This meal was enjoyable for both host and guests.

Zhao Gang didn't agree to any commercial cooperation with Hengtai Group, but rather pushed all commercial cooperation to Pei Lan, who would consider it before making a decision.

However, he did agree to exchange and cooperation with Hengtai Football School.

Regarding Zhao Gang's plan to establish a football school in Lianhai, Pi Dai Xu offered his full support, insisting on providing enough money to secure the naming rights.

Pi Dai Xu's plan was simple, direct, and admirable: spend money, spend it like crazy, to achieve his goals.

He could see Zhao Gang's love and respect for football, so he would approach him entirely through football.

Zhao Gang's football school might not have enough influence for the time being, but in a few years, when Zhao Gang became an international superstar, this school would become the pride of Dragon Country football.

This potential investment would then exert its enormous effect.

Pi Dai Xu thought about it over and over and couldn't figure out how this investment could lose money. Zhao Gang would become a role model in Dragon Country, with hundreds of millions of fans and unprecedented influence. With Lippi's support in the national team and Wang Mingli fueling the flames in the Football Association, Zhao Gang, in the Dragon Country football world, would predictably be the absolute core figure for more than a decade.

He might be the only player who wouldn't care about the Football Association's rules and regulations.

The leaders of the Football Association were still counting on him to lead the Dragon Country men's football team to good results, to give an explanation to all sectors, and to exchange it for more investment and more money!

Zhao Gang contacted Sun Jihai, hoping that Sun Jihai could connect with Hengtai and handle matters in Lianhai.

Right now, he had no time or experience to handle these things.

The next day, he returned to Lianhai, stayed at home for a day, and returned to England on the 18th.

When he arrived in England, it was already the evening of the 18th in Manchester.

On the 19th, there was an early Premier League game at home against Burnley, and on the 24th, there was a Champions League game away against Monchengladbach, followed by a Premier League focus battle.

Originally, this game wouldn't have been a focus game before the start of the league, but after 11 Premier League games, this game became a highlight.

Leicester City, originally a mid-table Premier League team, was still in the Championship two years ago, but after eleven games this season, they had won nine and drawn two, only four points behind Man City, becoming a veritable dark horse in the Premier League.

At this rate, it seemed that the Premier League had become a two-horse race between Man City and Leicester City.

And after playing Leicester City, Man City would also have to face the Blues, Chelsea, with a League Cup Round of 16 game in between.

Not only was the schedule tight, but the opponents were also very difficult.

Therefore, many media believed that Man City might be exhausted in this stretch of games and experience a brief period of depression.

There was even a good chance that they would drop the ball directly.

After all, they couldn't relax in the Champions League. Real Madrid was waiting for them to make mistakes, and in the league, Leicester City was also watching closely. Other teams would also desperately try to stop Man City. Everyone had the determination and belief to defeat Man City and pull the leader off the throne.

Guardiola was also a little worried. What he was most worried about was the players' condition. The national team's call-up caused these players' physical fitness to decline, and as the game progressed and the schedule became tighter, injuries were likely to occur.

This period of time had already begun to be difficult, especially after the winter break, when the Premier League would continue to fight.

If one or two, or even more, players were injured, everything might collapse.

What made him happiest at first was that Zhao Gang was not called up by the national team, but now Zhao Gang was also participating in the World Cup qualifiers, and he was one of the hardest-working players in the lineup.

He watched the live broadcast and his heart ached.

He couldn't bear to use Zhao Gang like that. He was already running out of steam after seventy minutes.

He was also the last to return to the team, and after traveling, he had to participate in a Premier League-level game the next day, which was very likely to cause injuries due to fatigue.

After thinking about it, Guardiola accepted the suggestion of the team's physical examination doctor, Eileen, and put Zhao Gang on the big list, but as a substitute.

Burnley's competitiveness was not strong. They almost relegated last season, and this season they were still hovering in the relegation zone.

This might be the only good news for Man City in the next period of time.

Therefore, Guardiola made a wide range of rotations.

On the defense line, Clichy and Sagna started. Fernando and Navas replaced Gundogan and Fernandinho.

In midfield, Delph replaced Silva and joined forces with De Bruyne and Sterling.

Aguero was still at the front.

Burnley also expected that Guardiola would adjust the lineup after the national team match day and before the Champions League game, so they unhesitatingly used a 4231 formation, preparing to gamble.

They were already at a disadvantage, so why not seize this opportunity?

Although it was Man City's home ground, the Burnley players were not afraid at all. They had nothing to lose, so they came up and prepared to grab an early lead.

The formation was very far forward, and they started high pressing.

If their strength was worse and their tactics were not good, they would use their physical fitness to force Man City.

Man City's starters, Aguero and De Bruyne, had much worse physical reserves, so naturally, their concentration would not be too high.

Their tactics were very successful. De Bruyne and Delph made a huge mistake in their passing and cooperation.

Five minutes into the game, Burnley's midfield and frontcourt grabbed a key ball, and a through ball found Joni at the front.

Joni withstood Clichy and shot directly.

A one-shot deal!

The Man City players were stunned, and the fans felt like they were dreaming.

Burnley was the second-worst team in the Premier League in terms of attack. They had scored a total of eight goals in eleven league games, and only one goal in five away games, which was a free kick that went directly into the goal. They had not scored a single goal in open play away from home.

Now, five minutes into the game, they had actually opened Man City's goal with one kick?

The first goal in open play away from home was actually scored against Man City!

Joni took off his jersey and rushed to the away fans area like a madman.

His teammates rushed over excitedly, and the Burnley fans who came to the away game pounded their chests and roared to the sky.

Man City, eleven consecutive victories!

The hottest team in the Premier League, even eliminated the red-hot Real Madrid in two rounds.

Now, at home, no matter how many people are rotated, we scored first!

And only five minutes, the first dangerous attack!

Radical Burnley fans in the stands even gave the middle finger to the Man City fans.

The Man City fans were furious and shouted back.

There were fewer Burnley fans, and their voices were not loud, but they shouted in unison, Burnley took the lead, Burnley took the lead.

Man City is crying, Man City is crying.

It kept reaching the ears of the Man City fans.

The Man City fans were arguing, but if they didn't score and couldn't beat Burnley, there was no use in arguing.

"Too embarrassing, Man City is too embarrassing!" The Burnley fans only regretted that too few people had come. They blamed Burnley's poor competitiveness. Most fans didn't expect this to happen.

If they had thought of it, they would have brought two or three thousand people.

The Man City fans never expected that they would be laughed at by Burnley.

While arguing with Burnley, the fans cheered for their team.

Man City quickly stabilized their position. After all, they had the strength, it was their home field, and they were facing a team like Burnley.

After losing the ball, they quickly began to control the rhythm.

Sterling and Aguero's impact was very strong.

But after scoring, Burnley quickly changed their formation. The attacking midfielder quickly retreated, and the defensive midfielder also stood on the defense line.

This kind of team is best at defending. The players don't have high offensive talent, and they practice defense the most.

Aguero was directly lost in the opponent's defense line, with various double-teams and even quite rough fouls.

Throughout the first half, Man City's midfield could successfully get the ball and enter the danger zone, but the balls passed into the penalty area were almost no threat.

Sterling's several breakthroughs were destroyed and intercepted, and if they couldn't be intercepted, they would be mercilessly brought down.

The Burnley players, seeing themselves leading Man City, were all fired up, and their defensive intensity was extremely high.

It made the Man City players play very awkwardly.

During the halftime break, Guardiola had a sullen face. These players were indeed not playing well, and their condition was a bit poor, especially Aguero, who seemed to be sleepwalking. The ball would be destroyed when it was passed to him, and he had no advantage in physical confrontation.

The possession rate was very high, but they couldn't open up the situation.

A big reason for this was the national team match week. European players like De Bruyne were better, but players like Zhao Gang and Aguero, who were relatively far away from Europe, had to rush back after playing, and their physical condition was not adjusted at all.

FIFA is really annoying.

Guardiola cursed in his heart, but he couldn't say it out loud.

He repeatedly talked about his tactics, telling the players to pay attention to their running positions on the field and to concentrate.

Guardiola repeatedly confirmed Aguero's condition and whether he needed to rest. Aguero kept assuring him that he was absolutely fine!

Ten minutes into the second half, De Bruyne finally found a great opportunity. With a precise long pass, Aguero went on a one-on-one!

Amidst the earth-shattering cheers of the Man City fans, Aguero kicked the ball into the stands under the interference of the defender and the goalkeeper!

If it were the old Aguero, he would have rushed in all the way, and the defender wouldn't have been able to touch him.

Today, Aguero stumbled when he dribbled the ball, and the defender actually caught up from behind!

Guardiola covered his head and couldn't believe his eyes.

The entire Man City fan area let out a sigh of regret.

The Burnley fans stood directly on the high platform, waving their scarves and cheering.

"Shameful Aguero, disappointing Man City No. 10!"

Premier League fans have always had a great mentality. Aguero gritted his teeth, lowered his head, and was annoyed and angry.

Mental imbalance, but there was no way.

There was nothing to say about losing this kind of ball.

Guardiola glanced at the time, 55 minutes. It was not appropriate to substitute at this time, and replacing Aguero might cause Aguero to have a more rebellious mentality.

Of course, Guardiola was not afraid that Aguero would do something rebellious. He had never been afraid of these things.

He just didn't want his substitution to affect Aguero's future state.

Aguero had been playing according to the coach's ideas, and he had never disobeyed Guardiola on the field. Guardiola had to think about him.

He could substitute Aguero, but he would definitely not substitute him in this situation.

Wait a few more minutes and see how it goes. It was only one goal behind, it was nothing.

"The Man City players are not in particularly good shape today." Zhan Lu was also startled when he saw Aguero miss this one-on-one.

"Yes, several previous offensive opportunities were directly destroyed by the defenders. If they could get the ball, there might be a threatening attack."

"Zhao Gang will definitely play, but it shouldn't be at this time. It's likely to be after sixty minutes."

The Dragon Country fans were watching the live broadcast and were anxious.

"What's going on? Why are so many people rotated? Aguero and Sterling are not in good shape. What's wrong?"

"The Man City players are tired! It's normal for Aguero to be in bad shape. Why is Sterling happy again?"

"Why doesn't Zhao Gang play? He played so well! Does Guardiola not want to win?"

"Is he being controlled by capital?"

"Selling points! He doesn't want the championship!"

"Guardiola is protecting Zhao Gang. Zhao Gang only returned to Manchester on the evening of the 18th. It's only the next day. He hasn't adjusted his condition yet. If he goes up and plays the whole game, he'll be exhausted! Why are you asking such stupid questions?"

"Yes, there's also a Champions League game against Monchengladbach next week! They're fighting for the first place in the group. If they keep playing, they'll die on the field. Didn't you see how tired Zhao Gang was when he played for the national team?!"

The Burnley players were full of energy on the field, playing with all their might, and their level seemed to have improved a lot.

They dared to make moves, and when Man City's bombardment failed to achieve the desired results, they could also launch high-quality counterattacks.

There had been two threatening attacks before, and now here it came again!

Long passes and crosses to find the frontcourt. Once successful, a through ball behind the defense would be extremely threatening.

"It's going to be bad, it's going to be bad..." Director Zhang watched Burnley find a frontcourt player with a long ball, and his heart rose to his throat.

The Man City defenders made a serious mistake in their positioning and collided with each other!

"Watch Burnley's attack this time!" Zhan Lu raised his voice, "Kyle with a very beautiful breakthrough, into the penalty area, a direct shot!

Bravo with a very beautiful save!

A mess in the penalty area, Otamendi... Oh no!

The ball is in! This ball is in!! Joni! Joni scored twice!"

In the penalty area, Otamendi was facing the goal and was preparing to kick the ball behind him, but Joni took the lead and poked the ball directly. Bravo couldn't react at all, and the ball rolled into the goal!

Otamendi raised his arms like crazy and looked at the referee as if he was about to cry.

Offside, please be offside, otherwise there will be big trouble!!

The referee stretched out his hand and pointed to the center circle.

"This ball is not offside, and there is no foul, a very clean shot!! Man City... is going to be in big trouble, this is the most difficult game they have encountered in the league this season!

Sixty-first minute of the game, Burnley leads by two goals!

Burnley scored one goal in five away games, but when facing the league leader Man City, they scored two goals in sixty-one minutes! The Premier League is really wonderful!"

The Man City fans were silent, unable to imagine that this would happen.

Joni jumped up and stepped heavily on the sideline like the Hulk, bursting out with endless power, and roared.

The Burnley fans were screaming and cheering.

"Where is Aguero??"

"Where is De Bruyne??"

"Where is Zhao???!!!"

The Burnley fans all stood up, the middle-aged fan at the front raised his hands, his eyes shining, and sang loudly.

Hundreds of fans followed the rhythm and danced.

"Where is Aguero?"

"Where is De Bruyne?"

"Where is Zhao?"

"They are all in Burnley... Oh ho!!!"

The Burnley coach waved his fist hard, almost crying with excitement.

This is the Etihad, this is Man City's home ground!