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When I rolled on the grassy ground with the sweaty boys, Manchester City was especially a team that had no connection with the Champions League.

Last season, Manchester City’s gruesome history in the Champions League began as they entered the group of death with Bayern Munich, Napoli, and Villarreal.

In the original history, they were assigned to a group with Real Madrid, Ajax, and Dortmund for the 12/13 season.

In the 13/14 and 14/15 seasons, they barely made it through the group stage to the Round of 16 but faced Barcelona two years in a row, getting eliminated spectacularly.

At this point, one could reasonably think they were branded as a dirty oil money team that won the league by destroying the environment.

“Speaking of which, PSG also couldn’t win the Champions League with Mbappé, Neymar, and Messi.”

In any case, the fate of that Manchester City did not change much.

Despite the altered history, Manchester City ended up in a hell group with Real Madrid, Dortmund, and Celtic.

They were ranked fourth in the Champions League, caught by the neck from the weakest team, Celtic in Group D.

Ultimately, they clenched their teeth and set out to secure a victory against Dortmund in a home match.

Manchester City launched with a 4-4-2 formation.

True to Mancini’s style of dominating the center with physically strong and technically skilled midfielders, Yaya Touré and Javi Garcia took their places as central midfielders.

Up front, Edin Džeko and Sergio Agüero formed a big and small duo, while Samir Nasri and David Silva graced the wings.

It was a clear display of their fierce determination to target Dortmund’s backline with long-ball tactics.

Although it was a strategy aimed at exploiting Dortmund’s weaknesses, it didn’t seem like they would lose.

To surpass the celestial Jurgen Klopp’s gegenpressing prowess, they would need to bring the football god Lionel Messi and a trio of fools.

Otherwise, they could just wait until they burned out all their stamina in the second half and self-destruct.

Well, neither situation applied to Manchester City now.

“Yaya! Pass it!!”

Ignoring the request to pass, Yaya Touré attempted to dribble through himself.

The sight of the 190cm beast charging forward was honestly a bit scary, but due to his habit of dragging the ball in counterattack situations, he wasn’t that threatening.

“Fuck! Pass it already!”

As they shut down Yaya Touré’s dribble with cooperative defense, Manchester City’s attack squad exploded in complaints.

What can I say? Overall, it felt like “Is this even a team?” It seemed that the strong personalities of the star players diluted the team’s coherence.

“Jinho!!!”

In any case, the counterattack from Dortmund followed after blocking the ball. Sebastian Kehl called my name and pointed at Marco Reus, who was sprinting forward with a speed worthy of his nickname, “Rolls Royce.”

I confirmed Marco Reus’s position while swinging my leg powerfully.

A pass slicing through the ground from the right side to the left.

The ball, laden with backspin, slowed down in front of Marco Reus.

“Marco!!”

Given the comfortable pass, Marco Reus unknowingly smiled and delivered a cross directly toward Robert Lewandowski, who was penetrating the penalty box.

Matija Nastasić, who was partnered with Vincent Kompany, stuck to Lewandowski but failed to win the contest against Lewandowski, who had already found a better position.

With pinpoint accuracy, Lewandowski’s header, simply redirected, was heading toward the goal.

A smile appeared on Lewandowski’s lips as he anticipated the score.

Thud─!

But Joe Hart’s superb save rescued Manchester City.

“Aah…”

“Phew…”

Dortmund’s away fans grabbed their heads in disappointment while Manchester City’s fans let out a sigh of relief.

“Nice save!”

As Mancini’s voice encouraged the players from outside the touchline, attention shifted to Manchester City’s bench.

“Wow. What’s this? Is the manager a sage?”

I couldn’t help but express my admiration.

There stood the rebellious Tévez (mutinous) and Mario Balotelli.

***

[It’s been a very one-sided match until now. Manchester City seems unable to keep their wits about them against Dortmund’s fierce pressure.]

[That’s right. Additionally, their sharp passing play was impressive. Dortmund players, including Son Jinho, looked light on their feet.]

[On the other hand, Manchester City adopted long-ball tactics to exploit Dortmund’s weaknesses, but are the players not in good condition? So far, they have failed to create any special moments.]

Just as the commentators cautiously hinted at tactical failures.

[Matija Nastasić sends a long ball forward!]

Matija Nastasić, not good at defense but strong in buildup play, directed the long pass towards Edin Džeko.

Sergio Agüero momentarily broke the offside line of Dortmund and infiltrated into the backspace.

[Džeko heads it!! It connects to Agüero!]

The Bosnia Bombardier, Edin Džeko, calmly dropped the ball to Sergio Agüero, who was sneaking into the backspace.

[The assistant referee does not raise the flag!! Agüero!! One-on-one chance!!]

With his unique low balance and footwork, Agüero bulldozed through Dortmund’s defenders into the penalty area.

[Agüerooooooo─!]

He calmly shot with his right foot towards the bottom left corner of the goal, checking the position of the out-of-place Roman Weidenfeller.

Thud─!

[Super save by Roman Weidenfeller!! Roman Weidenfeller blocks Agüero’s shot with his toes!!]

Agüero’s shot was intercepted by Dortmund’s goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller.

“Scheiße! Is that me!!”

Successively making an incredible save, Weidenfeller swung his fist in the air and roared, while cheers erupted from the away fans.

The ensuing corner kick by Manchester City.

[Manchester City players are quite tall, you know? They need to be cautious during set pieces.]

A fierce battle for positioning unfolded.

[David Silva takes the corner kick!]

David Silva’s corner kick flowed high and long, aimed at Edin Džeko.

[Hediiiiiing─!! Straight to the goalkeeper! It’s a stable catch by Roman Weidenfeller!]

The moment Roman Weidenfeller caught the ball, Dortmund players rushed forward for a counterattack.

Roman Weidenfeller threw the ball to Łukasz Piszczek on the right side, who then passed it to İlkay Gündoğan, who was asking for a pass.

[İlkay Gündoğan sees Son Jinho! Son Jinho has the ball! Yaya Touré is quickly pressing!]

In a situation where Manchester City’s defense couldn’t return.

[Oh!! Son Jinho! Son Jinho withstands the tussle with Yaya Touré!]

Yaya Touré tried to interrupt with fouls, even using his hands against Son Jinho, colliding hard, but Son Jinho elegantly managed to lift the ball through Yaya Touré’s legs.

[Successfully snatching the ball through Yaya Touré’s legs! Straight away into a pass for Lewandowski!]

[Matija Nastasić lost track of Lewandowski’s marking! Lewandowski shoots!!]

[Woaaaaa─! It’s saved! Joe Hart! The heart of Manchester City, Joe Hart, saves the team once again from a crisis with a fantastic save!!]

***

Seeing Joe Hart’s heroic save in a crucial moment made me chuckle.

In this match, Joe Hart was indisputably showcasing the prowess of a world-class goalkeeper.

At this point, the first half wasn’t even over yet.

Joe Hart had already prevented a total of five critical scoring chances.

Had it not been for him, Manchester City’s loss would likely have been sealed long ago.

In any case, I positioned myself at the right corner flag to deal with the corner kick.

“Jinho! I’ll take it!”

Just as the designated kicker, Marcel Schmelzer, approached to take the corner kick.

“It’s okay! Just believe in me and mark well!”

I noticed the momentary lapse in concentration of Manchester City’s defense.

That sight reminded me of Arnold’s corner kick that toyed with FC Barcelona, and I took a cautious step backward and stealthily executed the corner kick.

If I wasn’t careful, I could end up like Thomas Müller, but thankfully the ball accurately aimed directly into the penalty box.

“Huh?”

Lewandowski, looking bewildered as he approached the ball, successfully shook the net.

As Lewandowski scored, he dashed over to me at the corner flag and whispered softly.

“Hey, was that a goal?”

Hmm.

For now.

“Let’s shout together with the crowd.”

***

[Son Jinho executes the corner kick stealthily!!!]

[Goaaaaaal─!! It’s in! Roberto Lewandowski!! Son Jinho’s sensibly taken corner kick gives Dortmund a precious first goal!!]

└ ㅇ?

└ Oh??

└ Wow, what the hell is this?

└ What the fuck, Manchester City’s concentration on defense is no joke? No one even thought of stopping it.

└ Hahaha, who’s the guy raising his hands after the goal? That’s hilarious.

└ Ah haha, but it’s a corner kick so they’re saying offside, right? Hahaha

 

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