Chelsea's attack was very lively, but it was already very different from the opening stage.

Due to Zhao Gang suddenly filling in as center-back, restricting Costa, Kompany had many more opportunities to cover.

Although Zhao Gang didn't have much experience as a center-back, his one-on-one defending and aerial ability were very strong.

With Kompany present, Zhao Gang didn't need to perform the duties of a center-back; he just needed to mark Costa.

Chelsea was finding it difficult to create threats through Costa in the middle.

With Zhao Gang's speed and physical qualities, he could not only make Costa very uncomfortable in the penalty area, but he could also follow Costa out of the penalty area, greatly reducing Costa's support ability.

This fully liberated Kompany. Even if Adarabioyo lacked defensive experience, Kompany could always help with the defense.

Not only was Costa having a very difficult time, but Chelsea's two wings were playing well, although the threatening attacks were greatly reduced.

There were too many people defending for Manchester City.

Zhao Gang himself didn't expect that appearing in the center-back position would be such a great help to the team.

For the rest of the first half, Manchester City didn't have good counter-attacking opportunities, and Chelsea's attack had difficulty entering the penalty area.

They had four shots, all attempts from outside the penalty area, and none penetrated the goal.

Costa was already feeling uncomfortable, baring his teeth, wanting to hit someone after being disturbed by Zhao Gang.

Finally, in the final stage of the first half, Costa couldn't bear it anymore.

Hazard once again lofted the ball into the penalty area, and Zhao Gang and Costa jumped to compete for the header.

Costa, who wasn't as fast as Zhao Gang, directly swung his elbow, pressing down on Zhao Gang and hitting him in the head.

Zhao Gang's head went blank, and he fell to the ground.

Blood immediately flowed from his brow bone, covering his entire face.

After knocking Zhao Gang down, Costa looked ferocious and continued the attack, heading the ball into the goal.

The referee immediately blew the whistle, indicating that Costa had fouled first. Costa spread his hands, looking very aggrieved.

The entire stands were about to riot. Ollie stood there, her mouth open, looking worried.

Kompany didn't hesitate at all. The old captain roared and pushed Costa. The players in the penalty area immediately started shoving each other.

Aguero outside the penalty area stared with wide eyes and rushed back, faster than he would on a fast break.

The Argentine boxing champion was short, but his fists were not small. Costa was surrounded in the innermost circle, with another circle of players from both sides trying to break them up. Aguero rushed over and pushed away the outer players, regardless of friend or foe, until he finally found Costa, who was pushing and shoving with Kompany in the center.

Aguero rushed over and went straight for Costa's chest with his iron fist.

Aguero and Kompany, just the two of them against Costa, directly knocked him to the ground.

Chelsea players Pedro and Hazard hurriedly pushed Aguero and Kompany away to protect their teammate.

The Etihad fans cheered wildly, with drums and gongs, but no traditional Chinese suona horn. If they had one, it would definitely be earth-shattering.

The referee and assistant referee used all their strength to separate the two sides.

De Bruyne, who had been sitting on the bench as if he hadn't woken up, was now standing spiritedly on the sidelines. If the Manchester City players were at a disadvantage, he would rush over to help.

Belgian sumo wrestling is not a false reputation.

Jesus stood next to De Bruyne, shrinking his head, marveling at Aguero's small cannon-like charge.

No wonder Aguero had been out for so long, but his league goal count was still the highest.

With this momentum, if I were Zhao Gang, I would pass the ball to him!

Guardiola was anxiously pacing around, telling the team doctor to hurry onto the field.

The players separated, and the referee handed out cards one after another. What should have been a yellow card for Costa resulted in two more yellow cards for Manchester City.

One each for Kompany and Aguero!

The fans were obviously dissatisfied with the penalty, booing the referee and cheering for Aguero and Kompany.

The team doctor helped Zhao Gang up. Zhao Gang held a gauze pad over his brow bone and walked towards the sideline.

Aguero stayed by his side, holding up his fingers and asking Zhao Gang how many there were, to see if there was a problem with his head.

Zhao Gang didn't know whether to laugh or cry and shook his head.

"It looks really serious, a face full of blood, but there shouldn't be a big problem. He needs to go to the sideline to treat the wound…"

After sending Zhao Gang to the sideline, Aguero didn't leave, and only after confirming with the team doctor that there was no problem did he return to the field.

De Bruyne and Jesus stood to one side, watching.

Guardiola waved his hand and called Stones to his side.

"Is he going to make a substitution? Is there a problem with Zhao Gang's injury? Hiss… if he has a concussion or something, that would really be a disaster."

"There shouldn't be a big problem. Zhao Gang seems to be saying that he can play, that there's no problem. The team doctor's gesture should also mean there's no problem."

Guardiola shook his head. I am the head coach, what I say is what I say.

You come off.

The game continued on the field, and Stones finished warming up, replacing Zhao Gang in the final moments of injury time.

Throughout the halftime break, many fans were worried about Zhao Gang's injury. If it was a minor problem, Guardiola shouldn't have directly arranged for Stones to come on.

Manchester City fans are most worried about players getting injured, especially Zhao Gang, as the next two games are crucial.

One is related to winning the league title early, and the other is the first leg of the Champions League against Juventus.

Don't let anything go wrong at this time.

During the halftime break, Guardiola explained the tactics for the second half. Stones was moved to the defensive midfielder position. According to his arrangement, he would retreat to the center-back position when defending and move forward when attacking, organizing the play.

This tactic had never appeared before. Stones understood, but he would definitely need to use it flexibly on the field.

The teammates' movements, the adaptation of the whole team, would definitely take time.

The team doctor wrapped Zhao Gang's head into a mummy. Zhao Gang sat on the sidelines, a little depressed, not forgetting to send a message to Ollie, telling her that he was fine.

Ollie on the stands breathed a sigh of relief and chatted happily with Zhao Gang.

Zhao Gang never objected to Guardiola's tactical arrangements and personnel choices.

This is one of Guardiola's coaching principles.

There will never be conflicts in the locker room. He himself is the biggest one in the locker room, and no one can disobey his arrangements.

Even his favorite Messi needs to follow his team discipline.

Of course, you can raise objections, and then be sent away by Guardiola.

In fact, last season, Aguero and Yaya Toure had conflicts with Guardiola, but in the end Aguero compromised, and Yaya Toure was sent away.

It's that simple, no matter what contribution you make to the team, you will not be the special one.

Why is Zhao Gang now regarded as an idol by his teammates?

One reason is his skills and attitude on the field, and another important reason is that he is the only Manchester City player who can have some privileges.

Guardiola has given him great freedom on the field. He can dribble the ball around by himself, he can step on the ball and daydream, regardless of opponents or teammates.

Everyone knows about these privileges. As long as Guardiola is at Manchester City, Zhao Gang is the most powerful player at Manchester City.

When the second half started and Zhao Gang came out with the team to sit on the bench, the entire Etihad rang with warm applause.

The camera immediately focused on the bench. Zhao Gang was locked in his chair, his head wrapped tightly, with an expression like a little widow, which immediately made Zhan Lu laugh.

"Hey… this… Zhao Gang really doesn't have any major problems. His image is a bit alternative, he has no idol baggage at all."

"The reason why Zhao Gang came back to sit on the bench should be to tell the fans who care about him that he is fine, otherwise there would be no need to come out with the team now."

"Judging from the starting lineup arranged by Guardiola, he may not have intended to let Zhao Gang start from the beginning.

It's good now, he's directly substituted. It's also a good thing, he can get off work early to rest and prepare for the league and Champions League in a few days."

With Stones on the field, Manchester City's defense is actually more solid.

Zhao Gang's personal ability can restrict Costa, and Stones is not bad at it either.

Moreover, Stones is a defender by origin. His defensive actions, defensive predictions, and reading ability for defense are definitely much stronger than Zhao Gang.

However, Stones came on the field with a mission. He had to keep moving forward to create chances for his teammates and increase the attacking ability of the midfield.

As for Adarabioyo, he was pushed to Clichy's wing, and Clichy also followed forward, allowing Garcia, this young winger, to move further forward.

It changed from a 4-4-2 to a 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 formation.

This formation was a whim of Guardiola's. The players could not adapt to it directly, and the abilities of these players were not the best at Manchester City.

With this change of formation, Chelsea pinned Manchester City to the ground and beat them.

The players on the bench watched in fear, and the players on the field didn't play comfortably.

However, Guardiola was radiant, standing on the sidelines, even running back and forth with the pace of the attack and defense, constantly directing.

Zhao Gang looked at the focused and passionate Guardiola. This is one of the reasons why he respects Guardiola.

He is always full of enthusiasm and devotes almost everything to soccer.

And he will never hide anything. He wishes he could let everyone learn all his tactical concepts.

One of the biggest beneficiaries should be assistant coach Arteta.

A few years later, Arteta became one of Guardiola's strongest opponents in the Premier League.

The situation on the field was very unfavorable for Manchester City. Chelsea's attack came wave after wave, and Manchester City had almost no good attacking opportunities.

In the 68th minute of the match, Chelsea finally scored a goal.

Hazard's through pass and Pedro's shot allowed Chelsea to take the lead again, 2-1.

Guardiola did not blame the players, but kept shouting at the players about how they should stand and move.

After conceding a goal, Guardiola quickly adjusted. In the 72nd minute of the match, De Bruyne and David Silva replaced Garcia and Adarabioyo.

This time it became a real 3-4-3 formation, with De Bruyne at the front, Silva and Delph on both sides, and Fernandinho Stones defending in the center.

Manchester City's attack began to improve.

Chelsea, of course, attacked with all their might.

Time passed, and neither side scored.

In the 88th minute of the match, Chelsea played a very smooth passing move, but unfortunately Hazard's shot was slightly above the crossbar.

After that, Chelsea practically gave up the match. It was too difficult to score two more goals in the remaining six minutes to force extra time.

When the final whistle blew, Guardiola shook hands with Conte and embraced each other.

Chelsea defeated Manchester City 2-1 away from home, but unfortunately, because they were too far behind in the first leg, they were eliminated by Manchester City 5-3 on aggregate.

The Etihad Stadium rang with sustained applause, which was the fans' encouragement and gratitude for the players' wonderful performance.

The players on the field shook hands with each other to express their respect.

Zhao Gang and all the players held a brief thank-you ceremony for the Etihad fans, thanking all the spectators who entered the stadium to support the team.

After the match, Conte was interviewed, "We didn't play well. The team wasted many opportunities. We had a chance to turn the game around. There's no way, we missed the best chance to win the title. This feeling is very bad. Manchester City is indeed the team that should have advanced."

Guardiola, as always, praised the opponent, "Chelsea played very well. We lost for the first time at home. Fortunately, we got enough clean sheet goals in the first leg.

Yes, Zhao is fine. I was just worried that he would have a problem, so I replaced him.

The most important thing for us now is the next league match.

I mean, we have a chance to defeat a team like Liverpool at our home stadium and win the Premier League title early. This is a huge attraction for us.

My players and I will not pretend to be indifferent. Whether it is winning the title early or defeating Liverpool, these are things to be proud of and excited about.

So, we will do our best to strive for everything we can get.

We are all ready, and I believe Klopp and Liverpool are also ready.

This will definitely be a wonderful game, and it will also be a difficult game."