The British have always admired chivalry.

This age-old spirit has also been carried over to the sport, and in professional football, it has become a 'queue' tradition to welcome the champions.

In the beginning, the parade tradition originated with the military, which, as military historian John Sandler puts it, "As a rule, the military of most nations assumes the duty of parade in salute, which we call the guard of honor." The members of the honor guard are all the best of the best, with a majestic spirit, elegant demeanor, and precise movements.

The most courteous welcome is usually a tribute to a visiting foreign dignitary, a major domestic ceremonial celebration, or a soldier who has sacrificed his life for his country.

"In the United Kingdom, procession ceremonies are generally performed by the Guards Infantry and Household Cavalry Regiments, although it is not excluded that other procession ceremonies may be held by the government or other organisations, depending on the occasion. So, we can also understand why the sports world also borrows from this ritual. ”

The welcome is a gesture of high respect to the opponent.

In 1955, Drake led Chelsea to their first English First Division title one round earlier. In the final game, Chelsea took on Manchester United at Old Trafford. The then Manchester United manager, Sir Busby, paid his respects to the king by ordering the entire squad to line up at the entrance to welcome the Chelsea players. Chelsea were not favourites at the time, their squad was diminutive, but it was the ducklings who did wonders in the end.

Busby is one of United's greatest managers in history, and instead of being annoyed when Chelsea snatched the title, he paid tribute to the title in his final home game.

The move was described by the English press as a continuation of the old chivalry.

Both the Premier League and La Liga continue the tradition of "welcoming the champions in a line", and although the rules of football are not mandatory, the courage to congratulate the champions (especially between sworn enemies) is an invisible reflection of a team's grandeur and demeanor.

In fact, after Don Quixote. The "knight" was thrown into the dustbin of history.

In the highly commercial world of football, chivalry has long been as rare as an antique in a museum, but deep down, the pursuit of morality and justice never stops.

Because of this, when the knightly qualities with classical colors occasionally shine, they can still be exciting.

Wan Sheng told the players. It is after winning the championship that in the next league, the teams that 'want to retain their demeanor' will welcome Manchester City.

It's not a must, it's a lot up to the manager to line up to welcome the champions, but it's a tradition in English football.

If a team doesn't line up to welcome the champions regardless of their demeanor, the manager of that team will definitely be 'a bit of a problem' in the media after the game, and he will be condemned and denounced by various English media.

Wansheng is looking forward to this.

Those small teams that don't have a grudge against themselves are also counted. Manchester City have already enjoyed it last season, but Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and other teams are different, they are Manchester United's rivals in the league, the Champions League, especially Chelsea, and after nearly three years of competition with Jose Mourinho, it is still something to look forward to for his team to be welcomed by his team before the Portuguese leaves.

Wan Sheng also used this to motivate the players to play seriously. Try to win as much as you can.

Wan Sheng is looking forward to it, and so are the Manchester City players. They were already imagining the stars of Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal at the Manchester Stadium welcoming them.

Therefore, in this game, Manchester City is very combative.

Although the team did not send the main lineup, the team still won 3:1 in the end.

Although many pro-Manchester City media are hyping up the team's '16-game winning streak'. But in fact, Wan Sheng didn't have any feelings about winning, after all, the opponent was just Charlton.

But there was something to be happy about after the game.

In this round, Manchester United lost again, perhaps affected by the reversal of the previous derby and the Champions League. United didn't do well at Flaton Park, with Portsmouth opening the scoring from striker Matthew Taylor before centre-back and captain Rio Ferdinand scored an own goal to put United two goals behind in the first half.

Although O'Shea pulled a goal back in stoppage time in the second half, there was not much time left for the Reds to recover, and they lost the game away.

Speaking after the game, United boss Alex Ferguson said: "It's fair to say we played well for the first 20 minutes of the first half, but then it seemed like the goal was wide open. I can't blame the players, they've all shown a lot of willpower this season and hopefully they can get out of that disappointment soon. ”

Ferguson avoided the issue of Wayne Rooney claiming two penalties in the game, saying only, "He was unlucky with the offside decision and everyone in the room saw that he was just a little bit past it. "But everyone else who watched the game had a scale in their hearts.

In this game, Manchester United just didn't perform well, and they didn't lose at all.

At the end of this round, Manchester City have already pulled Manchester United 15 league points, and with only six league games remaining, the only question left is for Manchester City to win the title a few rounds earlier.

By this time, many Manchester City media had already sent their blessings to Manchester City's championship in advance, and Manchester City fans could not look forward to that day.

However, the whole Manchester City team is not in the mood to win the title, because they still have a very important Champions League game to play, and the second leg against AC Milan is a heavy pressure on the team, and they must prepare in advance.

Ahead of this game, Manchester City have one more league game to go.

In the league, Manchester City have continued to form the same formation, but there have been significant changes in position.

Anelka's return from injury has relieved the striker's urgent need, but considering the form and other issues, Wansheng still put Anelka on the bench and continued to start Darren Bent.

In addition, for the upcoming Champions League, the team has to maintain its form, so David Silva, Dunn and Ivan Crewe are not in the starting lineup, and the veterans Reina and Sinclair, who have been difficult to play, started and Sun Jihai took Dunn's place and partnered with Copelle Ferreira in the back.

This is almost the worst squad Manchester City has had since the start of the season, and the strength that can be played can be imagined.

Fortunately, the opponent Liverpool also has to prepare for the second leg of the Champions League. Their opponents, Bayern Munich, have struggled to cope with the 1-1 draw in the last leg in Munich and will have to prepare for the final clash at Anfield two days later.

So this game. Liverpool also fielded a substitute line-up, with even Steven Gerrard not in the starting line-up.

Perhaps the head coach Benitez considered that even if he sent all the main players, it would be difficult to take away the victory at the Manchester stadium, so he simply sent a substitute lineup. Both sides were substitutes, the game was very intense, both sides played well, fighting and defending, showing their respective abilities. After 90 minutes, the two teams drew 0-0.

After the game, Wan Shengzhi felt lucky.

In this game, he actually didn't have much hope, and as a result, Liverpool didn't pay attention to the game, in short, it was a draw in the end, and one more point could help the team win the championship one round earlier.

This result is perfectly acceptable.

Neither side said anything after the game. Both teams have to prepare for the Champions League and don't want to put too much thought into the league.

The next day. Manchester City left for Milan, Italy.

――――

In the last leg at the Manchester Stadium, AC Milan left with two goals, and now at the San Siro, Manchester City are quite passive.

The difference of two goals, coupled with the fact that it is an away game, is aimed at such a situation. Wansheng intends to use the 'crazy tactics' of full attack, which is also a very helpless choice, after all, the away side is two goals behind, and the opponent is an Italian giant like AC Milan who is very good at defense, and it is a bit fantastical to win in 90 minutes. Without the use of some abnormal means, the team is basically eliminated.

Maybe there are miracles in football.

But without Morris, Downing, and Beckham's Manchester City lineup, the chances of a miracle happening are too small and too small, and Wan Sheng can only use a big attack to fight for the initiative.

The tactics of 10,000 wins are no problem, and any team will be a little scrambling when they first come into contact with Manchester City's 'all-attacking tactics', which is very evident in the case of bitter rivals Manchester United, and the same is true for AC Milan.

Ancelotti didn't expect Manchester City to attack so fiercely in the opening game, and as a result, AC Milan was a little panicked, even at their home stadium, they failed to get into the game at the first time, and as a result, a defensive mistake at the back had already scored Manchester City's first goal.

"The ball is in! Anelka! ”

'He got a pass from Silva and volleyed it straight into the net! This time it was Nesta's mistake that he failed to see the Frenchman in the first place, allowing the Frenchman to get a good chance! ”

“2：1！ AC Milan were poured into the opening kick-off and their lead was just one! ”

The first half of the first half to score a good start, but AC Milan is AC Milan after all, they are Italian giants, European giants, in the current European team, the strength is absolutely one of the best, Ancelotti is also a very experienced manager, he reacted quickly, let the team strengthen the defense, and use quick reactions to find opportunities.

Then it's the superstar's turn to perform.

Kaka.

When Wansheng was thinking about tactics, he also thought that AC Milan would carry out a quick counterattack, and also made some arrangements for this, but these defensive arrangements are only for the position, be careful not to leak people, do not let the opponent carry out anti-offside and other aspects, if the opposing player takes the ball to break through the defense directly, then there is no way at all, after all, most of the team's energy is on the offense, and it is impossible to take both offense and defense into account.

As a result, Kaka became powerful!

This is in the 41st minute of the first half, Kaka got the ball in the midfield, directly broke through Sun Jihai's defense, and then he ran all the way to the Manchester City goal, Sun Jihai and Kopele Ferreira had no way at all, they started chasing Kaka in the back, but the distance was getting bigger and bigger, seeing this kind of scene, Wan Sheng could only smile helplessly.

Kaka's speed is just too fast, especially now that he's in his prime.

When Kaka brought the ball, ordinary players couldn't catch up at all, and as a result, the Manchester City players watched Kaka dribble the ball to the penalty area line, and completed the hanging shot before Wang Xiaolei saved.

In the face of this kind of shooting, Wang Xiaolei had no choice but to turn his head and send the football to fall into the goal from the top of his head.

This conceded goal made Wan Sheng feel helpless, and at the same time shook the confidence of Manchester City's players.

Morris, Downing's injuries. and David Beckham, who has performed well in the league, cannot play, it is too much of a blow to Manchester City, Anelka is an excellent star, but his popularity in the team is not good, Manchester City does not have a strong spiritual leader on the field, plus the score gap. The players' confidence itself was lacking, and now AC Milan scored another goal, and the gap has become two goals, and some players have little confidence when they think about the game with 45 minutes left.

Wan Sheng's face was very ugly, and he clenched his fists tightly.

He doesn't like the feeling of failure.

So now Wansheng is still thinking about how to win, 3:1, Manchester City is still two goals behind, as long as he can score two goals. Manchester City will be able to knock out AC Milan on away goals.

At halftime, Wan Sheng said to everyone, "Now it's time for us to fight!" We need two goals! As long as we can score two, we can qualify, and now, we haven't lost yet! ”

"I remember two years ago, when Liverpool and AC Milan played the Champions League final, they were three goals behind. But in the six minutes of the second half, they scored three goals in a row. In the end, they defeated AC Milan on penalties and won the UEFA Champions League trophy! ”

"We're not that tough, we just need two balls!"

"Two balls! We'll win! ”

――――

Manchester City entered the game with an indomitable momentum.

At the start of the second half, Manchester City began to attack aggressively towards the AC Milan half, and at one point suppressed AC Milan into the half, they tried to control the ball and press it with full control. to control the tempo of the game, and only then will it be easier to score goals.

Two balls, not an absolute gap!

Like the coach said, they don't need to complete a three-goal comeback, two goals in the second half are enough. Now it's time to fight, and they only need to fight for 45 minutes to open the door to the last four of the Champions League.

City's efforts paid off in the 61st minute.

Ivan Crewe broke through the Kaladze defence on the right flank, much to the surprise of the AC Milan players, as Ivan Crewe had not shown the ability to break through before. After completing the breakthrough, Ivan Crewe did not continue to carry the ball forward on his own, but sent the ball into the middle before Gattuso arrived.

Nicolas Anelka drew a lot of attention from the AC Milan defence up front, and behind him David Silva had a chance, and the Spaniard calmly headed the ball into the AC Milan goal, where goalkeeper Dida was on the other side and couldn't make a save.

The ball is in!

Man City chased a goal back!

AC Milan didn't pay much attention to the goal, and after the game restarted, they opted to defend solidly and counter-attack Manchester City, who were in great form for a few minutes, and just five minutes later, Ivan Crewe scored again with a direct free-kick.

This free-kick goal really stunned AC Milan!

Ivan Crewe's kick was more than 30 meters away from the goal, and the AC Moran players originally thought that Manchester City would come to a tactical set-piece, but they didn't expect Ivan Crewe to shoot directly, and the ball spun and fell directly into the upper left corner, Dida reacted, but it was still half a beat slow.

This goal makes people can't help but see the shadow of David Beckham.

And it is.

After David Beckham joined the Manchester City team, he gave some pointers to Ivan Crewe on free-kicks, and with the guidance of the world superstar, Ivan Crewe has improved significantly from set-pieces, and some small movements and habits have gradually changed, which makes the ball spin faster, faster and more threatening to the goal when shooting.

Of course, most importantly, this goal helped Manchester City equalize the score!

"Ivan Crewe! Ivan Crewe! ”

“Gooooooal！”

"Ivan Crewe scored the equaliser for Manchester City, 3:3! If the game ends here, Manchester City will eliminate AC Milan with more away goals and advance to the last four of the Champions League! ”

On the sidelines, Wan Sheng and the others celebrated wildly.

He was so excited.

Two goals!

The two goals against AC Milan were equalized like this, and when he saw Ivan Crewe score, he felt a little unbelievable and was quite excited.

At the same time, he did not forget to start arranging the team's defense.

If you continue to play like this, it will be quite detrimental to the team. The continuous attacking made the players lose their fitness, and they were a little unable to run.

So it's time to choose defense.

――――

A lot of people thought the game was over, the English media were happy to see that, and what could be more exciting than a comeback? Especially the reversal of his own national team.

But their excitement didn't last long.

Just 7 minutes later, a classic goal appeared, and it was a goal that made Wan Sheng, Manchester City, the whole team. All the media and fans who supported Manchester City were very helpless to score.

Kaka!

It's Kaka again.

This time Kaka got the ball in the midfield, started directly and began to dribble, he dodged David Silva's block, evaded Reina's block, and then, he ran long distance from the middle line to the front of the penalty area, and then waded through Sun Jihai, who fell to the ground and tackled, on the left side of the penalty area, kicked and pushed the near corner to complete the goal.

Kaka completed a long-distance run in a dragon style. With a total of 43 metres to play, he shook off the three-man defence and finished in front of goal.

After this amazing goal, a media commentator said the statistic, "Kaka only had less than 6 seconds!" ”

6 seconds!

Run 43 meters!

Three people in a row!

"Kaka showed incredible speed and explosiveness!"

Like everyone else, Wan Sheng was stunned when he looked at the goal, but he thought differently from others, because he had seen Kaka's goal in his previous life. It was also this season, in the match between AC Milan and Celtic. Kaka staged a goal of running 43 meters to beat three people.

Influenced by Manchester City, AC Milan did not play Celtic in the Champions League this season before ...... Kaka used the goal for Manchester City.

Wan Sheng was a little dumbfounded.

There aren't many things that can surprise him now, but the appearance of a goal in his previous life still makes him feel in a trance, and more importantly, more importantly. The goal was scored in the decisive match between AC Milan and Manchester City.

This classic goal helped AC face to take the lead again!

At the same time, Kaka's goal was also a huge blow to the morale of Manchester City, Manchester City had just tied the score, and as a result, Kaka used a one-stop style to almost pass the entire Manchester City defense. Helping AC Milan take the lead again.

This ball...... How else to kick?

Who can stop Kaka?

Some of the City players were swayed by the goal, and in the end, City failed to score again.

At the end of the game, nothing but the cheers of AC Milan remained.

Wan Sheng squinted slightly, his fists clenched.

Although very unwilling, he knows that the team's Champions League journey is over, and he can only wait until next season to continue.

――――

On the plane back to Manchester from Milan, the City players were busy with their own business, but everyone didn't look very good.

This season, they have only lost the inconsequential Carabao Cup, not in any other competition, but now they have to accept defeat.

They were all a little secretly lost.

Wan Sheng looked at everyone like this, and he was also a little helpless, more importantly, many players in the team are still too young, such as Mesut Ozil, who is only in his first year playing in the professional league, and they have too little experience.

So Wansheng stood up and comforted everyone, "It's okay, if you lose, you lose!" It's our first time playing in the Champions League and it's my first time leading a team to the Champions League. The quarterfinals, this result is acceptable to the club, the fans are acceptable, and we should accept it. ”

"Think about what those media said more than half a year ago? They said we couldn't even get out of the group stage, but we did, and we beat PSV Eindhoven to reach the quarter-finals! ”

"We've surprised them with our results!"

"So what about losing to AC Milan now? Many of you are still young, and there are still many opportunities in the future, such as next season......" Wan Sheng gritted his teeth and said firmly, "Next season!" The Champions League must be ours! ”

Hearing Wan Sheng's words, the players also cheered up.

Yes, the results of the quarterfinals are acceptable, we are still young and we have next season.

With the strength of the team, when Morris and Downing are not there, they can play like this with AC Milan, and the team will definitely be stronger next season, and the championship will definitely belong to us at that time!

Thinking of this, everyone's expressions relaxed a lot. But in fact, Wan Sheng is the most unwilling one!

――――

PS: The 6000-word chapter is presented, asking for a monthly pass~~~ (to be continued.) )