Chapter 609: The Super Dark Horse, Roma!
This year's Champions League semifinals became especially important for the remaining three teams due to the presence of Roma, the underdog. If Barcelona hadn't been upset and had advanced to the semifinals as expected, then all four teams would have been European powerhouses. But with Barcelona's shock exit, Roma took their place, and there was no doubt that they were the weakest team among the remaining four.
As a result, the other three teams were all hoping to draw Roma in the semifinals. Facing Roma would allow them to avoid the two other top-tier teams, greatly increasing their chances of reaching the final.
"How about Manchester City and Real Madrid face each other? Bayern's clearly weaker this year compared to last, so it'd be best if Bayern draws Roma!"
"Haha, you must be a Bayern fan! I can hear that calculation all the way from Spain!"
"In my opinion, people shouldn't underestimate Roma. If they managed to come back and knock out Barcelona despite being at a huge disadvantage after the first leg, it shows they have real strength. If you treat them like an easy target, you might be the one regretting it!"
"Exactly. I think Roma could cause another upset. Whoever faces them in the semifinals might end up in trouble!"
As fans debated back and forth, the Champions League semifinal draw was revealed.
To the envy and frustration of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, Manchester City drew the "weakest" team, Roma, seemingly becoming the luckiest team of the semifinals. This left Bayern and Real Madrid, two giants, to battle each other in the semifinals, meaning only one could make it to the final.
When the draw was announced, the Manchester City representative was all smiles, genuinely believing they'd gotten a favorable draw.
Meanwhile, the Roma representative had a much more serious expression. Among the four teams left, Bayern was the weakest of the other three, so Roma had been hoping to draw them. Unfortunately, they were paired with Manchester City, a much tougher opponent. It seemed like Roma's Champions League run was nearing its end.
With two weeks remaining until the semifinals, Manchester City still had two Premier League games to play. The most important of these was the Round 34 away match against Tottenham Hotspur.
As the Premier League season drew to a close, and with Manchester City already crowned champions, all eyes were on the battle for the top four and qualification for next season's Champions League. Currently, the top four teams were Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham, and Liverpool. These four had the best chance of representing the Premier League in the next Champions League season. Even fourth-place Liverpool had a seven-point lead over fifth-place Chelsea, making it difficult for Chelsea to close the gap with just five games remaining.
However, this didn't mean the top four teams could relax. After fighting this hard, none of them wanted to stumble at the last hurdle. A slip-up in the final few games could waste an entire season of effort.
Despite knowing Manchester City's strength and their low odds of winning, Tottenham went all out at home, determined to fight for victory. For Spurs, a win at home against City would solidify their spot in the top four. But a loss could spell trouble.
On April 14, Chelsea played first. Despite going two goals down away from home, they launched a comeback in the 70th minute. Giroud scored twice, and Hazard added a crucial goal to secure a comeback victory, temporarily reducing the gap with Liverpool to four points.
But Liverpool responded quickly in their match, beating Bournemouth 3-0 at home. Salah, Mané, and Firmino scored the goals that gave Liverpool a convincing win and restored their pride after a heavy defeat to Manchester City. They might have struggled against City, but that didn't mean they would struggle against other teams.
With both of their direct competitors winning, all the pressure was now on Tottenham.
In a risky move, Tottenham decided to play aggressively and go toe-to-toe with Manchester City.
This decision surprised City. Throughout the season, the only team in the Premier League brave enough to take the fight to them had been Liverpool. Since when did Spurs get so bold?
Tottenham's decision was born out of necessity. They knew they couldn't handle City's attack if they played defensively, so sitting back would only invite City's possession-based play and grind them down. Spurs had a strong attack themselves, and by playing aggressively at home, they believed they stood a better chance of winning.
However, the result showed they had miscalculated.
City showed no mercy to Spurs' aggressive approach. In the 22nd minute, Bernardo Silva played a one-two with Lin Quan, broke into the box, drew two defenders, and then passed across to Agüero, who slid in to score.
City had struck first!
Tottenham, rattled by the early goal, saw their defense fall into disarray. Just two minutes later, City scored again.
This time, City intercepted the ball high up the pitch. Lin Quan drove into the box, only to be brought down by Tottenham's goalkeeper. The referee showed the keeper a yellow card and awarded City a penalty.
Lin Quan took the penalty himself, calmly sending the keeper the wrong way to make it 2-0. City now had a commanding lead.
Tottenham's star player, Harry Kane, watched his team fall further behind and grew increasingly anxious. He worked tirelessly up front, seizing every opportunity to try to break down City's defense.
But City had marked Kane closely, and he struggled to find any space. Fortunately, Tottenham had two other attacking threats: Christian Eriksen and Son Heung-min.
In the 42nd minute, Kane received the ball in the middle of the pitch and delivered a sharp through ball to Eriksen, who slotted the ball into the net.
Spurs had finally scored, cutting the deficit to 1-2.
In the stands, Tottenham fans who had been tense and nervous finally allowed themselves to relax a little. They saw the goal as a good start and believed the team had found the right way to attack. Many fans hoped that Spurs could carry this momentum into the second half, equalize, or even turn the game around.
But once again, their hopes were dashed.
Just after the second half began, Tottenham was caught off guard by a Manchester City counterattack. Mbappé, receiving a pass from De Bruyne, flew down the wing like a wild horse, leaving defenders in his wake.
Tottenham's players tried to stop him, but Mbappé easily dodged a challenge and, just before the goalkeeper could close him down, slotted the ball into the net.
Mbappé's shot was perfectly placed, and Tottenham's keeper had no chance. All he could do was watch as the ball hit the back of the net.
Tottenham's players, dejected, retrieved the ball from their goal and restarted play. But before they could even mount a proper attack, they lost possession again.
Tottenham's possession stats weren't bad, but their mistakes were numerous, particularly in midfield, where they kept losing the ball. City wasted no time capitalizing. After winning the ball back, Lin Quan quickly passed to Mbappé on the wing, who sprinted forward and crossed into the box.
Agüero's header struck the post, but Lin Quan was there to finish the rebound, making it 4-1.
In just one minute, City had scored two goals, leaving Spurs completely shell-shocked.
After that, City made some substitutions. Lin Quan and Agüero were replaced by Gundogan and Haaland.
Tottenham, sensing an opportunity with Lin Quan off the field, tried to mount a comeback, but their morale had been crushed, and they couldn't take advantage of City's changes.
Meanwhile, Manchester City, having just come off a Champions League match, were still recovering their fitness. Seeing that Spurs posed no real threat, they slowed the game down, maintaining control and keeping the ball.
The match ended with Spurs losing 1-4 at home, making them the biggest losers of the round.
This loss seemed to curse Spurs. In the next round, against mid-table Brighton, they failed to hold onto their lead and were forced to settle for a draw.
With just one point from two matches, Tottenham's hopes of finishing in the top four were in jeopardy.
But Spurs weren't the only ones underperforming. Liverpool, even more shockingly, blew a two-goal lead and allowed their opponents to equalize, throwing away three points.
Chelsea had an even worse showing. Despite dominating against a relegation-threatened team at home, they couldn't find the back of the net. Instead, they conceded on the counterattack and, though they managed to equalize, failed to secure the win. Dropping points at such a crucial stage effectively ended their hopes of finishing in the top four.
As for Manchester City, they continued their dominant form. With goals from Agüero, Lin Quan, De Bruyne, David Silva, and Sané, City cruised to a 5-0 victory over Swansea.
City played a true team game in this match, with players seemingly competing to set each other up for goals. In the end, City's all-around team effort left Swansea in the dust.
Notably, with this victory, City's point tally reached 96. One more win would break the Premier League points record they set in the 2014-2015 season.
...
After finishing their Premier League match, Manchester City had no time to rest. Three days later, they were set to host Roma in the Champions League semifinals.
While Guardiola had never coached in Italy, he had paid close attention to Serie A teams over the years. Thanks to their recent encounters with Juventus, City had gathered plenty of information on Serie A.
Although Juventus had dominated Italian football, Roma had proven themselves to be strong contenders in recent seasons, nearly winning the league at Juventus's expense. On top of that, their 3-0 victory over Barcelona showed that Roma was no pushover. Guardiola was fully aware that Roma was a team with real strength, not a team to be taken lightly. Any underestimation of Roma would surely lead to consequences.
...
Interestingly, Roma had two former Manchester City players in their ranks: Aleksandar Kolarov, who left last summer, and Edin Džeko, who left after being displaced by Lin Quan.
However, Kolarov and Džeko had very different attitudes towards their former club.
As a key player in City's treble-winning side, Kolarov had won three Champions League titles and four league titles with the club. His career had reached its peak at Manchester City. Despite leaving the club, Kolarov still had fond memories of his time there.
Before the match, Kolarov made a point of greeting his former teammates in the tunnel. The City players, seeing Kolarov, warmly embraced him and chatted with him.
Kolarov had spent seven years at City, making 247 appearances and scoring 21 goals. He had made significant contributions to City's success, and his relationships with his old teammates remained strong.
"Hey, Aleksandar, after the match, how about we grab dinner together? I found a great restaurant that'll blow your mind!"
"Oh, come on! I've been in Manchester way longer than you. There's no way there's any good food here. You're not fooling me!"
Kolarov shook his head at the mention of food in Manchester. It wasn't until he moved to Italy that he realized how much of a "food desert" the UK was. He still had nightmares about the infamous British dish Stargazy pie.
When Kolarov first arrived in the Premier League, he tried the dish, and ever since, he had been scarred by British cuisine, swearing off English food for good.
His former teammates burst into laughter at Kolarov's horrified expression. Clearly, they had shared similar experiences.
In contrast to Kolarov, Džeko stood off to the side, not interacting much with City's players.
Džeko had only spent two seasons at Manchester City, and most of the players in the current squad had joined after he left, so he wasn't familiar with many of them. Additionally, he had been sold by City at a low price, so he didn't have much affection for the club.
His mind wasn't on catching up with old teammates. Instead, he was focused on getting revenge on his former club, on showing the thousands of Manchester City fans in the stadium that the club had been wrong to let him go.
"You didn't appreciate me before, but I'll prove today that you're not worthy of me!" he thought.
However, Džeko had been away from Manchester City for too long and had no idea just how strong this City team had become.
From the very start of the match, Manchester City took control, dictating the pace and rhythm of the game.
(End of Chapter)