Starting from playing as a defensive midfielder for Real Madrid

Li Ang is still looking forward to the first showdown with Manchester City this season.

Not only because only Manchester City's hard power is closest to Chelsea's in the Premier League, but it also brings him a lot of competition pressure.

Also because he sees more and more "old friends" in the Manchester City team.

Villa, Rakitic, these are all opponents he has dealt with in La Liga.

Being able to reunite with these old friends who had played against each other in La Liga in the Premier League, Li Ang felt a natural sense of intimacy towards them.

Of course, during the warm-up before the game, Li Ang did not take the initiative to go over and say hello to these former opponents.

Reminiscing about old times and communicating can be left behind after the game, but before the game, we face Chelsea's strongest opponent in the Premier League.

Li Ang still maintained the greatest respect for his club and his fans.

No greetings, no reminiscences or jokes.

At this time, the players of Chelsea and Manchester City need to forget their private friendship with each other.

They have the first-class salaries in the Premier League, and they are also well-deserved fighters in the professional arena.

No need for tenderness or unnecessary explanations, they are each other's most powerful and best opponents and enemies in the league!

When huge boos erupted at the Etihad Stadium, Li Ang raised his head in enjoyment.

After scanning and staring, the faint smile that reporters and fans are most familiar with showed on his lips.

In an instant, the resentment of tens of thousands of Manchester City fans at the Etihad seemed to reach the sky!

Many reporters at the scene even felt their eardrums aching.

Even though Li Ang only moved to Chelsea last season, there is no doubt that he has now become one of the most hated players by all Manchester City fans.

Perhaps, this one can also be removed.

After all, Manchester United no longer poses much of a threat to Manchester City. As the core of Manchester United, Rooney's performance is not as good as every year.

And Li Ang is young, and he led the rising Chelsea to a miserable defeat against Manchester City last season.

Even Guardiola had to use tactical concessions again to help Manchester City obtain a draw with Chelsea.

However, Li Ang performed exceptionally well in tough battles. In the showdown with Manchester City last season, Li Ang basically made a decisive contribution to Chelsea's victory.

Memories of failed duels last season flooded into my mind. How could Manchester City fans restrain themselves from booing Li Ang, who was warming up confidently on the court at this moment?

Li Ang still looked as normal. After smiling, he continued to engage in the pre-match warm-up session with his teammates seriously.

Salah looked at Li Ang's extremely calm appearance in the team, his eyes full of yearning and admiration. He subconsciously imitated Li Ang and raised his head slightly, and continued to do warm-up movements meticulously.

Finally, when the players from both teams completed their final warm-up preparations and returned to the tunnel, the atmosphere became restless and exciting!

After Li Ang returned to the locker room, he took out the clean towel prepared by the staff in advance and lightly wiped the sweat on his forehead and corners of his mouth.

Mourinho silently watched the Chelsea players enter the locker room one by one, and took the time to complete the last tactical reminder before the game.

He will adopt more aggressive offensive tactics in today's game than he has in previous matches against Guardiola.

To be honest, he no longer had the calm predictions he had in the past about the final outcome.

Because he was taking risks and no longer used his best method to drag Guardiola's team into a tactical quagmire.

Because of this risk, he is likely to consume part of the huge reputation he has accumulated in recent years in this game.

But he didn't care, even if Chelsea ended up losing this Premier League matchup.

As long as in this game, Chelsea's main players did show the results of their training during this period.

Then Mourinho will only think that such a failure is also an extremely valuable wealth of experience.

Of course, he would definitely not mention the worst-case scenario in his mind to the players.

After clearing his throat, Mourinho showed off his seemingly innate confidence and charm.

He doesn't like to use long speeches or violent physical and vocal methods to encourage morale in front of his players in the locker room before games.

He has done too many of these motivational methods in ordinary training grounds.

He has always believed that at the last moment before the game, time needs to be given back to the players who are ready to fight.

So after mentioning some tactical requirements and giving some simple encouragement.

Mourinho handed the locker room to Terry and Leon standing next to Terry.

The old captain Terry's encouragement method is very mature. The Chelsea locker room led by him has always completed these pre-match mobilization meetings relatively smoothly.

So today Li Ang is going to use a different way of encouragement...

When Li Ang stood in the center of the Chelsea locker room, many young players in the Chelsea team looked at him expectantly.

And Li Ang did not let his little brothers wait too long. He put his right arm on his chest, clenched it into a fist, and made his speech powerfully and confidently:

“Before the game, a reporter wanted to interview me and asked me what I thought of this first match with Manchester City in the new Premier League season.

I didn’t answer him directly at the time because the boss specifically told me before the game to keep a low profile this time because we were going to change our tactics. If we lose then, it would be too embarrassing..."

When Li Ang said this, the Chelsea players surrounding him burst out laughing in unison.

Mourinho also curled up the corners of his mouth, folded his hands on his chest, and looked at Li Ang calmly, as if to see what else he could do.

“But what I was thinking at the time was not that we would definitely beat Manchester City and that we would definitely continue to defend the new order we had established in the Premier League.

Brothers, what I want to tell the reporter most is: ‘We will use this game to tell the whole of Europe that Chelsea is coming to win the honor that is long overdue’!

Our sights will not only be on the Premier League, but also on the whole of Europe and world football! "

Li Ang's voice became louder and more determined, echoing in the visiting team's dressing room at the Etihad Stadium.

At the same time, it also stirred in the hearts of all Chelsea players and coaches present!

“I have accomplished miracles that I, or many professional players including you, thought were impossible in contemporary football.

In two seasons, I achieved the Grand Slam of Club Honors at Real Madrid!

I have six crowns and the achievement of defending the Champions League after its restructuring.

I once achieved an honor goal that I couldn't believe myself, so I deeply know that all heavyweight championship titles actually come from our once-in-a-lifetime imagination!

If our goal is to remain within the Premier League, as Manchester City are now bent on beating us, then we will never become a great team.

So, let’s broaden our horizons and improve our self-confidence!

There will be Manchester City among our opponents, but it will not be just Manchester City. We don't need to use the victory in this game to demonstrate our superiority over Manchester City and our dominance of the Premier League.

Because we've done this.

We should have greater aspirations and ambitions. This is a battle for us to once again prove ourselves to the whole of Europe.

At the same time, I also hope that this is a battle that opens the horizons and pursuit of goals for all members of our team!

Some honors are destined to be won only on roads full of thorns and countless difficulties.

And I feel very blessed today.

Because of me, me and you.

We’ve already come down this road! "

As soon as Li Ang finished speaking, the Chelsea dressing room immediately erupted with excited roars of approval and thunderous applause from his teammates!

Even an old-school superstar like Terry, who has been fighting for a long time, was so excited by Li Ang's passionate speech at this moment that he couldn't control himself!

He looked Li Ang up and down, applauding and thinking.

"This kid hasn't rehearsed his speech in advance, has he?"

Li Ang retreated into the queue amidst the excited cheers of his teammates.

For such a long and motivating speech, he would certainly have prepared in advance.

But it's not just to give your teammates some blood, so you have to spend all your efforts to encourage them.

Li Ang actually spoke from his heart, but the words he used were exaggerated.

After all, he moved from Real Madrid to Chelsea in order to prove that he has the hard power to lead the team to the top of football.

If he didn't have this ambition, he would just hang around in Real Madrid and wait until Cristiano Ronaldo leaves the team to officially become Real Madrid's only top core player. Wouldn't that be great?

It doesn't necessarily mean that you have to lead Chelsea to three consecutive Champions League achievements surpassing Real Madrid to be considered a success.

He has won consecutive league titles, won all the domestic cups, and laid the foundation for Chelsea to become a giant with at least one Champions League trophy.

Then Li Ang's career experience at Chelsea has been extremely successful.

This is a basic and real request that Li Ang has for himself.

But when it comes to drawing cakes, Mourinho has done well in the past few seasons, and Li Ang naturally learned a lot.

Seek it, and you will find it.

This truth is actually very easy to understand.

Li Ang implicitly stated that he wants to lead Chelsea to achieve honors and achievements comparable to his time at Real Madrid.

He dares to think and speak.

And for the current group of young players in the Chelsea team.

Such bold words are naturally very convincing when spoken from the mouth of Li Ang, a superstar who has become extremely successful.

With a seemingly unattainable goal of pursuing honor, their motivation and fighting spirit will be correspondingly improved.

Do you want to achieve the same achievement of defending the Champions League and winning six crowns?

If you don't work hard and endure hardships, you can't even beat Manchester City. Why would you dare to have such a dream?

Li Ang used Manchester City as a target.

But what I have to say is that he did successfully boost the morale of the Chelsea team to its peak before the game against Manchester City!

Mourinho was stunned as he watched.

It wasn't until Terry finally roared and took the lead and walked out of the locker room that he realized what he was doing.

Li Ang's chicken-blooded speech seems to have really buffed the entire Chelsea team!

Players from both teams finally appeared in front of the camera along with the referee team despite repeated calls.

The commentators from various countries also became energetic at this moment.

They seized the time and quickly introduced the starting lineups and players of today's two teams before the game started.

For Chelsea, there is no big difference between the starting players and their previous arrangements in the Premier League.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Hazard and De Bruyne's starting trident made their collective appearance.

Leon and Cross controlled both sides of the midfield, with Matic trailing behind.

In the defense, Bertrand, Terry, Thiago Silva and Azpilicueta lined up from left to right.

Starting goalkeeper Cech.

As for Manchester City, Guardiola, who also focuses on the 433 formation this season, has also arranged his strongest starting lineup at the moment.

The front trident is Navas, Aguero and Silva.

In the midfield, Fabregas, Rakitic and Fernandinho all played.

In the defense, Kolarov, Mangala, Kompany and Zabaleta lined up.

As for the starting goalkeeper position, Valdes, who transferred to Manchester City at the end of the summer window some time ago, has gained more trust from Guardiola.

In terms of goal-line skills, the current Valdes may not be Joe Hart's opponent, but his ball-playing skills are better and more in line with Guardiola's tactical requirements.

Guardiola seems to have created the formation and tactics he wants at Manchester City.

The new Manchester City, which has created a whirlwind of passing control in the Premier League in the new season, is also constantly harvesting the favor of neutral fans.

Guardiola has endured it for a year, and now he is confident enough to stand in front of Chelsea.

The time before the game passed quickly, and soon it was time for the game to officially start.

Guardiola put his hands in his pockets, looking graceful and with more confidence in his eyes than before.

Manchester City, who took the first kick off, quickly formed their formation after the referee blew the whistle, and were extremely strong in the midfield to take over the control of the game.

But Chelsea refused to give in at all. They also focused on the 433 formation and soon launched a high-level pressure on Manchester City!

If we say that Manchester City's current high-position pressure is to form a threatening ball control and quick penetration attack in the opponent's hinterland, it is a dangerous and lingering offensive method.

Then Chelsea's high-position press was a pure blast!

Chelsea, who had seized the ball, wanted to quickly complete at least one complete attack.

Either the ball is quickly scored into the opponent's penalty area, or the ball is lost during the attack, and then another frontcourt pressure counterattack is formed!

Such a fierce confrontation made the midfield competition between the two sides enter an absolutely intense state from the very beginning.

Manchester City's technical advantages are visible to the naked eye, but in the face of Chelsea's crazy running and pressing that does not spare any physical effort, Manchester City's midfielders and backfield players will inevitably make some ball-control errors.

Generally speaking, as long as Manchester City maintains the integrity and stability of its defense at this time, there is no need to be too nervous.

After all, although Joe Hart sometimes gets sick and makes some small mistakes in saving, most of the time, he is the trustworthy defensive gate of Manchester City's defense.

Li Ang generally does not make aggressive offensive attempts at the beginning of such an important game.

But after seeing that the goalkeeper guarding Manchester City's goal today was Valdes, he changed his mind.

Because he knows how bad Valdez's performance will be after leaving Barcelona!

In the 14th minute of the first half, Li Ang took the initiative to move forward and cooperated with the retreating Ibrahimovic to complete a confrontation interception on Cesc Fabregas.

Just as Xiaofa was about to call his teammates to help him regain the ball, Li Ang had already moved the football to the right!

De Bruyne, who took the ball, almost immediately stopped the ball and sent a through ball diagonally towards the rib area of ​​Manchester City's right half!

Ibrahimovic, who had previously retreated to press, turned and moved forward to get the ball. After attracting Fernandinho to cover, he knocked the ball across the middle.

At this moment, the live broadcast camera was also focused on Li Ang who inserted in the middle of the midfield!

Guardiola suddenly became nervous at this moment.

But when he thought that it was not Joe Hart but Valdes who was in charge of the goal today, he felt slightly relieved.

But in the next moment, Li Ang decisively kicked off a long-distance shot two steps away from Manchester City's penalty area!

The football almost didn't spin in the air, and went straight to the upper right corner of the Manchester City goal!

Valdes made a very brave save!

The palm of his left hand had already reached the football, but at the moment when the Manchester City fans felt ecstatic, he showed his devilish side.

"Butter hand! God! Valdez failed to save Li Ang's long shot! He had a butter hand! The football crossed the line and hit the net, my God!

Li Ang helped Chelsea take a 1-0 lead early in the first half! "

After watching the football really hit the net, Li Ang was also very excited and stuck out his tongue at the live broadcast camera!

Then he opened his arms, shouted wildly and rushed towards the bottom line of Manchester City's half to celebrate!

Facing a different goalkeeper, Li Ang knocked on Manchester City's door in the same way!

At this moment, he seemed to be using the excited smile on his face to silently tell Guardiola, who was covering his face with his hands:

"Gua Shuai, I am your defense breaker!"