Leeds United kicked off their March campaign with a League Cup victory, and now they can focus all their energy on the league and strive to secure a Champions League spot for next season as soon as possible!

Before their home game against Sunderland on Sunday, Leeds United first displayed their newly won championship trophy at Elland Road. In front of more than 20,000 enthusiastic fans, Li Shiguang held the trophy and led the team around the field, while the almost frenzied fans shouted the names of every player on the team.

As Li Shiguang walked to the center circle with the trophy in his hand, amidst the enthusiastic shouts of "Li, the savior of Leeds United!" from the entire stadium, a huge portrait of Li Shiguang was unfurled in the south stand of Elland Road. The portrait depicted Li Shiguang waving his fists and roaring in triumph after Ribery scored the go-ahead goal in extra time!

Leeds United fans are so excited for a reason. The last time Leeds United won the League Cup was 38 years ago in the 1967-1968 season. Lee Shih's arrival brought the League Cup trophy back to Leeds after more than 30 years, which is indeed an exciting thing.

Moreover, it is foreseeable that Leeds United will have a high probability of returning to the Champions League next season, which gives fans hope for the club's resurgence!

Ninety minutes later, amidst the deafening cheers of the fans, Leeds United secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Sunderland at home, thanks to a free-kick goal by Rivaldo.

After this match, Leeds United moved up two points from Tottenham Hotspur, who lost to Chelsea away yesterday, to third place in the standings.

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But the good times didn't last long. Just a week later, Manchester United, led by Ferguson, arrived at Elland Road.

This match between the two sides seemed to be a rematch of the final match two weeks ago.

Shortly after the start of the match, Falcao headed in a cross from Bale in the penalty area. This goal seemed to add fuel to the fire of revenge burning in the hearts of Manchester United players. For the remainder of the first half, Manchester United's attacks were like machine gun fire, relentlessly pinning Leeds United in their own half. Fortunately, Schmeichel played brilliantly, making numerous saves to keep Leeds United at 1-0 until halftime.

Fifteen minutes later, the two sides switched sides and resumed the game. Soon, Li Shiguang realized that something was wrong!

In the 49th minute, Ronaldo and Giggs suddenly switched positions. Ronaldo, who was in good form today, broke through the defenses of Alonso and Maicon on the left flank and finally managed to break into Leeds United's penalty area despite Pique's defense. With no other option, Schmeichel had to rush out to try to block Ronaldo's shooting angle. However, Ronaldo, who was playing rather selfishly at this point, did not shoot when faced with this opportunity. Instead, he chipped the ball to the far post, where Rooney, who had already made his run, gently headed the ball into the empty net.

1-1, Manchester United have equalized!

Realizing that the situation on the field had deteriorated, Li Shiguang quickly called Simeone over and asked him to have Silva warm up in preparation for replacing Pique.

Pique's form has indeed been poor so far in this game. He made several mistakes in the first half that almost led to major errors, and in the second half, he was still used as a weak point. In the last play, he could have cooperated with Maicon to help defend Ronaldo and push him towards the sideline, but he chose to stand in the penalty area and watch helplessly. As a result, it was too late for Ronaldo to come up and cover after he got past Maicon.

But before Silva could even warm up, Leeds United conceded another goal, and it was Pique who became the target of their attack!

It's likely that Ferguson gave the whole team a severe dressing down after the last match. After Leeds United kicked off, Manchester United didn't relax just because they had equalized. They maintained a high-intensity pressing, especially targeting Modric and Alonso, which made things very difficult for Leeds United. During this period, even Falcao had to drop back to his own half to receive the ball.

But just two minutes after Rooney's goal, Pique made a poor back pass that was intercepted by the sharp-eyed Scholes. In order to prevent Scholes from shooting, Pique had no choice but to foul in order to win the ball back. He not only received a yellow card but also gave Manchester United a free kick in a very good position.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who was in explosive form in this match, naturally wouldn't miss such a great opportunity. Although Schmeichel stretched his body to the maximum extent during the save, he still couldn't stop the powerful shot, and the ball still went into the top right corner of the goal.

1-2, this time it was Manchester United who came back to win!

Subsequently, the two managers made substitutions and each displayed their unique abilities. Li Shiguang successively brought on Kompany, Rivaldo, and Dzeko, attempting to replicate the great comeback of half a month ago. However, after suffering a great loss, Ferguson completely changed his substitution strategy, using all three substitutions on the attacking line. Even while leading, they still maintained their dominance over Leeds United.

Forty minutes later, Leeds United failed to replicate the miracle of two weeks ago, losing 1-2 at home to Manchester United. Just one week later, they were overtaken by Tottenham Hotspur, who had won the same round, and returned to fourth place.

Li Shiguang doesn't really care about third or fourth place, but after Arsenal's 4-0 victory over Fulham this round, they have once again narrowed the gap with Leeds United to 5 points, maintaining a considerable threat to Leeds United.

Perhaps the closer it gets to the end of the season, the harder the games become.

In the following two rounds, Leeds United only managed one victory, while Arsenal achieved a win and a draw, once again narrowing the gap with Leeds United.

Moreover, Li Shiguang knew very well that Leeds United really benefited from the Champions League.

It's worth noting that Arsenal played Portsmouth, who were second-to-last in the league, in Round 31. Wenger only fielded a portion of his key players because he was preparing for their midweek Champions League quarter-final against Juventus, resulting in a 1-1 draw and a single point for Arsenal. Otherwise, given Arsenal's recent form, Leeds United would likely only be two points ahead of them after this round...

It now seems that whether Leeds United can secure a Champions League spot next season will only be known in the final round of the league when they face Arsenal away from home.