The dressing room of Manchester City at this moment was far from the quiet place fans might have imagined. On the contrary, its current liveliness was no less than that of Arsenal's dressing room.
Guardiola alone contributed ninety-nine percent of the decibel level. Facing such a disastrous performance from his team, he was on the verge of exploding.
"Talk about your performance in the match you just finished. Do you think you implemented the key points I emphasized nineteen hundred and seventy-nine times during training? Did you play with focus? Are you satisfied with this result?"
"So what if the opponent was Arsenal? Arsenal is made of humans, Messi is human, Henry is human, Cao Baming is human. Why are they better than you? Do you accept that?..."
The Manchester City players remained silent. They were long accustomed to their coach's scolding, even numb to it. Their mental fortitude was that strong!
For any other team, such an outcome would have meant not a soul daring to utter a word.
However, the coach insisted on reviewing the match at this precise moment.
As the quietest player on the team, De Bruyne, as usual, chose a secluded spot in the back row. He appeared to be listening intently to every word the coach spoke, but in reality, the words went in one ear and out the other, bypassing his brain entirely.
At this moment, he certainly couldn't have imagined that the opponent he feared the most, the one Guardiola mentioned the most, was standing just outside the door.
The fact that Cao Baming would proactively offer to exchange jerseys with him was something he could never have conceived, even with ten brains.
After much deliberation, Cao Baming finally made his decision. Since the task had to be completed, he might as well choose a suitable candidate. The current Manchester City team, though tiring to watch, had at least one player with a modicum of ability worthy of his respect.
The system's demands were so stringent; such a task was unprecedented.
At this moment, Cao Baming felt a pang of nervousness. The situation was potentially embarrassing to admit, especially as he was on the winning side, and the proposed jersey exchange had already been agreed upon earlier.
Normally, a jersey exchange should happen immediately after the match. Yet, five minutes, or even more, had passed since the final whistle. Without checking the time, and not feeling its passage, Cao Baming wasn't even sure how long it had been.
Inside Manchester City's dressing room, Guardiola's voice boomed, audible clearly even in the hallway outside.
Finally, after a brief review of the match, Guardiola stopped.
He temporarily left the dressing room, allowing the players time to rest and change, to relax a little.
As Manchester City players, they all breathed a collective sigh of relief. He was finally gone.
With Guardiola's departure, the players in the dressing room quickly returned to their normal state. Like any team after a loss, the players spoke less to each other. Rather than dwelling in sadness, it was better to transform that sorrow into anger.
The target of their anger, of course, could be none other than their opponent in this match, Arsenal. If a single person had to be singled out, it would undoubtedly be Cao Baming.
While his skill and technique were beyond reproach, offering such respect as an opponent at this moment was unrealistic. Their thoughts were much more direct, and considerably darker.
At this instant, all the Manchester City players in the dressing room harbored an intense hatred for Arsenal and an even greater hatred for Cao Baming.
De Bruyne, the most old-fashioned and taciturn member of the team, stood by the door and even joined the conversation. He felt as if he had suddenly been transported back to the bleak circumstances of a few weeks prior, all his negative emotions surging back in an instant, as if he had returned to the past.
He gently turned and patted Foden's shoulder.
Just then, the door De Bruyne was leaning against suddenly made a noise, as if someone were pushing it.
Not a single player was absent from the dressing room. They all looked at each other, wondering who could be knocking at this moment.
Thinking it might be the coach, Guardiola, the players tensed up. However, as De Bruyne turned, they saw an unbelievable sight through the gap in the door.
The person outside was wearing a bright red jersey. The vibrant red instantly sent a jolt through everyone in the room, as the opponent in the recently concluded match had worn precisely that color.
Like soldiers on a battlefield spotting an enemy, the sight of this color outside the door, even without a full view, was enough to trigger a primal reflex and heighten the players' sense of vigilance.
"Who is it?" Haaland stepped forward proactively.
As the team's leader, Haaland naturally felt compelled to be the first to step forward in the face of potential danger. If an opposing player were to show up, with the current mood, anything could happen.
Cao Baming had no other intention; his knock was polite, a gentle tap of his fingers.
Seeing Haaland open the door, Cao Baming immediately understood.
Sending such a formidable figure to the door clearly indicated no friendly intentions.
However, considering that the other side had lost the match, and by a humiliating score of 6-1, what could their thoughts be when they encountered an opposing player who had come to their door?
These were things that, with a little thought, or even without much effort, were perfectly understandable. It was a normal situation.
To avoid any misunderstanding, Cao Baming stepped forward, not rushing, and with a friendly smile on his face.
He saw that standing by the door was precisely the target he had come to find, De Bruyne.
At this moment, De Bruyne was still in his team's jersey, having not had time to change. After listening to the coach's lecture, he hadn't had the chance to attend to his belongings.