Chapter 362: Manchester United is finished! The terrifying devil! An insurmountable monument! A historic shame! [Subscribe]
6 to 0, total score 8 to 1!
Such a sensational score in the Champions League semi-finals immediately attracted the attention of media around the world.
The headlines of major media outlets were also dominated by this game.
Germany's Bild reported the game with the headline "Historic Victory" on its front page.
The French L'Equipe was also shocked by the disparity in the result. The headline on the front page was "A vivid lesson", believing that the Chinese in Bayswater had taught Barcelona a hard lesson.
Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport also stated that the Chinese in Bayswater used a shocking score to pull off the fig leaf of La Liga, allowing everyone to see the weakness within the two giants of La Liga.
"Disaster for Barcelona, victory for the Premier League!"
In addition to European media, authoritative media such as the New York Times in the United States are also focusing on reporting on this game.
As the most influential football tournament in the world and as the most watched team in the world, the Chinese from Bayswater slaughtered Barcelona 6-0 in the Champions League semi-finals, which shocked the world.
The New York Times even said: "If Yang Cheng hadn't reserved his strength, Barcelona would have left an even more embarrassing record in London!"
But many media also expressed gloating.
Argentina's Ole loudly celebrated the Chinese in Bayswater's crushing victory over Barcelona.
In the report, the Argentine media believes that Barcelona has always used Messi as a scapegoat for Barcelona's problems in the past.
But now, such a shocking defeat has made everyone see the truth.
"By losing Messi, Barcelona has lost its most powerful weapon."
"Did Luis Enrique's team pose any threat to Bayswater Chinese in the second leg?"
Brazil's Folha de São Paulo revealed that this crushing defeat made Neymar more determined to leave the team.
"He is more eager for the Premier League!"
In addition to the media from various countries, in Spain, whether it is the daily sports newspaper and Mundo Deportivo, which are close to Barcelona, or Marca and AS, which are close to Real Madrid, all used words such as shame to describe the game on the front page.
"This is definitely a shame that will go down in the history of Barcelona and Spanish football!"
Daily Sports published a review of the game after the match.
This Barcelona mouthpiece believes that the Chinese in Bayswater are too brutal!
"It was a crazy performance from the home team at Prudential Arena, creating an incredible scoreline."
"Who would have thought that Barcelona, which lost 1-2 at home, would lose even more miserably away from home?"
Daily Sports revealed that before the team left for London, including Luis Enrique and the players in the team, including Pique, Alba, Iniesta, Xavi, Busquets and others, all vowed that they must turn the tables away from home.
Barcelona fans are also full of strong confidence in this.
There are even 5,000 players traveling with the team on away trips.
"In order to coordinate enough tickets for away fans, Barcelona was still communicating with the Chinese in Bayswater the day before the game."
"The team, from top to bottom, is full of confidence in this game."
"The previous internal conflicts and various rumors have been temporarily suppressed, and everyone is united in facing the outside world!"
This has already shown Barcelona's determination.
But at the Prudential Stadium, Barcelona was completely stunned by the consecutive goals conceded at the beginning of the game.
The Barcelona players didn't even put up a strong resistance during the game, it was more like they just surrendered.
"At the Prudential Stadium in London, Barcelona's fragility further highlights the strength of the Chinese in Bayswater!"
Mundo Deportivo believes that "Facing the Chinese in Bayswater, Barcelona was completely stunned!"
The continuous goal losses after the opening made everyone in Barcelona completely confused.
"The bloody score hurts the hearts of all Barcelona players and fans."
"Especially the 5,000 fans who follow the team to away games."
"They originally hoped to see a classic away game comeback, but they never expected that what they saw was a shocking and historic defeat."
"They traveled thousands of miles, spent so much money, and followed the team to the away game, just for this?"
Mundo Deportivo also revealed that in the first and second half, before the game was over, many Barcelona players had already lowered their heads, and did not even dare to look at the fans or the score, and even avoided the live broadcast and media cameras.
"Their confidence and self-esteem have been completely shattered!"
The two major media from Catalonia both severely criticized Barcelona.
But at the end of the report, they all made an appeal, hoping that all fans could look at this tragic defeat more rationally, and also called on the Barcelona management to come up with a plan as soon as possible to comfort the injured fans.
"The management needs to prove that they have the ability to lead Barcelona to revival!"
If the Catalan media is relatively restrained, then Marca is not so accommodating.
A historic shame!
This is the front-page headline given by Marca.
In this report, Marca criticized Barcelona's midfield, believing that it was the fragile midfield that led to the collapse in the second round.
"Barcelona's midfield was simply unable to stop the attack of the Bayswater Chinese."
"Yang Cheng's team showed no mercy to Barcelona and attacked wildly all the way."
"As the driver of the Bayswater Chinese chariot, Yang Cheng's foot never left the accelerator pedal."
Marca believes that the Chinese in Bayswater used a typical Premier League rhythm to destroy Barcelona at the Prudential Stadium.
Especially the fierce attack at the beginning of the game left Barcelona without any ability to resist.
There is a piece of data that can fully reflect Barcelona's embarrassment on the scene.
That is the number of passes made by Lewandowski, the team's top scorer.
The Polish center received no special treatment from the London team when he returned to Prudential Arena.
But he also tried his best to prove himself in front of his old club.
However, in this game, he only passed the ball 28 times.
This is indeed very little.
However, 7 of them were kick-offs from the center circle.
That is to say, one quarter of the passes are kicked off from within the centre circle.
This is outrageous!
Apart from these seven kick-offs, Lewandowski only made 21 passes in the entire game.
Did Lewandowski perform very badly?
Really not!
As one of the best performing players in Barcelona, Lewandowski was also the world's top scorer before joining Barcelona. The Chinese player in Bayswater is at the peak of his career.
Before the game, the Polish center forward was full of confidence and said he would help Barcelona turn the tables away from home.
But in the end, there were only 21 passes in the game.
What is this?
Marca believes that the main reason is that Barcelona's midfield has completely lost control.
Busquets was sniped and Barcelona's midfield was suppressed.
The midfield cannot pass the ball, so the team mostly goes to the two flanks.
But the flanks were each fighting on their own, making it difficult to transfer the ball to the middle for Lewandowski.
"This phenomenon was actually exposed very clearly in the first round."
“In the second round, the situation became even worse!”
In addition to reporting the game, AS also reported a piece of post-match news.
After the game, 5,000 Barcelona fans who traveled with the team to London blocked the Barcelona bus at the hotel entrance.
The game was held at Prudential Field.
Therefore, many teams that play at Prudential Arena choose to stay at the Peninsula Hotel or the Bulgari Hotel.
But Barcelona did not do so this time, and chose to live further away.
They believed that this was due to concerns about the conflict between the fans of the two teams and that they were worried that the Chinese fans in Bayswater would target Barcelona players and affect the players' rest.
But it turned out that they were worrying too much.
After the game, it was the Barcelona fans who blocked all their buses at the hotel entrance, refusing to let them in, and demanded that Luis Enrique and the players get off the bus and give a reasonable explanation.
There were 5,000 fans who travelled with the team to the away game, and only a few hundred showed up.
They all spent money, bought tickets, and followed the team to the away game.
But now, what do they see?
The team bus was stuck for about half an hour and was only able to enter the hotel after the police arrived.
But the fans were still outside the hotel, yelling at them.
"Liar", "scoundrel", "disgrace"...
Even more offensive terms were uttered by the fans.
The Barcelona players remained silent and went straight into the hotel after getting off the car.
It wasn't until the morning of the next day after the game that Daily Sports published an interview with Barcelona center back Pique.
As the team's number one central defender, Pique threw the team's current problems directly to the management.
He believes that the reason for Barcelona's current situation is the incompetence of the management.
“We all have to reflect!”
"I think the club needs to make changes, especially in terms of management, it needs a complete change!"
Why?
Pique believes that Barcelona has failed this season.
Why did the Neymar incident suddenly happen when the season entered the most critical sprint stage?
Why is it that the team has been asking for a central defender and a high-level midfielder, but is banned from transferring?
After so many problems occurred, what positive responses did the management take?
Pique even said that if the team evaluates and feels that a renewal is needed.
"That's great, I'll be the first one to offer to leave the team!"
But soon, Pique's remarks were not only not affirmed, but instead received a flood of criticism.
Mundo Deportivo revealed that an unnamed Barcelona official accused Pique of making irresponsible remarks.
"His so-called resignation is because he wants to get a more lucrative salary!"
"He is just a greedy guy!"
The Barcelona official, who wished to remain anonymous, revealed that the team's current financial situation is not healthy because many players in the team have salaries that are too high and have become distorted.
"Pique is only 29 years old and he is about to sign the last contract of his career. Of course he can leave the team because there are teams outside willing to offer him a higher salary package."
"This is not loyalty, this is betrayal!"
The official even revealed that although Neymar's departure caused a lot of controversy, the Brazilian at least left the team with a transfer fee of 220 million euros, and it was a one-time, cash payment!
If Pique leaves the team at this time, how much can he leave for the club?
But the whole thing has completely fizzled out.
There are many fans who support Pique and think that he is right and that the management is a mess.
But there are also some fans who support the management and believe that the repeated demands of these greedy guys should not be met.
We won the game and everything was fine.
Now, after a humiliating defeat, all kinds of problems have emerged.
…
When the Bayswater Chinese eliminated Barcelona with an aggregate score of 8-1, they got their ticket to the Champions League final at the San Siro Stadium in Milan.
At the same time, in another match, Zidane's Real Madrid drew 1-1 with Manchester City away, and then returned home to beat the Blue Moon 1-0.
The team advanced to the Champions League final with a total score of 2-1.
So, this season's Champions League final became the Bayswater Chinese against Real Madrid.
This also makes the media and fans around the world feel very fresh.
The Chinese from Bayswater have won four consecutive Champions League titles. If they win again this season, it will be their fifth consecutive title!
This is the fifth consecutive championship after the Champions League reform!
In the history of the Champions League, there is only one team that has won five consecutive championships, and that is Real Madrid.
But Real Madrid's five consecutive championships were in the early days of the Champions League. The competitiveness at that time was far less fierce than it is now, and the level of the participating teams was not very high.
Therefore, Real Madrid's five consecutive championships have always been more like an honor, proving the special significance of Real Madrid in the Champions League.
But the actual gold content is actually not very high.
But Bayswater Chinese are now winning five consecutive championships after the reform.
The value has far exceeded Real Madrid's five consecutive championships.
When that time really comes, the Chinese in Bayswater will completely suppress Real Madrid and become the undisputed top club in Europe and even in the world football!
Therefore, the Spanish media, especially those close to Real Madrid, have all called on Zidane's Real Madrid to target the Chinese in Bayswater.
At the very least, we must continue to keep the honor of five consecutive championships in Real Madrid!
Fans of both teams also started arguing on the Internet.
Real Madrid wants to defend its Champions League glory, while the Chinese in Bayswater want to kick Real Madrid off the throne completely.
While the outside world was in an uproar, the internal situation of Bayswater Chinese was orderly.
Everything is progressing step by step.
Since the game was held in Milan, Italy, Yang Cheng and the coaching staff discussed it and contacted Atlanta. They unanimously decided that the team would go to Milan in advance and stay directly in a manor-style hotel in the suburbs of Milan.
Moreover, the hotel was booked directly for accommodation only for Bayswater's Chinese players and staff.
The training a few days before the game was conducted at the Zignia training base in Atlanta.
After acquiring Atlanta, the first thing Yang Cheng did was to transform Atlanta's Zigenia training base.
We bought several residential buildings and after connecting them up, we further expanded the training base for the first team and youth teams.
Now each of them has built a training building, and the hardware and software facilities are very complete, all of which are implemented in accordance with the standards of the Chinese in Bayswater.
So, when the time comes, the Chinese in Bayswater don’t need to bring anything, just go there.
Atlanta will also actively cooperate.
By then, the Serie A season will have ended, but the employees and staff of the Zignia training base will continue to stay to escort the Bayswater Chinese to the Champions League final.
The advantages of the football league as advocated by Yang Cheng were reflected.
This included the previous winter training of Bundesliga Frankfurt in Malaga, and this time the Chinese from Bayswater directly moving into the training base in Atlanta for training, both of which provided great convenience.
The total distance from the Zignia training base to the San Paolo Stadium is only 45 kilometers.
The hotel is right between the two and the transportation is very convenient.
In addition, the team bus will go to Milan and Bergamo in advance to familiarize themselves with the main traffic routes.
Atlanta will also arrange for an experienced bus driver to accompany you.
After playing against Barcelona, the Chinese in Bayswater were like a wound-up mechanical watch, ticking away and moving forward precisely step by step.
…
On the afternoon of May 7th, the 37th round of the Premier League.
Bayswater Chinese play at home against Newcastle.
This game actually has no practical significance for Yang Cheng's team.
It's more about the undefeated record.
Yang Cheng also adjusted and rotated the team's starting lineup and began preparing for the next two finals.
But even so, the team still performed very well.
It's Newcastle instead.
They are currently ranked at the bottom of the Premier League, 6 points away from Crystal Palace in 17th place, and the relegation situation is very serious.
But the Magpies management offered a sky-high relegation bonus.
As long as the team can avoid relegation, everyone will get a huge sum of money.
This was not the case with the Newcastle family either.
This is basically the case for other teams fighting for relegation.
Because starting from next season, the Premier League broadcasting fees will skyrocket.
This income is really tempting!
The success or failure of relegation is worth over 100 million pounds.
Under such circumstances, Newcastle also made a big show before the game.
But what happens when it comes to the actual competition?
Just five minutes into the game, Salah assisted Giroud to score a header into Newcastle's goal.
In the 9th minute, Sterling's goal put Bayswater Chinese ahead again.
In the 17th minute, with an assist from Giroud, Salah broke into the right side of the penalty area and shot into the goal.
3 to 0!
Just 17 minutes!
It was like a repeat of the Champions League semi-final against Barcelona.
After the opening, he was unreasonable and just beat his opponent with a stick, making him confused.
This is the situation at Newcastle now.
The most annoying thing about the Bayswater Chinese team for opponents is that after they beat you up, they don't bother with you any more. They just slow down the pace, play to their passing and cutting advantages, and slip past you first.
What can you do at this time?
If you want to win, then press forward.
If you don't press them out, just let them slip away.
This made all the opponents very angry, but they could do nothing about it.
Say Bayswater Chinese are conservative?
They are leading by 3 goals!
If you keep attacking like this, I can give you a big score?
This situation continued into the second half.
In the 59th minute, De Bruyne made another assist and Sterling shot from the center of the penalty area.
4 to 0!
In the 83rd minute, Luke Shaw assisted Solanke, who came on as a substitute, to score a goal.
In the end, Bayswater Chinese beat Newcastle 5-0 at home.
When Yang Cheng met Benítez after the game, he could only feel deep sympathy for Master Benítez's experience.
At least from the current situation, Newcastle's relegation is a foregone conclusion.
After seeing Bei Dashi off personally, Yang Cheng felt mixed emotions!
…
On the evening of May 10th, the 35th round of the Premier League was rescheduled.
Bayswater Chinese will host Southampton at home.
After this game, there will be the last round of the Premier League at the weekend, and Bayswater Chinese will challenge Arsenal away.
Many people say that Wenger has already made a harsh statement that he will target the Chinese in Bayswater at all costs.
Why?
The reason is the same as Real Madrid.
In the Premier League, there is only one team that won the championship undefeated, and that is Wenger's Arsenal.
If Bayswater Chinese continue their unbeaten streak this season, they will become the second team.
Therefore, there was news before that Wenger wanted to snipe the Chinese players from Bayswater at home.
The most important thing is that after playing against Wenger's Arsenal, there will be the FA Cup final against Manchester United.
It can be said that the games are one after another, non-stop.
In this situation, for Yang Cheng, the game against Southampton is more about helping the players maintain their form and not kicking too hard to avoid injuries.
Southampton actually has nothing to ask for.
So, this game was not actually played very well.
In the 31st minute, Van Dijk scored a goal for the team from a corner kick.
In the 79th minute of the second half, Gareth Bale scored a goal for the team.
But in the 85th minute, Gareth Bale was injured and left the field, which gave Yang Cheng a false alarm.
Fortunately, after observation after the game, there was nothing serious.
In the end, Bayswater Chinese beat Southampton 2-0.
By the way, from the 31st round of the Premier League, which started on March 19th, to now, in nearly two months, the Chinese team of Bayswater has not lost even a single goal in the Premier League!
This is indeed an amazing achievement!
This also reflects that the more critical the moment, the harder the Bayswater Chinese players perform.
Because they all knew that the time they had left to continue playing under Yang Cheng was getting less and less.
And everyone cherishes it very much.
At least, the team's desire to fight is very strong.
It was also after the end of this game, in front of 90,000 fans on the scene, that the Chinese team of Bayswater lifted the new season's Premier League championship trophy!
…
May 15th, the final round of the Premier League.
Bayswater Chinese challenge Arsenal away.
In Wenger's impression, Giroud has never been a prolific center forward.
As he said in an interview with media reporters before the game, he believes that the best center forward in France is Benzema.
Giroud?
He is a simplified version of Benzema.
The gap in offensive efficiency between the two is really too big.
But on this afternoon at the Emirates Stadium, against the sun, when Luke Shaw received Sterling's straight pass on the left, dribbled to the baseline, chased up and sent a high parabolic cross, no one would think there was anything wrong with it.
Mertesacker and Koscielny are both there.
Arsenal's defense is already on high alert.
More importantly, the game had only been going on for more than 4 minutes at this time.
Many players may not even be fully stretched.
But even in this situation, Giroud, who was rushing in the front, raised his head, judged the path of the ball, ran back two steps, jumped high near the penalty spot, and headed the ball directly towards Luke Shaw's cross.
The football seemed to be possessed by an evil spirit, and he headed it directly into the left side of Arsenal's goal.
French national team goalkeeper Lloris dived sideways but failed to catch the ball.
1 to 0!
Everyone was stunned.
Giroud raised his arms and shouted in the penalty area, then rushed out of the field.
He is like a proud warrior, showing off his military exploits!
A simplified version of Zema?
Wenger, please look more carefully!
Arsenal's head coach himself was confused.
The first shot of the game was actually scored by Giroud.
Not to mention Wenger, even Yang Cheng himself found it unbelievable.
Afterwards, the game came to a stalemate.
With the ball in hand, the Chinese in Bayswater began to play a steady defensive counterattack.
Arsenal tried several times to press forward but failed.
It was not until the 78th minute of the second half that the attack of the Chinese players in Bayswater reached the left corner of Arsenal's penalty area.
Sterling took the ball and faced Lichtsteiner, making a series of feints but failing to confuse his opponent.
Of course, it might be because Sterling's fake move was so ugly.
But anyway, Sterling suddenly passed the ball to Aaron Ramsey who came from behind and the latter passed it directly to the baseline without stopping.
Sterling cut into the left side of the penalty area at high speed and, before anyone else, passed a low ball to the middle.
At this moment, Giroud lost his balance and fell to the ground under the pull of two Arsenal central defenders. He then shot the ball into the Arsenal goal with his left foot.
After the French center forward scored a goal, he lay down in the penalty area in the shape of a "T" (Chinese character).
But the Arsenal fans at the scene were going crazy.
Did Giroud take drugs tonight?
How come it's so vigorous?
Can you score a goal in this situation?
I haven't seen him so efficient on weekdays!
But things in reality are so strange.
Two minutes later, when Arsenal was switching from offense to defense, Matic intercepted the ball in the midfield and passed it to De Bruyne.
De Bruyne made a diagonal pass behind him, accurately tearing through Arsenal's defense.
Giroud easily made an offside move and got the ball again to have a one-on-one chance.
The most outrageous thing is that this guy even messed up his pace, and he lost his balance and fell to the ground to shoot again.
But this just confused Loris who was attacking.
hat trick!
Everyone was stunned!
Isn’t this too outrageous?
Giroud himself found it unbelievable. He rushed to the sidelines, raised three fingers with both hands, looked at his left hand and then his right hand, not sure if he was dreaming.
Wenger on the sidelines was even more devastated.
The Gunners certainly have no pressure on game results now, but how come they lost 3 goals?
And it was a hat trick scored by Giroud!
What is going on?
"Hey, you guys think, does this kid usually pretend to be a pig and eat the tiger?"
"A hat trick at the critical moment?"
Yang Cheng also found it unbelievable.
This was not the Giroud he usually noticed.
So fierce!
The most important thing is efficiency, it’s so high!
It’s ridiculously high!
"Maybe, we all underestimated Giroud..."
Brian Kidd paused awkwardly when he said this, "... Giroud's scoring efficiency."
Frick and others nodded.
Underestimated!
Looks like a huge underestimate!
But after expressing such sentiments, everyone can't help but ask themselves: Is it really underestimated?
Why do I feel like this isn't real?
In the end, Bayswater Chinese beat Arsenal 3-1 away.
Giroud scored a hat trick!
Yang Cheng's team eventually won the 15/16 Premier League championship with an unbeaten record.
38 league rounds, 34 wins, 4 draws, and 106 points!
This not only breaks the record for the highest number of championship points in the history of the Premier League and even the English top league, but is also the record for the highest number of championship points in the history of the top five European leagues!
Arsenal also won the championship in the 03/04 season with an unbeaten record, but they only had 26 wins, 12 draws and 90 points.
A full 16 points less than Bayswater Chinese.
No one will doubt the dominance of Yang Cheng's team!
And everyone knows that the reason why the Bayswater Chinese players performed so hard is because of Yang Cheng!
After the game, media from all over the world sang praises to Yang Cheng and his Bayswater Chinese team.
The Times even believes that the Bayswater Chinese team coached by Yang Cheng is the greatest team in the history of European football, no doubt about it!
The reasons are very sufficient.
They almost broke various legendary records!
It's like a series of monuments that are difficult for future generations to surpass!
Even in La Liga, the Premier League's arch-rival, the Spanish media has a very high opinion of Yang Cheng.
As the Catalan newspaper Mundo Deportivo put it.
"That terrifying big devil is finally leaving!"
Although Yang Cheng is gone, the Bayswater Chinese team he left behind is still very strong.
Who can stop them?
Looking at the current European football scene, perhaps only the Premier League teams are there.
Especially Guardiola's Manchester City.
Everyone is hoping there will be problems with the succession.
Many people believe that Flick will find it difficult to control these world-class superstars of the Bayswater Chinese.
But as the team captain Modric said in an interview with media reporters after the game against Arsenal.
"As the captain of the team, my most important task is to help Flick manage the team and the locker room."
"Please believe us, there is no problem between us. Flick has been in the team for two years. We are familiar with each other and we can cooperate well."
As a German player, Toni Kroos, needless to say, said that he would do his best to cooperate with Flick.
Plus feedback from key players such as Gareth Bale, Harry Kane and Van Dijk.
All signs indicate that Yang Cheng spent a full two years to resolve the issue of Flick's succession.
The Guardian even asserted.
"The change from Yang Cheng as head coach to Flick will definitely have some impact on the Chinese at Bayswater."
"But they are still the strongest team in European football!"
The Sun, which has always been famous for its intelligence, also revealed that according to the internal intelligence they obtained, the Chinese locker room at Bayswater has a high opinion of Flick and has a high degree of recognition.
"Of course, Flick needs to use further practical performance to feedback the players' trust and support for him!"
“But no matter what, the Chinese in Bayswater will not cause chaos!”
…
In the evening of May 21st, Wembley Stadium in London.
In the FA Cup final, Bayswater Chinese faced Manchester United.
This was Yang Cheng's last game leading the team in the UK.
So 90,000 fans flocked to this game, more than half of whom were fans of Bayswater Chinese.
It is even harder to get a ticket outside, and tickets are being sold at sky-high prices by countless scalpers.
The final outcome of the Premier League was that the Chinese team from Bayswater won the championship, followed by Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United.
The Red Devils have secured a precious Champions League qualification.
Liverpool ultimately failed to beat Manchester United in the battle for the top four of the league.
But in the Europa League final on May 18, Manchester United lost 1-3 to Klopp's Liverpool.
Suarez scored two goals and made one assist, helping the Reds win the Europa League!
In the end, Liverpool surpassed Manchester United as the Europa League champion and directly advanced to the Champions League group stage next season.
On the other hand, Manchester United, after finishing fourth in the league, still had to play in the qualifiers.
And everyone knows that the Champions League qualifiers are not that easy to play.
As for Manchester United, they had previously adopted a double insurance strategy.
On the one hand, the league is trying its best to stay in the top four, while at the same time competing for the Europa League title.
But after finishing in the top four of the league, Manchester United seemed a little disappointed.
On the contrary, Liverpool was forced into a desperate situation.
Especially in the last round, after losing to Manchester United in the battle for the fourth place in the league, Klopp's team had no choice.
If you want to advance into the Champions League, you have to win the Europa League.
In this situation, Liverpool's fierce attack after the opening caused Manchester United to suffer.
If it weren't for Navas' outstanding performance, Manchester United's goal would have been riddled with holes.
In the end, Manchester United lost 1-3, but the best performing player was still Costa Rican goalkeeper Navas.
Because of this, three days later, after returning to the Premier League, Manchester United faced Bayswater Chinese in the FA Cup final.
Van Gaal adopted a defensive counterattack tactic.
Goalkeeper: Navas;
Defense: Blind, De Rossi, David Luiz and Valencia;
Midfield: Pogba and Carrick form a double defensive midfielder, with Ronaldo, Rooney and Martial in front;
Forward: Cavani.
For the Bayswater Chinese team, there is still a week before the Champions League final, so Yang Cheng sent all his main players to play.
He also needs his team to make sure they win the game.
Goalkeeper: Courtois;
Defense: Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Van Dijk and Piszczek;
Midfield: Casemiro drops back, with Toni Kroos and Modric in the middle;
Forwards: Gareth Bale, Harry Kane and Walcott.
After the game started, the Chinese in Bayswater took the initiative and launched a fierce attack on Manchester United.
It is not difficult to see from Van Gaal's deployment that the Dutchman actually wants to focus more on defensive counterattacks in this game.
But Manchester United's midfield was completely out of control.
Even Rooney had to actively retreat to the deep midfield position to participate in the defense.
The attack of the Chinese in Bayswater, especially the wave of attacks in the first 10 minutes, made Manchester United lose their temper.
Navas is not tall, but he has quick reactions and is very flexible in his saves. He blocked the shots from the Chinese players in Bayswater time and time again, leaving Yang Cheng speechless.
Nadal, he is still Nadal even when he goes to Manchester United!
When the game reached the 16th minute, Rooney retreated to the midfield position, received the pass from his teammate, and moved forward, trying to push the ball forward.
In the previous moment, Manchester United's wave of passes failed to get the ball forward into the penalty area of the Chinese in Bayswater.
After going around in circles, Rooney decided to do it himself.
Move forward into the 30-meter area, then try to pass the ball to Ronaldo or Martial, and then try to pass it back to the middle to find Cavani.
This can create an offensive threat.
But the Rooney now is no longer the fat Rooney of his youth.
He is still a bit fat, but as he gets older, his movements become slower and more clumsy.
Especially when he was dribbling the ball, he was disturbed by Modric.
The captains of the two teams engaged in close combat in the midfield.
Rooney has become stronger, while Modric looks a little thin.
But in the physical confrontation, Modric not only did not fall into a disadvantage, but instead seemed to be suppressing Rooney.
The Manchester United captain's feet were unsteady due to the scramble and he was unable to control the ball and made a big mistake.
Casemiro intercepted the ball immediately, then the Brazilian dribbled forward and made a straight pass to Toni Kroos.
Manchester United midfielder Carrick approached Toni Kroos immediately.
The German midfielder turned and walked towards the left side. After finding the right opportunity, he turned around and made a straight pass.
The ball was passed to the left side of the center circle and landed at the feet of Harry Kane who was retreating to receive the ball.
Harry Kane turned his back to the center circle, facing the pass from Toni Kroos, and directly kicked the ball behind his back.
And he kicked the ball with great force to the left side behind Manchester United's defense.
From intercepting the ball to passing it, and then to Harry Kane passing it directly behind him, the whole process was completed with one or two touches.
Manchester United's defense didn't even have time to react before the ball was passed behind them.
The next moment, Gareth Bale was seen like a red lightning, shooting out at an extremely fast speed, quickly moving forward along the left sideline, and heading straight for the football.
Valencia is actually very fast.
But he's turning 31 soon.
Although he still has very good speed now, he is no match for the young and strong Gareth Bale in a real competition.
The Welshman is not yet 27 years old and is in his prime physical period.
As he broke away, Valencia gave desperate pursuit but as the two raced in pace it became clear that the Ecuadorian player was beginning to lose momentum and was beginning to fall behind Gareth Bale.
Even faintly being left behind.
If he were an experienced defender, he would definitely use various methods to stop Gareth Bale.
Including interference from small movements, or blocking of body position, etc.
But Valencia was a winger by birth. He was not a full-time full-back at all and had not received formal defensive training. So when facing Gareth Bale, he chose to compete more in speed.
As a result, Gareth Bale gradually surpassed Valencia.
Gareth Bale took a small step forward when he caught up with the ball outside the left corner of Manchester United's penalty area.
This caused him to slow down a bit.
But just as Valencia was catching up, Gareth Bale made a low left-foot cross into Manchester United's penalty area.
Navas attacked near the small penalty area, but after Gareth Bale made a cross, he decisively gave up the left side and turned to the right side of the penalty spot.
Walcott was seen moving forward at a very fast speed, coming from behind, shaking off defenders such as Blind and De Rossi, and rushing into Manchester United's penalty area with sparks and lightning, just catching up with Gareth Bale's cross on the right side of the penalty spot.
The little tiger didn't even stop the ball, he just pushed it straight into the shot.
The shot was very low, almost sticking to the grass, but it was extremely fast, almost brushing past Navas and going into the goal behind him.
1 to 0!
…
After taking a one-goal lead, the Bayswater Chinese began to exert their strength.
Especially in the pressing and oppression in the midfield and frontcourt, Manchester United was suppressed.
After the restart, Manchester United gradually realized that when they passed the ball back to the back line, it was basically difficult to find a route to pass the ball forward.
Because the Chinese in Bayswater began to press forward as a whole.
Players such as Harry Kane, Gareth Bale and Walcott in the frontcourt were all putting pressure on Manchester United's defense.
Carrick and Pogba both dropped back to receive the ball.
But the entire midfield of Bayswater Chinese also pressed forward together.
This puts pressure on Manchester United.
The Red Devils passed the ball back and forth in the backcourt, but were unable to find an effective route to pass the ball.
Finally, as a last resort, Blind took a step forward and, despite the interference of Walcott, passed the ball forward, trying to find Cavani in the frontcourt.
As a result, Van Dijk got the ball first and headed it down.
The Bayswater Chinese attacked again.
Manchester United once again went into defensive mode.
The Red Devils are not actually adapted to this kind of defensive counterattack tactics, but Van Gaal's ability to coach defense is indeed very good.
This can be seen from the fact that he led the Netherlands to the World Cup in 2014.
When Manchester United focused on defense, the Bayswater Chinese found it difficult to launch an attack.
But in the 34th minute, Modric appeared on the right and formed a two-on-one combination with Walcott. When he wanted to break through Blind, the Dutch defender chose to foul decisively.
Blind is relatively slow, and once Walcott rushes forward, he can't catch up with him.
But his foul was very smart, as it was committed close to the wing and far from the goal, so it posed no threat.
Modric ran over to kick off.
Players from Manchester United and Bayswater Chinese were deployed inside and outside the penalty area.
When the referee blew the whistle, Modric quickly took a free kick.
The most threatening Van Dijk was the first to rush to the front. Manchester United's defensive attention was all on Van Dijk, and David Luiz tried his best to push the Dutchman out.
When he reached the right side of the penalty spot, Van Dijk jumped high, faced the falling football, and touched it with his head.
Van Dijk had no way to head the ball towards the goal, but he chose to pass it.
Gareth Bale rushed too far forward in the middle.
By the time he reacted, the ball had already passed.
But Manchester United's defensive attention was all focused on the front point and the middle.
Harry Kane, who was at the back post, was unguarded and cleverly appeared behind the Manchester United defender.
Turning around, raising his head, judging the path of the ball, Harry Kane puffed out his chest to stop the falling ball.
The football seemed to have fallen on a sponge and there wasn't even any bounce.
Then it fell onto the grass very obediently.
Almost at the same time, Blind and Carrick realized the danger, turned around immediately and rushed towards Harry Kane.
But the England center reacted very quickly. As soon as the ball fell, before it hit the ground, Harry Kane kicked it out with his left foot.
After kicking the football with his left foot, the football that had originally fallen to the ground immediately changed its direction due to the force and shot towards the left side of Manchester United's goal at an extremely fast speed.
Goalkeeper Navas' attention was drawn to the front point, and he was completely powerless to stop the shot in the lower left corner.
The football went into the net.
2 to 0!
Manchester United is finished!
(End of this chapter)
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