In the first thrilling clash at the Etihad, Arteta believed that it was luck that managed to secure a two-goal advantage at home in the final moments.

He was frank about his fears – City can't always get lucky.

The long-term absence of Vincent Kompany, known as one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League, has caused a huge loss to Manchester City's backline and has also had an immeasurable impact on Manchester City's overall strength.

Pep Guardiola's personal introduction of John Stones paid full tuition fees in his first season for Manchester City and was given a very low score by the media after the first leg against Monaco.

Otamendi's form has also been up and down. More crucially, the overall ageing of the full-backs has made it difficult for Pep Guardiola's tactical system to be fully supported, and Manchester City have not received enough reinforcements in the winter window, except for Jesus, who has long been finalised.

Not only Mikel Arteta, but also Fernando Torrente were of the same opinion before the game, with City's defence struggling to provide enough help at the Stade Louis II.

In such a situation, Pep Guardiola decided to solve the problem with his usual football philosophy - that is, attacking, constantly attacking, and tougher attacking to suppress the opponent and kill even the last hope of Monaco to turn the tables.

At the critical moment, the entire coaching team still thought of relying on the strength of Xiwa. To this end, Guardiola resolutely won Yaya Toure, who is accustomed to sharing the ball in the front court with Xiwa, and built a midfield defense with Asuka who is more responsible at the defensive end, in order to establish Xiwa's absolute core position in this game.

The away goal scored by Sane just now after a series of outbursts seems to be the German's best performance since joining Manchester City, but in Guardiola's opinion, the biggest hero behind this is Xiva, who is going all out!

It was the almost omnipresent presence of Shewa up front that seriously disrupted Monaco's overall defence, allowing Sane to break down the left corridor.

I concentrated all my forces in the opponent's frontcourt, just to make a fuss by taking advantage of the absolute advantage formed by Xiwa's superior strength.

Through most of the half, Pep Guardiola was convinced that his hunting tactics would definitely be able to score goals, and Monaco would be able to hold back.

Seeing Jardim give it a go and start fighting with an almost "all-in" tactic, Guardiola was shocked, but his self-confidence remained unshaken.

He believes that Monaco can replicate a similar tactic and style of play -

But they don't have a second David Silva!

So he remains as steady as he is, and he is noncommittal about Arteta's suggestion to bring on centre-back Otamendi.

He is confident that his pre-match arrangements will help City get through the final 20 minutes.

In the face of Monaco's ragged counterattack, Manchester City's players on the pitch appeared very calm.

De Bruyne's position dropped back again, and Sane and Raheem Sterling on either side also returned to midfield to assist in the defence, while focusing on the wide defence, City's central midfielders tried their best to snipe Li Liang's activities in the middle.

Li Liang was already enthusiastic, and he couldn't be rational at all.

Every method they could think of was ruthlessly stifled by Manchester City, and when they found a problem with City's defence, the opponent immediately forced themselves and their teammates back into central midfield with a more aggressive attack, so that the attack that had just begun to improve could not be sustained.

Yaldim said to him just now: "Lee, you have to find a way to keep attacking their defence, their centre-back combination is bound to make mistakes under pressure!" ”

But now it is difficult for Li Liang to connect to the 30-meter area close to Manchester City, and he will be blocked by the opponent layer by layer.

He saw that the time on the big screen had come to the 79th minute, and if he didn't do something, it would be completely too late!

Xiao Yu was shocked to see Li Liang like a beast frantically impacting Manchester City's overall defense, and he even tried to shoot from a distance in the midfield when he was repeatedly blocked!

Li Liang was blocked by Asuka and De Bruyne, and fired a powerful long-range shot with his left foot 35 meters from the goal!

Shots from this distance were hardly a threat to Caballero, who had already taken their positions in advance, but to the surprise of the home crowd, the Manchester City goalkeeper didn't seem to dare to be careless at all, and directly lifted the ball out of the bottom line with both hands, and Monaco took a corner.

The home fans cheered as if they had scored a goal, they had been suppressed for too long, knowing full well that even such a lucky corner for Monaco was a rare opportunity to score!

Falcao and Glick were not good-looking, and they were deeply worried that if Li Liang lost his mind, Monaco would completely lose the last shred of hope.

Gremandy felt the same way, waving his hand and complaining: "Stupid shot! ”

"No!" Henry's eyes widened: "Something is wrong!" ”

Lineker said with some regret: "This kind of play may be what Manchester City wants to see the most, Monaco can no longer change the situation!" ”

Gerald interjected, "Wait, this 17 doesn't seem quite right!" ”

Messi, who was already a little drowsy on the sofa, also suddenly got energetic, he rubbed his eyes violently, sat up straight and began to stare intently at the TV screen.

Except for Yaldim, the other assistant coaches were a little dazed, and it was rare to see Li Liang forcibly shoot at such an uncertain distance before!

Jardim walked briskly from the bench to the command area, and he had the opportunity to cross the line and enter the field, where the fourth official immediately came to alert him.

Yaldim nodded back and said, "I'm sorry, I'm just trying to see better!" ”

When everyone thought that Li Liang was dizzy, the Portuguese also seemed to see something!

Li Liang shouted to Lemar, who ran to the corner kick area: "Thomas, please let me do this ball?" ”

Lemar hesitated for a moment but then stopped: "Lee, please be calm, we still have time, we still have a chance!" ”

It was a corner kick on the left side, and Li Liang set up the ball and began to step back to measure the step, and it looked like he was going to use his left foot to take the corner.

Surprisingly, he returned to the corner area and carefully set up the ball again, carefully brushing off the tiny blades of grass on the ball.

Seeing this action, Xiaoyu was relieved, and she said to Talon: "Don't worry, you can tell Radamel (Falco) that he has definitely not lost his mind!" ”

Li Liang stepped back again, and this time it was clear that he was ready to use his right foot to open a corner kick inside the arc.

Grimandi froze violently: "This guy ......"

Henry also became more nervous: "Very likely! ”

Lippi was slightly dissatisfied: "At this time, we should strictly abide by the team's tactical discipline, and it is too hasty to change the penalty taker at will."

What if Monaco hadn't practised Lee's corners? ”

The reaction in the conference room of the hurricane team was diametrically opposite, Li Liang's friends - Bald Qiang, Dongzi, Chu Xianyun, Ding Ding, Donggua, Da Nan, Xiao Yongzhi, etc., all stood up, and even Feng Yihan and Zhang Jiang also stood up!

Old Man Zhang's voice was surprised: "Liangzi won't come to that again, right?!"

This kid is too bold! ”

……

After the last game, there was an agreement within Manchester City that Li Liang was a well-balanced player, especially with his left foot – after all, it was his left foot that provided the lethal assist for Falcao in the final moments of the game.

Therefore, the players who saw Li Liang change to his right foot to punish Manchester City did not pay special attention. De Bruyne looked extremely nervous, and he suddenly recalled the scenes and scenes when Li Liang was on trial at the Manchester City base, as well as all the videos he had watched about Li Liang -

Seeing Mbappe on the other side scramble for position with Sargna in front of Caballero in an attempt to interfere with Caballero, De Bruyne became more and more convinced————

"Willy! Willie!! ”

De Bruyne suddenly yelled: "Beware of him hitting the door directly!" ”

The referee had already blown the whistle to signal Li Liang to start the free throw.

Li Liang took a deep breath, he felt that special feeling was still lingering on his feet, and it was getting stronger and stronger!

He raised his hands in the air, then immediately put them down and began to run—

In addition to Mbappe, the players of Monaco, who are desperately scrambling for positions in the penalty area, are a little baffled.

In any set-piece tactics laid out by assistant coach Barros, there is no such gesture code?

Mbappe gritted his teeth and tried to carry Sagna, who was much stronger than himself, such a corner, he had seen too many times in the early morning and evening in Latubi-

In the shouts of getting older and higher, the ball got closer and closer, and the power of the whole body instantly condensed, converging to every part of the body through the rapid contraction and relaxation of thousands of muscle fibers-

Li Liang raised his left arm high, stepped on the support point with his left foot, and the shoe spikes were deeply nailed into the turf to connect him with the earth, and at the same time feedback back the most adequate support and stability-

At the same moment, the shoulders are heavy, the chest is contained, and the abdomen is bent, and the hip joint has already driven the thighs to swing back rapidly, and once it reaches the height that has been firmly engraved in the muscle memory, all muscle groups explode in turn, and the powerful leg swing action is enough to make the ball gain sufficient kinetic energy!

The touches were impeccable – as in my dreams, as I had done countless times in Latubi, despite the difference in time and space, and despite the almost desperate tactics of the opponent that killed all attempts————

One thing has not changed, this rainbow-like arc is still enough to take you to the other end of your dreams!

With a "bang", the ball took off, Li Liang's large leg swing made his body take off, and his eyes kept staring at the trajectory drawn by the ball-

This is the trajectory of the dream -

In Xiaoyu's irrepressible tears-

In the huge shouts of the fans full of anticipation -

In the eyes of Mbappe, who was knocked to the ground by his opponent-

In Henry's empathetic memories -

Under Messi's shocked gaze -

In Gerald's irrepressible exclamation—

In Grimandy's abruptly restored memories of déjà vu—

Between the waving arms of all these grassroots players of the Hurricanes -

Under Yaldim's shocked gaze—

The ball flew higher and higher, faster and faster, whistling and spinning under the starry sky of the Mediterranean night sky, piercing the soul of every spectator and plummeting straight towards the Manchester City goal!

Guardiola felt that the world stood still for a moment, as if he had seen a meteor -

Flying unstoppably towards the gate of our side!