A week later, it was time for the second round of the Premier League.
No one expected that Blackpool, already stunned by an upset in the first round, would suffer a crushing 0–6 defeat away to Arsenal in the opening match of Round Two.
Young gun Walcott bagged a hat trick, while Arshavin, Diaby, and Chamakh each added a goal.
After drawing with Liverpool in the first round, the Gunners turned up the heat in the second round with an offensive feast.
Tottenham, who had been thrashed by Manchester City in the first round, bounced back with a 2–1 away win over Stoke City, thanks to a brace from Džeko.
But the real shock came from Chelsea.
Ancelotti's Blues demolished Wigan Athletic 6–0 away from home, with Anelka and Kalou each scoring twice.
Across the first two rounds, Chelsea had racked up twelve goals, a staggering achievement.
Wigan, on the other hand, had conceded ten goals in two matches, which was just as surprising.
Coincidentally, in another game played at the same time, Newcastle United thrashed Aston Villa 6–0, with Andy Carroll netting a hat trick.
Manchester United, who had defeated Newcastle in the first round, followed that up with a 2–1 away win over Fulham.
…
On the evening of August 22nd, at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester.
Manchester City hosted Liverpool.
The deadlock was broken in the 23rd minute. Javi Martinez, Lichtsteiner, and Robben executed a series of quick two-on-one passes down the right flank, eventually releasing the ball to Rakitic, who made a forward run.
The Croatian midfielder dribbled into the right side of the penalty area and played a cutback to the edge of the six-yard box. Suarez charged in but missed it overhead. David Silva controlled the ball with his left foot and calmly slotted it home, giving Manchester City a 1–0 lead!
After that, Liverpool launched a fierce counterattack.
Benítez's side showed courage both in the opening stages and after falling behind. They had four consecutive shots inside City's penalty area, but Neuer came up with a series of brilliant saves to keep his side ahead.
In the second half, neither side made any substitutions, but in the 62nd minute, Manchester City capitalized on a corner kick. Kompany rose high to flick the ball toward the far post, where Suarez finished from close range to make it 2–0.
The match remained tight throughout. Both teams had chances, but Manchester City took theirs, and Liverpool were thwarted by Neuer. The German keeper made several outstanding saves to keep a clean sheet.
In the end, Manchester City defeated Liverpool 2–0.
Although the scoreline read 2–0, the match itself was a hard-fought battle, and City came away with a narrow escape.
Liverpool's overall strength remained formidable, but due to financial constraints, the Reds hadn't made any major signings during the summer.
Their start to the new season was less than ideal, with one draw and one loss from their opening two matches.
Most notably, Torres, their top striker, had yet to produce any exciting performances this season.
…
"Congratulations, Gao!"
As Gao Shen walked over to the visitors' technical area, Benítez extended a polite handshake.
"Thank you, Rafa. It was a great match."
Benítez had a slight smile on his face, but it felt a little forced.
No surprise—his team had just lost.
"You've built a very strong team this season and made some big moves in the market. Seems like you're really going for it," Benítez said blandly. But when you think about it, there was a hint of envy, maybe even a little bitterness.
Knowing his personality, he was probably thinking: If I had a squad that strong, I could win too!
Gao Shen didn't argue. To a certain extent, Benítez wasn't wrong.
In the professional game, money isn't everything, but without money, you're not going anywhere.
Many people criticized Gao Shen's heavy spending this summer, calling it excessive.
Just look at the abundance of forwards on the team—Suarez, Van Persie, Giroud, Sturridge, Robinho. It looked like a waste of talent.
But what they didn't understand was that this was all part of a bigger plan—by Gao Shen, Mansour, and Mubarak.
With Platini's Financial Fair Play policy about to take effect, this two- to three-year transition window was Manchester City's last chance. They needed to build a top-tier squad quickly to secure their place among Europe's elite.
If City had to rely on gradual growth, it would be impossible to catch up with the established Big Four in the short term.
Just like last season, after City won the league, Arsenal dropped out of contention. The Gunners were forced to sell players just to keep the squad afloat, otherwise, they would have fallen apart.
But clearly, that path was unsustainable. It was like drinking poison to quench thirst. Wenger had no choice.
After selling Van Persie and Adebayor, Wenger brought in Chamakh. How much did that cost?
Of course Wenger knew Chamakh couldn't replace Van Persie or Adebayor.
But he had no choice. He had no money.
As Mansour once told Gao Shen, "I'm not concerned about the losses. What I care about is whether you can take Manchester City to the next level!"
And Gao Shen promised, "I'll do everything I can to turn Manchester City into a new powerhouse in the shortest time possible!"
And for any European giant, one competition is essential.
The Champions League!
This was the shared goal of Gao Shen and Manchester City.
They both wanted the Champions League!
So far, Gao Shen had spent over €300 million of Mansour's money. But if he could build a top team, it would be a worthy investment. Mansour planned to build a football empire, starting with Manchester City.
…
Even though Manchester City's second-round performance wasn't as dazzling as Chelsea's, or as explosive as Newcastle's, what they offered was consistency.
Beating Tottenham 4–0 and Liverpool 2–0, City had made a strong statement.
With those two wins, and after Blackpool's heavy loss to Arsenal, City climbed to second in the table, level on points with Chelsea, trailing only on goal difference.
Three days later, following the completion of the Champions League qualifiers, the 32 group stage teams were officially confirmed.
UEFA immediately ranked the teams based on their coefficient points from European competitions and divided them into four pots.
Unsurprisingly, Manchester City, with no European competition history, was placed in Pot 4.
This came as no surprise. It was just the reality.
What was surprising was that Real Madrid, loaded with superstars, had only made it into Pot 2.
It was absurd!
When Gao Shen saw the standings, his first reaction was: Something shady is going on!
It felt like a fix!
He nearly called Platini himself to ask if there'd been a miscalculation.
"Real Madrid won the Champions League in 2006!" Gao Shen argued.
"But in the past four years, they've all been knocked out in the Round of 16," Carlo reminded him with a wry smile.
That's when Gao Shen understood.
UEFA calculates coefficients over five years. So...
"That's right. If Real Madrid doesn't make progress this season, next year's ranking will be even worse!"
Sometimes, even Carlo struggled to understand why a team as strong as Real Madrid couldn't get past the Round of 16.
With that kind of squad, how could they fall short every year?
The only explanation was that the issue wasn't with their strength, but their execution.
It could be the manager. It could be tactics. It could be mental fragility.
The three English teams—Manchester United, Chelsea, and Liverpool—were all in Pot 1. That meant Manchester City was guaranteed to face one of Inter Milan, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, AC Milan, or Lyon.
Pot 2 also featured strong teams like Real Madrid, Werder Bremen, Napoli, Benfica, Valencia, and Shakhtar Donetsk.
Pot 3 offered a slightly better chance, but still included tricky teams like Ajax, Schalke 04, Braga, and Spartak Moscow.
The biggest issue with the Russian clubs was the travel—too far and too tiring.
As for Pot 4, Manchester City was the main troublemaker.
"We can't always be this unlucky, right?" Sari asked with a wry smile, looking at Gao Shen and the others.
A group of death is a group of death—the only question is how deadly it'll be.
If they drew a team like Lyon, that would actually be a decent result. It would be like finding happiness in misfortune.
If they ended up with Barcelona, though, it would be a complete barbecue. The only silver lining would be avoiding Real Madrid from Pot 2.
This was City's first appearance in the Champions League since the takeover. While many of the players had European experience, this was their first test as a unit. They needed to be cautious. A slow, steady climb would be the ideal path.
"Just wait. Statistically speaking, the chance of us drawing the worst group is 100%," Lucas said with a laugh.
"Why's that?" Sari looked puzzled.
"If you remove the three English teams from Pot 1, we don't have many options left. When you combine that with the strong teams in Pots 2 and 3, we're guaranteed to end up in a tough group. That's the curse of Pot 4."
And it wasn't just City. Real Madrid and Napoli in Pot 2 were in a similar boat.
They had to face a Pot 1 team. That was unavoidable.
"So we might as well face it head-on, ditch the fantasy, and get ready for war!" Lucas said excitedly.
Honestly?
The league is long. It's a grind. It tests the team's overall strength.
But cup competitions, especially knockout rounds, are something else. They're tense and thrilling. Lucas wasn't the only one who looked forward to the Champions League knockout stages—Gao Shen did too.
He loved that feeling of eliminating an opponent.
The league just couldn't match that.
…
On the evening of the 26th, at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.
The UEFA Champions League group stage draw and annual awards ceremony officially began.
City sent CEO Gary Cook to attend in person.
Gao Shen and the coaching staff stayed behind at the club after training to watch the live broadcast.
He didn't care much for the awards, Barcelona were bound to sweep them.
His focus was on the draw.
Even if it's a group of death, you need to know who you're up against!
(To be continued.)
***
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