Chapter 172 The Father-Son Battle with Guardiola (Part 1)

Pellegrini is not a vegetarian, and he naturally sees the problems in the team's defense.

So, taking advantage of a dead ball, he called Zabaleta over and gave him some instructions.

Manchester City's defensive formation has changed to a certain extent. Their defenders have moved the backline a little further forward, making it more difficult for the opponent to hit behind their waistline when counterattacking.

The adjustment quickly paid off.

When AC Milan wanted to repeat their old tricks, Shaarawy either couldn't get the ball, or was knocked over by the rushing defender as soon as he got the ball.

If the passing force is too strong, Manchester City's defender can also create an offside trap, making him offside even if he receives the ball.

Not only that, Manchester City also increased the pressure in the frontcourt, making it impossible for the opponent's midfielder to pass the ball as they pleased.

After such a combination of punches, AC Milan's attack on the wing, which had just started to pick up, quickly failed.

At the end of the first half, Manchester City returned to the locker room with a 3-goal lead.

Although they were pulled back by two goals by their opponents, because their lead was still huge, the expressions on the faces of Manchester City players were still relatively relaxed.

There are clear divisions in the Manchester City dressing room:

Joe Hart, Wright, Richards and other local players gathered together.

Kompany, Yaya Toure, Gael Clichy and other non-local veteran players form a circle.

Zabaleta, Aguero, Demichelis, Fernando, Fernandinho and other South American players were mixed together.

Lin Quan, Silva, Navas, Negredo and other Spanish players are in another circle.

A team can actually have four different circles.

Lin Quan has gained a lot of experience!

When I was at Werder Bremen, most of the players on the team were local German players.

A small number of foreign players are also players from Austria and Eastern Europe, and the composition of the players is relatively single.

But when it comes to the giants in the five major leagues, the situation is completely different.

The composition of players in the five major leagues is very complex. Players from Latin America, Africa, Asia, the Balkans, Eastern Europe and various football powers on the European continent are very common.

The only ones that are relatively rare may be Chinese players studying abroad.

Because the level of football is declining day by day, coupled with the increasing popularity of Jinyuan football.

The craze for studying abroad, which was once very popular at the beginning, has continued to recede over the years.

In the five major leagues and even in the entire European competitions, Chinese players have become increasingly rare.

While Lin Quan was chatting and laughing with David Silva, he was observing several other members of the circle with the corner of his eyes.

"The local players have the largest number of players, but they are generally not very strong. However, because of the FA's policy, the club must support them!"

David Silva doesn't think highly of English players. Except for a few, everyone else is a jerk in his opinion.

They enjoyed the dividends of the Football Association's local player policy, but they did not have the strength to represent the team. They sat on the bench for most of the season, and sometimes they were not even able to make the squad.

"Old players, Kompany and Yaya Toure are both strong players. Kompany is the current captain of the team. He is relatively stable. Because of his status as captain, he is more concerned about the overall situation."

The implication is that if you have more contact with Kompany, he should be an easier person to deal with.

"Where's Toure?"

Lin Quan was curious about how Silva evaluated Yaya Toure. To be honest, after watching Yaya Toure's performance in the team's training match, Lin Quan quite recognized Yaya Toure's strength.

However, Guardiola would rather promote a new person than use him, and there must be his reason for this.

So, what are the flaws in Yaya Toure that made Guardiola choose Professor Busquets between him and Busquets?

"Toure is very strong, but how should I put it? His position should be placed in the front midfielder, not the back midfielder!"

"Huh? I think his defensive ability is quite strong and he covers a large area. Wouldn't these attributes be very suitable for the defensive midfielder position?"

Lin Quan's evaluation of Silva was a little surprising. Yaya Toure is more similar to his national team teammate Martinez.

Both of them are physically strong, full of energy, cover a wide area, and can attack and defend.

But looking at Silva's evaluation of him, it doesn't seem to be very high.

"Yaya Toure has skills at his feet, but his ability to pass and threaten the ball is not strong. What he is good at is forward attack. His offensive ability is even better than some forwards, but the problem is that he plays as a defensive midfielder. He attacks, and if the opponent counterattacks, our defense will be in danger."

Lin Quan recalled the first goal conceded in the first half. AC Milan seemed to have taken advantage of Yaya Toure's forward attack and hit the side he was defending to complete the goal.

From this point of view, Yaya Toure has excellent conditions as an engineer-type defensive midfielder, but he also has the heart of a forward?

"But here's the problem. We don't lack offensive firepower in the frontcourt. Not only can he not help when he drives the ball, but he will also become a breakthrough for the enemy's counterattack because he is too sticky to the ball."

Silva spread his hands.

Lin Quan nodded. An outstanding player can fully understand his own strength and find his own position.

There is nothing to say about Yaya Toure's skills. The key is, can he find his position and understand what he has to do to help the team?

While Lin Quan was thinking about this issue, Aguero took the initiative to come up and express his gratitude to him:

"Lin, welcome to the team. You are such an incredible player. The most important thing is that your playing style is so similar to that of Leo (Messi)!"

Aguero and Messi are good friends. On the court, he met a teammate whose playing style was very similar to Messi's and who could also provide him with assists, which made him feel like he was fighting side by side with Messi.

Aguero likes this feeling very much!

This caused a 180-degree change in his attitude towards Lin Quan.

I used to worry that Lin Quan would take away his position when he came to the team, but now I am extremely looking forward to joining forces with him in official games.

"Thank you, Akun, your shooting is also very good. Keep up the good work in the second half and try to score a hat trick!"

Aguero has a good impression of him, so Lin Quan will naturally not reject the other party's overtures.

If Aguero can leverage the South American gang, it will be of great help to him in controlling the situation in the locker room.

…

The intermission ended quickly and the second half began, with the two sides changing sides and fighting again.

Manchester City made personnel adjustments. Navas came on and replaced Kolarov.

Fernandinho comes on and replaces Milner.

Fernandinho is a defensive midfielder, and the purpose of replacing him is to fill the defensive holes in the team's midfield and backfield after Yaya Toure moved forward.

After the game started, Manchester City's offensive was like a wave, hitting AC Milan's defense one after another.

However, Allegri seemed to have made some adjustments to the team's defense during the halftime break. They shrunk the defense on both sides and allowed Manchester City's wingers to pass from the bottom.

But in the middle, they guarded tightly and did not give Manchester City a chance to penetrate with short passes.

This move had a very good effect, and Manchester City's offense was more thunderous than rainy.

Although the offensive seems to be overwhelming and can always hit the opponent's penalty area, it has been unable to convert into goals.

On the contrary, AC Milan relied on the counterattacks of speedy players on the wing and made several threatening attacks.

However, Manchester City's defenders were alert, and Fernandinho's defense was very active.

AC Milan's counterattack ultimately came to nothing and failed to convert into a goal.

The second half lasted until 75 minutes, and the score on the field was still 5:2.

The coaches of both sides continued to change.

Pellegrini replaced Aguero and replaced Negredo, allowing the forward whom the team bought at a high price in the summer to find his form.

After seeing this substitution, Aguero was a little depressed.

In the second half, Lin Quan passed the ball to him several times, but the opponent's defense in the penalty area was too tight.

He either had no chance to take a shot, or his shot was of poor quality.

This made Aguero himself a little embarrassed, but fortunately Lin Quan had no intention of blaming him.

When you find that he has a good opportunity, you will still pass the ball to him.

After studying the position of the opponent's defender, Aguero felt that he had found the secret to breaking through the opponent's defense.

As a result, before he could show it, he was replaced.

Aguero was substituted, and his hat-trick was definitely out of reach.

Negredo is a Spanish player, so Lin Quan and Silva naturally have to take care of him.

So the two began to pass the ball to him to help him create opportunities.

Negredo and Aguero are two types of forwards, compared to Aguero who is only 173cm tall.

Negredo is 186 centimeters tall and has strong stance ability.

Based on the characteristics of the opponent, Lin Quan changed his strategy and started to play high balls, allowing Negredo to grab the header.

This move didn't work at first. Although Negredo's header ability is good, the opponent's defender is not a vegetarian. How could you steal the opportunity to header so easily?

However, when another big man Yaya Toure also entered the penalty area and joined forces with Negredo to disrupt the opponent's defense, Manchester City's opportunity came.

In the 87th minute of the game, Silva made a pass from the wing. After getting rid of the defender, Yaya Toure leaped high, shook his head and attacked the goal, once again breaking through AC Milan's goal.

This goal allowed Lin Quan to see Yaya Toure's excellent offensive ability. This guy really has the heart of a forward.

In the end, Manchester City defeated AC Milan with a score of 6:2 and advanced to the final with the help of goals from five players including Lin Quan.

The first game of the new season was a big win against the Serie A giants, which made everyone at Manchester City very happy.

Especially Lin Quan's outstanding performance in this game made those Manchester City fans who traveled with the team very excited.

I thought it would take some time for Lin Quan to integrate into the team, but I didn't expect him to integrate so quickly!

Looking at how well he organized Manchester City's frontcourt, no one would believe that this was his first official game after joining the team.

Seeing how he plays with ease, people are more willing to believe that he has been playing in this team for many years!

Otherwise, how can we explain the tacit understanding between him and his teammates?

Scored one goal and provided four assists as soon as he came out?

Although it is only a warm-up match, there are still many people paying attention to this match.

After the game, the German, British and Spanish media all covered the game.

The German media's main focus is on Lin Quan. They believe that Lin Quan has made great progress this season.

Such an outstanding player leaving the Bundesliga is simply a loss to the Bundesliga.

The focus of the Spanish media is on Lin Quan and Guardiola.

They started to hype the first official match between father and son!

“One is a young talented player, the other is a world-class coach, and what’s even more coincidental is that they are a father and son.

Such a matchup is extremely rare in the entire football world, which makes us have to look forward to the result of this game. "

After hyping up the topic, Spanish media also launched a poll on social media to let fans choose who to support.

"Although Lin is very strong, football is not a one-man game. Compared with Manchester City and Bayern, there is still a gap in terms of physical strength, so I am optimistic that Bayern, led by Guardiola, will win!"

"Bayern Munich has this lineup, this configuration, how can they lose?"

"If nothing else happens, Bayern will still be the favorite to win the Champions League this season. As for Manchester City, although they have Lin Huang joining them, they are still far from competing for the championship!"

"Indeed, Guardiola's coaching ability is obvious to all, and Bayern's lineup is so luxurious. They have just won the Champions League. The entire team must be crushing Manchester City in terms of momentum. In addition, they are playing at home, and Manchester City must win. It’s basically impossible!”

“Although Bayern is very strong, Guardiola has only been in charge of Bayern for a short time, so it’s hard to say how well he has mastered the team.

On the contrary, the strength shown by this Manchester City team in this game is awe-inspiring, especially Lin Quan, who has continued his excellent form in the Confederations Cup, so I am optimistic that Manchester City will win! "

"Hey, I heard that Bayern's big-name players have very bad tempers. Even Guardiola can't control the locker room, so Guardiola joining Bayern may not strengthen Bayern, but weaken it.

But Lin Huang joining Manchester City will have an immediate strengthening effect on Manchester City, so I am also optimistic about Lin Huang! "

…

There are still more fans supporting Bayern on the Internet. After all, Bayern has more advantages in terms of paper strength and team momentum.

As for Manchester City, Manchester City still has no impressive record.

Although they had just defeated AC Milan, AC Milan was not a top team at this time.

They lack a lot in terms of historical record, so it is difficult to believe that they can defeat the invincible Bayern Munich.

As for those fans who chose to support Manchester City, almost all of them reluctantly voted for Lin Quan's sake.

As if to confirm this, two hours later.

On the same field, Bayern defeated Sao Paulo with a score of 3:0 and also advanced to the final.

As a result, the winner of this year's Audi Cup will be decided between Manchester City and Bayern.

However, Bayern's dominance in this game was awe-inspiring.

Not only did they have an overwhelming lead in all statistics, but they also had a firm grasp of the situation on the field.

Sao Paulo barely caused any trouble for Bayern and lost very thoroughly.

Not only that, in this game people saw the difference that Guardiola's arrival brought to Bayern.

After absorbing Heynckes' leadership experience, he incorporated his own style into some details.

This allows Bayern to continue the impact play of last season, and also to play tricks with their feet during positional battles, toying with opponents with dazzling passes and scoring goals.

After this game, the outside world's predictions for the final have completely changed.

Less than 10% of fans are optimistic about Manchester City winning!

"Honestly, I don't see any hope of Manchester City winning. This Bayern team is too strong!"

"I'm a Manchester City fan, and I think as long as the team doesn't suffer a tragedy, it's a victory!"

"I hope I don't lose more than three!"