Chapter 459: What MSN group can’t do, I can do it!
May 3, afternoon.
UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg.
The Old Trafford Stadium is as full as ever.
“Glory belongs to Manchester United.”
"Glory belongs to Manchester United."
The loud singing composed by tens of thousands of Red Devils fans at the scene penetrated the wall and entered the visiting team's locker room.
Sitting in front of the locker, Pogba couldn't help but have a lot of thoughts.
This is the first time he has returned to the Theater of Dreams since leaving Manchester United five years ago!
Here is his growth trajectory and his former dreams.
He once thought that he could one day wear a Red Devils jersey, stand in this great stadium, and fight for Manchester United.
Unfortunately, the then coach Ferguson thought that he was not ready and was very lax in observing tactical disciplines.
At that time, Pogba, who already believed that he had the ability to gain a foothold in Manchester United's first team, felt very angry when he saw that Ferguson would rather use Scholes, who had retired and returned, than himself.
Then, under the instigation of his agent, he directly refused the club's contract extension and joined Juventus on a free transfer.
At Juventus, he learned a lot from players such as Pirlo, Vidal, and Marchisio, and gradually grew into a world-class midfielder.
Now, it can be said that he has returned to Manchester with an even stronger attitude.
And this time, he wants to prove to Manchester United fans, Red Devils legends and the old Scottish man sitting in the exclusive seat in the stands, what a stupid decision Manchester United made in not giving him a chance and ignoring his extraordinary talent!
After the pre-game training and mobilization, the game time is about to begin
The players from both sides also dressed neatly, walked out of the locker room, and lined up in the player tunnel.
As soon as he came to the player tunnel, Pogba's eyes were immediately attracted by the black-haired young man wearing the Red Devils No. 7.
If he stays at Manchester United, maybe this legendary No. 7 jersey will be worn on him.
Thinking of this, Pogba's eyes suddenly became sharp:
Ferguson, Ling Feng, Manchester United, just wait and see!
In this Champions League showdown, I will let you see how powerful I am now!
Of course, Ling Feng didn't care about the resentful eyes.
He is a person who never cares about what his subordinates will think when they lose.
Looking back, from the leader Buffon to the "three veterans of the defense", Ling Feng's eyes were on Higuain's It stayed on the body for two seconds.
This is the second time Ling Feng has met a Serie A team in the European competition since Naples met in the Europa League last season.
It is worth mentioning that the last Serie A team we played against was Naples, led by "Little Smoking Gun" Higuain!
Last time, Higuain's Naples blocked Ling Feng's Leicester City from the Europa League semi-finals.
But this time, Higuain changed to a new team and a new jersey, once again standing in front of him!
However, today's Ling Feng is no longer the Blue Fox No. 7 who could only assist.
Moving his eyes back, a handsome and attractive face came into view. .
It is Paulo Dybala, the "Messi's successor" with nicknames such as "Gem" and "Little Devil"!
Since joining from Palermo last season, Dybala has become an indispensable member of this Juventus team.
In addition to his outstanding and stylish football skills, Dybala's appearance is also an important reason why he attracts countless fans.
Little Demon Fairy, so handsome!
But compared to me, it is still a little inferior!
While muttering in his heart, Ling Feng also directly ignored a certain hairstylist.
Of course he knows the grievances between Pogba and himself and Manchester United.
I’ve also seen Pogba’s big talk on social media after the semi-final draw was announced.
In his opinion, this is just a clown's method of sensationalizing.
He didn’t even bother to respond to Pogba’s remarks in public.
If you are a man, just use your skills on the court instead of forcing him off the court and on the Internet!
In this game, he will use his actual actions to prove that the defeated enemy will still be defeated after all!
Following the introduction by the stadium DJ, players from both sides lined up to enter the stadium.
The next second, the tens of thousands of Red Devils fans present greeted the players from both sides with the warmest cheers!
“Welcome to turn on the TV to watch the UEFA Champions League semi-finals on time. The Premier League giants Manchester United face the challenge of Serie A hegemon Juventus at home!”
“Let’s watch first. Let’s look at the starting lineups of both sides.”
“For the home team, the goalkeeper position.”
After suffering from injuries, the main right back Valencia and right winger Rooney both returned from injury.
Except for Rojo, who replaced Smalling with outstanding performance in the second half of the season, Manchester United's starting eleven has basically remained unchanged from the first half of the season.
Although Rojo is sometimes rough in his defensive moves and relatively reckless in his timing, he is a big player in taking cards.
But it is much better than Smalling being distracted, making defensive mistakes or low-level mistakes, and then giving gifts to his opponents.
As for Juventus, they have a luxurious lineup!
The goalkeeper is Buffon, and the defense is composed of the "four veterans of the defense" Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini, and Alves, who are over 100 years old in total.
The four midfielders stand in parallel In the middle are Marchisio and Khedira, with Pogba and Dybala on the left and right.
The double forward partnership is Serie A top scorer Higuain and Mandzukic!
Even though Juventus has put together a starting lineup with an average age of over 30 years old, in Ling Feng’s view, this Juventus is definitely the strongest team he has encountered this season. !
Even Barcelona, which has the MSN combination, is much inferior to this Juventus in terms of lineup structure and balance.
However, Ling Feng now has a clear understanding of his own strength.
Whether he is Barcelona with the MSN combination or Juventus with no shortcomings in the overall lineup structure, there is only one ending in front of him!
“Kick Barcelona~Kick Barcelona”
“Kick Bayern Munich”
“My factory”
"Kick Barcelona~Kick Barcelona"
"Kick Bayern Munich"
"Our factory has collapsed!"
As the melodious Champions League theme song sounded, the two sides also completed Pregame ritual.
Immediately with the long "beep" whistle of the German referee, this contest between the Sword of Great Britain and the Shield of Apennine officially began!
This is also the first confrontation between Manchester United and Juventus since the 2002~03 season!
It has been fourteen years since the two sides last fought.
Both the player lineup and tactics are completely different.
Historical confrontations have no reference value. For both sides, it was the first time to actually face each other on the court.
Both sides only know each other through game videos and highlights.
Therefore, both sides maintained a very cautious attitude after the start of the game.
Manchester United, playing at home, started a tentative offensive amidst the cheers of the home team fans.
However, whether it was Ling Feng, Ibrahimovic, Martial, or Rooney, they quickly felt the intensity of Juventus' defense.
You know, Juventus has conceded the fewest goals in the Champions League this season!
To say "impregnable" is not an exaggeration at all.
The last time Juventus lost a goal in the Champions League was back in November last year against Sevilla.
This also allows Buffon to maintain a record of 621 consecutive minutes without conceding a goal in the Champions League this season.
The record for consecutive clean sheets in a single season in the history of the Champions League was set by Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar in the 1995-96 season. At that time, van der Sar kept clean sheets for 658 minutes.
This means that if Buffon can last 37 minutes at Old Trafford without conceding a goal in this game, then he will definitely surpass Van der Sar and create a new single in the history of the Champions League. Consecutive clean sheet record for the season!
Of course, the team's clean sheet record does not only rely on the performance of goalkeeper Buffon, but also relies on the entire defensive system.
Many football experts and people in the industry believe that Juventus's goalless seal against Barcelona in the two rounds of the quarter-finals can be called a real case demonstration of a defensive textbook!
In this game, they are also very confident against the equally fierce Red Devils Manchester United.
After all, even Barcelona, which scored hundreds of goals in the league, was able to achieve a perfect clean sheet in two rounds.
Can this Manchester United be stronger than Barcelona with MSN team? !
From the first second of the game, Juventus took full advantage of the chain defense invented by the Italians.
And Manchester United also saw the toughest defense this season for the first time!
Juventus’ defense starts with the two forwards Higuain and Mandzukic.
Forwards, midfielders, and defenders form three very close and highly structured chains, locking Manchester United, the most unstoppable sword in the Premier League, from easily penetrating forward.
Moreover, the defensive attitude and pressing intensity of Juventus players are very tough, and they can be said to fight for every inch of ground.
However, the quality of Juventus' defense did not surprise the Manchester United generals.
The Premier League focuses on high-intensity game rhythm and confrontation, and they have all seen rougher violations and fouls.
Furthermore, they have watched the video and highlights of Juventus' zero-block against Barcelona no less than ten times recently.
After more than half a season of Mourinho's transformation and subtle indoctrination of ideas, coupled with Ling Feng, a big-time man, the Red Devils' ability to deal with tough battles has been greatly enhanced, which makes people feel as if they are re-entering the game. Back to the Ferguson era.
Last season, Manchester United gave people the feeling that they were evenly matched with everyone;
This season's Manchester United gives people the feeling that no matter who the opponent is, they are hopeful of winning!
The most important thing is that this Red Devils have no shortage of tough guys!
Come with me?
Let’s see who is tougher!
Juventus coach Allegri and the Juventus generals know very well that Ling Feng is the soul of Manchester United and the most threatening player on the field.
Therefore, Allegri also made a very strict defensive strategy in response to this point of him:
Through aggressive personal marking and tough physical confrontation, Ling Feng was constantly consumed, and at the same time he did not make easy moves. foul!
Such tactics had very significant effects in the last round against Messi and Neymar.
However, what Juventus never expected was that compared to the MSN group, Ling Feng was even more difficult to restrict!
Because there is no true defensive midfielder in this Juventus team.
Therefore, as the former main defensive midfielder of Real Madrid and Germany, Khedira, who covers a very wide area, was given the important task of following and defending Lingfeng by Allegri.
In the seventh minute of the game, Ling Feng retreated to get the ball in the middle, turned around, and immediately drove the ball forward.
And Khedira, who was right next to him, sprinted directly from the side, intending to use his body
However, Ling Feng's response was unexpected by everyone!
I saw the Red Devil No. 7 directly stepping out with his right leg, taking the lead, and then took the initiative to meet Khedira's collision!
With a bang, Khedira's whole body seemed to have hit a big mountain, but instead his whole body
Ling Feng was not affected at all, and continued to advance with the ball, and then reached the shooting range. Inside, he completed a heavy artillery kick that was slightly higher than the beam!
This scene not only stunned Allegri on the sidelines, but also the Juventus generals on the court couldn't believe their eyes.
Mamma Mia!
What's going on?
What just happened? !
Kedira, who did not believe in evil, once again hit Ling Feng hard when he was holding the ball in the next round.
However, this time, his fate did not get better, but became even more embarrassing!
The moment the two people's shoulders collided, Ling Feng stood still, but Khedira was directly carried away by Ling Feng, and then his shoulders followed the trend, and he lost his balance and fell down!
Two consecutive physical confrontations surprised the Juventus soldiers!
When did Ling Feng become so hard? !
In fact, Ling Feng today is really not afraid of physical confrontation at all.
In the Premier League, even with the "protection" of the Football Association, Ling Feng is still the player with the most violations and fouls in the Premier League in the past two seasons!
He has been violated fifty times more times this season than Hazard at Chelsea!
In order to adapt to the opponent's rough defense against him, Ling Feng also specially strengthened his strength training this season.
Of course, the most helpful thing for his confrontation ability is naturally the fourteen free attribute points he has added to the [Strength] attribute one after another!
With the [Strength] attribute raised to the ninety mark, Ling Feng's physical confrontation ability has reached a higher level visible to the naked eye, reaching the top level in football.
This is also the reason why Khedira, who seemed to be stronger, was directly carried away by Ling Feng!
Of course, this
What about the normal physical confrontation? !
Messi and Neymar are still relatively weak in terms of physical confrontation.
Messi's core strength and balance ability are extraordinary. He is often able to maintain his balance and continue dribbling when receiving strong collisions.
But limited by his physical fitness, he will still be knocked away by players who are heavier than him.
But Lingfeng is different.
With a height of 1.83 meters and a weight of 75 kilograms, coupled with the bonus of the [Strength] attribute, his entire body has both beauty and strength.
This makes him not look very strong, but he is like an unshakable mountain that cannot be bumped into. Instead, he will break his head and bleed!
Every time Khedira or Marchisio made a strong physical collision with him, his entire body movements would not deform, nor would he lose the ball at his feet.
On the contrary, Khedira or Marchisio were directly pushed away by him, and then Ling Feng repeatedly forced a breakthrough from the center and completed extremely threatening long-range shots and passes.
Had it not been for the fact that his shooting accuracy was still being adjusted and his teammates had not yet entered the state, Manchester United might have penetrated the door of Juventus long ago.
Even so, when the game came to the 17th minute, Ling Feng still broke through the middle, and completed the collision with Ibrahimovic in a familiar way. He kicked off suddenly outside the penalty area and completed a kick with an extremely tricky angle. The putter exploded.
The ball clung to the turf and headed towards the lower right corner of the goal.
Even though Buffon reacted quickly and touched the ball, he still couldn't prevent the ball from hitting the inside of the goalpost and bouncing into the goal!
At this point, Buffon and Juventus’ 638-minute record of not conceding a goal is announced to have been broken!
(End of this chapter)