Nine Goals in the Champions League
After finishing the match against Bayern, Manchester City didn't stay long in Munich and returned to Manchester that very night. The Premier League's Christmas rush was about to begin, and City was about to face a grueling schedule.
In three days, they would play Arsenal in a top-of-the-table clash.
Looking at the recent form of both teams, City seemed to be in slightly better shape. In the Champions League, they had fought back from two goals down to draw with the formidable Bayern. Arsenal, on the other hand, squandered a three-point advantage and were nearly knocked out.
However, City's recent league performances had been shaky, causing some to doubt their current form.
The two teams were closely matched in strength, and the outcome would likely hinge on their tactics and how well they executed them on the day. Whoever was in better form and capitalized on the other's mistakes would have a greater chance of winning.
Both managers were burning the midnight oil, watching footage of the opposition, trying to find weaknesses to exploit.
On Arsenal's side, after watching City's recent league games and their performances in the Champions League, Wenger rubbed his tired eyes.
This was going to be tough!
With Lin in the team, Manchester City's attack was incredibly potent. If Arsenal couldn't contain him, they might not withstand City's offensive onslaught.
Arsenal was known for struggling when they fell behind. With so many young players and their tendency to crumble in the latter stages of the season, the team lacked resilience. When they were in the lead, they could perform brilliantly. But once they were behind, Arsenal's young players would often become lost and overwhelmed.
This meant that against strong teams, if they conceded one goal, they were likely to concede more in quick succession.
The reason for this was not complicated. Since Vieira left Arsenal, they hadn't found a suitable leader on the pitch. Wenger had high hopes for Fabregas, but when he was lured away by Barcelona, years of Wenger's hard work went down the drain.
Adding to their woes, Arsenal's failure to win trophies and their policy of not offering contracts longer than a year to players over 30 made it difficult to attract or retain top talent.
It's a shame, Wenger thought. If only we had brought Lin to the Emirates, maybe we would have found the leader the team needs.
With a sigh, Wenger shook off these thoughts. Lin was already with Manchester City, so there was no point in dwelling on it. Instead of wasting time on such thoughts, it was better to focus on how to stop him!
After repeatedly analyzing City's matches against Bayern, Sunderland, West Brom, and Southampton, Wenger finally began to form a strategy.
Compared to Wenger's worries, Arsenal's players weren't intimidated by the prospect of facing Manchester City.
Theo Walcott, nicknamed "The Little Tiger," took to social media, posting:
"I have a feeling I'm going to score at the Etihad, and not just once!"
As another rising star, Walcott wasn't afraid of Lin.
Walcott had debuted earlier and made a name for himself before Lin did.
He didn't think he was any less of a player. After all, he had been hailed as a super talent when he joined Arsenal. The frugal Wenger had been willing to spend £5 million on a 16-year-old Walcott, which spoke volumes about his potential.
Since joining Arsenal, Walcott had proven Wenger's judgment correct.
However, compared to Lin's rapid ascent after joining Manchester City, Walcott had always seemed just a step behind.
He attributed this to injuries, as players like him, who relied heavily on speed, were prone to getting hurt. And injuries inevitably impacted their form.
But in recent years, as Walcott's injury woes lessened, his performances in the league had steadily improved.
Last season, he scored 14 goals in the league, making him Arsenal's top scorer. With Van Persie's departure, it was Walcott who held up Arsenal's attacking line.
Because of this, he secured the highest salary at Arsenal—a weekly wage of £100,000.
Walcott's words quickly sparked widespread discussion online.
Arsenal fans, of course, praised "The Little Tiger" and cheered him on.
"Go, Little Tiger!"
"Show Manchester City what you're made of!"
"Prove who's the fastest man in the Premier League!"
Manchester City fans, on the other hand, were unimpressed by Walcott's statement:
"Seriously, just anyone thinks they can challenge Lin now?"
"Haha, Walcott? He thinks he's on the same level as Lin? Lin has scored 22 goals in less than half a season. Can Walcott match that in a full season?"
"Lin has more goals in the Champions League than Walcott does in the league!"
To City's players, Walcott wasn't in the same league as Lin, and they didn't hesitate to lash back.
Walcott, having been with Arsenal for years, had a considerable fanbase. Seeing their star player being mocked, they quickly retaliated, leading to a war of words between Arsenal and Manchester City fans.
A reporter looking to stir up drama caught Lin outside City's training ground and asked for his thoughts on the matter.
"Lin, what do you think of Theo's comments?"
The question left Lin momentarily puzzled. He asked, "Who's Theo?"
This was a genuine question from Lin, who had no idea that this was Walcott's name.
But fans, especially Manchester City's, didn't care about the context.
To them, this was their star player's perfect response to a challenge from Arsenal's star, and they loved it.
Soon, Lin's words became a trending phrase online, with City fans flocking to Walcott's Twitter, copying and pasting the question:
"Who's Theo?"
"Lin: Sorry, I don't know who Theo is!"
"Looks like someone tried to pick a fight and got ignored!"
"Haha, serves him right! Trying to punch above his weight and got slapped down!"
As City fans swarmed Walcott's Twitter to mock him, Lin briefly considered posting an explanation.
But after thinking it over, he decided against it. Explaining now might make it seem like he was backing down, which could affect City's morale.
Besides, Walcott had started it, so he had to deal with the consequences!
Over at Arsenal, Walcott was fuming with rage after seeing Lin's response and City fans' provocations.
He swore to score at the Etihad and wipe the smirk off their faces.
Seeing Walcott's fiery determination on the training ground, Wenger felt both surprised and pleased. His confidence in the upcoming match rose significantly.
...
On December 14, the 16th round of the Premier League kicked off.
As the highlight of the round, the top-of-the-table clash between Manchester City and Arsenal was scheduled for midday on the 14th.
The reasoning behind this was clear—the Premier League wanted to cater to viewers in Asia and the Americas.
In Asia, particularly in Beijing, the match would kick off at 9 p.m., prime time for viewers.
This season, thanks to Lin's arrival and the Premier League's strong marketing push, viewership of Premier League matches in Asia had increased significantly.
After signing a broadcasting deal with CCTV, the Premier League's popularity and visibility in China skyrocketed. Many fans who previously didn't follow the Premier League began tuning in, especially for Manchester City's matches.
Whenever CCTV broadcasted a City match, ratings soared.
But when they aired other teams, ratings took a significant dip.
It was clear that most fans were tuning in specifically to watch Lin.
"Go, Lin! I'm your fan!"
"Wait, real fans don't call him 'Emperor Lin'—that's just trolling!"
"Trolls are still fans. Keep trolling, and you might actually start liking him!"
"Seriously though, Lin is on fire this season—22 goals in the league, and 9 in the Champions League group stage!"
"Hehe, scoring in all six group matches, setting a new record in Champions League history. That's crazy!"
"Those who said Lin couldn't match Messi and Ronaldo must be eating their words now!"
"Yeah, those people can't handle a comeback!"
After four group stage matches, Lin had scored five goals, leading Messi and Ronaldo fans, especially Ronaldo's, to belittle his achievements.
But in the last two rounds, Lin scored four more goals, catching up with Ronaldo to share the top spot on the Champions League scoring chart.
"It's a shame Ronaldo scored again; otherwise, Lin would have topped the chart alone."
Some fans were still disappointed. In the final round of the group stage, Real Madrid won again, with Ronaldo scoring to bring his total to nine.
"It doesn't matter. With Lin's current form, he'll surpass him soon. He's already overtaken Messi and Ibrahimovic."
Fans were full of confidence in Lin, and with good reason. Given his extraordinary goal-scoring run, there was no doubt he could do it.
"Isn't the Premier League single-season goal record held by Alan Shearer at 34? Can Lin break that?"
"Piece of cake! Lin's current scoring rate is 1.47 goals per game. With 23 rounds left, even if he only scores once every two games, he'll break the record!"
"Wow, Lin's scoring rate is insane! Could he finish the season with 50 or 60 goals?"
"League goals could hit 40+, Champions League over 10+, and in the domestic cups, it depends on the FA Cup and League Cup draws. If City goes deep in those, another 10 goals isn't out of the question!"
"And if you count international goals,
could Lin's numbers rival Messi and Ronaldo?"
"He's already surpassed Messi. Catching up to Ronaldo will be tough—Ronaldo has scored 68 goals this year!"
"That's insane! Ronaldo's been that good this year?"
"Of course, he's one of the best ever! But Messi's numbers have dipped since last year, when he scored 91 goals. This year, he's only at 45, less than half of last year's total!"
Previously, when people said Lin was on the same level as Messi and Ronaldo, many were skeptical. But when fans laid out the three players' stats side by side, those who had doubted Lin's abilities were shocked to see just how far he had come.
"Haha, now it's clear that Walcott was out of his depth. He hasn't even managed 30 goals in a season, and his best in the league is 14. How can he challenge Lin?"
"These two aren't even in the same league. Walcott's dribbling, passing, vision, and finishing are all inferior to Lin's. He's several levels below in terms of shooting."
"But Walcott's got one thing over Lin—he's faster!"
"Hehe, if Lin had Walcott's speed, he'd be unstoppable!"
...
This match was crucial for the Premier League title race, making it extremely important for all the title-contending teams.
As a result, in the lead-up to the game, the media sent a large number of reporters to cover it, and other Premier League giants also sent representatives to watch.
Liverpool manager Rodgers, who was preparing to face Manchester City, was even present, hoping to see how Arsenal would fare against City.
If Arsenal could beat City, Liverpool could learn from their tactics and use them to their advantage.
Of course, it was no secret that winning at the Etihad was tough, and Liverpool didn't hold out much hope for Arsenal. But with Arsenal's strength, they should at least expose some weaknesses in City's play.
If both teams played aggressively, this could turn into a high-scoring match.
Rodgers was right—both City and Arsenal opted for attacking strategies.
After the last few rounds, Pellegrini realized that City's defense was problematic. To avoid exposing this weakness, they needed to ramp up the pressure on the attack, forcing their opponents to focus on defending rather than threatening City's goal.
This way, City's vulnerability would be minimized.
Wenger had the same idea!
Arsenal didn't have a particularly strong defense either. Without a leader like Vieira, their midfield lacked grit.
Players like Cazorla, Özil, and Arteta didn't have Vieira's defensive prowess, nor his leadership qualities.
And with City boasting a super-strong attack, a defensive approach could lead to a collapse.
So Wenger, learning from other teams' experiences, decided to fight fire with fire and go on the offensive.
With Arsenal's talented players, breaking through City's defense wouldn't be too difficult.
And Arsenal's players thrived in games where they took the lead. Once they were ahead, their morale would soar.
In that case, a second or third goal might soon follow.
If that happened, Arsenal wouldn't just beat City—they might even secure a big win!
Arsenal had just lost to Napoli in the Champions League, squandering their top spot after leading the group for five rounds.
This meant their path in the Champions League knockout stages would be very tough. Wenger's team desperately needed a big win to boost their spirits and regain confidence, giving them a fighting chance in the knockout stages.