C Ronaldo's Hat Trick Completes Comeback Against Bayern! Is Guardiola's Manchester City Job in Jeopardy?
After the flight landed, all Manchester City players dispersed on the spot.
Some impatient young players, like Iheanacho, didn't even go home, but stayed at the airport to meet their girlfriends and take red-eye flights abroad for vacation.
Most players went home with joy and enjoyed a good night's sleep.
Tang Long made a new discovery and wasn't sleepy at all. Instead, he trained in the AI Cloud Training Ground until late at night, only falling asleep when dawn broke.
One week later.
May 29, 2016.
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Italy.
The UEFA Champions League final has begun!
Bayern Munich vs. Real Madrid.
Ronaldo managed to get four tickets, which he gave to Tang Long, Bonazzoli, and Ranocchia. The four of them sat in the stands at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza to watch the game.
During the past week, Tang Long has been spending his days training in the AI Cloud Training Ground during the off-season.
He needs to complete all 100 hours of specialized training before the summer training season begins in a month.
However, the UEFA Champions League final is absolutely not to be missed!
Especially since this match is at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Tang Long and Ranocchia are returning to the same venue after their UEFA Champions League quarter-final match.
Tickets were in very short supply. Ronaldo only managed to get four tickets for a row of regular seats in the stands. As soon as they sat down, they attracted the attention of those around them, and people kept taking photos with them.
However, once the match started, all the fans were completely engrossed in this Bundesliga vs. La Liga clash.
"Who do you think will win?" Ronaldo asked.
Tang Long and Ranocchia both believe it will be Bayern, because Bayern demonstrated unparalleled passing and possession tactics in their two encounters with Manchester City, surpassing Manchester City's level. Moreover, their manager, Guardiola, won two UEFA Champions League with Barca and has extensive UEFA Champions League experience.
Bonazzoli's statement was ambiguous, suggesting he could have said either.
Ronaldo laughed and thought Real Madrid was more likely to win!
"Guardiola is indeed very strong, and Bayern's players are also very strong. However, Real Madrid has Cristiano Ronaldo, who is the kind of player who can play a decisive role."
Ranocchia said, "Cristiano Ronaldo is already 31 years old, and his stamina and running ability are declining. He may not be able to withstand Bayern's defense."
Ronaldo rolled his eyes at him and said, "What do you know? The medical conditions for players nowadays are so much better than they were back then. Besides, Cristiano Ronaldo's self-discipline makes him look younger than his actual age. Otherwise, how could he have dominated the UEFA Champions League scorer title this season?"
Tang Long nodded and said, "That's true. Cristiano Ronaldo has already scored 14 UEFA Champions League goals. His goal-scoring efficiency is very high, especially in the UEFA Champions League."
Ranocchia retorted, "Maybe it's because I'm a defender. I think it's good for one person to be outstanding, but the game still depends on the overall strength of the team, especially in a high-stakes UEFA Champions League final. Besides, Real Madrid's coach Zidane only took over in January of this year, and they won the UEFA Champions League in just six months? That's too amazing, it's impossible!"
This match was truly full of twists and turns!
Bayern, with their strong ability to control the game, firmly maintained possession from the very first minute.
Real Madrid, on the other hand, pragmatically adopted their familiar defensive counter-attacking style.
When Mourinho took over Real Madrid a few years ago, he instilled a mature counter-attacking style in his players. With this tactic, they successfully defeated the then-dominant Barcelona, a team considered the "super team," in the 2011-2012 season and won the La Liga title.
Zidane, although a new manager, had never served as a head coach in Top Five Leagues before taking charge of Real Madrid, and his tactical expertise was not as good as his mentor Ancelotti.
However, Real Madrid displayed an almost mystical performance in this match, giving Guardiola a real headache.
This is mainly reflected in the fact that every time Bayern scored first, Real Madrid was always able to equalize the score in a very short time!
In the 15th minute of the first half, Bayern executed a series of short passes in the attacking third, drawing Real Madrid's formation forward. Then, full-back Lahm suddenly surged forward, beating the offside trap, and successfully crossed the ball into the middle, Lewandowski tapped it into an empty net, giving Bayern an early 1-0 lead.
But just five minutes later, Cristiano Ronaldo received a corner kick assist from Modric in the center of the penalty area and headed the ball powerfully into the net!
In the second half, Bayern played with great patience, passing the ball nearly 20 times in their own half before Thiago's sudden, rhythmic through ball from the attacking midfield position assisted Lewandowski's one-on-one goal.
However, just four minutes later, Cristiano Ronaldo received the ball on his familiar left flank, made his signature cut inside, and fired a low shot into the bottom right corner of the goal with his right foot, leaving Neuer helpless!
"Interesting, very interesting!" Ronaldo clapped and laughed. "Look, although Real Madrid doesn't have the advantage in possession, and has fewer shots and shots on target than Bayern, the score is still neck and neck with Bayern. If Real Madrid wants to win the UEFA Champions League, they need Cristiano Ronaldo!"
After that, Guardiola made on-the-spot adjustments, making the formation more compact and reducing Real Madrid's chances of quick counter-attacks, while Cristiano Ronaldo fell into the offside trap three times in a row.
Before we knew it, 80 minutes had passed.
Just as Tang Long, Ranocchia, Cristiano Ronaldo Bonazzoli were discussing who would achieve UEFA Champions League final hat- Lewandowski first—
Modric suddenly intercepted Thiago in midfield and immediately passed the ball to Thiago on the left Cristiano Ronaldo!
Having been outmaneuvered by Cristiano Ronaldo's cut-in and low shot into the far corner earlier, Bayern's Boateng was very attentive to space in the middle this time.
But Cristiano Ronaldo did the opposite, quickly flicking the ball to the left without a third step, then stomping heavily with his supporting foot – a powerful left-footed strike!
The moment the ball was shot, with a crisp "thud," Ronaldo stood up. "That's definitely in!"
Sure enough, Cristiano Ronaldo's powerful left-footed shot was even stronger than his low right-footed shot, and it went straight into the near corner of the goal!
Tang Long was also stunned by Cristiano Ronaldo's left-footed shot, and he said to Bonazzoli:
"Only Cristiano Ronaldo's left foot can produce such a powerful shot. Just by listening to the sound, I don't even need to look to know it was him."
Ultimately, thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo's hat-trick, Real Madrid fought back from a goal down to defeat Bayern 3-2 and win their 11th UEFA Champions League title!
He passionately made a powerful "Siu" celebration gesture towards the stands, eliciting enthusiastic screams from the entire stadium.
Bonazzoli's tone was full of envy:
"If I remember correctly, this is Cristiano Ronaldo's third UEFA Champions League title, it's incredible. Inter Milan has only won three UEFA Champions League in its more than 100-year history, he alone is worth an entire Inter Milan team!"
Tang Long nodded and said, "Cristiano Ronaldo has already won the UEFA Champions League title and the UEFA Champions League Golden Boot. If Portugal performs well in this year's UEFA European Championship, the Ballon d'Or will definitely be his."
At the post-match press conference, Guardiola looked visibly disappointed.
His tone was somewhat grave; he was extremely unwilling to accept this situation.
"I can tell you, we had absolutely no problems in this game. I'm very satisfied with the lads' performance; this was our best UEFA Champions League game so far this season."
"But we did one thing very badly, which was that we didn't limit Cristiano Ronaldo enough; it didn't meet my expectations!"
"For a top player like Cristiano Ronaldo, you give him any opportunity, and he can seize it, especially in the UEFA Champions League final defense, where you can't afford to make even the slightest mistake."
Guardiola left the release ceremony looking dejected.
He was only 45 years old, arrogant and proud, and didn't actually tell the whole truth.
At this moment, he actually felt exactly the same way as Wenger.
Arsène Wenger's Arsenal lost 2-3 to Manchester City in the League Cup this season.
After the match, Professor Wenger said in frustration, "We didn't lose to Manchester City, we only lost to Don!"
For Guardiola, wasn't this exactly what he was thinking at that moment?
The first goal conceded was a header from Cristiano Ronaldo inside the penalty area. Boateng was clearly marked tightly, and he is also taller than Cristiano Ronaldo, but Cristiano Ronaldo jumped a head higher than Boateng, as if he had a bloodline advantage, and headed the ball in over his head!
For the second goal, although Cristiano Ronaldo cut inside and created space, the ball was still a full 25 meters away from the goal.
This kind of long-range shot is Neuer's forte in terms of defense, given his height and long legs, but Cristiano Ronaldo's shot was perfect in both angle and power, and Neuer just couldn't stop it!
Cristiano Ronaldo's third shot, a left-footed effort, was the perfect embodiment of his superb shooting skills and decisiveness.
Neuer thought that Boateng had forced Cristiano Ronaldo to shoot with his weaker foot, so it wouldn't be too threatening. But it was Neuer's carelessness that led to a big mistake. Cristiano Ronaldo's left-footed shot was even better than his right-footed shot!
Compared to Cristiano Ronaldo's three goals, Guardiola clearly recognized that Bayern's starting striker Lewandowski's two goals were less difficult to score.
If Lewandowski had been given those three chances, he would have performed admirably by scoring even one goal. But Cristiano Ronaldo capitalized on all three.
To Guardiola's embarrassment, Cristiano Ronaldo, usually known for his high number of shots, only managed six shots in this UEFA Champions League final, averaging one goal every two shots. How can you defend against such high efficiency?
The office of the CEO of Manchester City Football Club.
There is a disagreement between football director Begiristain and commercial director Berrada regarding who will be Manchester City's manager next season!
Begiristain advocates for Pellegrini to remain in his position and complete the remaining two years of his contract with the team.
"Pellegrini couldn't have done better. He won three titles and led the team to the UEFA Champions League semi-finals, which is the best result in the club's history. He deserves the club's respect, and we can't ask for more from him."
Berrada, however, insists that the team should honor its verbal agreement with Guardiola and allow him to take over as manager of Manchester City.
"The ambitions of the Abu Dhabi consortium will definitely not stop at the UEFA Champions League semi-finals! The league title is deserved; if they don't get it, they should be out; if they do get it, it's not surprising. Our only goal is to win the UEFA Champions League. In this regard, I think Guardiola's potential is far greater than Pellegrini's!"
"But Guardiola's Bayern didn't win the UEFA Champions League either," Begiristain said dismissively. "Real Madrid just won the UEFA Champions League, why don't you go and poach Zidane?"
Although Berrada sensed a provocative tone in her boss's words, she remained steadfast in her convictions.
His unique perspective was refreshing to the other two senior executives from the City Football Group present.
"I think it's precisely because Guardiola lost in the UEFA Champions League final this season and only finished as runner-up that he's a better fit for Manchester City!"
"Because next season, he will have endless motivation to prove himself and lead us to the UEFA Champions League throne!"