The Battle of Vengeance? Ranocchia and Tang Long's God-Tier Connection!
The second leg is about to kick off at Allianz Arena!
The area around the stadium was already a sea of jubilation.
Bayern fans, dressed in their traditional red jerseys, with the team logo painted on their faces and holding giant team flags, gathered from all directions.
Fans who couldn't get tickets sat in bars on the street, watching highlights of past matches between the two teams on a big screen. They drank beer and discussed the game's outcome with great enthusiasm.
"1-2 is a good score, we have an away goal!"
"That's right! We'll start as the guest and then the host; we definitely need to get our revenge this round."
"A narrow 1-0 victory is enough, what's there to be afraid of!"
"Manchester City is still the team we defeated last season!"
Inside the away team's locker room.
Manchester City manager Guardiola is giving his final pre-match pep talk.
He used his own experience at Bayern to motivate the players.
"I know Bayern Munich better than anyone else. You know, I coached here for three whole years."
"In my opinion, this is an excellent team, but also an arrogant and complacent one."
"Having long dominated the Bundesliga, they've become accustomed to that feeling of being high above everyone else and being the center of attention."
Guardiola spoke rapidly and passionately, forcing the Blue Moon players to strain their ears to hear his Catalonia- accented English.
"But you are different!"
Pointing to the Manchester City players, Guardiola said, "Manchester City is a club that grew from the bottom; just ten years ago, it was worried about avoiding relegation."
"You lack a strong foundation. You haven't won many Premier League titles, and you've never won the UEFA Champions League. Your team is far inferior to Bayern!"
A fire ignited in the eyes of the Manchester City players.
Honestly, is Manchester City really that far behind Bayern?
Guardiola wanted to continue his speech, but was interrupted by a loud shout from goalkeeper Bravo.
"Forget about heritage; if we don't have any, then we'll create it. We'll utterly crush Bayern at the Allianz Arena!"
"Good!!!" All the players cheered in unison.
Guardiola smiled at Bravo and gave him a thumbs up.
"Last season, I led Bayern to eliminate you, and many of your players were in the starting lineup. Today, I'm going to lead you to defeat Bayern ourselves! Come on, lads!"
Although Guardiola does not favor this goalkeeper as Bravo's form declines;
However, it must be said that as the starting goalkeeper who won the treble with Barca in 2015, Bravo's UEFA Champions League experience is unmatched by anyone in the entire Manchester City team.
As the players lined up to enter the tunnel, Bravo specifically called Tang Long aside and solemnly instructed him:
"Tang, trust me, I have extensive experience in knockout stages. The sooner you score your first away goal, the more pressure Bayern will be under, and the more control we can take!"
After the match started, Bayern Munich launched a fierce attack at home.
The main strategy is to seize the initiative at the start!
Just as Guardiola predicted before the match, Bayern is a proud team.
In Germany, no stadium is as formidable as the Allianz Arena; it is an impenetrable fortress, and every team that leaves the stadium suffers greatly.
The fans at the Etihad Stadium were already quite enthusiastic, but compared to the Bayern fans at the Allianz Arena, they were nothing.
A deafening roar, like an airplane taking off, began to echo around the stadium from the moment the referee blew the opening whistle, vibrating the eardrums of the Manchester City players.
"They're so noisy, we can't even hear each other shouting!" Agüero complained, throwing up his hands after a poor control of the ball.
"It's alright, the Bayern players can't even hear themselves because of the noise." Tang Long made a sprinting sliding tackle to clear the ball rolling towards Muller out of bounds, then turned to Agüero and said.
A war of revenge!
These four words have been etched into the minds of the Manchester City players since the start of the match.
Last season, Manchester City drew 5-5 with Bayern in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals, only to be eliminated in the final four due to away goals.
But this also represents Manchester City's best result in the history of their UEFA Champions League campaign.
This time, carrying a 2-1 Allianz Arena advantage, Agüero, Tang Long, Kompany, Ranocchia, and others had already planned to settle old scores with Bayern.
Ranocchia received the ball in the defensive midfield position, saw an opening, and took two steps forward.
Looking around, the two defensive midfielders Xavi Alonso and Vidal, had firmly established themselves in the midfield, eyeing him intently and showing no sign of backing down.
Meanwhile, Brazil striker Douglas Costa quickly darted to his side, seemingly intending to launch a surprise attack from the flank.
Ranocchia thought to himself, "Bayern's defense is clearly more compact than in the first leg. It won't be easy to penetrate through the middle. I need to get the ball to Tang Long's left flank as soon as possible and use his individual skills to try and break through."
As he was pondering, Douglas Costa's foot was almost out in front of the ball!
"Andre, watch out behind you!" teammate Kompany shouted urgently.
Kompany is a deep-lying center-back, positioned at the very back of the defensive line, giving him a complete view of the movement of all players on the field.
Even without Kompany's reminder, Ranocchia had already heard the sound of wind approaching from behind.
Without even looking behind him, he pulled his right foot back and flicked the ball, turning halfway and changing his forward movement from a straight line to a 45-degree angle.
It was this seemingly insignificant change in rhythm that caused Douglas Costa to miss his target instantly!
The Brazil stopped abruptly, his foot slipped, and his long studs left a deep mark on the grass of the Allianz Arena before he managed to regain his balance and avoid falling.
"Thank you, I know!" Ranocchia waved his hand behind him to thank Kompany, then continued rushing forward without looking back.
"Huh?" Chivu, watching from the sidelines, was puzzled as he saw Ranocchia still charging forward.
He coached Ranocchia at Inter Milan and is very familiar with his technical characteristics.
This player does have excellent footwork, with good dribbling and speed, but it's rare to see him carry the ball all the way from the backfield forward, to the point that he doesn't slow down even after crossing the halfway line.
"What is he trying to do? Isn't he afraid of losing possession? If the defensive midfield position is dispossessed, it'll be a real problem."
Vidal and Alonso were quite surprised to see Ranocchia dribbling the ball straight into their defensive zone.
Logically speaking, Ranocchia is a defensive midfielder, so his reckless and unrestrained runs into the box were quite risky.
Even after he beat Douglas Costa, he still went deep into enemy territory alone, without seeking to coordinate with his teammates. Was he out of his mind? Was he really underestimating Bayern?
"Hey, don't move!"
Vidal gestured to Alonso, signaling him not to go forward, and went to steal the ball from Ranocchia himself.
The Chile midfielder played for Juventus for four years, during which time he and Ranocchia were longtime rivals in Serie A.
He believed he knew the player very well, and as he charged toward Ranocchia, he pondered:
"No matter how good your technique is, you're still just a defender. Do you think you're Lionel Messi?!"
Vidal overtook Ranocchia's dribbling pace, waiting for the right moment to extend his leg and steal the ball.
He was famous for this tackle when he was in Serie A, and he often won the tackle title in a single game for Juventus, earning high ratings after the game.
Ranocchia is, of course, a defender by trade, and he's certainly not Lionel Messi. However, his long runs into the box are definitely not a solo dribble like Lionel Messi's, but rather an attempt to draw Bayern's defensive attention as much as possible.
Especially after he turned and got past Douglas Costa, he changed his charge from the center to the right flank, which was intended to force Bayern's players to shift their attention and focus to the right side, thereby ignoring Tang Long on the left.
As expected, as Vidal moved forward, Alonso began to move to cover Vidal's position, and Thomas Muller also retreated appropriately, tilting towards Ranocchia.
Ranocchia's possession of the ball immediately attracted the attention of three Bayern players.
"It's dangerous. What will he do?" Chivu frowned.
Chivu astutely realized that Ranocchia had led the ball into a dead end.
Because his speed in advancing with the ball was somewhat sudden, neither his teammates, Gündoğan nor Thiago, were able to provide effective support for him.
Meanwhile, right- Walker, who was making a run down the other side, was also firmly marked by Alaba and did not have any space to run into to receive the ball.
If Tang Long were in that situation, Chivu wouldn't be worried, because Tang Long could always pass the ball or break through in the most reasonable way;
But Ranocchia?
Chivu wasn't sure what to expect.
"Look back at me!" Stones exclaimed dramatically.
With no other option, Stones had to take a step forward and signal Ranocchia to pass the ball back.
This is the only route he can take to pass the ball on the field.
If Ranocchia had simply passed the ball back at that moment, although the breakthrough hadn't yielded any significant results, they would still have avoided losing the ball, a situation where neither achievement nor failure was made.
Surprisingly, Ranocchia slowed down his dribbling even further, allowing Alonso, Vidal, and Muller to close in from three directions.
Is one Vidal not enough? Do they really need three Bayern players vying for him to be truly satisfied?
As Ranocchia pushed himself into a desperate situation, a glint of light flashed in Guardiola's eyes as he looked at Tang Long on the far left flank.
"If Andre could have made that shot..."
Whoosh--
What happened next gave Guardiola a jolt; he had guessed right!
Ranocchia made a truly magical move, forcefully pushing the ball back two meters, instantly shaking off the triple team of Alonso, Vidal, and Muller who were surrounding him.
At that moment, he saw Stones returning to receive the pass, anxiously yelling at him to pass the ball.
For a moment, time seemed to stand still.
Ranocchia suddenly recalled a sentence his Bari Youth Team coach had said to him when he was 13 years old, after he switched from midfield to center-back:
"Andre, you've grown a full 12 centimeters this summer, which has caused your passing pace to drop too quickly. You can't play midfield anymore; you should switch to center-back."
Ranocchia a cold laugh; he simply refused to believe in such nonsense.
After he started to get past Douglas Costa, his series of actions were not reckless; they were all within his plan.
The most crucial step remaining is to successfully execute this plan.
Ranocchia didn't pass the ball to Stones. Instead, he twisted his body and, within a narrow space, maximally twisted his long left leg and swept it towards the far end!
When he made the pass, he was completely facing away from the far post, and he couldn't see his teammates at all. To the uninformed, it would have looked like a forced clearance, a rather embarrassing move.
But only Guardiola on the sidelines saw it clearly. The instant Ranocchia took his shot, Tang Long had already begun his rapid inside cut from the far end in Guardiola's field of vision!
Call!
The football, with a side spin, flew from the right flank towards the edge of the penalty area!
A blue figure suddenly appeared from the crowd, cutting across the road.
Tang Long!