The two goals in the first half allowed Napoli fans to see the gap between the two sides.
The mentality of Napoli players on the field was also greatly affected.
At the 45th minute of the first half, the fourth official on the sidelines raised a sign indicating five minutes of added time.
There was a conflict in the first half that delayed a lot of time, so the referee gave such a long stoppage time.
Due to the fierce fighting in the first half, players from both sides could no longer run.
Manchester City controls the ball in the backcourt, and Napoli is already past halftime.
In desperation, Manchester City could only push the front line forward.
Li Mingyu retreated to the center circle and received the pass from Rodri.
Since Napoli could no longer attack, Manchester City's two full-backs also consciously pressed forward, putting huge pressure on Napoli.
Ukraine full back Zinchenko has strong assist ability.
Modern football has very high requirements for two wing-backs.
The two wing backs of Manchester City, the right back Kyle Walker and the left back Zinchenko, are both very outstanding wing backs in the Premier League league.
Li Mingyu continues to dribble forward, attracting Napoli's defense in the middle.
Looking down from above the court, you can see that when Li Mingyu takes the ball forward, five or six Napoli players are moving towards him or showing signs of movement, and almost all Napoli players' eyes are looking in the direction of Li Mingyu.
For Napoli, Li Mingyu is a big devil. After he gets the ball, the pressure he puts on the team makes the Napoli players a little breathless.
Seeing three defensive players surrounding him from three directions, Li Mingyu could only pull the ball back helplessly, turned around 180 degrees, and turned his back to Napoli's goal, as if he wanted to pass back to continue organizing.
This behavior of Li Mingyu also made the players of Napoli relax instantly.
Who knows, Li Mingyu suddenly half-turned, used his left foot, and made a diagonal long pass, directly finding the feet of the wing-back Zinchenko who had sneaked in from the wing.
Li Mingyu's pass reflects his superb vision and prediction, and also his trust in Zinchenko. He believes that Zinchenko will definitely be able to run in place.
After Zinchenko received the ball, he poked the ball towards the ribs in the middle and passed it to Sterling.
Sterling After catching the ball, he gently pushed it with his heel, and the football passed between the defensive player's legs and rolled towards the left baseline.
After Zinchenko passed the ball, he quickly continued to run towards the baseline and just caught up with the pass.
Zinchenko glanced at the center and made a powerful pass with his left foot.
Gabriel Jesus and Foden slapped the goal and pushed desperately towards the goal, preparing to seize the best header position.
However, Napoli's defense in the middle was still very tight. Although Zinchenko's pass was fast, flat and a very good cross, it was still beaten by the opponent's center back. A lion shook his head and pushed the football outside the penalty area.
Everyone's eyes were focused on the landing spot of the football. Sterling, who was outside the penalty area, opened his legs and was about to fight for the landing spot. Suddenly, he saw a black figure rushing out of the middle and coming to the landing spot.
Sterling immediately stopped and raised his hands, ready to celebrate the goal.
Because, this person is Li Mingyu.
After Li Mingyu passed the ball, the three defensive players no longer paid attention to Li Mingyu. After all, the ball had been passed to the other sideline.
Li Mingyu slowly started running forward from midfield.
When he saw Zinchenko preparing to cross, Li Mingyu had already run to a place about 35 meters away from the goal, and in front of him, the defensive players were all brought into the penalty area.
Seeing the dense crowd in the penalty area, Li Mingyu suddenly made a bold prediction, so he began to speed up and rushed towards the front of Napoli's penalty area.
Sure enough, when he just ran up, the football was pushed out by the opponent's defender.
Ball speed, height, position...
Excellent long shot opportunity.
Li Mingyu naturally would not miss this opportunity. To use a sentence from the movie to describe it, the position of the ball was so cool that I couldn't help but kick it.
Moreover, Li Mingyu used his left foot this time to hit a powerful volley. The football did not rotate in the air, as if it suddenly appeared in front of the goal from outside the penalty area. Such speed made goalkeeper Alex Meret unable to react at all, and could only watch the football crash into the goal behind him.
3:0, the first half is not over yet, the game is basically over.
Napoli's players all looked downcast.
Li Mingyu has become a nightmare in their hearts.
Shortly after the restart, the referee blew the whistle to end the first half.
Napoli's players were like lost dogs, lowering their heads and quickly left the field.
The proud Manchester City chatted in twos and threes and walked towards the players tunnel with a smile.
Head coach Guardiola stood at the door of the players' tunnel, high-fiving every Manchester City player. Guardiola was generally satisfied with their performance in the first half.
When Li Mingyu came over, he looked at each other and smiled at Guardiola. They gave a light high-five and passed each other.
During the halftime break, commentators from various countries were analyzing the first half of the game.
Basically, all commentators believe that the strength gap between the two sides is too big, and Napoli simply does not have the strength to compete with Manchester City.
As for the conflict in the first half, anyone with a discerning eye can see that Napoli wanted to use this method to anger Li Mingyu and make him do some irrational behavior.
But Li Mingyu, who has already gone through the experience of World Cup, is not so easy to fall for.
Another surprising thing is that Sterling has become a name praised by everyone.
Sterling's shovel made him a good brother in the hearts of Li Mingyu fans.
"Wow, Sterling is really a good brother to Li Mingyu!"
"Stand up for your little brother, Sterling shows the big brother style of Manchester City!"
"My happy football will be protected by me!"
"Whoever dares to touch my brother Yu, I will shovel you to death!"
"Sterling, the patron saint of Li Mingyu!"
"Sterling, love it, love it!"
"Sterling, Li Mingyu, together forever!"
The scene in the first half where Sterling stood up for Li Mingyu really made a lot of people cry.
Sterling, who usually seems heartless, can still stand up at critical moments.
In the locker room, Sterling sat next to Li Mingyu, chatting with Li Mingyu with a smile.
"Li, you have to pass the ball to me more in the second half. I think their wing is like a sieve, and it will leak out as soon as it breaks out!"
Looking at Sterling who was still heartless, Li Mingyu smiled and said, "No problem, I'll let you perform well in the second half!"
Sterling had an expression of surprise on his face, because with this kind of magnetism, Sterling would talk to Li Mingyu in almost every game, but every time Li Mingyu would just smile perfunctorily and say nothing.
Unexpectedly, Li Mingyu actually replied to me today.
Sterling didn't know that, just because of his shovel in the first half, Li Mingyu regarded him as one of his own.
Looking at Sterling who was beaming with smiles, Li Mingyu also laughed and patted his shoulder.
Guardiola pushed the door open and came in. Seeing everyone discussing in full swing, he said with a smile, "In the second half of the game, everyone can stop playing some and don't work too hard. Players with topaz War God cards should not play in the second half to avoid having to eat another one."
Sterling heard this and his face suddenly turned ugly. He originally wanted to show off his power in this game, but who knew that the head coach wouldn't let him play in the second half.
Li Mingyu saw the change in Sterling's face, coughed slightly, and said, "Boss, in the second half, I need Sterling's side impact, let him stay on the court!"
Hearing this, everyone looked at Li Mingyu in surprise.
Because Li Mingyu has never refuted any decision of Guardiola.
This is an unprecedented first time.
Guardiola was also a little surprised and glanced at Li Mingyu and Sterling. He understood something in his heart, smiled and said, "Okay, but Rahim, you have to pay attention to your actions and don't get punished!"
Sterling couldn't believe his ears. Guardiola had established his absolute prestige in Manchester City. Even the captain Gundogan was directly taken down by Guardiola after he expressed his dissatisfaction.
Unexpectedly, Li Mingyu's words could change Guardiola's decision.
It seems that Li Mingyu has a very high status in Guardiola's heart!
Li Mingyu also knew that what he said just now touched the dignity of Guardiola, and he felt a little uneasy in his heart.
However, Guardiola didn't have so many ideas. He already knew this young man very well after spending six months with Li Mingyu.
Honest, tenacious, trustworthy, without any bad habits, maybe because I have been with Messi for a long time, I don't like to talk a lot.
This time Li Mingyu was able to express his opinion. Guardiola was still very surprised. However, he understood that Li Mingyu meant not to challenge his authority, but to fight for some opportunities for his brothers.
When the bell rang to get ready, Guardiola clapped his hands and said, "Go ahead, guys, win this game!"
The players from Manchester City filed out, and Li Mingyu deliberately walked at the end.
Walking to Guardiola, Li Mingyu leaned into Guardiola's ear and whispered, "Boss, I'm sorry for what happened just now!"
Guardiola patted Li Mingyu on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Score another goal and I will forgive you!"
Li Mingyu smiled and said seriously, "Can I enter two?"
Guardiola was startled, and then burst out laughing.
Laughter spread from the locker room, and Manchester City's teammates who hadn't gone too far looked back in confusion.
What are you so happy about? Did you find the money?
The second half started with the referee's whistle.
Napoli kicks off first.
Insigne takes the ball on the wing and wants to break through Li Mingyu's defense.
Li Mingyu accurately judged the direction of Insigne's breakthrough, stuck his body directly in front of him, stretched out his foot and poked the ball out.
The pushed football fell at the feet of Kyle Walker, who was on the left side, and Li Mingyu rushed forward quickly.
Kyle Walker passed the ball to Rodri in the middle, Rodri passed it to Gundogan on the other side, and Gundogan passed the ball to Li Mingyu who had already run into the hinterland of Napoli.
Li Mingyu received the ball about 35 meters away from the opponent's center. Without stopping the ball, before the opponent's defensive player came over, he pushed to the left with his left foot. Just like playing table tennis, the football flew to the feet of Sterling on the left.
After Sterling got the ball, he rushed towards Napoli's side defense with the ball.
Mario Rui looked a little confused when facing Sterling. The expression on his face told everyone that I am panicking now. What should I do? I am waiting online. It is quite urgent.
Sterling's dribbling was perfect. The football was so close to his feet that Mario Rui didn't dare to stretch his feet at will.
But Mario Rui has retreated to the penalty area line, and there is no way to retreat. We can't retreat all the way to the goal!
At this time, Sterling made a move to cut inside. Mario Rui could no longer tell whether it was a fake move. His body ignored his brain and took a step towards the middle, but he immediately regretted it.
Because Sterling is a fake action.
I saw Sterling dunking his right foot at the moment Mario Rui moved, leading the ball and breaking through toward the baseline.
Mario Rui sat down on the ground.
After the unguarded Sterling passed Mario Rui, he directly entered the penalty area, moved his right foot and started to cut inside.
Goalkeeper Alex Meret lowered his center of gravity and spread his arms, just like an eagle catching a hen among its chicks, staring at Sterling, the eagle, guarding the goal carefully.
The two central defenders quickly surrounded him, looking at Sterling if he didn't take a shot, he would be surrounded by three people.
However, Happy Football Sterling, after entering the penalty area, you will be happy. This is something everyone knows.
But this time, Sterling did not hesitate as usual. He used a fake shot to make goalkeeper Alex Meret completely lose his center of gravity and kneel on the ground. However, the goalkeeper had almost blocked the angle, and the angle of Sterling's shot was already very small.
The two central defenders were only about one meter away from him, and they could be in front of him in an instant.
After Sterling knocked down the goalkeeper, he used the outside instep of his right foot to move the football toward the center of the goal.
Gabriel Jesus, who was following the two central defenders, had a drastic change in his expression, because the ball had been passed behind him, making him ready to look up to the sky and sigh.
However, the ball Sterling was not passed to him, but...