Seeing that the opponent strengthened the defense on the side, Manchester City immediately made changes, and when Lin Quan was dribbling the ball, he began to go more to the middle, seeking cooperation with his teammates, pulling the opponent's defense with passing and running, waiting for opportunities to look.

Leicester City have retreated from the midfield position to the back line, which has led to a significant erosion of protection in front of the back line.

The consequence of this weakening was that their entire formation had to move back, allowing someone else to fill the void created by his departure.

However, the result of the overall formation moving back was Manchester City's all-out siege, and the game also evolved into a half-court offensive and defensive drill between the two teams.

Although this is the home stadium of Leicester City, the situation on the pitch has the home team's fans in shock.

Although they knew in their hearts that there was a gap between their team and Manchester City, they didn't expect the gap to be so big.

Judging from the field, they have been completely suppressed and can hardly pose a threat to the opponent, on the contrary, every attack of Manchester City, and even every pass, makes them feel terrified, for fear that in the next second, the opponent will score again.

Thankfully, what they feared didn't happen, and with Leicester defending stubbornly, City were unable to continue to extend the scoreline.

But because they put the vast majority of their forces into the defense, it is difficult for Leicester City to threaten when they counterattack, and if the midfielders do not follow up, they can only rely on the forwards to fight alone.

And when it comes to the ability to fight alone, Van Dijk really hasn't been afraid of anyone.

As a result, Leicester City's few counter-attacks in the first half were almost all defused under Van Dijk's defense.

The score of 0:1 remained until the end of the half, and the players of both sides died down and returned to the locker room to rest for 15 minutes in preparation for the rematch.

In the visitors' dressing room, Pep Guardiola looked very relaxed.

He praised the performance of his players in the first half and made some arrangements for the tactics of the second half.

Manchester City are now in the lead, and although the lead is not by much, Leicester's attack poses no threat to them.

Even if City didn't score more goals in the rest of the game, they would have been able to win the three points with a comfortable score of 1-0.

With that win, City's lead was extended to 12 points.

With a 12-point lead at half-time, such a huge lead, the possibility of a second-half overturn is very small, and Manchester City can also devote more energy to European competition.

Thanks to the collective rollover of the traditional giants of the Premier League, Manchester City does not face much competition in the Premier League, but the situation on the European side is still unclear.

The current situation in European football is chaotic, with the traditional giants still going strong and the new forces coming in at a great pace.

There are five or six rivals that Guardiola sees as a threat, La Liga, the Bundesliga giants and the Ligue 1 giants, and even Manchester City cannot guarantee progress if they meet these teams in the knockout stages.

Of course, before that, they will first face their opponent in the quarter-finals - Dynamo Kyiv.

This team is not particularly strong, but because of the game time, their home stadium may not be easy to play.

According to the Champions League format, in the knockout stage, the first group to play the second group is the first away and then the host.

The system of first guest and then host was originally conducive to the first place in the group, which was regarded as a little benefit for the first place in each group.

However, it was still very cold in Kiev in February, and if you are unlucky enough to encounter snow and ice, the game will definitely become more difficult to play.

What's even more worrying is that artificial turf combined with icy and snowy weather can easily cause injuries to players.

If a few of the team's generals are injured because of a not-so-strong knockout opponent, then it's not worth it.

So Pep Guardiola is thinking about how to play the first away game, which can avoid injuries and not affect the promotion?

He had considered strategically abandoning the first game, but that was playing with fire, and if he messed up, he would definitely be the target of everyone's jokes!

Pep Guardiola's thoughts drifted to the game in two months' time, while Ranieri was a little worried on the other side.

For Leicester, they are desperate to score goals right now, and the defence can only prevent the opposition from extending their lead and will not allow them to equalise or even reverse the score.

So, he has to focus on attacking.

'Vardy, you don't have to drop back in the second half, just go up front and we need your goals.'

Vardy nodded heavily, as Leicester's leading goalscorer, he had a heavy burden on his shoulders.

If he can't stand up, then the team may have a lot of luck in this game.

"Mahrez, you have two main tasks in the second half, to keep an eye on the opponent's number 12, you can't make him so comfortable organising and passing, and once you make a tackle from his feet, don't hesitate to pass forward and find Vardy.

Our counterattack must play with speed and not give the opponent time to defend in position! ”

Mahrez nodded expressionlessly, grabbed a bottle of water, unscrewed it and took a sip.

In this game, he was one of the most desperate players on the field.

And the reason why he is so desperate is because he desperately wants to prove himself to Guardiola.

Manchester City made an offer to the team during the summer window, but the offer was rejected by the club because the offer was too low.

Like many midfielders, Riyad Mahrez is keen to play under Pep Guardiola.

But he felt he didn't get the respect he deserved, and if Manchester City and Pep Guardiola really took themselves that seriously, they couldn't have made an offer of just £30 million!

Therefore, Mahrez hopes that through this game, Guardiola will get to know himself well, let the other party know that he is far stronger than he imagined, and if he wants to take himself, 30 million is not enough, at least 40 million or even 50 million.

Mahrez thinks highly of himself and doesn't feel inferior to anyone else.

It's just that it is very difficult for him to play such a price in this position, and if he follows the original trajectory, he performs well in Leicester City, completes the dark horse miracle with his teammates, and successfully wins the championship, then there is still some hope.

But if Leicester City does not win the championship this season, without the title of Premier League champion, it will be difficult to reach a value of 40 million or even 50 million pounds.

After all, this is the value of a player of Modric's level, and now he is still far from Modric, and he will not reach the height of Modric in the future.

The fifteen-minute half-time break ended quickly, and the two sides changed sides again.

Five minutes into the second half, Pep Guardiola could see the changes he made at half-time.

"Leicester City has arranged a special person to keep an eye on Kroos, and it seems that they can also see the huge threat that Kroos poses to them!"

The commentators also noticed that Mahrez was like a piece of kraft candy when he was defending, sticking around Kroos, almost not leaving an inch.

'It seems to have had some effect, Kroos is very uncomfortable, he has fewer passes and catches than before, and it is difficult to deliver dangerous passes like before.

What the commentators can see, the coaches of both teams can naturally see.

"Huh? Do you want to block Cross? ”

Guardiola held his chin and analyzed it seriously.

Kroos's current position is already very deep, and the opponent does not hesitate to destroy the overall formation, but also arranges a special person to keep an eye on him, obviously being scared by Kroos.

Pep Guardiola admits that this does work, but at a cost!

The disjointed formation means more chances for Manchester City!

Sure enough, although Kroos has been limited in this regard, Manchester City has more than one organizational core on the pitch.

Kroos was restrained and De Bruyne was quick to step up.

And because his position is closer to the front, his passing creates a greater threat.

Within a short period of time, De Bruyne sent two passes through Leicester's defence, one of which was saved by Schmeichel Jr.

A goal was scored, but alas, it was disallowed because Aguero was blown offside.

On the sidelines, Ranieri broke out in a cold sweat.

The opponent's midfield configuration is really enviable, Kroos, Kante, De Bruyne, the midfield combination of these three can be called the strongest combination in today's football.

It's not enough to hold down one person, you have to hold it down all of them.

But even if all three of them are held down, there is still a Lin Quan in front of them.

Lin Quan can also act as a playmaker, giving assists to teammates and helping teammates score goals.

In other words, it is almost impossible to limit the core of Manchester City's midfield organization.

Damn, why are Manchester City able to network so much talent?

If I had such a good configuration, uh, then I guess I'd have to get out of class......

Ranieri is envious and jealous, but he can't help it, he is not sociable, and it is difficult to have a good relationship with players, especially big-name stars.

The star-studded teams of the big clubs and the locker room are already chaotic, and if the manager is not able to calm the dressing room, he will be covered and left sooner or later.

It's not that Ranieri hasn't led a big club, it's just that it's hard to work too long in a big club.

He is only suitable for those middle and lower teams, these teams are relatively simple, there are few big stars in the team, and the dressing room is relatively stable, so that he has no worries and can play to his strengths.

There's no time to think about that now, he's worried about the game on the pitch right now.

I don't know if my own arrangement will be seen through by Guardiola?

At present, it seems that it has not been recognized, so Leicester City still has a chance.

……

"It's weird!"

On the commentary bench of Sky Sports, Martin Taylor felt a little strange after watching the game for a while, but he couldn't say what was weird.

"What's wrong? What's strange? ”

His partner, Andy Gray, immediately chimed in.

'Do you think Riyad Mahrez is a bit too rigid on the pitch?

"Why do you say that, Ranieri gave him the task of limiting Kroos, judging from his performance in the second half, he did a good job of it, didn't you see that Kroos's touch of the ball has decreased?"

"That's true, but shouldn't he drop back a little bit after City have shifted the core of the playmaking so that he can better maintain his midfield position so that the formation doesn't get out of balance?"

"It seems like that's right, Kroos's teammates don't pass the ball to him anymore, and it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to continue pressing Kroos tightly, especially when he doesn't have the ball at his feet."

Hearing Martin Taylor say this, Andy Gray also felt a little strange.

"Hehe, Ranieri wants to do a sneak attack!"

In the stands, Zidane saw through Ranieri's plan at a glance.

Why is Mahrez still staring at Kroos?

On the face of it, it seems that this is a task assigned to him by the manager, and he is carrying out the task faithfully.

But in reality, his marking of Kroos is just a cover, and he uses it to put himself in this position, and once Leicester launch a counter-attack, he can send passes to the striker closest to the striker, creating the best chance for his team-mates to score.

The reason why Leicester's counter-attack in the first half was not threatening was that after they were suppressed, the forward line was disconnected from the players behind them, and it was difficult to get support, and they could only rely on their own individual strength.

Manchester City have the best central defenders in football, and they are not afraid of the opponent's one-on-one play, so their counter-attack will naturally fail.

Now, Claudio Ranieri has planted a Mahrez behind Vardy, who can play Vardy's pass and attack with his own breakthrough ability.

Manchester City's formation is too far forward, and the defense at the back is actually very empty.

If there is only one person when you fight back, it will not be a mortal threat.

But once Leicester City invests two or more troops on the counter-attack, then Manchester City's backline will be severely tested.

In this way, it will be much less difficult for Leicester City to score goals.

The opportunity that Ranieri was hoping for soon came, and in the 65th minute of the second half, Manchester City's attacking round ended, and after Schmeichel Jr. made a save, he quickly stood up with the ball and rushed to the penalty area, where a unicorn arm flung the ball to the front.

Riyad Mahrez headed the ball wide and Vardy received it like a high-speed sports car and rushed towards the Manchester City goal.

But unfortunately, he still couldn't get rid of Van Dijk.

Virgil van Dijk's awareness was remarkable, and as soon as the opposition goalkeeper got his hands on the ball, he began to retreat and rushed towards Jamie Vardy when his team-mates failed to get their hands on the ball.

As soon as Vardy received the ball, Virgil van Dijk appeared in front of him.

As before, Van Dijk did not blindly scramble, staring sideways at the ball at the opponent's feet, while stepping back to block the opponent's dribbling line and forcing Vardy to slow down.

This defensive style made Vardy very uncomfortable, and his speed inevitably slowed down.

And his speed has slowed down, and the Manchester City players chasing behind him will not slow down.

Seeing that the defender is about to catch up with him, he forms a trap on him.

Vardy finally had to shoot with his feet in a hurry when he couldn't take it.

The quality of the shot was mediocre and was easily defused by Keylor Navas.

After Navas passed the ball to Zabaleta, he bumped punches with Van Dijk.

This kind of cooperation, the two have carried out countless times in training and competitions, and they have already been very tacit!

Seeing Jamie Vardy's shot missed, the Leicester fans at the scene let out a burst of sighs.

When Riyad Mahrez's header was crossed, they all thought it was there.

I didn't expect it to fall short in the end!

The most regrettable thing is still the manager Ranieri, who is a little worried about whether this attack has exposed his intentions and made Guardiola aware of the problem.

(End of chapter)