Manchester City claimed a dominant victory over Barcelona away from home, earning applause from the entire stadium. However, there wasn't much excitement within the Manchester City camp.
After returning from Barcelona, the team immediately faced their 31st round Premier League fixture.
Their opponent this time was the Black Cats, Sunderland.
Gao Shen once again made significant rotations, conserving energy and focus for the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals next Wednesday. That, after all, was the main event.
Martin O'Neill's Sunderland deployed a three-defensive-midfielder strategy on the road, maintaining a tight defense and successfully holding off Manchester City in the first half. But in the second half, as their physical strength waned, Sunderland began to unravel.
In the 52nd minute, former Sunderland player Jordan Henderson assisted Hazard, who cut in from the left channel and struck a low shot, breaking Sunderland's defense and scoring the opening goal for Manchester City.
After that, City launched a wave of relentless attacks.
In the 75th and 76th minutes, within just two minutes, City struck twice. Hazard drove the ball into the penalty area, drawing defenders toward him, then set up David Silva and Henderson for two successive goals.
In the 81st minute, David Silva assisted Sturridge for yet another goal.
In the end, Manchester City defeated Sunderland 4-0 at home.
April 3, Etihad Stadium, Manchester.
In the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, Manchester City hosted Barcelona.
What Gao Shen hadn't expected was that Guardiola would completely overhaul the lineup from the first leg, opting instead for a 3-4-2-1 formation.
Yes, it was the same tactic used during the last 30 minutes at Camp Nou.
The difference was that he replaced Vargas with Sanchez.
This was something Gao Shen hadn't anticipated at all.
Especially when he saw Thiago Motta, Busquets, Puyol, and Piqué in Barcelona's starting eleven, he had a strong sense of foreboding.
Once he got to the stadium and saw the Barcelona players taking their positions, he was truly stunned.
"Why do I feel like he's mad at someone?" Even Carlo noticed something was off.
Who in their right mind would use a three-man backline against a Manchester City side with such potent wing attacks?
And who would believe Guardiola didn't know this?
The only plausible explanation was that he was angry with someone.
Gao Shen thought so too, but he didn't know the exact situation.
In La Liga, after suffering a heavy defeat to Manchester City, Barcelona bounced back with a 2-0 home win over Athletic Bilbao.
Judging by the standings, Barcelona still had no real threat in the La Liga title race.
Guardiola did face media criticism after the first-leg loss, but knowing his personality, he wouldn't clash with the press. The only possible source of this issue was internal.
Management or the locker room.
But the locker room seemed unlikely.
Which left only one possibility.
Rosell and Bartomeu were truly the gravediggers of Barcelona.
Their actions after taking charge led to the club's gradual decline.
Even though Rosell claimed to be cutting the budget, his actual impact was far more damaging.
For example, the transfer of Neymar, which ultimately led to his downfall.
The financial details were a complete mess. From beginning to end, Barcelona never clearly stated how much they spent.
The only certainty was that the real cost far exceeded what they announced.
And as for what Bartomeu did after becoming president—
No need to elaborate. Saying too much would sound like slander.
It's entirely possible that Guardiola had fallen out with the board.
"Forget all that. Stick to the old plan—press hard at the start and try to grab a goal early." Gao Shen calmed himself and stopped overthinking.
Dwelling on Barcelona's internal issues wouldn't help.
Holding a 3-0 lead from the first leg allowed Manchester City to play with ease and without pressure.
Especially since Gao Shen had already emphasized before the match that they should push for an early goal.
This fired up the players, who came out pressing aggressively. They played with high intensity and freedom.
Just how boldly did City play?
Barely a minute and a half into the match, Javi Martinez pressed forward all the way to the edge of Barcelona's penalty area and disrupted Busquets' pass. Robben intercepted on the right, immediately surged forward, reached the right edge of the box, and flicked the ball back with his heel.
Robben then followed up, cutting into the box from the right and delivering a right-footed pass—his weaker foot—across the face of goal.
Suárez arrived and struck it cleanly into the bottom-left corner.
Barcelona keeper Valdés, positioned to the right, couldn't get there.
1-0!
Another early goal!
Manchester City had now scored early in both legs, seizing the initiative right from kickoff.
Once might be a coincidence. Twice? That was Barcelona's own problem.
When Suárez scored, Gao Shen celebrated animatedly, then glanced at the visiting technical area—only to find Guardiola still seated, not even bothering to come to the touchline, deepening his confusion.
Gao Shen was almost certain now—something was definitely wrong with Guardiola.
After City scored the opener, they continued pressing high with confidence and intensity.
Barcelona managed a quick counterattack and got a shot off, but Neuer collected it comfortably.
In the 15th minute, Manchester City attacked again.
Lichtsteiner and Robben combined on the right wing. Lichtsteiner made a diagonal run into the box, then suddenly let fly with a powerful shot.
The ball rocketed toward the goal.
Inside the box, Piqué tried to block it by shifting his body, but when he couldn't get in the way, he stretched out his right hand and deflected it.
The referee caught it immediately, whistled for a handball, gave Piqué a yellow card, and awarded a penalty to Manchester City.
The Barcelona players were furious, surrounding the referee to protest.
But the referee stood firm, signaling for them to back off. The emotional Barca players wouldn't give in and kept crowding around.
So, the referee flashed two more yellow cards—to Busquets and Dani Alves.
Then came a stern warning: if they surrounded him again, someone would see red!
"Barça's players need to calm down."
"According to UEFA's new rules, the maximum punishment for crowding the referee is a red card."
"Their current behavior is quite irrational. They've picked up two unnecessary yellow cards, which will seriously weaken their defense."
Captain Puyol, Xavi, and others rushed in to pull their teammates back. When they tried to reason with the referee, he made it clear: it was a handball.
"The replay shows clearly that Piqué reached out intentionally. The referee only gave him a yellow card—he could've gone for red. That was already lenient."
"Barça's players are trying their luck."
"They've often swayed referees and benefitted from controversial decisions in the past, which led to a certain mindset. But things are clearly different now."
"Take Piqué's handball. It was unnecessary. Even if Lichtsteiner shot, it might not have gone in. Now he's picked up a yellow and conceded a penalty. Not worth it."
Robben stepped up confidently. Once the referee blew the whistle, he ran up and calmly slotted the penalty into the net.
2-0!
Aggregate score: 5-0!
There was no suspense left in the tie.
That collapse earlier from Barcelona's players was understandable.
After the 0-3 first-leg defeat, they had lost belief. Their only hope was to somehow score more goals.
But now, after conceding an early goal and then giving up a penalty, they completely fell apart.
Through it all, Guardiola remained seated, unmoved, as if detached from the game entirely.
Halftime score: 2-0.
Manchester City had just 35% possession—far less than Barcelona—but they only allowed one shot from their opponents.
Yes, just that early shot.
Other than that, Barcelona offered almost no threat and couldn't generate any offense.
This was quite astonishing.
Gao Shen was also confused, but he suspected that Barcelona's internal issues were more serious than anything happening externally.
In other words, when a team performs poorly, internal tensions are magnified and affect their play.
In the second half, Gao Shen instructed his players to stay focused, defend patiently, and look for counters.
But as soon as the second half kicked off, City went on the attack.
In the 48th minute, just three minutes into the half, Manchester City earned a corner.
David Silva whipped it in. Kompany rose at the far post, outjumped Puyol, and powered in a header.
3-0!
After that, Barcelona's attack lacked conviction. City, meanwhile, played with composure and control.
In the 76th minute, City won the ball in midfield and launched a quick counter.
Robben attempted a run down the right but got blocked. He quickly changed direction and cut inside, shaking off Vargas, then skipped past Puyol before curling a shot.
Thiago Motta blocked it.
The ball bounced to the penalty spot. Suárez reacted first and laid it off to the left side of the box.
Bale arrived from deep, took it first-time with his left foot, and drilled it into the far corner.
4-0!
Aggregate score: 7-0!
Barcelona still tried to push forward, and City created a few more counterattacking chances after rotating players.
Even Yaya Touré, coming off the bench, had a golden opportunity to score into an empty net, but the Ivorian missed.
Frustrated, Touré pounded the turf in regret.
Gao Shen shook his head on the sidelines, smiling bitterly.
If that had gone in, it would've been 5-0.
What a satisfying score that would have been!
(To be continued.)
***
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