Chapter 369 Stunning

As the top team in the Premier League across the century, Manchester United has a profound foundation as a wealthy club, which can be seen just from the fans in Manchester.

On April 3, just after dawn, Manchester United fans wearing red jerseys began to appear in the streets of Manchester. They held high the banners that read "Manchester United Must Win" and stood on the roadside quietly waiting for the arrival of Chelsea. They worked hard for a whole morning just to intimidate the Chelsea bus when it passed by the street, so as to boost Manchester United's momentum.

This method is totally useless for professional teams, especially world-class teams like Chelsea.

But United fans persisted.

Manchester United can't afford to lose this game.

"We have inherited the will of the Red Devils. We will defeat all opponents with our strength..."

This is a lyric that is widely circulated among Manchester United fans. Although Manchester City has many more fans than Manchester United in Manchester, due to the lack of foundation, their fans lack unity and willpower compared to Manchester United fans. This is why the war between the fans of the two teams is often evenly matched in every Manchester derby, even in the games at the Manchester City Stadium.

On that day, many Manchester United fans stood on both sides of the street, singing this inspiring song loudly, and the whole of Manchester was surrounded by the singing.

Before the game, Manchester United fans told reporters they "welcome Chelsea", but this was not friendly. The president of a fans' association said frankly: "We have lost twice this year (League Cup and League). We were also losers in the game in Manchester, but I believe in the team and I believe Mr. Ferguson can lead the team to victory."

"Manchester United has produced many, many stars. Our foundation is not comparable to theirs. They just want to win the championship trophy in Manchester. If that's the case, then come on. They will fail."

Although this is the fourth time Chelsea has played against Manchester United this season, it is really not easy for Chelsea to win when Manchester United is united and fighting to defend their dignity at Old Trafford.

At 2:30 pm, a blue bus arrived in Manchester, and was "greeted" by intimidation, threats, and curses from Manchester United fans. The players on the bus sat silently in the bus, relatively speechless. This kind of atmosphere outside made it impossible to get excited.

Under the guidance of Manchester police, the bus finally arrived at Old Trafford Stadium at 3:20.

“They are finally here”

A large group of reporters gathered in front of the gate of Old Trafford Stadium. When they saw the Chelsea bus coming, they immediately gathered in front of the door. Among them were several sports reporters from the ancient oriental court TV station. Obviously, the significance of this game was not only known to the European media, but also to the media all over the world.

For the media of the ancient oriental country, the most important protagonist was of course Wang Li. After the car door opened, they began to look for Wang Li, and even ignored Mourinho who walked out of the car first.

In order to provide comprehensive coverage of the game, the Imperial TV Station even sent two film crews, and another crew was already filming inside the stadium.

"Wang Li, it's Wang Li!" a Chinese reporter shouted in Chinese to alert his colleagues, who immediately gathered around him.

“So many people…”

But it was not just the media from ancient countries, the European media also wanted to interview Wang Li, so these people did not get a good seat. However, the Chinese version of the reporter's voice just now caught Wang Li's attention. As a Chinese, Wang Li still had a good impression of his compatriots, so when he walked towards the stadium, he turned a small corner and specially gave these court media some interview space.

"Alan, what do you think of this game? How do you feel about winning the league championship right after joining Chelsea?" Finding an interview opportunity, a female reporter from Chaoting TV immediately handed the microphone to Wang Li and asked.

"It's nothing, I have been mentally prepared since the beginning of the season."

"Are you confident you can win this battle?"

“Of course.” Wang Li slowed down his pace and continued, “If I didn’t have confidence, I wouldn’t come here. I think it’s not important to win the championship a few rounds in advance, but it would be perfect if we could win the championship trophy here. Manchester United is the top team in England. If we win the trophy here, it means we have replaced it, which is a wonderful thing.”

As they were talking, Wang Li and his teammates had already walked into the players' only aisle. The reporters outside could only watch the backs of the Chelsea players getting farther and farther away until they turned a corner and disappeared.

At around 3 pm, the weather in Manchester had turned cooler, and the temperature of 13 or 14 degrees was just right for the players to warm up. After arriving at the locker room and changing clothes, the Chelsea players, led by the assistant coach, went to the stadium to warm up and adapt to the venue.

When the warm-up was halfway through, the fans had already started to enter the stadium one after another. The aisle for fans to enter the stadium was blocked by crowds. While entering the stadium to find seats, Manchester United fans did not forget to shout towards Chelsea's warm-up half, saying things like "You can't win", "Manchester United will win" and so on.

At this time, Wang Li was also in the half. He turned his head and looked at these crazy fans, his heart silent.

After carefully comparing the Blues fans and the Manchester United fans, he found that the Blues fans were more "noble". They were very organized and disciplined in cheering, which might be the representative of the rare "gentleman" fans in England, while the Manchester United fans were more "bloody". Come to think of it, there were indeed many famous football hooligans in Manchester in history, and these fans would do anything for the team's victory.

Fortunately, both UEFA and the English Football Association have strict control over this aspect, and anyone with hooligan tendencies will be banned, which makes the game much safer.

"These fans... are so enthusiastic..." Joe Cole in training couldn't help but say as he looked at the fans around him who had just come on stage and were not in a hurry to find seats, but instead walked to the front and kept pushing forward even though they were stopped by the police.

"It would be strange if they are not crazy at this time. You know, Manchester United is about to lose face. Haha... Guys, don't hesitate for a moment. Score the goal when you should. Ignore what they are shouting. We are here to step on their corpses and win honor." Frank Lampard shouted, reminding his teammates on the court that when it comes to experience playing against Manchester United, he and Terry are definitely the thumbs up of the team.

Now, in terms of influence in Chelsea, Lampard is not as good as Wang Li and Terry, but his voice is unquestionable. This shout has cheered up many players.

"It feels great to get the highest honor by stepping on the corpse of Manchester United."

Wang Li took a deep breath, ignored the Manchester United fans in the stands, stretched out his arms and seemed to enjoy the atmosphere of the stadium: "Come on, everyone!"

"come on"

This is also a very important game for Chelsea.

After the warm-up, the players returned to the locker room one after another. When passing through the player tunnel, there were still many reporters waiting for interviews. Wang Li turned his head and looked. The reporters from the court TV station were among them. However, Wang Li did not approach them. He just waved his hand to greet them. He did not intend to approach them for interviews. This game would allow Chelsea to completely get rid of the burden of the league championship. It was also Wang Li's first league championship. He did not want to be too distracted before the game.

For a professional player, the honor of the league championship is too important.

Ronaldo, a famous star of Real Madrid, is very strong. After winning the 2002 World Cup, he was once regarded by many fans as the third king of football after Pele and Maradona. However, such a powerful figure did not win the first league championship of his career until he transferred to Real Madrid, and he only won it this time.

Back then, when Inter Milan lost the league title, the scene of Ronaldo covering his face and crying on the bench broke the hearts of Ronaldo fans all over the world. This shows how important a league title is in the heart of a professional player.

Although Chelsea has secured the league title, neither the chairman Mr. Abramovich, the head coach Mourinho nor Wang Li can refuse the opportunity to win the championship in Manchester, so Wang Li is determined to win this game.

After returning to the locker room, Wang Li changed his clothes and sat cross-legged, closing his eyes slightly and getting into the state. He always uses meditation to adjust his physical condition before the big competition. His Chelsea teammates are no longer surprised by this.

Others began to relax and rest. Some took a shower, some chatted with each other, and some listened to music. In short, before every game, Chelsea's locker room was always in chaos and there was no discipline at all. However, on the other hand, this environment also made everyone feel more relaxed and reduced the pressure of the competition.

The pressure at Old Trafford is really great, they have to relax in order to perform better.

After the team's head coach Mourinho returned to the locker room after attending the press conference, he did not make any mobilization speeches. He had said everything that needed to be said. Now it was time for the real competition. Seeing the locker room as idle as usual, the Portuguese felt a little relieved.

Speaking of pressure, perhaps no player is under more pressure than Mourinho.

Mourinho is of course determined to win this game for honors. If he fails to win at Old Trafford, then even if he wins at Hampden next time, it will not mean much. After all, all English fans know that Chelsea will definitely be the league champions.

…………

At 4:55 pm, players from both teams were already crowded in the player tunnel, waiting to enter the field.

Next, the live commentator began to introduce the players of both teams. When introducing Chelsea players, the live commentator was perfunctory, and each name was followed by boos from Manchester United fans. When "Alan Wang" came out, the boos from the fans reached a peak, and the commentator paused at the right time, waiting for the fans to "boo" enough before continuing the introduction.

When the Manchester United players were introduced, the fans at the scene immediately cheered. This is the difference between the home team and the visiting team.

However, it is obvious that such little tricks cannot shake the fighting spirit of Chelsea players at all. Those who can start and participate in the game have seen a lot of things. It can be said that the whole Chelsea team is old hands and is not afraid of the harassment of fans' words.

At this time, the Chelsea players who had just come on the field formed a circle on the field. Led by captain Terry, they put their hands together and shouted "Come on" in unison, which boosted the morale of all the players.

"Oh my God, those are Manchester City fans..." When the players were getting ready to take their positions, Bridget shouted in surprise, pointing at a corner of the stands.

Wang Li looked in the direction of his finger and saw that in a corner to the southeast, thousands of fans wearing Manchester City jerseys were sitting there. Some of them were holding a large banner that read "Come on Chelsea, Manchester United will lose" to cheer for Chelsea.

The last time he came here, Wang Li had seen Manchester City fans, but there were only a few dozen of them. This time, there were thousands of them. This was indeed a bit unexpected. Obviously, in the city of Manchester, Manchester United and Manchester City are at loggerheads. Manchester City fans are hoping that Chelsea can win the league championship by stepping on Manchester United's corpse.

That way, Manchester City fans would have enough reason to laugh at them.

"I really have to thank them. We have too few fans today, and Manchester United is really unpopular." Wang Li said with emotion, and the following words sounded a bit gloating.

Bridge looked up at the stands to the east. The Blues fans in black jerseys were huddled in a corner. There weren't many more of them than Manchester City. He shook his head helplessly and said, "They can't buy tickets."

"Well, play the game well, haha." Wang Li patted Bridget on the shoulder and ran to his position.

At this time, players from both sides stood in their respective formations, waiting for the kick-off.

Referee Riley looked down at his watch, staring at the second hand carefully, and when it pointed to '12', he blew the whistle decisively.

………….

In this game, due to the strong return of Dutch striker Van Nistelrooy, the "glass man" Saha was directly abandoned by Ferguson, and Rooney and Van Nistelrooy formed a double striker to attack Chelsea's defense.

This powerful center forward combination also gave Sir Alex Ferguson great confidence in winning.

However, Manchester United was not stupid enough to go head-on with Chelsea. Even though the combined forward strength of Rooney and Van Nistelrooy was not weak, as long as Wang Li was still on the field, old Ferguson would not choose to go head-on, which would definitely be unwise.

After Manchester United kicked off, they did not rush to attack. Rooney passed the ball back to the backcourt and ran forward slowly. From this point of view, Manchester United did not intend to use any surprise tactics. Ferguson also felt that the surprise attack at the beginning would not pose a big threat to Chelsea's defense. After all, Chelsea's backcourt was also full of main players in this game---

John Terry, Claude Makelele, Frank Lampard, Ricardo Carvalho

With Chelsea's four main backfield players, plus the strong William Gallas and Paulo Ferreira, it would be difficult for Manchester United to score a goal by surprise.

On the field, after all the players had secured their positions, Manchester United finally launched an attack.

Full-back Heinze kicked the ball to Ferdinand, who then passed it diagonally to winger Fletcher. After a few passes, the ball naturally moved forward a little, and then returned to Fletcher's feet. At this time, Fletcher had moved to the edge of Chelsea's penalty area. After receiving the ball, he passed it straight to the middle without waiting for Wayne Bridge to come up and grab it.

In the middle, Paul Scholes followed up with a volley.

Even Manchester United fans did not expect that the team would have a chance to shoot in the first attack. The whole stadium suddenly burst into cheers of surprise. At this time, Chelsea's defenders on the field did not have time to defend. They all stared at the ball flying towards the goal. Fortunately, Thomas Clark, who was trusted in this game, was very focused. He jumped up and saved the ball.

Just when the Chelsea players breathed a sigh of relief, Manchester United's attack did not end. Thomas's save hit the post and bounced into the penalty area.

"Danger!" the court commentator shouted at the same time.

Van Nistelrooy, who had been lurking in the penalty area for a long time, received the ball and shot it directly. The performance of this Dutchman after his comeback was really amazing.

"Fanni, make up the shot"

Amid the loud shouts of the commentator on the TV station, even the two coaches Mourinho and Ferguson on the sidelines stood up and stared in the direction of Manchester United's goal. The entire Manchester stadium suddenly let out a huge cheer. Van Nistelrooy's shooting position was only about 6 meters away from the fans, and no one thought that the ball could be spared.

But at this time, goalkeeper Thomas Clark stood up again.

In fact, this game is the same for all Chelsea players, but it is the most important for Thomas. In previous games, as long as it is an important game, Cech is mostly the starting player, while he can only participate in some unimportant league games. From this point, it is obvious that head coach Mourinho is more inclined to Cech.

But in this game that determined whether or not the team could win the championship trophy at Old Trafford, he got the chance to start.

Thomas is usually careless, but he is definitely not stupid. He knows that this is an opportunity given by the head coach. If he can prove his strength in the game, then in the summer transfer window, he will most likely replace Cech and serve as Chelsea's main goalkeeper next season. Otherwise, he can only pack up and prepare to leave. After all, he does not want to be Chelsea's second goalkeeper for another season.

Therefore, he was extremely serious in this game from the beginning.

After saving Scholes' shot, Thomas stood up immediately, but at this time, Van Nistelrooy had already shot. He only had time to stretch out his arm to block it, but this reaction caused the ball to bounce directly out of the baseline.

"Beautiful Thomas, he has done a great job for Chelsea" V