Chapter 770: New Ballon d'Or Shortlist
After three rounds of Champions League group stage matches, the situation for each team's advancement has become apparent.
Manchester City, Arsenal, and Leicester City all sit comfortably atop their respective groups, with Tottenham Hotspur lagging behind.
Tottenham's loss to Monaco and draw with Bayer Leverkusen only places them in third position, diminishing their once-promising outlook.
Real Madrid, on the other hand, has faced several setbacks, currently occupying the second spot in their group after losing to Borussia Dortmund. Fortunately, their position is not under serious threat from Legia Warsaw and Sporting Lisbon in the same group.
The Hornets have historically caused trouble for Real Madrid in recent years, leading to concerns among many fans.
"Losing to Wang's team seems to have shaken our confidence. Cristiano Ronaldo can't provide enough security," confessed a Real Madrid fan candidly on the internet.
After returning to Manchester, Manchester City faced Southampton in the ninth round of the Premier League.
The Saints from the Hampshire port city boast a rich history, having twice been runners-up in the FA Cup, but have never clinched the Premier League title.
They were one of the founding teams of the Premier League but quickly suffered relegation. However, under the legendary coach Adkins, they achieved a remarkable three consecutive promotions, climbing from League One to the Premier League.
Now, Southampton's lineup features young Dutch star Van Dijk and Japanese defender Yoshida. However, the team's overall strength is lacking, and their primary goal for the season remains avoiding relegation.
Guardiola made some changes to the starting lineup, and Wang Feng came on as a substitute in the 65th minute of the second half. Ten minutes later, he helped the team extend their lead through a free-kick opportunity in the opponent's half.
The final score was 2-0 in favor of the home team.
On October 26th, the League Cup round of 16 ignited the battle as the Citizens traveled to Old Trafford to challenge their cross-town rivals, Manchester United.
The match lacked intensity, with both sides fielding reserve players and not going all out. Thanks to Iheanacho's header, Manchester City narrowly defeated Manchester United 1-0 and advanced to the quarter-finals.
Three days later, in the tenth round of the Premier League, the Citizens visited The Hawthorns to face West Bromwich Albion.
The match entered garbage time from the start of the second half, as Manchester City had already scored three goals in the first half, securing victory.
Wang Feng assisted Aguero in opening the scoring, providing a through ball for the Argentine forward, and then assisted in another goal himself.
The Chinese superstar then extended their lead with a long-range shot from outside the penalty area. Guardiola subsequently made substitutions to allow key players to rest.
During this period, the home team managed to pull one back, but before the final whistle, De Bruyne scored the fourth goal for Manchester City from a position near the edge of the penalty area, ending the match with a score of 4-1.
After this match, Wang Feng led the league's top scorer list with 11 goals, while Tottenham's striker Kane, who ranked second, only scored 7 goals. It seems that the Chinese superstar has strong competition for the Premier League Golden Boot.
The Golden Boot award is entirely based on data, while the Ballon d'Or relies on ratings from the judges.
This year is an important day for the revival of this prestigious award, so "France Football" pays special attention to it.
Expanding from 23 candidates to 30, the official announcement unlocks 6 players every 2 hours on the website, leaving plenty of room for discussion. This allows evaluation of whether these six individuals' achievements are deserving and predictions for the remaining unrevealed candidates.
Utilizing the vast network of the internet, the Ballon d'Or selection has been hyped to an extremely high level.
The first batch of candidates announced contained surprises, including Leicester City's Vardy, Barcelona's Suarez, Real Madrid's Ramos, Manchester United's Pogba, West Ham United's Payet, and Bayern Munich's Huang Hu.
This is the first time a Chinese player has been nominated for the Ballon d'Or! His performance in the Champions League quarter-finals last season earned him many extra points.
It's highly unlikely that Dongfang, who has already transferred to Cologne, will appear on the list. However, the addition of a new player is enough to reassure domestic fans, signaling a continuous legacy!
Subsequently, "France Football" continued to announce several batches of nominated players, including Modric, Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo, and even Messi. However, Wang Feng's name was conspicuously absent.
This has led to many speculations. Could they really dare to exclude the Chinese superstar from the competition?
Fans have various opinions, but football professionals generally watch from the sidelines, understanding that this is clearly a promotional tactic by the authorities.
If the Chinese superstar is not included in the list of nominees, then the credibility of the award would be completely lost.
Sure enough, when the final batch of nominees was announced, Wang Feng was placed at the end, closing the grand discussion.
Among the 30 candidates, Real Madrid occupied the most spots with 6, while Manchester City had 3 players selected, including Wang Feng, Aguero, and De Bruyne.
Entering November, Manchester City hosted Barcelona at the Etihad Stadium in the fourth round of the Champions League group stage.
Similar to the previous encounter, the Catalan team launched a fierce attack from the beginning, hoping to take the lead as soon as possible.
However, Guardiola made tactical adjustments to address previous issues, making the home team's defense more solid, and they did not concede early goals.
Instead, in the 23rd minute, Manchester City planned an attack from the right flank, with Silva threading a pass to Wang Feng, who unexpectedly dribbled past his marker into the penalty area and then made a back pass.
De Bruyne, who was making a forward run, struck with his right foot from close range, easily beating Ter Stegen's fingertips to give the Citizens the lead!
Just as the scales of victory were tipping in favor of the home team, they suffered a severe setback.
Barcelona launched an attack, and when the ball entered the penalty area, Sabaly brought down Messi from behind, resulting in a clear penalty.
It was an unnecessary foul, and Sabaly himself was extremely frustrated. His physical condition had not fully recovered, and his body was quite stiff, leading to a grave mistake.
Messi personally took the penalty and equalized for the away team.
With one man down, Barcelona dominated possession even more, relentlessly attacking Manchester City. Finally, in the 73rd minute, Neymar assisted Busquets in completing the turnaround.
As the game entered stoppage time, Stones made a quick interception in the backline and passed to Silva, who then found Wang Feng at his feet, organizing a counterattack for Manchester City.
The Chinese superstar dribbled past the midfield, with few teammates available for support in the front. Three Barcelona defenders quickly formed a defensive blockade, making it difficult to break through.
Wang Feng caught a glimpse of Ter Stegen seemingly positioned very far forward. This was a common tactic for goalkeepers to observe the situation when the opponent was far from the goal.
But the Chinese superstar was not an ordinary player who followed conventional wisdom. With a light touch forward, he took two steps and unleashed a powerful shot directly from outside the center circle, before even reaching the edge of the center circle.
"Boom!" The ball soared high like a mortar shell, reaching its highest point before rapidly descending.
The German goalkeeper desperately backtracked and reached out to reach the ball, but was a step too slow. The ball flew over his fingertips and into the net.
"Goooooooooooooooooooal! Oh my God, it's in! This goal actually went in!"
"Wang Feng's shot from the center circle, an extraordinary arc spanning the entire half, pierced through Barcelona's goal!"
The Barcelona defense, who were still waiting for the opponent to break through, were dumbfounded, while the Chinese superstar had already sprinted to the sidelines, passionately roaring with the fans to celebrate.
With this divine goal, the 10-man Manchester City resiliently drew 2-2 with Barcelona, further solidifying their position at the top of the group.
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