Chapter 59: One Step Away

When the ball flies into the goal like a light bird, the Manchester City Stadium is boiling again.

After replaying the goal several times in a row, the camera once again focused on the figure on the sidelines.

It's not Linson, it's Pep Guardiola.

If the first goal was just an accident, and an accident that Barcelona didn't care much about, then the second goal was a real blow and threat.

Not many people knew that when Suarez sent the ball into his team's door in a genius way, it was at that moment that Guardiola had a similar trance.

Last year, it was around this time.

Due to the volcanic eruption in Iceland, most of Europe was covered in volcanic ash, and Barcelona had to take a bus to Milan, Italy, for the game, and then, what happened, everyone knows. Barcelona eventually lost 3-1 away to Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan, and then, although they were able to hold back their strength after returning to their home stadium, they finally struggled to stand the united Inter Milan, and that 3-1 game became the masterpiece of last season's iron-blooded Inter Milan.

One to three.

Zero to two.

It seems to be a similar scoreline, both of which are two goals behind, however, the latter is even worse than the former, because the former only needs you to score two goals and not concede a goal to advance, while the latter means that you need to score at least three goals and make sure you don't concede a goal to qualify. Last year's Barcelona failed to qualify in the former situation, and now they face an even more difficult latter situation.

Looking at Suarez, who rushed to his manager in ecstasy, Guardiola suddenly understood why Linsen watched the game frequently.

It cannot be said that this is another conspiracy, but it is clear that Suarez came on the field with "ideas".

Pique plus Mascherano contrasts Pique and Puyol, the two pairs of central defenders. They have very similar characteristics, because Mascherano and Puyol are very similar in nature, with strong fighting spirit, not too tall but quick turning, excellent anticipation and frontal interception...... If there is one difference between the two, it is only one aspect, and that is that the more "authentic" central defender Puyol will pay more attention to his position with his partner than Mascherano in his own midfield.

To put it simply. The central defender is not a position that only needs to do his own work, because while you do your job, you must always pay attention to the position between yourself and your partner, one up and down, or the same as the same when creating offside, which is very particular about the consciousness of a defender, and this is also the reason why some defenders can become the core of the defensive line, and some cannot.

At this point. The tacit understanding and cooperation between Puyol and Pique is not comparable to Mascherano, who has just joined this season.

In this game, Guardiola also deliberately explained to Mascherano in this regard before the game, because Pique himself is a player who likes to cut forward very much. This is his characteristic, in other words, he needs someone to wipe his ass when necessary. It should be said. Throughout the game, Mascherano did a good job in that regard, just. Mascherano is a midfielder after all, and Guardiola is unlikely to demand a perfect "cameo", but unfortunately, the opponent is too cunning.

Mascherano's few "professional habits", the other party caught once.

Then, a single blow kills.

Pep Guardiola doesn't want to put all the blame on Mascherano, but now, he has to think about his next steps.

Eighty-five minutes of goals, minus time to celebrate, even if stoppage time is added, the time left for Barcelona will not exceed 10 minutes. Ten minutes can certainly do a lot of things, but will the other party allow them to do what they want?

There are still two substitutions on both sides, and theoretically, one substitution is enough to consume half a minute, and if it is a little more "shameless", it is not surprising to spend a little more time.

Almost as soon as Guardiola was pondering, as if to confirm his thoughts again, Linson had turned back to warm up with all the players on his bench on the sidelines.

Guardiola's brows furrowed suddenly.

In this case, those who are lagging behind have not yet adjusted, and those who are leading must begin to consolidate their own achievements.

Just want to think about it, Guardiola also had to "follow" the other party's moves at this time and prepare for a last-ditch fight-

Two goals, zero goals conceded.

With less than ten minutes left on the side, City's morale was high, but Linson knew it was time for him to stop. It is good to chase after victory, but if it turns into a battle against the opponent, it will obviously outweigh the losses.

The last two substitutions on both sides were a stark contrast.

Manchester City's first is to replace Robben with Richards, push Zabaleta into the midfield, and strengthen the defense on the wing. The other was to replace Bale with Cahill and push Kompany into midfield to further strengthen the barrier in the middle. As for Barcelona, they replaced Keita and Busquets with Thiago and Hefren respectively, almost giving up the defense in the midfield and completely defending with passing.

Pep Guardiola tried to pull a goal back in the final moments, but at this time, he was facing Manchester City, who were really fully defensive, and although the bus tactics were ugly and not reputable, it was undeniable that such tactics were the safest choice for maintaining the game.

After Kompany broke Xavi's pass out of bounds, the referee, who had already looked at his watch several times, blew the whistle for the end of the game.

"It's over! In the end, Manchester City, who played at home, repelled the visiting Barcelona 2-0, which I wouldn't say was an upset, but it certainly came as a surprise to many. Barcelona paid the price for their disorganized defence and Manchester City played an excellent game, especially with their attacking efficiency. Barcelona still failed to score an away goal until the end, which is certainly a bad end for Pep Guardiola, but they will not give up hope when they return to the Camp Nou......

Of course, it is impossible to give up hope, let alone 0-2, even if it is 0-3, Barcelona will never give up hope.

Pep Guardiola didn't hear the commentator, but he was sure of it. After the game, he didn't wait for Lin Sen, who was the "master", to come over, and he even took the initiative to walk over.

The two hands are clasped lightly.

"I'm lucky, aren't I?" Lin Sen has a smile on his face, of course, in Guardiola's eyes, such a smile, he can add a touch of color at will.

Luck?

The corners of Guardiola's mouth twitched, relying on luck, beating Barcelona?

Beating Barcelona is the last thing that all teams in Europe dare to think about and want to do now, because it is an extremely difficult thing, and of course, if it succeeds, it is also a thing to be proud of, so Guardiola does not care about Linson's smile. However, he didn't intend to make a false deal with Lin Sen, so he only said one word.

"See you at Camp Nou."

The two managers shook hands and walked away instead of going back to the dressing room, but towards their own teams, with different intentions, of course.

"Well done, Louis."

When he met Suarez, Lin Sen gave the other party a hug directly, and then patted the other party's back hard.

It doesn't often take a single player to praise Linson, but that's what Suarez deserves, and throughout the second half, Suarez's chances were limited, and his chances of scoring were even more limited, but he caught one, and it was the most crucial one.

Then, Lin Sen looked at Yaya Toure, who was "greeting" his former teammates.

It is said that there are "we", but in fact there are only two, one is Keita and the other is Messi.

As for Xavi and others, although they are not strangers, they are obviously not enthusiastic about Yaya Toure, which is due to the loss, and perhaps also because of Yaya Toure's remarks after leaving Barcelona. In short, they didn't take the initiative to say hello to Yaya Toure, but after the game, they went straight to the players' tunnel.

In the post-match press conference, Pep Guardiola attributed the team's defeat to two points, one is the team's defensive disarray, and the other is to admit that Manchester City's tactical changes were something he did not expect. As for the score, he seemed a little indifferent, just said lightly, this is a difficult score, back at home, we will fight for the fans.

As for Linsen, who claimed an ideal victory, he gave all the praise to his players, believing they played the best game of the season so far.

The two managers, one with their eyes on the second leg and the other attributing the victory to the players, didn't have much to say about the game itself, and it's easy to see why it's just the first leg and it's a 180-minute battle.

Whoever laughs until the end laughs is the most meaningful.

However, this did not affect the shock that this victory caused in European football.

What team is Barcelona? They are recognised as the best team in the world, La Masia is recognised as the best academy in the world, and their model is already considered a model for club shows. And what kind of team is Manchester City? Two years ago, they didn't even know what the European arena was, and now, they've beaten the best.

Of course, the game itself is not the focus, the focus is on the role of the representatives behind Manchester City, Golden Dollar Football, their victory, is considered the victory of Golden Dollar Football.

All of a sudden, there were different opinions.

But in any case, the English media are undoubtedly the proudest, because at the same time that Manchester City beat Barcelona at home, far away in Germany, Manchester City beat Schalke O4 away with an equally 2-0 away game.

Both English teams are optimistic about qualifying.

What was originally just a "theoretical" hope of a civil war in the Champions League final was one step away from becoming a reality overnight. (To be continued!)

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