The city of Valencia is the capital of the Valencia region of Spain and the capital of the province of Valencia, the third largest city in Spain, the second largest seaport, and known as the "Sunshine City" of Europe.

For many fans, the name Valencia stands for just one team.

Valencia is not a giant, they have not won the Champions League, and the La Liga title has only been won 6 times, but none of the giants dare to say that they have won Valencia, in a sense, Valencia, who is good at defending and counter-attacking, is more like a giant killer.

On the evening of September 29, Valencia welcomed Europe's top giants Manchester United in their home stadium Mestalla.

This is the most important game in Group C, and with the other two teams weak, whoever can beat their opponents in two head-to-head meetings between Valencia and Manchester United will basically seal the top spot in the group.

Before the game, the 68-year-old Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson expressed his respect for Valencia at a press conference, "Unai Emery's team has a very high technical and tactical level, it is very difficult to win the game in Mestalla, Manchester United has only won one of the previous 18 visits to Spain, not to mention that this time we are missing Scholes, Rooney, and the draw is our most realistic goal." ”

Valencia coach Unery, who is 30 years younger than Ferguson, also expressed his awe of Ferguson and Manchester United before the game, "Manchester United is a great team, Ferguson is one of the greatest coaches, without Rooney and Scholes, they also have Gao Xiaodong and Berbatov, in the Champions League, Manchester United can never be underestimated, but we also have an advantage, we have not lost to Manchester United at home, I believe this will make us more confident." ”

The two coaches were afraid of each other, and they were also very cautious in arranging the troops.

Instead of fielding a two-striker lineup of Dimitar Berbatov and Hernandez, Ferguson stole Carlo Ancelotti and fielded a 4321 Christmas tree lineup.

Goalkeeper No. 1 Van der Saray couldn't move.

Four defenders: 3-Evra, 15-Vidic, 5-Ferdinand, 21-Rafael; Ferdinand's comeback is Ferguson's biggest reliance, and it is because of Ferdinand and Vidic's partnership that Ferguson dares to use Rafael in the right wing-back position.

Three midfielders: 8-Anderson, 13-Park Ji-sung, 24-Fletcher;

Anderson's start was a surprise as Anderson had not been able to start in the league before.

Double forward waist: 17-Nani, 10-Gao Xiaodong.

There is no doubt about these two strikers, they can break through the ball, and they are the only two who can cut in and score.

Single striker: 9-Berbatov;

The scene of the dashing brother partnering Little Pea that many fans longed to see did not appear, and Ferguson still couldn't believe Little Pea's ability to compete.

Valencia's starting XI was equally cautious. Goalkeeper: 1 - Sanchez

Defenders: 22-Matthew, 4-Navarro, 3-Maduro, 23-Miguel

Defenders: , 6-Albelda, 24-Costa

Forwards: 19-Pablo, 8-Domingos, 10-Mata

Forwards: 9-Soldado

It's a 4231 formation and Valencia are more hungry for a win at home than Manchester United.

At 8:45, the game began, and Manchester United, which kicked off first, did not take the initiative to attack, but cautiously returned the pass, waiting for Valencia to press.

Valencia played unhurriedly, slowly pushing forward in three lines, pressing forward as a whole and compressing United's passing space.

Valencia opened today with not their typical style of play, they are a team that is better at defending and counter-attacking, both Barcelona and Real Madrid, both suffered under their fast and sharp counter-attacks, but today against the rough buddies from England, Valencia used Barcelona's style of possession.

Manchester United's style of play is crazy running shock flow, Anderson, Carrick, Fletcher, Park Ji-sung, Nani, and Gao Xiaodong in the midfield are not players with delicate skills, Gao Xiaodong can only be said to be comprehensive, but not delicate.

Valencia pressed the space smaller and smaller, and United's short-pass weakness was revealed, Park Ji-sung's cross to Fletcher was so weak that it was almost tackled by Domingos, and Fletcher had to use a falling tackle to clear the ball.

"How did it happen!" Fletcher yelled at Park Ji-sung.

However, soon Fletcher's pass to Carrick was wide, and the ball was fortunately grabbed by the retreating Gao Xiaodong, who avoided Valencia's counterattack.

Manchester United's players have rich experience in European competitions and react quickly, seeing that the opponent is pressing fiercely, and the high pressing is also fierce, they simply give up the pass in the middle and backfield, and directly attack with a long pass, and play a defensive counterattack.

Manchester United's change has worked well.

In the 3rd minute of the game, Carrick went straight to the ball, Gao Xiaodong missed, and the ball passed to Berbatov's feet.

Dimitar Berbatov stopped the ball in the opposite direction from Valencia defender Albelda, then turned and got rid of Albelda.

Valencia centre-back Maduro pressed quickly, and the dashing brother was prepared, he pulled and pushed in a V-shape, easily past Maduro, and easily pushed the arch of his foot to the top left corner of the goal.

When Berbatov passed Maduro, Gao Xiaodong and Nani had already stepped forward quickly, seeing Berbatov shoot by himself, Nani stopped, but Gao Xiaodong continued to step forward to prepare for the shot.

Although Berbatov's shot was powerless, it was angled and the ball went straight between the post and the crossbar.

Valencia goalkeeper Alexis Sanchez tried to get hold of the ball, but found it impossible to reach it with both hands, so he had to use his fingertips to lift the ball over the crossbar.

United were awarded a corner.

Without Giggs and Scholes, Gao Xiaodong thought he had absolute penalty power, and he came to the corner area to prepare for a corner.

But at this time, Carrick quickly ran to the side, raised his hand to ask for the ball, and wanted to play a tactical corner kick with Gao Xiaodong.

The 29-year-old Carrick is the hero of Manchester United's Champions League and Scholes's successor, when Gao Xiaodong came to Manchester United, he has been recuperating from injuries, although he knows that Ferguson loves Gao Xiaodong very much, but he feels that the 20-year-old Gao Xiaodong is still too young, Scholes is resting, he should be the one who controls the team.

Gao Xiaodong saw Carrick asking for the ball, he was unhappy, and felt that Carrick hadn't discussed it with him in advance, but at this time he suddenly asked for the ball, which was not in his eyes, so he pretended not to see it, and passed directly to the penalty area.

After Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand came out, he and Vidic and Berbatov formed three high points, which improved Manchester United's ability to grab points in the penalty area compared to the original, and the ball was pushed by Ferdinand, but because of the long absence of the formation, Ferdinand did not top well, and the ball was far off the post.

Valencia then served a goal kick, Sanchez didn't kick wide, and the ball was passed to the full-back before he could pass it forward from the back.

After getting two shots in a row, Manchester United's player morale has improved a lot, and the fear of Spain's away games is decreasing, and the front trident Gao Xiaodong, Nani, and Berbatov are scattered and pressing, and the formation has basically become a 433.

However, Valencia suddenly picked up speed when United were pressing, and the ball was quickly transmitted from the back through midfield to the feet of full-back Pablo, who dribbled quickly past Patrice Evra's side.

United's heavy defence was on the side of right-back Rafael, and they didn't expect Valencia to attack Patrice Evra.

Evra was a little anxious after being shaken by Pablo in a row, and he was a little anxious to tackle his lower foot, which was easily shaken by Pablo.

Pablo didn't cross and dribbled horizontally into the United penalty area.

United were very protective today, and when Pablo broke through Patrice Evra, Nani returned to the edge of the box and saw Pablo smashing towards the box, Nani rushed over to intercept.

Pablo saw Nani's return and he sly sly passed the ball back to Domingos, who pulled to the edge of the ribs, and continued to cross the box from Nani's side.

Nani almost reached out and pulled Pablo, but the thought that he was already in the box and quickly let go.

Dominguez didn't stop the ball and wanted to "make a wall" for Pablo directly, but Gao Xiaodong arrived in time at this time, and he kicked the ball out of the bottom line before Domingos.

Manchester United fans who traveled with the team were scared into a cold sweat, if it wasn't for Gao Xiaodong's first kick, maybe Pablo could have shot in the penalty area.

He Hui, the on-site commentator, gasped and said: "The Spanish team is really not easy to play, such a small space can also play passing, if Manchester United is not cautious in defense, it may not be easy to get a point." ”