Chapter 198 First in the group!
There was a moment when Boateng felt like he was back at the Allianz Arena. He remembered that August afternoon, in front of over fifty thousand fans, when he faced Lin Quan for the first time. Remembering how Lin had left him on the ground, causing the amazement of the entire stadium, Boateng's deep fear resurfaced.
So, even before facing him, Boateng already felt shaky. He signaled to Dante: "Brother, you go first, okay?". Dante, remembering the pain of being overtaken by Lin at the Weserstadion, shook his head firmly. "My body isn't right, you're young and strong, go ahead!"
Both exchanged looks without reaching an agreement, and Lin was already approaching them with the ball. Seeing there was no escape, they decided to face him together. Lin moved the ball to one side and then changed direction. Boateng, with quicker reflexes, stopped in time and barely kept up with Lin. But Dante, a bit slower, got blocked by Boateng.
What seemed like a joint defense turned into a one-on-one duel between Lin and Boateng. Boateng, sweating nervously, didn't realize he had blocked his teammate. With all his attention on Lin, he tried to follow his every move. Lin changed the direction of the ball several times, and Boateng soon felt dizzy. Dante, finally arriving from the other side, decided to slide to stop Lin, even if it meant committing a foul.
Anticipating this, Lin quickly moved to Boateng's side. From the spectators' perspective, it seemed like Dante had brought down Boateng. Boateng fell to the ground screaming in pain, and Dante almost lost consciousness when falling on him. "What are you doing?!" shouted Boateng, not understanding why Dante had brought him down.
Nevertheless, Neuer, seeing his teammates on the ground, decided to come out of his area to face Lin. Lin, with great skill and bravery, didn't shoot directly but instead overcame Neuer, scoring a goal into the empty net and putting the score at 3-2 in favor of Manchester City.
Manchester City had taken the lead again, and there were less than ten minutes left in the game! Victory was within reach.
"GOAL! Assist by Yaya Toure and a crucial goal by Lin!" exclaimed the commentators. "This goal could change the fate of both teams and the structure of this season's Champions League. Bayern, who dominated the entire match, made a fatal mistake, and Lin took full advantage of that opportunity."
"If the score remains, Manchester City will be the leader of the group, leaving the defending champion, Bayern Munich, in second place." The commentators highlighted the importance of this goal, as facing the defending champion in the knockout stage would be a nightmare for any team.
Fans of other big teams, seeing the score, began to complain: "What happened to Bayern?", "There must be cheating!" and "It can't be that Bayern loses to Manchester City!". However, others defended Manchester City: "Why can't they beat Bayern? Last year, BATE Borisov won 3-1 against Bayern, is Manchester City worse than them?"
"Lin has always been Bayern's nightmare, even when he played for Werder Bremen," some commented. "This time, with a goal and two assists, Lin was decisive."
On the field, Guardiola looked serious. The conceded goal came at the worst time, with only four minutes left. Bayern had no choice but to attack with everything. Guardiola called Gotze, substituting a defender for an attacker, showing his intention to go for the win.
Manchester City completely retreated, leaving only Aguero up front and defending with everything. Bayern launched a fierce assault in the last minutes, but the attempts of Robben, Ribery, and Muller were thwarted by Manchester City's defense.
With the final whistle, the Etihad Stadium was filled with jubilation. Fans celebrated wildly, embracing and rejoicing in a historic victory. "Manchester City has defeated Bayern Munich 3-2, placing themselves at the top of Group D," announced the commentators, highlighting the incredible performance of the team, especially Lin and Aguero.
"Many didn't believe in Manchester City before the match," said commentator He Wei. "But with this great victory, they have silenced the skeptics. This is a triumph of the team and the individual, especially Lin and Aguero."
"Lin is only 17 and a half years old," co-commentator Xu Yang commented. "He has been in professional football for just over a year, and he's already reaching incredible heights. We are fortunate to witness his rise."
Bayern fans, discouraged, some even crying, watched as their team, after leading and dominating, lost in the final minutes.
However, Manchester City was tenacious like an invincible cockroach, always managing to equalize and turn the situation around. Before Lin Quan's last-minute goal, many had already settled for a draw. But Manchester City didn't even give them that satisfaction.
Bayern, defeated and with one win and one loss, accumulated three points and was second in their group. They had lost control to fight for the top spot in the group and would even have to compete with CSKA Moscow, an already beaten rival, for a place in the next phase.
This result was hard to accept for Bayern fans, many of whom began to long for the old coach Heynckes. If he had been there, would Bayern have won this match?
Guardiola, however, maintained his composure despite the defeat. After the match, he approached to shake hands with Manchester City's coach, Pellegrini.
"Congratulations, your team played excellently today."
"Thank you, Bayern also impressed me. I hope both teams qualify!"
Pellegrini, enjoying his first victory against Guardiola, showed a big smile, visible from meters away.
"Thank you," Guardiola responded, and then went to console his players.
Passing by Lin Quan, who was celebrating, there were no words between them, just a glance before looking away.
While Bayern's players licked their wounds, those of Manchester City continued to celebrate and thank the attending fans.
As the celebrations ended, on the way to the locker room, Lin Quan encountered an unexpected person.
"Shall we swap jerseys?"
Neuer, seeing Lin Quan approaching, began to take off his shirt.
"Uh..."
With the shirt already off, how could he refuse?
"Sure!"
So they exchanged jerseys in the players' tunnel. Neuer, with Lin's shirt over his shoulder, looked at him seriously and said:
"Next time, I'll beat you."
"Oh, then good luck."
Lin Quan didn't consider Neuer his rival; his rivals were Messi and CR7.
...
With the conclusion of the second round of the Champions League group stage, the situation of the groups became clearer.
In Group A, after a streak of poor results in the league, Manchester United also showed instability in the Champions League. In this round, they drew away against Shakhtar Donetsk. Moyes' team was surpassed in all key statistics, from possession to pass accuracy and shots on goal. If the team names were covered, fans would have thought that Shakhtar was the real Red Devil.
After this draw, Moyes' situation became even more difficult, and criticisms of him increased.
In Group B, Juventus drew at home against Galatasaray, earning only 2 points in two games. Considering that they will visit Real Madrid, who are in top form, in the next round, the possibility of the "Old Lady" winning is very low. If they don't win, their chances of qualifying will be minimal, and they could be the first big team eliminated in the group stage.
Unlike Juventus, Real Madrid thrashed Copenhagen 4-0 at home, with braces from Ronaldo and Di Maria. Ronaldo, with 5 goals in two games, leads the Champions League scoring chart.
With Ronaldo's performance in the Champions League, voices in favor of him winning the Ballon d'Or grow stronger, reducing the lead that Ribery had.
In Group C, Paris Saint-Germain defeated Benfica 3-0, consolidating their position at the top.
In Group E, Chelsea won 4-0 away, reclaiming their offensive power. However, De Bruyne, who arrived at Chelsea with Lin Quan from Werder Bremen, seems to have been completely discarded by Mourinho, not even featuring on the team sheet.
Although Chelsea won, the top spot in the group is not theirs, but Werder Bremen's. With a goal from Elia, they won 1-0 away against Basel, accumulating 6 points in two games and with good prospects for qualifying.
Despite losing Lin Quan and De Bruyne, under Schaaf's direction, Werder Bremen continues to achieve good results, being the great surprise of the Champions League group stage.
In Group F, the group of death, Arsenal defeated Napoli 2-0, achieving two consecutive victories and with good prospects for qualifying. Dortmund and Napoli, with one win and one loss each, occupy the second and third places, while Marseille, with two defeats, have few chances of advancing.
In Group H, Barcelona, the third favorite to win the tournament, was on the verge of being surprised away. Despite having 82% possession, they couldn't break Celtic's defensive wall. With Messi out injured, Barcelona's offensive power was significantly reduced. If it weren't for a free-kick goal from Fabregas, Barcelona could have dropped points away.
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