That night when the Arsenal team returned to London.
The Europa League semi-final draw was held, and Arsenal was lucky. They drew the biggest dark horse in the Europa League this season, Slavia Prague.
This team comes from the Czech League. With a solid style of play and a certain amount of luck, they advanced to the Europa League semi-finals.
The first round will be on April 28.
The time now is March 17, but in the second half of March, there are no games in the Premier League for the time being, so the Arsenal team can take a good rest.
When April comes, the Premier League's giants will be competing to determine the true top four.
Although the team will take some time off before then, Fang Fang has not stopped coming to the base for additional training.
He is definitely not the only one who chooses to practice extra like this. Many teammates are also self-disciplined. They take the initiative to come to the base to train in the morning and then go home after practicing in the afternoon.
This morning, Fang Fang arrived at the training base on time.
Then, he unexpectedly saw Lacazette, Xhaka, Saka and others together, seemingly reading some newspapers.
Fang Fang walked over, took off his sports headphones, and asked them curiously: "What's wrong? Is there something wrong?"
Xhaka put down the newspaper and said disdainfully: "It's not a big deal. These are a few old newspapers that Xhaka picked up on the way here. I saw that the news in the past few days was all about the Champions League. And we won against Atletico Madrid. There’s no place for us in the corners of the front page.”
Fang Fang picked up the newspaper and took a look, and sure enough he saw that the front page was all about the Champions League matches.
Among them, Sun Xingmin’s portrait is particularly eye-catching, with C in the middle. Because Son Heung-min scored twice to help Tottenham defeat the powerful Manchester City and advance to the Champions League semi-finals!
"."
Fang Fang glanced at it and put down the newspaper.
Not much of a reaction.
Because he knew Tottenham would lose to Liverpool in the end. How happy Tottenham are to advance now, but how painful it will be after the final is over.
but,
Lacazette sat next to him, his face a little silent, but he didn't know what he was thinking.
Fang Fang glanced at Lacazette and knew what he was thinking.
It has been more than two years since Lacazette came to Arsenal, but he has not even played a single Champions League game at Arsenal.
The Champions League is a place where many football players want to compete, as it has the highest level of competitive intensity! It is a place where you can prove your personal strength!
But when Lacazette was in French Ligue 1 Lyon, he still had Champions League games to play!
However, now that he is at Arsenal, he will never have this opportunity again. Perhaps only he himself knows the taste of this gap best.
Fang Fang felt that he should say something, but it was captain Xhaka who spoke first. He patted Lacazette and said: "It's okay. We will play in the Champions League next season. By then, it will be on the front pages of all newspapers." We are there!"
Knowing that his teammates were cheering him up, Lacazette nodded and his eyes became firmer, "Yes, we will definitely be able to play in the Champions League!"
After this little episode, Equation was training. It was obvious that everyone was holding a breath in their hearts, and the training became even harder.
Fang Fang looked away, his expression a bit confused.
I don’t know whether this psychological change of my teammates is good or bad.
On April 2, Arsenal returned to the 31st round of the Premier League.
After these days of rest, the team has now returned to form.
Facing this final race for the top four, everyone has already made sufficient mental preparations.
They have experienced a lot in the past half of the season, and they have encountered many doubts and confusions along the way.
Fortunately, everyone worked together and finally reached the end of the season ranked third in the Premier League.
Professor Wenger also excluded unstable players from the squad.
After overcoming so many difficulties, the entire team has been able to come together.
And because of the arrival of Equation, Arsenal's long-standing waist weakness has been completely resolved! Now with Iwobi retreating and performing stably, Arsenal have more options!
There are only eight rounds left in the Premier League schedule!
Everyone firmly believes that Arsenal can achieve the goals set for this season.
The reunited Arsenal are unstoppable
In the blink of an eye, on April 18, Arsenal won four consecutive league victories without any danger, and their ranking was stable in third place in the league, seven points ahead of fifth-placed Chelsea.
Subsequently,
When the 34th round of the Premier League started, Chelsea played one day early. However, Chelsea ended up with only one draw, a 1:1 draw with Watford.
If Arsenal can win this 34th round of the Premier League, they will lead Chelsea by 9 points!
This is a crucial game!
If they can win, Arsenal will continue to be ranked third and Chelsea will still be ranked fifth.
By then, there will be only 4 Premier League games left. Even if Chelsea wanted to catch up, it was already too late. Even if they win all 4 games and get 12 points, it still depends on the state of the four opponents.
Arsenal's opponent in the 34th round is Brighton.
In the recent three league games against Brighton, Arsenal did not have the upper hand, with 1 win, 1 loss and 1 draw.
Brighton has a tendency to become the main target of Arsenal.
The last time Arsenal could win against this opponent was back on October 1, 2017.
This year, Brighton has been determined to avoid relegation.
However, this does not mean that this team will become wantless.
On the contrary, in recent years, when these mid-to-lower teams that have successfully avoided relegation encounter Arsenal, they always feel like they are on fire. They either shrink back or make fouls and make aggressive defensive moves, as if they can win the championship if they get three more points.
Equation feels it’s time for these teams to pay off their debt.
Every time I want to be the straw that breaks the camel's back.
But the straw is easy to break, so how can it hit the camel exactly every time?
Therefore, before the game even started, Fangfang was already gearing up, trying to give some color to these relegation teams who like to look for trouble.
Soon in the first half, Fang Fang took the ball and scored a free kick in the frontcourt.
Lacazette would naturally give this opportunity to him.
Fang Fang exhaled, thinking that if he didn't score this time, there would be another time. There was no need to worry about the free kick percentage.
Then, after glancing in the direction of the door, he kicked out!
Just then, the football drew a full moon scimitar in the air and crashed into Brighton's gate!
Arsenal are one goal ahead! !
Some Brighton players felt very unconvinced. They quickly surrounded the referee and complained that the Oriental player was diving just now and there was no chance of a free kick!
However, the referee would not listen to one side of the story and signaled Brighton's people not to talk too much.
After seeing that his opponent was still unconvinced, Fang Fang's response was very simple, that is, to go all out even more!
If you are not convinced, then beat your opponent until he is convinced.
On the football field, hard power speaks for itself.
After taking a one-goal lead, Arsenal still did not choose to retreat. Fang Fang cooperated with Saka, Nketiah and Lacazette's offense in the frontcourt, keeping the opponent pressed!
In the 67th minute of the second half, after Equation cut inside, he kicked an unanswerable heavy shot into the goal, causing Brighton goalkeeper Ryan to let go.
Nketiah, who was wandering in the small penalty area, shot the football into the goal!
The score is 0:2! Arsenal leads by 2 goals!
Next, it’s time to torture your opponent. Fang Fang continues to pass the football in the midfield. It depends on whether the opponent wants to reverse the game. If they don't come up to grab the ball, then they will patiently pass the football and kill the remaining game time.
Brighton's players came up to grab the ball, but they could only get away with it.
The rhythm of the game was tightly controlled by Arsenal. The final score was 0:2, and Arsenal took away the victory from the away game!
In the standings after the game,
3rd, Arsenal, 22 wins, 6 draws and 6 losses
No. 4, Tottenham Hotspur, 20 wins, 5 draws and 9 losses
No. 5, Chelsea, 18 wins, 9 draws and 7 losses
Arsenal have achieved their goal of this round and are nine points ahead of Chelsea.
If Arsenal wins another game against Leicester City in the 35th round, they will lock in the top four in advance and qualify for next season's Champions League!
Even if Chelsea wins the last three rounds, there is no way to qualify for the Champions League again, unless Tottenham, ranked third, loses all the subsequent games.
But before that, Arsenal still have to play in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and another Europa League match.
on April 21st.
London, Wembley Stadium.
Manchester City, ranked first in the Premier League, and Arsenal came here to compete.
Wembley Stadium was first built in 1923 and was later rebuilt at a cost of 780 million pounds. It can accommodate 60,000 spectators. It is the national football stadium of Great Britain and is recognized as one of the greatest stadiums in the world.
The name of this stadium is only one word different from Highbury Stadium, Arsenal's former home stadium. However, these are two completely different stadiums.
Before the game, the outside world was generally optimistic that Manchester City could defeat Arsenal and enter the FA Cup final!
Because the two teams have met in the past ten times, Arsenal has 1 win, 3 draws and 6 losses. The only victory was a 3:2 win over Manchester City in a friendly match.
It can be seen that the strength gap between the two teams is very big. Coupled with Arsenal's recent continuous battles in the league, the physical fitness of the personnel has been exhausted.
But head coach Wenger didn't think so. In this game, he still sent out Arsenal's main lineup!
Wenger thinks there is a chance to win against Manchester City!
Because Manchester City is on the way to the championship, with only a small gap of two points behind second-ranked Liverpool. For the sake of the league championship, Guardiola will definitely choose to replace some main players.
This is a good opportunity for Arsenal.
Although some of the players on Manchester City's bench are also very good, they can definitely come to Arsenal and play the main role.
However, a football match is not a game purely about paper strength!
If it were a pure competition of lineup strength, Manchester City might have won the Champions League already.
It is also impossible for Manchester City to lose to Tottenham, ranked fourth in the Premier League, in the previous Champions League quarter-finals.
It can be said,
The overall mental willpower of a team can change the situation of the game to a great extent.
The team that can win the championship may not be the best and strongest;
But they must be the most united and temperamental team!
Arsenal has experienced so many ups and downs this season. They have already undergone transformation, and everyone has been quietly twisted into a rope!
The uneasy factor has been eliminated from the team!
No matter what difficulties they face, they can advance and retreat together.
This is why Professor Wenger believes that the team can defeat a powerful team like Manchester City.
Before the game, when warming up on the court.
Fang Fang was jogging alone on the sidelines. Suddenly he raised his head and saw head coach Guardiola walking by.
Guardiola smiled flatly and waved to him, "Hey, how are you? How are you doing lately?"
Fang Fang stopped and replied with a smile: "I'm sure it's fine. Is something wrong?"
Guardiola said easily: "I just have time and I want to say a few words to you. You should be able to qualify for the Champions League next season. Congratulations first."
Fang Fang readily accepted, "Thank you for your congratulations, but we still lack a few championship trophies."
Guardiola nodded, "It's good that young people are energetic. However, have you made a plan for next season?"
Fang Fang heard some other meanings and replied: "I'm sorry, I haven't thought about this yet."
Guardiola said: "Okay, we will talk when we have time."
"Well, I'm honored."
Equation politely said goodbye.
Watching Guashuai go away, Fang Fang suddenly sighed.
I think it has not been easy for Guardiola in the Premier League in recent years.
Fans are tired of the Premier League championship trophy and are eager to see Manchester City make a breakthrough in the Champions League. However, Manchester City has ranked first in the world in transfer investment for three consecutive years and ranked first in the Champions League odds every year, but it has never entered the Champions League final. Not even a chance to see the championship trophy.
Now, Guardiola's coaching style has become controversial.
In fact, Guardiola has not achieved outstanding results since coaching Bayern Munich. It seems that after leaving Barcelona, he has fallen into decline.
I don’t know when Guardiola will be able to prove his coaching ability again.
but,
Fang Fang just feels a little emotional about Guardiola's coaching career. He will still go all out for this game.
Equation had the same idea as head coach Wenger today. He felt that the team had a chance to win against the powerful Manchester City.
Especially after seeing that Manchester City’s starting lineup today is 433,
Frontcourt: Sterling, Jesus, Mahrez
Midfielder: Silva, Gundogan, B. Silva
Backcourt: Delph, Laporte, Otamendi, Walker
Goalkeeper Ederson.
The equation is clear that this lineup is not yet complete for Manchester City.
Because the opponent lacks De Bruyne, Aguero, and Sane. They are all resting on Manchester City's bench today. When they play together, that's when Manchester City is at its strongest.
The most important thing is that Fang Fang can't figure out why the opponent's Laporte is still on the court. It was precisely because of Laporte's two major mistakes that Manchester City finally lost to Tottenham in the Champions League knockout round.
Of course, one yard equals another, and Equation, as an opponent, is still very willing to see Laporte appear in Manchester City's defense.
Soon, the game officially started.
Arsenal got the ball by tossing a coin.
Fang Fang played as an attacking midfielder today, but at the beginning of the game, his position was not very high. Instead, he temporarily formed a formation similar to a double defensive midfielder.
This was in response to Manchester City's high-pressure attack at the start.
Equation's ball-handling proficiency has now reached 50%, and he is somewhat able to handle Manchester City's advances with ease.
His receiving movements are different in many cases. This time Mahrez stepped forward, turned the ball around, and easily passed the ball forward.
The next time he faced a back pass from his teammate, he stepped forward to meet the ball and easily missed the opponent's attack.
Fang Fang used his keen observation to observe the surrounding situation before making the action to catch the ball. Unless he jointly targeted the ball, he would generally not be able to grab the ball at his feet.
This makes Manchester City's frontcourt players feel a little uncomfortable, because they cannot limit the ball release point of the equation!
"This Fang, he has become more powerful again!"
Guardiola sat on the sidelines with his arms folded. When he saw Fang Fang's calm temperament controlling the midfield, he couldn't help but touch the top of his head.
When the assistant coach on the side saw Guashuai's move, he knew that this game would be difficult.
(End of chapter)
