i want to be king

Chapter 974 I am the strongest center in the world!

After playing the League Cup final, the Manchester City team returned to Manchester from London. They didn't have any time to rest at all, and immediately ushered in the Premier League No.20 six-round make-up match.

This is because Manchester City played in the League Cup, which caused the team to miss the Premier League No.20 six rounds, which was postponed until mid-week. The team ushered in Blackburn at home.

In this battle, including the core players such as Su Dong and David Silva, all took turns.

But even so, Manchester City still relied on the goals of Douglas Costa, Aguero and Dzeko to beat the visiting Blackburn [-]-[-] at home and win this make-up match.

……

Three days later, in the seventh round of the No.20 Premier League, Manchester City still sits at home and ushered in Bolton.

Just like three days ago, Guardiola still hid Su Dong and other core players this time, continued to play against Bolton with rotation and substitute lineup, and finally defeated Bolton [-]-[-] at home with Aguero's brace.

Whether it was winning the League Cup or defeating opponents in two consecutive rounds of substitutes, Manchester City's performance attracted a lot of media attention, but within the team, it did not cause too many waves, and everyone was more focused on preparing for the game.

For Manchester City, there is not much suspense about winning the Premier League. The remaining [-] games are more about pursuing to maintain the current leading edge, and at the same time adjusting the team's state. The real main battlefield is still in the Champions League.

And, of course, the FA Cup.

Leaving aside the special significance of the FA Cup to English football, local fans attach great importance to this cup. More importantly, the team has already won the League Cup, and there is basically no suspense about the Premier League championship.

Last season was the Triple Crown. If they win the Triple Crown again this season, it would really sweep English football.

If they can hit the Champions League again, Manchester City will definitely rely on this season to establish their position among the top European teams.

From now on, who would dare to ignore Manchester City?

It is also because of this that Guardiola publicly stated at the post-match press conference after playing Bolton that Manchester City is about to usher in the most important game of the season.

……

When Manchester City first won the League Cup after the first round of the Champions League Round of [-], and then ushered in two consecutive victories in the Premier League, AC Milan also performed well in Serie A.

Allegri's team first drew Juventus 20-[-] at home in the No.[-] five rounds of Serie A.

A week later, AC Milan beat Palermo [-]-[-] with Zlatan Ibrahimovic's hat-trick in the away game.

The decisive battle is imminent, and the Rossoneri have shown super fighting power, especially the Swedish center Ibrahimovic, who used a hat-trick to prove his peak state.

After the game, Ibrahimovic talked about the upcoming game in an interview with the media. He said that AC Milan will definitely beat Manchester City to advance to the quarterfinals.

"Remember one law, man, the team with Zlatan is always stronger!"

A hat-trick made Ibrahimovic feel elated, especially the criticism that he did not do much in the first round of the Champions League made Ibrahimovic even more annoyed.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic also took the initiative to talk about Sudong. He believes that Sudong is playing tricks in other leagues.

"Actually, if not for other reasons, what he does in La Liga, I can do, but what I do in Serie A, he can't do, because in Serie A, the defense will be tighter, so he can't score in the first leg."

"On the contrary, if I go to England to play, or to play in Germany, I will blow it up there, just like I did in Serie A."

"This is what I want to say, I will help AC Milan advance in Manchester and prove that I am the strongest center forward in the world!"

When Ibrahimovic's remarks after the game were spread to England, Su Dong did not respond directly when he was interviewed by the media. He expressed that he was not interested in comparing with anyone.

"I can't stop others from taking me as their goal in life. This is their business, but I'm very sure that there is only one opponent in front of me, and that is myself!"

Regarding Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Su Dong said that he knew he was very strong, but...

"How many goals did he score in the knockout round of the Champions League? Is it more than my fraction?" Su Dong smiled and spread his hands.

Everyone knows that Zlatan Ibrahimovic does not perform well in high-intensity games, and is better at abusing dishes.

Just like in the past two rounds of Serie A, against Juventus, it was Nocerino who scored for AC Milan, while Ibrahimovic scored a hat-trick against Palermo.

This is the characteristic of the Swedish center forward.

The Swedish center forward is also a very emotional person.

Su Dong has always known that as early as when he was playing for Juventus, he had already regarded Su Dong as an opponent, and he often took the initiative to provoke.

Over the years, the two have met several times in public, but they have no personal relationship. However, Su Dong is quite familiar with him, so he deliberately retaliated before the game, just to stimulate him, and it is best to make him angry.

Sure enough, when Su Dong met Zlatan Ibrahimovic at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, the Swedish center looked at him with malicious provocation in his eyes, as if he wanted to swallow him alive.

……

"Hello, Zlatan."

Su Dong greeted him with a smiling face, and stretched out his hand towards Ibrahimovic from a distance.

Reach out and don't hit the smiling man.

If Su Dong gave him a bad face, then Ibrahimovic felt nothing, but now Su Dong greeted him with a sudden smile, which made him feel very awkward. He knew that this guy was hypocritical and contrived, even disgusting, but he had no choice but to shake hands with him coolly.

"You look fake when you smile," Ibrahimovic said, approaching.

"I think so too." Su Dong smiled, "There's no way, with so many people watching, it's impossible for us to quarrel directly, right? Besides, when you come here, you are a guest, so I have to let you in."

"I don't need you to let me!" Ibrahimovic heard Su Dong's overtones, "I will definitely beat you!"

"In the past few years, many people have said that, but..." Su Dong paused, smiled and shook his head, "No one has ever achieved it, and you are the same!"

"Wait and see!"

Ibrahimovic turned and left bitterly.

Su Dong looked at his back with a smile on his face. He felt that Ibrahimovic was on fire.

That's fine.

……

There is an obvious difference from the first round, that is, AC Milan's head coach Allegri does not intend to continue to adopt strict defensive tactics, but wants to be more proactive in attacking.

Allegri's starting lineup this time adopted a three-forward tactic, Shalawi, Ibrahimovic and Robinho. How the three players position specifically depends on the timing of the game.

In the midfield, the combination of Ambrosini, van Bommel and Nocerino continued the three-back tactic of the first round, and the defense remained basically unchanged. Obviously, Allegri still hopes that the team can continue the stable performance of the first round.

Judging from the starting lineup, Allegri's purpose is very clear, and he wants to use offense against offense to score a goal as soon as possible.

The purpose of doing this is very clear, that is, after scoring an away goal, Manchester City has to be more active in attacking, and then let the game completely enter the rhythm of the defensive counterattack that AC Milan is most familiar with.

Taking Boateng off and replacing him with Shalawi is a very obvious signal.

The abacus is very loud, but it is hard to say whether it will work or not.

Manchester City's starting lineup remains basically unchanged. They still have their strongest attacking lineup, and still adopt a three-four-three tactic, leaving Pepe, Harvey Martinez and David Luiz behind, and Busquets in midfield.

This set of play is exactly the same as the tactics of the first round. Marcelo can still attack forward and defend backward. It is very flexible, depending on the trend of the game.

After seeing AC Milan's starting lineup, Guardiola kicked out to let Busquets take the ball more.

Shalawi has potential, but he is young and inexperienced. Robinho and Ibrahimovic are both strong, but these two players have one thing in common, that is, they are not active in defense, they don't run much, and they both stick to the ball.

In midfield, AC Milan has three defensive players, all of whom are relatively deep.

In the first round, Kevin Boateng's sudden forward and wide-ranging running brought great trouble to Manchester City, especially the suppression of Busquets. To some extent, Boateng was the key to AC Milan's defense in the first round.

But in this game, Allegri took him down and replaced him with Shalawi, wanting to strengthen the offense.

From a tactical point of view, Allegri's idea is not a problem. After grabbing an away goal, AC Milan has the initiative in the game. As long as they defend Manchester City's offense, they will be able to score sooner or later.

The zero-to-zero result of the first round was mixed for both teams. How to arrange the starting tactics for the second round has risks and is understandable.

In contrast, Manchester City is more unified, basically there is no suspense, that is, pass and control the ball.

AC Milan changed its conservativeness in the first round, and obviously wanted to catch Manchester City by surprise.

Whether it is effective or not depends on how many troops they can invest in the game, as well as Manchester City's response.

Guardiola has never persuaded this kind of proactive team.

Therefore, in the locker room before the game, after getting AC Milan's starting lineup and analyzing the opponent's tactics with the coaching staff, Guardiola told the Manchester City players very clearly that facing AC Milan's initiative, Manchester City has only one choice.

That is: press out, attack!
(End of this chapter)