Green Field Eunuch

Chapter 410 Are these guys on drugs?

Etihad Stadium.

The match between Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund has entered the final moments of the first half, and the two teams are still fiercely competing on the field. The players are running actively, and their teamwork is also very exciting.

Dortmund played very aggressively for the remainder of the first half, dominating possession and constantly threatening Manchester City's goal.

However, the home fans at the Etihad Stadium showed no concern whatsoever; instead, they were celebrating excitedly with singing and dancing.

The score on the scoreboard reassured them: "2-0," with the home team first and the away team second, Manchester City leading Borussia Dortmund by two goals at home.

A two-goal lead, while not enormous, is still a considerable advantage. This reassured not only the fans but also the Manchester City players. Although they were under pressure on the field, they remained composed and did not give Dortmund many scoring opportunities.

The prolonged goal drought has caused some anxiety among the Dortmund players.

On the sidelines, Klopp also looked worried.

Klopp is a very diligent and serious person. He studies his opponents carefully for every game he leads the team in, and he puts even more effort into studying important Champions League matches, taking every opponent seriously.

Manchester City is one of his key rivals that he is studying closely.

This is unavoidable. Group D, where Dortmund is located, is widely regarded as the number one group of death. The biggest reason for this is the presence of Dortmund. Manchester City and Real Madrid are considered the favorites to advance from this group, while Dortmund is widely regarded as the spoiler of Group D.

A spoiler is someone who is considered capable of defeating a strong team.

Despite their poor performance in the Champions League last season, Borussia Dortmund, as two-time Bundesliga champions, have not been underestimated by the media.

As the head coach of Borussia Dortmund, Klopp naturally set his sights on advancing from the group stage.

Therefore, Borussia Dortmund must replace either Manchester City or Real Madrid.

Klopp is more optimistic that Borussia Dortmund can defeat Manchester City than Real Madrid.

But now, Klopp is beginning to doubt whether his ideas are correct.

Can Borussia Dortmund really beat this guy wearing the number 10 jersey from Manchester City?

The opponent's performance was simply outstanding, practically flawless. Although Klopp believed he had seen through their weaknesses, they were able to exploit his strengths to score goals, leaving him helpless.

On the field, Klopp had changed his mind and could only send Hummels to closely mark Shan Yongzhuo.

Hummels' marking was also very effective.

In the final stretch of the first half, Shan Yongzhuo indeed went quiet, failing to create any good opportunities, and even looked somewhat disheveled under Hummels' close marking.

Simultaneously.

Dortmund's attack finally paid off.

It was in the 40th minute of the match. After Manchester City's defense relaxed slightly, Götze took the ball and broke through Javi Garcia's defense in the attacking third. He dribbled all the way to the edge of the penalty area, about ten meters away, and then played a through ball.

Lewandowski received the ball in the penalty area after leaning against Kompany.

Then, he stopped the ball, turned, and calmly fired a low shot.

The football skimmed along the grass, heading straight for the corner.

2 is better than 1!

Dortmund managed to pull one back. A wave of disappointment swept through the Etihad Stadium; conceding a goal in the final moments of the first half was hardly a good thing.

However, the Dortmund fans who came to the away game were very excited. They waved their yellow flags and shouted wildly at Lewandowski, who had come to the away stands.

The Dortmund players breathed a sigh of relief.

Since the start of the match, Shan Yongzhuo has scored two goals in a row, which has put a lot of pressure on them and made them almost lose confidence.

But now, if we pull back a goal in the first half and are only down by one goal, we still have a chance in the second half.

This goal was also the last goal of the first half.

Halftime soon arrived, and both teams returned to their respective locker rooms.

The Manchester City players were neither in a good mood nor a bad mood. They were in a bad mood because the opponent caught up in the final moments, but not bad because they were still leading by one goal.

The opposing team was not weak and was not easy to deal with. Throughout the first half, Manchester City's players were driven by Dortmund's tireless players, making even the usually gentlemanly Manchester City players feel very tired.

Especially full-back Zabaleta, he was the most tired player in the entire first half.

Because Dortmund's winger Reus is just too fast. Not only is he technically excellent and very active, but he is also very fast. When he rushes forward, he is like a little rocket, which makes Zabaleta run around like crazy.

Fortunately, Zabaleta performed well and did not allow Reus to gain too much advantage on the flanks.

Another player who felt very tired was Javier Garcia.

Throughout the first half, Javi Garcia was constantly battling with the opponent's key player, Götze.

Götze is a player with excellent footwork, very agile running and dribbling, and also has a very good ability to link up and cooperate. This made Javi Garcia very troubled to defend against Götze throughout the first half.

Ultimately, the goal conceded was due to a mistake by Javi Garcia, which allowed Götze to easily break through.

This led to Guardiola criticizing Javi Garcia during halftime.

Javi Garcia was somewhat resentful, but he could only silently endure it.

As for Shan Yongzhuo, Guardiola just glanced at him and said nothing.

After the two had their last argument, Guardiola actually wanted to stop playing Shan Yongzhuo, but the Champions League matches were just too important.

At least for now, Manchester City still relies heavily on Shan Yongzhuo.

Securing victory in the Champions League is still quite important.

Meanwhile, in the Dortmund locker room, Klopp unleashed his motivational rhetoric, offering various encouragements to the players and inspiring them with his boundless passion.

Such incentives are actually quite effective.

At least, most of these players were discovered and nurtured by Klopp. After Klopp's encouragement, the Manchester City players found that the Dortmund players were like they had been injected with chicken blood as soon as the second half started.

They relentlessly pressed the ball against Manchester City's players, leaving the City players somewhat bewildered from the start.

"Are these guys on drugs?"

Almost every Manchester City player has this idea in their mind.

(End of this chapter)