Glory Greenery

Chapter 443 Champions League Round of [-]

At St James' Park, when the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game, the score on the big screen was 1-1, with Newcastle ahead and Manchester City behind.

In the No.17 round of the Premier League this season, Newcastle, unwilling to fall into the relegation zone, launched a bayonet battle against Manchester City.

Throughout the game, Newcastle received a total of three yellow cards and one red card.

Although Newcastle once challenged with 10 men in the end, they still stubbornly defended the score of 1-1 until the end of the game, ending Manchester City's winning streak.

Facing Newcastle's desperate tactics, Brian Kidd's on-the-spot shortcomings were fully exposed. Apart from rigidly continuing Mancini's tactics, he failed to show his abilities.

The most terrible thing is that in addition to the end of the winning streak in this game, Manchester City also had three players injured.

Kompany suffered a knee injury while defending and will be out for at least two to three weeks as a result of the examination. He will not be able to play at all in December.

Barry injured his ankle while playing against Newcastle players. After examination, the injury was more serious than Kompany's. He will miss at least [-] days.

But this is not the end. At the last moment of the game, Ibrahimovic injured his elbow after falling to the ground with a header and will miss at least two weeks.

The most terrifying Christmas schedule of the Premier League schedule has not yet begun. Manchester City's two defensive champions in the backcourt and Ibrahimovic, an important fulcrum in the frontcourt, were collectively injured in a game. For Manchester City, it is simply a bolt from the blue.

How to face the next game is like a nightmare for Brian Kidd, who is of average ability.

Brian Kidd, who is very self-aware, immediately urged Manchester City's top management after the game to determine the new head coach candidate as soon as possible. He is no longer able to deal with the current situation.

The Manchester City club naturally knew the seriousness of the problem, and everyone at the top level immediately stepped up contact to try to solve the head coach problem as soon as possible.

But for Yang Mo, although Manchester City was tied in this game, he scored the equalizer goal, but he successfully refreshed his own record of [-] consecutive league games.

This also somewhat helped Manchester City cover up the loss of the end of the winning streak after the game.

After this defeat, the six-point advantage over Manchester United in the standings was shortened to four points.

Due to the hidden dangers caused by the injuries of many main players, and the fact that the new head coach will not be available for a while, the future of Manchester City instantly becomes confusing.

However, after the end of the game with Newcastle, Manchester City finally ushered in a seven-day truce period, and can relax the exhaustion after consecutive battles.

And the good news is that Manchester City's opponents in the next few games are not strong teams.

On December 12, Manchester City's first team gathered at the training base to watch the draw for the round of 17 at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

In the previous Champions League D group, although Manchester City had the same points as Dortmund, they beat Dortmund to qualify first because of their goal difference advantage, so they will face No.2 in other groups in the round of [-].

Who is the No.2 of the other seven groups?
Porto in Group A, Arsenal in Group B, AC Milan in Group C, Shakhtar Donetsk in Group E, Valencia in Group F, Celtic in Group G, and Galatasaray in Group H.

It can be said that among the seven teams that appear second in the group, except for Galatasaray from Turkey and Celtic in Scotland, it seems that every team can pose a threat to Manchester City.

However, according to the UEFA Champions League draw rules, leagues in the same country need to be avoided. First of all, Arsenal will not meet Manchester City in the round of sixteen.

Among the remaining teams, the one that scares Manchester City the most is of course the Serie A giants AC Milan.

Of course, other teams have performed quite well in the league this season. Even Valencia, which is in La Liga, is third in the standings after Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.

So no matter which opponent is drawn, Manchester City cannot take it lightly.

With the start of the draw, the UEFA drawer first draws the No.2 group, and then draws the No.1 team against the group.

The first one to be drawn was Turkey's Galatasaray, which is recognized as the softest persimmon in the top [-]. As soon as the Manchester City players watched the draw ceremony, they immediately became excited.

"I hope to draw us!" Aguero couldn't help but said.

"I hope so too." Yang Mo agreed.

After all, if a weak team can be drawn in the knockout stage, it will undoubtedly make the promotion easier and save more energy for other games.

But it's a pity that Manchester City didn't have such good luck. UEFA's opponent for Galatasaray was Schalke 04.

"What a pity." Ibrahimovic, who had a brace on his arm, regretted.

"As long as you don't draw AC Milan." The teenager Rodwell clasped his hands together.

"Shut your crow's mouth." Richards, who had a good relationship with Rodwell, said angrily.

Under the intense gaze of the Manchester City players, the next two consecutive match lists did not appear on Manchester City's name.

The second group is Celtic against Juventus, and the third group is Arsenal against Bayern Munich.

The group of Arsenal and Bayern will undoubtedly be the highlight of this Champions League round of 16.

Next, the fourth top 16 team was drawn, Shakhtar Donetsk.

This can be regarded as an old acquaintance of Yang Mo. When he was in Twente, he met this team in the UEFA Cup and double-killed the opponent in two rounds.

Compared with the two rounds of the game, what impressed him more was the "fairy jump" that Yusuf encountered in the away game.

But when Yang Mo recalled that year, on TV, the words of the UEFA drawer drew his attention back to reality, "The opponent of Shakhtar Donetsk is Manchester City."

"Not bad opponent." Yang Mo said softly.

Although Shakhtar Donetsk is a Ukrainian giant, in terms of paper strength, it is still a few grades behind Manchester City.

Besides, because of his experience in the UEFA Cup, Yang Mo, who played Shakhtar Donetsk, did not panic at all.

Relying on those teammates in Twente, Yang Mo can double kill Shakhtar Donetsk, there is no reason to come to the stronger Manchester City but not be able to beat the opponent.

By the time the Champions League round of 16 starts, it will already be mid-February. By then, several injured teammates will have returned from injury, and Manchester City will also play with a full main lineup.

As for the rest of Manchester City, they also looked happy after seeing that their opponent was Shakhtar Donetsk.

Although Shakhtar Donetsk is not a weak team like Galatasaray, in the eyes of today's powerful Manchester City, it is not a difficult opponent to deal with.

After everyone in Manchester City was happy that they had drawn a good lottery, they began to watch the next draw with a relaxed mind.

The No.2 group that was drawn out of the fifth group was exactly AC Milan, which Manchester City was least willing to face, and the opponent of the Serie A giants was Barcelona, ​​which was replaced by new coach Tito Vilanova.

The Serie A giants face the La Liga Cosmos. This game is the second focus battle outside of Arsenal and Bayern.

The next sixth group drawn, Dortmund against Manchester United, is also the highlight of this year's Champions League round of sixteen.

The last two sets, Valencia against Paris Saint-Germain and Porto against Málaga, are less intriguing than the previous ones.

(End of this chapter)