Chapter 478: Winning the First Championship of 2016

Chapter 478: Winning the First Championship of 2016

On the sidelines, Liverpool's coach Klopp jumped up from his seat, eyes fixed on Lin Quan, who was sprinting with the ball! He felt a huge threat. Lin Quan was fast, and Liverpool's players failed to stop him from accelerating. This rendered Klopp's defensive tactics against Lin Quan useless.

Damn, why does he still have so much energy at this point? Klopp was full of doubts. The game had been going for more than eighty minutes, and most of Manchester City's players were exhausted, barely able to run. But Lin Quan showed no signs of fatigue. It was as if his stamina never ran out, always full of energy and determination. This guy is terrifying!

"Stop him!" Liverpool's players realized the danger. They all rushed towards Lin Quan, determined to stop him by any means necessary, even if it meant committing a foul. They couldn't afford to let him score again; otherwise, Liverpool would have no hope of coming back.

But this time was different from before. Previously, they could successfully stop Lin Quan because he had just received the ball and hadn't accelerated yet. But now, Lin Quan was at full speed, getting faster and faster. To stop him, they needed someone faster or ahead of him.

Liverpool had fast players, but by the 80th minute, even the fastest players were exhausted. They couldn't catch up with Lin Quan and could only trail behind him. The only ones left to stop Lin Quan were the two central defenders, Kolo Touré and Lucas.

Kolo Touré, Yaya Touré's brother, had played for Manchester City for four years. The two had made a great duo back then. Unlike Yaya, who had formal training, Kolo came from street football. His experience was rich, and although he hadn't played alongside Lin Quan, he had heard about him from his brother. As a defender, studying the world's top forwards is essential.

Kolo knew that one man alone couldn't stop Lin Quan, not even two could easily do it. He quickly stopped Lucas from rashly charging and kept a proper distance to collectively narrow Lin Quan's space, forcing him to slow down. This tactic, often used by Van Dijk, was now employed by Kolo and Lucas together. The combined effort increased its effectiveness significantly. Normally, a striker facing such a defense might panic and either take a wild shot or recklessly charge forward and lose the ball.

However, such strategies required flawless coordination. Any mistake would be a significant gap for a player of Lin Quan's caliber. Unfortunately for them, that gap was present. Faced with this defensive strategy, Lin Quan remained calm. As he advanced, he studied his opponents. Lucas, at 28, was at his peak, while Kolo, at 35, was past his prime.

Lin Quan quickly identified his target. In his rapid advance, he faked left, causing Lucas to hesitate and shift left. At this moment, Lin Quan exploited Lucas's shifting balance and faked him out, cutting to the right past Kolo. Lucas, caught off-balance, fell, becoming another meme-worthy defender.

Kolo saw Lin Quan breaking through and braced himself, hoping to delay Lin Quan until Lucas could recover. But just as he was about to act, he saw Lucas fall. Cursing internally, Kolo bit the bullet, ready to foul Lin Quan if necessary.

But age and agility were not on his side. Lin Quan, seeing Lucas down, swiftly changed direction, easily bypassing Kolo, now in a one-on-one with the keeper Mignolet. Mignolet rushed out, but Lin Quan skillfully dribbled past him, then easily scored.

Lin Quan celebrated by spreading his arms like a glider and running along the baseline. Reaching the corner camera, he roared and pointed to his captain's armband and jersey number, sending a clear message: "To defeat Manchester City, you have to get through me first!"

His teammates rushed to join him, even the goalkeeper sprinting the length of the pitch to celebrate. Despite Guardiola's warnings against such celebrations due to injury risks, the team's elation was uncontrollable.

However, the players were too excited to remember Guardiola's advice. Although it was just a small League Cup final, it felt like they were playing in the Champions League final. For most of the Manchester City players, this match was a huge test and even a torment. After a series of tough battles and with insufficient physical reserves, they faced a team using a mad dog tactic. By the end of the game, most felt completely exhausted.

If it weren't for Lin Quan's last-minute goal, which completely killed the suspense of the game, they felt they wouldn't have held on. With Liverpool's last-minute madness, if they had scored a goal, the outcome of this match could have been completely different. But Lin Quan's goal killed that possibility; there were no more ifs!

Indeed, Lin Quan's goal, sprinting seventy or eighty meters from his own half and passing all the opposing players, dealt a devastating blow to Liverpool's morale. After more than eighty minutes of play, their physical strength had also seriously declined. The reason they could still press Manchester City was due to sheer willpower. Now, this last bit of energy was gone, and it was difficult for Liverpool to organize the kind of attack they had earlier.

Trailing by one goal still held hope, but trailing by two goals with only a few minutes left required a miracle.

A few minutes later, the referee blew the whistle to end the match. In the end, after a tough battle, Manchester City defeated Liverpool 2-0 at Wembley Stadium, winning their first championship of the season.

After the game, Lin Quan's impressive goal, where he ran from his own half and dribbled past all the opponents, caused a huge stir and widespread discussion among fans on the internet. Countless fans spontaneously shared and spread the video, and within a day, it went viral globally.

"No wonder they call him Emperor Lin. Only he has the ability to score such a goal!"

"Indeed, running seventy or eighty meters, passing five or six players, and even dribbling past the goalkeeper. His dribbling skills are just incredible!"

"Maybe a peak Messi could do it, but now it's unlikely. Lin Quan's burst speed is far superior!"

"And don't forget, Lin Quan scored this goal after more than eighty minutes of play. To have such physical strength to sprint at full speed at that stage of the game is simply inhuman!"

"Lin Quan isn't tall or bulky, he looks ordinary but he's a stamina monster. I've watched so many of his games and I've never seen him cramp or be subbed off due to exhaustion!"

"Hehe, the brother upstairs must have only started watching Lin Quan after he joined Manchester City. Back in his Werder Bremen days, he did have times when he was exhausted and cramped. And he did get injured back then."

"True, back then Lin Quan wasn't as monstrous as he is now. He was strong but still within human limits. Now, though..."

"Exactly, the last time Lin Quan got injured was indeed a long time ago!"

"Listening to you talk!"

"Feels like listening to words of wisdom!"

"Now Lin Quan is so versatile, he can do anything. He never tires, never falls, has great dribbling, powerful breakthroughs, accurate passes—he's like a 360-degree all-around warrior!"

"Ahem, let's not get carried away. Lin Quan does have weaknesses. For instance, his height limits his heading ability. I don't think he's scored a header this season?"

So, is Lin Quan really invincible? Not entirely! For example, when playing poker at a teammate's house, Lin Quan was beaten so badly he started doubting life.

"No more, no more. I'm losing non-stop, no fun at all!"

After an hour and a half, Lin Quan's pockets were empty, all his money lost to David Silva and Kroos. Kevin De Bruyne, just as bad at poker as Lin Quan, had also lost everything, looking even more upset than Lin Quan.

"Hehe, alright, the barbecue is ready. Let's go eat!" David Silva, who had almost recovered from his injury and was back to training, invited the team over for a gathering to catch up on things since some new players had joined the team and performed very well. He was a bit worried about his starting position.

"Thanks for your hard work during this busy schedule. We finally got through it!" Manchester City's schedule over the past week had been grueling, but after the League Cup final, they could take a breather. With the League Cup out of the way, the remaining matches of the season were mainly focused on the league, the Champions League, and the FA Cup.

They had a large lead in the league, so there wasn't much pressure there. The main pressures were the Champions League and the FA Cup. These tournaments interspersed with the league, plus national team matches, would greatly increase every player's burden over the next few months.

Manchester City had many international players, and while the European players didn't have far to travel, reducing the strain, players from other continents, especially South America, weren't as lucky. Every international break, these South American internationals had to fly tens of thousands of kilometers back home for matches. The travel alone could be more exhausting than the games.

Agüero's previous injury happened after a national team game, which left Manchester City very unhappy—not with the players but with the Argentine national team. There were many games where it wasn't necessary to call players back from so far away. It only increased their risk of injury, causing huge losses for the club, who had spent a lot of money to acquire these players.

But the national team clearly didn't care about the club's perspective. If even a player like Messi returned, why should Manchester City be an exception? The national team could call up whoever they wanted, regardless of the club's wishes.

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