After returning to the club, teammates expressed their condolences to Chen Xiaoliang, but the mental state displayed by Chen Xiaoliang was far better than his teammates expected.
Although people are gone, life always looks forward.
Cesco, who scored a hat trick in the last game against Liverpool and each goal was more exciting than the last, was named the man of the match. Chen Xiaoliang, who scored 1 goal and 1 assist, received 7 training points (71→78).
[Elite Mission] gets the peak Fernando Torres confrontation shooting card, which has the following functions: After physical contact with the opponent's defender during attack, balance +2, shooting +2
A week of rest is invaluable to the whole team. The recovered Rashford played for less than 20 minutes in the last round and scored a goal. He has further recovered in the past few days and his condition has returned to the level before the injury.
Lindelof, Maguire and Casemiro, who suffered swollen ankles and blisters on the soles of their feet due to the previous horrific schedule, have all recovered in this week.
Except for Eriksen, who is definitely out for the season, the rest of the players can play in the last and most crucial four games.
The next home game against Arsenal will be crucial in determining whether they can win the league title, and can be regarded as the final of this season's league. The last away game against Sheffield United, ranked 17th, will be relatively easier to play.
On the other hand, Manchester City's schedule is much easier. Having been eliminated from all cup competitions, they have two weeks to prepare for these two games, first away to Middlesbrough and then at home to Brighton.
In the fight for the top four, Newcastle will first play away to Brentford and then at home against West Ham.
Arsenal will first play away against Manchester United and then at home against Leeds United, which has a high probability of being relegated.
Chelsea will first play away against Leeds United and then at home against Nottingham Forest.
If Newcastle wins one game, Chelsea will be eliminated; if they win two games, Arsenal’s dream will be shattered.
So Arsenal will fight Manchester United away from home no matter what.
No one would accept a 1-point outcome in this game. For everyone, 3 points are the key to keeping the last hope.
At this stage, the club hired a traditional Chinese medicine physiotherapist from the Red Country to join the physiotherapy team, responsible for cupping and acupuncture to help speed up the relief of the players' muscle soreness and joint discomfort, and even scraping is an option.
A few days later, when the players took off their training suits after training, their backs were covered with bruises and purples. After being photographed by the media, many clubs expressed their intention to follow suit.
Although the newly purchased young player Yilankunda has not been officially announced, the agreement with Adelaide United has been signed and sealed, and the player himself has confirmed all the personal treatment terms. Ten Hag hopes that he can train with the team during the critical period at the end of the season, which will help him integrate into the most intense competitive atmosphere in today's football.
4 days of training, 16 training points (78→94), Chen Xiaoliang added 1 free kick point (15→16), training value 94→14.
For him now , there are not many attributes that can be added, and there are only a few choices.
The day before the game, Ten Hag took Chen Xiaoliang to the press conference. Facing the reporters' concentrated questions, Chen Xiaoliang only answered part of them.
Reporter: "Everyone expressed their concern for your situation, and the fans also showed their feelings by clapping during the game. Does the death of your relatives have a big impact on you?"
Chen Xiaoliang: "The impact only exists in my personal life. It has nothing to do with the next game and will not affect my performance in the game."
Reporter: "Does the continuous journey make you tired?"
Chen Xiaoliang: "When the game starts tomorrow, you will see how good my physical condition is."
Reporter: "After playing Arsenal, there is the FA Cup final against Liverpool. Which one do you think is more difficult?"
Chen Xiaoliang: "Today is the league's press conference. I will only answer questions related to the league. My personal goal is to win as many championships as possible."
Reporter: "You have the possibility of winning the treble this season. Together with the League Cup, that means four titles. If you really achieve it, you will become the second player in history after Eto'o to win the treble for two consecutive years. Manchester United will also become the third club to win the treble twice. Do you feel excited when you think about this?"
Chen Xiaoliang: "Excitement won't win you a championship. You have to play one game at a time. All records are only meaningful after you win the championship."
Chen Xiaoliang couldn't help but complain in his heart, it was almost the end of the season, why were the questions asked by reporters still so childish.
Unexpectedly, after the home team's press conference, this group of reporters began to "harass" the visiting team's head coach Arteta again, asking carefully prepared stupid questions one after another. In particular, one reporter repeatedly stared at Arteta and asked him if he would resign and apologize if he failed to win the championship last season and spent so much money this season but failed to enter the Champions League.
Arteta put down the microphone and left the meeting room.
However, from the journalists' perspective, although their questions may seem stupid, they are actually trying to deliberately anger the person involved by asking such stupid and repetitive questions.
Arteta's reaction immediately became a good material for the media to make a big fuss. News articles such as "Arsenal's mentality has collapsed, Arsenal may be out of the top four", "Tensions are everywhere, the prospects for the big game are worrying", "Can Arteta, who can't control the press conference, still control the locker room?" were immediately placed on the front page of football newspapers.
Instead, Chen Xiaoliang's indifferent response made the reporters feel that there was nothing more to mention.
However, Chen Xiaoliang still noticed something strange about the team.
For such a major event, the Premier League naturally has to take into account audiences around the world and schedule the game at 0:00 on Sunday in the Red Country. At this time, it is Saturday morning local time in North America, while in South America such as Brazil it is close to noon local time on Saturday. This arrangement means that major fan areas around the world can watch the game at a relatively suitable time on weekends.
In order to maximize the audience, the Premier League has also designated this game as a free match, which will be able to crack down on pirated broadcasting platforms as much as possible and allow those platforms that have signed official broadcasting agreements to maximize their traffic.
In today's Internet economy, everyone knows that free is the most expensive.
Only by providing free services can we attract more fans to watch, and when the traffic increases, more advertisers will be willing to place advertisements.
At the same time, the customer portrait of the football fan group is relatively uniform, with similar age ranges and mainly male gender. They generally advocate passion and freedom, so advertisers can send corresponding advertisements very accurately. This is how classic marketing like Jie Tubang’s “Gold lasts forever, fun lasts overtime” in Penguin Sports came about.
But the more attention it gets, the more important the game becomes.
When Chen Xiaoliang drove the bus into Old Trafford, he noticed that his teammates were particularly quiet today.
Even Anthony and Cesco, who are usually talkative, became silent.
Only the huge cheers of the fans waiting on both sides of the entrance came into my ears through the car windows.
Everyone was very serious, but behind the seriousness was an overwhelming nervousness.
After entering the locker room, everyone started to change clothes. It took about two hours from changing clothes, warming up, entering the field, to finally starting the game. This is something that professional players are accustomed to.
Seeing that his teammates were still silent, Chen Xiaoliang began to speak, first to Cesco:
"You haven't scored a goal in five league games. You have to start tonight."
Cesco: "What? Liangzi, you ate my hat trick against Liverpool in the last game."
Chen Xiaoliang: "That was the make-up match of the 30th round. Tell me yourself, from the 31st round to the 36th round, did you score a goal in the five games?"
Cesco thought about it and realized that it was true!
But there were two draws with Manchester City and Chelsea, as well as two 1-0 wins in two devilish matches, and the team didn't score many goals.
Cesco: "That... is a must!"
The teammates around saw the conversation between the two breaking the silence in the locker room, and a smile appeared on their faces.
Chen Xiaoliang aimed at Kwa again, because he and Cesco were Chen Xiaoliang's left and right bodyguards.
Chen Xiaoliang: "Your statistics have dropped this season."
When the other teammates heard Chen Xiaoliang say this, they turned around with a gloating look on their faces. Anthony and Dalot, who usually loved to play pranks, even made "ooh-oh-oh" sounds.
Kva cares a lot about personal data. It’s not that he is a data control freak, but he particularly cares about the evaluation of him by fans on the Internet and the outside media.
Data is naturally an important basis for these people's evaluation.
He hopes to gain a foothold in a top club and become one of the best wingers.
In addition, he has a serious personality. When a teammate mentioned this matter before, he would immediately turn hostile and show a look of disgust.
Hearing Chen Xiaoliang say this, Kwa was stunned, and then he couldn't help but frowned, but he didn't dare to get angry with Chen Xiaoliang.
Chen Xiaoliang: "In the last four games, try to create one goal per game. I will pass the ball to you more often. Don't let Benjamin (Cesco) steal the limelight."
Kva nodded reluctantly. Cesco, who was not far away, waved at him to tease him, but what he got in return was a shout of "Get lost!" from Kva and laughter from other teammates.
No one expected that the third target of Chen Xiaoliang's ridicule would be Casemiro. You should know that apart from Chen Xiaoliang, the most prestigious player in the team is this Brazilian midfielder.
"Fat Tiger." Ever since Chen Xiaoliang started calling him that, many people in the team started calling him that too. It was because they really looked so similar...
Casemiro looked at Chen Xiaoliang with a smile. He really wanted to know what Chen Xiaoliang would use to make fun of him.
Chen Xiaoliang: "You said you have played football for so many years, how come you have only won three league titles?"
Casemiro: “Yes, only three, but more than you.”
Chen Xiaoliang: "Who said that? I have one Scottish Premier League and two Serie A titles, so I have three too."
Casemiro's eyes widened: "Does the Scottish Premier League count? It's not even one of the top five leagues."
Chen Xiaoliang smiled and turned to look at Lima.
Lima quickly spoke up: "If it's not one of the top five leagues, it doesn't count? Why doesn't it count?"
"Ha ha ha ha!"
Laughter finally broke out in the locker room.
Lima has won two Eredivisie titles and one Dutch Cup. According to Casemiro's standard that leagues other than the top five do not count, then none of Lima's titles do.
Lindelof also shouted: "It has to count!"
He won three Portuguese Super League titles with Benfica.
Chen Xiaoliang looked at Casemiro again: "What do you mean?"
Casemiro laughed: "Count it, count it, hahahaha."
Chen Xiaoliang patted him on the shoulder and said, "Help these guys win their first Premier League title later."
Casemiro understood what he meant and patted the hand that Chen Xiaoliang had used to pat him.
Chen Xiaoliang raised his head and said, "Tsk, tsk, tsk, it's really tragic. There are so many people in the locker room, but someone has never won a league championship, but his net worth is 70 million."
B Fei: "Fuck... I didn't say anything but you insisted on picking me."
Everyone: “Hahahaha!”
Chen Xiaoliang : "Tonight is your perfect chance to get rid of '0'."
B Fee: "Fuck... I'm '0' and you're '1'?"
Chen Xiaoliang pointed to the first locker against the wall and said, "Your '1' is there."
Everyone said again: “Hahahaha!”
Chen Xiaoliang was referring to De Gea, who is currently the only player in the team who has won the Premier League title, and that was in Ferguson's last year as coach.
De Gea: "I confess, I only have one Premier League title, don't mess with me."
Chen Xiaoliang pretended to be surprised: "So the last time you won the Premier League was 11 years ago?!"
De Gea smiled bitterly: "Ocon is busy...you guy."
Chen Xiaoliang: "Guys, don't be nervous. No matter what, we have played a phenomenal performance this season. I know it's hard to say that we are not nervous, but you have to know that the opponents are much more nervous than us."
"Even if we don't get three points tonight, we still have the Champions League and the FA Cup to fight for, but if they lose tonight, they may end up with nothing for the whole season."
"There are still 100 minutes left. Prepare well and fight for our first Premier League title!"
Everyone: “Fight for the championship!”
After saying that, Chen Xiaoliang sat back in front of his locker and looked at Ten Hag, indicating that he had finished speaking and could move on to the tactical phase.
But Benzema said, "Are you done? Why don't you ask me?"
Chen Xiaoliang: “Oh, yes, yes!”
He pretended to think: "Karim has 4 La Liga titles, 4 Ligue 1 titles, wow! He also has 5 Champions League titles! It's amazing!"
Chen Xiaoliang deliberately raised his voice in the last few words, sounding very surprised.
"I remember he also had the European Cup..."
Bruno Fernandes quickly corrected himself: "It's the UEFA Nations League champion, I also have it!"
Chen Xiaoliang pretended to wake up: "Oh oh oh, yes, yes, it's the UEFA Nations League, but I remember Karim has the World Cup!"
Benzema, who had a smug look on his face just now, was speechless for a moment, and then he was immediately attacked by his compatriot.
Varane: "He didn't."
Chen Xiaoliang asked in surprise: "He didn't?! Didn't France win the World Cup?"
Varane laughed so hard that he fell backwards: "He is not in the team, I have it, I have it..."
Chen Xiaoliang: “So that’s how it is!”
Lima on the side coughed and said, "Me too."
The locker room, which had just calmed down , was now filled with laughter again.
Benzema deliberately shouted: "I want to leave the team~~~Young people bully old men~~~~"
In fact, everyone knows that in terms of team honors, Benzema is a historical figure in the entire football world. Even Varane and Casemiro cannot compare with him in the number of championships. After all, before coming to Real Madrid, he had already been very successful in Ligue 1, won the Ligue 1 top scorer title, and helped Lyon achieve the feat of seven consecutive league titles.
Chen Xiaoliang stood up again: "Then let's make a deal, let's help this poor old man who has no World Cup or Triple Crown win the Triple Crown, okay!"
Everyone: “Okay!”
Prior to this, although many media outlets outside had been exaggerating the matter, the club had always maintained an extremely low-key attitude and never mentioned the term Treble.
At the final moment, the so-called championship or not is actually just a matter of competition.
One thought leads to heaven, one thought leads to hell.
But it is impossible for the players not to think about it.
At this moment, Chen Xiaoliang finally broke through the window paper, which also announced that the team officially challenged this great honor.
Ten Hag spoke for a while and then the starting lineup was announced.
Home team Manchester United 4-2-3-1:
goalkeeper David de Gea;
Defenders: Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Lima, Luke Shaw;
Double defensive midfielders Timber and Casemiro, central midfielder Chen Xiaoliang;
Left winger Kva, center forward Cesco, right winger B Fee.
Away team Arsenal 4-3-3:
goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale;
The back four is Ben White, Gabriel, Saliba and Zinchenko;
The three midfielders: Ødegaard, Rice and Havertz;
The three forwards are Kaoru Mitoma, Trossard and Saka.
After seeing the list, Ten Hag immediately conducted a focused analysis of Arsenal's possible lineup changes, pointing out that Trossard, who was written as a center forward, would definitely not play the role of a center forward.
After the fight in Pizza started, his prediction was indeed verified.
Manchester United kicked off and attacked first. Chen Xiaoliang made a strong attack by receiving the ball in the frontcourt in the 9th second of the game and taking a powerful long shot before the defensive players around him got close.
Ramsdale jumped upwards, but his outstretched hand only reached the bottom edge of the crossbar.
Just as he predicted, the ball went slightly above the crossbar and flew directly out of the baseline.
The entire Old Trafford immediately let out a sigh of "Woo!", followed by a wave of applause.
Arsenal then kicked off the attack, and for safety's sake the Manchester United players moved back as a whole and began to observe Arsenal's formation changes.
Left back Zinchenko pressed hard, generally more like Arnold playing as the right defensive midfielder for Liverpool, but tonight he played as the left defensive midfielder in the attack.
This is not the main reason. Trossard basically never enters the penalty area. He and Havertz who is making forward runs frequently switch positions outside the penalty area. It is more like a double attacking midfielder configuration. Behind him is Odegaard who keeps passing the ball. Only when the two wings break through to the bottom line, Trossard, Havertz and Odegaard will enter the penalty area.
The overall offensive formation is a 3-3-4 without a striker.
This is also based on the reality that in the first three encounters this season, both Martinelli and Nketiah were ineffective as lone strikers.
Although Arsenal attacked fiercely, their desperate gamble tonight also made them retreat faster than ever before.
Since there is no striker, Havertz and Trossard almost retreat to the central midfielder position to defend, leaving only Mitoma Kaoru and Saka in the front, forming an overall 4-4-2 formation.
The focus of the midfield defense and pressing is Chen Xiaoliang. Together with Rice and Odegaard, the four midfielders press Chen Xiaoliang back and forth. Tonight, Arteta's defense against Chen Xiaoliang is the human sea tactic.
In such a game, it all comes down to who loses their seat first, and the side that loses the ball first will inevitably be in a state of confusion.
In the 5th minute, Saka cut in from the left and then suddenly moved to the bottom. Luke Shaw chased him closely, but facing his compatriot who was 6 years younger than him, he was still half a beat slower.
After Saka went down the flank, he turned around and swept the ball into the small penalty area, but he lost his balance and fell outside the court.
In the penalty area, Havertz followed, but when the ball rolled in front of him, it was touched by Lima and bounced up. Havertz immediately changed his posture and volleyed the ball sideways, and the ball hit the second-level stands directly.
In the 9th minute, Manchester United attacked. Today, Casemiro would move forward appropriately to fill the gap left in the midfield after Chen Xiaoliang moved forward, while Tinbell stayed behind.
Chen Xiaoliang was surrounded by Odegaard and Rice outside the penalty area and could not receive the ball. He was ready to retreat or move forward into the penalty area when the opportunity arose.
Under Trossard's close pressure, Casemiro passed the ball back to Timber, who made a beautiful dribble to the right to get rid of Havertz and sent a beautiful through ball to the right. B Fee received the ball and passed it straight to the right side of the penalty area. Chen Xiaoliang rushed up quickly, held off Saliba and took the ball, then took a step forward to the right side of the small penalty area and shot directly.
Ramsdale, who was guarding the near corner, raised his hands and blocked the ball out of the baseline.
In the subsequent corner kick, B Fee took it from the right side, but Cesco failed to get past Saliba and the ball was cleared directly out of the penalty area.
In this way, the two sides went back and forth between the two halves like a shuttle run. The goal was to give the opponent a fatal blow while defending their position.
However, the very open pace of the game ultimately did not make the fans wait too long for the absolute goal-scoring opportunities.
In the 20th minute, Saka broke through on the right, with Luke Shaw chasing closely. Saka suddenly stopped and swung his right foot back. Luke Shaw thought he was going to pass the ball and stretched out his legs to block it, but Saka tried to change direction and was tripped to the ground on the penalty area line!
The referee Michael Oliver blew the whistle immediately! But he didn't decide whether it was a free kick or a penalty!
Luke Shaw pointed his finger and ran towards the referee. Chen Xiaoliang also ran over from the middle, but Arsenal players were also rushing over. This ball was too important for both sides.
Michael Oliver kept backing away and used his right hand to signal the players to back away. Under the VAR referee team's strenuous efforts to ensure that he would do so, he did not choose to look at the VAR, but pointed directly to the penalty spot!
"yeah!!!"
There was thunderous cheers from the Arsenal bench, and Arteta couldn't help but raise his arms and punch.
Although he knew that the final decision made by the referee could not be changed, Chen Xiaoliang still put pressure on Michael Oliver, repeatedly questioning him why he made a decision without looking at VAR in such an important game. Wasn't he afraid that if he made a wrong judgment, he would not only be punished by the referee committee after the game, but also be drowned in the saliva of the fans?
As the captain of Arsenal, Odegaard quickly came over to help the referee and pushed Chen Xiaoliang away with his chest.
Chen Xiaoliang said to him directly: "I'll give you a penalty! Go and take the kick if you can! If you can't score, go back to London!"
Odegaard immediately retorted a few words, and players from both teams quickly pulled the two apart.
Chen Xiaoliang went over and patted De Gea on the shoulder. To be honest, penalty kicks are not really the Spanish goalkeeper's forte, but things have come to this point, and he has to choose to believe that his teammates will do their best.
Odegaard stood on the penalty spot, and Chen Xiaoliang's words just now had more or less affected him.
From the start of the game to the first 10 minutes, Arsenal were like stone men. Everyone was nervous and stiff, but as they gradually got into the game, their bodies slowly relaxed.
But at this moment, a great opportunity came, and Odegaard only felt a tightness in his chest, as if a huge burden was pressing on him.
That’s right, just like Chen Xiaoliang said, if I couldn’t score this goal, I would really have to go back to London and hide away, unable to face my teammates and fans.
“Beep!”
Michael Oliver blew the whistle and Odegaard started his run with a frown on his face.
The laughter and chatter in the locker room before the game, and the mention of the only Premier League title, made De Gea's thoughts go back to his first year at Manchester United.
Ferguson and Wenger were still sitting on the bench that year, and Rooney, Nani, Van Persie and Walcott were still running on the field.
Only he has been at Old Trafford since then.
Where to jump?
This is a question that all goalkeepers think about when saving a penalty, and De Gea now has the answer in his mind.
Let's just go back to the starting point.
Odegaard raised his foot and shot. De Gea fell quickly to his right side and stretched out his right palm to pounce on the rolling ball!
Zhan Jun: "This ball...! De Gea made a great contribution!"
"Wow! This is the first time that the old goalkeeper has saved a penalty kick from the opponent this season!"
"Last season, at the end of the season, I saved a penalty from Fulham player Mitrovic!"
"It's just that last season I won a place in the Champions League for the team, but this season, it's very likely that I will win the championship trophy!"
The ball bounced into De Gea's hands and rolled out of the baseline.
All Manchester United players rushed towards the goal, and everyone hugged him as if they were congratulating a striker who scored a goal!
The Manchester United coaching staff on the sidelines were also glad that the score was not changed, and the players shouted De Gea's name with the fans.
On the Arsenal side, the sense of loss and oppression of missing a penalty opportunity made everyone nervous again. Odegaard shook his head, put his hands on both sides of his cheeks, then all the way down to his chin, and turned around and ran back helplessly.
On this side, it is "as long as the flying general is in Dragon City", but on the other side, "dark clouds are pressing down on the city, and it is about to be destroyed."
Finally, Manchester United got the result they wanted after 7 minutes.
Sesco received the ball with his back to the goal outside the penalty area and was tripped by Odegaard who was double-teamed. Michael Oliver gave him a free kick on the left side of the penalty area arc, less than 2 meters outside the penalty area line.
Kwa, Luke Shaw and Chen Xiaoliang all stood near the penalty spot, listening to what Chen Xiaoliang said with his mouth covered.
Arsenal lined up a five-man wall on the left side of the penalty spot, with the remaining players standing on the right side of the penalty spot to defend other Manchester United players.
“Beep!”
Michael Oliver whistles!
Chen Xiaoliang and Kwa stood on both sides of the ball with almost no space to run up, but Luke Shaw, who was about 5 meters away from the ball, did not move.
Chen Xiaoliang pushed the ball gently towards Kva, who raised his right foot to block the ball. Then Chen Xiaoliang took a step forward, swung his right foot and rubbed the ball!
A standard and very traditional inward-spinning curve ball!
Just like the previous owner of this jersey, it is called the Crescent Moon Scimitar!
The ball passed over the human wall and did not fall rapidly, but instead spun directly towards the upper left corner of the goal!
Ramsdale jumped twice on the spot and prepared himself to dive to the right with all his strength, but the tense atmosphere in the team could not even exempt him, the goalkeeper.
It was still a quarter beat slow.
Zhan Jun: “This ball went in!!!”
"Direct free kick!!!"
“Maybe this goal is the one that decides the Premier League title!!!”
"34th individual goal in the Premier League this season!"
"The captain of Manchester United !"
"Chen Xiaoliang!"