Chapter 224: Group Leaders Advance! Napoli Eliminated with 12 Points!
Seeing Lin Quan score his second goal, Guardiola scratched his head.
In this game, he didn't specifically limit Lin Quan. Sending Kroos and Thiago onto the field was actually to push for more attacks, and it worked.
But the consequence of not assigning someone to specifically defend against Lin Quan was evident: they couldn't stop him!
Götze's performance in attack was decent, at least Guardiola was satisfied.
Though he performed terribly in front of Lin Quan, giving the impression they weren't playing in the same league.
But Guardiola didn't expect Götze to solely defend Lin Quan; if he had that ability, Guardiola would have surely used him as a key player or even the core of the team.
Obviously, Götze didn't have that ability.
"Let's make a substitution!"
Guardiola told his assistant coach.
"Who should we bring on?"
Grandé glanced at the substitutes' bench, unsure who Guardiola wanted to put on.
"Bring on Martínez for Götze. Müller falls back, Mandžukić plays up front!"
Hearing Guardiola's choice of substitution, several assistant coaches were taken aback.
Is the head coach giving up on competing for the top of the group?
"It's unlikely to score two goals to secure the top spot. There's only about 20 minutes left, basically impossible."
Guardiola understood what these people were thinking, so he explained, "However, substituting Götze may not necessarily weaken our attacking strength!"
People were skeptical about his words.
Götze is an attacking player, while Martínez is defensive.
Substituting Götze obviously weakened Bayern's attacking ability, which was apparent to everyone. So why was Guardiola saying the opposite?
In the 67th minute, Bayern made the first personnel adjustment. Guardiola substituted Martínez for Götze.
Seeing himself substituted, Götze breathed a sigh of relief; he no longer had to endure the torment of his opponent on the field.
At the same time, he felt a sense of defeat; in this match, he undoubtedly lost to Lin Quan in their duel, and it was a significant defeat.
After Martínez came on, Bayern's midfield defense immediately improved.
When Lin Quan attacked again with the ball, unsurprisingly, Martínez appeared in front of him.
"Lin, take it easy. Give your big bro some face!"
Martínez smiled and said to Lin Quan. He didn't want to leave a 'memorable moment' like Boateng did at the Allianz Arena.
"Big bro, I was planning to avoid you when I saw you coming. It was you who came over to mark me. And you're asking me to take it easy!"
Lin Quan glanced at him speechlessly. Who doesn't know you're tough in defense? Only a fool would want to deal with you.
"Hehe, really? Coach Guardiola assigned me to mark you, so I have no choice!"
Martínez's defensive intensity was completely incomparable to Götze's, causing Lin Quan's breakthrough efficiency to drop significantly.
It's not that he couldn't break through, it's just much harder to get past him cleanly compared to dealing with Götze.
With Martínez's running and chasing ability, if he didn't get past thoroughly, it would be the same as not getting past at all; he would catch up immediately.
Furthermore, when Martínez came on, Bayern implemented a defensive strategy of compressing space, with him as the anchor, other players closed in on him, forming a cage to trap Lin Quan.
This move was once used by Heynckes when he coached, which made Lin Quan extremely uncomfortable at the time.
After Guardiola came to Bayern, he listened to Grandé's advice, retained this tactic, and further perfected it.
This greatly increased the power of this move!
Shortly after Martínez came on, Bayern's defense gradually stabilized, and the defenders in the backline no longer had to worry.
Affected by this, they dared to commit more troops to the attack, with both full-backs frequently breaking through the midfield.
For a moment, Bayern saw improvements in both attack and defense, gradually suppressing Manchester City.
"It's strange, Guardiola obviously brought on a defensive player, but why do I feel Bayern's attacking power has become stronger?"
"I feel the same!"
"Although I don't understand it, it proves that Guardiola's substitution adjustment is indeed effective!"
"Hehe, it's not that difficult to understand. Bayern's wing attack is very strong, but Lin Quan's threat was too big before, making Bayern's defenders, especially the full-backs, afraid to confidently join the attack. With the full-backs not participating, Bayern's attacking power naturally decreased.
But after Martínez came on, Bayern solved the problem of defense in the midfield and the back, allowing the full-backs to join the attack again!"
Pellegrini also noticed this point. Seeing Lin Quan being closely marked in the middle, he immediately changed his strategy and made a substitution adjustment.
In the 72nd minute, Manchester City brought on Negredo for Navas and moved Lin Quan to the right winger's position.
So, Lin Quan faced Ribéry.
Ribéry had been Bayern's main initiator of attacks lately, his threat on the wings was significant. If they couldn't contain him, Manchester City's goal would likely be breached soon.
Seeing Lin Quan in front of him, Ribéry squinted.
Ribéry had faced Lin Quan many times and was well aware of his abilities.
Both were attackers more skilled in offense than defense and adept at breakthroughs.
So, neither could contain the other, often leading to mutual explosions.
Is Manchester City trying to match him with me? Ribéry couldn't help but think.
However, Ribéry quickly realized that Lin Quan wasn't marking him but rather his teammate, Bayern's full-back Alaba!
Alaba thought, "What did I do to deserve this?" as this guy came charging at him with the ball.
The problem was he couldn't defend him one-on-one, and if he called for teammates to help defend, Lin Quan would just dribble to the baseline and cross.
Aguero wasn't great at heading, but Negredo, who just came on, was different. At 186 cm tall, with good jumping ability, he posed a real threat in the box.
Bayern couldn't allow such unrestricted crosses. If they conceded a header, they'd be done for.
So, Alaba was completely occupied. His energy was all spent on defending Lin Quan, leaving him unable to advance to support the attack.
Without the full-backs' support, Ribéry's threat decreased significantly.
Bayern's left-wing attack suddenly became ineffective!
Guardiola frowned. Pellegrini's adjustment had some merit.
But if that was all he had, it wouldn't be enough to win the game, not nearly enough!
"Shaqiri, warm up!"
Bayern quickly made a personnel adjustment, substituting Mandžukić for Shaqiri.
Unlike Mandžukić, who was a stationary center-forward, Shaqiri was fast. He could play as a winger or striker.
The full-backs couldn't assist in attack?
No problem, I'll have the forward support Ribéry in the attacking third.
Guardiola's adjustment wasn't a brilliant move, but the game was now over 70 minutes.
Both sides' stamina had significantly declined, and Manchester City's defensive players couldn't keep up with Shaqiri's speed.
This led to several threats after Shaqiri came on, even causing Manchester City's defensive midfielder Fernandinho and defender Zabaleta to receive yellow cards.
This can't go on!
Pellegrini gritted his teeth and made another substitution.
He replaced Agüero with Rodwell.
Rodwell played as a defensive midfielder, shifting Manchester City to a three-defensive-midfielder formation.
The three-defensive-midfielder lineup indeed had much better sweeping and intercepting capabilities than the two-defensive-midfielder one. After Rodwell came on, Bayern's attack began to be contained.
The difficulty in defending the full-backs' forward runs was entirely due to them attacking from the unmarked rear. Before they received the ball, it was unlikely for the defending side to specifically assign someone to mark and restrict them, providing them with opportunities to assist.
But putting the passer in the frontcourt inevitably faced multiple layers of interception and restriction from the opposing front line, midfield, and even defenders.
Pellegrini's substitution was targeted and successful in limiting Guardiola's adjustment.
The opponent's quick countermeasure surprised Guardiola.
He remembered the last time he faced Manchester City; Pellegrini not only had a conservative strategy but also made slow substitutions.
Didn't expect such rapid progress.
He glanced back at his substitutes' bench, where there were forwards Pizarro and Shaqiri, goalkeeper Starke, full-back Rafinha, and center-back Van Buyten.
Among them, Pizarro and Van Buyten were both 35 years old, past their prime.
Rafinha was in his prime but wasn't better than Lahm and Alaba.
As for Shaqiri, he was just a role player, with average abilities and limited chances to perform.
No one available!
Guardiola sighed. Bayern had too many injuries, greatly affecting the team's lineup.
Fortunately, the winter break was coming soon. The winter break in the Bundesliga lasted 35 days.
After two more league matches, they could rest for over a month. Hopefully, the team's injury situation would improve by then!
With both teams responding to each other's moves, the score remained 2-2 until the final whistle.
When the referee blew the final whistle, the coaching staff and substitute players on Manchester City's bench went crazy!
We did it!
We actually drew with Bayern at their home ground!
This draw meant a lot to Manchester City; it's their first time advancing to the Champions League knockout stage, and also the first time they've topped their group.
After embracing with excitement along with several assistant coaches, Pellegrini remembered he hadn't shaken hands with the home team's coach yet.
So, he quickly straightened his attire and walked towards the aisle.
Guardiola had been waiting there: "Congratulations on your successful advancement!"
"Thank you. Wishing you draw a good opponent!"
Bayern advanced as the second in the group, meaning they would face the group winners next.
If they drew a team like Real Madrid or Barcelona, even strong teams like Bayern could be eliminated.
On the other hand, Manchester City emerged as the group winner, meaning they would face the second-placed teams from other groups.
The second-placed teams were evidently weaker than the group winners. Compared to Bayern, their path to advancement was much easier.
So, Pellegrini wished the other side a good draw. But with Bayern's strength, as long as they didn't draw Real Madrid or Barcelona, they should be fine.
After the match, Müller actively approached Lin Quan to exchange jerseys.
Lin Quan didn't bear any ill will towards Thomas Müller; this guy played fiercely on the field and trained hard off it.
Moreover, he could recognize his own shortcomings, tirelessly working to improve, making himself stronger.
What's even more commendable is, like Reus, he's a one-club man.
He's even more extreme than Reus, after all, he's never played for any other team.
If Bayern's management was humane, Müller was highly likely to retire at the Allianz Arena.
"Keep it up, aim to draw Real Madrid and knock them out!"
After exchanging jerseys, Lin Quan patted Müller on the shoulder and said to him.
Müller said with a bitter face, "Real Madrid is so strong, we can't beat them if we draw them!"
"Don't be discouraged. Dortmund did it, so can you!"
"Then it's better to let Dortmund draw Real Madrid. When they eliminate Real Madrid, we can eliminate them!"
Müller's thoughts were audible even across the Atlantic!
...
In the final round of the Champions League group stage, apart from the match between Manchester City and Bayern, there was much attention on the two games in the "Group of Death", Group F.
Napoli, trailing in goal difference and points, hosted Arsenal at home in this round.
At the same time, Dortmund rushed to face Marseille, who had lost all five matches.
These two matches kicked off simultaneously. Except for the utterly dismal Marseille, the remaining three teams almost monitored the situation of the other match every minute.
In the 4th minute of the game, Dortmund, playing away, took the lead, temporarily leading 1-0 against Marseille.
This news came, and the Napoli fans at the Stadio San Paolo fell into gloom.
If the game ended with this score, Dortmund would advance, and Napoli would be eliminated.
However, ten minutes later, news came from Marseille that they equalized the score.
This relieved the Napoli fans, who hurriedly reminded the players on the field that as long as they won this game, they could advance!
However, bad news came again from the other game: Marseille's forward Payet received two yellow cards in 2 minutes, turning them into a red card, and was directly sent off.
This news came, and the Napoli fans who had just breathed a sigh of relief began to worry again.
Fortunately, with one man down, Marseille started to defend with all their might, not giving Dortmund a chance to score again.
This meant Napoli still had a chance!
As long as they won, they could advance!
However, facing Arsenal's defense, Napoli couldn't find a way to score.
After over 70 minutes of play, the score on the field was still 0-0.
Finally, in the 73rd minute, El Matador Higuaín seized an opportunity to score Napoli's first goal.
After this goal, the Napoli fans at the Stadio San Paolo went completely crazy.
With this score, they would replace Dortmund and advance to the knockout stage together with Arsenal.
There's a saying, "Good things come in pairs". Shortly after Napoli scored, Arsenal's midfielder Arteta also received two yellow cards, turning them into a red card.
This made the people of Napoli even more confident; they were going to advance to the knockout stage!
However, fate likes to play tricks on people. After persisting for over 70 minutes, Marseille, with one man down and no hope of advancing, finally couldn't hold on.
In the 87th minute of the game, Dortmund scored again, rewriting the score to 2-1!
This goal was almost a decider; with only 3 minutes left in regular time, plus stoppage time, and being one man down with absolutely no hope of advancement, Marseille couldn't possibly fight hard to attack.
This also meant that Dortmund had basically announced their advancement!
And Dortmund's advancement meant Napoli would be eliminated.
Unless they could score three goals against Arsenal and advance by goal difference.
When this news came, Napoli's players went crazy.
They attacked Arsenal's goal like madmen, hoping to score more goals in the last few minutes.
Their efforts paid off; in the 90th minute, Callejón scored again, making it 2-0 Napoli against Arsenal.
The referee added 4 minutes of stoppage time. As long as they could score one more goal in these final minutes, they would advance.
Facing the craziness of Napoli, Arsenal also went crazy.
Before the match, their advancement situation was the best, but now it was in jeopardy.
Arsenal couldn't accept being eliminated. It wasn't even the second half of the season yet; it wasn't the usual season for Arsenal's customary collapse.
Napoli wanted to advance to the knockout stage, and so did Arsenal!
In the last 4 minutes, the match between the two teams became extremely intense, even brutal.
Under the united defense of the players, Arsenal withstood the opponent's crazy attacks and maintained the 0-2 score until the final whistle.
In the end, Napoli defeated Arsenal 2-0, won 4 out of 6 matches, and earned 12 points. However, they were eliminated because of two fewer goal differences.
They were also the highest-scoring team ever eliminated in the Champions League, creating history in the Champions League.
In the neighboring Group G, Zenit St. Petersburg lost 1-4 to Austria Vienna away, only getting 6 points but smoothly advanced to the knockout stage, also creating a historical record in the Champions League.
Sometimes fate plays tricks on people, for Napoli and Zenit fans, it was so.
(End of this chapter)
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