*Whoosh!*

The football hit the net, the beautiful sound sending a shiver down one's spine.

Scoring was so easy!

Jesus slid passionately on his knees out of bounds.

He opened his arms, celebrating to his heart's content.

"Jesus scored the equalizing goal. This ball looks a bit like it might be offside... Oh, no offside, no offside at all, a full body length away from the offside line! It's just that he ran too fast, extending his body, but in reality, the ball was already passed!

Zhao Gang's pass! Found him very accurately, and very concealed, a sudden outside-of-the-foot pass while dribbling. By the time the defender reacted to this pass and chased after it, it was already too late.

The defender clearly had an idea to create an offside trap, but it was seen through. Before they could raise the defensive line, Zhao Gang had already passed the ball!

Such amazing insight and passing skills!

Jesus played the role of a sprinter, constantly accelerating forward, without even looking at the pass behind him! This run looks a bit like a show of defiance... looks like he's deliberately running towards offside..."

Jesus was indeed a bit rebellious on the field. He didn't believe what Guardiola said, just run?

Wasn't that nonsense?

Even if he was great, could he be great to this extent?

Jesus really didn't expect that this ball could be passed over, and without being offside.

It seemed like a trained dog could do it.

Just rush forward and head the ball into the goal.

After Jesus celebrated, the Manchester City players finally rushed over, he was too far ahead.

A group of people gathered together, Jesus hugging Zhao Gang tightly, unable to speak with excitement.

His first Champions League goal.

It was of great significance to him.

He felt a bit sorry for Zhao Gang.

While he was deeply skeptical of Zhao Gang, Zhao Gang didn't doubt him at all, fully trusting him, directly sending a long pass to find him.

Before, he felt a bit awkward about Zhao Gang's commands. They were about the same age, so why should he listen to Zhao Gang?

It was only under the pressure of his teammates and Guardiola that he reluctantly ran into position.

Including earlier, when Jesus wanted a penalty kick but was refused by Zhao Gang, these were all expressions of dissatisfaction.

If it were Aguero, he would never dare to show any desire to take a penalty.

In his eyes, good technique and strong ability were not necessarily the team's boss. You needed enough time to accumulate before you were qualified to be the boss.

Monaco's players kept complaining to the referee about offside. Jesus was more than five or six meters ahead of the defender when he received the ball, how could it not be offside?

The referee shook his head, pointed to his ear, and told the other party that VAR (video assistant referee) had drawn the line, and there was no offside. Jesus was even a body length behind when he started.

There was no need for VAR, the linesman could clearly see whether this ball was offside or not.

Falcao bit his lip, lowered his head, and looked particularly lonely.

If this penalty had been scored, the result would have been very different.

If it had been scored, they would have been leading by two goals, and there wouldn't have been a corner kick, so there wouldn't have been Manchester City's quick counterattack.

The score was forcibly changed from 3:1 to 2:2!

This attacking speed was too fast.

But there was no use in regretting it.

The most important thing was to score another goal, no, they had to score two more goals to make up for their mistakes!

Falcao clenched his fist, took a deep breath, looked at the celebrating Manchester City players in the distance, and secretly vowed to beat them at home!

The entire stadium was silent of Monaco fans.

Not long ago, it was a penalty, and they were about to lead by two goals. Missing the penalty was like returning from heaven to earth, a bit regrettable and sad.

As a result, two minutes later, it was like falling from earth to hell!

Letting the opponent score a goal!

Guardiola clenched his fist.

Beautiful counterattack!

This ball, and some of the tactics he designed, could be said to have nothing to do with each other.

It was entirely the personal abilities of the two players.

Or rather, it was entirely Zhao Gang's passing ability. Putting a normal center forward in front would have gotten this opportunity.

"Manchester City's counterattack was too fast. Their players had just prepared to move forward to receive the ball, and Zhao's ball had already been fired!

Simple, efficient, and completely contrary to Guardiola's tactical thinking!

This kind of pass should be forbidden by Guardiola because the success rate is very low. If some weak teams try this kind of play, it's normal, but Manchester City shouldn't have this kind of pass.

But... who let Zhao be the one passing the ball!

Obviously, Monaco didn't realize that Zhao would directly pass to Jesus in this position.

The usual way to play would be to find De Bruyne, let De Bruyne continue forward, and other players would start running to create space and then look for opportunities.

Zhao directly skipped the process, he only wanted a result!

Directly finding Jesus, who could get a one-on-one opportunity, forming a one-on-one even faster and more efficiently!

If Zhao played like this in the French team... I personally think he could tear the peak Spanish team to pieces.

This kind of simple to the extreme play is really the perfect nemesis of tiki-taka.

His ideas seem to be somewhat incompatible with Manchester City's, but at the same time, we can also say that his style of play gives Manchester City more tactical options!"

"He has had this kind of pass many times this season. We thought the Zhao-Aguero connection required tacit understanding, but now it seems that it doesn't. The front doesn't need to be Aguero, just a fast player is enough.

Zhao is really a... perfect midfielder, so suitable for a team's core.

Arsenal... Mr. Wenger, alas!" Henry shook his head, why didn't Arsenal buy him? If they had succeeded, Arsenal should already be on the road to revival.

If that were the case, then this game might be over for Manchester City, and Monaco could advance!

As a player who came from Monaco, Henry naturally hoped that Monaco could advance.

The previously thrilling attack gave him great hope, but now it seems that the obstacles are very high.

Monaco's style of play will eventually have problems with physical fitness. After Manchester City gradually takes control of the situation, Monaco's advantage will become smaller and smaller.

Unless Monaco can score quickly again and then defend to the death.

"Too strong, right?"

"Can this kind of ball really be passed to?"

"This guy was still dribbling the ball a moment ago, I thought he was going to change direction and break through, but suddenly it was a kick!"

"Outside of the foot, the advantage of no weak foot, the pass is very concealed!"

"Concealed is understandable, but so far, so accurate?"

"I really want to go to the scene to see it and feel this atmosphere, looking at those fans shouting like they don't care about their lives."

"If we can advance, if we can meet Barca, I will definitely go to Camp Nou, no matter how much it costs!!"

...

"I really like this Dragon Country kid! If I have the chance, I have to go to Dragon Country to see it! I heard that the people of Dragon Country are very enthusiastic and the scenery is very beautiful!"

"Well, the people of Dragon Country have a long-standing culture, inherited for thousands of years, and are the only one of the four ancient civilizations that has not been interrupted. Their culture... is a bit cumbersome, but if you are patient, you can really learn about it."

"There are also many strange Dragon Country people... They are very resistant to their own culture, thinking it is dross, pursuing individuality, and liking American culture. I don't know what they are thinking. The United States only has two hundred years of history, where does its cultural heritage come from?

These people have very magical brains."

On the field, after the Manchester City players celebrated, they returned to their defensive positions.

Monaco prepared to kick off from the center circle.

Now the game has just reached thirty minutes, and four goals have already been scored.

As many people predicted, this game is destined to be a goal fest.

Both sides' defenses are not very stable.

The players in the middle and front fields are very capable and can easily create opportunities.

Monaco still insisted on coach Jardim's style of play, running and intercepting across the field regardless of physical exertion.

Zhao Gang also began to participate more in defense, repeatedly shouting for his teammates to pay attention to their defensive positions.

This would not have happened before.

He always felt that shouting at teammates on the field was a bit disrespectful.

It was very likely to damage the relationship between teammates.

However, since he refused Jesus' penalty kick, he had consciously begun to communicate with his teammates.

Before, he would communicate with his teammates during the attack, but now he began to call on his teammates to defend.

This was thanks to Ori's "brainwashing."

Ori's reasons made him unable to refuse.

Manchester City is a strong team that can defeat its opponents even without you taking the lead.

But the Dragon Country team is not like that. They need a backbone, not just a tactical core, but also a true team boss. When they are not focused, when they are not actively defending, someone needs to stand up and get them to cheer up!

Even in specific periods, they need to be made to fear!

If Zhao Gang just silently played well on the field, it would not be enough.

He had to take on more responsibilities in order to take the Dragon Country team further.

Zhao Gang didn't like this behavior, but Ori was right, he had to do it. When his teammates made mistakes, he even had to roar and reprimand them.

He had to show the performance of a true core and boss.

In Zhao Gang's mind, he didn't want the team to have a boss, he didn't want any player management to affect his behavior on the field, and he didn't want to manage and affect others.

This was the reason why he refused to let Cristiano Ronaldo join Manchester City.

The team should not have a boss, everyone should be equal and harmonious and win the game together.

But now, he knew that this was just an ideal, similar to a utopia. Any team that goes far must have someone like this.

After Monaco kicked off, they still kept looking for opportunities, trying to score another goal.

And the effect was quite good. Under the continuous impact of Mbappe and Falcao, there were two more very high-quality shots.

Fortunately, Bravo did not disappoint this time, making high and low saves to ensure that the goal was not lost.

Of course, Manchester City was not idle either, not only with counterattacks, but also with very good positional warfare.

Sterling and Jesus each took a shot, including Fernandinho, who also had a very long-range shot.

The two teams played wide open and with great dynamism, making the fans on both sides feel anxious all the time.

Guardiola and Jardim did not sit down throughout the first half, focusing intently on the sidelines.

Jardim kept shouting, telling the players to pay attention to defense when attacking. Guardiola shouted less than before, but he did not relax for a moment.

*Beep!*

At the last moment of injury time, Monaco's Lemar's long shot was blocked by Stones. Manchester City controlled the ball, and the referee blew the whistle to end the first half.

In the Manchester City locker room, Guardiola was the last to walk in, clapping his hands loudly.

"Sit down, sit down!! No one is allowed to speak!!!"

He didn't let the players speak in order to prevent them from consuming energy and to allow them to recover their strength as soon as possible.

This opening statement was often seen before, but after Manchester City became stronger and stronger in the Premier League, Guardiola rarely shouted like this.

Today, he finally heard these words again.

Because the physical exertion in this game was too great.

Especially in the back line, Fernandinho, as a single defensive midfielder, was so tired that his throat was almost smoking.

On one side, he had to face the rapid attacks of Silva and Lemar, and on the other side, he had to rush up to support the attack, ready to take a long shot at any time.