In the first round of the Champions League, Manchester City face a rather strong opponent, who will host Fiorentina and Bayern Munich away to PSV Eindhoven.

Manchester City fans are very much looking forward to this game, they hope to see the first Champions League victory at home, after returning to the Premier League, Manchester City has only played in the League Cup, and has never played the Champions Cup, and it is really unpleasant to see their opponents in the same city show off their strength in the Champions Cup every season......

And now, with a huge investment, with Dick in command, they beat Manchester United last season, won the league title, and this season they are going to attack the Champions Cup, how can they not feel excited and excited?

For Fiorentina, this season is also their first return to Champions League competition since relegation - they had a strong performance in 05-06 but lost their hopes of playing in Europe due to the phonegate scandal, and the following season they failed to finish in the top four due to too many points deducted, and finally last season they finished in the top four and qualified for the Champions Cup again!

The last time they reached the Champions League, they had Barty and Rui Costa in their squad, and now Fiorentina is completely different.

However, no one expected that Fiorentina would surprise everyone in the first half, including all the Manchester City fans, away from home......

Gilardino, who joined Fiorentina this season, played at his top level, receiving passes from Zauri and Mutu and slotting the ball into the door of the Manchester City goal, and at the end of the first half, City were two goals down at home!

Luckily, they weren't too affected by the two-goal deficit in the second half, and under Dick's command, they quickly launched a comeback!

After Di Natale received a pass from Torres and pushed a shot into the far corner of the box to get a point back, Manchester City launched a tidal attack, and finally Yaya Toure scored with a header from the opposing defender in the box to equalize the score!

The equaliser from two goals down made Dick happy with the result of the game, although he did not win the game.

"Will a draw let me down? No, I'm happy with the draw. It's normal for players to be a little nervous and unable to let go in the first half, after all, half of them haven't played much in the Champions League and Fiorentina are a very strong team. After being two goals down, we were able to stubbornly equalise and get our first points in the Champions League of the new century, which is already a very good result. I don't think a draw at home will cast a shadow over our prospects of qualifying, but there are six games in the group stage, and generally 10 to 13 points are enough to qualify, so we only need to win three more games to qualify – that's the shadow, then we're in the shadow all the time, and life is too boring. ”

Dick seemed very satisfied after the game, and he was indeed very satisfied, in the first half, Manchester City did not play very well, and was a little uncomfortable with unfamiliar opponents, and two years later, Fiorentina's lineup also changed a lot from Dick's time, in the first half of the two goals behind, the second half can quickly boost morale to complete the counterattack, has been pressing Fiorentina to play, such a situation for Dick, more important than winning a game.

This kind of game can bring enough tests to the players, so that they can improve faster and adapt to the atmosphere of the Champions Cup.

"Now you know, the Champions Cup game has always been more difficult to play, because the team participating in the Champions Cup must have tenacious nerves and rich experience, and any Champions Cup game, no one will give up easily, because it is related to money and income, every step forward, the club's income will increase a lot, except for the kind of team that has no prospects, as long as it is an ambitious team, will not give up the opportunity to show itself in the Champions Cup...... That's the scariest thing about the Champions Cup, and now that we're facing a game like this, we have to concentrate our full attention in the game, not relax at any time, and give our all in the game...... That's the most important thing to pay attention to in the Champions Cup, get it? ”

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Dick also let the players understand the cruelty of the Champions Cup, although he has won a lot of Champions League titles, but for this European club's highest glory game, Dick has never underestimated it, as the UEFA slogan says, here is the best game, with the best players and the best manager, only in this case stand on the top podium, that is the best of the best!

In the previous two consecutive games, Dick sent all the main players despite the fatigue of most of the main players who participated in the national team games, but next, Dick is going to use rotation to give the players a break, after all, from now on, Manchester City's games are almost two games a week, and if there is no rotation, the Iron Man will have to be abolished - don't you see that the Ghanaian Buffalo Essien, who was known as "can play one game a day", is now also starting to suffer from injuries? After all, the human physique has its limits......

So in the next game against Portsmouth, Dick sent a mixed lineup.

Goalkeeper Hart, defenders Alves, Richards, Cahill, Sun Jihai, Sun Jihai played as a left-back, midfielders Barton, Vidal, Deco, and forwards Bale, Di Natale, Benzema.

There are only half of the main players in such a lineup, either goalkeepers like Hart, or players like Alves who are not sure of the main players in the national team, or players like Deco who have retired from the national team, or players like Di Natale who will not be too physically exhausted in the game, and Dick wants to give the players a break.

However, this set of substitute lineups was a big hit in the game.

In the opening thirteen minutes, Benzema received a cross after Bale's forced breakthrough, and volleyed the goal at the back post, catching Portsmouth off guard!

Seven minutes later, Deco took a corner and Cahill, who had the assist, grabbed the first spot in the box and shook his head to extend City's lead!

After taking a two-goal lead in the first half, Manchester City began to play more control of the ball, Vidal and Deco, two technical players, coordinated quite well, Deco controlled the tempo, Vidal charged, this approach made Manchester City's midfield began to be full of technicality, and also made Portsmouth's midfield more and more inferior.

Manchester City did not score in the rest of the first half, but Portsmouth was overdrawn a lot, which made their disadvantage in the second half even more obvious, and Manchester City continued to tear their defense with attack!

In the 57th minute, Benzema passed the ball diagonally to Bale outside the penalty area, Bale forced his way into the penalty area with speed and then raised his foot to push into the far corner, and the ball flew accurately in front of the opponent's goalkeeper and flew into the door of Portsmouth!

The 3-0 scoreline didn't let City stop, and eleven minutes later, Alves, who had inserted the assist, broke through and crossed, and Di Natale appeared at the point of the ball, and scored the fourth goal for Manchester City with a light pick!

Seeing that it was already 4-0, Dick began to change players, and Sturridge, Dunn and veteran Hart, who have played less this season, were all sent on the field, but Manchester City's attack is now completely played, and there is no saving face for Portsmouth at all......

In the 78th minute, Hart took a free kick from the left, and Vidal grabbed the first drop point at the back point, and shook his head to expand the score to 5-0!

In the 83rd minute, Benzema scored twice to score his third goal for Manchester City, and although his chances on the pitch have not been very consistent, Benzema has already proved his worth.

Six to zero! The biggest slaughter of the Premier League so far this season, Manchester City did it despite sending a large number of substitutes, which gave a powerful response to the unfavourable rhetoric after being held to a draw in the Champions League!

"We just need time to get used to it in the Champions Cup! When we get used to it, it's time to win the Champions Cup! "Countless Manchester City fans are talking like this.

In the third round of the Carabao Cup in midweek, Manchester City, who continued to field all their substitutes, also continued to advance, beating Derby County 4-1 at home to advance to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.

After a period of rest, City's main players have almost recovered their fitness, but in the following period, Manchester City suffered two consecutive draws.

First in the sixth round of the league, because the Champions League match against Bayern Munich in the following week, Dick continued to rotate half of the main players in this game, but Manchester City's performance in this game was somewhat unsatisfactory, and they led 2-1 at one point, but were equalized by Wigan Athletic in the last minute, ending their four-game winning streak in the league.

The next game is the second round of the Champions Cup, Manchester City away to challenge Bayern, in this game Manchester City's performance is very good, although it is away, but it and Bayern played a difficult part, in the first half of Bayern's Klose and Toney's forward partner did not get any chance, but by Benzema broke through and assisted Torres to score a goal to break the deadlock, although in the second half by Tony forced Kompany header ferry, assisted Klose in the penalty area to grab a point to equalize, However, this 1-1 draw did not disappoint at all.

'We played better and better in the Champions Cup...... The draw in the last game showed just how strong we can be in the Champions League, and this draw shows that we can have the upper hand and an advantage against the best teams. It's a good situation and it at least proves that we have enough quality in the Champions League. Strength is the basis for creating miracles, with such strength, we can have the possibility of attacking the Champions Cup in the next Champions Cup, our players have changed from the awe of the Champions Cup at the beginning, to the confidence now, because they have the strength to perform well in the Champions Cup, in the Allianz Arena we have felt the strong strength of Bayern, and I hope that in the final round of the game, we can be in the City Stadium, and let Bayern feel our ability. ”

Dick was also pleased with City's performance after this round of Champions League fixtures, and if a home draw in the last round was not a favourable situation, then in this round, they drew with Bayern Munich away from home, but no one can say that they did a bad job.