Italy were not the belliacs and immediately after conceding the goal they launched a counter-attack in an attempt to equalise before the end of the first half.

Italy's attack still achieved some results, and in the final stage of the first half, Italy's offensive was in full swing, and the initiative on the field was completely in the hands of the Italians.

There was a lot of noise in front of the door in Spain, giving people a crumbling feeling.

Unfortunately, there was not much time left for Italy, and although their attack improved greatly, they were not able to seize the last bit of time to score.

The score of 0:1 was held until the end of the first half.

After the start of the second half, the Italians, who had been mobilized in the dressing room, continued to continue the strong attack at the end of the first half, trying to break down the Spanish team, equalize and even reverse the game.

But the Italians seem to have forgotten that Spain's formation today is for counter-attacking.

The consequence of the Italians' heavy pressure was that they were frequently attacked by the Spanish in a rapid manner.

In the 55th minute of the second half, Spain launched a counter-attack, and the process of the goal was almost identical to the goal in the first half.

The house leak happened overnight, and the Italian team's Dinghaishen Buffon also made a mistake when saving, resulting in the ball that should have been saved, but finally flew into the Italian goal.

The score also became 2:0!

The Italians at the San Siro are already going crazy.

What the hell is going on?

Why can't I beat Spain every time I meet it?

Since losing to Spain on penalties in the quarter-finals of Euro 2008, Italy have been relegated to Spain every time they meet them.

Could it be that Spain is really the natural enemy and nemesis of our Italians?

Buffon silently got up from the ground, crossed his hands on his hips, looked at Lin Quan, who was celebrating with his teammates on the side of the court, and sighed helplessly.

He's 38 years old this year, and he doesn't know how long he can play professionally.

He has always wanted to climb the mountains of Spain with this group of teammates in the national team.

But alas, they lost again!

Although there is still more than half an hour left in the game, Italy, which is two goals behind, has a negligible probability of turning the tables.

The opponent is Spain, and once the team is ahead, it is almost impossible to be overturned.

It seems that until he retires, he will not want to see Italy defeat Spain.

Although the morale of the team has taken a big hit, the Italians still haven't given up and are still trying to attack.

In the 82nd minute, a Spanish player handballed in the penalty area, and the referee awarded Italy a penalty.

De Rossi struck the ball in.

The goal gave the Italians a morale boost and seemed to have hope of winning, but Spain's solid defence quickly dashed their hopes.

In the end, Italy lost 1:2 to Spain at their home stadium and unfortunately lost this crucial battle for the top spot.

After the game, the entire Spanish coaching staff breathed a sigh of relief.

Beating Italy, a direct rival, gives them a clear advantage in the race for top of the group.

As long as they don't make mistakes and don't give away their advantage in the next game, they will be in the lead until they meet Italy again next September.

Of course, we can't take it lightly yet, although the next game is not too stressful, but we must also have a correct attitude and take it seriously.

If you lose against a weak team, wouldn't the effort you put into the win be in vain?

Three days later, at Albania's home stadium, with goals from Diego Costa, Morata and Lin Quan, Spain won 3:0 and won three consecutive wins in the group stage and firmly ranked first in the group.

On the other side, the Italian team in North Macedonia almost caused an upset.

They were the first to score twice and would have been held to a draw had it not been for Mobile's stoppage-time strike.

Seeing that Italy was as expected, when facing other teams, they could not score points consistently, and Spain was suddenly more relieved.

……

After the match against Albania, the national team was disbanded and the players returned to their respective clubs to prepare for the intense league and Champions League matches.

In October, the national team and the club were in a situation of ice and fire.

The Spanish national team has won consecutive games in the world qualifiers, while Manchester City has struggled in the Premier League.

Following the defeat away to Tottenham Hotspur in the previous round, Manchester City, who were playing at home, were held to a draw by Everton.

Manchester City is in terrible form in this game, how bad is it?

They missed two penalties in one game!

De Bruyne conceded one penalty in the first half and Sergio Aguero conceded another in the second half.

Just as City were missing a series of penalties, Romelu Lukaku on Everton's side scored.

This kid's performance in the national team is miserable, but when he returns to the club, he starts to kill all sides, giving people a feeling that he can't work hard in the national team!

Guardiola really couldn't stand it and replaced Lin Quan, who was supposed to be resting, on the field.

After Lin Quan came on the field, he quickly revitalized Manchester City's attack, and assisted Son Xingmin to score the only goal on Manchester City's side in the 78th minute of the second half.

In the end, Manchester City, who were playing at home, failed to win the opponent and drew 1-1 with Everton.

Manchester City, who have not won in two or two rounds, slipped to second place in the league standings.

Arsenal came from behind, overtaking Manchester City on goal difference and temporarily topping the Premier League.

Tottenham missed a great chance to reach the top and were held to a draw away at West Bromwich Albion.

Liverpool, who had won four consecutive victories, played a blank with Manchester United in the double red meeting against Manchester United at home, and fought a two-way defeat.

The result was unacceptable to both sides, and Liverpool's upward momentum was interrupted.

Missed a great opportunity to catch up with Manchester City and Arsenal.

Manchester United, on the other hand, are also depressed, counting this game, they have not won in 2 rounds, and the ranking of the standings has even slipped to 7th.

This is a far cry from the goal they set before the race!

If a two-game winless run in the league wasn't enough evidence of City's dip in form, then the Champions League performance was enough to prove it.

On October 20, the third round of the Champions League group stage began.

In this round of matches, there is a key battle in Group C - Barcelona vs Manchester City!

This is the first time the two teams have met in a year and a half since the 2014-2015 season when they met in the Champions League final.

Barcelona are full of fighting spirit for this game and they are ready to take revenge at home.

At the beginning of the game, it was clear that the fighting spirit was burning in every Barcelona player.

Especially Messi and Suarez, the killing intent on them can't be hidden!

In the 17th minute of the first half, Messi received an assist from Andres Iniesta to help the team open the scoring!

The cooperation of Barcelona in this goal was very exciting, Iniesta's form has obviously recovered a lot, sending a beautiful pass, and Messi's handling after receiving the ball is even more masterful, stopping and dunking, easily shaking the defender, pushing the ball into the dead corner.

The Camp Nou has been plunged into a carnival, and more than 90,000 fans have made a deafening sound, shaking people's eardrums, as if they are in Shura hell.

Compared with the fiery state of the opponent, Manchester City is like not waking up, and the state is ridiculously poor.

In order to stop the opponent's attack, they fouled one after another while defending.

In just half an hour, he received 3 yellow cards.

To make matters worse, in the 32nd minute of the first half, Kevin De Bruyne was injured and City had to make a passive substitution.

Five minutes later, David Silva also strained his thigh in a scramble and was substituted.

At this time of the game, there was already something wrong, Manchester City had players injured one after another, the morale of the players on the field was low, and some of the cooperation that could be easily completed on weekdays could not be played at this time, and there would even be mistakes.

The Barcelona players who are playing at home have become more motivated after seeing this, and their offensive momentum is higher and higher.

In the spirit of beating the water dogs, they will not let go of this great opportunity.

At half-time, Pep Guardiola enlightened the mentality of his players and adjusted the team's tactical play.

He knows that in this situation, it is somewhat unrealistic to expect Manchester City to beat Barcelona at Camp Nou, so he hopes that the players can stabilize their mentality, do a good job of defending and not allow the opponent to score more goals.

Pep Guardiola's adjustments had a certain effect, and after the start of the second half, Manchester City once contained Barcelona's offensive and gradually returned the situation on the field to parity.

But in the 61st minute, a huge turn of events occurred.

Manchester City's goalkeeper made a mistake and knocked Messi to the ground, and the referee did not hesitate to show a red card and eject Keylor Navas from the game.

This red card almost sentenced Manchester City to death.

Pep Guardiola had only one last substitution left in his hands and had to replace a substitute goalkeeper for a striker.

Playing away from home and being sent off, City's hopes of equalising are slim.

The substitution means Pep Guardiola has come to terms with the loss.

But will Barcelona let Manchester City go so easily?

The answer is no!

With the numerical advantage and the opponent's main goalkeeper being sent off, Barcelona's attack became bolder and more ferocious.

In the 63rd minute, Messi used an unsolvable pass to enter the penalty area again, easily shook the goalkeeper and pushed the empty goal.

The score became 2:0!

Five minutes later, it was Messi again, this time he received a pass from Suarez and completed his hat-trick!

More than 90,000 fans at Camp Nou have collectively stood up and chanted Messi's name, shouting and paying tribute to the king in their hearts.

Messi ran to the sideline while kissing the team emblem on his chest.

Seeing his action, Barcelona fans were even more excited.

For countless Barcelona fans, this scene is worth remembering forever.

Under the leadership of their most beloved players, Barcelona overcame their sworn enemies who had been pressing on their heads and completed the coveted revenge at home.

Isn't that the best script?

Many Barcelona fans couldn't help but feel proud while being happy.

Even if Pep Guardiola and Lin are all gone, so what?

We have Messi and that's enough!

On the sidelines of the pitch, Guardiola held his forehead with his hand and frowned.

In this game, ten percent of Manchester City's strength was not even brought into play, and it was too embarrassing to lose.

He can accept the team losing, but he can't lose that way.

Since he took charge of the team, it has been rare to see a game in which he has lost three goals in a single game.

Not to mention the fact that it is at the Camp Nou, a stadium that means a lot to him.

But what can be done now?

All substitutions have been used up, and there is one less striker, and both of the pitches up front have been injured.

The only hope is to rely on Lin Quan's strong personal strength.

But is this reliable?

Can he challenge a whole team of Barcelona alone?

This season, Lin Quan has actually become very Buddhist, not only playing more like a midfielder himself, but even giving up many opportunities to score goals to his teammates.

It's true at club level and it's true at national team.

But this time, when his teammates fell, he knew he had to step up.

After the restart, when everyone thought that Manchester City would pass the ball back like before, Lin Quan sprinted forward decisively after knocking the ball to Sane.

Sane was pressed by Suarez and passed the ball with difficulty.

The ball was not passed very well, so Lin Quan had to slow down to catch the ball.

Rakitic felt it was a good opportunity for a steal and rushed over without hesitation.

Unexpectedly, the opponent wore a crotch and came to share the ball.

Mathieu behind Rakitic was taken aback and hurriedly came up to fill in the position, but Lin Quan's movements were faster than him, and he shook him in three or two strokes.

Mathieu's heart was shocked, and he subconsciously reached out and pulled Lin Quan and dragged Lin Quan to the ground.

The referee showed him a yellow card very decisively, and if he hadn't fouled the ball just now, Lin Quan would have brought the ball into the penalty area.

Lin Quan's solo breakthrough made the Barcelona players feel very surprised.

They didn't expect the other party to dare to rush into battle alone, and they almost succeeded.

However, no matter how powerful the other party is, it can't reverse the overall decline of Manchester City.

As a result, Barcelona only woke up a little, and soon returned to the previous rhythm of onslaught.

In the 71st minute, Kante broke the ball at the back, and under the pressure of two opposing players, he hurriedly passed the ball to Gundogan next to him.

Gundogan didn't have time to observe, so he could only glance at it out of the corner of his eye, and then a long ball played the ball to the wing.

Sane was sprinting, but he was quickly stopped by the opposition.

Sane, who has always been a loner, actually took the initiative to pass the ball this time.

When Lin Quan received the ball, he was already in the bag of the opponent's two central defenders.

Umtiti and Mathieu blocked Lin Quan's way.

Barcelona fans were relieved to see their central defenders complete the package and block the opponent's dribbling line.

If it were someone else, they wouldn't be so nervous.

But the opponent is Lin Quan, who has staged miracles many times and scored Barcelona goals, and they have to be nervous.

(End of chapter)