The outside world's optimism or disparagement will not affect Manchester City's preparations.

Having won the championship last year, they seem to be calm about the Champions League in the new season.

The group stage hasn't started yet, so it's too early to talk about things like winning and defending the title.

Manchester City will compete on four fronts this year: the league, the cup, the Champions League and the Club World Cup.

More games will not only further distract their energy, but also put higher demands on their fitness and condition.

Therefore, in order to avoid the situation of almost collapsing under the multi-front battle like last year.

Manuel Pellegrini decided to rotate his squad early to give every player as much time as possible.

On August 30, the third round of the Premier League began.

Manchester City host Stoke City's challenge.

Because the opponent was not strong, in this game, Pellegrini made some adjustments to the starting lineup.

He put Lin Quan, Sergio Aguero, Kroos, Fernandinho, Zabaleta and other main players on the bench.

It was a bold change, with half of City's winners last season sitting on the bench.

Manchester City's starting line-up featured the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Sagna, Fernando and other newcomers.

In addition, Jovetic, who rarely played last season, also appeared in the starting line-up for this game.

After Negredo's departure, he became more and more valued by the old coach.

Manuel Pellegrini has a good idea, using a lineup of substitutes + main players to deal with a team like Stoke City, and to train on behalf of the game to accelerate the growth of these young players.

This season, Manchester City's games in all competitions will probably be close to 70, and if they play so many games with the main lineup, they will have to be kicked out.

So this season, Manchester City's substitutes have to step up and help the main team share the pressure.

Of course, there are risks associated with this.

Because the gap between the strength of the substitute lineup and the main force is still very large, especially Lin Quan's substitute.

Not to mention the Manchester City team, in the entire five major leagues, there is almost no suitable player who can be Lin Quan's substitute.

In football, Messi is the only player who has a similar style to him.

But Manchester City can't buy Messi to Lin Quan as a substitute, right?

It's too extravagant!

Even if they really have such an idea, Barcelona will not be able to sell people, and Messi will not be able to deign to be a substitute!

In fact, Lin Quan felt that he didn't need any substitutes, his physical fitness was fine, and he wouldn't be injured, so it was no problem for him to stay in full attendance all the time.

Once the game started, the Manchester City players played very actively.

Although there are many substitutes on the field, their morale is not low at all.

Anyway, we are part of the treble, and in the face of this kind of weak team in the middle and lower reaches of the league, it is not how to play as much as you want?

However, reality gave them a slap in the face and smashed them into a daze.

Throughout the first half, City were trying to attack.

However, their attacks were slow to bear fruit, and Stoke City were never breached.

At the beginning of the second half, the situation on the field changed dramatically.

Taking advantage of a counter-attacking opportunity, Stoke City broke the deadlock first and sent the ball into the Manchester City goal.

Joe Hart was depressed!

The opponent played this ball extremely tricky, and he had no choice but to watch the ball go into the net.

After Manchester City bought the best goalkeeper in La Liga Keylor Navas in the new season, Joe Hart's main position was severely tested.

In the previous two games, Manchester City's starting goalkeeper was Keylor Navas.

And Keylor Navas also proved with his outstanding performance that Manchester City's 15 million euros were not spent at a loss.

Had it not been for Zabaleta's own goal in the last game, Navas' first two games at Manchester City would have been perfect.

The outstanding performance of the competitors put Joe Hart under great pressure.

He was finally put in the starting line-up for this game, and he was riveting his strength to put on a good performance.

As a result, the luck was too bad, and the striker who met the opponent kicked a fairy ball.

This goal is not to mention Joe Hart himself, and it will not end well if other goalkeepers come to defend it.

But his luck was bad, and it was his turn.

On the bench, seeing this scene, Lin Quan felt a little sympathetic to Joe Hart.

In the fan circle, there is a very famous saying: meet Hartmund with a kick!

As if under some kind of curse, Joe Hart was always able to be reduced to someone else's backdrop on the field.

In fact, in terms of strength, Joe Hart's strength is not bad.

As his teammate, Lin Quan often plays against him in team training matches, and he is very clear about his strength.

Joe Hart has no problems with his height, reaction speed, bounce ability and fundamentals as a goalkeeper.

However, his luck was really not good.

"If there is love in the sky, the sky is also old, and when you meet Hartmon", "I don't know the true face of Lushan, Hart is the background cloth", "Thousands of rivers and mountains are always love, just see Hart shoot"......

There's a reason these jokes appear!

Joe Hart has always been able to come across the kind of world wave that is difficult to save, and often the kind of fairy ball.

This kind of thing happens to other goalkeepers, but they don't happen as often as Joe Hart.

And thanks to the popularity of the Premier League and Manchester City, in the Premier League and Champions League games, Joe Hart has frequently been reduced to a background board, which is easier to spread.

So, over time, he had the title of the strongest background emperor.

After Pellegrini saw the goal conceded this time, he cursed angrily.

He didn't blame Joe Hart, the goal was not the fault of the other side.

It was only after the start of the second half that he fell behind, which made Pellegrini a little panicked.

He asked the substitutes to play more games in order to improve their quality and maintain better form.

It's not about letting them take the team to lose and then leave the psychological shadow of losing in their hearts.

And the impact of a home defeat is too bad for City to accept.

Thinking of this, Pellegrini did not hesitate at all.

He directly called Lin Quan and Cross up and asked the two of them to warm up and prepare to play.

Manchester City fans are also depressed, even though many of the team's main players are not on the pitch.

But that doesn't stop them from cheering for their team.

It's just that I watched the home team play half of the attack but didn't score a goal, and the opponent only played a sneak attack and scored, this feeling, not to mention how uncomfortable it is.

Fortunately, after seeing Pellegrini's substitution, the Blue Moon fans at the scene began to cheer again.

As long as that man is on the field, everything will be fine!

"I don't know why, when I saw Emperor Lin appear, I was instantly relieved!"

"Yes, this sense of security really makes people feel very sure!"

"When you said this, I realized that even if the team had the advantage in the first half, there was still some uncertainty in my heart, it turned out that it was because Lin Huang was not there!"

In the 55th minute, Lin Quan and Kroos were substituted at the same time.

The Etihad Stadium fans gave the two men a round of applause and were looking forward to seeing the team launch a big counter-attack.

Lin Quan and Kroos didn't disappoint either.

As soon as the two men came on the pitch, City's attack immediately picked up.

Kroos controlled the tempo of the game in midfield and flicked the ball into the front line.

After Lin Quan got the ball in the front court, he mobilized the opponent's defense line through the tandem with his teammates and looked for the weak points in the opponent's back line.

Stoke City is, after all, a team in the middle and bottom of the table, and their players are not the kind of individual stars who are very strong.

Under City's patient testing, the weaknesses in their defence were soon exposed.

In the 69th minute of the second half, Lin Quan dribbled the ball at the edge of the penalty area, attracted the bag of many players on the opposing side, and then picked the ball through the gap to De Bruyne, who was inserted behind.

Kevin De Bruyne cut through the gap on the right side of the box and set up Jovetic for a goal.

Manchester City equalised!

Although this goal was neither scored by Lin Quan nor an assist he sent, at least half of the credit for this goal should be attributed to his head.

If it weren't for him using his personal dribbling ability and breakthrough ability in the front court to attract the attention of the opposition and take away the defenders.

Jovetic couldn't have had such a good shot on goal!

Of course, De Bruyne's pass was also beautiful, and there was no greed.

When Lin Quan passed the ball to him just now, he could hit the goal directly.

After seeing his teammate score, Lin Quan stepped forward and high-fived De Bruyne in celebration.

"That's a good pass!"

"You're not bad!"

The two laughed, put their arms around each other's shoulders, and went to celebrate with their teammates who scored goals!

Stoke City's players were helpless.

After they took the lead, they also dreamed of taking a win away from the Etihad Stadium.

If they can really beat Manchester City, then they have the capital to boast about themselves!

After all, they beat last season's treble!

However, Jovetic's goal shattered their dreams.

Now the score has been tied and the opponent's main force has returned to the field.

Just by seeing the number 10 at Manchester City, they lost the courage to attack.

The teams that play against Manchester City usually die miserably.

So, don't be under any illusions about getting three points, just keep going and take a point away!

As a weakling, it is very commendable that Stoke City can recognize reality and abandon unrealistic illusions.

However, they don't seem to know enough about it.

It's very difficult to take a point away at the Etihad Stadium!

After the equaliser, Manchester City's players instantly relaxed a lot of mentality.

They were originally worried about losing, but now they have let go of their psychological baggage.

This, coupled with the fact that the core of the team is back on the field, gives them an unparalleled sense of security.

Influenced by these factors, their performance on the field is getting better and better, and they are playing more and more confidently and calmly.

In the 82nd minute of the second half, Manchester City played a dazzling combination in front.

After a number of successive passes, Stoke City's backline has been disrupted.

De Bruyne was keen to spot the opportunity and quickly delivered a through ball that was close to the ground.

The ball is aimed at the space behind the opposing defender!

Lin Quan and De Bruyne have played together for more than two years and have a very good understanding with each other.

Seeing where De Bruyne glanced at, without waiting for the other party to make a gesture, Lin Quan immediately understood the other party's intentions.

He pretended to retreat, but abruptly turned back and shook off Stoke City defender Ryan Shawcross, who was eyeing him.

Ryan is more than 1.9 meters tall, and his physical flexibility is far less than that of a small player like Lin Quan.

Seeing Lin Quan turn back and run away and shake himself off, Ryan hurriedly turned around to chase after him.

But by the time he finished turning, Lin Quan had already opened a distance of one meter from him, had already received the ball, and had already entered the penalty area with the ball.

Stoke City goalkeeper Begovic greeted his defender's family in his heart:

A bunch of big colanders, are you such staring at people?

In the end, it still depends on me to get out of the horse, as long as I can save Lin Quan's single knife, I can ......

Lin Quan glanced at him and saw that the opponent's goalkeeper's legs were relatively separated, so he kicked the ball over.

Begovic felt a chill in his crotch and subconsciously wanted to close his knees and close the door.

But he was too slow, and the ball had already slipped through his wicket and rolled against the turf into the net.

Before Begovich's dream was finished, he was woken up by a basin of cold water.

It turns out that it is really not so easy to stop Lin Quan's single knife.

It's not that so many goalkeepers have tried before him, they just can't do it!

Lin Quan's goal made it 2:1, and Manchester City reversed Stoke City.

Seeing the team score in succession within ten minutes, the reversal was completed.

Tens of thousands of Manchester City fans who came to the scene excitedly waved the team scarves in their hands, chanted Lin Quan's name, and gave the warmest applause and cheers to their heroes.

Sure enough, as long as Lin is on the field, they can enjoy the game with peace of mind.

The Stoke players were so frustrated that in just thirteen minutes, their boiled duck flew away.

Now not only can't you get three points, but you can't even get a point.

Not willing to accept such a result, they launched an onslaught at Manchester City in the final stages of the game, trying to rewrite the scoreline.

They seem to feel that they are already lagging behind, and that the barefoot are not afraid to wear shoes.

Conceding goals won't change the outcome of the defeat, but if they can score one more, they will be able to pick up a valuable point.

The idea is good, but the result is very bad.

After Stoke City's self-defeating attack, Manchester City's attacking threat became even greater.

After no longer being closely guarded by the opponent or even being surrounded by multiple people, Lin Quan's threat ability in the front court has greatly improved.

In the 85th minute, he scored his second goal of the game after passing the opponent's defender and firing into the far corner.

That wasn't all, in the 89th minute, near the end of regular time, Lin Quan received a pass from David Silva and penetrated the Stoke City goal for the third time with a rubbing shot.

It was his third goal of the game, and after coming on as a substitute, Lin Quan scored a hat-trick in just 7 minutes!

It broke the record for the fastest hat-trick in the Premier League set by Manchester United star Dwight York in 2001 and significantly increased that time to seven minutes!

What's even more terrifying is that Lin Quan completed the record as a substitute!

If this is counted, it may be difficult for his record to be broken by other players!

Of course, there is an even more exaggerated phenomenon in football, where a player who also came on as a substitute scored five goals in just nine minutes.

If you don't see it with your own eyes, you don't know how this happened......

(End of chapter)