Achieve the best results in the Champions Cup!
Of course, at this time, all the Manchester City players do not feel that they must win the Champions League. For most of them, they feel that they can go one step further, that is, win, win one game at a time. , until you reach your limit.
Among Manchester City players, except for Deco, although Torres, Di Natale, Yaya Toure and Alves have all won the Champions League under Dick, except for Deco, he was the main player in Porto. In addition, the other four people have only won the Champions League as substitutes. They now hope to launch an impact in the Champions League as the main force. Even if they do not necessarily win the championship, as long as they show themselves during the impact. value, then for them, it is the most important thing!
After returning to the league, Manchester City began to continue to win in the league. At the same time, their biggest rival, Manchester United, was also chasing behind them tenaciously, constantly narrowing the distance between them and Arsenal's winning streak!
Arsenal¡¯s previous 14-game winning streak is the longest winning streak in the Premier League so far, and they have now won 11 consecutive games. If they win three more games, Manchester United will set a new record!
"Only fourteen games? If I had known earlier, I would have tried my best to win the game against Liverpool" Dick flipped through the newspaper and muttered in his heart. He really didn't notice this before. Otherwise, based on the previous Manchester City has achieved ten consecutive victories. If we are serious, it is really possible to break this record - but now, don't think about it, it is already unlikely. Even if we win all this season, we will not be able to achieve it. The scale of fourteen consecutive wins.
In the twenty-seventh round, Manchester City defeated West Ham United 2-1 in an away game. After rotating most of their main players, their victory was precious. Manchester United completed 12 consecutive victories. They were at home. Easily defeated Portsmouth 2-0 and continued to chase behind Manchester City.
In the twenty-eighth round, Manchester City defeated Aston Villa 2-0 at home. It can be said that Manchester City did not give Aston Villa any opportunity to take advantage of it. In the first round, they had completed a hat trick against Manchester City. Agbonlahor had no performance at all under Manchester City's targeted defense. Manchester City controlled and steadily advanced through the midfield, scoring one goal in each half and not giving Aston Villa any chance to counterattack. Such a performance A mature Manchester City is what scares everyone. They are less aggressive and aggressive, but they can win in a more relaxed way.
??And Manchester United defeated Newcastle 2-1 in an away game, which brought their winning streak to 13 games, only one game away from Arsenal's record!
Manchester United's strong momentum has made many people begin to feel that Manchester City is now unable to withstand it. However, after observing Manchester United's recent state, Dick said to the players on the training ground with certainty: "Manchester United Now we are almost reaching a period of exhaustionI think they will have poor results next.¡±
Manchester City's players were doubtful, but the next second round of the Champions League seemed to be a slap in the face. Manchester United swept Sporting Lisbon 7-1 at home and entered the quarterfinals!
Although Manchester City also controlled the opponent very well at home, withstood Inter Milan's counterattack, and finally played 0-0 with the opponent at home, and entered the quarterfinals with a total score of 2-0 in the two rounds, but Manchester UnitedThis crazy momentum has undoubtedly cast a shadow on the hearts of countless people who support Manchester City!
"Actually they are really dying, haven't you seen? In the league, it is getting more and more difficult for them to win, but in the Champions League, they scored seven goals at once It's typical of that They can no longer control their overall state. They are playing average at one moment and playing very well at another. With this state, it will be very difficult for them to create a winning streak. "Dick said a little bit. Said to Marina helplessly.
"Why? With their current momentum, it won't be a big deal if they win one or two more times." Marina was a little confused.
"Don't forget who their opponent is in the next round." Dick laughed.
"Liverpool" Marriner replied smoothly, and then reacted: "You mean"
"It's impossible for Benitez not to see this. Although their form has begun to decline recently, without the involvement of the Champions League, they are still very strong. Benitez will make good use of this. Maybe, this Manchester United will lose miserably in one round." Dick replied with a smile.
Dick once again proved his unique vision and judgment - Manchester United, which was aiming for fourteen consecutive victories, suffered a heavy setback in the fourteenth game. At their home court, they were beaten four points by Liverpool. First, throughout the game they were embarrassed by the crazy running and strong physical confrontation of Liverpool players. Except for Cristiano Ronaldo who scored a goal through a penalty kick, most of the other times Manchester United are all at a disadvantage, and their current decline has indeed been reflected. In terms of physical fitness, they are beginning to be a little bit unbearable - after all, overall, they are not as good as Manchester City. Fighting on two fronts, against their main lineup The pressure seems to be very great.
And Dick directed Manchester City to draw Chelsea one to one in the away game. Under such circumstances, scoring one more point than the opponent is an extra weight in the final moments of the league!
With this draw, Manchester City leads Manchester United by two points, which means that they are qualified to draw one more game than Manchester United in the remaining nine rounds of the league.
"I've said it before, but you still don't believe it!" Dick just said these words after the game, and left the projection room where they were watching the game together, leaving all the Manchester City players looking at each other.
In this Champions League quarter-finals, four Premier League teams once again entered the quarter-finals, so it became normal for teams to collide - in the end, Manchester City got a relatively better draw, and their opponents, It's Villarreal from Spain.
While Arsenal and Chelsea were fighting each other, Manchester United once again got a good draw. They met another Portuguese team Porto. The remaining game was a collision between Bayern and Barcelona!
The next two games of the Champions League are in April. Before the first round of the away challenge against Villarreal, Manchester City still has two rounds of league games to play, against Sunderland at home and against Arsenal away from home.
Dick will naturally not give up in these two games. At this point in the game, it is time to test Manchester City's overall strength. Dick made so many preparations before the season and carefully used rotations in the league. To train those potential players among the substitute players, not only can we come up with two sets of equally strong lineups, but also one and a half. It is precisely in such a dense and important schedule that we can win. At the same time, try to keep all the players from getting too tired. This is what Dick is pursuing and what he has always built in all the teams he has coached.
Now it seems that the situation is not bad.
In addition to the current main lineup, he can also use players such as Richards, Cahill, Button, Deco, Di Natale, Bell and Ashley Young as substitutes, rotating them to allow all players to play. It can still be done without being too exhausted.
In the 30th round, Manchester City relied on Richards' header to beat Sunderland 1-0 at home with many substitutes on the field. In another game, Manchester United's fatigue had not passed. Suffered two consecutive defeats, lost to Fulham 0-2 away from home, and was opened up by five points to Manchester City!
"Now our league is considered stable." Marina seemed very happy with this result.
"No not necessarily. Ferguson, the old fox, is gathering strength now. In this game, he sent out almost all the substitutes to allow the main players to recover, just for the final sprint! Look, the main players of Manchester United are now They have almost recovered. In the FA Cup this weekend, they will probably let the substitutes come on and let the main players rest. The next step will be the most difficult time," Dick said, shaking his head.Gerson, he has never given up his vigilance. Although he looks very old now and Manchester United seems to be in poor condition, as long as he does not pay attention to anything, he will definitely be hit hard by the Red Devils!
There are still eight rounds of the league, and the five-point gap is nothing. Compared with Manchester United, Manchester City needs to invest more in the Champions League. After all, they cannot make any mistakes, and Manchester United has much more experience. Now Both sides are moving forward hand in hand. If you think that the league is stable now, you will probably be severely tricked by this old fox.
Thinking of this, Dick couldn't help but admire Ferguson. He actually dared to use a substitute at this time to restore his main physical strength and paralyze his opponent at the same time. Such a decisiveness is not easy to make. It can easily be self-defeating. Only Only after Ferguson's control over the team reached a certain limit could he adopt such a bold strategy!
Sure enough, in the sixth round of the FA Cup in the next midweek, Ferguson continued to send out all the substitutes, and finally lost to his opponent and missed the FA Cup semi-finals. Manchester United, which gave up the FA Cup, had already gathered strength. Get ready for the final assault!