i want to be king

Chapter 858

It is not entirely unreasonable for the outside world to question Manchester City's season strategy.

The Premier League must not give up. The FA Cup is a traditional event in England. It is normal if you want to persist, but the Europa League is really tasteless in the eyes of the four major league teams.

In previous media surveys, European football's impression of the Europa League was even lower than that of the Copa Libertadores in South America.

You know, this is an intercontinental competition second only to the Champions League in continental Europe, and the participating teams are all teams in the middle and upper reaches of the major leagues and cup champions.

This season's Europa League quarter-finals, except for Manchester City and Villarreal, all come from teams outside the five major leagues, which is even more surprising.

Since the restructuring in 2000, the UEFA Cup has always been a traditional event second only to the Champions League. The power of the five major leagues has never been as bad as it is now.

In nine of the past twelve seasons, teams from the five major leagues have won six of the quarter-finals six times and four of three times, at least half of it.

But this season, there are only two seats, and there are upstarts like Manchester City among them, which is definitely unusual.

Regarding the fall of the Europa League, the media has also conducted an analysis, and believes that the main reason is that playing this game cannot make money.

For example Atletico Madrid.

Last season, the Sheets participated in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League, but in the group stage, they failed to win a game and were eliminated in despair, but even so, they still won more than 500 million euros in the UEFA Champions League bonus.

And going forward, they participated in the Europa League and finally won the championship. After counting the 300 million euro bonus after winning the championship, they only got a total of more than 600 million euros in income, that is to say, less than half of the UEFA Champions League group stage.

You know, in the Champions League, Atletico Madrid was unbeaten in the group stage, but in the Europa League, they finally won the championship.

Even so, the income after winning the Europa League is less than half of the UEFA Champions League without a win in the group stage.

It was unbelievable.

So this season, Atletico Madrid showed a very lack of fighting spirit in the Europa League and was directly eliminated in the group stage. In the six group matches, they earned more than 300 million euros.

The Spanish media believes that the reason why Atletico Madrid is unwilling to play in the Europa League is that they must concentrate all their energy and do their best to play in the league, and strive to return to the Champions League next season, which is the league with the most lucrative income for the club.

As for the Europa League?
Whoever likes to kick will kick!

It is precisely because of the huge income gap that the current predicament of the Europa League is caused. The teams in the five major leagues are not willing to play such a tasteless competition. They have no money, waste time and energy, and consume a lot of players.

For example, Manchester City played away games twice in the knockout rounds, once to Greece, and once to Kiev, Ukraine, all of which were labor-intensive expeditions.

It's not worth it at all.

And even if they reach the quarter-finals of the Europa League, the Spanish media speculate that Villarreal may give up at any time, because their current fourth place in La Liga has been threatened.

Under the current circumstances, they will also consider the Europa League and the top four of La Liga going hand in hand, but once the top four are threatened, Villarreal will not hesitate to give up the Europa League and do their best to ensure the league.

It is based on this that the British media feel very strange about Manchester City's strategy of insisting on fighting on the third front.

Manchester City is not short of money, why is it meaningless to play this kind of game, and even the gold content is far inferior to the Europa League back then?
What if it affects Manchester City's performance in the Premier League?
Su Dong stood up and explained. He revealed a layer of meaning. The reason why the team insisted on fighting on the third front was not only for money, not only for honor, but also a test and challenge for themselves.

A strong team grows up by constantly accepting challenges and bearing pressure.

If you shrink back when encountering difficulties, and avoid difficulties when encountering difficulties, how can you become stronger?

Even if it is really a strong team, it must be a fake strong team!
Su Dong's remarks not only won the support of the locker room, but also aroused widespread affirmation among Manchester City fans.

Everyone also felt that the team should not give up, but should continue to persevere.

In the history of Manchester City, there is too much hunger for championship honors, especially at the European level.

There is a chance to compete for the Europa League, how can you give up?

…………

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In the No.30 round of the Premier League, Manchester City played against Sunderland at home.

In the 9th minute of the game, Su Dong passed back before the bottom line on the right side of the penalty area. Sanchez broke into the right side of the penalty area and scored with a low shot, opening the scoring for Manchester City.

No.15 minutes, Su Dong created the opponent's foul in the frontcourt, calmly took a free kick, directly rubbed the inside of the right post, and got into Sunderland's goal, making another victory for Manchester City.

Only 3 minutes later, another cross from Leighton Baines from the left, the unguarded Su Dong stopped the ball near the penalty spot and volleyed directly, scoring for Manchester City again, [-]-[-]!

After scoring consecutive goals, Manchester City was in full swing.

After changing sides to fight again in the second half, David Silva scored a single-handed goal in No. 603 minutes, further expanding the lead for Manchester City, four to zero!
In just 4 minutes, it was Marcelo's cross from the left. Su Dong made a feint and attracted the attention of the defense. Sanchez then made a tackle and broke through Sunderland's goal, [-]-[-]!
In the No. 703 minute, Sunderland's defense made a mistake. After Di Maria made a steal in the frontcourt, he instigated a counterattack, dribbled the ball into the penalty area and scored a single-handed goal, [-]-[-]!

Then in the No. 903 minute of the game, Dzeko, who came on as a substitute for Su Dong, also broke through Sunderland's goal and sealed the victory for Manchester City.

In the end, Manchester City beat Sunderland [-]-[-] at home.

……

The home defeat of the black cats Sunderland not only boosted the morale of Manchester City, but also calmed the doubts from the outside world.

Manchester City are strong enough to meet any challenge, says manager Pep Guardiola.

Ferguson's Manchester United also did not give up much. They beat West Ham United [-]-[-] in the away game and continued to maintain the pressure on Manchester City.

The Red Devils coach has also repeatedly emphasized that Manchester United will fight Manchester City to the end and never give up!

The battle between the Manchester duo has gradually intensified.

Everyone knows that Manchester City has the advantage, and the possibility of Manchester United's reversal is becoming increasingly slim.

But no matter how slim it is, there is still a chance, isn't it?
Even if it only exists in so-called theory.

…………

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In the middle of the week, the first round of the Europa League quarter-finals knockout round.

Manchester City travel south to Portugal and challenge Braga away.

This Portuguese Super League team has performed well this season, and it is not difficult to see their strength if they can reach the quarter-finals of the Europa League.

But in the face of the powerful Manchester City, Braga did not last long.

Guardiola has lined up a lineup that is more familiar with the Portuguese Super League this time. Players such as Su Dong, Moutinho, David Silva, Pepe and David Luiz all start.

Only 6 minutes into the game, Su Dong scored a header from close range with a cross from Marcelo, opening the scoring for Manchester City.

Then came a long-range shot from Moutinho, which caused a mistake by the opponent's defender and scored an own goal.

In just 13 minutes, Manchester City scored two goals in a row.

After that, until the No.601 minute of the second half, Su Dong succeeded in countering offside and scored another victory for Manchester City, [-]-[-]!
In the end, Manchester City beat Braga [-]-[-] away.

……

After Su Dong returned to the Portuguese Super League, he once again showed a good performance.

Former Portuguese Super League players including Pepe, David Luiz, Moutinho, etc. also performed well in this game and won unanimous recognition.

Being able to beat Braga [-]-[-] in the away game shows the strength of Manchester City, and the promotion to the semi-finals is basically a certainty, there is no suspense.

…………

…………

After bringing back a victory in the away game, Manchester City returned to the Premier League and ushered in the No.30 second round.

This time Manchester City challenged Liverpool away.

The Red Army's poor performance this season, but during the winter break, the Red Army executives decisively changed coaches, and invited back the former hero, King Dalglish.

After taking charge of Liverpool again, Dalglish quickly played a key role, leading Liverpool to rebound against the trend, and the ranking has also risen all the way. He even recently threatened to re-enter the top four in the league and compete for the Champions League qualification.

This is undoubtedly unrealistic, but it can also feel the strong morale of Liverpool.

After sending away Torres, who was in poor form, and ushered in local rookie Andy Carroll, and Uruguayan striker Suarez, Liverpool's offensive power has not decreased but increased, especially Suarez, who performed well after joining Liverpool and won unanimous recognition.

Facing Manchester City in this scene, Liverpool is waiting for work.

The Red Army currently only has one front in the Premier League, so they got a full week of rest.

Manchester City was distracted by the Europa League in the middle of the week. Many main players, including Su Dong and Pepe, all took a truce in rotation.

Guardiola's original plan to challenge Liverpool away was to keep a tie and win.

Unexpectedly, in the away game, Manchester City encountered a strong attack from Liverpool.

First, Carroll volleyed and scored, and then Dirk Dirk and Carroll scored goals one after another, helping Liverpool lead by three goals in the first half.

This can be said to have completely cornered Manchester City.

During the intermission, Guardiola decisively replaced Su Dong and David Silva, but this has been difficult to change the overall situation, especially when the team has already lost, Su Dong's goal is difficult to help the team reverse the situation.

Liverpool used the aggressive attack in the first half and the strict defense in the second half, especially the close marking against Su Dong, to successfully defeat Manchester City [-]-[-] at their own home court, bringing Blue Moon another defeat this season.

After the game, the media also blamed Manchester City.

Bear the brunt of the team's multi-line combat and rotation mechanism.

Guardiola was criticized by the tide, thinking that he should not let Sudong play in the Europa League. For a tasteless game, he lost to Liverpool, which is not worth the loss.

But this defeat did not affect Manchester City's top position. Although Manchester United defeated Fulham [-]-[-] at home, they are still behind Manchester City.

Guardiola still believes that there is no problem with Manchester City's strategy, and the team will definitely be able to survive this difficult schedule.

"We have only one goal, and that is the Triple Crown!" Guardiola shouted loudly.

This once again shows the determination of Manchester City.

Vow to win the Triple Crown!
(End of this chapter)