Chapter 240: 18th Birthday, Guardiola's Suggestion

Chapter 240: 18th Birthday, Guardiola's Suggestion

"Happy Birthday!"

Just as Lin Quan returned to his home in Munich and opened the door, he was met with a surprise.

In Germany, it was already past midnight, but Guardiola and Sela were waiting for him at the door.

It turned out that they had specially arranged for him to come over to celebrate his birthday!

Lin Quan scratched his head, realizing he had been so busy with work that he had forgotten his own birthday.

"Lin, don't just stand at the door, come in quickly!"

Seeing Lin Quan standing there dumbfounded, Sela hurriedly pulled him inside.

"Big brother, put this on!"

Twelve-year-old Maria tiptoed and put her hat on his head, which still had a warm touch to it.

"Thank you, Maria!"

Lin Quan was very touched. Stepping into his home, he felt as if all the pressure on his shoulders had been lifted, and he was back in his safe haven, feeling completely at ease.

"You're welcome. Did you come alone?"

Maria stood on tiptoes, peering outside as if looking for someone.

"Don't look; it's just me!"

Lin Quan closed the door behind him, cutting off the howling wind outside. The indoor heating hit him, bringing a sense of indescribable comfort.

"Big brother, come make a wish; the candles are already lit!"

Marius, being very sensible, took the things from Lin Quan's hands, set them aside, and pulled him to the table.

On the table was a cake with candles already lit. A quick glance revealed there were exactly 18 candles.

"Alright!"

Lin Quan sat down, closed his eyes, and silently made a wish in his heart.

"Big brother, I want the piece with the most cream!"

Seeing him open his eyes, five-year-old Valentina climbed onto his lap, clamoring.

"Alright, alright, I'll give it to you. Be careful not to get cream all over yourself!"

Lin Quan fondly cut her a large piece of cake. The little girl cheered, gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, and then eagerly started eating her cake.

At this late hour, she must have been really hungry.

"After the cake, go to bed. It's getting late!"

Sela swiftly cut the cake into pieces and handed them out to the children, reminding them to brush their teeth after eating.

"Haha, we originally planned to celebrate your birthday tomorrow, but your siblings insisted on waiting for you. Before you arrived, Valentina was so sleepy she almost couldn't hold on!"

Guardiola laughed as he sat across from Lin Quan, looking fondly at his children.

No matter what happened at work, every time he returned home and saw these little angels, all his stress would melt away.

Guardiola had a family that many envied. Sela was a good wife and mother, and Guardiola himself had no scandalous rumors. His children were not only smart and sensible but also well-behaved. The eldest was doing very well, and every time he was mentioned, Guardiola couldn't help but proudly raise his head.

"See that kid who plays like Messi? That's my son!"

"Let me guess, you must be in a good mood because you won at home against Chelsea, right?"

Lin Quan, in his rush to return, hadn't had a chance to check the results of the other Champions League matches after his game ended.

"Is it that obvious on my face?"

Guardiola stroked his chin, a bit surprised.

"Of course, only beating Mourinho would make you this happy!"

Like Messi and Ronaldo, in the football world, people always compared Mourinho and Guardiola. They were both outstanding middle-generation coaches who started their careers at the peak: one led Barcelona to establish the Dream Team III, and the other led a non-top-five league team to a miraculous Champions League victory.

Adding to this were their personal grudges, which the media loved to hype up, reaching a peak when Mourinho joined Real Madrid.

It could be said that one big reason, besides Rosell, for Guardiola leaving Barcelona was Mourinho.

In the 2011-2012 season, Mourinho's Real Madrid had reversed their previous decline and started gaining an edge over Barcelona.

Despite the criticism of Mourinho's football as overly pragmatic, for Guardiola, it was a blow that his meticulously studied possession tactics were cracked and countered by Mourinho.

Thus, after leaving Barcelona, Guardiola had been researching how to improve his possession tactics to counter Mourinho's defensive counter-attacks.

Through the European Super Cup and this Champions League clash, Guardiola's team achieved complete victories.

Beating Mourinho made Guardiola very happy, especially since Bayern wasn't in their best form yet.

"What was the score?"

Curious, Lin Quan pulled out his phone to check the results online while asking.

"3:0!"

As he heard Guardiola's answer, he saw the score online simultaneously.

The score surprised Lin Quan. Chelsea was not a weak team and was known for its strong defense. How did Bayern manage to beat them 3-0?

Curious, Lin Quan found the match highlights and watched them. Bayern's formation was unusual; Guardiola had set up a 3-3-3-1 formation.

He had Javi Martinez switch from defensive midfielder to center-back, and the center-backs played as full-backs.

This way, when Martinez left the defense, the wide players could fill in, maintaining the defensive structure.

In attack, Martinez's involvement gave Bayern more numbers and passing options, making it harder to defend.

Most importantly, Martinez's deep position made it difficult for the opposition to press effectively.

When Martinez advanced with the ball, Bayern's formation became two inverted triangles, amplifying the threat from the flanks.

With ample support, Ribery and Robben frequently launched attacks from the wings, scoring twice through quick counterattacks in the first half.

Meanwhile, Chelsea's counterattacks were neutralized by Bayern's two diamond-shaped formations, intercepting their progress before they reached the penalty area.

Additionally, the extra wide midfielders made it impossible for Chelsea to break through on the flanks.

In the second half, after Mandzukic came on, Guardiola's team scored another goal in a set play, breaking Chelsea's defense in two different ways.

The 3-0 scoreline practically ensured Bayern's advancement to the quarterfinals.

Chelsea's well-known lack of striking power made scoring three goals at home a daunting task.

Furthermore, they hadn't scored an away goal, and they needed to prevent Bayern from scoring. If Bayern scored at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea would be out.

Guardiola not only beat Mourinho but also ended the match's suspense in the first leg.

"Bayern's tactics are actually something you can use. I noticed Kroos moving back during the game; that's a good choice. The best solution would be to start Fernandinho and bench Yaya Toure. With Kroos and De Bruyne, Bayern doesn't need an all-rounder like Toure."

Guardiola pointed out Manchester City's problems and offered his opinion.

Lin Quan nodded. Mourinho had mentioned this issue as well. Both top coaches believed Fernandinho was crucial for Manchester City. However, given Pellegrini's poor relationship with Fernandinho, it seemed unlikely that he would start him any time soon.

"Losing to Chelsea isn't a bad thing. If a team stays unbeaten for too long, it can put a lot of psychological pressure on the players."

Guardiola spoke from experience. Bayern had set a record with 45 unbeaten matches across seasons.

This was the fourth-longest unbeaten streak in the top five European leagues, close to Arsenal and Juventus's 49-match unbeaten records, and not far from AC Milan's 58 matches.

Based on their current momentum in the Bundesliga, people are optimistic about Bayern Munich challenging the record set by AC Milan 21 years ago.

However, as Bayern's head coach, Guardiola knows better than anyone how difficult it is to maintain an unbeaten streak.

With each additional unbeaten match, the team feels more burdened, and the players become increasingly concerned with their unbeaten record.

They are eager to etch their names in the history of the top five leagues, but the more they care about this, the more it affects their performance on the field, making them more unstable.

Thankfully, this is Guardiola's team. Due to their tactical playstyle, his team's league performance is very stable.

Even in the relatively one-sided Bundesliga, where Bayern is dominant, facing the unbeaten record is challenging. In the fiercely competitive Premier League, a club without Manchester City's depth will find it even harder to maintain an unbeaten streak.

Therefore, from Guardiola's perspective, Manchester City losing their unbeaten record is actually a good thing.

Lin Quan basically agrees with this view. In fact, before the winter break, Manchester City already showed signs of what Guardiola described. A few times, they barely extended their unbeaten run thanks to his last-minute goals.

Now that the team no longer has the burden of being unbeaten, they can play more relaxed.

...

Since Manchester City had a match two days later, Lin Quan didn't stay long in Munich.

After resting for one night, he took a flight back to Manchester the next day.

The results of the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 had also come out by this time.

Besides Manchester City's big win over their opponents, the other three Premier League teams did not fare well.

Arsenal lost 1-4 at home to Barcelona, effectively losing their chance to advance, and Wenger's team once again fell in the round of 16.

Mourinho's Chelsea lost 0-3 to Bayern, almost certainly getting eliminated as well.

Seventh-placed Manchester United drew away to Galatasaray but secured an away goal, putting them in a better position than Chelsea and Arsenal.

Compared to the dismal performance of the Premier League teams, La Liga teams did remarkably well.

Barcelona beat Arsenal 4-1, Real Madrid crushed Olympiacos 6-1, and Atletico Madrid won 1-0 against AC Milan.

All three La Liga teams won their matches, and all victories were away from home.

The contrasting fortunes of the Premier League and La Liga reignited the debate over which is the best league.

Judging by recent years' Champions League performances, La Liga is undoubtedly the best league in the world.

Last year, no Premier League teams made it to the quarter-finals, and this year, at most two might make it, with Manchester United's fate still uncertain.

Given the current form of Manchester's two teams, few believe they can win the Champions League.

However, the three La Liga teams all have high odds of winning the title, with Real Madrid and Barcelona ranked first and third, respectively, and Atletico Madrid in fifth.

This situation has led British media to lament: Who will defend the Premier League's honor?

...

Lin Quan isn't interested in defending the Premier League's honor; he only cares about his team's performance.

On February 22, Manchester City played Stoke City at home.

Before the match, Lin Quan showed Pellegrini the footage of Bayern versus Chelsea. Pellegrini watched it thoughtfully.

In this match, he adopted some of Guardiola's successful tactics from Bayern and made adjustments to Manchester City's midfield.

The adjustments worked well. Playing at home, Manchester City delivered a resounding 3-0 victory, breaking a three-match winless streak.

In contrast to the gradually recovering Manchester City, Chelsea, who were comprehensively beaten by Bayern, started to slump.

Mourinho, who hates losing to Guardiola's teams the most, was particularly affected by the defeat.

This affected his tactical planning for this match, which was quite abstract.

By the 90th minute, the score was still 0-0.

If the match ended with this score, Manchester City's lead would extend back to 10 points.

However, in injury time, Chelsea's captain Terry stepped up, scoring a header to break Everton's defense and secure a last-minute victory for his team!

After narrowly beating the Toffees, Chelsea secured 3 points, maintaining their 8-point gap behind Manchester City.

At this point, Mourinho had no time for mind games with Manchester City. He was annoyed by constant comparisons to Guardiola from journalists.

"The Champions League match isn't over yet. Our team will win at home and advance!" Mourinho stubbornly insisted, claiming Chelsea would pull off a miraculous comeback.

However, journalists were skeptical. In the history of the Champions League, only one team has come back from a three-goal deficit—Deportivo La Coruña. Of course, the match where Milan celebrated at halftime isn't counted, as Liverpool overturned them in just one half…

Most people think Mourinho is just being stubborn!

Chelsea's owner, Abramovich, was also very angry about the team's potential elimination.

Before reappointing Mourinho, he initially approached Guardiola.

After Guardiola turned him down, he had no choice but to go to Mourinho.

Now, with Mourinho losing to Guardiola again, Abramovich's impression that Mourinho is inferior to Guardiola has deepened.

Additionally, Mourinho's desire to become Chelsea's football manager, controlling all team affairs, further displeased Abramovich, who was already dissatisfied with him.

Fortunately, Mourinho still has some opportunities. The upcoming Manchester derby between Manchester City and Manchester United is one such opportunity.

In such a high-stakes match, if Manchester United can hold off Manchester City at home, Chelsea will have a chance to narrow the points gap.

If they can reduce the gap to 5 points, Chelsea's chances of winning the title will significantly increase!

Chelsea haven't won the league title in four years. If they can clinch the Premier League title, Mourinho would feel he has accomplished his mission even if they get eliminated in the Champions League.

Not only Chelsea fans but the entire Premier League is also paying close attention to the Manchester derby.

For Manchester United, losing this match would drop them to eighth place, widening the points gap with the European competition spots to over 11 points.

With only ten matches left in the league, making up an 11-point deficit would be extremely difficult.

Failing to qualify for the Champions League would mark Manchester United's first absence from the competition in 18 years, leading to a significant drop in commercial revenue and match bonuses, forcing Manchester United to cut player salaries.

Lowering player salaries, combined with missing the Champions League, would severely weaken Manchester United's appeal to top players and could lead to current players leaving, severely damaging the team's strength and potentially causing a downward spiral.

In short, Manchester United is on the brink of a crisis.

All this is due to Moyes' poor leadership.

What Ferguson left him has been squandered in just one season.

This has deeply disappointed Red Devils fans, and calls for Moyes' dismissal are growing.

This season, Manchester United's performance in key matches has been terrible. Except for one win against Arsenal, they haven't won any other big matches.

Losing to Manchester City in this match would mean being beaten by their rivals both home and away, setting the worst Manchester derby record since 1970.

It's said that Manchester United's owners, the Glazer family, have run out of patience with Moyes.

They will be at the stadium to watch this match, and if Moyes fails to defend United's honor at Old Trafford and loses to Manchester City again, he is likely to be fired!

So, for Moyes and his Manchester United, this Manchester derby is a must-win!

At 7 PM on March 1st, the highly anticipated Manchester derby kicked off at Old Trafford.

(End of chapter)

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