Chapter 597: 55 Points at the Halfway Mark, Who Can Stop Manchester City?
"3-1 Victory Over United, City Claims 14 Straight Wins!"
"Manchester City Ties Arsenal's Premier League Win Streak Record, One More Win to Claim Glory!"
"Who Can Stop This Manchester City Team?"
"16 Matches, 46 Points: City Sets the Best Start in Premier League History, on Course to Break the Single-Season Points Record!"
Unsurprisingly, after Manchester City's 3-1 victory over Manchester United, every major media outlet reported on the match as their top headline.
Before the game, many had hoped United could stop City's winning streak, but after their defeat, those hopes were completely dashed.
City's next opponent was Swansea, the bottom team in the Premier League. Given City's strength and their consistency against weaker teams, the chances of City losing that match were very slim.
Now that City had beaten their toughest recent opponent, Manchester United, their probability of breaking Arsenal's 14-match win streak had risen to at least 80%.
As expected, City didn't disappoint. In the 17th round of the Premier League, playing away, City crushed Swansea 5-0 with goals from Lin Quan, De Bruyne, David Silva, and Agüero, extending their winning streak to 15 games and breaking the 15-year-old Premier League record!
With two matches remaining before the halfway point of the season, City had already accumulated 49 points, 11 ahead of second-place Manchester United.
This meant they had not only secured the "half-season champions" title three games in advance but also virtually decided the outcome of the league title race.
It was hard to imagine what kind of mistakes City would have to make for their rivals to catch up and take the Premier League trophy from their hands.
It seemed impossible.
This Manchester City team looked unbeatable—any team facing them could only hope for the best.
Of course, City wasn't entirely without weaknesses.
Just a week ago, their unbeaten run had been broken in the Champions League by Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk!
The main reason Shakhtar managed to beat City was due to the freezing weather at their home ground.
Additionally, this was the last group-stage match, and City had already secured top spot in the group, so they didn't want to waste the energy of their key players in such cold conditions thousands of miles away.
City fielded a second-string team for the match—Agüero, Lin Quan, De Bruyne, and David Silva didn't even travel.
With a lineup led by Gabriel Jesus and Bernardo Silva, City conceded two goals in the first half, struggling to cope with the harsh conditions.
They managed to pull one back through Sané in the second half, avoiding an embarrassing defeat but still losing the game 2-1.
Even though City's unbeaten streak ended, none of Europe's major clubs were celebrating.
First, City's main players hadn't even featured in that match, and the gap in quality between the starters and the substitutes was huge, making the result less significant.
Second, Shakhtar's home conditions were so extreme that few other teams could rely on such frigid environments to weaken City.
So, figuring out how to beat Manchester City remained a mystery for everyone. The best hope for a team to defeat them was through sheer strength and smart tactics from top teams.
The reigning Champions League winners, Real Madrid, were considered the team most likely to pull this off.
After all, they had beaten City in last season's Champions League final and remained one of the strongest teams in Europe.
Given Real Madrid's solid form this season, many believed they could challenge City in the Champions League.
Considering that Madrid finished second in Group H and City topped Group F, there was a chance the two teams could meet in the Champions League Round of 16.
Every year, fans joke that the Champions League draw seems scripted. Some even hoped for an early clash between Madrid and City in the Round of 16, so fans could enjoy a showdown between these two giants sooner rather than later.
However, both sets of fans surely hoped their teams wouldn't meet so early.
Given their strength, it would be a shame for either team to exit the competition at this stage.
Thankfully, UEFA didn't serve up such a dramatic pairing in the draw.
City drew Swiss side Basel, while Madrid were drawn against the French champions, Paris Saint-Germain.
For City, this was a comfortable draw. Basel posed little threat, and City's chances of advancing were high.
But for Madrid, the draw was much tougher. PSG was no pushover—they had thrashed Barcelona 4-0 at home last season. Having faced Barça so many times, Madrid knew their old rivals' strength well.
If PSG could beat Barcelona like that, it showed they were dominant at home, and even Madrid would likely struggle in Paris.
But Madrid only had themselves to blame for this tough draw.
If they hadn't made so many mistakes in the group stage and finished below Tottenham, they wouldn't have drawn such a strong opponent.
Neither Madrid nor PSG was happy with the draw.
PSG had worked hard to finish top of their group, only to face the reigning champions in the next round.
Last season, they had faced Barcelona; this season, it was Madrid. It seemed the two Spanish giants were taking turns bullying them.
Looking at their Round of 16 opponent, and then seeing who Bayern Munich had drawn, PSG was even more frustrated.
Most of the top clubs had favorable draws in the Round of 16.
For example, City, Bayern, Liverpool, and United all drew relatively weaker opponents.
But some teams were less fortunate, drawing tough matchups.
Tottenham, having just overcome the hurdle of Real Madrid, now faced Serie A giants Juventus.
Both teams were evenly matched, and this would likely be a fiercely contested tie.
Meanwhile, reigning Premier League champions Chelsea drew Spanish giants Barcelona.
Although Barcelona hadn't been at their best in recent years, they were still a force to be reckoned with.
The rivalry between Chelsea and Barcelona in European competition was legendary, with plenty of history. The two teams meeting again in the Champions League would undoubtedly be another epic battle.
After the group stages of the Champions League ended, most leagues entered their winter break.
But in the Premier League, there's no such thing as a winter break.
While players from other leagues relaxed on sunny beaches, the 20 Premier League teams and hundreds of players were still battling it out in cold, wet, and occasionally snowy weather.
On December 17th, the 18th round of the Premier League kicked off.
Manchester City, playing at home, welcomed a tough challenger.
Their opponent was Tottenham Hotspur, currently fourth in the Premier League.
Although Spurs were 18 points behind City, they were still a formidable side. After signing Son Heung-min, their overall strength had improved, especially in attack, where they ranked among the top three in the league.
The reason Spurs had fallen so far behind City was simple: City's form was extraordinary.
With 16 wins and 1 draw from 17 games, City's points tally was unbelievably high, and they remained unbeaten.
In contrast, Spurs had struggled in the league due to their involvement in the Champions League. Balancing two competitions had caused them to drop points, resulting in a record of 9 wins, 4 draws, and 4 losses.
Although Spurs' record wasn't great, their defeats came against strong teams like Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, and Leicester City, so it wasn't unreasonable.
There were still high expectations for Spurs, though. While City had already broken Arsenal's 15-year-old win streak record, fans were eager to see who could stop them.
After Swansea's heavy defeat, fans realized that relying on mid-to-lower-table teams was pointless. Only top or near-top teams had any chance of beating City.
And Spurs fit that bill.
Last season, Tottenham had beaten City once and drawn once, remaining unbeaten against them. This raised fans' hopes even higher.
Faced with such a strong opponent, City remained fully focused. Guardiola fielded his strongest lineup, with all the key players who hadn't traveled to Ukraine returning for this match.
Playing at home, City quickly took control of the game. In the 14th minute, Gündoğan scored the opener, assisted by Lin Quan from a corner.
Fifteen minutes later, De Bruyne assisted Lin Quan, who scored the second goal.
Tottenham's game plan of defending and counterattacking was rendered ineffective by City's relentless pressing, leaving them only defending without any real counterattacks.
Harry Kane, frustrated by the lack of support up front, ended up earning a yellow card for an overly aggressive challenge.
In the second half, Spurs tried to change their tactics, pushing their formation higher up the pitch, unwilling to be passive any longer.
But by this point, City were in full flow. Spurs' tactical shift didn't help; instead, it further exposed their defense.
In the 55th minute, Mbappé was brought down in the box, earning City a penalty.
Lin Quan gave the penalty to Mbappé, who calmly converted it, scoring the third goal.
Since missing in the Champions League final penalty shootout last season, Mbappé had been training hard to improve his penalty-taking skills.
The results of his practice were clear with this perfectly taken penalty.
At 3-0, City grew more relaxed, and with that ease came some beautiful passing combinations on the pitch.
City's technical quality was undeniable—they could proudly claim to have the best ball control in the Premier League.
And these players weren't just skilled; they were creative, too.
Lin Quan, De Bruyne, and David Silva, in particular, frequently produced moments of brilliance, leaving spectators in awe of how beautifully football could be played.
While City's confidence soared, Spurs became more and more disheartened.
They couldn't understand why, despite being able to compete with the likes of Real Madrid in the Champions League, they couldn't beat City.
They had studied City's new tactics thoroughly, thinking they had found weaknesses. But once on the pitch, none of their plans worked.
In the 70th minute, City's midfield duo connected again, with Gündoğan assisting De Bruyne to score, making it 4-0.
A comprehensive victory was now assured. The only remaining question was whether City would score more in the final 20 minutes.
The answer was yes.
In the 80th minute, substitute Sané, assisted by fellow substitute Gabriel Jesus, scored City's fifth goal.
In stoppage time, Christian Eriksen scored a consolation goal for Spurs, making the final score 5-1.
In the end, City cruised to a 5-1 victory at home, extending their winning streak to 16 games, once again crushing all outside expectations.
Even Tottenham couldn't stop City's run.
After watching this match, fans and the media alike were left wondering: where was the ceiling for this Manchester City team?
With one game left in the first half of the season, City had already amassed 52 points, an astonishing tally!
On December 23rd, City played at home again, with Lin Quan scoring twice and Agüero and De Bruyne adding one each in a 4-0 win over Burnley.
This extended City's winning streak to 17 games and brought their points total to a staggering 55!
Fifty-five points at the halfway mark—a record not only in Premier League history but in all of Europe's top five leagues.
The only other team to achieve such a feat was Barcelona in the 2012-13 season when they set the record for the best first-half performance in La Liga and the top five leagues with 55 points.
In the Bundesliga, teams play fewer games, so even with a perfect record, they can only reach 51 points by this stage.
In Ligue 1 and Serie A, the half-season records were set by PSG in 2015 with 51 points and Juventus in 2013-14 with 52 points, still far short of 55.
For Guardiola and his team, records were just a bonus—nice to have but not essential.
Guardiola wasn't envious of Tito Vilanova's record at Barcelona. Even if City won their next match and tied the record, they couldn't break it.
And in cases where records can't be broken, people tend to remember the first team to achieve it, not the ones who tie it later.
Breaking this record was incredibly difficult—it required a perfect first half of the season.
Even peak Barcelona and City hadn't managed that, showing just how tough a challenge it was.
It's worth mentioning that United dropped points again, drawing with Leicester after a last-minute goal from future United player Harry Maguire.
This extended the gap between City and United to 13 points, a truly demoralizing figure! (End of Chapter)
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