Tuchel, who jumped out halfway last season, took possession of Manchester City's Big Ears Cup, which is close at hand. Guardiola, who once again hates the Champions League, knows that if he wants to make a comeback in the new season, conquering Chelsea will become the primary goal.
After a 1-0 win over Chelsea in the first leg, City seemed to be starting to emerge from the shadow of a Defeat in the Champions League final, scoring 40 of the 45 points in the 15 Premier League games since then. As a result, City have also firmly held the advantage of this season's Premier League title race in their hands.
In the 22nd round of the Premier League, the second leg of the two sides met as scheduled. With a shot-to-goal ratio of 11-4, a shot-to-center ratio of 6-1 and a 9-1 number of corners, just a few key stats make it clear that City are once again in control of the game. But after watching the progress of the whole game, I believe that everyone will feel the same as me, Manchester City won not easily.
Especially in the first half, Manchester City shot 5 feet and 3 shots on target, winning 6 corner kick opportunities, but the score was still in a state of anxiety. Be aware that this is what happened when Chelsea scored 0 feet on goal and the number of corners was also 0 throughout the first half.
Strictly speaking, Tuchel's defensive-first-attack tactics have been a stage of success, and Guardiola seems to have vaguely felt the bad mood in the face of inability to score.
Fortunately, De Bruyne stepped up in the 70th minute and kicked the world wave arc ball in front of the box to help Manchester City double Chelsea. Not only did it avenge the loss of the Champions League last season, but it also made up for the regret of leaving the final injury.
With 56 points in 22 league rounds and a 13-point lead at the top of the table, Manchester City has made the outside world no longer doubt the Premier League champions with a perfect performance.
But for Manchester City and Guardiola, the goal for this season has only just begun, after all, the Champions League knockout rounds are about to start next month, and is Guardiola ready for the ultimate challenge?
On the surface, Manchester City, whether it is tactical run-in or personnel rotation, has entered a high-speed operation, and the 12 consecutive league wins are good proof. But combined with this game against Chelsea, City's next Champions League knockout match seems to be missing something.
From "chef" to "diner", De Bruyne's world wave victory is slightly embarrassing
As the world's top attacking midfielder, De Bruyne has always had the title of "pie maker" master at Manchester City, and even Sterling, who is the most happy in front of goal, was fed by De Bruyne in the 19-20 season, the top scorer with 20 league goals in a single season, and ranked 4th in the Premier League top scorer list.
Since last season, however, De Bruyne's stats have slipped markedly, with 12 assists and six goals, more than half from the 19-20 season. De Bruyne's stats, especially assists, have slipped further this season, with only one assist delivered in 22 league rounds, but it is worth noting that in terms of goals scored, six goals have been equal to last season.
The second leg against Chelsea was, to some extent, a microcosm of De Bruyne's season stats. In this game, De Bruyne sent 2 passes to form a shot, while creating 1 scoring chance, but these data were converted into goals by teammates, and finally with his own world wave goal, he completed the double kill against Chelsea.
After two consecutive seasons of slipping in assist stats, De Bruyne seems to be experiencing the embarrassment of digesting itself if his teammates don't like to eat it.
De Bruyne's unique "degeneration" stems from the absence of fronts and the departure of Aguero
In the 19-20 season, while Sterling became the team's top scorer, De Bruyne was also awarded the title of Premier League assist king with 20 assists. But in the next two seasons, why did De Bruyne take a sharp turn in assist stats?
Answering this question, Aguero undoubtedly has the most say. In addition to Sterling's 20 league goals, Aguero also contributed 16 league goals in the 19-20 season, and in the 20-21 season, Aguero's last season at Manchester City, due to injuries and conditions, City's all-time top scorer contributed only four league goals.
It was Aguero who gradually faded out of Manchester City's main squad, coupled with Guardiolanin's lack of reinforcements, and the frontless team gradually became the mainstream tactical play of Manchester City, and achieved success.
Guardiola's no-frontal formation, while pursuing the overall scene control, with a small range of short passes to tear apart the opponent's defense, and the final scoring scene often appears in front of the cross in front of the penalty area, multi-point wrapping up. To put it simply, Guardiola's frontless formation is more about pursuing a lateral combination of points and surfaces and side species. This is explained by the fact that Sterling was able to gain Guardiola's trust for a long time, even if he was "joyful". Because in many cases, Guardiola values Sterling's personal explosive point role, not scoring ability.
As we all know, De Bruyne's best skill is precise guidance at medium and long ranges, which is effective in the past when there is a stable scoring point of Aguero, especially in the counterattack from defense to attack. However, in Manchester City's current no-forward squad, more of a scene is the overall suppression of the front rather than the rapid counterattack, coupled with the lack of Aguero's stable scoring points, de Bruyne's assist data decline is not difficult to understand.
De Bruyne's transformation, Guardiola is worth pondering
In the face of Manchester City's shift to a frontless position, De Bruyne, as the top all-round midfielder, is also capable of adapting and transforming. De Bruyne's imaginative long-range long-range passes, not only a quick counterattack, but also a 45° diagonal pass, can still help the front, but such results depend on the appetite of Manchester City's forward players, from the Manchester City attacking data this season, the team has scored 54 goals in the First Place in the Premier League, but so far no player has scored in double-figures. At the same time, as a second point of attack, De Bruyne's long-range shot can also have a decisive effect. The game against Chelsea was De Bruyne's best response.
For the next Champions League knockout rounds, De Bruyne's transformation seems to be a double-edged sword, after all, De Bruyne's importance to Manchester City is self-evident, and abandoning De Bruyne's best and most effective offensive means will inevitably lay unstable factors for the Champions League knockout rounds. In particular, the "joyous" shooting efficiency of the Manchester City striker, as well as the world wave long-range shooting can not be sought.
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With the suspense of the Premier League title and the imminent start of the Champions League knockout rounds, Guardiola clearly knows that Manchester City need to switch modes. All of de Bruyne's last six Premier League starts prove that Guardiola is looking forward to De Bruyne's strong return and is ready for the Champions League showdown.
But can De Bruyne's transformation ultimately succeed? I'm afraid we won't know until the final Champions League outcome. However, looking for Aguero's replacement, Guardiola undoubtedly needs to lay out in advance.