"Watch out for Paul Scholes, he's the hardest player to defend in the United squad!"

This is a sentence that head coach Gao Han has repeatedly emphasized in the past few days. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Xavi Alonso has always had it in his mind.

As the team's starting midfielder, against Paul Scholes, Xavi Alonso carefully defended the slender looking opponent who did not look like the brave English players at all.

He didn't dare to be careless, because he knew that all the guys who underestimated Scholes, or were paralyzed in the game, ended up becoming Scholes, a pitiful worm at gunpoint at Manchester United.

Xavi Alonso even had to sacrifice his organisation and control in midfield in order to defend Scholes, which led to Atletico Madrid's chaotic attack since the start.

But judging by the manager's feedback, he has no problem with that.

After all, it's an away game now.

So, when Xavi Alonso saw Scholes retreating, he chose to follow as soon as possible.

Although he has not been working with Diego Simeone for long, Xavi Alonso knows that the Argentine is a trustworthy team-mate and he will be the first to withdraw when he goes up.

When Scholes broke the ball in midfield and launched a counterattack on the spot, everyone in Atletico Madrid was startled, and there was a burst of exclamations in the field, and Xavi Alonso's scalp was even more numb, and his instinctive first reaction was to stick it.

Paul Scholes didn't even have time to stop the ball before Xavi Alonso came close.

So fast?

Scholes was also taken aback, slowed down his movements, and looked at it again, the ball was lost!

All of this happened in an instant, and the crowd only saw Scholes break the ball, which was quickly re-broken by Xavi Alonso, and the two just staggered and the ball changed hands back and forth.

After Xavi Alonso broke the ball, he didn't hesitate to send it forward.

At this time, the entire Manchester United midfield and backfield were actively preparing to press forward, cooperating with Scholes's counterattack on the spot, but they were suddenly broken off and counterattacked, which caught everyone off guard.

After receiving the ball, Kaka did not have the slightest affection, and made a direct pass to send the ball to the left side of the front of the penalty area.

Villa picked up the ball with his right foot, turned the ball in a different direction, slid past Brown, and then sprinted forward from the other side with great speed, and the whole process was done so quickly that Brown couldn't react at all.

By the time Villa caught up with the ball again, it was already in the big penalty area, one-on-one, facing Butters.

Fifteen metres, left foot, near the bottom right corner of the post......

Butters reacted quickly and tried to block it, but he couldn't.

The ball rolled into the Manchester United goal again, 2-0!

From the moment the ball was broken to the goal scored, in just a few seconds, the entire Old Trafford stadium fell into a dead silence.

Almost everyone held their breath and watched in disbelief at what was happening on the pitch, it was so instantaneous.

Even, at this moment, there are many Manchester United fans who have not yet withdrawn from the exclamation made by Scholes when he broke the ball, but in a blink of an eye, it was Manchester United themselves who lost the goal.

Atletico Madrid's on-the-spot counter-attack was too fast!

From Xavi Alonso to Kaka to Villa, the trio counter-attacked the entire middle, and all of them were with a single kick that was dizzyingly fast, and by the time the fans reacted, the ball had already gone in.

It was at this moment that the fans in the stadium stands cheered.

It's faint, but it's very clear in the dead silence of Old Trafford.

In the stadium, Villa, who scored the goal, turned around and rushed out of the penalty area, shouting and shouting along the way, venting the excitement of scoring a goal.

Behind him, Atletico Madrid players in away jerseys were chasing.

Two to zero, the Sheet Legion is in the next city!

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"Damn, I'm going to TMD!"

Ferguson, who was on the sidelines, was furious, and his mouth kept scolding angrily.

I was still angry, and when I saw a bottle of water on the sidelines, I kicked it away.

If the first goal conceded was acceptable, then it was too much of a blow to Manchester United.

At that time, Manchester United had just successfully broken the ball, morale was soaring, and they were about to press the attack in a big way, but suddenly the ball was broken, and they were quickly counterattacked, and even scored a goal, which hit the confidence of the players and the morale of the team very hard.

Even, Ferguson would rather lose the ball and be scored on the counterattack than lose the ball and then be counterattacked and scored.

"Atletico Madrid play a very special way, a bit like ......," McClaren thought with a frown.

"Bielsa's Argentina. Ferguson replied without thinking.

"yes, it's very similar, especially that kind of counterattack on the spot, it's too similar. ”

But Ferguson shook his head, "It's not that simple. ”

McLaren frowned even tighter, isn't it that simple?

"His overall formation is more rigorous than Bielsa's, the distance is more tight, and the three defensive lines are very flexible, whether it is from attack to defense, or from defense to attack, they can complete the transition between attack and defense in the shortest possible time. ”

With that, Ferguson exhaled heavily, turned his head, and looked at Gao Han in front of the visiting team's coach's box.

"Is he really only twenty-six?"

He was very skeptical about it.

Because it was hard for him to believe that a boy who was only twenty-six years old would have such tactical attainments.

However, the facts are in front of him, and he can't help but believe it.

What a horrible boy!

'We still have a lot of problems in the midfield. Ferguson sighed again.

Since the departure of Stam, United's backline has been shaky.

Although Alex Ferguson later brought in Laurent Blank from Inter Milan and poached Rio Ferdinand for a sky-high price this summer, the defence has always been problematic.

Regarding the problem of Manchester United, Ferguson himself knows in his heart that the real situation is not as the outside world thinks, it is entirely the responsibility of the backline, but should be the problem of the team's overall formation and tactical play.

In the past, Manchester United played a traditional English four-four-two formation, relying on two wings, Ryan Giggs and David Beckham, with the black wind and two players in the middle of the midfield, even Roy Keane, not typical defensive midfielders, but more like English midfielders with both attack and defence.

Of course, this makes Manchester United's attack very brave, coupled with the cooperation of the players for many years, the tacit understanding is full, and the scene looks smooth, but in fact, the hidden danger is very big, especially the defensive protection around the front of the big penalty area.

Even in the peak years, Manchester United's lineup went to the European arena and met top opponents, and it was not even cheap, and the treble miracle of 99 was somewhat lucky.

Especially in the past two years, with the recommendation and promotion of the 4231 style of play, Manchester United's English 442 style of play has been more and more at the midfield level, so Ferguson is determined to change the team's style of play, hoping to integrate more continental elements into the English midfield to fill the team's soft underbelly.

The sky-high price to bring in Veron, and even the introduction of Pep Guardiola at the beginning, was for this purpose.

But it turns out that Bellon, who played well in Serie A, is comparable to Zidane, and after coming to the Premier League, it is difficult to bear the burden given by Ferguson for various reasons.

As a result, Ferguson adjusted his style of play and adopted a four-five-one, or four-four-one-formation formation, and dragged Bart and Keane to partner up, but the effect also did not look ideal.

Perhaps, Real Madrid's Claude Makelele would be the best candidate.

There is also Xavi Alonso of Atletico Madrid, the Spanish midfielder's performance at the defensive end is still very commendable.

Thinking of this, Ferguson already had an idea in his mind.

However, it has nothing to do with the game in front of us.

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After conceding two goals in a row, Manchester United played more impatiently, although they were still very brave and showed tenacious fighting spirit, Keane kept mobilizing the morale of his teammates on the field, hoping to suppress Atletico Madrid.

But the Sheets were quick to take over the game.

With two goals in hand, Atletico Madrid played more steadily and calmly.

Especially as the game time progressed, the physical fitness of Manchester United's players gradually declined, and the pressing and pressing intensity were not as good as in the opening stage, while Atletico Madrid used their skillful passing and control system to control the rhythm and ball possession in the midfield one after another.

This has tilted the tide of the game in the direction of the Sheets, and there is nothing United can do about it.

After Atletico Madrid took full control of the game, Manchester United had to retreat all the way, even if they were no longer reconciled.

Unless, they also want Atletico Madrid to extend the score again.

In the second half, Manchester United launched a rush after the opening and once again played a wave of fierce attacks.

Ruud van Nistelrooy also got a succession of opportunities to shoot in the big penalty area, and three or four shots in a row, all of which were on target, reflecting the strength of his king of the small penalty area, and making Atletico Madrid's goal a storm.

However, Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech performed steadily, blocking high and low like a god to keep the goal intact.

Coupled with Gao Han's quick adjustments, the defense has been stabilized again.

As it turned out, Gao Han's judgment was not wrong at all, and after regaining his position, Atletico Madrid quickly regained control of the situation, and United had to retreat again.

But Ferguson made a quick substitution, bringing on Argentine midfielder White Wizard Veron.

This is a change that is clearly aimed at improving the control of the midfield and fighting with Atletico Madrid in the midfield.

However, after Veron came on the pitch, he seemed a little out of place with several other midfielders of Manchester United, and he was always unable to play in a rhythm, and although he also made a few good shots, he was eventually drowned in the wave controlled by Atletico Madrid.

It wasn't until the final stages of the game that the Sheets Army once again pulled up the offensive frenzy.

Especially after Gao Han was replaced by the teenager Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese player connected three people on the left side at a time, not to mention Gao Han, even Ferguson's eyes lit up and applauded.

It's a pity that the last pass failed to reach the spot, allowing Atletico Madrid to miss a good chance to score again.

The game was finally set at 90 minutes.

Atletico Madrid beat Manchester United 2-0 away thanks to goals from Fernando Torres and Villa.

But it was Brazilian striker Kaka who was voted Man of the Match.

With his impressive performances in the Champions League this season, the young Kaka has managed to attract the attention of major European clubs, including AC Milan and Barcelona, who are coveting him.

After beating Manchester United 2-0 away, Atletico Madrid won two consecutive group wins and successfully climbed to the top of the group.

Manchester United lost but retained second place in the group.

Roma beat Basel 1-0 at home in this round to finish third in the group.

The Swiss side suffered two consecutive defeats and finished fourth at the bottom of the group. (To be continued.) )