Fertings Field

More than 60,000 fans were staring intently at the stadium, with one or two deafening applause and cheers from time to time.

The blue team flag and banners of all sizes covered almost the entire stand, among which there was a giant banner that was nearly ten meters long and several meters wide, which was particularly eye-catching.

The banner reads: "Work miracles! We have awakened all the energy! Schalke 04 will win!"

The support of the fans is the best stimulant, and after returning to the home stadium, with the support of more than 60,000 fans, the players of Schalke 04 really seemed to be awakened with all their energy, and rubbed against Manchester United in the half at home.

The game has been played for 30 minutes, and against the imposing Schalke 04, Manchester United have few shots on goal, more in their own half of the defense.

However, Manchester United coach Alex Ferguson, still sitting firmly in the coach's box, his expression is very relaxed, leading by three goals at home, although he is very passive now, he has not conceded a goal, and the initiative and psychological advantage of promotion are still on Manchester United's side.

Schalke 04 coach Rangnick, known as a professor in the Bundesliga, is calm and calm in the past, he constantly dances at the direction of the field, and shouts a few times from time to time.

For Rangnick, he doesn't want to look good now, all he needs is to score, he has to score one in the first half so that there will be hope in the second half, and if you can't score in the first half, Schalke 04 will have little hope in the second half.

In a VIP box in the stands, Bayern Munich manager Magath and chairman Rummenigge were also watching Manchester United and Schalke 04 match.

Bayern and Manchester United were divided into a semi-zone, the first leg Manchester United beat Schalke 04 5:2, while Bayern defeated Chelsea 1:0 away, Manchester United and Bayern have the greatest hope of advancing to the semi-finals, so Magath personally came to Felttings to watch the match between Manchester United and Schalke 04, prepare first-hand information, and prepare for the semi-finals.

Seeing that Manchester United was pressed and beaten by Schalke 04 in the first half, Magath looked solemn and said: "Ferguson is really an old fox, he has such a big advantage, and he is still so low-key, willing to let a team like Schalke 04 press and play." ”

Rummenigge was stunned for a moment and said, "You mean Ferguson did it on purpose?"

Magath said: "It should be, Schalke 04 is ranked 14th in the Bundesliga, it is a relegation team, Manchester United also has the ability to press Schalke to attack away from home, but Manchester United did not do this." ”

Rummenigge sighed: "When you get old, you want to be stable, and that is not the case with Ferguson, who snatched the Champions League title from us. ”

Magath said: "Manchester United are difficult to play, they have a strong three lines, and their weakness is that some of their positions are getting older, and it is difficult for them to withstand the repeated impact of the opponent. “

Rummenigge said: "What do we do to them?"

Magath said: "The outcome is unpredictable. ”

Magath sees where United's weaknesses lie, and so does Professor Rangnick.

Manchester United left-back Patrice Evra, centre-back Rio Ferdinand, midfielder Paul Scholes, centre-forward Berbatov, all four of whom are over 30 years old, and their form and strength cannot be compared to their peak, but they all have a very important role in the United team.

Rangnick's goal now is to attack those four positions and use his fitness and strength to break down United's defence.

If a year ago, Rangnick's tactical design was completely fine, because at that time Scholes's organizational role in the middle was irreplaceable, but after buying Gao Xiaodong in the summer, the all-powerful Gao Xiaodong could completely replace Scholes in organizing and scheduling, so Scholes often rotated this season. In this game, Manchester United is based on defense and counter-attack, Gao Xiaodong's main task is defense, and most of the organization and scheduling are handed over to Scholes, but now Schalke 04 is forcing Scholes to grab the ball and not letting Scholes get the ball, and Scholes is playing a little embarrassed under the continuous pressure of the opponent, Gao Xiaodong immediately took over the team's offensive responsibilities and put pressure on Schalke 04.

Scholes is now more and more tacit with Gao Xiaodong, Gao Xiaodong premises, he immediately retreated to assist Fletcher in defense.

Gao Xiaodong's premise is no problem, Manchester United is seeking stability in the first half today, but it does not mean that they do not need to attack, even if it is an iron bucket formation, they must have a certain ability to counterattack, otherwise the opponent will continue to attack, no matter how good the defense line is, it will not be able to stop.

Although Gao Xiaodong's can not only organize scheduling, but also forward and shoot from a distance, which is a greater threat, but at this moment, Schalke 04 has no way out, even if Manchester United attacks more powerfully, they must attack, and even attack more fiercely.

Under the attack of Schalke 04, Scholes's defensive strength and speed are not as good as Gao Xiaodong, and the pressure on Schalke 04's offensive players is not enough, Raul, Edu and others gradually get better shooting opportunities.

Now Ferguson is a little anxious, there are less than ten minutes left in the first half, and Ferguson would rather not score than concede a goal in these ten minutes.

Ferguson told Gao Xiaodong when he sent him a throw-in, tell him to cut back and come back to defend, hold the first half first, and then counterattack in the second half.

Seeing that the opponent's attack was fierce, Scholes and Evra were a little unable to stand it, Gao Xiaodong had to retreat, assist the back line to defend, and change the counterattack method to a long pass to find Berbatov.

After Gao Xiaodong retreated, Manchester United became a three-back waist covering the front of the penalty area, almost with the iron bucket formation, Schalke 04 side has a chance to get the ball, but the midfielder wants to step forward to attack is very difficult, the attack is basically a boot itch, and the goal of Manchester United is not a qualitative threat.

The first half of the game came to an end quickly, with neither side scoring, and the referee gave one minute of stoppage time, which is generally of little use and the United players wanted to end it quickly, go back to rest, and get back the bad air and face suffered in the first half in the second half.

But that's not the case with Schalke 04's players, who desperately need to score and don't want to go back to the dressing room with three goals down.

As stoppage time was about to pass, the referee put the whistle in his mouth, and United's defenders were a little lax, feeling that the game was almost over and it was time to call it off.

But at this time, the players of Schalke 04 did not think about time, and when the referee was about to blow the whistle, they not only did not relax, but stepped up their attacks.

Schalke 04 suddenly made a force, and the Manchester United players were a little absent-minded, and tragedy happened.

Schalke 04's midfielder Baumjohn suddenly pulled the side when he received the ball, and he quickly changed direction with the ball and walked towards the bottom line.

Patrice Evra and Nani both came to defend, but Baumjohn gave up and crossed low from the right side of the flank, and Jurado cut through the middle to cut through both of United's defences. Raul suddenly cut in diagonally from out of nowhere and fired a diagonal right-footed shot into the net from eight yards from goal on the right.

1 to 0!

Raul scored his 71st goal in the Champions League, breaking the Champions League's personal goal record, helping Schalke 04 to lead by one goal at home, while also tying Shevchenko with 18 Champions League knockout goals.