Chapter 708: The Number One Rival (BONUS)

Manchester City beat Lyon 3-1 away.

Chelsea beat Copenhagen 2-0 away.

Manchester United drew 0-0 away at Marseille.

Liverpool beat Barcelona 2-1 at home.

…

After the first leg of the Champions League round of 16, all four Premier League teams delivered satisfying performances.

This immediately shocked the entire European football world.

In recent years, the Premier League's dominance in European football has been remarkable. They even had three teams reach the semi-finals consecutively, which showcased the strength of English clubs.

Especially this season.

Manchester City, led by Gao Shen, is the only unbeaten team across Europe's top five leagues so far. Their results have been steady, and the squad depth is impressive. No one doubts that Manchester City will be a dark horse in this season's Champions League.

More importantly, Gao Shen has always been adept at cup competitions.

With such a deep squad backing him, Gao Shen is ambitious to make his mark in this tournament.

And Manchester City's strength was indeed astonishing, defeating Lyon 3-1 away and essentially securing their spot in the quarterfinals early.

Lyon manager Puel said in the post-match press conference that his team gave it their all, but still couldn't resist the strength of Manchester City.

"But no matter what, we will do our best to turn things around in the return leg!"

This statement, however, was hardly convincing.

In essence, Puel was admitting his team was simply outmatched.

Aside from Manchester City, the other surprise result in the first leg was Liverpool's 2-1 win over Barcelona.

It's widely acknowledged that Benítez's teams are always strong in knockout competitions.

But Barcelona have significantly improved this season. Guardiola has built a formidable attacking unit that has struck fear across La Liga and European football.

Yet at Anfield, Benítez's side managed to overcome Barcelona, which was undeniably a major upset.

What was even more surprising was that Liverpool went toe-to-toe with Barcelona instead of sitting back.

Yes, Benítez's team pressed forward.

Though they were at a clear disadvantage in possession, their cohesive defensive shape and high pressing disrupted Barcelona's rhythm at Anfield.

The midfield triangle of Biglia, Mascherano, and Gerrard played a vital role in this match.

It can even be said that these three were the key to Liverpool's victory.

The British media were even more ecstatic about this win than Manchester City's victory away to Lyon.

Because according to the bookmakers' odds, Barcelona were the favorites to win this season's Champions League.

Many had expected that Manchester United, Manchester City, or Real Madrid might challenge Barcelona. However, Real Madrid had already been eliminated in the group stage.

Now, neither Manchester United nor Manchester City had faced Barcelona yet, but Liverpool looked to be on the verge of knocking them out.

…

While the media and fans were buzzing with excitement, the Manchester City coaching staff also wasted no time reviewing the matches after returning from Lyon.

"The tactics Benítez used were the same ones we used at Napoli against Barcelona," said Carlo after watching the match for a while.

Gao Shen had always believed that when facing a team like Barcelona, with superb passing and control, sitting back too deep was never effective.

No matter how tight the defense, it wouldn't stop Barcelona's attacking movement and penetration.

If you take the initiative, there are basically two approaches. One is Mourinho's style—ensure a solid and compact defensive shape, apply intense pressure, and place a physically dominant striker up front.

On the counterattack, go long to the striker, who then holds the ball up and connects the play.

In the century derby at the end of November, Mourinho used Adebayor in this role, but it didn't work well. In the end, Real Madrid lost 0-3 at Camp Nou.

Well, even though it wasn't as humiliating as Gao Shen's past experience, it was still a heavy loss.

The other approach is to press high, just like Napoli did. It's a do-or-die tactic against Barcelona.

But this requires a very cohesive and disciplined team. Gao Shen had spent three years building that kind of squad at Napoli before they were capable of executing it.

Now Benítez was using the same approach.

The reason was simple—they didn't have a proper center forward.

Torres was a capable scorer, but his strength lay in facing the goal. Expecting him to play with his back to goal like a target man was simply unrealistic.

Later, when Torres moved to Chelsea, one of the key reasons he struggled was that Chelsea's midfield couldn't provide him with chances to attack the defense directly. He had to drop deeper like Drogba to help link play.

Of course, injuries also affected Torres' performance significantly on a personal level.

In truth, whether it was Shevchenko, Torres, or even using Anelka as a central striker in a 4-3-3, the results were never ideal. The key issue was that none of them were target men like Drogba. They couldn't play the hold-up role in Chelsea's system.

That's often how "parallel imports" come to be.

"From the first leg, Liverpool really pushed their limits at home, but the danger signs were everywhere. Going to Camp Nou with this squad could end in disaster," Gao Shen speculated.

In fact, from the first leg, Barcelona still had a clear edge. They just lacked finishing, had some bad luck, and were disrupted by Liverpool's pressing.

But those same disadvantages would be hard to replicate at Camp Nou.

"Fernando, send someone to Camp Nou to watch the return leg and collect detailed firsthand data," Gao Shen instructed.

Lucas immediately nodded.

In Manchester City's assessment, Barcelona were their top rival in the Champions League this season.

Looking at the first-leg results, Gao Shen's earlier evaluation of Moratti had been spot-on—Serie A was gradually declining, and the Bundesliga was on the rise.

The clearest sign was that, aside from Napoli, AC Milan had also lost at home in the first leg.

Whether Napoli could stop the overall decline depended heavily on the strong team Gao Shen had left behind.

Recently, Gao Shen had also been keeping a close eye on developments involving the Qatari consortium.

Rumors suggested they were still in talks with Manchester United, but it was also possible they were secretly negotiating with Paris Saint-Germain.

If the Qatari consortium enters European football, it will inevitably trigger a wave of acquisitions. At that point, Napoli would surely draw attention. If Gao Shen could seize that opportunity to cash out again, it would be a much-needed financial boost for him.

…

After the midweek Champions League fixtures, the FA Cup fifth round was scheduled for the weekend.

Manchester City's opponent this time was Aston Villa.

By this round, most remaining teams were from the Premier League, with only two Championship sides left. Interestingly, one League One team had also made it—Brighton, backed by a wealthy owner.

Manchester City hosted Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium.

Gao Shen rotated the squad. Yaya Touré opened the scoring in the 5th minute after a cross from Leighton Baines.

Later, Yaya Touré assisted Van Persie to score.

In the second half, Henderson sealed the win for Manchester City.

In the end, City beat Aston Villa 3-0 at home.

Following that, Manchester City got a favorable draw in the FA Cup quarter-finals, drawing Championship side Reading.

However, Reading had just caused an upset by beating Everton 1-0 away, so they couldn't be underestimated.

Brighton, despite being a wealthy League One club, were still only third-tier level and were defeated 3-0 by Stoke City.

…

Back in the Premier League, the 28th round kicked off.

Gao Shen once again rotated his squad and managed a 2-1 home win over Fulham.

Then in round 29 of the league, they narrowly defeated Wigan Athletic 1-0 at home.

In the second leg of the Champions League round of 16, Manchester City hosted Lyon.

Having already won 3-1 away, City were essentially guaranteed qualification but still played a composed and cautious match at home.

Lyon, knowing they were likely to be eliminated, played with nothing to lose. They fielded an aggressive three-forward formation, using both Gourcuff and Pjanić as dual playmakers in midfield, leaving only Toulalan to sit deep.

The barefoot don't fear those wearing shoes. Up against such a desperate side, City were initially pushed back, but Gao Shen quickly adjusted tactics, focusing on targeted defense, and stabilized the game.

In the 37th minute, Gareth Bale made a low cross from the left, and Felipe broke into the box to score the opener for City.

In the second half, Felipe crossed from the left to assist Suárez for a header.

Then, David Silva set up Robben, who cut inside and finished with his left foot to seal the victory.

In the end, Manchester City won 3-0 at home and 6-1 on aggregate, advancing to the quarterfinals.

…

Manchester City's emphatic progression came alongside the expected result from the Camp Nou.

After losing the first leg 2-1, Barcelona regrouped at home and dominated Liverpool.

Benítez's side held on for the first half, but completely collapsed in the second.

Messi scored twice, and Busquets and Xavi also added goals. Barcelona scored four in under thirty minutes, leaving Liverpool with no chance to respond.

In the end, Liverpool lost 0-4 away.

With a total score of 2-5, they were knocked out.

…

After eliminating Lyon, Manchester City followed up with a 1-0 win over Reading in the FA Cup quarter-finals.

Reading defended deeply, using a low block to frustrate Manchester City.

It wasn't until the second half that Giroud assisted Sturridge for the winning goal.

But in the following Premier League fixture, City drew 1-1 away to Ancelotti's Chelsea.

The Blues were under heavy pressure. Carlo Ancelotti had chosen to give up on the FA Cup and focus on the league, but still couldn't beat Manchester City at home.

One to one, both sides settled for a point.

After the Chelsea game, Su Qing, who had returned to China to complete her resignation after the Spring Festival, finally returned to the UK.

Soon after came the Champions League quarter-final draw and new developments related to Leeds United.

(To be continued.)

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