Chapter 611 The third showdown, Real Madrid and Manchester City meet again in the Champions League f
"Isn't that a little too much?"
"Well, a little bit!"
When they left the field, seeing the Roma players with pale faces, every Manchester City player felt guilty.
The team lost so miserably that Kolarov could not continue to reminisce about the past with them. Instead, he went directly with the team and left the sad place of Manchester.
For the Romans, Manchester was a place they probably didn’t want to come back to for a long time.
Two flowers bloom, one branch each.
Compared with Manchester City's fancy defeat of Roma, the game in another arena was much more anxious.
At the Allianz Arena, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid set up an exact formation - 4141!
The offensive power of both teams is very strong, and the attacking groups in the frontcourt are very luxurious.
Many people thought this might be a goal battle, but the fact surprised everyone.
The two sides scored a total of 3 goals in this game, and the final score was 1:2, with the home team in front and the away team in behind.
When Bayern scored first and continued to attack fiercely, Real Madrid used a textbook defensive counterattack to defeat their powerful opponent at Bayern's home court.
Throughout the game, Bayern had a ball possession rate of 60%, took twice as many shots as Real Madrid, and had more corner kicks than Real Madrid three times.
The number of other dangerous attacks, free kicks, etc. all have at least twice the lead.
Bayern's offensive was fierce, but Real Madrid was like a rock in the turbulent sea, standing tenaciously in the waves, withstanding the opponent's attacks again and again, and then taking advantage of the opponent's mistakes, using the ball cleanly. Two counterattacks put the opponent to death.
This game allowed the world to see the strong strength of the defending champions. Why were they able to snatch the Champions League title from Manchester City?
I believe that people who have watched this game will no longer have such doubts.
This Real Madrid team is very strong and definitely has the strength to defend the title.
Bayern, which lost at home and also injured general Robben, is in a very bad situation.
The schedule of home first and then away was already very unfavorable to them, and now they have lost the home court where they are most likely to win.
Many people believe that their chances of advancing to the final are probably less than 3%, and it is almost impossible for them to defeat Real Madrid in the next round at the Bernabeu Stadium.
Taking into account the result of another game, if there are no accidents in this year's Champions League final, the two sides should still be Manchester City and Real Madrid!
After all, this is the third consecutive year that the two sides have met in the finals.
And this also proves that these two teams are the most powerful teams in football today.
……
After the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals, fans' attention returned to the league.
As the season comes to an end, the battle for next season's Champions League spots has become increasingly intense.
Tottenham have lost one of their last two games and drawn one, and have been directly caught up by Liverpool behind them. At this time, they have fallen to fourth place in the league.
This makes Tottenham people feel very nervous, because if they drop one more place, they will fall out of the Champions League.
Moreover, the fourth place in the Premier League has to participate in the Champions League qualifying play-offs and cannot directly advance to the main draw. The opponent drawn in the play-offs depends entirely on luck.
If you are unlucky and pick a strong opponent, you will still be overturned. Last season, two teams in Ligue 1 overturned in the Champions League play-offs.
Therefore, to ensure direct promotion, one must reach the top three.
As for Chelsea, they no longer fantasize about third place at this time. As long as they can catch up with someone, no matter who it is, as long as they can reach the fourth position, they are already satisfied.
However, what disappoints the Chelsea people is that Tottenham did not continue to lose this round.
Playing at home, they defeated Watford, who was in the middle of the league and had no desires and desires, 2:0.
Every time at the end of the league, the most difficult teams are often those relegation teams fighting for life and death. They can think of any trick to win.
Even if you defeat them, I'm afraid you will lose a few taels of meat. If one of you accidentally hurts the core general, then just wait and cry!
As for those mid-range teams that are stronger than the relegation teams, but have no worries about relegation and have no hope of entering the European competition, it is better to play.
Players on these teams often have their minds wandering away at the end of the season.
Some people are thinking about changing to a promising team during the summer window, and some are thinking about where to go for vacation. In short, no one's mind is on the court.
So compared to Chelsea's shattered front teeth in the away game and the hard-fought defeat of the relegation team Swansea, Tottenham can be said to have won this game quite easily.
After winning this game, Tottenham's points have surpassed Chelsea by 7 points.
With only the last two rounds of the league left, it is impossible for Chelsea to catch up with Tottenham.
But there is also good news. Although Tottenham did not lose in this round, Liverpool did.
The Red Army, which had strong offensive power and played at home, actually failed.
Facing Stoke City, which ranked second from the bottom in the league, Liverpool used all its main players and fired 20 shots in the whole game, but scored not a single goal.
Salah, Firmino and others who had performed well before were all muted.
Although Stoke City defended their own gate, their opponent's attack was too fierce and they could not find a chance to counterattack. In the end, both sides suffered a loss.
Failure to win this victory makes Stoke City's hope of relegation only theoretically possible.
For Liverpool, this unexpected draw allowed them to be overtaken by Tottenham in the standings, falling to fourth place.
Moreover, they are only 5 points ahead of Chelsea. With 2 rounds left in the league, Chelsea has theoretical hope of making a comeback.
As for Manchester City, they played half the main team and half the substitute lineup in this game, and ended the battle with an unpretentious 3:0 away from home.
Sane, Haaland, and Jesus scored all three goals.
It is worth mentioning that in this game, Guardiola arranged for Haaland and Jesus to form a double forward partnership, and the effect was surprisingly good.
Manchester City, whose main lineup had received sufficient rest, devoted all its strength to face Roma in the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals.
Manchester City continued their excellent form in the last game. Even in the away game, they still focused on me and actively attacked, as if this was still their home court.
In the 9th minute of the first half, Lin Quan took the lead to help the team knock on the door of Rome.
In the 25th minute, David Silva scored another victory.
Everything seems to have returned to a familiar script, and the trend of the game is very similar to the last one.
However, the Romans, playing at home, did not let the tragedy in the previous game happen again.
After being stunned by Manchester City at the beginning, they quickly recovered and launched a tenacious attack on Manchester City. In the 55th minute of the second half, Dzeko helped Roma achieve zero breakthrough and finally no longer had to be shaved.
This goal greatly boosted the morale of the Roma team. With the cheers of tens of thousands of fans at the scene, the Roma attacked like a wave and once suppressed the powerful Manchester City in their own half.
In the 77th minute of the second half, Manchester City's old player Kolarov sent a cross from the left and assisted Nainggolan to score Roma's second goal.
The score on the field became 2:2, and the Romans saw hope of winning.
However, the hope in their eyes was quickly dashed.
After Nainggolan scored, Manchester City immediately responded.
Lin Quan scored with a direct free kick to open the score again.
At this time, there was not much game time left. Although the Romans raced against time to continue attacking, they were ultimately unable to recover and lost to Manchester City 2:3 at their home court.
As a result, Manchester City defeated its opponents at home and away and advanced to the final with a total score of 11:2.
This is the fifth consecutive year that Manchester City has reached the Champions League final, breaking their own record.
Although Rome lost, it was still a glorious defeat.
After losing so miserably in the away game and almost overturning Manchester City at home, I have to say that they are indeed tenacious, as resilient as a pack of wolves.
Manchester City and Roma were playing very anxiously, but compared with the game at the Bernabeu, they pale into insignificance.
Just when the outside world looked down on Bayern, Bayern played a wonderful and exciting game on the road.
This game was almost exactly the same as the previous one. Real Madrid, who played at home, still adopted a defensive counterattack posture, while Bayern, in desperate need of goals, boldly launched an attack on the opponent away from home.
Bayern had even more shots in this game than in the previous game, but the difference is that this time, their offensive efficiency was much higher.
Ronaldo, who was almost kicked out by Real Madrid, showed his outstanding performance during the World Cup in Brazil in the key match against his old club.
In the third minute of the game, he instigated a goal and helped the team score quickly.
It was this goal in the third minute that caused Real Madrid to almost lose the game.
Fortunately, Real Madrid stabilized their position, and in the 11th minute of the first half, they seized a chance to counterattack, and Marcelo assisted Benzema to equalize the score.
In the first half, the two sides tied at 1:1, and the situation was still in Real Madrid's favor.
At the beginning of the second half, Real Madrid copied Bayern's tactics in the first half. They changed their previous stable defensive posture and went straight to the opening attack, catching Bayern off guard.
The second half lasted only 1 minute. Taking advantage of the opponent's goalkeeper's mistake, Benzema scored again, turning the score into 2:1.
At this time, the total score between the two sides has become 4:2. Real Madrid not only leads by two goals in total, but also has the advantage of away goals. Anyone who looks at it feels that they have a chance to win.
But their opponent is Bayern, a team that cannot be underestimated.
In a desperate situation, Bayern launched a desperate counterattack.
In the 66th minute, Ronaldo shot in the penalty area and the goalkeeper made a save. He scored with a supplementary shot to help the team equalize the score.
At this time, Bayern's away goals have tied with Real Madrid, and they are only one goal behind Real Madrid.
As long as Bayern scores another goal, they will reverse and eliminate Real Madrid with the advantage of away goals.
So although the total score between the two sides is Real Madrid leading, Real Madrid is the one standing on the edge of the cliff at this time.
Ronaldo's goal greatly stimulated Bayern's morale. They ran harder and attacked more aggressively, playing higher and higher offenses on the court.
In order to stop the opponent's attack, Real Madrid's players worked hard to defend, even using tactical fouls to stop the opponent.
Modric, Kroos, Lucas, Varane and others received cards one after another in a short period of time...
The situation is very unfavorable to Real Madrid. They are like a tight string that will break without knowing when it can no longer be stretched.
This suffocating atmosphere made every Real Madrid fan at the Santiago Bernabeu so nervous that they didn't dare to express their anger.
After Zidane saw the opponent's goal, he made a decisive substitution. He replaced Benzema and Kovacic and replaced them with Bale and Casemiro.
With Casemiro's appearance, the defensive intensity of Real Madrid's midfield immediately went up to a higher level.
Modric, Casemiro, and Kroos have a clear division of labor and a tacit cooperation, successfully killing the opponent's offense in the midfield time and time again.
At the last moment of the game, Bayern had used all the methods they could think of, but they still couldn't break Real Madrid's goal.
They were only one goal away from the final, but it was this goal that became their unattainable dream.
In the end, after a hard-fought battle, Real Madrid held on tenaciously, eliminated Bayern with a total score of 4:3, and once again reached the Champions League final.
This is also the third consecutive year that Real Madrid has reached the finals. They are aiming for the eleventh championship trophy in their team history.
After the Champions League semi-finals, the media reported on these two games immediately.
The front page headline of Real Madrid's mouthpiece Marca is - "The third showdown, Real Madrid and Manchester City meet again in the Champions League final!" 》
"It's indeed Real Madrid!"
Guardiola sighed after learning that Real Madrid had defeated Bayern.
He was not surprised by this result. After all, from the perspective of the hard power of the two teams, Real Madrid has the advantage. What's more, they are playing at home, so they have a greater chance of winning.
"It doesn't matter if we meet Real Madrid. After all, we have played against them for three consecutive years. We know them well and know how to deal with them."
Although Arteta didn't think it was a good thing to meet Real Madrid, he didn't think there was much difference.
Maybe it will be more troublesome to meet Bayern in the final, because Bayern's style of play is actually a bit restrained by Manchester City.
"Well, after all, we can't pin our hopes of victory on who the opponent is. As long as we are strong enough, no matter who the opponent is, we can handle it!"
Having led the team to so many Champions League finals, Guardiola has rich experience in finals.
Furthermore, he is confident in the strength of his Manchester City team.
In Guardiola's opinion, the strength of this Manchester City team is no longer inferior to that of Barcelona at its peak.
This year's Champions League final will be held in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. There are still about 25 days until the final, which is enough for Manchester City to make complete preparations in advance.
However, before that, they have to finish the last two league games.
The opponents in these two leagues are not strong. Manchester City can use it to practice their lineup and tactics and prepare for the finals in advance. (End of chapter)