Chapter 493: Manchester City vs Atlético Madrid, The Strongest Spear vs The Strongest Shield!

Chapter 493: Manchester City vs Atlético Madrid, The Strongest Spear vs The Strongest Shield!

Winning the league title for the third consecutive time was a significant boost for Manchester City as they prepared for their upcoming Champions League matches. With the league title secured, City could focus entirely on their European campaign without any distractions.

However, their opponents, Atlético Madrid, were not as fortunate. The title race in La Liga was extremely tight. After 35 rounds, the top two teams were tied with 82 points each, while third-placed Real Madrid was only 4 points behind with 78 points. With three matches remaining, Real Madrid still had a theoretical chance of winning the title.

Despite Atlético having the same points as Barcelona, they were second due to an inferior goal difference. What made it worse for Atlético was that Barcelona had been eliminated from the Champions League, allowing them to focus solely on the league title. Meanwhile, Atlético had to balance their Champions League semi-final against a super team like Manchester City.

Therefore, despite both teams being tied on points, the outside world favored Barcelona more. Even though Atlético's remaining opponents in the league were not particularly strong, the same was true for Barcelona. Both teams had a good chance of winning their final three matches. If both teams did win their remaining games, Barcelona's advantage in goal difference would likely secure them the league title.

As a result, Atlético's coach, Simeone, was quite pessimistic about their league title chances. Their only hope of overturning the situation lay in Barcelona making a mistake. If Barcelona played flawlessly and won their last three matches, Atlético would have no chance.

Given this situation, Atlético had to take it one step at a time, balancing their focus on the league while prioritizing the Champions League semi-final against Manchester City. After their painful defeat in the final last time, they were determined not to let it happen again.

After completing their league match, Atlético quickly traveled to Manchester to prepare for the first leg of the semi-final. Their match against Manchester City was scheduled a day earlier than the other semi-final, so it had already garnered unprecedented attention.

The streets of Manchester began to fill with fans, including City supporters from all over the world and some traveling Atlético fans. With the reputation of English football hooligans, the gathering of so many fans inevitably led to some incidents, further deteriorating the already poor public order in Manchester.

Guardiola took the visiting Atlético very seriously, conducting rare closed-door training sessions, barring fans and journalists from observing. This approach sparked curiosity from the outside world, wondering if Guardiola was preparing a special tactic for the semi-final.

Atlético's coach, Simeone, was equally curious but also busy preparing his own strategies for City. In the pre-match press conference, when asked about their preparations for Atlético, Guardiola smiled mysteriously and said, "Believe me, it will be a surprise. But I can't reveal it now, or it would ruin the fun."

The more Guardiola kept them guessing, the more curious everyone became. Known for his tactical innovations in big matches, people speculated what new strategy he might employ this time.

"I bet half a dollar, Guardiola will definitely come up with something!"

"Maybe it's an inverted full-back or a three-center-back formation?"

"Who knows what Guardiola is thinking until he shows his cards. Let's wait patiently!"

Guardiola's comments and the ensuing speculation made Simeone wary. He worried that the tactical genius might have devised a way to crack Atlético's defense or some novel strategy he hadn't considered. While confident in his team's defensive capabilities, he acknowledged Guardiola's unparalleled creativity in offense and tactics.

Despite this, Simeone had great faith in his Atlético team. Over the years, they had grown stronger under his guidance, consistently tested by the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid in La Liga. He believed his team could withstand any attack, even from Manchester City. The main concern was how to contain City's number 10, Lin Quan, a player who posed a challenge for any team.

On April 27, large crowds of fans began to converge on the Etihad Stadium, while the teams' buses made their way to the venue. Manchester City's blue bus was warmly welcomed by the fans, who chased after it, cheering and chanting players' names.

Inside the bus, some City players waved back at the fans, while others closed their eyes, seemingly conserving energy for the match. City's captain, Lin Quan, sat beside Guardiola, discussing the game plan.

"Are you sure about this? If something goes wrong in the first half, your plan might fall apart," Lin Quan said.

Guardiola nodded firmly. "I'm sure. Given the opponent's weaknesses, we must seize the opportunity and target them."

"Well, if you say so, then let's go for it," Lin Quan agreed, albeit reluctantly. He knew Guardiola had a penchant for tactical surprises in crucial matches, almost like he had an itch that needed scratching. But his reasoning was sound—despite the risks, the plan had potential and could make it very difficult for Atlético to score.

As the team bus arrived at the stadium, the City players began to disembark. Coincidentally, Atlético's bus also arrived at the same time, drawing mutual attention from both teams. A subtle spark seemed to ignite in the air as their eyes met.

Lin Quan hadn't initially looked at the Atlético players, but sensing someone's gaze, he glanced over and saw a young player in a number 7 jersey staring back. Recognizing him instantly, Lin Quan nodded slightly before turning away. It was Atlético's winger, Antoine Griezmann, who looked at Lin Quan with a mixture of respect and competitive spirit.

Antoine Griezmann has made quite a name for himself in La Liga over the past two seasons. He is a rising star, heavily relied upon by Simeone at Atlético Madrid and increasingly by Deschamps in the French national team. In the future, Griezmann will likely become a core player for France, alongside Kante and others, leading the team to win the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Griezmann is undeniably talented and has immense potential. However, in this match, Manchester City won't give him much room to shine. It's going to be incredibly difficult for Griezmann and his teammates to secure a victory at the Etihad Stadium.

Admiration in person is different from admiration from afar. Griezmann has always looked up to Lin Quan, and today, he finally got to meet him. Despite Lin Quan being four years younger, Griezmann has immense respect for him. Lin Quan's reputation was built on winning two Champions League titles and a World Cup. In the football world, few can match his achievements, let alone surpass him.

Griezmann is aware of his own abilities and does not think he can surpass Lin Quan. Instead, he views Lin Quan as a role model, someone from whom he can learn and improve. This approach, by the way, he learned from his national team senior, Benzema. It's said that after adopting Lin Quan's shooting techniques, Benzema's scoring efficiency significantly improved. Nowadays, the nickname "Benzema the Cat" is rarely mentioned, and when people think of Benzema, they think of Real Madrid's BBC trio. Being mentioned alongside a superstar like Ronaldo speaks volumes about the recognition Benzema has received.

"Central Television, Central Television!" "Dear viewers, welcome to the live broadcast of the 2015-2016 Champions League semi-final first leg between Manchester City and Atlético Madrid." "I'm commentator Xu Yang!" "And I'm Duan Xuan!" "Let's start by introducing the starting line-ups for both teams..."

In the CCTV studio, after introducing the starting line-ups, Xu Yang asked, "Duan Xuan, who do you think will win today's match?" Duan Xuan smiled and replied, "I think both teams have a chance. Manchester City's offensive power is strong, and with home advantage, they should be very aggressive in attack. Atlético's counter-attacking ability is also impressive. If they seize their chances, they can score. Ultimately, it will depend on who performs better."

Duan Xuan's response was tactful and diplomatic, offending no one and offering no strong opinions. This led to some ridicule from fans: "Listening to him is like hearing nothing!" "Nice job of sitting on the fence!" "Even though what he said is obvious, he's not wrong. This match is indeed the strongest spear versus the strongest shield!" "Still, I think Manchester City has a better chance. With so many star players, including Lin Quan, Atlético's squad doesn't have the same star power. Although they have players like Torres and Griezmann, they can't compare to City."

"True, if we look at the squad value, Manchester City's is over 700 million euros, at least double Atlético's!" "Haha, I bet Lin Quan alone is worth more than the entire Atlético squad!"

Thanks to Lin Quan, Manchester City has a large number of fans domestically, far more than Atlético. However, Atlético, being a top team in La Liga, is only an elite team away from being a super club. Moreover, compared to other big-spending teams, Atlético, with their relatively grounded, underdog status, tends to gain more fan affection. Therefore, Atlético has a significant fan base too.

Seeing Manchester City fans so confident, Atlético fans quickly retorted: "What's the use of a high squad value? Real Madrid has lost plenty of matches despite their high value. If squad value determined the winner, we might as well just hand the trophy to Barcelona or Real Madrid!" "Exactly, many big clubs have fallen to Atlético in recent seasons. Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern—none of them could avoid slipping up against Atlético!"

Since Simeone took over Atlético, they have become known as giant killers, defeating many top clubs across Europe. This impressive track record gives Atlético fans confidence, and they aren't afraid of Manchester City's reputation.

"High squad value does help, though. Otherwise, the winners in the Stadium of Light wouldn't have been Manchester City but Atlético!" In response to the retorts from Atlético fans, Manchester City fans didn't back down, pointing out the only time the two teams had met, where Manchester City came out on top, much to the dismay of Atlético fans.

This historical reference left Atlético fans speechless, not because they agreed, but because they were too angry to respond. Atlético has yet to win a Champions League title, and the closest they came was in the 2013-2014 season when they reached the final but were defeated by Manchester City.

Most of the players from that victorious Manchester City squad are still with the team, giving Atlético fans a sense of trepidation. They had experienced firsthand how powerful City was and knew the quality of their players better than anyone else.

While fans' arguments won't impact the match, the players warming up on the pitch were oblivious to the debates. During the warm-up, Simeone noticed an unusual number of midfielders in Manchester City's line-up. City's four main defensive midfielders—Kante, Kroos, Fernandinho, and Fernando—were all included in the 18-man squad, which puzzled Simeone.

"What's Guardiola planning with so many midfielders? Is he preparing for a physical battle in midfield? Or is he considering a three-defensive-midfielder formation?"

(End of Chapter)

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