Chapter 213 UEFA Champions League Top Scorers
Although Bayern ultimately won against Billson Victory in the away game, they only managed to secure a single-goal lead.
The score remained 1:0 until the end of the match.
Meanwhile, in another group stage match that ended simultaneously, Manchester City defeated Moscow Central Army 5:2.
In the latter stages of the second half, the main referee controversially awarded a penalty to the away team, allowing them to score two goals at the Etihad Stadium.
This result was somewhat unsatisfactory for Manchester City, but upon seeing Bayern's scoreline, they immediately felt content.
After this round of matches, the situation in Group D became very clear.
Manchester City, with four wins out of four matches, secured advancement with two games to spare and held 10 goal differences, leading Bayern by 3 points and 2 goal differences.
As for Bayern, with 9 points, they only need a draw in the next match to advance.
For Bayern's caliber, advancement is not a difficult task.
However, competing with Manchester City for the top spot in the group presents a challenge!
Because in the next match, they will be playing away against Moscow, while Manchester City continues to host the weakest team in the group, Billson Victory.
Considering the strength difference between the two teams' opponents, Manchester City might further widen their goal difference advantage.
So unless Bayern slaughter Manchester City with a large goal difference in the final match at their home ground, Manchester City can secure the top spot in the group with the advantage of goal difference.
In response to this, there was criticism of Guardiola from the German media after the match.
"If Guardiola wasn't so fixated on experimenting with his strikerless formation away from home, Bayern should have scored more goals. In that case, Bayern wouldn't be in such a passive situation now!"
"Guardiola has been with Bayern for several months now, but his adjustments to the team haven't shown significant effects yet. Compared to the champion team from last season, this season's Bayern seems to be missing something."
Bayern is undoubtedly the deserved ruler of the Bundesliga, so Germany has high hopes for them.
With Dortmund's unfavorable performance in European competitions, Bundesliga fans can only hope they bring glory to the league in the Champions League!
However, Bayern's performance in the Champions League has been somewhat disappointing.
In response to these criticisms, Guardiola himself did not respond, but Bayern's club manager, Hoeness, came out to speak:
"Bayern is on the right track. Under Guardiola's leadership, the team has won three trophies, including the UEFA Super Cup, Telekom Cup, and Audi Cup. In addition, Bayern remains undefeated in the league after 12 rounds this season, currently the third team in Europe to remain undefeated, after Manchester City in the Premier League and Barcelona in La Liga. Despite the unfortunate luck at the Etihad, we will defend the honor of Bayern Munich at home. Please be patient!"
Although Hoeness mentioned three trophies, except for the UEFA Super Cup, the other two trophies are not significant.
Therefore, the public didn't buy his clarification.
"I bet five cents Bayern won't get the top spot in the group!"
"Unless Manchester City loses the next match, Bayern will definitely not make it!"
"Don't be so sure. What if Bayern crushes Manchester City at home?"
"Hehe, do you think that's possible? This is Manchester City with Lin Quan. It's difficult to beat them, let alone crush them!"
"What's so special about Lin Quan? Didn't Barcelona lose 4:0 last season? Is Lin Quan better than Messi?"
Some people were unconvinced and cited Bayern's victory over Barcelona last season as an example.
"Manchester City is not Barcelona, and Bayern is not the same Bayern as last season!"
Although Bayern may not get the top spot in the Champions League group stage, the club has not said anything about it.
Rummenigge is still very patient with Guardiola. It's too early to talk about the final outcome when not even half a season has passed.
Moreover, Guardiola's coaching record at Bayern is not bad. With 10 wins and 2 draws in the first 12 rounds of the league, Bayern remains undefeated, currently the third team in Europe to do so.
The other two teams are Manchester City in the Premier League and Barcelona in La Liga.
In terms of league stability, Guardiola is undoubtedly qualified.
The only issue might be the fluctuating performance in the Champions League, but that's okay.
With Bayern's strength, as long as they don't draw the top few elite teams in the knockout stage, they can advance.
Compared to their Champions League performance, Bayern is more concerned about Guardiola's reforms in their technical and tactical play.
They hope to learn and integrate Spanish possession football to keep up with the current trend in world football.
Therefore, unless Guardiola's coaching results at Bayern suffer a significant decline, Bayern is unlikely to turn against him.
Due to the Ballon d'Or, the performances of players like Ribery, Ronaldo, Messi, and Lin Quan received considerable attention in this round of Champions League matches.
Ribery's performance in the away game was somewhat lackluster. In this round of matches, he neither scored nor assisted, and even his post-match ratings were not high, leading to doubts about his form.
In contrast to Ribery, another top contender for the Ballon d'Or, Cristiano Ronaldo, continued his excellent form.
In this round of the UEFA Champions League, Real Madrid faced Juventus away, and the match ended in a 2-2 draw.
The goals for Real Madrid were scored by their two multimillionaires - Ronaldo and Bale.
This marked Ronaldo's fourth consecutive goal in the Champions League group stage matches. In all of Europe, only he and Lin Quan have achieved this feat.
However, Ronaldo leads Lin Quan by three goals in total, but Lin Quan has four assists, barely keeping up with Ronaldo.
Currently, Ronaldo ranks first in the Champions League top scorers list with eight goals.
Following closely behind is Ibrahimovic, who scored one goal in this round, with seven goals, ranking second.
Third is Barcelona's Messi, who scored a brace in this round, bringing his total to six goals in one game less, equaling Ronaldo's efficiency.
Lin Quan ranks fourth with five goals.
"The two top talents are so strong, not only scoring prolifically in the league but also making it look easy to score in the Champions League."
"Both are in their prime, and their respective teams are also very strong. Now is the time for consistent output."
"Lin Huang is also a bit outrageous, participating in the Champions League for the first time and scoring in four consecutive matches, frighteningly stable!"
"Yeah, I'm starting to believe more and more that he's on the same level as the top two players!"
"It's hard to say. There are many flash-in-the-pan players in football. If Lin Huang can continue his outstanding performance next year without a significant decline, then it can be confirmed that he can stand shoulder to shoulder with Messi and Ronaldo."
"Hehe, I'm already looking forward to seeing Lin Huang enter his peak period and dominate the football world!"
"By then, Ronaldo and Messi will likely be in the twilight of their careers, and Lin Huang will probably have no rivals in football!"
"Neymar disagrees!"
"Götze can compete!"
...
Just after the Champions League matches ended, Manchester City didn't have time to rest as the third round of the League Cup began.
In this round of matches, Manchester City will continue to host the challenge from Wigan Athletic, a team from the Championship.
The League Cup actually started in September, but as a Premier League team, they could skip the early rounds and start directly from the third round.
This meant that Manchester City had not been affected by the League Cup before.
However, now that the League Cup has reached the third round, Premier League teams must also participate in the matches.
Due to the tight schedule, there were some differences in attitudes towards the League Cup among Manchester City's ranks.
"Three days later, we still have to play away against Sunderland. Shouldn't we just give up on this League Cup match?"
Some people felt that the League Cup was just a mediocre cup competition, far less prestigious than the FA Cup.
So they didn't want to waste time on such a cup, especially when the league schedule was so congested, they couldn't afford to waste the players' precious energy on a cup competition.
But some people felt that the League Cup was at least a championship trophy, and the difficulty of winning it was not as great as the FA Cup. A small bird in the hand is better than nothing. They couldn't give up just because its prestige was low.
Moreover, by participating in the League Cup, the team could also train new players, giving more opportunities for substitute players and young players promoted from the reserve or youth teams to play.
This is of great importance for nurturing new talent for the team!
Both sides made valid points, and Pellegrini was somewhat hesitant for a moment.
Although Manchester City is known for its big spending on players, they still have some good talents in their youth academy. These young players usually don't get a chance to play in the first team and often play in the youth or reserve teams.
However, the intensity of matches in the youth and reserve teams is definitely not comparable to regular cup competitions.
Because of the busy schedule of the first team, Pellegrini rarely has the opportunity to interact with these players.
He lacks understanding of the quality of his own team's youth training and the technical characteristics of young players.
If he let them play in the League Cup, he could observe their performance and see if there are any hidden gems among these young players.
In the first team, Lin Quan's outstanding performance has greatly increased Pellegrini's confidence in young players, fantasizing about finding a talent among them.
However, the opponent is strong; Wigan Athletic was relegated from the Premier League last season.
This season, they aim to return to the top flight and have spent heavily on transfers. Although they are only a Championship team, they have the strength not inferior to teams in the bottom of the Premier League.
It's a bit difficult to beat them with a group of young players.
If they lose the first match, it won't achieve the effect of training new players.
So, Pellegrini decided on a lineup that was half-main and half-substitute.
Lin Quan entered the squad for this match but didn't start; instead, he sat on the bench.
Pellegrini planned to determine whether to let him play based on the situation of the match. If the players on the field could easily handle the opponents
If the young players can't handle the battle, then there's no need to let Lin Quan, this nuclear weapon, waste his energy on the field.
But if the young players can't solve the game, then only Lin Quan and other main players will have to enter the field.
Except for the time when Lin Quan just joined Werder Bremen, he rarely played as a substitute.
Sitting on the bench in this match gave Lin Quan a long-lost feeling.
After the start of the game, Manchester City players took advantage of their home field to attack Wigan Athletic's goal.
Wigan Athletic is no pushover either. After withstanding Manchester City's attacks, they also frequently launched counterattacks.
Previously almost making a big mistake at Stamford Bridge, the young player Boyata transformed into a reliable pillar in Manchester City's defense line in this match.
Under his solid defense, Wigan Athletic's forwards returned empty-handed, unable to find any opportunities at all.
Seeing Boyata's excellent performance, Pellegrini nodded slightly and said to the assistant coach beside him:
"Boyata's technique and strength are good, but his mentality may be slightly lacking. If his mindset can be as steady as his compatriot Kompany, then our defense line will have a stable substitute!"
"Yes, but this may be related to his age. After all, he is just over 20 years old, and he hasn't played too many matches for the first team before. Lack of major tournament experience makes it easier to make mistakes."
Speaking of this, the assistant coach subconsciously glanced in the direction where Lin Quan was.
Also a young player, or even younger, these issues have never appeared on Lin Quan.
It's really hard to imagine how he cultivated such a mature and steady mentality. His mentality even surpasses that of many veteran players who have played for many years.
In addition to Boyata, substitute goalkeeper Pantilimon is also a key focus of the Manchester City coaching staff.
Joe Hart's performance in the league and Champions League is not stable enough. Although his save success rate exceeds 60%, he has made several mistakes when facing long shots.
If Manchester City wants to go further this season, they must focus on improving the stability of their defense line.
After experiencing adjustments at the beginning of the season, Manchester City's defense line has gradually formed, and their defensive ability has improved.
But the performance of the goalkeeper has always been somewhat unsatisfactory.
So, Pellegrini decided to try Pantilimon and Wright, and see how they perform.
If the performance of the substitute goalkeeper meets his expectations, then he may replace Joe Hart and let Pantilimon or Wright start.
From the first half of the match, Pantilimon's performance was excellent.
He made three effective saves, two of which were long shots from the opponents.
With a height of 2.03 meters, he has a great advantage in defending high balls.
The Manchester City coaching staff are very satisfied with his saves, and Pellegrini plans to let him start in the next league match against Sunderland.
If the effect is good, then Pantilimon will be the first-choice goalkeeper for Manchester City in the future.
The team's defense is not a problem, but there are problems on the attacking end.
Without Lin Quan and Aguero in the frontcourt, the players' attacks seemed to lack a leader and were scattered.
Until the end of the first half, the score on the field was still 0-0, with both teams drawing a blank.
"Do we need to bring on Lin Quan?"
Seeing Pellegrini's not-so-good expression, the assistant coach on the side tried to inquire.
"No need, let's wait and see!"
However, twenty minutes into the second half, the score was still 0-0.
Wigan Athletic couldn't break through Manchester City's defense line, and Manchester City couldn't do anything about them.
Seeing that the regular time was about to end, Pellegrini couldn't bear it anymore.
In the 75th minute, he made a substitution adjustment.
Manchester City brought on Aguero and replaced the poorly performing Lopez.
Aguero is a good forward, and he was very active in looking for opportunities after coming on.
However, Wigan Athletic's players defended him very tightly, leaving him no space at all.
Ten minutes after Aguero came on, Manchester City's attack still didn't improve, and there were less than 5 minutes left until the end of regular time.
Pellegrini was very angry. Can't even Aguero make a difference?
The Manchester City fans watching the game at the scene also began to worry. Is the team going to be held to a draw by a Championship team at home?
Before encountering Wigan Athletic, Manchester City had maintained a perfect record at home.
If their winning streak is broken by a Championship team, then Manchester City's face will be lost.
So they began to make noise, demanding that Pellegrini bring on Lin Quan.
"Lin, we need Lin!"
"Let Lin play!"
Pellegrini glanced at Lin Quan, only to see that he had already straightened up and his expression had become very serious.
Lin Quan originally thought that they would easily win this match, but unexpectedly, his teammates failed to score despite so many chances, and they couldn't score.
This made him feel a bit anxious. Can't even a cooked duck fly?
Just then, he heard Pellegrini's words:
"Lin, warm up and prepare for extra time!"
Lin Quan shook his head: "No need to warm up, just substitute me in!"
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