Chapter 374: Manchester Derby! Who will be the master of the next era?
7 training points (115→122), 1 breakthrough point (27→28), these are the rewards Chen Xiaoliang received in the last game.
Although the next game is against Manchester City away, it is a derby in the same city, so we can still save travel time.
However, there is another important journey waiting for Chen Xiaoliang at the end of October, which is the 2023 Golden Globe Awards ceremony.
Although there have been some twists and turns in this season's Champions League, with the reputation of last season's treble and Manchester United's 9-game winning streak at the start of the season, Chen Xiaoliang's odds for the Ballon d'Or are getting closer and closer to Messi, with odds of 1 to 2.0 and 1 to 2.5, which means it is reasonable for either of them to win the trophy in the end.
Haaland, who is ranked third with odds of 10 to 1, is far ahead of De Bruyne, who is ranked fourth with odds of 25 to 1, and Dybala, who is ranked fifth with odds of 35 to 1, which means that Haaland's third place is already a foregone conclusion.
Therefore, many media have predicted that if Chen Xiaoliang can defeat Haaland, the strongest opponent of the new generation, in this derby and end with an unparalleled 10-game winning streak before the awards ceremony, it may mean that his Golden Ball era will come this year.
Although Messi's 6 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss after returning to Barcelona is not bad, he was more or less deducted points because he was equalized by Real Madrid at home in the national derby in the 5th round of La Liga. Moreover, although his statistics of 5 goals and 5 assists in all competitions in the new season are still very impressive, they are still a little worse than Chen Xiaoliang's 11 goals and 5 assists and Haaland's 16 goals and 2 assists.
Manchester United also received a bad news and a good news before the game. The bad news was that the main midfielder Casemiro sprained the lateral Calcaneofibular ligament of his ankle and would definitely miss the first round of the Manchester derby. The good news was that the sprain was not serious and he would be able to return to the court after about three to four weeks of rest, which means it would not affect the key final round of the Champions League group stage against Bayern .
Three days later, on October 18, Manchester United faced the first game of the League Cup this season and were drawn against Championship team Blackburn.
Although Blackburn was once a very influential team in the Premier League, it won the Premier League championship in the third year of the Premier League, that is, the 1994-95 season, and it was coached by Liverpool "King" Kenny Dalglish.
This achievement was 25 years earlier than Liverpool.
But after being relegated in 2012, they have never returned to the Premier League.
Under the coaching of Allardyce, who advocated tough football, Blackburn had the nickname "Violent Ben". Now their head coach is AC Milan legend and former Danish national team captain Thomasson.
The game was not violent at all, and Manchester United did not put much emphasis on it, sending out a complete second-line lineup.
goalkeeper Livakovic;
The back four: Mengi, Lindelof, Maguire and Williams;
The two defensive midfielders are McTominay and Fred, and the attacking midfielder is Zidane Iqbal;
Left winger Ganacho and right winger Sancho.
Yes, there are only 10 people on this list so far, and the name of the last person caused an uproar when the list was announced one hour before the game.
That person is Mason Greenwood.
Although the club already knew that Greenwood had returned and was participating in training, CEO Van der Sar strictly required the team to keep silent until the club officially announced it and made a detailed explanation.
The day before the game, the team sent out a short report stating that Greenwood had returned to the first-team training, but because the player was not registered for the league and Champions League before the season, Greenwood will not play for the team in these two competitions at least in the first half of the season.
I thought I would have to take some time off, but unexpectedly I started in the League Cup the next day.
In fact, the club and Greenwood himself had already laid a lot of groundwork before, including seeking opinions from all parties in the club after withdrawing the charges, especially the Manchester United women's team. At the same time, they reconciled with the victim, Greenwood's girlfriend Harriet, in an almost bloody manner and officially announced their marriage.
After a full year and a half of cooling off, the players' return to the court has polarized public opinion.
Some fans thought that this was too ridiculous, just a couple who went too far, and in the end the police and prosecutors withdrew the charges. At least there was nothing wrong with it on a legal level, and it also provided the England national team with an additional option.
Needless to say, there is another part of the fans who oppose it. In addition to those who oppose it from the perspectives of law, morality, feminism, and political correctness, there are also some people who are born to argue and oppose everything.
Van der Sar also made preparations for both scenarios. He tested the waters by having the players play in domestic cup competitions to see both the players' condition and the outside world's acceptance. At the same time, he encouraged the players to participate in more social charity activities to create the image of a prodigal son who has turned over a new leaf.
But among Manchester United's own fans, the overall reaction was good, and Greenwood's return was equivalent to an £80 million signing.
However, perhaps because it has been too long since we played a formal match, although today's opponent was weaker and Greenwood himself was very positive on the court, neither side was able to score first until the end of 90 minutes.
According to the League Cup system, a penalty shootout was directly initiated.
In the end, Greenwood, Sancho, Ganaccio and Fred all scored four penalties, and Livakovic saved two penalties from the opponent in the 2nd and 4th rounds respectively, directly helping the team win the game 4-2 on penalties and advance to the 4th round.
Although the process was boring, the purpose of training new players and maintaining the status of substitutes was achieved. At the same time, none of the main players played, which made the outside world very optimistic about Manchester United's performance in the derby three days later.
The day before the game, the head coaches of both teams attended a press conference. Unlike the fierce bickering between Guardiola and Mourinho, Ten Hag, who was the head coach of Guardiola's second team when he was coaching Bayern, has always praised the Spanish coach who is in his prime.
Guardiola has always been a person who would rather praise than slander. As long as the opponent does not provoke him before the game, he will always respond with a low-key attitude. He is submissive in the press conference but strikes hard on the court.
He expressed great recognition for the progress made by Manchester United this season, and specifically mentioned Chen Xiaoliang, saying that Manchester United has completely transformed into another team with him, and even said that it is difficult for anyone in today's football world to defend against Chen Xiaoliang.
Although both of them praised their opponents at the press conference, they had one thing in common, which was that they gave their teams sufficient pre-war mobilization.
One is a nine-game winning streak, the other is an eight-game winning streak. Everyone is holding on to their energy. Whoever loses this game will lose that energy and it will be a blow to their confidence.
Casemiro, who was injured and unable to play, also attended the tactical meeting and told his teammates that even if he was on crutches, he would appear on the bench at the Etihad Stadium and sit with everyone.
This weekend, Serie A has two major matches, Roma vs. Juventus and the Milan derby. La Liga has the Madrid derby between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid away. In the Premier League, there is also the BIG7 civil war between Newcastle and Liverpool.
But all these seem unimportant under the spotlight of the Manchester derby. Although Chen Xiaoliang is no longer in Rome, many people will still regard this derby as a continuation of last season's Champions League final, a rematch between Chen Xiaoliang and Haaland, not to mention that Chen Xiaoliang is accompanied by his two protectors, Kva and Cesco.
18:00 on October 22, 2023, 1:00 am on October 23, Red Country time, Etihad Stadium.
This stadium is about 7 kilometers away from Old Trafford and a 20-minute drive away. It can accommodate 55,017 spectators.
Ever since the team defeated strong opponents and reached the Champions League final last season, Guardiola has stopped making changes, and sometimes even went to the other extreme - not making any substitutions throughout the game.
This is still the case this season. With a basically fixed formation and main players, the team has achieved a terrifying record of 11 wins and 1 draw in 9 league rounds and 3 Champions League rounds, relying on stability.
Although some players are one year older, the addition of Bellingham has made Manchester City even stronger, especially the cooperation between him and Haaland. It seems that the two have never been separated in the past few years. They are still familiar with each other and have a tacit understanding.
As for young players, midfielder Cole Palmer, defenders Sergio Gomez and Rico Lewis are also constantly getting opportunities to come on as substitutes. If there were not so many strong players in the midfield, substitute midfielder Perrone, who won the treble with Roma last season, could have stayed in the team as a substitute or rotated.
An hour before the game, there were no surprises in the starting lineups of both teams.
Manchester City fielded their usual 4-3-3 formation. Ake's injury allowed Kyle Walker to start again. However, he has been in great form recently and is regarded by many as the best right-back in English history. Akanji moved to the left.
Carragher, a commentator for Sky Sports, also agreed with this view. Although he said this obviously to stimulate Gary Neville, he also won the support of many fans.
goalkeeper Ederson;
The back four is Kyle Walker, Stones, Dias and Akanji;
The three midfielders are De Bruyne, Rodri and Bellingham;
The three forwards are B Silva, Haaland and Grealish.
The only difference from last season's Champions League final is that Bellingham was on the field and the injured Ake was missing.
In fact, it is an open secret for Manchester City to change to 3-4-3 in offense and 4-3-3 after settling into position in defense. Therefore, the key is not how to deal with the formation, but how to curb Manchester City's passing and cutting cooperation.
Manchester United also has the strongest lineup when playing away:
The back four: Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Lima and Luke Shaw;
Double defensive midfielders: Bruno Fernandes, Eriksson, and central midfielder: Chen Xiaoliang;
The three forwards are Kwadwo, Cesco and Rashford.
Both sides injured a main player, and generally speaking, there is no question of who took advantage of whom.
Although the Etihad Stadium is smaller than Old Trafford and ranks fourth among the largest stadiums in England, with the huge investment and good management of its parent company City Group, the stadium's hardware facilities are no less than those of Old Trafford, which is ruled by the Glazer family and only cares about performance but not basic investment.
In the locker room, Ten Hag once again emphasized the tactical arrangements and emphasized the mentality even more. He is a pragmatic person and he would not be stupid enough to fight against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium. His biggest weapon is the fastest counterattack speed in the Premier League and even in Europe.
Just like nuclear deterrence, only by letting the other side know that they will be met with doubly brutal retaliation if they act rashly can the other side be cautious in making offensive moves.
Chen Xiaoliang gave a mobilization speech at the end. He knew how strong his opponent was. This was the first time that his opponent could make him exhausted since he came to the top five leagues.
This time there is no excitement, no incitement, and no dirty words, only responsibility. Everyone has their own position and responsibilities, and they should always remember what they should do.
When I walked to the player tunnel, Manchester City players were already lined up waiting.
Haaland, who was standing at the end, saw Chen Xiaoliang coming out, and immediately turned around and walked towards him, stretched out his hand to shake his hand and greeted him with a smile: "Hi, Chen, I finally waited for the game with you!"
Chen Xiaoliang nodded, but before he could say anything, Haaland said, "I will definitely score a goal under your defense later, hahahaha."
Chen Xiaoliang smiled and pushed him like a familiar friend: "Dream on."
He knew that the terrifying striker in front of him was a pure football man. In his mind, all competition was on the field. He would not express his obsession with a certain award to the media, nor would he ridicule his competitors for the award.
Compared to Haaland's enthusiasm, Bellingham in front of him was much colder.
Last season, they were beaten 7-1 by Roma. Chen Xiaoliang had five players succeed in the game and crushed him in all aspects. It was definitely the most humiliating game in his career.
He had no intention of exchanging favors with Chen Xiaoliang. Dortmund was not strong yesterday, and today he came to Manchester City, determined to take revenge.
Walking in front was the captain De Bruyne, who nodded after seeing Chen Xiaoliang. The talkative Ding Ding was like this, and sometimes he even looked at him with a dazed look, as if he was absent-minded.
The three referees entered the court first, and then the two sides entered the court side by side under the command of the fourth official.
After this game, we will enter more than a week of international match days, and the winner of the Golden Ball Award will also be announced. All these factors are intertwined, which really whet the appetite of fans all over the world.
Who will be the first to take over from Melo? The answer may be revealed today.
After being arranged on both sides of the court, the system popped up.
[Superstar Mission: Intercept the ball passed to De Bruyne 5 times]
[Task progress: 0/5]
[Mission Reward: Kevin De Bruyne Skill Training Package]
[The King of Football Mission: Win the personal duel with lifelong enemy Haaland]
[Task requirements: Lead the opponent by more than 1 point after the game]
[Task Reward: Get the same breakthrough points as the score]
Zhan Jun: "Dear fans, the first round of this season's Manchester derby is about to start!"
"The referee for this match is John Brooks, the two assistant referees are Richard West and Simon Long, and the fourth official on the sidelines is Andre Marina."
"De Bruyne kicked off and passed the ball directly to defender Stones, and Manchester City's overall formation began to press forward!"
Instead of dropping deep as some commentators had predicted, United had their front four press high between City’s midfield and defence, cutting off their short passing options and forcing them to pass the ball forward via long balls, which would significantly reduce the accuracy of their passes.
The division of labor among the four players is also very clear. Cesco is responsible for Stones, who is also tall and strong, and cuts off the connection between him and Diaz.
Kwa and Rashford pressed the two flanks and the flanks, making it difficult for Kyle Walker and Akanji to hold the ball or pass it easily.
Chen Xiaoliang swept the midfield, and no matter which midfielder was asked to retreat, they would fall into his defensive range.
But Guardiola's passing and control is not so easy to crack.
His changes in offensive and defensive formations are not just Stones' changes between the "waist defenders". It can be said that in the frontcourt, except for Haaland who is nailed to the front, the rest of the people can only be described in eight words - the soldiers have ever-changing positions, and the water has ever-changing shapes.
The right winger B席 in the formation diagram often appears in the middle, while De Bruyne and Bellingham are everywhere and frequently switch positions with each other.
Five minutes later, Manchester City only lost the ball once after kicking off from the midfield, and that was when Rodri passed the ball diagonally forward to B Silva, but Chen Xiaoliang rushed forward and stretched out his legs to block it. However, before he could get up and catch up with the rolling ball, Stones on the side caught up with the ball, and passed it back to Rodri with a heel kick.
Manchester City played very patiently. Even though they had not yet created a shot, Manchester United were unable to launch an attack as the ball was at their feet.
Barrage:
【Walking the dog】
【Manchester City is terrible】
[I really can’t imagine how we lost the Champions League final]
[How did he lose? When it comes to dealing with melons, of course you have to look at the bird. Teng Hai is just an old fool.]
…
Fans online were discussing every second, and fans in the stands were not idle either.
The person who was booed the loudest by the Manchester City fans at the scene today was naturally Chen Xiaoliang, who was wearing the number 7 jersey, followed by B Fee.
In the Portugal national team, B Silva was even arranged by the head coach to play as a defensive midfielder in order to give up the attacking midfielder position to B Fee, which made Manchester City fans very unhappy, claiming that B Silva is only called B Fee when he becomes useless.
In the 6th minute, Manchester City suddenly accelerated.
De Bruyne appeared on the right flank, Kyle Walker came over and De Bruyne passed the ball.
Luke Shaw and Kyle Walker were one on one. Kyle Walker was naturally stronger in terms of speed, but Luke Shaw held the inside line and blocked Kyle Walker's route to break through.
Kyle Walker stopped and passed the ball back, and the person who received the ball behind him had become Stones.
After receiving the ball, Stones immediately passed it back to De Bruyne on the flank.
After this circle, the ball went out from De Bruyne on the flank and returned to his feet. It seemed that there was no change. In fact, Manchester United's defensive formation had been led four or five meters deep to the bottom line by Kyle Walker.
At this time, Eriksen left B Silva who was advancing into the penalty area and pounced on , but Ding Ding had already used his right foot to kick a curve ball to the back point.
Who to pass it to?
Of course it's Haaland!
Haaland took a step forward and then jumped forcefully towards the ball.
Varane, 30 years old and 191cm tall, is still one of the top central defenders in football , but strength is the only area where his balanced ability is slightly weak.
Without Casemiro, it was unrealistic to expect B Fee to come back to help with air defense. Fortunately, Ten Hag had a backup plan. Wan Bissaka predicted in advance at the critical moment and ran to Haaland to interfere with him, causing his header to not be fully powerful. But even so, De Gea still flew to the right and made a wonderful save, pulling the ball out of the goal line to save the shot!
In this game, whether it was the pre-match tactical meeting or the final arrangement of the opponent's starting lineup in the locker room, grabbing the ball was always the focus that Ten Hag repeatedly asked for.
For a while, Chen Xiaoliang, Kva and Cesco felt that it was still Mourinho who was giving them tactics.
During his two-year career in Roma, from the first Serie A match against Fiorentina to the last Champions League final against Manchester City, I heard him say this:
"Seize the ball and launch a counterattack as quickly as possible according to the tactical route!"
Varane, who was taking on Haaland, kicked the ball forward with a big kick.
Where to go? Right.
He is a right center back and when asked to pass the ball, he follows the available passing routes and kicks to the right side and in front of the center.
There was only the sound of a whip cracking, and five figures rushed out of Manchester United's penalty area in an instant.
Kva on the left, Chen Xiaoliang on the left flank, Cesco in the middle, B Fee on the right flank, and Rashford on the right, the five of them had different speeds, but they all ran forward desperately as if their butts were whipped.
Rashford got the ball on the right side, but in terms of off-ball running speed, Akanji was no match for him.
But on the other hand, Rashford, who was advancing after taking control of the ball, was unable to shake off Akanji, who was returning to defense without the ball.
However, Rashford was very clear that he was the passing point for the ball on the wing. He took a few steps forward, turned beautifully to the right, pulled the ball and stopped suddenly, allowing Akanji who was chasing back to rush to the front from his left side.
Rashford pushed the ball to the front left and B Fee received the ball.
Behind him is his national team compatriot B席.
Both of them are 29 years old now, and their physical qualities such as height, weight, speed and strength are almost the same. However, under Guardiola's training, B席's dribbling and passing abilities in a small space have shown signs of becoming a master comparable to Iniesta.
If it were in the past, B Fee would definitely continue to move forward and compete with his fellow countryman in terms of physical strength and technical skills, but it is not possible now and he cannot do that.
After almost a month of extra training and close observation of Chen Xiaoliang's behavior, the thoughts in his mind have changed from "Why does this person have such right?", to "I can't afford to offend this person", and now to "This person is really fucking awesome".
He looked up and saw Rodri in front of Chen Xiaoliang. Then he raised his foot and sent a lob ball to the front left.
Are you kidding? There is only one person defending Chen Xiaoliang without the ball. How is this different from no one defending him?
B Fee's confidence is not without reason. The ball flew out and seemed to be passed too far, but soon, when the ball began to fall, Rodri, who was half a meter in front of Chen Xiaoliang just now, was already half a meter behind Chen Xiaoliang. When the ball fell and was gently pushed forward by Chen Xiaoliang's right foot when he jumped forward, and was unloaded by stopping and rushing, Rodri, who was still running desperately, had been pulled away by almost two meters.
Chen Xiaoliang, who received the ball on the left flank, continued to move forward. After receiving the ball, his speed inevitably slowed down, but there were only the last two people left in front of him, Stones and Dias who retreated early.
Passive skill: The range of sensing teammates' positions becomes larger LV1
At that moment, Chen Xiaoliang, who was still looking ahead, felt that Kva was still making a run on the left side, and Cesco in the middle was already running to the front right, restraining the Manchester City players retreating in the middle, while B Fee and Rashford were a little far away and he could not feel them.
Chen Xiaoliang continued to advance, and when he ran 15 meters and approached the penalty area line, facing Stones who was bending over to block him, he instantly slowed down, reduced his stride with the ball, and then changed direction to the front right!
Stones was originally a central defender. Although he has relatively refined skills and was successfully developed into a waist defender under Guardiola, his physical qualities such as flexibility and speed are still far behind Chen Xiaoliang.
However, it seemed that they were prepared. Diaz was still in position behind Stones on the left side. The two did not want to steal Chen Xiaoliang, but blocked his route forward and shooting.
Behind the two men, goalkeeper Ederson was already in a defensive posture, ready to save the ball at any time.
Chen Xiaoliang had no choice. His speed was so fast that his opponents and teammates could not catch up with him. If he stopped to wait for his teammates, it would mean that Manchester City's defensive players would catch up with him.
He adjusted the direction again, from the right front to the right, and took a step sideways. Even though Dias was ready, he was still left with a gap of half a body length sideways!
Oh no! I’m going to cum!
Chen Xiaoliang stepped on the left side of the ball with his left foot, swung his right foot back as far as possible, then retracted and twisted his waist, and while exerting force, he twisted his body slightly toward the goal. The inner instep of his right foot hit the lower middle part of the ball, and he instantly kicked out an inward-spinning arc ball!
Just as the ball was about to go out, Chen Xiaoliang actually saw a foot extending from his right side!
In a flash, he glanced to the right and saw Bellingham!
This former Dortmund star and future British star never forgot for a moment that he would seek revenge on Chen Xiaoliang today.
Even though he saw Chen Xiaoliang running further and further ahead, he still did not stop chasing him until Chen Xiaoliang received the ball and moved sideways to the right to create space, which gave him the opportunity to catch up.
At the last moment, seeing Chen Xiaoliang shooting, he flew up and blocked it with his foot.
His left foot touched the ball slightly, making the ball's inward rotation even stronger.
Ederson had already flown to his left side to save the ball. The sudden change of direction of the ball made him slightly stunned, but his hand shape and stretched body did not distort.
Zhan Jun: "Ederson! Great save!"
Zhang Lu: "Ah, haha! This ball was just a little bit off!"
Zhan Jun: "If Bellingham hadn't pushed the ball slightly inwards, the ball would have probably brushed Ederson's fingertips and flown into the goal!"
"Wow! Haaland just headed the ball and De Gea fished it out on the goal line. Xiao Liang shot hard in the counterattack and forced Ederson to make a great save to keep the goal!"
Zhang Lu: "Manchester City passed the ball for a long time, allowing Manchester United players to organize defense back and forth, and they had an absolute lead in ball possession. But today Manchester City's passing and control were definitely not meaningless. Suddenly, a combination of the wing and the ribs allowed De Bruyne to be in an open position and sent a wonderful pass, creating a scoring opportunity for Haaland."
"And in Manchester United's first attack and first counterattack of the game, Xiaoliang once again demonstrated his unparalleled counterattack speed."
"The coaches on both sides are fighting, and the players are also doing their best."
"Today's game was great!"
Zhan Jun: "But Bellingham's return to defense seemed to declare to everyone that the protagonists of today's Manchester derby are not only Xiaoliang and Haaland, but also me! The British star, Bellingham!"
