Chapter 1 Celtic Suffers a Disastrous Start at the Etihad Stadium

It was even more tragic than the pre-match estimates.

The schedule for Manchester City had been extremely tight. The Celtic coach figured that Manchester City’s physical reserves wouldn’t be great and they wouldn’t push so hard.

At least they shouldn’t be pressing across the whole field right from the start. They should wait until things stabilized a bit before launching their attack.

Who knew they’d get hammered right from the kickoff?

The Celtic coach watched the young figure sprinting all over the field.

He sensed that something was wrong.

So young, with no problem with his physical reserves, so why hadn’t he played in the last game?

There was no need.

Guardiola, that grandson, did it on purpose!

The more the Celtic coach thought about it, the angrier he got.

Guardiola had deliberately put Zhao Gang on the bench and didn’t let him play.

So young, in such good form recently, what he wanted most was to put in a sustained high-level performance and continue to prove himself!

But that grandson Guardiola actually kept him on the bench.

So young, with no fitness problems, no disciplinary problems, but unable to play, he must have been full of hunger, even resentment!

Wouldn’t he rush out like crazy once he got on the field?

The Celtic coach looked at Guardiola, almost cursing.

Why didn't you use this trick when playing Real Madrid?

You’re using such underhanded tricks against Celtic?

Are you even human?

While the Celtic coach was cursing Guardiola in his heart, the fans in the stadium roared like crazy again.

On the field, Fernandinho held off the player with the ball and poked it away from behind. That was the difference in individual ability. If it had been Real Madrid’s midfield trio, Fernandinho wouldn’t have had that chance.

After Gundogan got the ball, he passed it lightly to Zhao Gang on the right, who ran wildly.

The Celtic players didn’t dare to challenge him directly. They could only try their best to stay on the inside.

Because there was only one result from a direct challenge: becoming a backdrop and being easily bypassed.

Before the game, their understanding of Zhao Gang could be called thorough.

His speed and dribbling ability were too strong. In this situation, there was absolutely no way to intercept the ball.

The entire Celtic left side quickly moved over. If one person wasn’t enough, then two, if two weren’t enough, then three!

They tried to directly block Zhao Gang’s passing angle.

Chasing from behind, preparing to surround him from the front, with players following on the inside.

"Zhao Gang's performance today is a bit strange. According to his previous style of play, he should have passed to Silva or Aguero in the middle when the opponent tried to double-team him. This time, he's actually been carrying the ball, trapped in the encirclement." He Shi was puzzled. What was going on?

Did he suddenly become selfish?

Could it be that his level had increased, his tail was up, and he wanted to show off, no longer seeing his teammates?

That couldn't be. Zhao Gang's character has always been steady and introverted. This shouldn't be happening.

"Oh! This ball!"

Just as the three Celtic players were about to form an encirclement, Zhao Gang suddenly made a highly concealed nutmeg pass, taking the ball away!

The defender didn’t have time to turn around and chase. He could only subconsciously push Zhao Gang. Zhao Gang was too fast and didn’t get pushed at all. The defender almost lost his balance and fell to the ground!

"He's past them!"

"Gnesmith!"

At this time, Zhao Gang suddenly changed direction. All three people needed to turn around to continue chasing, so there was a considerable distance between them and Zhao Gang, making it impossible to assist in time.

"Another nutmeg!" Smith, who was making up from the middle, stretched out his leg after being nutmegged, trying to foul and stop Zhao Gang directly.

Although Zhao Gang was tripped a little, he still ran past and headed for the ball.

Morgan had already started. The two arrived in front of the ball almost simultaneously. Zhao Gang struck quickly and poked it again, the ball going to the right, only less than a meter away. By the time Morgan reacted, Zhao Gang had already led the ball into the right side of the penalty area!

"He's past another one, still dribbling!" He Shi didn’t know what words to use to describe it. Zhao Gang had passed five people in a row in a short period of time!

The Etihad fans had become frenzied!

Celtic's defense was absolutely top-notch in the Scottish Premier League.

But coming to the Etihad, it had been messed up by Zhao Gang alone!

Almost everyone had lost their position!

The center back finally had no choice but to run towards Zhao Gang. This time, Zhao Gang didn't break through but continued to accelerate towards the baseline!

Bang!

A cross with extremely high speed. The goalkeeper standing at the near post tried to intercept with his leg, but he didn’t succeed.

Aguero in the middle, and even David Silva, who had been waiting to receive, simultaneously fell to the ground and slid towards the goal!

The entire goal was empty!

The goalkeeper had already stood at the near post to block the angle!

Aguero was too close and didn’t get to the ball.

In order to pass the ball out, Zhao Gang used a lot of force in the pass. Even if it was intercepted, it might cause an own goal.

So Aguero missed the first point!

He hurriedly looked behind him. David Silva had almost never used this kind of shooting method. He felt a bit unfamiliar and awkward with the central rush.

Fortunately, all he needed to do was change the direction and send it towards the goal!

Clang!

The football spun into the goal!

3-0!

The score was changed again in the eighth minute of the game!

"Silva!! Made a center-forward rush! He poked the ball in!

It’s normal for Silva to appear in this position, but it’s really weird to poke the ball into the net while falling to the ground in this pose!

The speed of this ball was too fast. If Silva had run over, he might have missed it.

Directly toppling and poking the shot!

Silva scored with an extremely unfamiliar posture!

It shows that he has a very accurate judgment of the passing route and passing speed!

Zhao Gang’s continuous breakthrough has made Celtic’s defense overwhelmed, even appalling. There is only one central defender left in the entire middle rush!

Silva even ran over to rush!

Celtic is going to be in big trouble!"

The die-hard fans at the Etihad Stadium had gone wild.

Manchester City had extremely strong dominance in the Premier League, but their performance in the Champions League had always been stumbling.

It seemed that the players had some psychological pressure and often lost some games strangely.

Even when they won, they would win with stumbles.

When had this kind of scene ever happened?

They’d scored three goals in just eight minutes!

Some people had already begun to imagine the next two Champions League games.

Home and away consecutive matches against the La Liga giant, Real Madrid!

Silva got up, grinning, and celebrated with his teammates.

His celebration was relatively restrained, without a knee slide or passionate jump.

He just high-fived and hugged his teammates.

The broadcast camera showed Zhao Gang the most.

The process of this goal was not very exciting, just a central rush.

But Zhao Gang's previous breakthrough, passing five people in a row, made all the fans' adrenaline soar.

From the beginning, he used skills and speed to get rid of the gap, to the final clever touch. Passing people was like passing a few wooden stakes.

Wonderful!

"It's really outrageous, how does it look so much like Messi a few years ago?"

"Celtic's players are like a bunch of fools!"

"I can do it, isn't it just being passed?"

"Too strong!"

"Smooth as flowing water!"

"Manchester City this season, the Champions League is also stable! I'm really looking forward to the next game between Manchester City and Real Madrid!"

"Come on! Beat Real Madrid, this season is stable!!"

The Dragon Kingdom fans were cheering and looking forward to it.

Perrin in the stands clenched his fists and celebrated with the home team fans.

"Did you see that? Even if someone says he will become the next Messi, I don’t think it’s an exaggeration. You need to know that when he first came into contact with football, he was just a striker for scoring goals!

This is what a player born for football is!

Now, he can launch an attack from any position!

I think that if Florentino had contacted me personally, the chances of Zhao joining Real Madrid would be greater.

It’s really too unsuccessful for him to let you come to test the waters.

Zhao and I will both feel that in Florentino’s eyes, he is not the first choice.

Do you know how the Premier League coaches behaved in order to get Zhao?"

Mendes shook his head, "I'm a businessman, no matter how harsh you say it, I won't care."

"Haha... It seems that Florentino is really planning to have a showdown with C Ronaldo? If Zhao joins Real Madrid and he continues to perform like this, will he become the real face of Real Madrid within a few years?" Perrin understood, Mendes, Florentino is really preparing to bring Zhao Gang to Real Madrid.

The next away game against Real Madrid will be Florentino's final test. Once Zhao Gang's performance is as good as ever, Florentino will launch a general attack!

"Two years, two years at most." Mendes answered the question directly.

This means that once Florentino's plan is successful, C Ronaldo can stay at Real Madrid for up to two years, and with his character, he will never be willing to be the team's second in command.

"Not only will he become the top player in two years, but he will also be the face of Real Madrid that Florentino maintains for the next ten years! Of course, as long as his performance is as good as ever."

"Will you tell C Ronaldo about these things?"

"Of course not, C Ronaldo is just one of my partners. I will do my best to protect his rights and will also do my best to protect the rights of other partners."