Green Field Eunuch

Chapter 260 The Goal of Securing a Top-Eight Position and Striving for a Top-Four Position

A week later, a new round of league matches began, with Manchester City playing away against Bolton.

Despite being tightly marked throughout the match, Shan Yongzhuo still managed to score a goal in each half thanks to his skill. Silva also scored a goal, and Manchester City narrowly defeated their opponents 3-2 away from home, securing all three points.

Although the team won the game, Mancini was still very dissatisfied with the team's poor defense. In the first half, the central defensive pairing of Kompany and Lescott allowed the opponent to score an undeserved goal.

In the second half, Mancini brought on Mexes, but the performance was even worse. Mexes scored an own goal, which made Mancini frown.

Mancini didn't look too happy during the subsequent training sessions, and the team suffered quite a bit from the training.

Then, in the fourth round of the league, Manchester City played away against Tottenham Hotspur. Shan Yongzhuo played for a half and scored a goal.

In the second half, Aguero also scored a goal, and Manchester City won 2-0 at home, achieving their third consecutive league victory, which improved Mancini's mood somewhat.

Regardless, a three-game winning streak is a good result.

However, Manchester City's limelight was completely stolen by Manchester United.

Manchester United have also achieved three consecutive victories, and in this round's key match, Manchester United, playing at home, thrashed Arsenal 8-2, pushing Arsenal into the abyss while also forcefully climbing to the top of the league table.

Manchester United this season has basically been a transition between generations, and their performance at the beginning of the season was completely unexpected.

Praising someone excessively has always been a favorite pastime of the English media, and Manchester United's performance has led to a barrage of praise from the media.

"The strongest Manchester United is back!"

"Manchester City and Manchester United dominate the Premier League."

"Manchester United poses a strong challenge to Manchester City."

"..."

Of course, while praising Manchester United to the point of ruin, the media also didn't forget to kick Arsenal, who were in deep trouble.

In the summer, Arsenal let go of team captain Cesc Fàbregas and a number of talented players, leaving only Dutchman Robin van Persie to carry the team.

However, in the first three rounds of the competition, Van Persie was clearly not ready to take on the responsibilities of captain.

After drawing with Newcastle United in the first round, Arsenal suffered consecutive defeats to Liverpool and Manchester United, including a humiliating 8-2 loss at Old Trafford, plunging the club into a media storm.

However, none of this has anything to do with Manchester City and Shan Yongzhuo.

Shan Yongzhuo quietly occupies the top spot on the scorer list, scoring 6 goals in three rounds of matches. His performance remains outstanding, unmatched by anyone else on the scorer list.

Manchester City also quietly trained and played their first Champions League opponent, Napoli.

After the UEFA Champions League enters the main tournament stage, the 32 top teams from various European leagues are divided into eight groups of four teams each.

The group stage rules are that each team plays two matches, one home and one away, against each other in the group, for a total of 6 matches. The final standings are determined by the points, with the top two teams in each group advancing to the knockout stage and the third-placed team entering the Europa League.

The group stage starts in September and ends in December, with an average of two matches per month, and the first match is in mid-September.

Manchester City will host Serie A newcomers Napoli at home.

Manchester City are the reigning Premier League champions and are making their first appearance in the Champions League group stage in many years. They have almost no European experience, but the club's management and Mancini have set a high goal for the team's Champions League performance: to reach the quarterfinals and strive for the semifinals.

The club didn't immediately set its sights on winning the title because of Shan Yongzhuo's bold statement. After all, the Champions League is far superior to the Europa League, and the difficulty of winning it is immense; they are simply incomparable. Reaching the quarterfinals was a goal the club considered reasonable.

However, outsiders do not agree with Manchester City's goal; they believe that it would be good enough if Manchester City could just get out of the group stage.

Even though Manchester City has Shan Yongzhuo, European experience is their biggest weakness. Even their star striker, Shan Yongzhuo, has no Champions League experience whatsoever.

Another reason why they are not favored is Mancini.

Mancini won consecutive Serie A titles during his time at Inter Milan, but his performance in the Champions League was utterly disgraceful, ultimately leading to his dismissal by Moratti, who could no longer tolerate him.

The fact that Roberto Mancini, a notorious Champions League underachiever, is now Manchester City's manager has raised serious questions about the city's Champions League prospects.

However, Napoli is not favored by outsiders.

Napoli experienced many years of decline, but in recent years they have returned to their peak. Last season, under Mazzarri's leadership, Napoli showed strong momentum and were once in contention for the title.

The team's star striker Cavani won the Serie A Golden Boot last season with 26 goals. With the outstanding performances of Hamsik, Lavezzi and others, Napoli ultimately won the Serie A third place with an excellent record of 21 wins, 6 draws and 9 losses, returning to the Champions League after many years.

The first match between the two teams, who can be considered newcomers to the Champions League, attracted a lot of attention.

……

In preparation for this match, Mancini organized a special training session to target Napoli and ensure everyone had a better understanding of their opponent.

In fact, Manchester City has players who have played in Serie A, such as Shan Yongzhuo, Balotelli, and Mexes, all of whom have played against Napoli.

However, the current Napoli is very different from the Napoli of the past. Mazzarri's team has made significant progress and changes in the past two seasons. Even for Shan Yongzhuo and his team, this is a completely new Napoli.

For a Champions League newcomer like Manchester City, a major problem they will face in participating in the Champions League is that they are not used to the playing style of their opponents.

This situation is not particularly noticeable in the Europa League because the overall level of the participating teams is much lower than that of the Champions League.

However, in the Champions League, such a problem is a big one for newcomers.

This has nothing to do with skill, it's all about experience.

This is why many strong newcomers to the Champions League perform poorly at the beginning.

The styles of different leagues in Europe are completely different.

For example, La Liga teams generally emphasize teamwork and technique, while Premier League teams focus more on physical confrontation, resulting in a faster and more concise pace of play.

The biggest style of Italian teams is to stick to the ground. Their pace of attack and defense is relatively slow, but their overall defense is like a big swamp, making the opponent's forwards feel like they are stuck in the mud.

If a player cannot adapt to their opponent's rhythm, the stronger player is also likely to lose the game.

That's the situation Manchester City is in right now.

Mancini gave a detailed explanation of the overall style of Serie A, as well as the overall playing style of Napoli under Mazzarri, and told the players how to deal with it.

Meanwhile, Mancini is most worried about the defense. Since the start of the league, the defense has continued its poor performance. Whether it is Kompany, Lescott, or Mexes, the center-backs always seem like ticking time bombs.

Facing Serie A star striker Edinson Cavani in this match makes Mancini even more focused on the defense.

(End of this chapter)