Chapter 410: King of Football vs King of Football? The opponent in the Champions League quarterfinals turned out to be him!
0-1, the total score was 0-3. Inside the Olympic Stadium in Rome, the majority of Roma fans knew in their hearts that there was no suspense in this match.
However, this is not surprising. They have been mentally prepared. After all, they are facing Chen Xiaoliang, the most popular player today, and his Manchester United, which has remained undefeated so far.
In the second half, Ten Hag replaced Kwa, B Fee and Luke Shaw with Ganacho, McTominay and Luke Thomas.
In the 65th minute, Luke Shaw took a free kick from the left and sent the ball directly into the penalty area. Cesco headed the ball in front of the goal, but it was blocked by Spinazzola with his chest at the back post. Lindelof wanted to head the ball again, but was headed out by Tuanzebe.
The ball fell to Dalot's feet on the right, and Dalot made another cross. Manchester United formed a siege. Patricio made a strong attack and punched the ball out of the penalty area. The ball hit McTominay halfway and after deflection, it floated straight to Chen Xiaoliang outside the penalty area.
This time, Chen Xiaoliang did not choose to shoot with his legs, but instead used the inside of his right foot to kick a curved ball. The ball bypassed Patricio who left the small penalty area and went into the net.
After scoring the goal, Chen Xiaoliang did not celebrate, but just high-fived his teammates who ran over.
Except for a small number of Manchester United fans who came to the away game specifically with the team, the rest of the Roma fans expressed their congratulations and blessings to the former captain with applause.
In the 80th minute, Ten Hag replaced Chen Xiaoliang with Milinkovic-Savic.
However, when the stadium saw Milinkovic-Savic, who had played for Lazio for 8 and a half years, come on the field, boos immediately broke out.
Roma fans did not wait in vain all night. Rock, who gave them new hope, took advantage of the relaxation of Manchester United's defense and scored a beautiful goal in the 88th minute.
After receiving the ball in the left rib area outside the penalty area, he suddenly accelerated and made a diagonal cut to the right front. After shaking off Milinkovic and McTominay, he rushed all the way to the right side of the penalty area.
Lindelof came up to defend all the way, but Rock, whose speed had obviously increased, suddenly kicked the ball into the far corner on the left side of the penalty area.
Joe Hart fell forward to save the ball, but the speed of the ground ball was not slow. The ball had passed before he reached out his hand. Varane, who was retreating to the side, saw that Joe Hart had fallen to the ground, so he did not kick the ball to avoid an own goal.
So the ball passed between Lindelof, Joe Hart and Varane, hit the inside of the left post and bounced into the goal line.
Chen Xiaoliang, who was sitting on the bench drinking water and watching the game, was also surprised by this goal. This was the first time Rock scored in front of him.
Although he lost his breakthrough point with this kick, but scoring such a beautiful goal in such a crucial battle, coupled with his good performance in Serie A, Rock's value will definitely increase significantly after the end of the season. In one or two seasons, he can discuss with Riise whether to transfer him to Manchester United.
For a team like Roma, the 18-year-old Roque is the best investment. If they want to buy such a potential new star at a low price while meeting the investment in signings and ensuring the club's revenue is healthy and in compliance with UEFA's Financial Fair Play Act, and then sell him at a high price after 2-3 seasons of polishing, and use the profit to buy some cost-effective players such as Kokoku, then following the path of Dortmund and Benfica is the most realistic option.
In the end, the game ended with a score of 1-2 and a total score of 1-4. Manchester United successfully advanced to the top 8 of this season's Champions League.
The entire Manchester United team returned to Manchester without stopping. After the Champions League and FA Cup resumed, they will once again face the situation of playing two games in a week. The next league game will be an away challenge against Newcastle United.
The best player of the game was named Tinbell, who had 4 interceptions, 4 steals, 3 successful headers, and 69 successful passes out of 73. Chen Xiaoliang scored 1 goal and had 1 assist, gaining 7 skill points (72→79).
On the second night back in Manchester, the remaining four games of the Champions League round of 16 were also decided. The final results of the eight games are as follows:
Manchester United 4-1 Roma;
Manchester City beat Real Madrid 4-1, Haaland scored one goal in each of the two games. This game also led to Nagelsmann's complete dismissal. Florentino recruited Zidane to serve as the team's head coach for the third time;
Paris Saint-Germain beat Leipzig 4-0, Mbappe scored 3 goals and currently leads the Champions League scorer list with 10 goals;
Bayern Munich 3-4 Barcelona, Messi scored 1 goal and 3 assists in two rounds, and was the soul of the game;
Arsenal 3-1 Real Sociedad;
Newcastle 1-0 Inter Milan;
Benfica tied Juventus 2-2, eliminating the latter on penalties;
Napoli drew 1-1 with Atletico Madrid, and Atletico Madrid also advanced via penalties.
On the third night, that is, on the evening of March 9, the entire Manchester United team watched the draw ceremony for the Champions League quarter-finals and the second half of the group stage at the hotel in Newcastle.
The guests for the draw were England legend Joe Cole, representing the organizer, and Totti, representing the defending champion.
The first draw by Joe Cole excited the whole audience, he drew Paris Saint-Germain!
Faced with Mbappe who is in great form and Mourinho who took office with the glory of winning the treble, Paris Saint-Germain ranks third in the Champions League odds list, only behind Manchester City in first place and Manchester United in second place.
Just when everyone was wondering which team they would face, the note in the ball that Totti took out made many people at the scene smile in a different way.
Atletico Madrid!
This is clearly a bus encountering another bus!
Two head coaches who value iron will, are best at defensive counterattacks and care least about ball possession meet together.
The first group of matchups has whetted everyone's appetite. UEFA is getting better and better at making things happen.
Joe Cole drew Manchester City next.
This is a name that all teams want to avoid.
However, when someone laughs, someone else must cry. There will be no rules to avoid the opponents in the quarterfinals. Totti turned around in the transparent glass basin and took out a small ball.
When the note was opened, representatives of the team started applauding before the host even shouted.
"Arsenal, from England!"
I didn’t expect that after three years with Barcelona and five years with Bayern, they were drawn together with Barcelona in the group stage this year. They finally beat Barcelona to qualify as the top team, but they just met the weak Real Sociedad in the round of 16, and met the strongest Manchester City in the quarterfinals...
Many sports UP hosts who made videos overnight and prepared to upload them have already added the soundtrack of "Yi Jian Mei" to Arsenal's draw.
But in both rounds of the League Cup, Arsenal drew with Manchester City at home and away, and finally eliminated Guardiola's team on penalties. In the final, they led Manchester United until injury time. Coupled with the recent winning streak in the league, many commentators believe that this game was by no means a one-sided game as generally believed by the outside world.
The discussion of the second group matchups has not yet ended, and the third group matchups have caused another wave of turmoil. Joe Cole first drew Benfica. Although it can be said that there are no weak teams in the quarterfinals, Benfica is basically still recognized by everyone as the weakest team in the quarterfinals.
Many fans in the barrage have been saying that Manchester United will most likely be drawn because UEFA wants to guarantee Manchester United's promotion, but Totti picked out another team with a "card" in its name - Newcastle United.
The third group match is Benfica vs. Newcastle.
However, after the host finished the announcement, whispers were heard in the lottery hall.
Because the last two teams left have been put together!
Manchester United will face Barcelona away first and then at home!
The camera turned to Laporta, and his face looked very unhappy!
In the summer, he originally wanted to use Messi to hype himself up, help the club get some sponsorship, and then continue doing what he was doing.
However, the rise of Chen Xiaoliang and Haaland, the explosive ratings of the Champions League final, and the end of Messi's contract in Paris Saint-Germain put the club under unprecedented pressure.
Fans and core members of the club unanimously agreed that if Barcelona did not sign Messi back, it would have no chance of competing against the two Manchester City giants who were even more powerful. Finally, under Messi's voluntary salary cut, Laporta was forced to sign the legend back. Of course, he always showed a positive and urgent side to the outside world.
But it was later revealed by the American media that the deal was actually that Messi first signed with Miami International of the Major League Soccer, and then returned to Barcelona on loan. Laporta was only willing to pay one-third of Messi's salary.
In exchange, Messi's club image rights and team advertising revenue will all belong to Miami International, and the loan is limited to this season.
After learning about the news, fans of Barcelona and Messi ran to the club's location and hung banners, put up slogans outside the Nou Camp, and left crazy messages in the comment section of the club's social media, cursing Laporta for treating Messi in this way, which was disrespectful to the club's tradition and Messi's contribution to Barcelona.
In the end, Laporta could only act out another sad drama, saying that Messi understood the club's difficulties and took the initiative to ask to do so in order to save costs for the club and overcome difficulties.
Messi himself chose to remain silent on this.
But no matter what, the confrontation between the new and old football leaders is about to take place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
After the group competitions are drawn, the next step is to draw the half-zone.
Joe Cole first drew Group 4, which is Manchester United vs. Barcelona, which means that Manchester United entered the upper half, and the group drawn by Totti next will be the opponents they will meet in the semi-finals.
"Group 2! Oh my god!"
The winner of Manchester United vs. Barcelona will face the winner of Manchester City vs. Arsenal at home first and then away!
This is simply the hell zone!
The announcement of the top half means that the suspense of the bottom half only lies in which group will play at home first in the semi-finals.
The final result is that the winner of Paris Saint-Germain vs. Atletico Madrid will face the winner of Benfica vs. Newcastle away.
In their respective rooms, Manchester United players had different feelings when they saw the draw results.
Like Kva, he has started lying in bed and studying videos of Barcelona's right-wing players such as Araujo, Kounde, Kessie and others.
Cesco was extremely excited and couldn't contain his excitement at the thought of playing at Camp Nou.
But veteran players like Casemiro and B Fee clearly feel that the club's luck in signing players is not very good. Having to deal with the unbeaten Manchester City in the league at the end of the season and facing such a strong opponent in the cup competition is not a good result.
But no matter what, the opponent has made the decision and the game can only be played one game at a time.
Another day passed, at 12 noon, the entire Manchester United team arrived at St. James' Park.
As the top team with the highest ratings, they are accustomed to playing league games at noon on weekends.
At 13:00, the starting lineup was announced.
Manchester United:
goalkeeper Livakovic;
The back four is Wan-Bissaka, Maguire, Lima and Luke Shaw. As a reward for the League Cup, Maguire returns to the starting lineup;
The double defensive midfielders Timber and Casemiro. Timber's outstanding performance in the defensive midfielder position in the last game allowed Ten Hag to give him the opportunity to start in consecutive games;
Attacking midfielder B Fee;
Left winger Kwa, center forward Rashford, and right winger captain Chen Xiaoliang.
Two months later, Chen Xiaoliang returned to the wing position.
Newcastle:
Goalkeeper Nick Pope
The back four includes captain Trippier, Schar, Botman and Targett;
The three defensive midfielders are Caicedo, Sean Longstaff and Guimaraes;
Attacking midfielder Almiron, left forward Saint-Maximin, right forward Rafinha.
Unlike the 4-3-3 in the last game, Eddie Howe, playing at home, set up a 4-3-1-2 formation in this game, replacing the fast-moving Willock with Longstaff, who is good at positioning and defending. At the same time, he added Caicedo and Guimaraes, who have a large coverage area, on both sides to form a three-defensive midfielder formation to face Chen Xiaoliang.
At the same time, it also allows Almiron, who is not good at defense, to participate less in defense and do more connection and organization in the frontcourt.
The front court has two players with the strongest individual explosive capabilities, Saint-Maximin, who was the dribbling king in the top five leagues in the first half of last season, and Rafinha, who has an extremely fast advancing speed.
Newcastle's lineup was obviously carefully prepared, ready to rely on mobile and fast troops in the frontcourt to carry out single-point attacks without losing the ball.
It's just that Eddie Howe has a policy and Ten Hag also has a countermeasure. He guessed that Newcastle would focus on defending Chen Xiaoliang in the middle, so he put him on the wing in this game.
From the first moment of the game, Newcastle's formation changed. Seeing that Chen Xiaoliang played on the wing today, Eddie Howe asked Caicedo to move to the left, Guimaraes to play in the middle, and Longstaff moved to his usual right defensive midfielder position.
But the actual position was that Longstaff was in the middle area on the right, while Guimarães and Caicedo double-teamed Chen Xiaoliang on the left.
Coupled with Saint-Maximin, who kept retreating to harass and had a physical fitness as explosive as an animal, it made it difficult for Manchester United, who were organizing in the frontcourt after the opening, to send the ball to a threatening position on the right. Chen Xiaoliang could not receive the ball at all if he did not retreat.
If you only pass the ball without breaking through, it will be impossible to break the opponent's dense lineup.
After playing for 5 minutes, Chen Xiaoliang, who felt his attack was obviously a little awkward, stretched out his left hand and pointed to the left, pointing to Kva when Livakovic kicked off.
Livakovic understood the meaning and passed the ball to Lima, who passed the ball forward to Casemiro. Luke Shaw pressed forward on the left, and Manchester United began to make moves around Kwa on the left.
In the 6th minute, Kva faced the 33-year-old Trippier on the left. He used his signature method of first rushing to the bottom line, then attracting the opponent's center of gravity to retreat, and then suddenly cutting inside, leaving Trippier outside.
Longstaff came over to defend, but Kvart didn't wait for him to get close and directly passed the ball to the back post with his right foot.
Zhan Jun: "Kvart...cut inside and kicked the ball!"
"Xiaoliang's shot from the back post!"
"Wow! It hit the outside of the post and bounced out of the baseline!"
"The camera immediately turned to Eddie Howe, who was dressed in sportswear on the sidelines. He was angrily scolding the two defensive midfielders Guimaraes and Caicedo for losing the most important target, Chen Xiaoliang, in their off-ball defense!"
Zhang Lu: "I thought Kva's kick just now was a shot, but it turned out to be a pass to Xiaoliang at the back post with the outside of his foot. This ball was indeed well thought out, and Xiaoliang played it beautifully, volleying directly into the near corner, but it was a little bit outside, otherwise this ball would have been in the top ten of the season."
In the 9th minute, Manchester United made a comeback, but this time the Newcastle left-wing player, who had just been frightened and sweating, almost stared at Chen Xiaoliang.
Kva continued to dribble the ball on the left, this time Trippier took the initiative to retreat and create distance to prevent being overtaken. Longstaff moved closer, and Almiron also made a gesture to harass from behind.
Kva took the initiative to dribble the ball inside, and as soon as Trippier followed, he passed the ball straight to the sideline to Luke Shaw who was coming in from behind.
Luke Shaw took advantage of Trippier not turning around to catch up, made a diagonal move to the front right, and then kicked a cross.
This time, Chen Xiaoliang continued to advance to the far post without the ball.
Caicedo, Taggart, and left center back Botman surrounded Chen Xiaoliang from the front, back, and left.
Luke Shaw's cross was sent to the middle, and Schar and Guimaraes, who was returning to defense, jumped up together to compete with Cesco for the header.
Cesco adjusted the angle and pushed the ball back to the top of the arc. B Fee followed up and shot. The ball hit Guimarães' leg and refracted, heading straight to the left side of the goal. Nick Pope reacted quickly, fell to the ground and fished the ball out. Finally, the ball hit the left post and rolled out of the bottom line amid the exclamations of the fans in the stands.
Zhan Jun: "Facing Newcastle's proud and dense central defense with the fewest goals conceded in the league, Manchester United seemed to find a way to deal with it quickly when Xiaoliang couldn't break the situation alone ! Both shots narrowly missed the goal."
Zhang Lu: "I can only say that Manchester United's offense is now mature."
"Even though the paths of these balls have nothing to do with Xiaoliang, the team is still revolving around him."
"Any head coach will now face a difficult problem: how many players should guard Xiao Liang?"
"One person is obviously not enough, because Xiaoliang likes to receive the ball in the midfield. Facing the wide space, with his ability to push forward and his explosive power, no one can keep up with him."
"How about two players? Arsenal and Liverpool have tried it, but it doesn't work well in the midfield because it's hard to operate. Tactics are static, but people are dynamic. When switching from defense to offense, Xiaoliang's position is erratic, and it's difficult for the corresponding defensive players to run over and double-team him in the first place."
"Manchester City's approach is to cut off the ball. Is it effective? Yes, but at present the effect is decreasing. This is why Guardiola is willing to give up Gundogan and buy young midfielders. To cut off the ball, you have to move. Older midfielders cannot maintain this movement throughout the game."
"And Eddie Howe's approach is another way, which is to let go of the midfield and only defend the front of the penalty area. I won't press forward either. As long as you come over, I will double-team you immediately. Wherever you run, I will surround you."
"From a personal perspective, it has obviously limited Xiaoliang's number of receiving the ball. I remember it was two or three times today. Basically, Xiaoliang has hardly received the ball in the attacking third zone."
"But did he defend it? No. In the last attack, he attracted three defenders on the right, which meant that there were three fewer defenders in other areas. This meant that when Bruno Fernandes took the second penalty kick in the middle, there was not even a single defender in front of him."
"Eddie Howe is obviously gambling. Others are racing horses like Tian Ji, but he is going for a head-on confrontation, with top horses directly facing top horses. He uses two or more of the best defenders to defend Xiao Liang, and then lets the other players fight with Manchester United's players. After all, the defenders can all retreat, but the attackers can't all press forward. He uses the advantage of the number of defenders, with three people defending Xiao Liang and the remaining seven defending the other five players of Manchester United."
"This set of things is not new. Newcastle drew with Manchester City twice at home and away this season. They used the numerical advantage in the penalty area to restrict Haaland. At the same time, the young midfielders cut into Manchester City's midfield. It was a bit like Mourinho's play against Barcelona in Real Madrid, but Eddie Howe played more directly."
"So in this game, Newcastle did the same thing. I think the overall strength and depth of the two teams will determine the outcome."
