Starting lineup for this match:
Home team Manchester City, 4231:
Kolarov/Ranocchia/Mangala/Sabaleta
Away team Borussia Monchengladbach, 442:
Fabian/Zaka/Dahud/Herman
Winter/Domingos/Christensen/Kob
For this match, Manchester City made several adjustments to their starting lineup.
First, Apollo and Joe Hart have both returned to the team.
Chiwo hit the nail on the head; Tang Long has been moved from the attacking midfielder position to the defensive midfielder, forming a double pivot with Yaya Toure.
Perhaps it’s because Pellegrini believes that within Group B, Borussia Monchengladbach is their weakest opponent, plus Manchester City is playing at home with various comprehensive advantages. Therefore, he’s using this Champions League match to try out new tactics.
Borussia Monchengladbach has many German natives, and these players are tall.
To compensate for the height disadvantage in the front after Tang Long moved from attacking midfielder to defensive midfielder, Nasri replaced Navas in the starting lineup.
On defense, the 1.87m tall Kolarov replaced the 1.76m Klichy.
Meanwhile, the ever-reliable Kompany and Sagna took a moderate rest while Mangala and Sabaleta started.
Players from both teams are in position, waiting for kickoff.
Toure stands at the defensive midfielder position, glances at his partner Tang Long for this match, and can’t help but worry~
He thinks to himself, what you fear most often comes true!
It seems the casual chat from a few days ago in training was not baseless; Pellegrini really moved Tang Long to the defensive midfielder position!
Now the team has Delph, Fernando, and Fernandinho who can play as defensive midfielders.
Calculating this, five players competing for two positions instantly felt overwhelming pressure.
If it were five years younger Toure, who joined Manchester City with the splendor of Barça’s treble, he wouldn’t fear competing with any players and would find it exciting and challenging.
But now Toure is 32 years old, in his contract year, and still negotiating with the club for a new extension.
Selling off players no longer considered valuable happens often in the world of football, especially in big clubs.
As soon as they deem a player no longer having competitive value, they’ll trade them away without hesitation.
Having battled in the football world for years, Toure understands this well, and he’s even begun to resent Tang Long a little.
Forward, attacking midfielder, defensive midfielder, how can you play every position?
Back when Tang Long competed with Milner for the attacking midfielder spot and pushed Milner out, Toure said nothing;
When Manchester City needed goals and Pellegrini didn’t trust Bony, he moved Tang Long to the front line. Although Toure secretly helped Bony, to him, it was just competition among forwards and wouldn’t affect his position.
Now, Tang Long stands beside him, having reached the defensive midfielder position, really urgent for Toure!
On the bench, there are still two defensive midfielders, Fernando and Fernandinho, who are also regular rotation starters for Manchester City.
In terms of strength alone, these players aren’t much worse than Toure, and they’re even more formidable defensively.
Adding a versatile Tang Long to the mix, Toure can’t help but grit his teeth, determined to perform well in this match; otherwise, he fears next year Bony might still be in the team, while he would have to pack up and leave first!
The referee blows the whistle, and the match begins!
Manchester City takes the first kick.
Agüero gently nudges the ball to Sterling, who sends it back to Silva.
Etihad Stadium erupts with a huge noise, the Champions League is here, let’s get fired up!
Silva sees the towering German players coming at him and quickly passes the ball back to Toure.
"Pull them back a bit!" Silva says.
Manchester City’s passing control system isn’t afraid of the opponent’s pressing.
Playing at home, they see the opponent charging and will continuously pass the ball backwards to lure them deep.
Once the opponent’s formation stretches too long and becomes disjointed, they swiftly attack forward, catching them off guard.
Toure is positioned somewhat forward; as soon as he got the ball, the tough Zaka was already blocking his path.
"Pull back a bit more!"
Tang Long quickly steps back a few paces, signaling Toure to pass him the ball.
Tang Long has already mapped out his next move in his mind.
Once Toure passes the ball to him, he’ll leisurely stop the ball, wait for Zaka to move in further, then at the last moment pass the ball to the technically proficient Ranocchia.
By attracting the opponent’s firepower to the edge of the penalty area, he can then move into space, receive Ranocchia’s pass, and turn to launch an attack!
Though the thinking is correct, an issue arises at the Toure phase.
For some reason, Toure doesn’t pass the ball to Tang Long; instead, he makes a slight turn, dodging Zaka.
Toure uses a move called "fried meatball," and in a couple of swift motions, he bypasses Zaka’s pressing.
Although the fans at Etihad Stadium applaud Toure’s superb footwork, cheering for his brilliance;
But whether it’s Tang Long who is retreating to support, or Ranocchia on the defensive line, both are puzzled.
"Too risky, Toure is in the defensive midfielder position; if intercepted, it’s fatal. With Toure’s experience, he shouldn’t be this reckless."
As expected, though Toure managed to dodge Zaka, before he could advance with the ball, Fabian from Borussia Monchengladbach’s midfield and Rafael from the forwards quickly rushed up, closing in on Toure.