Chapter 395: The First Descend of a God! FIFA’s Highest Honor is Coming
In football, there are only three recognized ways to break through a dense defense.
First, use the wing. There are two types of this: one is to cross the ball from the wing and bombard the ball from high altitude, and the other is to combine the wing and the middle, and try to use the wing to pull the space and penetrate the middle.
Second, long shot. As the name suggests, it is to shoot directly at a position far away from the goal, letting the ball fly over the heads of the densely packed defensive players in the middle and threaten the goal.
Third, set pieces. Corner kicks, free kicks, and even grenade throws. In short, use all set piece opportunities that the defenders cannot directly interfere with to launch an attack and get the ball into the penalty area.
As the most basic common sense in football, Ten Hag and Tuchel certainly knew it. Therefore, after the start of the second half, one side continued to use these three routines to press forward, while the other side responded by countering each other's moves, using whatever tactics they could to stop the enemy.
The shortcomings of Manchester United's lineup were clearly visible, and the attack almost fell on Chen Xiaoliang, Kva and Cesco.
Kva pulled the ball on the wing, Chen Xiaoliang launched an attack from the front, and Cesco tried his best to use his height, bounce and impact to deal with a group of central defenders in the penalty area.
Anthony on the right side didn't know how to use his right foot, and his left foot was blocked, so he couldn't even pass the ball, and even if he did, it wouldn't be accurate.
If he dribbles the ball a little longer, he will be double-teamed by Lucas Hernandez and Alphonso Davies and lose possession of the ball.
Although B Fee behind Chen Xiaoliang had a long shot, he had almost no ability to get rid of the opponent's defense when he had the ball in front of him.
Moreover, he couldn't get any advantage in a one-on-one match between either Goretzka or Kimmich.
Unlike Chen Xiaoliang, who can start suddenly and use his ultimate explosive power to force out space and shoot.
Casemiro had to be on guard against counterattacks from Bayern's two wings at all times and dared not press too far.
The two full-backs were even more weak in attack.
Wan Bissaka on the right side is excellent in defense, but his offensive ability is almost zero.
Although Dalot on the left side had a decent cross, he was playing as a left-back and was in a weak position, so he had to pull up his right foot to cross.
However, using the right foot to rub the inward-spinning ball on the left side is not conducive to teammates in the penalty area to compete for headers.
After repeated attempts, they still couldn't break through Bayern's solid defense, so his teammates began to give almost all offensive opportunities to Chen Xiaoliang.
As the season is almost halfway through, the captain No. 7 has become the spiritual pillar of the entire team.
Chen Xiaoliang also made several very threatening attacks.
In the 64th minute, he played a two-on-two with Cesco on the right flank, used a wall pass to get rid of the defense of Goretzka and Lucas Hernandez, and forced a shot at a 45-degree angle.
But with four central defenders in the penalty area, Bayern had Lucas Hernandez dodged, but Upamecano and De Ligt were behind him.
Chen Xiaoliang's shot was blocked by Upamecano's leg, which bought time for Sommer. The latter fell to the ground and blocked the ball on the goal line with his hand. De Ligt, who was defending the goal on the side, kicked the ball towards Manchester United's half with a big foot.
In the 75th minute, Ten Hag replaced Anthony and replaced Sancho as right back, hoping to strengthen the cross-field support.
But not only did this move fail to work, but Sancho's ball control was even worse than Anthony's, and he was always hesitant when passing the ball. Once he was approached by the retreating Alphonso Davies, the ball would most likely be intercepted.
Until the 81st minute, there was still no score, Ten Hag replaced B Fee with McTominay, letting the 191cm tall McTominay try his luck in the penalty area to improve his aerial combat ability.
At this point in the game, both sides no longer cared about their face and used all possible means to achieve their goals.
But McTominay is not the Fellaini of the past. Although the four central defenders in the penalty area of Tuchel have different abilities, they are not vegetarians. After a round of strangulation, although Cesco tried his best, he was still no match for four hands.
Even Jasim, who was watching the game in the VIP box, couldn't help but complain to Van der Sar, shouting that the team had to buy another winger who could dribble and dribble in the winter in addition to Milinkovic-Savic, Benzema and Luke Thomas who had already been confirmed. Then he asked the management to get rid of Sancho and Anthony in a fit of anger.
Even in the 90th minute when the injury time just began, Bayern took advantage of Manchester United players' large-scale pressure to participate in the corner kick, and Kva's corner kick was punched out of the penalty area by Sommer. Gravenberch, who replaced Musiala in the second half, passed the ball to Alphonso Davies on the left, who rushed all the way and rushed straight towards the Manchester United goal.
Fortunately, Casemiro blocked the pass from Alphonso Davies to substitute striker Choupo-Moting, forcing the Canadian international to try to shoot on his own. After shaking off De Gea, the ball was blocked by Lima who returned to defense, and then Chen Xiaoliang who also returned to defense cleared the ball.
In the end, the game ended in 93 minutes with the two sides tied 0-0.
Bayern achieved their goal by defending hard, ranking first in Group D with 4 wins, 2 draws and 14 points. Manchester United ranked second with 3 wins, 3 draws and 12 points. The two teams entered the round of 16 of the Champions League together. Eindhoven successfully defeated Lazio in the last game and advanced to the Europa League as third in the group.
At the same time, the qualifying results of the remaining seven groups were also quickly released.
Group A: Roma and Leipzig both have 2 wins, 4 draws and 10 points. Roma relies on 1 more goal difference. Gerrard successfully leads the team to the first place and advances. Braga ranks third and advances to the Europa League.
Group B: Newcastle 4 wins, 2 draws, 14 points, Juventus 4 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss, 13 points, Dortmund enters the Europa League;
Group C: Manchester City won all 6 games, Haaland scored 6 goals, Inter Milan ranked second with 4 wins and 2 losses and 12 points, Lens ranked third with 1 win and 5 losses and advanced to the Europa League;
Group E: Paris Saint-Germain, under the command of Mourinho, has 5 wins, 1 draw and 16 points, Real Madrid has 3 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss and ranks second in the division with 11 points, and Union Berlin ranks third and advances to the Europa League;
Group F: Napoli 3 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss, 11 points, Real Sociedad 2 wins, 4 draws, 10 points, Feyenoord advances to the Europa League;
Group G: Benfica 4 wins, 2 draws, 14 points, Atletico Madrid 3 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss, 11 points, Shakhtar Donetsk advances to the Europa League;
Group H: Arsenal ranks first with 5 wins and 1 draw, Barcelona ranks second with 3 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss and 11 points. Marseille ranks third in the group and goes to the Europa League.
According to this result, Manchester United, as the second in the group, will face the first in other groups. According to the principles of avoiding the same country and the same group, the teams they are likely to meet in the round of 16 are Roma, Paris Saint-Germain, Naples and Benfica.
As a rising star, Chen Xiaoliang's prospects in the Champions League are naturally the most concerned by the outside world.
Should he go to Rome to face Gerrard, or go to Paris to face the test of Mourinho?
The 50% probability of a master-disciple showdown has already made the media excited.
The continuous fighting made the team very tired. After two days of rest, they went to Birmingham, not far from Manchester, to prepare for an away challenge against Aston Villa coached by Emery.
Ten Hag had to make rotations, but fortunately Lindelof and Timber both returned from injuries, and the team's stretched defense line has returned to a state where it can be fully rotated.
It was not until four hours before the game that Ten Hag announced the starting lineup.
The reason why he weighed the pros and cons again and again was that Chen Xiaoliang, who has started every game so far this season, although his physical indicators are normal, is still 19 years old.
According to conventional sports science theory, players whose bodies are still in the growth stage are not suitable for long-term and continuous participation in high-intensity competitions. Otherwise, once they are injured, the injury will accompany them throughout their careers.
Michael Owen and Ronaldo from the past and Reus and Southampton's talented full-back Livramento from the present are all typical cases.
Although Chen Xiaoliang's physical fitness is incomparable to his peers, even players in their golden age, Ten Hag finally decided to let Chen Xiaoliang rotate and rest for a game.
As a result, the tired offensive line and the defense line that had just recovered from injuries, after leading by two goals at Villa Park, were equalized by the home team in the second half and finally got only 1 point. After the big win over Liverpool, they suffered two consecutive draws on both fronts.
Rashford scored twice in the first half, receiving passes from Ganacho and Dalot respectively.
In this round, Manchester City defeated Crystal Palace 2-1. Haaland, who was rotated in the last round of the league and returned in this round, scored 1 goal. Manchester City led Manchester United by 2 points and topped the standings.
In the focus battle, Liverpool defeated Arsenal 4-3 in a goal-scoring battle at home, reversing the situation of being slaughtered by Manchester United in the previous round, and the gap with Manchester United was narrowed to 4 points.
Newcastle beat Nottingham Forest 2-0 quietly and without much fanfare. With 11 wins, 6 draws and 39 points, they are ranked fourth in the standings, behind Chelsea and Arsenal.
Tottenham Hotspur appointed a new head coach in the middle of the week, with Scottish Premier League Celtic coach Postecoglou signing a two-and-a-half-year contract with Levy.
In the first league game after taking office, the team beat newly promoted Burnley, who were tied for last place in the standings, 3-0 at home. They are currently ranked 10th with 21 points, and are likely to replicate Chelsea's brilliant result of finishing first in the South End last season.
Players can be rotated, but the tight game schedule still has to be faced.
After a three-day rest, the team set off again and took a train to the southern tip of England to participate in the fifth round of the League Cup, challenging Southampton at St. Mary's Stadium.
As the defending champion of this tournament, which was also the tournament that helped Ten Hag secure his position as coach last season, he naturally will not change his plan to win the championship again.
Chen Xiaoliang also returned to the starting lineup after taking a break.
The draw with Bayern only earned him 3 skill points (14→17), while 7 days of training earned him 28 training points (12→40).
At 7 p.m. on December 22, two days before Christmas Eve, Chen Xiaoliang led his team into the stadium.
Manchester United showed no mercy to Southampton, which had been relegated to the Championship .
Kva, Cesco and Rashford were placed on the bench, with Chen Xiaoliang once again acting as the attacking midfielder at the front, taking on the offensive responsibility with Ganacho and Greenwood, who was only eligible to play in cup matches.
Behind him, the three midfielders of B Fee, Eriksen and Fred worked diligently, while Dalot and Timberl played as full-backs on both sides. Maguire and Lindelof started together again after half a year.
Although Chen Xiaoliang is not obsessed with brushing his stats by "bullying weak teams", tonight facing Southampton, which was relegated and had more than half of its main players such as Ward-Prowse and Elyounoussi sold, Chen Xiaoliang, who had not felt such relaxed defensive pressure for a long time, really got what he wanted.
In the first attack at the beginning of the game, he made a feint on the wing before cutting inside and shooting. After the opponent's goalkeeper Bazunu saved it, he rushed from the penalty spot and shot into the goal. Southampton 0-1 Manchester United.
In the 18th minute, he received a cross from Eriksen in the middle. His header was blocked by Bazunu, but he then made a follow-up shot for himself and scored another goal, making the score 0-2.
Falling behind by two goals early on, coupled with a one-sided situation, the suspense of the game was over.
Southampton was unable to stop Manchester United, so head coach Ruben Celes simply started training young players.
Ten Hag also gradually replaced young players.
But the game seemed to be heading towards training mode, but because Chen Xiaoliang activated the [God's Descend BUFF] that he had just obtained not long ago, after scoring 2 goals, all his technical attributes increased by 1 point!
He was also surprised to find that even those attributes that had reached the maximum value of 20 were temporarily turned into a "20+1" state under the effect of the BUFF!
The original Chen Xiaoliang had already made this second-level team unable to cope with it. The Chen Xiaoliang who was like a god from heaven made the young people of Southampton, led by the 20-year-old Livramento, realize the gap between ordinary geniuses and top superstars.
In the 31st minute, Chen Xiaoliang took the free kick directly from the right. He lightly kicked the ball with his right foot, and the ball flew over the wall of four people and landed at the feet of Greenwood on the right side of the penalty area.
The English striker, who had been out of action for a long time but had been training hard in preparation for his comeback, did not miss the chance and fired a powerful shot with his signature left foot, with the ball rolling between goalkeeper Bazunu's legs into the goal.
Manchester United leads by 3 goals away from home!
This is also Greenwood's first official goal in 22 months since the violent assault on his girlfriend on January 30, 2022.
However, after scoring the goal, the home Southampton fans still booed him strongly, and some radical people even shouted curses such as "rapist", "scumbag", and "you don't deserve to be a human being".
This made Greenwood completely in no mood to celebrate after scoring the goal.
In the second half, Manchester United continued to fire at full force.
Ten Hag even replaced Eriksen in the 60th minute with 15-year-old Amir Ibragimov, saying only one thing to him before he went on the pitch: "Cooperate well with the captain and learn how he plays."
However, as soon as Ibrahimovic came on the court, Chen Xiaoliang showed him what it meant to be unable to learn even if you wanted to.
B Fee's long shot was blocked by Chen Xiaoliang with his butt after his old teammate Aribo of Glasgow Rangers jumped.
The ball bounced high and then fell.
B Fee originally wanted to retreat to receive the ball, but when he saw Chen Xiaoliang running over in a hurry, he immediately gave up the idea and moved to the side.
They have been teammates for half a year and have been abused by Chen Xiaoliang in extra training for more than two months. At this time, B Fee and Chen Xiaoliang have established a perfect tacit understanding. He can see at a glance that Chen Xiaoliang's eyes are constantly looking back and forth between the falling ball and the opponent's goal, and his feet are adjusting their pace while running. At the same time, his hands and upper limbs are ready to exert force, and his waist, abdomen and body must turn to exert force when shooting.
Sure enough, before the ball hit the ground, Chen Xiaoliang took a step forward and kicked the ball directly in the lower middle part with his right foot. The ball immediately flew towards the Southampton goal!
At this time, Ibrahimovic, who was playing as an organizing midfielder, was standing right behind Chen Xiaoliang. His first reaction when he saw the ball was that the speed and power of the ball could only be described as a meteor.
Then, he had a question: "It seems that the ball just had great power, but the angle was not tricky, and it felt like it flew directly towards the goalkeeper."
What happened next, however, left him stunned!
In a flash, the ball flew from 36 meters away from the goal, slightly upwards, then slightly downwards, and indeed flew towards Bazunu.
However, when Bazunu jumped up, he clearly saw the direction of the ball and stretched out his hands, but in the end he touched nothing. He watched the ball fly past his hands, into the goal, and hit the net behind him heavily!
Little Ibrahimovic carefully recalled the arc he had just seen:
"The ball curved slightly to the left, and I thought he kicked it with his right foot..."
"Then the ball went to the right again. At the time I thought I had misjudged it and it should have been a volley from the outside of my foot..."
"Then... when the ball was about to reach the goalkeeper, it suddenly turned left again!"
"Yes! The ball drew a very clear S shape in the air!"
“And the ball itself barely spins at all!”
He was recalling the moment just now on the court, while the replay of this super long shot was being watched over and over again by countless people in front of TV, computer and mobile phone screens.
An insignificant League Cup match became a hot topic for a while because of Chen Xiaoliang's appearance and goal!
Afterwards , Ten Hag replaced Chen Xiaoliang, who had completed a hat-trick, and gave him a hug on the sidelines, asking him to save his strength for the next crucial league game.
"Three shots and one pass, Chen Xiaoliang's fangs reappear after recuperation"
"Manchester United's No. 7, the Red Devils are two different teams with or without him"
"Personal highlights add another god-level world wave, violent elevator ball makes the whole of Europe tremble"
"Multiple pictures to prove in detail why Chen Xiaoliang's long-range shooting ability is already the best in history"
…
With Chen Xiaoliang's departure, the ratings of the game immediately dropped sharply.
Now that the leading actor has left, what's left to watch next?
But what followed were overwhelming articles and videos about Chen Xiaoliang.
This is not only because of Chen Xiaoliang's recent hot performance, but also because the media has been warming up for an important annual football event that is on par with the Golden Ball Awards.
Due to the impact of the World Cup not being held in winter this year, FIFA's annual awards ceremony has been moved back to mid-January.
Golden Globe winner Chen Xiaoliang naturally received an invitation.
Despite the huge lead in the odds, Haaland's terrifying number of goals in consecutive games and Manchester City's abnormally high record still prove that this top star from the neighboring family is also chasing more honors and awards.
Everyone is waiting, waiting for Chen Xiaoliang to win the two highest individual honors in football, and after that, he will be qualified to be called a hall of fame player in football history.
However, Chen Xiaoliang did not take this matter too seriously. After all, he knew that based on the honors achieved in 2023, the award would be a natural outcome.
After winning the award, the outside world will never stop demanding of you, and the media and public opinion will only set new goals and new pursuits for you.
Just like the Melo era.
But in his heart, besides the league at hand, he has bigger goals.
He has come all the way here and stepped into the threshold of the hall of history, but his goal is the only crown in the hall.
