Green Field Eunuch

Chapter 363 Halftime
Neuer felt helpless, but he remained on high alert.

Unfortunately, after Shan Yongzhuo took the corner kick, Neuer, although he judged the trajectory of the ball, was still just a hair's breadth off, and the ball flew steadily into the top corner of the goal.

"Goal! Goal!"

"Shan Yongzhuo's signature corner kick shot!"

"In the 44th minute of the first half, Shan Yongzhuo changed the score once again with his best shooting technique."

"3-1, Manchester City have taken a two-goal lead in the final moments of the first half!"

"..."

The English commentator roared with excitement, while the Manchester City fans in the stadium celebrated the goal wildly.

This goal was definitely a huge advantage for Manchester City.

Leading by two goals at halftime would be a huge advantage in the Champions League final, and many Manchester City fans even feel that it's only a matter of time before the team wins the Champions League title.

Comparatively, Bayern's fans and players on the field were quite disappointed.

This goal was a heavy blow to them.

Being behind by one goal and being behind by two goals are completely different concepts. Even if they were very confident, being two goals behind still made them feel extremely panicked.

After Manchester City celebrated excitedly, the match resumed.

However, that was the end of the first half.

Bayern Munich are worried about their defense and whether Shan Yongzhuo can deliver another outstanding performance, while Manchester City are under pressure and unable to make any further impact.

The match passed by in a steady, unhurried exchange of offense and defense.

The referee kept checking his watch, and when two minutes of stoppage time had passed and the ball was still being passed around in midfield, he decisively blew the whistle to end the first half.

3:1.

Manchester City, leading the pack, saw their players return to the locker room in high spirits.

Manchester City, leading by two goals, seemed relaxed in terms of the score, but for the players on the field, it wasn't easy; they felt the difficulty and fatigue of the match.

Manchester City were actually quite passive on the pitch.

According to media statistics, in the first half, Bayern Munich had a possession rate of 62%, while Manchester City only had 38%.

Bayern Munich had far more chances to penetrate the penalty area and take more shots than Manchester City. However, the players on the field felt this much more directly than these cold statistics suggest. They were simply defending and occasionally launching a few counter-attacks.

Normally, they should be the ones lagging behind.

They are now leading by two goals.

However, everyone knows that these three goals were all due to Shan Yongzhuo's individual ability and had little to do with the team's overall coordination and offensive strategy.

Being constantly pressured during the match wasn't a pleasant experience, but the players weren't in a bad mood at all; in fact, they were excited and looking forward to it. If they could do a good job defensively in the second half and prevent Bayern Munich from scoring, they could win the Champions League and stand at the top of Europe.

Even more impressively, they achieved the feat of winning five championships this season.

This is a great moment!

The Manchester City players are filled with fighting spirit and are looking forward to making Manchester City history.

On the other hand, the atmosphere in Bayern's locker room was much more somber.

Bayern's match was relatively easy, but the score gap left them somewhat breathless, because football is a game decided by the score. Despite their significant advantage on the field, without scoring, it was meaningless.

Although they also scored a goal, their opponents scored three.

In fact, Bayern's players also felt the difficulty of their opponents. Manchester City focused more on defense, relying almost entirely on Shan Yongzhuo in attack, yet they managed to score three goals with just that one player. Bayern, on the other hand, had no good way to deal with Manchester City's tenacious defense.

Actually, scoring one goal is already a good performance, considering it's the Champions League final.

In a major tournament final like this, scoring a goal is something to celebrate.

The problem is that the opponent scored three goals, which rendered Bayern's goal meaningless.

"How can you kick it like that!"

"We simply can't defend against Shan Yongzhuo!"

"If we intensify our offensive, Shan Yongzhuo will have another opportunity..."

Even many ordinary players could see the problem, and head coach Heynckes certainly could too. For the remainder of the first half, Bayern found themselves in a dilemma.

"Something needs to be changed..."

Heynckes considered whether to intensify the offensive, but the thought of Shan Yongzhuo made him hesitate.

The opponent is playing so well that it's hard to guarantee they won't falter in the second half.

Ultimately, Heynckes didn't make any major adjustments, sticking to a solid defense while relying on the flanks to create opportunities.

This seems to be a safer option.

While the two teams were resting in the locker room, the stadium was still very lively, with more than 60,000 fans cheering and even neutral fans shouting excitedly, creating a lot of noise.

The feeling from the podium is very direct.

Looking at the scoreboard, Mubarak felt very satisfied with the 3-1 score.

At halftime, Manchester City led by two goals, giving them a significant advantage in the title race.

"If we could win the Champions League..."

"This season, the team has won five championships, which is a huge success for the team and a huge success for me."

Thinking about the club's honor, Mubarak was very excited. It was he who strongly advocated for the signing of Shan Yongzhuo. Now it seems that this is the most successful signing since the UAE consortium took over Manchester City.

As for losing the final, Mubarak is not too worried.

He had absolute confidence in Shan Yongzhuo. In his view, Mancini and the like were secondary; Shan Yongzhuo was someone who never caused any worry.

He served as club president for several years, leading Manchester City to numerous honors, including an unprecedented five-title haul, which was a tremendous achievement.

Mubarak was very satisfied with the great honors he had received and the excellent reputation he had among the fans.

On the other side, Rummenigge, looking at Mubarak's smile, described it as a smug smile.

That's right, a petty person has gained power.

In Rummenigge's view, Manchester City is nothing special; they just have money and then used that money to acquire Shan Yongzhuo, which is shameful.

But he also knew that money was indeed extremely important.

Money brought them a phenomenal player like Shan Yongzhuo, and then, with a player like Shan Yongzhuo, they achieved great honors.

Bayern Munich is also wealthy, arguably one of the wealthiest clubs in Europe.

However, their money is not enough compared to Manchester City's.

Therefore, they had no way of getting Shan Yongzhuo...

(End of this chapter)