In the early morning of February 16, the 2021/22 Champions League knockout round kicked off, premier League champions Manchester City came to challenge portugal sports champions last season's Portuguese Premier League, in the first half, Manchester City was far ahead of 4-0, and In the second half Sterling's goal locked the score to 5-0. A good Champions League match, the result was played by Manchester City into the Championship, after all, crystal palace and Southampton in the middle and lower reaches of the Premier League, can bite at Manchester City.
In this campaign, De Bruyne, Rodri, Stones, Laporte and Canselo rotated, Manchester City started well, in the 7th minute, Foden's powerful shot was saved, De Bruyne received the ball from the bottom line and knocked back in front of the goal, Mahrez easily broke the deadlock on the field. In the 17th minute, Bernardo Silva's brilliant volley inside the penalty area extended the score. Subsequently, Foden scored a calm shot inside the penalty area, Bernardo Silva completed the score twice, and Manchester City took a 4-0 lead in the first half to completely kill the game, and they also became the first team in the history of the Champions League to lead at least four goals in the knockout stage away from home.
In the second half, Bernardo Silva delivered an assist and Sterling scored a brilliant shot from outside the box, which was the same as his first goal in the previous Premier League, but farther away. In the following time, Manchester City deployed troops, Stones, Foden, Rodri, Laporte and Bernardo Silva came off, and the youngster Drep made his Champions League debut, and Manchester City finally maintained the 5-0 match until the end.
In this campaign, Manchester City had 64% of the ball. Six of the 15 shots on goal scored five goals on target, while Portugal Sport, which played at home, scored just three shots on goal and all deflected them all, with zero corners. The 180-minute race was killed in suspense in 45 minutes. The strong dominance of the Premier League champions is evident. After this match, Manchester City won five consecutive away games in the knockout stage of the Champions League, a record that is also unparalleled in the history of the Champions League. In addition, the five goals also brought City to their champions league 200-goal milestone, reaching this goal, and they only played 97 games, the fewest of the 14 teams that reached this milestone.
In fact, after Guardiola took charge of Manchester City, the team has been a favourite to win the Champions League almost every season, but their best result is only the runner-up of last season. Among them, the sudden change of guardiola in key matches is a reason that cannot be ignored. For example, playing 3 centre-backs against Lyon last season, and last season's Champions League final, the Snow Hidden Bird let Gundogan play a single back, which used the Champions League as a testing ground for the whole behavior, but also Pep Guardiola attracted a lot of questions. In this game, Guardiola is also working, but he is straight.
In this match's 4-3-3 formation, the right-back position is Playing Stones, who previously played center-back, while Cancelo, who was previously considered likely to return to right-back, continues to play left-back. In this unfamiliar position, the tall Stones played very well, not only defensively solid, but also dedicated 1 shot, 2 successful breakthroughs and 3 successful long passes, creating a defensive foul on the opponent, with a pass success rate of 95%. When City attacked, Stones' position was often inverted and became the de facto back, with excellent foot skills, good ball play and running ability. On the defensive end, he can change the situation on the field and form a three-centre-back with Laporte and Rubendiez to consolidate the defense.
This style of play once made Canselo change his image and become the most comprehensive player in Manchester City. Compared to the agile Cancelo, Stones, although slightly inferior in speed, is more physically resistant and more suitable for showing his talent on the defensive end. Guardiola's flexible arrangement of the two major defenders has changed the traditional image that full-backs can only hold one side up and down, making Manchester City's playing style more flexible and fickle. With Kyle Walker suspended for a red card, City's defence remained entrenched. This kind of "whole life" makes fans also convinced.