The Arrogance of the Ignorant

Manchester City had certainly enjoyed thrashing Manchester United 7–0, but they had no time to savor the victory for long. The team had to head away again almost immediately to challenge Greece's Aris.

Although the Greek side had previously declared that they would preserve their forty-year unbeaten home record, send Manchester City home empty-handed, and Greek media outlets had been hyping up Aris's unbeaten European home record, Manchester City still had no intention of fielding all their starters.

The journey was simply too long.

The round trip covered more than two thousand kilometers. The flight alone would take several hours, and the players would have to hurry back after the match. The toll on them would be too great.

Therefore, Guardiola and the coaching staff had settled on a strategy: do their best to win away, but the real battle would still be at home.

There was no need to mention Manchester City's long journey. Wouldn't Aris have to make a long journey for the second leg as well?

Su Dong, Pepe, Marcelo, David Silva, and several others did not travel for the away match. Instead, they stayed in Manchester to recover and prepare for the next Premier League round.

On the night of the match, Su Dong hosted a dinner at his manor. They all came.

The Greek teams were not actually weak. Olympiacos, for example, was certainly not as strong overall as the Big Four Leagues, but if one asked whether they could put up a fight—especially at home—the answer was unquestionably yes.

Manchester City's players could clearly feel a sense of fatigue.

The strain of traveling such a long distance was truly devastating for the away side.

After kickoff, Manchester City instead found themselves at a disadvantage in terms of initiative. Taking advantage of their home