Chapter 691: Chapter 690: Lose-Lose?
March 27, the 30th round of the English Premier League.
Manchester City faced Blackburn.
This time Manchester City opted for a semi-first team lineup.
After all, they played Roma less than three days ago, not only fielding their main players but also suffering Essien’s injury.
If things go as expected, Blackburn might be relegated this season.
Despite their display of a will to win on the pitch.
The gap in strength between the two sides meant they had no choice but to surrender.
Two-nil.
Manchester City didn’t press Blackburn while controlling the situation,
rather, they were controlling the tempo.
There’s a saying: don’t chase a desperate enemy.
Manchester City truly can’t afford any more injuries now.
And if they turn around, they have another tough match to play.
April 1, the FA Cup semi-final.
Manchester City vs Liverpool.
Everybody knows Liverpool, right?
The team that ended Manchester City’s 22-match winning streak.
Liverpool: That would be us!
At one point, they were hailed as the European anti-blue heroes.
Stopping the terrifying reign of the Blue Moon.
But in this match, Liverpool definitely suffered a backlash.
They conceded early due to a goalkeeping error by Dudek.
When Dudek kicked the ball downfield, Adriano launched himself in to block the shot.
It’s rare to see Adriano put in such an effort.
The result was the football bouncing off Adriano’s back and into Liverpool’s goal.
In the end, that goal was the only one of the match.
Liverpool stopped here.
Their entire campaign for the season came to an early end.
Champions League, League, League Cup, FA Cup — all came to nothing!
Although there are still eight rounds left in the league.
But the gap with both Chelsea and Manchester United has been stretched by the Premier League’s top two freaks.
One is the terrifying Blue Moon, which up to this point in the season hasn’t tasted a single defeat in all competitions.
The other is the Invincibles of the Premier League who have also remained undefeated so far.
Manchester City has won more games, currently leading Arsenal by four points.
The upcoming schedule for both teams is nearly equally daunting.
But Arsenal has the advantage of not having expended too much energy in the early League Cup,
not causing trouble for the players’ fitness.
So, if there were a progress bar for fitness and spirit, Arsenal’s players would generally be better off than Manchester City’s players.
However, the next day, Arsenal’s advantage grew even larger.
Because in another FA Cup semi-final, the invincible Arsenal of the Premier League lost to third-placed Manchester United.
Ronaldo delivered the killer goal for Manchester United!
Arsenal’s season was reduced from three fronts to two!
Ronaldo also issued Manchester United’s championship declaration for this season: "I know it’s a bit difficult to do certain things in the league, but it’s certainly not impossible."
"As for the FA Cup, I think we have a good chance."
"I have won the Premier League with Manchester United, but I have yet to win the FA Cup; I am two hundred percent eager for any new honor."
"It’s time for Manchester United to win the FA Cup!"
Manchester United fans were excited by this.
After all, under this season’s circumstances with two freaks, the FA Cup has become the best reward Manchester United could compete for.
...
April 4th, the 31st round of the English Premier League.
When Mars collides with Earth!
The unbeaten derby staged once again!
Manchester City faces off against Arsenal.
This match was extremely crucial.
Three days before this match, both sides had just played the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
And three days after this match, both were to face the second leg of their European knockout games.
Arsenal was to meet its local mortal enemy Chelsea.
Manchester City was headed to Barcelona, to renew their rivalry with the seasoned adversary, Barça.
Neither team was willing to give up on these three games...
Sky Sports: "Manchester City and Arsenal are both stuck in a difficult position, they absolutely can’t give up on European competition. But the honor of being unbeaten in the league, or rather the Premier League title that it represents, is also very important to them!"
The Times: "Manchester City and Arsenal are both walking a tightrope, it’s just a matter of whose wire breaks first. From the current results, Manchester City is the one more likely to encounter misfortune."
Echo Report: "In the first leg, Arsenal drew 1-1 with Chelsea. Manchester City’s first leg ended 2-2 with Barcelona. The situation for both is not clear!"
Manchester Evening: "Even without player injuries, such a high intensity, high frequency of matches would be very hard to bear, even for the top teams in the world."
Record Report: "This is actually the problem with the Premier League, the competition is simply too fierce. Such severe internal consumption will lead to weakness in external battles. Both teams might end up losers because of this game!"
Kicker: "Yes, regardless of the result of this league game, they could both end up being the losers in European competition!"
The media was very concerned about the structure of the Premier League.
But soon, some media outlets stated that the commercial value of the Premier League was very high, and the championship had a significant influence.
Other media believed that the intense competition in the Premier League meant that the value of its championship could even rival that of Serie A and La Liga.
Basically, all kinds of nice things were being said.
But when you look at the forces behind the media, it was essentially those few who were aiming to win the Champions League and the UEFA Cup.
They just hoped that Manchester City and Arsenal would fight among themselves.
Both teams indeed had been fierce this season.
And the result was pretty much what everyone had expected.
The two teams fought hard for the title for the whole game.
But the quality of their defenses was very high.
When attacking, there were six or seven men going forward, and when defending, there were nine or ten men returning.
The game was played with intense passion.
In the 56th minute of the second half, Henry broke through with a solo goal!
In the 79th minute of the second half, after Tu Lei’s long-range shot, Deng Kai followed up with a goal.
The clash of kings was staged!
In the end, the teams shook hands on a 1-1 draw once again.
The two instances of meeting in the league this season had not produced a winner.
At the moment the match ended, Wenger’s face showed a bitter smile.
If they had won, not only would the gap in points have been narrowed, but they could also have leveraged this joy in the Champions League push.
But now, both teams were completely exhausted.
Damn!
April 7th.
London’s skies were a mix of dark clouds and clearness.
Arsenal’s fans returned home desolate in the heavy rain.
Arsenal’s spirit was shattered at Stamford Bridge!
Chelsea won 2-1, achieving victory over Arsenal in the league for the first time!
Chelsea advances to the semi-finals of the Champions League!
After the game, facing the reporters, Abramovich said with a smile, "What does an unbeaten league matter? In games that you can afford to lose, not losing doesn’t matter, but in important games that you can’t afford to lose, you’ll end up losing."
"I don’t believe that there is an invincible team in this world."
"If there is, it’s just because their time hasn’t come."
"I’ve invested a lot of money in Chelsea, and they haven’t let me down. Our goal is the Champions League title! I’m full of confidence in us."
"I believe, not to mention Arsenal, even if our opponent was Manchester City, the unbeaten team of this season in all competitions, the one advancing would still be us!"
"This is what I call the Conservation Law of Victory and Defeat!"
