After the match ended.
Arsène Wenger arrived at the interview room with a complicated look on his face.
The shock from the match just now had been immense, and he still looked dazed.
Through this match, he had realized an astonishing fact.
A player who seemed like he could only exist in imagination actually existed in real life.
When asked about the result, he answered like this.
"It was a very fierce match. Both teams did their best. The only difference was that Manchester City were the winners."
"Do you think the players did enough? In the second half, your tactics seemed to stop working properly."
"We came out with a new tactical setup today. At first, it worked exactly as intended, and that allowed us to play from a favorable position. From that point of view, the players definitely did their part."
Showing the qualities of a true man-manager, Wenger protected his players.
"But the opponent did well. They turned an unpredictable tactical setup into something they could deal with, then saw through the essence of it and used it to launch counter-attacks. In that regard, Man City fully deserved to win. Whether that was actually Mancini's intention, I do not know."
"So you are cleanly admitting defeat in this match. In that case, is there anything you would like to say about the other aspects of the game?"
"No."
Wenger was a manager well known for openly expressing dissatisfaction with refereeing decisions.
But today, he had no excuse to make.
If anyone had benefited from the referee's calls, it had actually been Arsenal.
A complete defeat.
The scoreline had only been a one-goal difference, but in terms of the actual content of the match, it was a game they had no choice but to accept.
And there was an opponent they could not help but respect.
Ho-young.
He was the kind of player who made people accept the claim that a devil had descended upon the EPL.
Wenger's interview was relayed straight to the press conference room.
Ho-young, who had been named Man of the Match, and manager Mancini were in the middle of their interviews when a reporter who had just heard Wenger's comments suddenly cut in.
"Manager Wenger highly praised your response to the match, manager Mancini. What do you think about that?"
"That man praised me?"
Mancini let out a laugh because it was so absurd.
Not long ago, Wenger had criticized him for playing "money football."
And now that same man had praised him?
Mancini found it hard to believe and asked the reporter again.
"What reason did he give?"
"In the second half, you boldly changed the players' positions and simplified Arsenal's play. At the same time, Manchester City's performance suddenly came alive. It felt like watching magic. Did something happen in the dressing room at half-time?"
"Oh."
Mancini finally seemed to understand and opened his mouth.
"In the dressing room, I only said one thing. 'Lead the players on the pitch. Your role is very important. I believe in you.' That is all I said. And we won."
"To whom did you say that?"
Did that even need an answer?
Mancini turned his head to the side.
Then Ho-young, who was sitting next to him, began to speak.
"Today's victory means a great deal. Through this match, we gained a lot, and it will help us grow even more. That applies not only to the team, but to me as well."
"So you are saying you will grow even more from here?"
"That is the kind of thing that would make Manchester United and Chelsea faint on the spot."
It was the kind of statement that left not only the reporters, but even the players from rival teams in shock.
Then Ho-young added in a resolute voice.
"This is only the beginning. And I will not stop until I achieve my goal."
"Your goal... We have heard you say you want to win trophies, but now that I think about it, I do not believe we have ever heard your exact objective. Could you be more specific?"
"The treble."
Winning the EPL, the FA Cup, and the Europa League, completing a mini treble.
That was the final gateway before surpassing his limits.
After the match, as always, people poured out their thoughts about Ho-young.
[Patrick Vieira: "Ho-young is a manager, a coach, and a player all at once on the pitch. He is a genius."]
[Ronaldinho: "I am happy to spend the final years of my career alongside Ho-young. I understand why Zidane delayed his retirement. I want to keep taking care of myself and enjoy my football life even longer."]
[David Silva: "I could not play, but I realized one thing for certain. Leaving Valencia was the worst choice, but choosing Manchester City was the best choice."]
[Mancini: "The next target is Manchester United. There is nothing left to fear. The owner of Manchester will soon change."]
[Alex Ferguson: "A league title is won by the manager, not the player. Mancini is not even worth discussing when it comes to winning the league. Without Ho-young, he can do nothing."]
└ This Manchester derby is going to be exciting. But can Man City really win...?
└ Hard to say. Even when he was at Real, they still lost to Man United, right? Ferguson is too crafty, so he will not go down easily.
└ No matter what, Man City winning the title is still too soon. The traditional top four may have fallen apart, but I still cannot imagine another team winning it.
└ Man City winning the league? That really makes no sense, haha.
At that point, that was still the dominant reaction.
But Ho-young's goal continued to move forward without a hitch.
There was the Asian Cup in January, but after coordination between the Korea Football Association, FIFA vice president Jung Hyun-sung, and Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Ho-young was not called up to the national team.
With Jung Hyun-sung preparing to run in the FIFA presidential election and figures from the Middle East involved in some sort of deal, the Korea Football Association was in no position to ignore Manchester City's wishes.
Thanks to that, Ho-young was able to focus entirely on his club, and on the 30th, Manchester City crushed Notts County 5-1 in the FA Cup fourth round.
The winning streak continued in February.
On February 2, they picked up a comfortable away win against Wigan Athletic, and on February 5, they thrashed WBA 6-0 at home to make it five straight league wins.
Ho-young, who scored a hat-trick that day, proved once again that he had fully adapted to the EPL.
With that, Ho-young reached 11 league goals and rose to fourth in the Golden Boot standings, behind Robin van Persie.
Meanwhile, the January awards were announced.
[Ho-young was named the EPL Player of the Month for January. The award is jointly organized by the EPL and EA SPORTS, and Ho-young became the first Asian player to win it. Not only that, he also had the honor of being named PFA Player of the Month. Meanwhile, Mancini, who recorded 3 wins and 1 draw, was named Manager of the Month, as Manchester City swept every award in a remarkable turn of events.]
└ Wow, now it is Mancini's turn. At this rate, he might end up getting his contract extended.
└ The official project to turn Mancini into a legendary manager.
└ Wow, 11 goals in 5 league matches? Where did all the people who said Ho-young would not adapt to the EPL go?
└ Still, he does not feel quite as overwhelming as he did in Spain. Of course he is still incredible, but when he was at Real, it felt like he made the game look ridiculously easy.
└ That was because he was at Real Madrid, haha. If anything, what he is doing now is even more impressive, is it not? He is leading Man City and doing this much, that says it all.
└ But is he really going to win the league at this rate?
└ It does not seem completely impossible anymore.
It was gradually becoming reality.
Manchester City won both league matches played on February 12 and February 27, taking a full 12 points in February alone.
As a result, the Player of the Month award and the top scorer honor for February also went to Ho-young.
March was just as smooth.
Manchester City beat Aston Villa in the FA Cup fifth round to reach the quarter-finals, and that day David Silva recorded two assists, clearly showing the fans that he was settling into the team well.
On a roll.
Whenever it was matchday, Ho-young's name echoed all over Manchester.
Whether they were Manchester United fans cursing him or City fans praising him, everyone shouted his name.
And it was the same in Madrid.
More and more people were begging him to come back, to return and save Real Madrid.
The reason was simple.
[Real Madrid eliminated in the Champions League round of 16... Chelsea advance to the quarter-finals thanks to Drogba's dramatic winner]
Real Madrid without Ho-young were still a strong team.
It was just that too many bad factors had piled up at once, Ronaldo's injury, the drop in team morale, wage issues, and more.
Now they could not even be certain of winning the league.
On the other hand, Manchester City's chances of winning the title were steadily rising.
It was early April.
<1> Manchester United, 22 wins, 7 draws, 3 losses, 73 points, 65 scored, 28 conceded
<2> Chelsea, 21 wins, 5 draws, 6 losses, 68 points, 53 scored, 24 conceded
<3> Manchester City, 20 wins, 7 draws, 5 losses, 67 points, 68 scored, 34 conceded
<4> Arsenal, 17 wins, 8 draws, 7 losses, 59 points, 55 scored, 40 conceded
Only 1 point behind Chelsea.
Only 6 points behind Manchester United.
If they beat Chelsea and Manchester United in succession in the remaining six matches, they might even overturn the standings.
And that was not all.
[Manchester City achieve "11 straight league wins, FA Cup semi-final qualification, Europa League quarter-final qualification"... Their determination to complete a mini treble has proven to be anything but empty talk]
[Manchester City captain Carlos Tevez, unstoppable since January, rises above Manchester United's Berbatov to take the lead in the Golden Boot race... Tevez: "Football is fun. At this rate, I want to challenge for the league top scorer award."]
Manchester City were enjoying the greatest period in the club's history.
April 6, Etihad Campus.
The squad was going through its final preparations for tomorrow's Europa League quarter-final.
While looking out over the wide training ground, Ho-young suddenly thought to himself,
'Time really flies.'
He had been running nonstop from January until now, and before he knew it, he had already come this far.
It had only been three months, but it was a period in which he had grown a great deal, both internally and externally.
He had also coveted many talents during that time.
From Ronaldinho, he had taken balanced body coordination and outstanding agility, and from Adebayor, he had also taken balanced body coordination, significantly upgrading his physical abilities.
He had also taken whatever talents he could from his other teammates.
'It is almost over.'
As his talents approached their limit, the season was also racing toward its end.
Only a few matches remained.
The most important thing was the Europa League right in front of him.
The opponents to watch out for were Porto and Villarreal, but in truth, with Manchester City's current strength, there was no team they could not beat.
Even so, they could not afford to relax.
Especially since their next quarter-final opponent, Ukrainian powerhouse FC Daniya Miyev, Dynamo Kyiv, were by no means an easy side.
Waiting for them was the flawless striker Andriy Shevchenko, who was enjoying a second prime after scoring 5 goals in the Europa League.
The match was played the following day at 9 p.m. at the Etihad Stadium.
(To be continued.)