Chapter 558: Barcelona vs. Manchester City - A Champions League Battle
On September 17th, the fifth round of the Premier League kicked off.
Chelsea, who had just been held to a draw in the previous match, were defeated by Liverpool at home. After two winless games, they dropped to sixth place, overtaken by Liverpool.
Liverpool had been in good form recently. Since their surprise loss to Burnley in the second round, they were now unbeaten in three games. In their last two matches, they had beaten strong opponents. They won 4-1 against last season's runners-up, Leicester City, and in this round, they defeated Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
These two victories significantly boosted Liverpool's reputation. Even Liverpool fans, who had been skeptical, started to regain their confidence.
Compared to Liverpool, Chelsea's loss caused many to lower their expectations for them. Many people felt that this was the Chelsea they were familiar with. That earlier three-match winning streak? Just a fluke. While Antonio Conte might be a decent coach, Chelsea's current strength wasn't quite championship material. At least, they couldn't compare to the league leaders, Manchester City.
The reason for this judgment was simple: Manchester City had won yet again, this time with an impressive 4-0 victory. If that wasn't shocking enough, how about Manchester City winning 4-0 while down to ten men?
In a match where Manchester City received five yellow cards and one red, the red card was shown to substitute winger Kylian Mbappé. He was sent off after receiving two yellow cards within 15 minutes for what the referee deemed as simulation (diving) in the penalty area. Mbappé protested, tearfully trying to explain, but the referee wouldn't listen.
Poor Mbappé left the field in tears. Guardiola gave him a big hug on the sideline and spent a long time calming him down. Despite being a man down, Manchester City's performance wasn't affected. They dominated the match, with goals from Lin Quan, Agüero, De Bruyne, and Van Dijk, showing no signs of fatigue despite having played a Champions League match just three days earlier.
Perhaps playing in the Champions League isn't a debuff after all?
In this Premier League round, all four teams participating in the Champions League won their matches. Arsenal won 4-1 away against Hull City, Leicester City won 3-0 at home against Burnley, and even Tottenham, who had lost in the Champions League, managed a 1-0 win against Sunderland at home.
While Manchester City was on a roll, things were not going so well for their neighbors, Manchester United. After losing to City in the last match, United's morale took a hit. This round, they suffered a shock defeat to Watford, losing 3-1 away at Vicarage Road.
This loss left United fans disheartened. The confidence they had slowly built in the first three rounds now seemed to be crumbling. Fortunately, Mourinho made timely tactical adjustments. On September 24th, in the sixth round of the Premier League, United bounced back with a 4-1 victory over Leicester City, finally halting their downward spiral.
In that match, United was in top form, launching attack after attack and delivering brilliant team plays. By halftime, they had already scored four goals, thrilling the Old Trafford crowd. Ranieri's Leicester City was completely overwhelmed, and the TV cameras caught Ranieri on the sidelines, anxiously pacing back and forth, helpless to stop the onslaught.
Leicester's form this season had been inconsistent, with a pattern of winning one match and losing the next, and they had consistently lost to stronger opponents. In other words, Ranieri's team lacked the ability to perform in big matches and could only bully weaker teams. Such a team clearly wasn't capable of winning the title, and they might even struggle to finish in the top four.
Many felt it was a pity that last season's surprise underdog had been brought back down to earth so quickly.
It seemed like a competition between old rivals—if Manchester United won by three goals, then Liverpool would win by four! At Anfield, Liverpool dismantled Hull City 5-1. With this win, Liverpool extended their winning streak to three games, climbing above Arsenal to take third place in the standings.
This put immense pressure on Arsenal. The competition for Champions League spots in the Premier League was fiercer than ever this season. Apart from Manchester City at the top, the gap between second and seventh place was narrow, and one slip-up could see a team fall behind.
Although Arsenal had plenty of experience finishing in the top four, there was no guarantee that they would succeed every time. So, when they faced Chelsea in their next match, Arsenal gave it their all. In the first 20 minutes, they scored three quick goals, leaving Chelsea stunned.
With this victory, Arsenal reclaimed third place in the league, edging past Liverpool on goal difference. However, much to their frustration, Tottenham had also won and were now ahead of them.
Arsenal had 13 points from four wins, one draw, and one loss, while Tottenham had 14 points from four wins and two draws, keeping their unbeaten record intact. Arsenal fans were fuming:
"Sometimes, watching your rivals win is worse than losing yourself."
Though the competition between second and seventh was intense, Manchester City at the top of the table didn't feel much pressure. In this round, they secured a comfortable 3-1 victory away against Swansea, with goals from Lin Quan, Agüero, and Sané.
...
After the sixth round, Manchester City took a two-day break before flying out for their second Champions League group stage match. Their opponent was Scottish giant Celtic.
Celtic weren't considered a particularly strong team, so the mood in the Manchester City camp was relaxed, with few players taking the opposition seriously. However, they soon paid the price for their complacency.
In just the third minute of the match, Celtic's striker, Moussa Dembélé, scored to give his team the lead. A few minutes later, a defensive error by Manchester City resulted in an own goal, putting Celtic 2-0 ahead in under 20 minutes.
This result was a complete shock to everyone. The City players were stunned, unable to process what was happening. Meanwhile, in Borussia Park, Barcelona had already heard the news from the other match.
"Manchester City is trailing!"
Assistant coach Juan Carlos Unzué whispered in Luis Enrique's ear.
"Oh? Celtic scored?" Enrique asked.
"Not only did they score, but City's completely stunned. They're already two goals down!" said another coach, Moreno, with barely concealed excitement.
It was hard not to be excited. Barcelona had played Celtic just two weeks ago and demolished them 7-0.
For a team like Celtic to put Manchester City in such a dire situation, it raised serious questions about City's form. Enrique raised an eyebrow, barely containing his excitement as he quickly assessed the situation.
With less than 20 minutes gone and City already down by two goals, if Celtic played smart and switched to a defensive, counter-attacking strategy, even a team as strong as City might find it hard to mount a comeback. And if Celtic managed to score again on the counterattack, City would have virtually no chance of winning.
If City lost, Barcelona would gain the upper hand in their fight for the top spot in the group. Even if City managed to salvage a draw, as long as Barcelona could beat Borussia Mönchengladbach, they would still lead City by two points.
As for beating Borussia, that was hardly a concern. Mönchengladbach was just an ordinary Bundesliga team. Sure, they had some experience against Bayern, but they were no match for Barcelona.
With this thought, Enrique couldn't help but smile. Beating Guardiola's Manchester City to the top of the group would be a sweet victory.
However, just as Enrique was basking in his thoughts, a huge cheer erupted from the stadium.
"What happened?" Enrique quickly turned his attention back to the pitch.
He saw the Borussia Mönchengladbach players celebrating wildly, while the Barcelona players stood in shock, dejectedly watching the ball in their own net.
Barcelona's goal had been breached.
...
Back in Celtic Park, after going 2-0 down, Guardiola was furious. He tore off his jacket and began furiously directing his team to attack.
The reason for City's early goals conceded, and their quick downfall, was partly due to Guardiola's tactics. Underestimating Celtic, and given that it was only a group-stage match, Guardiola boldly experimented with a new formation—4141—with just one defensive midfielder. To make matters worse, it wasn't even their regular starter, Kanté, but Fernandinho.
Fernandinho worked hard, but asking him to cover for two people was a bit much. The single defensive midfielder formation was particularly vulnerable to attacks down the flanks, and Celtic took full advantage of that. Their 20-year-old striker, Dembélé, was not only tall and strong but also fast. Once he got the ball on the flanks, he became an immediate threat.
Despite this, Guardiola stubbornly refused to change his tactics. Gundogan was already on the field and could have dropped back to convert the formation into a 4-2-3-1, which would have neutralized Celtic's wide threats. But Guardiola, in his usual stubbornness, ignored this.
"I'm going to beat you with this weird formation. What are you going to do about it?"
City's starting lineup featured many substitute players, with the main players still sitting on the bench. If things didn't improve by the second half, he planned to bring them on to turn the game around.
Under Guardiola's orders, City launched a series of furious attacks. Son Heung-min and Sané took turns assaulting Celtic's defense from the flanks. In midfield, David Silva and Gundogan either pushed forward or sent clever through balls. For a time, Celtic was completely pinned back, struggling to breathe.
In the 23rd minute, Son Heung-min latched onto a perfect pass from Silva and pulled one back for City. Just five minutes later, Sané cut inside and scored to level the match at 2-2.
It took Manchester City less than 10 minutes to equalize, a clear sign of the huge disparity in strength between the two teams. Once City got serious, Celtic had little chance of withstanding their attacks.
Realizing the gap in strength, Celtic retreated entirely, setting up a defensive wall around their goal. They knew that without defending like mad, they wouldn't even be able to secure a point.
Without Lin Quan, City lacked a true weapon to break down such a resolute defense. Despite trying various tactics and besieging Celtic for nearly 20 minutes, City couldn't find another breakthrough.
The second half began, and Celtic continued their ultra-defensive strategy. Then, fortune smiled on them—or perhaps, more accurately, on Dembélé. Early in the second half, a long clearance from the Celtic defense inadvertently turned into an assist. Dembélé sprinted as fast as he could and, just before the City defenders could catch up, blindly struck the ball, and it went in!
This young man completed a hat-trick against Manchester City and had also forced an own goal earlier. After this game, he was destined to become famous. Guardiola and his players stood in disbelief, exchanging bewildered looks.
"Seriously? We've thrown everything at them, tried every trick in the book, and yet this guy scores with a wild sprint and a random kick?"
Feeling desperate, Guardiola didn't wait for his usual substitution window and immediately made changes.
De Bruyne came on for Sané.
Lin Quan replaced Son Heung-min.
Kanté replaced Fernandinho.
With three key players now on the field, it was clear to everyone that Manchester City was going all out for the remainder of the match.
Meanwhile, in Germany, Barcelona had just celebrated an important goal. In the 65th minute, substitute Arda Turan, assisted by Messi, scored the equalizer.
Mönchengladbach had proved to be far more difficult than Barcelona had anticipated, and breaking through their defense was no easy feat.
Now, it was Barcelona's turn to go on the offensive. If they could score another goal before the final whistle, victory would be theirs!
(End of Chapter)
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