Chapter 455: Undefeated Streak Broken, A Lack of Morality
French teams may not be very strong in the Champions League, but the French national team has always been formidable. Moreover, many players in the top five leagues originally come from Ligue 1. The reason Ligue 1 ranks lowest among the top five leagues is partly due to the lack of a leading powerhouse.
In the top five leagues, except for Ligue 1, other leagues have their own top clubs: the English Premier League's "Big Four," La Liga's Barcelona and Real Madrid, Serie A's Milan giants and Juventus, and even the Bundesliga's Bayern Munich. With a top club, a league can gather popularity and attract more talented players, further strengthening the league's overall performance in the Champions League and Europa League.
Before PSG rose to prominence, Ligue 1 lacked such a top club. This created a seemingly prosperous league with many mid-tier teams but no standout team. Without a top club, the league struggled to retain its best local talent. These players often left to seek better pay and bigger stages, leading to a significant talent drain from Ligue 1. Managers like Wenger frequently recruited young talents from Ligue 1.
After Wenger, other top clubs also turned their attention to Ligue 1, attracting players like Benzema, Griezmann, Giroud, Nasri, and Kante. The French government and even the president have intervened in transfer matters, as seen when Mbappe wanted to transfer to Real Madrid.
...
After returning to Manchester, City soon faced Southampton in the league. Their opponent was mid-table in the league standings, and with most of City's main players rested from the previous Champions League match, they easily won 3-1 at home. This victory extended City's lead at the top of the standings to nine points. With just one-third of the season over, they were already nearly ten points ahead of the second-place team. Guardiola's team was remarkably stable in the league.
Given City's dominance at the top of the standings, most media outlets reported their results with little surprise. Instead, much of the attention was on a dark horse team - Ranieri's Leicester City.
At the beginning of the season, Leicester City drew attention with a series of wins, earning the label of a dark horse. However, many believed that their thin squad and lack of star players would cause them to falter as the season progressed and opponents figured them out.
Contrary to expectations, Ranieri's Leicester showed incredible resilience. Apart from a loss to Arsenal in the seventh round, they achieved eight wins, five draws, and only one loss. This round, they held off a strong Manchester United team with a 1-1 draw at home, solidifying their second-place position in the league. While the gap with City was significant, making a title challenge unlikely, maintaining their form would almost guarantee a Champions League spot for the next season.
For a club that had mostly played in lower leagues and never reached the Champions League group stage in its 132-year history, Ranieri and his team achieving this feat would be monumental, earning them a permanent place in Leicester City's history and the hearts of its fans.
The Premier League has traditionally been dominated by top clubs, leaving little room for ordinary teams to shine. Therefore, Leicester's rise this season quickly attracted the attention of many fans and media. Fans seemed tired of the top clubs monopolizing the league titles and longed for an underdog to challenge them.
A few years ago, Manchester City played this role, but their heavy financial backing from Middle Eastern investors gave them a commercialized image that not all fans liked. In contrast, Leicester's success was seen as a grassroots achievement. Their success wasn't built on extravagant spending but on the unity and hard work of their entire squad. With a transfer budget of just over 30 million euros last summer, less than what top clubs spend on a single player, their performance was even more remarkable.
Leicester's story of an underdog rising to challenge the established order naturally garnered fan support. Most people relate to the underdog narrative and appreciate a story of a smaller team overcoming giants.
After Leicester's draw with Manchester United, fans eagerly anticipated their upcoming match against Manchester City, which was scheduled for the end of the first half of the season and part of the Christmas fixture pile-up.
Though the match was a month away, the media had already begun hyping it up.
On December 2, after Manchester City's 4-1 win over Hull City in the League Cup quarter-finals, the post-match press conference was dominated by questions about the upcoming match against Leicester City.
"Coach Guardiola, how do you evaluate Ranieri and his Leicester City team?"
"Ranieri is an excellent coach with a keen eye for talent, always discovering impressive young players," Guardiola said. He had been keeping an eye on Leicester, admiring several of their players, some of whom he even considered signing. Their success was largely due to Ranieri's management and development.
Ranieri's ability to maximize the potential of his squad, especially in building the team's foundation, was something even Guardiola admired. Guardiola knew his own system required top-level players, and he doubted his ability to manage a lower-tier team as effectively as Ranieri.
"And do you think Leicester City poses a threat to Manchester City?"
"Of course, any team can pose a threat to us. We are not invincible."
"But City remains unbeaten in the league, cup competitions, and even the Champions League so far this season."
"Yes, we are unbeaten, but that doesn't mean we are invincible. Every game is a challenge, and Leicester City has shown they can compete at a high level."
The press conference continued with more questions about Leicester City's remarkable season and their upcoming clash with Manchester City. Fans and pundits alike were eager to see how this battle would unfold.
Reporters scoffed at Guardiola's comments, noting that Manchester City hadn't lost a game all season.
"Heh, you know, anything can happen on the pitch. Although we've remained unbeaten so far, perhaps we'll lose the next game," Guardiola replied dismissively.
City's next opponent was Stoke City, currently ranked 14th in the league. It seemed unlikely that Stoke could defeat City. Who would believe that City might lose to them?
However, the unexpected happened – Stoke City did win!
On December 5, in the 15th round of the Premier League, Stoke City faced Manchester City. At the Britannia Stadium, Stoke delivered a shock to the complacent City team, scoring just 2 minutes into the game. Seizing the opportunity while City aggressively attacked in anger, Stoke launched a quick counterattack in the eighth minute, scoring again to make it 2-0.
The Britannia Stadium erupted in excitement. Not only were City fans stunned, but even Stoke's own fans couldn't believe their team had such a dream start!
This scenario was reminiscent of the earlier Liverpool vs. City game, but with a key difference – Stoke's manager was very pragmatic. After taking a two-goal lead, they decisively fell back and parked the bus in front of their goal.
For the next eighty minutes, City tried every tactic, launching wave after wave of attacks, but all were in vain. Ultimately, City suffered a 0-2 defeat to Stoke, marking their first loss of the season.
This result surprised everyone, recalling Guardiola's earlier casual remark about possibly losing.
As City experienced their first defeat of the season, Leicester City triumphed 3-0 over Swansea City, narrowing the gap between them and City to just 6 points.
When the gap was 9 points, few believed Leicester City could challenge City for the league title. However, with City's unbeaten streak broken by a mid-table team and Leicester capitalizing to close the gap, the public's expectations for Leicester's title hopes soared.
"Could we really witness an underdog miracle in the Premier League?"
"It's been so many years since a non-top club won the top league title."
"If I remember correctly, the last non-top club to win the Premier League was Blackburn in the 94-95 season, over 20 years ago!"
"I really hope Leicester can dethrone City. I'm tired of seeing City and other top clubs monopolize the league title."
"Same here! I want to see an underdog victory!"
"If Leicester actually pulls it off, we'd be witnessing a miracle!"
"Let's be realistic though. City is very strong. Despite other top clubs faltering this season, City's foundation remains very solid. Leicester's path to the title will be extremely difficult."
"Indeed, City is currently one of the top teams globally, full of star players and led by a top coach. To beat them, Leicester will need a lot of luck."
"Exactly, if Leicester wants to surpass City, they must win the crucial match on December 28. That game is worth six points and will be pivotal in the title race!"
...
The external hype didn't seem to pressure Guardiola and City. In fact, the team felt a sense of relief after losing. Maintaining an unbeaten streak added psychological pressure, making each game exhausting. This state was unsustainable and detrimental in the long run.
Though losing to Stoke was unexpected, City still held a significant lead, so their title hopes were largely unaffected. They just needed to avoid further slip-ups.
On December 9, in their final Champions League group stage match, City hosted Borussia Mönchengladbach. While this game held no significance for City, it was crucial for the other three teams in the group. Juventus and Sevilla sent representatives to the Etihad Stadium to get real-time updates, keen to know how the match unfolded.
Morata, with a close relationship with Lin Quan, even called Lin to ask him to thoroughly defeat Mönchengladbach, hoping to hand them a crushing defeat. Lin, unsure if he would even play, replied that he would do his best if given the chance, but it was up to the coach.
Mönchengladbach's coach lavished praise on Guardiola before the match, describing him as young, talented, and an outstanding coach. It seemed like an attempt to gain some leniency.
City had fielded a second-string team in their previous match, so Mönchengladbach's coach hoped they might do the same this time, given the upcoming busy Christmas schedule. He believed they stood a chance against City's reserves.
However, when the starting lineup was announced, Mönchengladbach's coach was shocked to see names like Aguero, Lin Quan, and De Bruyne.
Where was the reserve team? This was utterly unfair!
(End of chapter)
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