"Manchester City's quarter-finals opponents: the defending champions!"

Glory holds the Manchester Evening News in his hand, which is exactly the headline on the newspaper.

Below the title is a photo from last night's scene.

The raffle contestant held a note with an enlarged image next to it, a close-up of the note with the words "Barcelona" clearly displayed.

"I'm afraid the London media has something to say again." Debora said as she touched the jam on the bread.

"Whatever they want." Glory doesn't care.

Debora handed the jam-smeared slice of bread to the gloom of the bread that had been watching from the side.

Glory took a big bite and bit down half.

"But you also have to think about what you're going to say to the reporters."

Rong Guang scratched his head: "Sue them that the league championship must be ours?" ”

'Of course you can't say that, you say Chelsea are strong, Barcelona are strong and Manchester City will give it ......their all in the league and in the Champions League,' said Debola.

"Doesn't that mean nothing was said?"

"That's what PR needs, and it sounds great, but it's not actually there. Don't expose your true thoughts to the public eye, that's dangerous. "Debora guides Glory from a professional point of view.

Glory nodded.

In this regard, he is very convinced of Debola.

※※※

Sure enough, when Rongguang drove to the Carrington training base, he was surrounded by reporters before he could enter.

These people wanted to ask him about the results of yesterday's draw.

Rongguang rolled down the window and preemptively attacked: "I know what you want to say, Barcelona is a very strong team, I am very happy to be able to play against a strong team, this is how I feel, thank you, please let go." ”

But how could the reporters let him go so lightly?

A reporter asked loudly: "Will the matchup with Barcelona affect the league?" ”

'We're going to give it our all, whether it's in the Champions League or the league.' Glory answered the reporter's questions according to what Debora said.

But the reporters were still not satisfied, and some reporters simply transferred the comments of the London media to Rongguang.

“…… But they believe the City and Barcelona tie will affect the domestic league and, while City are now four points ahead, could also drop the top spot during those two quarter-final matches......

Rongguang didn't say anything, didn't interrupt the reporter's question, and after he finished speaking, Rongguang nodded: "Okay, then wait and see if we will lose the top position in the league when the time comes." ”

With that, Rongguang released the brakes, and the car drove slowly forward.

When the reporters saw the car moving, they knew that Rongguang was really leaving, and they had to get out of the way.

Rongguang was good-tempered to reporters, and he stopped the car to listen to what they said so much, and if he wanted to change to a star with a bad temper, he wouldn't stop at all, and the windows wouldn't roll down, so he squeezed into the training base. When the time comes, these reporters will have to let them go if they don't let them - just interview a player, and they can't interview under the wheel, right?

Although they didn't dig out any particularly sharp material from Glory's mouth, at least they knew Glory's attitude.

That is, he is not afraid of Barcelona and is confident that he will retain his place in the league.

It is normal for him to have such faith, because he is glorious.

But whether the rest of the teammates are still there, it's hard to say......

※※※

While Rong Guang was sweating on the training ground, his teammates were in the locker room discussing the results of last night's draw.

Running into Barcelona, and playing home first and then away, is arguably the worst of all draws.

Although everyone didn't say it explicitly, the atmosphere could be felt.

Many people were silent when they came to the locker room today.

The atmosphere was nowhere near as lively as usual.

Dunn, the team's veteran captain, couldn't sit still when he saw this, he stood up and slapped his face.

"Let me say two words, actually...... Before the start of the season, no, when I joined Manchester City, I never thought I could play in the Champions League...... At that time, I didn't even dare to think that I could participate in the Champions League......"

When Dunn first slapped him, not many people were looking at him, but as he spoke, more and more people raised their heads and cast their eyes on him.

'My goal was very simple, to be able to help Manchester City stay on their ground in the Premier League. Unfortunately, at the end of that season, we were relegated. ”

Dunn joined Manchester City from Everton in the 2000-2001 season, where he played in his first season.

But Manchester City ended up in 18th place in the Premier League and fell into League One – what was then called League One, which is now the Championship......

"After falling into the first division, my goal became to help the team get back into the Super League. One season later, we succeeded. When I came back to the Super League, I adjusted my goals again, this time to really help the team get a foothold in the Super League. Thankfully, I did. City haven't been relegated since then, although there have been times when we haven't been in a good position......

In today's Manchester City team, the longest-serving person is Dunn, so when he is captained in Glory, he is the captain of the team.

Since the start of the 2000-2001 season, it has been almost ten seasons now.

And he was thirty-one years old.

Ten seasons with Manchester City from relegation to promotion, he struggled in the Premier League and was proud of being able to win a League Cup.

Now, of course, he is running towards the league title and has also reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

"I don't want to put too much pressure on all of you, I think our performance in the Champions League is very good, so no matter what opponent you face, no matter when you are knocked out, it can't be changed. By reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League, we have already set a record and made history for Manchester City, my contract expires this season, I have no intention of continuing to be in this team, and I am grateful that I will have the opportunity to work with so many of you in my career. Either way, this season is going to be the best season of my career for me. ”

Dunn finished speaking, and there was silence in the locker room.

No one was silent, someone was looking at Dunn, someone was bowing their heads.

It was at this moment that the door to the locker room was pushed open.

The glory of sweat walked in.

But this time he didn't meet everyone's eyes and walked straight to the shower room, he stood at the door and didn't move, looking at everyone.

Under everyone's gaze, he raised his index and middle fingers: "There are two things I can promise you. First, it was certainly not us who were knocked out of the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Second, we're definitely league winners. ”

※※※

"Do you feel anything change? Mauricio. Benitez asked his assistant coach Mauricio Pellegrino during a break in training.

"Change? What's changing? "Assistant coach Manuel Pellegrino was a little dazed.

"The team, the change of the whole team."

Pellegrino stared carefully at the players resting on the sidelines of the training ground, thought for a long time, and then shook his head: "No. ”

Benitez took a deep breath: "I feel it. There was more sweat in the air than ever before – and they were practicing harder. ”

Pellegrino also sniffled, he didn't smell anything.

'After the draw against Barcelona, I was worried that the team would lose their fighting spirit, and now it seems ...... It's me who is too careful. Benitez continued, his tone somewhat lighthearted. Now I have the confidence to play two games against Barcelona. ”

※※※

After the draw results came out, Manchester City received more attention.

Arguably the most watched of the eight teams.

Because they drew the defending champions.

Pep Guardiola's Barcelona is in full swing.

They have swept the world of football over the past year, winning all six titles – La Liga, Copa del Rey, UEFA Champions League, Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup, and the Club World Cup at the end of last year.

Before them, there was not a single team that had completed this Grand Slam result.

Pep Guardiola's "Dream Three Team" seems to be a posture of "no one before and no one after".

They are writing a history that no one has ever been able to write before.

As soon as this team appeared, it automatically became the center of attention in the world, and their strength is even stronger in the hearts of the people through the six championships of the past year.

Manchester City really drew a sign this time.

Even if Manchester City can beat Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in the group stage to qualify as group winners.

But can the group stage be the same as the knockout stage?

Of course not!

For the same team, the table xiàn in the group stage and the table xiàn in the knockout stage are also completely different.

The prime example is Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan.

His Inter Milan side did not play well in the group stage, drawing at home to Barcelona in their first group game. Then in the second group stage, they played a 1:1 draw with a fish belly team like Kazan Ruby away from home, and many people said at the time that Inter Milan should not even be able to qualify for the group stage, which would be too embarrassing.

In the third group game, Inter Milan still did not play well, drawing 2-2 at home to Dynamo Kyiv, and it looked like they were really going to be eliminated from the group stage......

In the away game against Barcelona, Inter Milan lost 0:2, cleanly.

If it weren't for the two more wins, Inter would have had to go to the UEFA Cup.

In the end, they finished second in the group with nine points and successfully qualified.

After qualifying for the group stage, Inter Milan's table Xiàn had a fundamental reversal.

In the quarter-finals of the round of 16, they faced Chelsea.

In the end, Inter Milan stubbornly eliminated Chelsea 2:1 at home and 1:0 away and advanced to the quarterfinals.

The example of Inter Milan shows what kind of mentality a team has when they face the knockout stage and the group stage.

European giants tend to place more emphasis on the knockout stages than on the group stage.

This will certainly make them suffer in the group stage, but if they can make it through the group stage, they will complete a magnificent transformation by entering the knockout stage.

And it is often the teams that do not participate in the Champions League very much, and finally participate in the Champions League once, who perform well in the group stage because they give their best in the group stage. When they make it to the knockout rounds, they are quickly eliminated.

For example, Sevilla, who won the group in Group G, was eliminated by CSKA Moscow, which is not very strong but can often play in the Champions League, after breaking into the round of 16......

Therefore, Manchester City's excellent form in the group stage may not be able to continue their excellent form, especially against Barcelona.

※※※

PS, I'm sorry, yesterday's update made a mistake in the Champions League quarterfinals, forgetting that Bayern Munich has been eliminated, and now it has been revised......

I beg your pardon!