Chapter 46: Chapter 248 Returning to Camp Nou, the first showdown between Lin Quan and Messi!
"It's pity that our factory has been bloodbathed again!"
"Have you been bloodbathed so many times this season? Real gun fans are used to it!"
"Oh, every year, we lose our place in March, we are still a championship contending team in January, things start to go wrong in February, we lose our place in March, we fall into a desperate situation in April, and we miraculously secure the fourth place in May..."
"Otherwise, how can we call it "Four Mad Demons"?
As soon as the words "Four Mad Demons" were mentioned, the Internet was immediately filled with a happy atmosphere!
Many netizens thought of happy things: "No mole, let's make some Arsenal jokes!"
"I advise you not to look for four without four, pretend to be four, do not have three or four, and be fearless!"
"God is first and I am second. Who knows who is third, but fourth belongs to Arsenal - Mourinho!"
"Our greatest fear comes from Arsenal fighting for the fourth place - Winston Churchill!"
"If there is only one team that is loyal to fourth place, it is Arsenal - Van Persie!"
"Only a team that has not won a championship for ten years is qualified to be ranked fourth!——MacArthur!"
"Arsenal who don't want to compete for fourth place are not good shooters——Napoleon!"
"You fight or don't fight, we are all fourth, neither increasing nor decreasing.——Tsangyang Gyatso!"
"Haha, sooner or later you guys will laugh to death!"
Lin Quan, who had nothing to do to read these things, also laughed when he saw this.
Football jokes are worth one stone, but Arsenal has eight.
Based on his experience playing against Arsenal, Lin Quan feels that Arsenal's collapse in the second half of the season is not difficult to understand.
The team's lineup is too thin to cope with multi-line operations, the players are too young, and their psychological fluctuations are too great. These are all objective reasons.
But he feels that there is another very important reason: this Arsenal has no blood.
Wenger's team is like his own character, gentle and gorgeous, but like fine porcelain, it breaks when touched.
Arsenal's winning rate in strong matchups this season is very low. They were beaten by Manchester City 6:2 in the away game, by Liverpool 5:1 in the away game, and by Chelsea 6:0 in the away game.
These big-scoring massacres all happened in one season, which is already very illustrative.
If you add in the 1:0 loss to Manchester United in the away game, Arsenal has not won on the road this season against the top clubs in the league.
In fact, it is not only difficult to win on the road, but also at home.
Arsenal have only won against Liverpool at home this season, and were drawn against Chelsea and Manchester United.
They will face Manchester City in the next game. If Manchester City goes all out, Arsenal, who have just suffered a bloodbath, may not be able to compete with them.
However, Arsenal is lucky. Because they have to take into account the Champions League, Manchester City plans to send a substitute lineup for the next game. Their main players will go to Barcelona two days in advance to prepare for the game against Barcelona two days later.
After learning the news, Wenger breathed a sigh of relief.
Although Arsenal can miraculously complete the fourth-place finish every season, no one knows how long this good luck will last.
Currently, Everton and Tottenham, who are behind them in the standings, are chasing closely.
Everton is only 6 points behind them, and Tottenham is only 7 points behind. Arsenal will probably be caught up if they lose two more games.
If Manchester City goes all out in this game, if Arsenal loses, the lead will immediately shrink to 3 or 4 points.
With six rounds left in the league, the point difference is only a matter of one goal.
What's more, after playing against Manchester City, Arsenal will face Everton in the next game.
With their poor away record, Wenger is really not sure he can lead the team to defeat the Toffees.
If they lose two games in a row, Everton's record will overtake them and Arsenal will fall to fifth place.
However, when everyone, especially the Arsenal fans, thought that this game was safe, fate played a joke on them.
Jovetic and Nasri scored consecutive goals in the 2nd and 5th minutes of the opening, and they stunned Arsenal twice.
Is this the fucking substitute lineup for Manchester City?
The Gunners fans at the Emirates Stadium were all stunned. The plot was so different from what they imagined.
They were looking forward to seeing a hearty victory at home, but Manchester City's two goals sobered them up instantly.
Opposite is Manchester City!
This is the leader of the Premier League. Even their substitute lineup is better than the starting lineup of many mid- and lower-tier Premier League teams!
Seeing the bright red score on the scoreboard, they had the illusion of being at Stamford Bridge.
This is how they were defeated when they faced Chelsea in the last game!
Will tragedy happen again this time?
The camera was shown to the professor on the sidelines. Wenger seemed to feel a little hot, and he shivered and wanted to take off his jacket, but the zipper of the jacket could not be pulled down.
Alas, the professor is old!
Seeing this scene, Gunners fans felt very uncomfortable.
The score of 2:0 remained until the end of the first half.
With Wilshere and Theo Walcott both missing due to injuries, Arsenal's offense has become a persistent problem.
They had more shots on goal in the first half but just couldn't convert them into goals.
In the second half, Wenger made some adjustments to the team's offense and increased the intensity of the midfielder's involvement in the offense.
This adjustment had an effect in the 53rd minute. Arsenal's old player Flamini, who returned to the Gunners as a free agent last summer, stepped forward. He seized the opportunity of the Manchester City player's passing error and stole the ball. A long shot helped the team recover a goal.
Flamini was very active after the goal. He did not choose to celebrate. Instead, he rushed into the goal and ran back with the ball in his arms, hoping to seize the time to continue the attack.
Seeing this scene, Arsenal fans stood up and applauded him.
Flamini is not that kind of talented player. He doesn't have great talent, nor does he have that kind of strong physical fitness.
He relies on his diligent attitude and tenacious fighting spirit, rooted in defense, and does all kinds of dirty work belonging to the midfielder without complaint.
He can't score many goals in a season. This is his first goal since returning to Arsenal.
But this goal is as precious as gold!
Flamini's goal ignited Arsenal's morale and sounded the clarion call for their counterattack.
In the next 40 minutes, Arsenal launched a furious attack around Manchester City's goal.
After all, what Manchester City sent on the field was only a substitute lineup, and it was indeed not as strong as Arsenal.
After falling into passivity, they failed to form an effective counterattack to threaten Arsenal's defense, resulting in an increasingly passive situation.
In the 85th minute, after nearly 30 minutes of frenzied attack, Arsenal finally scored from Chamberlain, who came on as a substitute, to equalize the score.
In the last game at Stamford Bridge, Chamberlain's handball in the penalty area became the team's sinner.
But in this game, he stood up and helped the team draw with Manchester City at home.
The result of getting one point is certainly not ideal for the Gunners, but considering that they fell behind at the beginning, this result can be considered acceptable.
However, in another game, Everton defeated Fulham 3:1, narrowing the gap between them and Arsenal to 4 points.
Now, the situation becomes difficult again for Arsenal!
…
The main players of Manchester City who were far away in Barcelona were very surprised to hear that the substitutes almost defeated Arsenal in the away game.
"Really or not? Is Arsenal so weak?"
"Really, Jovetic and Nasri scored two goals in the opening game, almost forcing Arsenal into a desperate situation. Unfortunately, the team's subsequent tactics were a bit conservative, and the defensive counterattack was not effective. In the end, it was a pity that Arsenal were defeated. It's a draw!"
"Haha, one point is not bad. We all thought we were destined to lose. Getting one point is an unexpected surprise!"
"Well, there is another good news. Chelsea lost to Crystal Palace 0:1 away from home!"
As soon as this news came out, the morale of the Manchester City players who were about to step onto the Camp Nou stadium was instantly boosted.
"Doesn't that mean our lead has expanded to 9 points?"
"That's right, this is an advantage of three wins!"
"Hehe, I remember we still have a make-up game to play. If you include this, we are now 12 points ahead of Chelsea!"
With a 12-point lead and the dozens of extra goal differences they now have, wouldn't it be possible to win the championship four rounds in advance?
Seeing his teammates enthusiastically discussing the Premier League championship situation, Lin Quan silently put down his mobile phone and did not say anything about the fact that Liverpool had risen to second place in the standings.
With Chelsea losing, Mourinho's team only has a theoretical hope of winning the title.
But after defeating Tottenham 4-0 at home, Liverpool came from behind and surpassed Chelsea in points to reach second place.
They currently have 71 points, 7 points less than Manchester City.
This gap is not small, but there is still a direct match between Manchester City and Liverpool, and it is still at Liverpool's home court.
Liverpool's home record this season is very scary. In the 16 home games played at Anfield, Liverpool only lost one and drew one. They won all the remaining 14 games, many of which were three goals. Even a big win with more than four goals.
To say that the team with the best home record this season, Liverpool can definitely compete with Manchester City.
Facing such a home team, Manchester City really has no absolute certainty that they can beat them.
The match between Manchester City and Liverpool is on April 12, which is the day after the second round of the Champions League quarter-finals!
Liverpool don't need to be distracted by the Champions League. They have 7 days to recharge after finishing the league, but Manchester City can't.
From April 10th to April 13th, Manchester City has three very important games. First, it is the second leg of the Champions League knockout match against Barcelona, and then it is the game against Liverpool. After the game against Liverpool, they will immediately go to a neutral stadium to play against Arsenal play in the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
This is the disadvantage of multi-line operations. Towards the end of the season, there are more games and the shorter the time interval.
It is precisely because of this that those teams that can complete the triple crown feat while fighting on multiple fronts are so amazing!
In view of Manchester City's schedule, Lin Quan feels that it is not time to be happy yet.
But the war was approaching, and he did not pour cold water on his teammates at this time.
Manchester City needs to go to Camp Nou to face Barcelona with the highest morale!
…
After Manchester City arrived in Barcelona, they borrowed the Spanish training base in the same city to prepare for training.
The Spaniard's training base is called Dani Jarque Sports City. It is located in Sant'Adrian de Bezos in the northeast corner of Barcelona, covering an area of about 60,000 square meters.
Compared with Barcelona's training base, the Spaniard's base is much smaller, only about one-seventh of its neighbor's.
However, although the sparrow is small, it has all the internal organs.
Everything that should be here is basically there, and it can fully meet Manchester City's daily training.
As a team with a low presence in Barcelona, Espanyol did not receive much attention when almost all the spotlight was attracted by Barcelona in the same city.
However, after the arrival of Manchester City, a large number of fans and reporters came from the originally deserted training base.
Among them were local Barcelona news media and Barcelona fans who came to spy on the military situation.
Obviously, the entire Barcelona is paying special attention to Manchester City coming from afar.
After falling to the semi-finals for two consecutive seasons, Barcelona has paid much more attention to the Champions League this season.
They hope to reach the Champions League final, win the Big Ears Cup again, and create new glory.
To achieve this goal, they must first eliminate Manchester City. Otherwise, let alone the finals, they will not even be able to enter the semi-finals.
However, Barcelona is still confident about defeating Manchester City.
The Barcelona of this era is not the Barcelona of later generations whose record has plummeted, whose personnel are seriously aging, the core of the team has been purged, and the team is facing reconstruction.
That Barcelona team couldn't even qualify for the Champions League group stage, but this Barcelona team has reached the semi-finals of the Champions League for six consecutive seasons and won three Champions League trophies in eight years.
They are one of the most successful clubs in Europe and could even remove one!
Although they were brutally beaten by Bayern last season, Barcelona's strength has been questioned to a certain extent.
But the tiger's defeat still has its remaining power, not to mention that Barcelona, the tiger, has not yet fallen.
So it's not surprising that Barcelona people have such confidence.
Facing the powerful Barcelona, everyone in Manchester City was a little nervous.
In order to relax the players' spirits, Pellegrini did not arrange too complicated tactical training.
Instead, we tried our best to arrange some easy training subjects, and conducted targeted training on set pieces.
This puzzled reporters and fans who came to spy on the military situation: Is Manchester City planning to rely on these tactics to defeat Barcelona?
Or do they know they can't beat Barcelona, so they surrendered early?
The news reached the ears of Barcelona coach Martino, who suspected that Manchester City was releasing smoke bombs.
If it were Manchester City, if they wanted to defeat the powerful Barcelona, there would be absolutely no way they would be unprepared.
Therefore, the more they behave like this, the more likely they are to hide their true intentions.
Thinking of this, Martino didn't dare to be careless.
He led the coaching staff to seriously discuss Manchester City's possible tactics, and then discussed some targeted countermeasures.
Finally, Martino made a concluding speech:
"Man City's strength is not as weak as the outside world thinks, so we must not take it lightly!"
Martino hopes to take advantage of his home court and settle the fight in the first round.
In this case, they can focus on the league and deal with the competition from Atletico Madrid.
Barcelona just defeated Real Madrid 4:3 in an away game, temporarily widening the points gap between them and Real Madrid.
Currently, Barcelona is only one point behind Atletico Madrid in the standings.
This point difference is very small, but the more so, the more Barcelona cannot afford to lose.
Otherwise, Barcelona will be at a very disadvantageous position when they face Atletico Madrid at home in the final round of the league.
At the pre-match press conference, the head coaches of both teams were very polite.
They complimented each other on their opponents, with Pellegrini praising Barcelona as a great team and Martino also saying that Manchester City is a respectable opponent.
The two looked at each other and understood what the other meant:
Old guy, get ready to fight!
…
In the evening of April 2nd, Camp Nou.
The Camp Nou, which can accommodate 100,000 people, was packed. The crazy Barcelona fans were already creating a terrifying momentum before the game started, putting pressure on the Manchester City fans who came to the scene.
Compared with the large number of Barcelona fans, the Manchester City fans with only 5,000 people are like a small boat on the sea, surrounded by strong winds and huge waves on the sea, and are in danger of capsizing at any time.
With a rumble, a Manchester City fan couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva.
Although there were thousands of security personnel separating them from the Barcelona fans, the ferocious expressions on the opponent's faces, roaring movements and constantly waving fists still made them feel a little nervous.
If a fight really breaks out, more than 90,000 Barcelona fans will definitely swamp them in an instant.
But soon, the focus of Barcelona fans shifted from Manchester City fans to the stadium.
Players from both sides are already standing in the tunnel, ready to enter.
Standing in the tunnel of Camp Nou, I felt the roar of cheers outside.
Lin Quan had a strange feeling!
He grew up in Barcelona and joined the Barcelona youth training when he was 6 years old, so he is no stranger to the Camp Nou stadium.
But this is his first appearance at Camp Nou as an opponent.
Don't know what will be waiting for you?
Is it the boos all over the sky?
Or the abuse and slander from the fans?
While he was thinking about this, Lin Quan felt someone tapping his shoulder.
I looked back and saw that it was Xavi, the captain of Barcelona.
"Lin, can we exchange jerseys after the game?"
Xavi smiled and said to Lin Quan that Lin Quan has a good relationship with many players in the Barcelona team.
Therefore, there are probably many people waiting to exchange jerseys with him. If they don't act in advance, they may not be able to grab this opportunity later.
"No problem, Captain!"
Lin Quan nodded and happily agreed to Harvey's request.
"Haha, welcome back to Camp Nou, work hard for this game and try to give everyone a wonderful game!"
"Yes, I will!"
Lin Quan clenched his fists and nodded heavily.
Xavi said nothing more and returned to the Barcelona team, chatting and laughing with Iniesta behind him.
Seeing Lin Quan looking over, Xiaobai blinked at Lin Quan and greeted him with his eyes.
Behind him, teammates from the national team such as Fabregas, Pique, Busques, and Pedro also nodded to Lin Quan.
Although we all play for different clubs, we are rivals on the field.
But in private, everyone is friends, and the positions are not overlapping, so there is no competition.
Of course, not everyone is so friendly towards Lin Quan. Several Brazilian players in the Barcelona team, such as Neymar and Alves, looked at Lin Quan with hostile eyes.
Especially Neymar, from the burning flame of revenge in his eyes, you can feel how much he hopes to avenge last year's Confederations Cup defeat!
Lin Quan shrugged indifferently and ignored Neymar's gaze. The horse was good, but if he regarded him as his opponent, it would be a bit of a loss.
Just when he was about to withdraw his gaze, Lin Quan felt a substantial gaze cast on him.
Looking in the direction where he came from, he saw Barcelona's number one superstar, Leo Messi, as expected.
The noisy sound in the players' tunnel disappeared the moment the two looked at each other, and the players on both sides noticed something unusual between the two.
This game is not only a duel between Manchester City and Barcelona, but also a collision between the two super giants Lin Quan and Messi.
This is the first time the two have met in an official game, and both of them have been looking forward to this matchup for a long time.
Messi, let me test it, do you still have some of the strength you had at your peak now?
Messi's heart was filled with fighting spirit: Lin, let me try to see if you are qualified to be on an equal footing with me!
Lin Quan smiled and nodded, and Messi nodded too, and the murderous aura between the two suddenly disappeared.
At this time, the referee also began to lead the players from both sides onto the court.
The Champions League quarter-finals, Manchester City VS Barcelona, is about to begin!
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