Chapter 261: A Busy Holiday (Part I)
If there is any draw for the 2018-19 Champions League quarter-finals, there is no doubt that Manchester United will be the group winners with the worst luck.
Of the 16 teams that have reached the knockout rounds, Schalke 04 is undoubtedly the weakest team by consensus. After advancing to the round of 16, Schalke 04 was seen by many as a "big package", and Manchester City had the best luck as they were drawn to the Bundesliga.
Manchester United comfortably topped their group in this season's Champions League in order to meet an easy opponent in the quarter-finals, but in this draw, they unfortunately met the strongest of the group's second-placed 'Grand Paris'.
The meeting between Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain will undoubtedly be the focus of the battle of "Mars collides with Earth".
What's more, after the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United will face three major battles: the FA Cup quarter-final against Chelsea on February 18, the Premier League round 27 against Liverpool on the 22nd, and the League Cup final with Manchester City on the 25th.
In these four games, Manchester United cannot afford to lose a single one.
However, in the face of such a bad situation, Dai Zhiwei seemed very calm, and he responded confidently, "No problem at all, I prefer such a series of strong conversations, which is different from other 99.9% of other players." This kind of matchup allows me to stay in a very good competitive situation, because I'm a player who is hard to go down in that kind of form, so it's very likely that I will cross over to the next team and meet a stronger me. ”
I don't know if Paris Saint-Germain was terrified after hearing Dai Zhiwei's declaration. Because of the first leg of the Champions League 1/8 finals, Paris Saint-Germain challenged Manchester United away, and due to the injuries of Paris Saint-Germain Cavani and Neymar, this is their weakest time of the season.
Grand Paris previously lost 0:1 to Lyon, the first defeat in the league. In the subsequent French Cup, Grand Paris actually played 0:0 with the French C team, on the one hand, there must be some rotation, and on the other hand, it can be seen that the team is not in good shape and lacks fighting spirit.
In the last round of the league, Paris Saint-Germain still rotated, beating Bordeaux 1-0 at home, but Cavani was injured unexpectedly, which was a big loss for Paris. This means that in the big Paris trident, Neymar and Cavani were both injured, and most of the firepower was attenuated.
Paris Saint-Germain must play more offensively, because defense is not very good at Paris, and attacking instead of defending is the right way, but Paris Saint-Germain has limited control over the players, and some of them are attacking forward, so it is in the arms of Manchester United, because what Mourinho and Dai Zhiwei are best at is counterattacking.
In this game, Manchester United lined up in a 4-4-2 formation, with Marcus Rashford and Dai Zhiwei forming the front line, and the midfield was led by Kroos and Mesut Ozil, the core of the German midfield, assisted by Herrera and Nemanja Matic. At the back, Harry Maguire and Eric Bailly have partnered in the Premier League's No. 1 centre-back duo this season, with Luke Shaw and Ashley Young on the left and right, and De Gea in goal.
For Paris Saint-Germain, Neymar and Edinson Cavani are both out injured, with Kylian Mbappe and Angel Di Maria leading the way.
Manchester United's starting line-up –
Goalkeeper: David De Gea
Defenders: Ashley Young, Harry Maguire, Eric Bailly, Luke Shaw
Midfielders: Herrera, Kroos, Mesut Ozil, Nemanja Matic
Forwards: Marcus Rashford, Dai Zhiwei
Paris Saint-Germain starting line-up –
Goalkeeper: Gianluigi Buffon
Central defenders: Correr, Thiago Silva, Kimpembe
Midfielders: Alves, Verratti, Marquinhos, Bernate
Forwards: Draxler, Di Maria
Striker: Kylian Mbappe
As soon as he walked to the players' tunnel at Old Trafford, Dai Zhiwei looked out from the entrance of the passage, although he could only see a small piece of the stands, but there was nothing else in the eye except for the boiling red.
The two or three thousand Paris Saint-Germain fans who came with the team, in this vast ocean, seemed to be an inconspicuous wave, which disappeared invisibly in a blink of an eye.
In a loud and neat singing, Dai Zhiwei closed his eyes slightly, ignoring the opponents around him who had achieved fame and made a loud reputation, feeling the oncoming heat, and his uncontrollable body trembled.
It was definitely not fear, but a display of extreme excitement that could not be controlled, and when facing such a formidable opponent as a die-hard Paris Saint-Germain fan of the previous Paris Saint-Germain, Dai Zhiwei was already on fire before he even set foot on the turf.
swept the guy who was carrying No. 7 on his back, and Mbappe's heart was full of waves.
Dai Zhiwei Jr., this is the title of Mbappe in many media.
But he doesn't want to be XX second, he wants to be first!
"Tick!"
A crisp whistle sent Mbappela, who had been in a haunt for nine days, back at Old Trafford, and at least the win was a must-have for PSG.
Although Mourinho had made detailed arrangements in the dressing room, it was only after he actually arrived on the pitch that the Manchester United players felt the momentum of Paris Saint-Germain - in the face of more than 70,000 away fans, the PSG players launched a fierce attack on Manchester United's position as soon as they came up.
Di Maria was racing towards United's half with the ball, but before he could get any better, Herrera stopped in front of him.
Facing Herrera, Di Maria's delicate technique was vividly displayed in an instant, and with a flick and a button, plus a half turn, Herrera was thrown behind him.
However, Kroos, who was hiding in the back, had been waiting for a long time, and when Di Maria had just passed Herrera, he stood in front of the Paris Saint-Germain midfield.
Although Herrera's defensive level is not top-notch, his enthusiasm is enough, and after being passed, he has quickly chased back and formed a flank attack on Di Maria with Kroos in front.
Although very confident in his skills, Di Maria was not blindly impulsive, and when he saw that Bernat next to him had already run over, he immediately swept and shifted the football to the middle.
Receiving Di Maria's pass sideways, Bernat stopped the ball firmly at his feet, ready to look for an opportunity to make some fuss in the middle, but when he just raised his head to look ahead, suddenly it was dark in front of him, and a red figure was in front of him.
Without giving Bernate any time to react, a huge pain came from under his feet, and then his chest thumped.
After the violent impact, Bernart's whole body was thrown into the air, like a tossed pocket, and then fell heavily on the grass two meters away.
"Whew......" With a burst of exclamations from the fans in the stadium, Bernat only felt that there was darkness in front of him, Venus was shining, and the whole thing was about to faint.
"Tick!" Less than a minute into the game, the referee had to blow the whistle for a timeout.
And the culprit of the whole thing, Matic, was standing quietly in front of Bernat who was still lying on the ground, looking down at his opponent with a gloomy face, and there was no trace of apology on his handsome cheeks, as if he was not only the opponent of the game, but also the enemy who killed his father.
Seeing that the game was just as soon as it began, Matic was full of gunpowder, not only the players of Paris Saint-Germain, but also the players of Manchester United were inexplicably shocked, only Mourinho in the coach's box was sitting there with a calm face.
On the other hand, Tuchel had no expression on his face, but his mouth was tightly pursed.
"Pay attention to your movements, control your emotions, just as the game started, I don't want you to go down without playing at halftime, understand?" The referee gave Nemanja Matic a stern warning, and behind him, Bernat also woke up from his dizziness and slowly got up from the ground.
After rubbing his chest, which was still a little stuffy, and twisting his ankles, feeling that there was nothing serious, Bernat let go of his hanging heart, but when he saw the bloodthirsty Matic in front of him, his heart lifted again.
The free kick was quickly taken and the game continued, but Paris Saint-Germain's fluency was interrupted by a foul, and the game immediately went into chaos.
After several passes without finding any chances, Di Maria could only helplessly pass the football back to Verratti behind him in the midst of Carrak's pressing.
As soon as Verratti got the football, Kroos rushed towards him quickly, keeping in mind the manager's arrangement, and he didn't want to leave any room for Verratti to stay.
Verratti didn't see much of a chance either, so in the middle of a rush a helpless return pass, the football was completely handed over to Thiago Silva at the back.
But as soon as the Brazilian defender received the football, Rashford was already rushing towards him like a heavy truck, as if he didn't care about the football at his feet, but was just bent on knocking him away.
Thiago Silva had no choice but to kick the ball backwards again, and when the game started, the ball was forced back to his own goal before it had not yet entered the United penalty area.
In his hurry, Buffon kicked the ball high and flew far into the midfield.
At any time, danger must never exist in front of his own goal, this is the goalkeeper's first rule.
Everyone could see that United had regained the advantage for the first time on the pitch, and it was Nemanja Matic who had made the difference because of a foul early on the pitch.
The ball roared and fell, and while Verratti jumped, Kroos didn't have the slightest scruples, and jumped up and headed towards the ball.
Disturbed by Kroos, Verratti could not control the ball on his side and could only rush towards Bernat in front of him.
With his back to Manchester United's goal, Bernat stopped the ball firmly at his feet, but as soon as he turned around, he saw that Ozil had rushed up to steal, and the ball was instantly transferred to Manchester United.
After a clean tackle to get the ball off Bernart's feet, Ozil quickly got to his feet and didn't give Bernat the slightest chance to make amends.
Mesut Ozil quickly got the ball up, and at the same time, Dai Zhiwei, who had the best understanding with him in the front, also ran forward with enthusiasm and flexibility.
As soon as Ozil was moving, Verratti immediately followed him.
It's just that Verratti alone couldn't suppress Ozil's assault, and it wasn't until Marquinhos quickly chased back that Ozil looked helpless and handed over the football to Herrera on the right.
Because Marquinhos grabbed Ozil, there was no Paris Saint-Germain player to defend the distance of ten meters around Herrera, and he saw a smooth road in front of him.
Although Herrera has been transformed into a defensive midfielder at United in the past two years, he has been a technical player during his time in Bilbao, with great creativity, precise short and through balls, and good dribbling.
Seeing such a good opportunity, Herrera did not mean to be polite at all, and immediately rushed towards the hinterland of Paris Saint-Germain with the ball like a cheetah galloping on the grassland.
A series of changes occurred in an instant, and by the time Marquinhos reacted, Herrera had run away with only a back for him.
After Herrera let go of the full force and ran for more than ten meters, Kimpembe finally came too late.
Herrera rarely attacked like this, so he naturally didn't want to give up easily, and while running fast, he suddenly turned around, and his body floated in the direction of the sideline again, avoiding Kimpemby while continuing to rush towards the bottom line.
Kimpemby didn't stop at all, and with a twist of his body, he chased after Herrera's running at the same time.
Seeing Kimpembe's perseverance in chasing after him, Herrera was not reckless, and when Kimpembe just stopped his steps, he deftly turned around, turned around and ran back in the direction of his own half.
Kimpemby was caught off guard and pulled to the back.
When Herrera ran parallel to the penalty line, Marquinhos, who was chasing after him, raised his left foot and swept the ball on the ground, and the ball flew towards the middle.
Looking at the rapidly rolling football, Dai Zhiwei, who had been waiting at the edge of the penalty area for a long time, did not hesitate at all, leaning against Correll behind him, and with a quick push of the arch of his foot, he handed the football directly to the front, squeezing Marcus Rashford, who was struggling for a position in Thiago Silva.
As early as Herrera was running, Rashford had already burst into the box, making a look of being ready to attack, successfully attracting the attention of the opposition defenders to his side.
Seeing Rashford get the football, not only Thiago Silva next to him, but even Corell, who was still by Dai Zhiwei's side just now, became anxious.
The two coincidentally struck Rashford one after the other, and Rashford, with his back to the goal, was clinging to Thiago Silva behind him, fighting for a position while trying to control the football at his feet.
One of the biggest differences between Rashford and other modest strikers is that he is not afraid of physical confrontations, even when he falls to the bottom of the hand, he keeps the football firmly at his feet.
Seeing that the three of them were about to squeeze together in front of the goal, Rashford twisted his ankle and moved the ball to the penalty spot in an awkward position.
There, a man had already rushed over.
I want to talk about "Green Wings" with more like-minded people, pay attention to "excellent reading literature" on WeChat, talk about life, and find confidants~