Liverpool's defense had a huge hole, and the center goal of the penalty area was wide open.
After Li Mingyu knocked Minamino Takumi over and passed him, he suddenly found that the opponent's midfielder was out of position, and the defender was also dragged by his own forward and did not dare to step forward to cover his position.
How could Li Mingyu miss this opportunity?
Li Mingyu took a step forward with his right foot, swung his right leg directly, and kicked the football hard in the middle.
When Van Dijk saw Li Mingyu's actions, he secretly shouted bad, and immediately gave up Gabriel Jesus and prepared to block it.
However, due to the distance being too far, Van Dijk had no time to block Li Mingyu's shooting angle.
The football whizzed past Van Dijk more than one meter away.
Van Dijk quickly looked back, and goalkeeper Alisson flew sideways, completely stretching his body, and his fingers almost touched the edge of the football.
However, because the power of the ball was too great, Alisson was unable to change the direction of the football and could only watch the football crash into the goal behind him.
Alisson fell to the ground and couldn't help but hammer the ground with hatred.
The entire Anfield Stadium fell into complete silence.
The fans of Liverpool had faces full of horror. They looked at Li Mingyu with his arms raised high in the middle of the court and looked around. They were shocked by the long shot he just made 35 meters away from the goal.
2:4, Li Mingyu's goal had a heavy blow to Liverpool's morale.
Klopp is biting his nails, squatting on the edge of the court, frowning and looking at Li Mingyu on the court. How should such a player respond?
However, after the Liverpool fans were silent for a while, the passionate singing started again at Anfield Stadium.
Listening to the more passionate singing, Li Mingyu couldn't help but sigh, the Reds fans should be regarded as the top fan group in Europe football.
They never come to you when you are at your peak, and they never leave you when you are at your lowest. This is Anfield, this is Liverpool fans.
However, even with the fans singing and cheering, Liverpool team could not change the score again.
In the end, the score of 2:4 was maintained until the end of the game.
In the third round of EFL Cup, Manchester City defeated Liverpool and successfully advanced to the next round.
The opponent in the next round is very likely to be the team in Premier League.
Sure enough, after all the third round EFL Cup ended, the fourth round matchup also appeared, and the Arsenal team once again appeared opposite Manchester City.
Guardiola scratched his head in frustration.
With such a dense schedule, EFL Cup and FA Cup, which will be played next, are both games that need to be abandoned in Guardiola.
Originally, EFL Cup, FA Cup, and Guardiola were all going to be on the full bench + youth team lineup this season.
But Li Mingyu was new here and he valued every honor very much, so Guardiola couldn't defeat him and could only arrange the main lineup.
And it is impossible for Li Mingyu to appear in the next FA Cup and Guardiola on January 9th, because January 7th is the fourth round of EFL Cup. Against the Arsenal team, and in the Premier League league on January 10th, Manchester City will return to their home court to face the challenge of the Liverpool team again.
However, there is still a Champions League group match to be played on January 4th.
For Manchester City, Champions League has basically no suspense in the group stage. As long as there is a draw in this game, they will qualify as the first in the group.
Li Mingyu returned to Barcelona again and came to Camp Nou, the home ground of Barcelona.
This is the place where he once fought, where his dreams were shattered, and where he is most unwilling.
When Li Mingyu walked out of the airport, he found that he was surrounded by fans outside the airport.
"Li, welcome back!"
"Welcome home, Lee!"
"You are our eternal pride!"
"Child, come back!"
With various slogans, Barcelona fans welcomed Li Mingyu back home with the most sincere enthusiasm.
Li Mingyu was agitated in his heart. When he left Barcelona, although it was not of his own free will, he always felt sorry for the fans here, so he chose to leave on his own without making any representation to the fans.
Li Mingyu feels a little ashamed of his timidity.
No one among the fans here blames him. Everyone knows that Li Mingyu did not leave voluntarily.
Laporta's office glass is almost never in good condition.
Especially after Li Mingyu and World Cup won the "Grand Slam", the fans' anger became even more intense.
Such a good player, the cornerstone of a team for at least ten years, was sold by you like this.
What a waste of natural resources!
Laporta originally signed a contract with Li Mingyu, and after renewing his contract with Messi, his reputation suddenly reached its peak.
At that time, Laporta was like a god to Barcelona.
Now Laporta is looked down upon by everyone like shit.
Victor-Fonte, who lost the last presidential election, has been very popular recently.
However, Laporta, who still has two years left in his term, will not give in easily. This season, the arrival of striker Depay, Netherlands, has relieved the team's great offensive pressure.
Moreover, World Cup has many outstanding players, and Laporta also said that Barcelona will make big moves this summer.
Many fans of Barcelona are waiting and watching. They certainly hope that Laporta can bring better choices to the team, and do not let Messi have to carry the team alone in the last few years.
That would be too hard.
Li Mingyu stepped into Camp Nou again, a feeling that was both familiar and unfamiliar, which made Li Mingyu feel mixed with emotions.
For the first time, Li Mingyu came to the visiting team's locker room. Barcelona's visiting team's locker room was not much different from the visiting team's locker rooms of other teams.
Closed, crude,...
For Li Mingyu, this is really a special experience.
When Li Mingyu came to the court to warm up, the fans at the scene gave Li Mingyu more applause than Messi.
Messi and Li Mingyu hugged each other, chatted in low voices for a few words, and then each returned to their own half.
Guardiola squatted on the sidelines, looking at this familiar stadium.
Guardiola got the most glorious moment of his career here.
Whether it's his time as a player or his time as a coach, Barcelona is definitely the best memory in his career.
Some people say that Messi made Guardiola, while others say that Guardiola made Universe Team.
But only the two of them know that they succeed each other.
If there is no Guardiola, there may not be Universe Team of Barcelona.
Without Messi, Guardiola's coaching career would not have reached its peak at the beginning.
After all, after Guardiola left, Messi only won the Champions League championship once in 2015, and Guardiola has never won the Champions League championship since then, going through Bayern Munich and Manchester City.
However, this year, Guardiola is full of confidence. The joining of Li Mingyu has completely formed the last piece of the puzzle of the Manchester City dynasty in his mind.
Now, Manchester City has won all 23 games at the beginning of the 2022-2023 season. Manchester City is now just like Barcelona and Universe Team back then, seeking defeat alone.
Li Mingyu is also warming up, making various acrobatic stops and powerful shots to repay the applause of the fans at the scene.
However, he ignored the resentful eyes of goalkeeper Ederson.
It's just a warm-up, do you need to use so much force?
After Ederson saved Li Mingyu's long shot, he flicked his wrist and looked at Li Mingyu who was in good condition with a wry smile.
Although this is no longer Li Mingyu's home court, the fans present make Li Mingyu feel that this is his home court.
Li Mingyu I feel very excited today.
However, for Barcelona who was in dire straits, seeing Li Mingyu in such a hot state made him murmur for a while.
Are you so excited to fight against your old club?
Back in the locker room, Guardiola reiterated today's tactics.
After all, Manchester City has already qualified, and as long as the next two games are not lost by a big score, he will basically qualify first in the group, so there is no need to fight with FC Barcelona.
After all, there is still a dense schedule waiting for the team, so if you can save energy, save some energy.
If Barcelona had not been called today, Guardiola would not have brought Li Mingyu.
It's the first time to play against his old club, Li Mingyu doesn't want to disappoint Barcelona's fans.
When the bell rang, Guardiola clapped his hands and said, "Everyone, get ready to enjoy the game. Don't be too nervous. Let's go!"
In the player tunnel, Li Mingyu wore a bright smile and hugged his familiar teammates from FC Barcelona one by one, saying some words of encouragement to each other.
Without Li Mingyu, Barcelona's lineup has undergone drastic reforms.
The arrival of Depay allowed Barcelona's front three to take shape again.
Griezmann, Depay, Messi, these three top strikers make Barcelona's striker more layered.
Depay has slowly integrated into Barcelona's system in half a season. He has now scored 8 goals, second only to Messi's 10 goals, ranking second on the scoring list among FC Barcelona.
As substitutes, Aguero, Fati and others can also continue the offensive system of Barcelona when they come on the bench in the second half.
In Barcelona's midfield, without Li Mingyu, Wijnaldum was promoted to the main position by head coach Xavi. Together with Pedri, Barcelona's midfield was smoothed out.
Due to Busquets's injury, De Jong's single midfielder seems a bit weak, but after learning from Busquets for two seasons, De Jong's interception ability has now made a qualitative leap.
But the back line is still Barcelona's weakest link.
Although Pique followed Spain National Team to participate in this World Cup, he only came on as a substitute in a few games and his performance was very average.
Already thirty-five years old this year, he is already showing signs of fatigue, his steps have become much slower, and his turns are not as nimble as in the past. He often becomes a loophole for the opponent to break through.
Lenglet's performance was hit and miss, and he didn't know when he turned into an iron man. His defense was like mercury pouring down the ground, and people couldn't help but marvel at the talent of this player.
However, sometimes, low-level mistakes also make Barcelona fans want to pry open his head to see if there is a head of shit inside.
Left back Alba's speed is still there, and his assist ability is still very strong, but he can't come back after he goes up, and he needs someone to help him fill his position.
Often the space behind him will become a loophole for the opponent to counterattack.
As the last line of defense for Barcelona, goalkeeper Ter Stegen is still very trustworthy. If it were not for Little Lion, Barcelona would not be ranked second behind La Liga.
Looking at these familiar yet unfamiliar former teammates, Li Mingyu, wearing the captain's armband, and Messi stood in front of the players from both sides, waiting for their immediate entrance.
Today's referee is actually the referee team of World Cup finals, international referee Damir Skomina from Slovenia.
Damir Skomina looked back at the two captains behind him and showed a bright smile.
Li Mingyu and Messi also looked at each other and smiled.
In the World Cup final half a month ago, it was the same scene. Li Mingyu and Messi, wearing captain armbands, stood behind Damir Skomina, waiting for the final World Cup final.
Damir Skomina looked at his watch and said, "Gentlemen, you are ready to enter!"
After saying that, he took his two linesmen and walked out of the players' tunnel. In front of the players' tunnel, he picked up the game ball that was placed there.
Li Mingyu and Messi looked at each other. At this moment, they were no longer former teammates, but rivals.
Players from both sides filed in and walked out of the tunnel, holding a cute ball boy in their hands.
The fans at the scene gave out deafening applause and cheers.
What moved Li Mingyu very much was that although he had left Barcelona for half a year, looking around, there were still many fans wearing his Barcelona jersey and coming to the scene.
Exchange team flags, guess sides, and shake hands.
Li Mingyu completed what the captain should do very skillfully.
In the first half of the game, Manchester City, led by Li Mingyu, kicked off first and attacked from the left to the right of the screen.
With the referee's whistle, the focus battle of the fifth round of the Champions League group stage Group E began.
[Congratulations to the host for successfully signing in Camp Nou and obtaining the active skill of Barcelona celebrity Xavi: 360-Degree Turn Escape.]
[Given that Camp Nou once served as the host's home court, here, the host can also gain the advantage of the home court.]
Li Mingyu couldn't help but his eyes lit up. He didn't expect that when he returned to Barcelona, he would be able to gain the home court advantage. This was simply perfect for him.
360-Degree Turn Escape of Xavi should be another famous stunt of Xavi!