In this game, there was one player in Manchester City's starting lineup who was not in his good position, and that was Darren Bent, who started as a midfielder.

Darren Bent is a striker.

It can be said that before coming to Manchester City, and even before last season, he was a standard striker, a player with 180 heads, not even tall on the football field, so Darren Bent is not a standard center forward, only a technical striker, but he is indeed a pure striker, because before that, he has never appeared in other positions.

Wansheng put Darren Bent in the midfield position, which is an attempt and an expectation.

Over the course of three seasons, Darren Bent has not only gained more experience than he did when he first arrived at Manchester City, but his individual qualities have also improved considerably.

This improvement is all-encompassing.

For example, dribbling and ball control, Darren Bent has improved a lot, and the speed he is good at has reached an amazing level, even as an offensive player's worst 'passing', under the attribute ability bonus of 'National Tournament Honor Halo', Darren Bent is no worse than Silva, Ozil and others.

In other words, with Darren Bent's ability, he can be a very good midfielder.

The only thing is experience.

Darren Bent has barely played in midfield and he has too little experience in this position.

Wan Sheng asked Darren Bent to play as a midfielder, the purpose is to rely on his speed, after all, Manchester City plays defensive counterattacks, and in counterattacks, speed is quite important, and Darren Bent's performance on fast attack is always much better than Silva.

So Darren Bent appeared in the midfield with Morris and Brummer.

For the adjustment of his position, Darren Bent just felt a little uncomfortable, and also felt Wansheng's expectations of himself, after all, the team's midfield is not without people, Silva is still sitting on the bench, he can replace Silva, there must be a reason.

Wansheng's request for him is to cooperate with Morris, speed up the counterattack, and if necessary, create opportunities for teammates, or choose to shoot himself.

Darren Bent's passing ability is also good, but his habits are difficult for him to pass how delicate the ball is, on the football field, the habits of professional players are often more important than ability, so Wan Sheng is not expected to expect him to pass a good ball, and the latter, that is, the choice of letting him shoot, is actually better, shooting is also what Darren Bent is good at, and it is also a good thing to create his own chances and directly threaten the Barcelona goal.

The match proved that Darren Bent lived up to expectations.

In Manchester City's counter-attack, he performed well, with Morris, Brummer and two wing-backs Ivan Crewe and Ozil playing for him, Darren Bent was easy to find opportunities in attack and counter-attack, and then he was quick to dribble forward, so fast that the Barcelona defense suddenly became nervous.

Although he has not threatened the Barcelona goal so far, Darren Bent's performance has also been affirmed by many media and fans.

In this way, he also became the main attacker of Manchester City.

――――

Darren Bent was doing well, but it was Mesut Ozil who shone brightest at Manchester City.

The German kid used his skilful footwork to unleash waves of fast attacks down the left flank, leaving many City fans cheering on as they came to support the team.

But apparently, the German kid was a little too showy.

Barcelona soon realised that Ozil's left side was a threat to the team's defence, so they adjusted their defensive focus and defended Ozil more tightly, so for a long time, Manchester City were not able to open the situation from the left.

Wan Sheng noticed, and he frowned.

In this game, the team's offense mainly relies on the left and the middle, and it is impossible for any team to loosen the defense of the middle, so the left side is very important, so Wan Sheng put Ozil, who is very good at speed, technique and passing, on the left side.

But so far, Ozil's left side has not been able to open the situation, and several counterattacks and fast attacks have been stopped by Barcelona's defense.

It's not going to go on like this.

In any case, there will have to be a change in attack to keep the opposition off guard, and it is now difficult to break through the Barcelona defence with just two players, Darren Bent and Mesut Ozil.

So Wan Sheng called out to Darren Bent, "Darren! Darren! ”

A wave of attacks had just ended, Darren Bent was walking backwards with his head down, and when he heard the shouting, he hurriedly ran over, Wan Sheng made a gesture and said to him, "Don't always carry the ball yourself, look for opportunities to cooperate with both sides, Ozil, Ivan, understand?" You're a midfielder, not a striker! ”

Darren Ben nodded to indicate that he understood.

In fact, he has always wanted to try to pass the ball to both sides and cooperate more with his teammates, but many times in the game, he is accustomed to carrying the ball by himself, and does not scruple about the left and right.

Five minutes later, Darren Bent got the ball again.

This is a beautiful closing cooperation between Morris and Brummer in the backfield, they locked Barcelona's number one star Messi directly in the middle, Messi can only helplessly watch the ball at his feet being broken, covering his forehead in frustration.

Morris grabbed the ball, but no matter how upset Messi was, he directly lifted the ball to Darren Bent.

Darren Bent was at the back of the center circle, seeing that his teammate successfully grabbed the ball, he subconsciously raised his hand to ask for the ball, but before he could raise his hand, the football had already rolled over him, Darren Bent gave Morris a thumbs up, then turned to catch the ball, and was about to rush forward.

Darren Bent is preceded by Barcelona midfielder Deco.

――――

Deco is a Brazilian, born on August 27, 1977 in São Bernardo, Brazil, before the age of 20, he played for clubs such as Sao Paulo in Brazil, but in Brazil, Deco has always been able to play in small clubs, and has never been appreciated by the giants in China.

So Deco made up his mind to try his luck in Portugal, but he didn't expect this break out of control, in 1999, the 22-year-old Deco joined the Porto team, and then gradually became the core of the team's midfield, the Brazilian's overall view and practical skills made Deco quickly establish his position in the team, and under Mourinho's tutelage, Deco began to become a first-class attacking midfielder in Europe.

Deco was instrumental in Porto's Champions League triumph in 2004, and he reached the pinnacle of his career that year, leading the team to league titles and the European Cup. Especially in the Champions Cup, Mourinho successfully built Deco as the core of attack and defense, the team was unbeaten in 11 games, and defeated Monaco 3-0 in the final.

Deco then led Portugal to the final of the European Championship, losing to the super dark horse Greece, and Deco was included in the account of FC Barcelona for his excellent performance.

In 2004, Deco joined Barcelona from Porto for a sky-high price of 20 million euros, and Deco, who originally thought that he could only serve as a substitute for Ronaldo, quietly accepted Rijkaard's decision to place himself in the midfield, but no one expected that the stranger who was not amazing would soon find a feeling in the midfield, and Deco's fouls ranked first in La Liga throughout the season, but Barcelona built a reliable barrier in front of the back line because of him.

This shows how strong Deco's defensive ability is.

Even though he is no longer in peak condition and his performance has been criticized by many fans, Deco's midfield defensive ability is still commendable.

In the face of Darren Bent, Deco appeared very calm, and he slowly moved backwards in small steps, just to not let Darren Bent pass him easily.

This method is not easy to steal the ball, but it is enough to delay the time to give his teammates time to retreat and not give City a chance to counter-attack quickly.

Deco's approach is also a testament to his defensive experience.

But...... Deco ignores a problem.

His technical prowess is not perfect, there are still flaws, for example, his speed is not fast, some media analysis of his ability, also said, "Deco's speed is more 'average' to 90 minutes or even 120 minutes of the game, he is always the most diligent player on the field from the opening whistle to the final whistle." ”

The above may be a compliment.

But praise can't hide one problem – Deco's lack of speed and explosiveness is a fatal problem, especially against a very fast striker like Darren Bent.

Deco was defending with confidence, but Darren Bent's actions were not at all in the same dimension as him, and when he saw the Brazilian in front of him slowly moving backwards, Darren Bent almost subconsciously ...... Pick up the speed and rush to the side hard!

Deco tried to stop Darren Bent, but the defender was already passive, and his reaction was a step slower, and it was too late to catch up.

By the time Deco turned around, Darren Bent had already shaken him off and rushed forward.

By the time Deco turned to look behind him, some exclamations were already ringing in his ears.

"Darren Bent! He shook off Deco and rushed forward! Rush forward! ”

"Manchester City's counterattack!"

The tone of the Sky Sports commentator in the UK was raised.

――――

By the time Darren Bent dribbled past Deco, the City fans in the stands were already cheering.

Nearly 30 minutes have passed in the first half, although Manchester City also attacked, but did not play much of a threat, their focus still seems to be on defense, so seeing Bent so quickly shake off the opposing midfielder Deco, fans are also looking forward to the next scene, they cheered loudly for Darren Bent.

It's a pity that this is the Camp Nou stadium, and the Barcelona fans will not let the opposing fans be arrogant, when Manchester City's voice sounded, the Barcelona fans immediately responded with a 'boo', and by the way, they also wanted to affect Darren Bent's performance.

Darren Bent was unfazed by the sound of the crowd and after getting past Deco, he began to accelerate with the ball.

As anyone knows, the most dangerous players in the Manchester City team are Fernando Torres and Darren Bent, with the Spanish 'Golden Boy' scoring the most goals in the Champions League and Darren Bent scoring the most goals in the Premier League, so Barcelona's defense against Darren Bent is not relaxed.

Seeing Darren Bent shake off Deco, a centre-back should immediately come over and block.

It's Milito.

There are two Milito in world football, one is Diego Alberto Milito, who currently plays for Zaragoza and is a well-known goalscorer in La Liga.

Darren Bent's Milito of Barcelona is called Gabriel Milito, who is also an Argentine international, and his fame is somewhat related to Real Madrid, and the make-and-lose deal in the summer of 2003 caused quite a stir.

At that time, Real Madrid first announced the signing of Milito, and then said that the Argentine had not passed the medical examination and abandoned him.

In fact, according to Milito and his agent, the injury was unwarranted, and Real Madrid reversed course and did not have the sincerity to sign.

In the end, Milito joined Zaragoza and made a living in La Liga, while Real Madrid paid off the debt for the emptiness of the central midfield, but Woodgate, who "passed the medical examination", continued to be injured, which became a joke.

After Milito also signed for Zaragoza in La Liga, he quickly became a regular in the team, and his outstanding physical fitness and strong style of play allowed him to establish himself in La Liga.

It is worth mentioning that in the confrontation with the "enemy" Real Madrid, Milito successfully froze Ronaldo and Raul successively, and people did not see any signs of the so-called "knee problem" in him.

Last summer, Milito transferred to Barcelona, a heavyweight transfer with a cost of up to 20.5 million euros, which shows Milito's strength, and he has quickly become the main player in Barcelona's defense with his consistent performance.

As a centre-back, Milito is much more solid defensively, and he is well aware that entanglement is often more important when defending one-on-one.

If you just want to entangle your opponent and not let them get rid of it easily, it couldn't be easier.

In the face of Darren Bent's fast dribbling, Milito did the same, he turned back to keep up with Bent, constantly interfering with Bent's dribbling with his body, slowing down Bent's speed, and just a few steps like this, Bent felt Milito's difficulty.

――――

Seeing Milito entanglement Darren Bent, the Barcelona fans also let out a long breath.

If Milito is passed again, Barcelona will be formed a 2-on-1 situation by Manchester City at the back, and the only one who can defend is only Marquis, which is almost equivalent to giving Manchester City the best chance in front of goal.

Milito pestered Darren Bent and Marquez defended Torres, so it won't be easy for City to get their chances.

It's all about Milito's defense.

Darren Bent had already sensed Milito's struggle, and he found it difficult to get rid of Milito, arguably almost impossible, so he glanced at Torres' position and tried to pass the ball over.

But Marquis is so experienced that he pestered Torres and didn't give him any space at all.

At this time, Darren Bent suddenly thought of what the coach had told him just now, "You have to cooperate more with your teammates, especially the two wings." ”

Sidewalk?

Darren Bent subconsciously glanced to the right, but Ivan Crewe didn't follow, he swept to the left and saw Ozil running forward.

He's a little far away from Ozil, but what else can he do now?

Darren Bent held the heart of 'dead horse as a live horse doctor', and took advantage of a vacancy to poke the ball directly to the left.

This diagonal pass almost slowed down the team's counterattack.

Milito even let out a long breath.

He thinks that even if the German kid can get the pass and take it forward quickly, he won't pose any threat to the goal, because by the time the opponent comes forward, his teammates have already rushed back.

But at this time, out of the corner of his eye, Milito saw Ozil waving forward?

Why is that?

Not only Milito was a little dazed, but Darren Bent, who was 'signaled', was a little dazed, and he only randomly realized that he should run forward.

Just as he had taken two steps forward, he saw Mesut Ozil push back against the ball.

The ball flew over twenty metres and rushed to the penalty line from the left, and Darren Bent took two steps to catch up on the ball, at which point he was a little scared.

If you had been a little slower just now, you wouldn't have been able to catch the ball at all, would you?

But before he had time to think about it, he had already rushed into the box with the ball, and Milito was chasing back, but his explosiveness was not far from Darren Bent, and he was pulled down two or three meters in a few steps.

Goalkeeper Valdés has rushed out!

Darren Bent glanced to the right and saw that Torres was running sideways, trying to get rid of Marques's defense, but his position was still a little out of place, and Darren Bent wanted to shoot himself.

In this position, facing the goalkeeper alone, Darren Bent still has some confidence.

Before Milito could reach behind him, Darren Bent had already picked up his right foot, and everyone in the audience knew what he was going to do.

――――

Morris is right behind Darren Bent, and he's been running forward.

He was behind Darren Bent when he passed the ball, and Morris didn't shout anything for his stealth.

But when he saw Darren Bent passing the ball to Ozil, Morris couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart, "When Darren was still dribbling the ball, he really didn't look behind at all......"

This is the shortcoming of Darren Bent, who is really not a qualified midfielder.

As a midfielder, you have to 'see and hear', at least to know where your teammates are, and Bent's best choice just now is to pass back to himself, and he only needs to stab forward to create chances, but Bent chose to pass the ball to Ozil.

Thankfully, Mesut Ozil did a good job and he managed to get a good shot for Bent.

But when he saw Bent kick the goal, Morris smiled bitterly in his heart...... He's already run diagonally to the side, and as soon as Bent gets through, he's almost in front of the line of the box and faces the empty goal, but Bent still doesn't see it.

Just as Morris was thinking this, Bent had already kicked the ball out, and the ball crossed an arc, dragging a white afterimage to the far corner of the goal!

"Bent, shoot—"

The Sky Sports commentator let out a long roar.

At his shout, the ball went around goalkeeper Valdés and crashed straight into the far corner post.

The ball did not hit the goalpost, but flew directly into the goal twice by grazing Heng!

When this happened, everyone knew what to do, and the Sky Sports commentator shouted -

“Gooooooooooooooooooooooal！！”

"The ball is in—!!"

'Darren Bent scored the first goal for Manchester City! 0-1, Manchester City, a guest at Camp Nou, leads the home team Barcelona! ”

At the sound of his shout, all the Manchester City fans cheered excitedly.

Even Manchester United fans did not expect that the team they supported would be the first to score, after all, this is the Camp Nou, the opponent is one of the strongest giants in Europe, Barcelona, they thought that the team had a chance to eliminate Barcelona, but never expected the team to take the lead at the Camp Nou.

These are two concepts!

Camp Nou is a great stadium, it's a symbol of Barcelona's glory, and every team that comes here is probably thinking about how to leave 'safely' rather than take the win from here.

But now seeing that the team they support can actually score the first goal, how can Manchester City fans not be excited!

The number of Manchester City fans was small, but the frantic shouts were even heard everywhere in the stadium for a while.

on the pitch.

The first to hug Darren Bent was Morris.

Morris stood behind Bent, and when he saw the goal, Morris didn't think about it so much, but excitedly stepped forward to hug Bent to celebrate.

Bent was a little stunned in his excitement.

He didn't notice Morris at all, and thinking back to the goal just now, Bent suddenly understood a little, and then he felt a little ashamed.

This time, he made two mistakes.

One was that he didn't notice where Morris was, and the other was that after passing the ball to Mesut Ozil, he was a little stunned, but it was always a goal, and Darren Bent didn't think about it so much and celebrated with his team-mates.

Wan Sheng stood on the sidelines, slapping beautifully.

While celebrating the goal with other coaches and substitute players, Wan Sheng also sighed a little in his heart when he recalled the goal just now.

Darren Bent is indeed not a qualified midfielder, but for a player with strong ability, there is no doubt that ability can make up for 'mistakes'.

For example, just now, after Darren Bent passed the ball, although the reaction was half a beat slower, his explosiveness and speed were quite fast, which completely made up for the mistake of this reaction; Although he didn't notice Morris, his shooting ability was undoubtedly quite good, and he was able to put the ball in the net with his own shots.

That's what Darren Bent is capable of personally!

In football, the individual ability of the stars can still make up for some mistakes and shortcomings.

Wan Sheng also thought about halftime, and he had to focus on these things with Darren Bent, after all, the team's cooperation is the most important.

Without these two mistakes, the probability of scoring a goal would be higher.

Either way, City scored!

Wan Sheng was very happy to see the team ahead of Barcelona, he and others celebrated excitedly, constantly hugging and applauding, and the Manchester City players on the field were all around Darren Bent, Bent was still happy, and was thrown to the ground by his 'envious, jealous and happy' teammates.

Everyone grew their mouths and vented their excitement and joy to their heart's content. (To be continued.) )