"Congratulations to Manchester City for eliminating Juventus with an aggregate score of 5-4.

"With Zhao Gang as the core, Guardiola's Manchester City has been unstoppable in the league. Although they've faced some setbacks in the Champions League, they have still created history for the club!

"Zhao Gang has not only led Manchester City to create history but has also helped fulfill the dreams of us, the Dragon Country fans.

"In our relatively short football history, just having a player playing abroad is enough to stir our hearts.

"Even if it's just a substitute, we'll try everything to get updates on him, hoping he can prove himself on the European stage, hoping he can become a beacon of light, illuminating our dreams.

"Now, Zhao Gang's appearance brings us more than just a beacon; it's like the sun in its zenith!

"He not only illuminates Dragon Country football but also dazzles the world of football!

"He not only led Manchester City into the semi-finals, creating history, but also certainly achieved the best result for a Dragon Country player in Europe!

"Goals and assists, the best in the history of Dragon Country players, don't need to be repeated.

"Congratulations again to Manchester City and Zhao Gang!

"In the upcoming semi-finals, they will face Barcelona, who eliminated Dortmund!

"Barcelona possesses the most terrifying attacking combination in Europe; even Real Madrid is inferior in attack.

"The two teams will compete for a Champions League final ticket!

"This may be the most dangerous match Manchester City has faced this season.

"Previously, in the matches where Manchester City eliminated Monaco and Juventus, we could see that Manchester City's level in the Champions League was quite different from their dominance in the league.

"This semi-final...will definitely be a huge test for Manchester City!

"If they can successfully overcome Barcelona, they will face the winner between Real Madrid and Bayern.

"Regardless of the outcome, we hope Zhao Gang can continue to contribute his wonderful performance on the Champions League stage!"

Manchester City's players returned to the locker room without much celebration. They packed up quickly and prepared to return to Manchester.

After all, their next Champions League opponent was Barcelona.

Barcelona was not only strong, but they also thoroughly defeated them in the Champions League last season.

They were basically pinned to a tree and beaten, their midfield and frontcourt were completely blocked, their offense couldn't execute tactics, and their defense was repeatedly teased.

It was nothing like a Champions League quarter-final match.

Now, they were facing them again.

Although there was a chance for revenge, the team's players lacked confidence.

Most of these starters experienced last year's massacre.

Facing Barcelona again this year, the psychological shadow was imaginable.

Fortunately, they still had time to adjust.

Manchester City's media now loved Zhao Gang, this magical Dragon Country teenager.

Super Zhao, Mr. Magic, Red Dragon, Blue Flash, etc.—whatever sounded good and domineering was put on him.

"Two goals and three assists! Manchester City eliminates Juventus, Super Zhao participates in all of the team's goals!!"

"Mr. Magic overturns Europe's strongest defense, Manchester City advances to the Champions League semi-finals!"

"Barcelona! Manchester City is coming!!"

"Charge! Camp Nou is about to fall!!"

Looking at the Champions League semi-finalists, only Manchester City was a dark horse.

The other three teams, Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Bayern, were traditional powerhouses. Manchester City was the only team to reach the Champions League semi-finals for the first time.

Despite Manchester City's media hyping them up as invincible, able to eliminate Barcelona with a wave of their hand,

almost all other media outlets believed that Barcelona would eliminate Manchester City, while the Real Madrid-Bayern semi-final was more difficult to predict.

Spanish media, even Real Madrid's mouthpieces, believed that Barcelona and Real Madrid would advance to the final, not just a national derby, but a veritable world derby.

"After Guardiola left, Barcelona experienced a brief period of pain, but they quickly reorganized and became one of Europe's top clubs again.

"They became a veritable trophy-collecting machine, winning six titles in a season again. The front three terrified all of Europe.

"Last season, they eliminated Manchester City as if they were playing a La Liga relegation team.

"Manchester City is likely to be vulnerable in front of Barcelona.

"Whether it's the last ten or twenty years, or the entire history of football, Manchester City cannot be compared to Barcelona.

"More importantly, Manchester City's road to advancement has been very bumpy, and their lineup has very big shortcomings.

"Zhao is not only the core but also everything for the whole team.

"Their advancement looks more like a high-level warrior leading a group of civilian noobs.

"He charges ahead alone, while everyone else just defends.

"Zhao's condition has become the key to whether Manchester City can advance.

"If he performs well enough, Manchester City will have good combat power. What's the difference between this and advancing by luck?

"If Zhao is locked down, Manchester City will be like a stagnant pool…

"And Barcelona has a strong midfield and frontcourt attack. The lineup of this Barcelona team makes it difficult to find weaknesses.

"Manchester City faces them, probably with the same result as last season.

"The road to revenge will once again become a one-sided beating."

It could be said that, apart from the optimistic Manchester media, no media outside of England was optimistic about Manchester City.

And the local English media, of course, would not suppress Manchester City's confidence, because Manchester City has now become the only representative of the Premier League in the Champions League.

However, to lie through one's teeth would be too hypocritical.

So most media outlets believed that Barcelona had a higher chance of advancing.

Manchester City has a great opportunity to upset Barcelona.

"Barcelona is indeed a world-class powerhouse, with a deep foundation, a more reasonable and powerful lineup.

"In the new century, it is also one of the three most successful clubs.

"Manchester City, as a Premier League upstart, does not have enough accumulation. This is their first time reaching the semi-finals, and they have to face the powerful Barcelona.

"Whether it is personnel, tactics, or experience, they cannot be compared with Barcelona.

"But this is the knockout stage, anything can happen, just like Manchester City was able to defeat Real Madrid in both legs of the group stage.

"Although Real Madrid was somewhat careless at the time, Manchester City did defeat them after all.

"Then, it's not surprising to continue to defeat Barcelona in the knockout stage.

"Moreover, the Manchester City team is now united, having established an advantage in the league early on, they can feel free to go all out.

"They will definitely not be shut out by Barcelona as they were last season, without seeing a single chance."

Zhao Gang didn't read any of the outside analysis of Manchester City.

Many Manchester City players did take a look, but Guardiola strictly forbade them from discussing the Champions League match.

Because that was in May, and now they still had league and FA Cup matches.

Guardiola needed to integrate his new 3-4-3 formation.

Guardiola felt that it was almost impossible to overturn his old club using the previous lineup.

In the sixth round of league and FA Cup matches, Guardiola continued to deploy his 3-4-3 formation.

This time, he had Kolarov, Otamendi, and Kompany as the three defenders, with Stones in midfield, partnering with Fernandinho.

On the sides were De Bruyne and Zhao Gang, and the front line was Jesus, Aguero, and Sterling.

In the away league match, there were almost no problems on the defensive end. Stones could retreat when defending and become a four-defender formation.

But on the offensive end, the coexistence of Jesus and Aguero became a problem.

If it couldn't be solved perfectly, Manchester City's offense would be greatly reduced, and there would be very serious problems against Barcelona.

But putting Jesus and Aguero in midfield would definitely be incompatible; those two weren't midfield material.

In the end, Manchester City still achieved a 2-0 victory away from home, and were now undefeated in 34 league matches.

In the FA Cup match away against Southampton, although Southampton only had the FA Cup left and went all out, they had almost no highlights against Manchester City, facing Sane and Kyle Walker, who were in increasingly good form and started together.

Zhao Gang, who was originally loafing around, gradually became the target of the away fans' attacks.

With Aguero and Sane each scoring a goal, and Zhao Gang not contributing a single assist,

the away team's extreme fans got anxious.

They were thrashed by Manchester City in the league, and Manchester City was playing with ease in the FA Cup. That Dragon Country kid was flaunting his skills, playing with their fans in the midfield.

This caused their pent-up anger to be vented on Zhao Gang.

"Get out of England!!"

"Get out of the purest football!!"

"Yellow-skinned freak!"

"Football is a gentleman's game, how are you worthy to play?"

The roars of those extreme fans stirred up the emotions of many people nearby.

A small section of the stands became agitated.