NOVEL NEXT Chapter 609 Super dark horse, Roma team!
Chapter 609 Super dark horse, Roma team!
Since there is a dark horse like Roma in this year's semi-finals, this draw becomes extremely important for the other three teams.
If Barcelona had not been upset and successfully entered the semi-finals, this year's semi-finals would have been four powerful giants.
But Barcelona's unexpected upset allowed Roma to break in, and Roma is undoubtedly the weakest of the four teams now.
Therefore, the remaining three teams all hope to draw Roma in the semi-finals. In this case, they can avoid the other two top teams and their hopes of advancing to the finals will be greatly improved.
"Otherwise, Manchester City and Real Madrid should be drawn together. Bayern's strength this year is obviously much weaker than last year, so why not let Bayern be drawn against Roma?"
"Haha, are you a Bayern fan upstairs? I've heard this in Spain!"
"Let me tell you, don't underestimate Roma. He was able to reverse and eliminate Barcelona at a huge disadvantage in the first round, which shows that they really have something. If you treat him as a soft persimmon, then I'm afraid the one who will suffer in the end will be your selves!"
"Yes, I think Roma has the potential to continue to upset people. Whoever meets them in the semi-finals might be unlucky!"
Amid the quarrels and discussions among the fans, the draw results for the Champions League semi-finals were announced.
Tottenham, who only wanted to win, made a very risky move - to play against Manchester City!
Tottenham's choice surprised everyone at Manchester City. In the past entire season, in the entire Premier League, the only team that dared to compete with them was Liverpool.
In the end, thanks to Giroud's double and Hazard's key goal, Chelsea successfully reversed their opponents and temporarily narrowed the gap between themselves and Liverpool to 4 points.
On April 4, Chelsea’s game started first.
Among them, the away game against Tottenham in the 34th round is the most important.
But unfortunately, today he was heavily targeted by Manchester City.
But in addition to Kane, Tottenham also has two other powerful attackers, namely Eriksen and Son Heung-min.
Therefore, even though they knew that Manchester City was strong and their chances of winning were very low, Tottenham, who played at home, still played with all their strength and showed that they were ready to fight Manchester City for their lives.
But then Liverpool played and defeated Bournemouth 3:0 at home.
The expression of the Roma representative was very solemn. Apart from them, among the remaining three teams in the semi-finals, the weaker one is obviously Bayern, so for Roma, they also want to draw Bayern.
As the league enters its final stage, after Manchester City won the championship ahead of schedule, the excitement and suspense of this year's Premier League is all focused on who can make the top four and qualify for next season's Champions League.
But this does not mean that the three teams in front can take it lightly. They all play to this point. No one wants the team to slip up at the last moment.
If they don't play well in these last few games, their efforts for most of the previous season will be in vain.
These four teams are the most promising to represent the Premier League in next season's Champions League, because even fourth-placed Liverpool is 7 points more than fifth-placed Chelsea.
The Blues, playing away from home, launched a desperate counterattack in the 70th minute of the second half when their opponents scored two goals ahead.
Only 2 minutes later, Manchester City scored again.
But the results of the game told them that they thought too much!
Salah, Manny and Firmino scored Liverpool's three goals, and they also used a big victory to declare Liverpool's return as the king.
Although Liverpool was beaten badly by Manchester City, it does not mean that they will lose when they meet other teams.
Tottenham's offensive ability is very strong. If they take advantage of their home court to fight against their opponents, they may have a greater chance of winning.
The referee awarded Manchester City a penalty kick after showing the opponent's goalkeeper a yellow card.
When the draw results came out, Manchester City's representative beamed. He really thought it was a good draw.
Under the envious gazes of Real Madrid and Bayern, Manchester City drew the 'weakest' Roma and seemed to be the luckiest player in the semi-finals?
Bayern and Real Madrid were forced to fight each other. These two top teams met in the semi-finals in advance. It was destined that only one team could advance to the final.
In the 42nd minute, Kane got the ball in the middle and sent a through ball. Eriksen decisively inserted a shot and scored the ball.
When did Tottenham become so bold?
In fact, Tottenham had no choice but to do this because they knew that their defense could not withstand Manchester City's offense. If they defended passively, they would probably be slowly worn out by Manchester City's passing and control.
This time, Manchester City successfully stole the ball in the frontcourt. Lin Quan dribbled the ball into the penalty area and was brought down by the opponent's goalkeeper.
Facing Tottenham who took the initiative to attack, Manchester City showed no mercy at all.
But once we lose, it may be hard to say.
In the 22nd minute of the first half, Seat B and Lin Quan broke into the penalty area after hitting the wall. After taking away two defensive players, they knocked across the middle. Aguero followed up and fell to the ground to tackle the ball and send the ball into the goal.
He ran hard in the frontcourt, never letting go of any opportunity, trying to score Manchester City's goal.
The top four teams in the current standings are Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham and Liverpool.
With five rounds left in the league, it is very difficult to equalize this point difference.
For Tottenham, if they can defeat Manchester City at home, then there will basically be no problem for them to maintain their top four position in the league.
Both direct competitors won, and all the pressure was on Tottenham.
But unfortunately, their opponent is Manchester City, which is not an easy opponent to deal with. Roma's Champions League journey this year is likely to end here.
On the court, Tottenham's star Kane became increasingly anxious when he saw his opponents scoring goals one after another.
The score became 0:2, and Manchester City had gained a great advantage.
Manchester City's goal made Tottenham a little flustered, and the defense itself was in disarray.
Manchester City takes the lead!
Lin Quan took charge himself, deceiving the opponent's goalkeeper and then steadily scored the ball.
Under the close defense of the opponent, Kane had no choice.
There are still two weeks until the semi-finals start. Before that, Manchester City still has 2 league games to play.
Tottenham finally scored and rewritten the score to 1:2.
The Tottenham fans who were originally tense and nervous in the stands finally became more relaxed after seeing this goal.
They feel this is a good start and the team has finally found the right offensive method.
Many fans are looking forward to the team continuing this state in the second half and equalizing or even reversing the score as soon as possible.
However, their expectations were once again disappointed.
At the beginning of the second half, Tottenham were caught off guard by Manchester City's fast break as they prepared to attack.
After Mbappe received De Bruyne's pass, he galloped down the wing as fast as a wild horse. Tottenham's players tried to intercept, but he easily passed him by changing his direction.
After passing the defensive player, Mbappe took a decisive step and completed the shot before the goalkeeper struck.
Mbappe's shot was from a very tricky angle. Tottenham's goalkeeper had no choice but to watch the ball hit the net.
Tottenham's players picked up the ball from their own goal with a frustrated look on their faces. After putting it back in the center circle for the kickoff, the ball was intercepted again before they could complete a complete attack.
In this game, Tottenham's ball possession rate was actually not low, but they made a lot of mistakes, especially in the midfield, which were countless.
Manchester City immediately launched a counterattack after stealing the ball, and Lin Quan distributed the ball to Mbappe on the wing.
The latter galloped all the way, took the ball to the wing and then kicked the ball in.
Aguero's header was rejected by the post, and Lin Quan followed up and scored the ball with a supplementary shot.
The score became 1:4. Manchester City scored two goals in just one minute and stunned Tottenham.
After scoring this goal, Manchester City quickly made substitution adjustments.
Lin Quan and Aguero were replaced one after another, and Gundogan and Haaland appeared.
Manchester City replaced Lin Quan. Tottenham had the opportunity to launch a counterattack, but their morale seemed to have been shattered and they failed to seize the opportunity.
On Manchester City's side, the players had just finished the Champions League game and their physical fitness had not yet fully recovered. After seeing that the opponent's offense posed no threat, they also began to control the rhythm of the game and firmly control the ball at their feet.
In the end, Tottenham lost to Manchester City 1:4 at home and became the biggest loser in this round of the league.
This defeat seemed to bring bad luck to Tottenham. In the 35th round, in an away game against Brighton, which was in the middle and lower reaches of the league, Tottenham failed to hold on to their lead after scoring the first goal and suffered a defeat. equalize.
Only 1 point has been gained in two games, which puts Tottenham's prospects of securing the fourth place in jeopardy.
However, the performance of several other teams in this round was not good, and Liverpool was even more outrageous. With a two-goal lead, they suffered a draw from their opponents and let the three points they got fly away.
As for Chelsea, they were even more outrageous. Facing the relegation team, they had the advantage at home, but they were unable to score. Instead, their opponents used defensive counterattacks to break through their door.
Although Chelsea equalized the score in the end, they still failed to win against their opponents. They dropped the chain at the critical moment when they were fighting for fourth place, causing them to almost completely lose hope of participating in the Champions League.
Manchester City's performance in this round is still strong. With the goals of Aguero, Lin Quan, De Bruyne, David Silva, Sane and others, Manchester City defeated Swansea 5:0.
Manchester City played very well as a team in this game. The players seemed to have a grudge against the ball, scrambling to feed each other the ball. In the end, they played more and turned their opponents into muggles.
It is worth mentioning that after this victory, Manchester City's points have reached 96 points. One more victory will break the Premier League record they set in the 2014-2015 season.
……
After finishing the Premier League game, Manchester City had no time to rest, because three days later, they would face the challenge of their Champions League semi-final opponent Roma at home.
Although Guardiola has never coached a Serie A team, he pays a lot of attention to Serie A teams.
Thanks to their matches with Juventus in the past few years, Manchester City has collected a lot of information about Serie A.
Although Juventus is the dominant player in Serie A, Roma has also shown strong competitiveness in the past few seasons and even almost snatched a league trophy from Juventus.
In addition, they did play very well in the 3-0 victory over Barcelona at home, which made Guardiola clearly realize that Roma is not a weakling, this is a team with considerable strength.
Maybe they are not the best team, but they must not take it lightly, otherwise they will pay the price.
……
It is worth mentioning that there are two old Manchester City players in this Roma team.
One is Kolarov, who left the team last summer, and the other is Dzeko, who was unwilling to be replaced by Lin Quan and took the initiative to leave the team.
Although both are former Manchester City players, their attitudes towards their former clubs are completely different.
As the main player during Manchester City's Triple Crown, Kolarov won three Champions League trophies and four league trophies with the team.
It can be said that the most glorious moment of his career was achieved at Manchester City.
Therefore, although he left Manchester City, he still had a good impression of Manchester City.
In the tunnel before the game, Kolarov took the initiative to say hello to his former teammates.
Manchester City players were also very enthusiastic after seeing Kolarov, and the senior players came forward to hug and chat with him.
Kolarov played for Manchester City for seven years, played 247 times on behalf of Manchester City, scored 21 goals, and made great contributions to Manchester City.
We have worked together for a long time and have a good relationship in private.
"Hey, Alexander, do you want to stay and have a meal together after the game? I found a nice restaurant that will definitely surprise you!"
"Come on, I've been in Manchester longer than you. What delicious food is there? Don't try to fool me!"
When it comes to Manchester's mistakes, Kolarov shakes his head.
Only after I went to Italy did I realize that Britain is really a food desert.
I really don’t know what kind of genius it is to invent such a divine dish as Starry Sky!
When he first came to the Premier League, an uninformed Kolarov went to eat once. From then on, he had a psychological shadow on British food and never dared to try British food again.
It's so unpalatable. This can no longer be considered dark cuisine, it's simply devilish cuisine!
Seeing Kolarov's frightened expression, his teammates all laughed. Obviously, everyone is of the same mind and can sympathize with Kolarov's fear.
Compared to Kolarov, Dzeko on the side couldn't urinate in the same pot as these people.
First of all, he didn't play for Manchester City for a long time, only 2 seasons, and most of these players joined after he left. He is not familiar with these people, so there is nothing to talk about.
Secondly, Dzeko was almost sold by Manchester City at a low price, so he has no feelings for the team.
What I am thinking about at this moment is not to reminisce about the past, but to take revenge on my former club, Manchester City, on the pitch in front of tens of thousands of Manchester City fans.
You used to be indifferent to me, but now I want to use my strength to prove that you are beyond your reach!
However, Dzeko has been away from Manchester City for too long after all, and he has no idea how strong this Manchester City team is.
From the very beginning, the game was completely taken over by Manchester City and entered the rhythm of Manchester City.
(End of this chapter)