http://slide.sports.sina.com.cn/g_pl/slide_2_730_179445.html#p=11
I believe that many soccer fans were very excited about one of the UEFA quarter final games on April 4th: Liverpool VS Manchester City. The other game, Barcelona VS Roma was not that intriguing because of the fact that Barcelona was apparently the better team, who “reasonably” defeated Roma by 4:1. That afternoon I paid 19 dollars to get access to the UEFA games online, which I would never do in China (we have free online live games). But it turned out that the money was worthy.
The reason why the game between Liverpool and Manchester City was worth watching is not only that they are two of the top team in England or the world. Speaking of UEFA championship, Liverpool is a legendary team. They have won 5 cups, and they specially have the honor to print this record on their shirts. On the contrary, Manchester City doesn’t have a glorious history. But, it is definitely a new-rising power. The owner of the team is very wealthy, so they can afford to hire one of the top coaches in the world: Guardiola, who gained his fame in Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Guardiola has done a good job this season, getting Manchester City very close to the Premier League Championship. Also, the coach of Liverpool, Klopp, is known as a competitive rival against Guardiola all the time. In Germany, Klopp’s Dortmund was not at disadvantage when playing with Guardiola’s Bayern Munich. And the result of this game, 3:0, has proved that Klopp really knows how to cope with Guardiola’s scheme.
I watched the whole game. And the style of these two teams were so obvious. On one side, Manchester City controlled the ball in the most of time. On the other, Liverpool focused on defending and fighting back when they had chance. Manchester City’s control of the ball made them seem like being at advantage, but they lacked the ability to really get into the penalty box and gave the one last strike. Usually, De Braun controlled the ball, and passed it to Sane or Kyle Walker on the side. Then the side players attempted to penetrate Liverpool’s defense and they failed to do so, starting again and again. Liverpool’s scheme was more efficient. Their attackers——Salah, Mané and Philmino all had wonderful speed and the sense of opportunity. The three goals of Liverpool happened so fast and unexpectedly. The defenders of Manchester City didn’t manage to stop the “fast and furious” players of Liverpool.
After that game, Guardiola really need to think about how to improve the defense of his team. Only 3 days after that game, Manchester City was defeated by Manchester United by 2:3, which means that they had two games losing 6 balls. Also, the attackers of Manchester city should be more creative and passionate so that they will not repeat the same boring way of attacking.
This is the worst time for Manchester City in this season. No matter in UEFA or Premier League. Furthermore, if Guardiola really wants to make Manchester City a world-top team, he should create new record in UEFA games. Good luck to him.