Chapter 188: The Champions League begins with a crazy show from the big teams!
On September 14, the fourth round of the league began.
In this round, there were no standout matches, but there were several surprises.
Manchester United, who played first, defeated Crystal Palace 2-0 at home, finally halting their decline.
But Chelsea, one of the "BIG4," surprisingly lost to Everton away.
This result was shocking!
Mourinho's team continued with the old problem of not being able to score goals, no matter how their forwards tried.
In this match, Everton's performance was excellent; they managed to defeat Chelsea with solid defense and sharp counterattacks, handing them their first defeat of the season and breaking their unbeaten streak.
It was thought that after Moyes' departure this season, Everton's performance would be affected.
But it turns out that not only did they maintain their excellent performance from previous seasons, but they even improved it!
So far, Everton has played four matches, with one win and three draws, remaining undefeated.
It is one of the three teams in the Premier League that has not lost.
The other two are Liverpool and Manchester City.
After the surprising defeat to Everton, Chelsea dropped to sixth place in the standings, although Manchester United had the same number of points, they led by goal difference.
This gave Manchester United fans the opportunity to taunt Chelsea, who had previously taunted them.
"Haha, I love seeing Chelsea lose!"
"Everton did great, now I want to see what those City fans have to say!"
"Haha, I'll always remember how Chelsea fans were embarrassed the last time we lost, and now look at this!"
"Heh, don't they even think about who our opponent was?"
For Manchester United fans, Liverpool was an elite team, and it wasn't shameful to lose to them at home.
But who was the opponent Chelsea lost to?
Everton, who are like the "little brother" of Manchester United, they can't even beat them?
"Haha, it was just one match, what's there to worry about? Manchester United, they should worry about the upcoming city derby against City."
"Yes, if Manchester United loses another match, Moyes's position could be in danger, we might see a good show then!"
Chelsea fans took advantage of Manchester United's weakness to taunt them, which further infuriated Manchester United fans, and they began to attack Chelsea.
"As if Chelsea didn't have to face Liverpool and City, with the current state where they can't even score a goal, they would be grateful for a draw in every match. Even if Manchester United wins and loses alternately, we still have more points than you!"
Manchester United's headache was instability in the manager's position, while Chelsea's weakness was their inability to score goals.
Both teams had quite significant problems and seemed difficult to resolve.
In this way, it seems that both United and Chelsea have little chance of competing for the Premier League title this season.
Arsenal fans, who had been forgotten in a corner, were making the most of this situation.
Manchester United had an unstable record, Chelsea lacked firepower upfront, and Liverpool had been on the decline for a long time.
Seeing this, could this be the season when Arsenal ends their history of not winning titles and finally lifts the Premier League trophy?
Then, in a match against Sunderland away, Arsenal won 3-1, getting their third consecutive victory and temporarily leading the table with nine points, which convinced Arsenal fans of this idea.
The good times for Arsenal have come!
Just after Chelsea was caught off guard, Liverpool also showed their strength.
In a match against Swansea away, Liverpool scored two goals in the first half and seemed to have the victory secured.
But unexpectedly, Swansea launched a counterattack in the second half and equalized the match, snatching the three points from them.
Although they drew, Liverpool still tops the Premier League table with ten points thanks to their three previous victories.
In this round, Manchester City was almost matched by their opponent.
Manchester City's team had too many stars, so they were greatly affected by the FIFA virus.
After participating in international matches, most players hurried back to join their clubs in the league.
This made them not in their best form throughout the match, and some South American players couldn't even finish the match due to physical exhaustion.
The score remained 0-0 until injury time.
When everyone thought it would be a draw, in the last minute of injury time, Lin Quan made an extremely precise pass, assisting Negredo to score a goal, helping the team win 1-0.
Although they won very tightly, Manchester City still managed to "scratch three points" and maintained their position at the top of the table with four consecutive wins.
After the league match, the entire Manchester City team boarded a plane without stopping, and headed to the Czech Republic to prepare for the first match of the Champions League group stage.
Viktoria Plzeň is a team from the Premier League of the Czech Republic, not well known in Europe.
But as the opponent in the opening match, Manchester City dared not underestimate them.
They have had too many accidents in the group stage of the Champions League, and they are tired of it.
"Viktoria Plzeň is the weakest opponent in our group. No matter what, we must beat them tomorrow, and preferably score as many goals as possible to build a big goal difference. This way, we can take the initiative in the upcoming matches."
Pellegrini also knew that Manchester City owners valued Champions League matches a lot. His predecessor, Mancini, was fired after being eliminated in the group stage two consecutive times.
If he didn't want to follow in Mancini's footsteps, this group stage couldn't have any accidents.
Putting aside Bayern for now, Manchester City was superior to the other teams in terms of strength.
But the other two teams in the group were weaker than them, so they had to make sure to win Perhaps Pellegrini's instructions before the match had the opposite effect.
After the match started, Manchester City played with a lot of pressure, and the players were very nervous.
After 30 minutes of play, the score was still 0-0, and Manchester City players had received two yellow cards for excessive movements.
Pellegrini was originally quite calm, but seeing the team's situation, he began to get nervous again.
Can't it be true?
Is Manchester City going to lose away?
The Viktoria Plzeň players were a little intimidated at first after hearing about the prestigious Premier League powerhouse, which made them feel inferior.
But after playing for thirty minutes, did they realize that Manchester City's level wasn't that high?
So, they began to gain confidence and were no longer content to just defend but also tried to attack more and change the score.
When the opponent started to attack, Lin Quan felt relieved.
Previously, his teammates were too nervous, and with so many Manchester City players inside and outside the box, they couldn't execute many combinations.
But now, the opponent was playing less conservatively and even wanted to play attacking football with them.
This left more empty spaces inside and outside the opponent's box!
Lin Quan gestured to ask his teammates to accelerate the pace of the game and led the pressure on the Viktoria Plzeň players in the midfield.
Under his leadership, players like García, Navas, and Agüero also began to press, joining the pressing team.
The Viktoria Plzeň players rarely faced teams from the top five leagues, especially Premier League teams, so they weren't accustomed to the Premier League's pace of play, which made them uncomfortable when Manchester City increased the speed.
When Manchester City picked up the pace a bit, they started to have trouble resisting.
The battle in midfield soon decided the winner.
Manchester City players, with superior technique and stronger physical endurance, dominated their opponents.
And once they controlled the midfield, the quality of their attack also quickly improved.
In the 48th minute of the match, after Manchester City regained the ball in midfield, Lin Quan quickly passed it to Negredo on the wing.
Negredo, after beating the defense, centered the ball into the box for Agüero.
The Argentine didn't waste the excellent assist and scored a goal with a powerful shot.
"How beautiful!"
On the bench, Pellegrini, after seeing this goal, raised his arms excitedly and celebrated with his assistants.
He had been waiting for this goal for too long!
If the team didn't score another goal soon, the opponent would return to their previous conservatism, and then they might have trouble beating them.
After scoring the first goal, the rest of the match became much easier.
Being behind on the scoreboard, parking the bus no longer made sense.
The Birslen team had to attack.
And once they did, their defensive line wasn't enough against Manchester City's forwards.
In the 53rd minute, Lin Quan received a pass from García, resisted the defender's push in a physical confrontation, and, leaning on the defender, shot at goal with a sweep, sending the ball into the back of the net.
Manchester City scores again!
Under Manchester City's furious attack, Birslen began to have trouble defending.
But Manchester City players remembered their head coach's instructions, and despite being two goals up, they still didn't abandon the attack.
They wanted to get more goals ahead against Birslen!
In the 65th minute, Manchester City launched another quick attack.
Lin Quan took the ball to the byline, bypassing the defenders and shooting from a narrow angle inside the box.
The goalkeeper focused and managed to deflect the ball with one hand, sending it out.
But his clearance wasn't very far, falling inside the box, sparking a scramble between players from both teams.
In the midst of the chaos, Birslen defenders tried to clear the ball, but it bounced off the legs of a Manchester City player, creating a deflection.
The goalkeeper had barely completed his save and hadn't even gotten up from the ground when he saw the ball flying towards him.
The ball came too fast, and he could only instinctively try to block it, but naturally, he didn't succeed.
3-0!
The goal was scored by Harvey García.
He himself didn't expect the ball to go in; originally, he had planned to clear the way for a teammate.
But the opposing defenders were faster than him; he couldn't get ahead.
Seeing the opponent preparing to clear, García raised his leg to symbolically block, however, unexpectedly, it resulted in a goal.
It really was a chance that fell from the sky effortlessly!
In the end, Manchester City scored more goals, securing a victory in the first match of the Champions League group stage and gaining three valuable points.
Since Bayern Munich also defeated CSKA Moscow 3-0 at home in the same group, Manchester City and Bayern Munich are tied for first place in the group with 3 points and a goal difference of 3.
As the first eight group matches were played simultaneously.
After Manchester City's match ended, the results of the other groups were known.
In Group A, Moyes' Manchester United defeated Bundesliga's Bayer Leverkusen 4-2 at Old Trafford.
In this match, Rooney, who returned to the starting lineup, had an outstanding performance, scoring two goals to help the team break the deadlock.
Since Van Persie joined the team and took his starting spot, Rooney hadn't been so energetic for a long time.
Although he is a protege of Ferguson, in Ferguson's last year in charge, he was also discarded by Ferguson.
Now, with Moyes's arrival, Rooney has had more opportunities, making him very grateful and eager to respond with goal-scoring performances in every match.
In addition to Rooney, Van Persie and Valencia also scored a goal each, helping the team seal the victory.
this match.
Although Bayer Leverkusen lost the match, they still showed a tenacious resistance by attacking even when behind on the scoreboard, scoring two goals against Manchester United, showing the Bundesliga teams' tenacity.
In Group B, Real Madrid visited Galatasaray from Turkey.
It was thought to be a tough match, but Ancelotti's team crushed Galatasaray 6-1, leaving everyone stunned.
In terms of pure strength, Real Madrid had the advantage, so winning wasn't a surprise.
However, achieving such a resounding victory in the Turkish inferno left everyone amazed.
In this match, Gareth Bale, who was bought for a hundred million euros this summer, didn't score, but his runs on the wing caused many problems for Galatasaray, which greatly helped his team's victory.
However, Bale couldn't overshadow Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Portuguese had an outstanding performance in this match, perhaps to assert his position at Real Madrid.
Or maybe to show his strength to the new players, Ronaldo completed a hat-trick in just 30 minutes in the second half.
After Bale entered the field, his "200 million duo" with Ronaldo made the power of money clear.
Money really can buy everything.
In a corner without anyone noticing, Benzema, who had been practicing shots for half a year, kept a low profile and scored two goals and provided an assist in this match.
Although he couldn't steal the spotlight from his millionaire teammates or enjoy the halo of a hundred million player, his presence was an important guarantee for Real Madrid's victory.
In Group C, Paris Saint-Germain defeated Greek Olympiacos 4-1 away.
In this match, Paris Saint-Germain scored multiple goals, leaving their opponent with no options.
Although he didn't score, Ibrahimovic made headlines for missing a penalty and became the most unfortunate person.
The next day, the matches of the other four groups were played.
Werder Bremen beat Steaua Bucharest 3-0 at home in Group D, with Bender, Philipp Krüger, Arnautović, and others scoring their first goals in the Champions League.
With three points in the bag, Werder Bremen's qualifying situation is very favorable.
But in another match, playing at home, Chelsea suffered a big surprise.
Facing the challenge of Swiss team Basel, everyone thought it would be an unsurprising match, but Mourinho got it wrong.
In this match, Chelsea scored first, but was overtaken by their opponent and eventually lost 1-2.
When they were behind on the scoreboard in the second half, Mourinho almost changed all available forwards.
But they simply couldn't score; they could only watch helplessly as their opponent took away the three points.
After the match, Basel players celebrated at Stamford Bridge; they didn't even believe they could beat mighty Chelsea themselves.
And Chelsea players could only silently cry, swallowing the bitter taste of defeat.
If we include the defeat in the recently played league match, Chelsea has already suffered two consecutive defeats in all competitions.
De Bruyne was on the bench the whole match, and when the team was behind on the scoreboard, Mourinho substituted him three times.
But each time he wasn't even considered, not even glanced at.
This left De Bruyne extremely disheartened...
In Group F, facing an extremely difficult situation in the "Group of Death," Wenger's Arsenal kept their composure and defeated Marseille 2-1 away, gaining three valuable points.
Meanwhile, last season's Champions League runner-up Borussia Dortmund was defeated by Napoli playing away.
Borussia Dortmund seems to have passed its prime and is firmly on the path to decline.
In Group G, Atlético Madrid beat Zenit 3-1 at home, and Porto also won their away match.
In Group H, where Barcelona and AC Milan are, both teams won their home matches 4-0 and 2-0 respectively.
It seems that, as an indirect response to Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi also completed a hat-trick in the match against Ajax.
After the first round of matches, the Premier League had a clean sweep of victories, except for Chelsea's defeat.
La Liga also had three wins and one loss, with Real Sociedad's defeat.
Serie A had two wins and one draw, with Milan and Napoli winning their matches, but Juventus being held to a draw by Copenhagen, which was a surprise.
On the other hand, the Bundesliga had two wins and two losses, while Ligue 1 and the Portuguese Primeira Liga had one win and one loss each.
In terms of results from the top five leagues, the Premier League and La Liga are undoubtedly the two best leagues.
Serie A is a little better than the Bundesliga, while Ligue 1 has already fallen to the level of the Portuguese Primeira Liga.
But the Portuguese Primeira Liga has two seeded teams, while Ligue 1 has none, which is really painful.
(END of chapter)
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