Starting from playing as a defensive midfielder for Real Madrid

The battle between Chelsea and Manchester City is getting closer and closer. Not only fans of the Premier League, but also fans of many other leagues seem to be very interested in this focus battle of the English League.

After all, it is a duel between the teams coached by Guardiola and Mourinho.

Although both of them are no longer in La Liga, their coaching styles have not changed. The showdown between Chelsea and Manchester City is also regarded by many La Liga fans as a weakened version of the "El Clasico".

Coupled with the Premier League official's sparing no effort in publicity.

Therefore, before the start of this Premier League war, many fans from major leagues have already memorized the start date and time of the game, waiting to enjoy this audio-visual feast on time.

On February 1st, the 24th round of the Premier League officially started.

Newcastle and Sunderland completed the early openers of this league round.

In the next two days, all 18 Premier League teams appeared and played 9 games in this round of the league.

Among them, many teams in the middle and lower reaches of the league were upset. For example, Sunderland defeated the Magpies 3:0, and Tiger City drew strongly with Tottenham. Everton was held to a draw by Aston Villa, while West Bromwich Albion drew with Liverpool at home...

The arrival of the FA Cup and the intensive schedule after the 23rd round of the Premier League have caused most of the top eight teams in the Premier League to be affected by their results.

However, this phenomenon did not panic the Chelsea players. On the contrary, everyone at Chelsea was happy because of such a game situation.

After all, they had voluntarily given up the FA Cup before, so while other Premier League teams were hampered by the recent tight schedule, Chelsea benefited from this.

Other teams were affected, but Chelsea was able to prepare and rest normally. Compared with the two, Chelsea's advantage in the league has naturally been further expanded.

The league rival Manchester City they will face in this round of the league has also been affected by the FA Cup match.

On January 25, after Manchester City played half of their main lineup against Watford in the fourth round of the FA Cup, on the evening of January 29, they had a bloody battle with Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane. Great war.

The two consecutive games consumed a lot of physical energy from the main players of Manchester City's first team and rotation players.

The rest time they got was less than 5 days.

Therefore, even if they have the advantage of playing at home against Chelsea, Manchester City cannot easily make up for the physical disadvantage they have consumed.

Reflected on the fans of the two teams, their respective emotions and mentality are completely different.

Although Manchester City fans are very confident because of their recent outstanding results, after watching the thrilling 5:3 match against Tottenham in the last round, they are very worried about the physical condition of their players.

Chelsea fans are very confident about their main players.

After all, after the 22nd round of the league, all of Chelsea's main players did not consume any physical energy in the English League Cup and FA Cup.

The rest time between the 22nd and 23rd rounds of the Premier League is a full 10 days!

Chelsea's main players took four days off. In the 23rd round, they played West Ham United again, and Chelsea won easily.

Compared with Manchester City's schedule, Chelsea's side cannot be described as easy.

The game against West Ham United seemed to be just a warm-up match for Chelsea, a warm-up before the start of the first-place battle with Manchester City.

So when they arrived at the Etihad Stadium on the day of the match, Chelsea's thousands of fans looked relaxed?

They were confident but not arrogant. Perhaps it was their calm and calm attitude that made the tens of thousands of Manchester City fans present slightly nervous.

While the players from the two teams were warming up in the stadium, Mourinho was still thinking about what Guardiola said at Manchester City's pre-match press conference yesterday:

"José and I are both old friends and rivals. Before he came to La Liga, he and I had already played against each other in the Champions League, and when he came to La Liga, the duel between us became even more intense. Countless.

So we know each other very well. It can even be said that we are the friends and opponents who know each other best.

Our first match against Chelsea this season ended in defeat. This is an undeniable fact. Of course, we will be better prepared for the second leg.

Tactical trump card? No, there is no tactical trump card. As I said, He Sai and I know each other very well. There is no possibility that one of us can play a tactical trump card..."

Mourinho thought about it carefully again, but began to mutter softly.

"Nonsense..."

One thing Guardiola agrees with is that they really understand each other very well.

What tactics is he good at? They all know what Guardiola is good at, so when it comes to tactical trump cards, they probably don't exist.

Because they will make a lot of relevant tactical plans for each other, very detailed tactical plans.

But to say that the game will lose all tactical suspense is that Guardiola intentionally misled the reporters and himself.

It's one thing to have no more novel tactics.

But among the tactics the two of them have played, choosing a set of tactics that surprises the other party the most is another thing that will happen with a high probability.

Guardiola is like this, Mourinho is like this too.

After all, they have played against each other too many times. In Mourinho's first season at Real Madrid, Real Madrid lost miserably, but after that, Guardiola's Barcelona was suppressed.

The two of them had a duel and fought too many tricks, winning and losing, and also having some draws.

Mourinho had to admit that when he met Guardiola for the first time in the Premier League this season, Li Ang's sudden outbreak gave him a huge surprise.

It was precisely because of Li Ang's sudden explosive performance that Chelsea's easy victory far exceeded his pre-match expectations.

However, a player's personal outburst cannot be calculated into the design of tactics, so Mourinho was not as relaxed as he seemed before the game started.

The Manchester City currently led by Guardiola is not easy to play.

Because the current Manchester City team is much stronger on the defensive end than the Barcelona he led in La Liga.

At the beginning, Mourinho could attack both wings, avoid Barcelona's extremely controlling midfield, and use high-altitude balls and Ronaldo's personal ability to defeat Barcelona.

That also takes advantage of Barcelona's inability to defend against high-altitude balls.

But although the current Manchester City's midfield control is far inferior to Barcelona in the previous two seasons, on the defensive end, this Manchester City is neither afraid of ground balls nor high-altitude balls.

Their defense is strong and balanced, and Manchester City's defense is the strongest in the entire Premier League. Maybe like Arsenal, they are the top level second only to Chelsea.

The only flaw is with Joe Hart.

Until now, most fans in the world may not be able to figure out why Joe Hart always likes to make small mistakes despite his excellent goal-line skills.

This flaw of his also makes him always miss the mark when defending long-range shots and unexpected shots.

However, after losing to Li Ang's long shot in the last duel, Mourinho does not believe that Guardiola will continue to suffer such losses.

It is conceivable that in this battle, Guardiola will definitely focus on protecting the front of his penalty area.

Therefore, to be on the safe side, Mourinho basically has no hope of continuing to take advantage of Manchester City in long-range shots.

This is reflected in the tactics he deployed today, which are to defend the two wings, counterattack and push the center line, and then split the ball from the ribs to hit the Manchester City penalty area.

Li Ang inserted in the back and formed a double end point with Ibrahimovic in the penalty area. The scoring threat is the safest to complete in the Manchester City penalty area.

Long shots can be an auxiliary offensive method, but they will not be Chelsea's main offensive method today.

Mourinho was still thinking about whether there were any flaws in the tactics deployed before today's game. As a result, players on both sides soon ended their pre-match warm-up.

After entering the last mobilization session before the game, neither Mourinho nor Guardiola spent much time explaining tactics.

After all, the preparation work before the game has been completed, and now it is time to relieve the pressure and cheer up the players.

Near 8pm local time, players from Manchester City and Chelsea began to step onto the court following the pace of the referee team.

On a cold winter night in Manchester, the fans of both teams created an extremely fiery atmosphere.

As soon as Li Ang, wearing Chelsea's white No. 10 away jersey, appeared, he saw Guardiola sitting on the coaching bench looking dazed.

With an almost pure white jersey, pure white shorts, socks and gloves, plus black stripes on the shoulders, at first glance Guardiola thought he saw the familiar Real Madrid little lion again.

However, the big three-star sponsor letters on the chest of Chelsea's away jersey finally brought Guardiola back to his senses.

"Chelsea's away jersey looks familiar today, and it looks particularly suitable for Li Ang~"

"I've been wearing it for two and a half years. How can it be inappropriate? Everyone looks familiar."

In the Sina Sports studio, Zhan Jun and Director Zhang once again partnered up to commentate live on this Premier League highlight battle for domestic fans.

After the two joked, they quickly explained the recent points and results of Chelsea and Manchester City to the domestic audience.

In fact, Chelsea and Manchester City have already had relatively deep fan bases in China.

A large part of Chelsea's domestic fans originate from the iron-blooded Blues period when Mourinho first coached.

Not to mention Manchester City, the team China Suns played for was also a team that attracted much attention from domestic Premier League fans in that era.

The two teams already have relatively strong fan bases in China. Coupled with Li Ang's absolute viewing factor, Sina Sports this morning is destined to set off a viewing frenzy.

Late at night in China at close to 4 a.m., Zhan Jun’s familiar introduction voice accompanied him.

After the players from Chelsea and Manchester City completed the opening ceremony, they were already standing in their respective halves, waiting for the game to officially start.

“Chelsea played 433 today, and the starting goalkeeper was Czech national goalkeeper Petr Cech.

Defensive line:

The left back is Bertrand, the center backs are Terry and David Luiz, and the right back is Azpilicueta.

In the midfield, Matic serves as the single defensive midfielder, with Li Ang and Lampard on the left and right sides of the midfield.

Left winger Hazard, right winger De Bruyne, center Ibrahimovic. "

“Manchester City’s starting formation today was four-two-three-one.

The starting goalkeeper is England national goalkeeper Joe Hart.

In the defense, the left back is Kolarov, the center and back positions are Nastasic and Kompany, and the right back is Zabaleta.

In the midfield, Yaya Toure and Fernandinho serve as double midfielders, Cesc Fabregas starts as the attacking midfielder today, and the left and right midfielders are David Silva and Jesus Navas respectively.

Center Dzeko. "

As soon as Zhan Jun finished speaking, the referee on duty today also blew his whistle.

The focus of the second half of the Premier League 2013~2014 season has officially begun!

Manchester City took the first kick off as usual. After Fabregas took possession of the ball, he and Yaya Toure first sought stable control in the backcourt.

In the past, Fabregas and Fernandinho did this job together.

But after Yaya Toure had to bow to Guardiola recently, the Ivorian superstar midfielder also regained the opportunity to start.

In the previous few league and cup games, Yaya Toure performed very well in the backcourt.

He and Cesc Fabregas can complete the tactical tasks assigned by Guardiola very well.

As long as Yaya Toure doesn't have a problem, the midfield duo of him and Cesc Fabregas is one of the top midfield combinations in the Premier League.

The strongest midfield duo in the Premier League is of course Leon and Matic. In terms of offense alone, they may be slightly inferior to the duo of Cesc Fabregas and Yaya Toure.

But when it comes to offensive and defensive balance, in the entire Premier League, Leonga Matic is the absolute first level.

However, Manchester City played very patiently today and were not in a hurry to attack after the start. This made the defensive net set up by Li Ang and Matic in the middle useless.

At first, Mourinho thought Guardiola was just using his old pass-and-control style, pushing forward layer by layer from the back and penetrating layer by layer.

So Mourinho was also very patient. He did not signal his disciples to put pressure on Manchester City.

Li Ang also made tactical gestures to ask Lampard to retreat first, and blocked Manchester City's possible pass and penetration route with Matic in his own half.

He himself went deep into the enemy's hinterland to test Manchester City's strength in possession of the ball today.

With Li Ang leading Hazard and De Bruyne to put pressure on Manchester City's backcourt organizers, according to common sense, Manchester City can usually try to pass the ball forward at this time.

But Manchester City did not do this today. Not only did David Silva and Navas fail to reach Chelsea's slightly empty wing to prepare to receive the ball and attack.

Instead, the two of them retreated to the rib areas of several half-courts to meet Fabregas and Yaya Toure, further strengthening their control of the ball in their own half.

This resolute control of the ball made Mourinho frown.

He not only recalled what Guardiola said at the pre-match press conference.

"Do you really have any tactical cards?"

Mourinho didn't believe it. The game had only started for less than five minutes. Mourinho could only continue to watch patiently.

He wanted to see what kind of medicine Guardiola was selling in the gourd when he was so abnormally passing and controlling in his own half today!

Li Ang is not in a hurry on the court, because now it is just him and two wingers, plus one Ibrahimovic at most, to jointly exert defensive pressure on Manchester City's half.

With this kind of pressure, even if the ball cannot be grabbed, there is no loss.

With Matic and Lampard watching in the backcourt, no matter what tricks Manchester City plays, the offense of his players on both wings will be immediately met with one-on-one defense by Matic or Lampard.

But now that the three players in Manchester City's center are all staying under his nose, Li Ang doesn't believe it. In terms of speed, can Yaya Toure and Cesc Fabregas be faster than him?

Li Ang still has this kind of confidence.

But he never expected it. When Manchester City deliberately slowed down the passing speed and Chelsea's pressure also slowed down, Lampard suddenly appeared in his field of vision!

Li Ang suddenly felt bad, but before he could remind Lampard to retreat, Manchester City's Cesc Fabregas had already sent a diagonal through ball to the ground!

Fabregas did not directly pass the ball forward and handed the ball to Manchester City's high center Dzeko. The target of his pass was Manchester City left back Kolarov who saw the opportunity and moved forward resolutely!

When Lampard was guarding the right side of Chelsea's half, Kolarov was very honest and showed no signs of moving forward.

But just after Lampard crossed the center line and wanted to participate in the pressure on Manchester City. Kolarov immediately caught Chelsea off guard with his decisive forward move!

Kolarov passed by De Bruyne to receive the ball, but there was no Chelsea player in front of him to intercept him immediately.

Lampard lost his defensive position, and Matic had to stay in the middle at this time, so he could only retreat with Terry and David Luiz to set up the defense line in front of the penalty area.

Azpilicueta had no choice but to press forward and intercept Kolarov, but at this moment, Kolarov sent a long pass forward!

The football traced a smooth trajectory in the air, and then fell straight into the control of Dzeko.

David Luiz immediately gave up the retracement and Dzeko's position.

His decisive defense prevented Dzeko from easily controlling the ball and then turning around. He could only continue to distribute the ball to Manchester City's right wing while holding the ball behind his back.

Jesus Navas had already stepped in at high speed. After receiving Dzeko's pass, he overtook without hesitation, trying to break through Bertrand's bottom.

Bertrand had no choice but to stick to Navas immediately and force him to slow down.

But Navas's subsequent heel knock made Bertrand's defense fail!

Zabaleta, like Kolarov, pushed forward very resolutely during the counterattack. Navas's strong attack looked more like a feint attack. The real threat was Zabaleta who pushed forward!

This Manchester City winger, who was the number one right back in the Premier League last season, raised his foot and sent a big diagonal pass!

The football drew a wonderful arc close to the turf, and neither Dzeko nor Terry who was in front could reach the football.

And at the back point, he saw Kolarov rushing into Chelsea's penalty area and was about to complete the shot!

As a result, a white figure almost fell to the ground before Kolarov and stabbed the ball, destroying it, and passed the ball directly to Cech in front of the Chelsea goal!

What the defense did this time was extremely bold.

If there is no tacit understanding between the player who fell to the ground and destroyed the football and Cech, it is likely to result in an own goal.

Fortunately, Cech's attention had always been focused before, and the defensive player also yelled for Cech's attention when doing defensive damage.

So the Czech national goalkeeper quickly held the ball in his arms!

Guardiola went from eagerly preparing to take off to finally kneeling down and holding his head in frustration. As his mood fluctuated, he glared fiercely at Li Ang, who had just stood up from the turf.

Yes, it was Li Ang who just completed the pursuit tackle!

Lampard, who had been out of position before, let out a big sigh of relief and quickly stepped forward to pull Li Ang up from the turf, constantly apologizing and thanking him.

Li Ang just patted Lampard's arm and said nothing more.

After all, Lampard is not a defensive midfielder. He has tried his best this season by playing as a defensive midfielder. It is normal to make some defensive mistakes occasionally.

However, Manchester City's performance today surprised Li Ang.

In the past, Mourinho's team fought back against Guardiola's team, but today Guardiola used his novel tactics to teach Mourinho a lesson!

The Chelsea players, who had just been threatened with a counterattack, now looked at each other in shock.

"Oh no, they're launching a counterattack against us. We're acting as substitutes today!"