Champions League: Villarreal vs Manchester City! After rotating key players last match, is Villarreal determined to fight Manchester City to the end?

Our first topic today isthe Champions League: Villarreal vs Manchester City!

Over the past decade,the Premier League’s revenue has greatly outpaced the other four major leagues, making the need for a European Super League almost redundant, as the Premier League has effectively become the Super League.

But precisely because the Premier League’s market is so huge, the internal competition is extremely intense, leading to serious internal conflicts that impact their performance in European matches.

Take Manchester City as an example. Although they have been on a strong upward trajectory recently, the more they aim to compete for the Premier League title, the more it may affect their fighting strength in the Champions League.

On Villarreal’s side, they are carefully planning to compete fiercely in this Champions League match,as you can see from their significant rotation in the last game, where many key players were not in the starting lineup.

Normally, they are not heavily affected by international breaks; in the last match, only 4 of the 11 starters had national team duties, two of which were friendlies and one was purely a substitute, so overall fatigue was minimal.

So, with another big rotation last game, the players’ stamina will be even better.

Today, playing against Manchester City definitely requires good physical condition.

As we all know, Villarreal has a very good relationship with Aston Villa; the last time Villarreal played in the Champions League was under Villa’s coach Emery.

After Emery moved to the Premier League, he played Manchester City at home twice and surprisingly won both times.

How did they win?By using numerous sprint counterattacks behind the defense.

This tactic worked well before; will it still work now?

It probably still will.

Because Manchester City has been caught on counterattacks quite frequently this season,with 7 instances of shots resulting from quick counterattacks, ranking tied for fourth most in the Premier League.

Note:Manchester City will definitely be without defensive midfielder Rodri tonight!

Rodri is what level of defensive midfielder? Last year’s Ballon d’Or contender, arguably the world’s best. Without him, Manchester City’s interception ability may decline, making them more vulnerable to counterattacks.

Villarreal’s team carries a strong Emery influence and has always been strong in counterattacking.

This season, they have generated 14 shots from quick counterattacks, the second highest in La Liga.

On one hand, they are genuinely good at this.

On the other hand, given their close ties with Emery and the fact they even played a friendly against Villa this season, it wouldn’t be surprising if Emery shared some insights with them.

Therefore, I am somewhat worried about Manchester City’s defense.

As for Manchester City, aside from injuries to Rodri and Kouassi, the impact on stamina might be even greater.

In their last starting lineup, 7 players had national team duties, so fatigue is considerable.

If the Premier League title was out of reach, it wouldn’t matter, but after Liverpool’s poor form, the Premier League crown is still somewhat within reach, perhaps even quite hopeful.

So, having just played Everton a few days ago and soon heading to Villa away, will they really go all out against Villarreal?

They lost all away games against Emery’s Villa before; will Guardiola be very confident this time?

Anyway, in the last Champions League match, they clearly didn’t give their all against Monaco, resulting in a surprising upset.

Guardiola, such a historically great coach who has won 6 Premier League titles with Manchester City but only 1 Champions League, clearly prioritizes the league more. With such a tight schedule and playing away, I find it hard to fully trust his Champions League approach.

Speaking of which, Villarreal will hold a pre-match award ceremony for Rodri tonight, giving him plenty of respect, which might also reduce some of Manchester City’s competitive edge?

Can Villarreal satisfy their fans? What do you all think? Xiaojiu hopes they at least avoid defeat!

Alright, for today’s other matches, Xiaojiu will still send you written analysis tonight. If anything is unclear, feel free to ask me. “Watch football with understanding,” see you there!

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