In the FA Cup semi-finals with Manchester United, Li Chengfeng sent players with more championship experience or determination as much as possible, such as Lescott, Kompany, Yaya Toure, Modric and others, only Tevez could not play due to injury, and Manchester United also sent all the main forces, especially Ferdinand and Vidic's return from injury has greatly improved Manchester United's defense, but Rooney's absence has greatly weakened Manchester United's attacking power. There are important players missing from both sides, but Ferguson's absence is an even bigger loss for United.

The two teams are already very familiar with each other, and there is no need to test it, just go straight to the intensity, the pace is fast, and the opponent's defense is tested.

In the 11th minute, David Silva's header was deflected wide by Milner in front of the box. In the 15th minute, Park Ji-sung made a direct pass, and Berbatov's one-handed shot from 1o yards was saved by the goalkeeper. Nani then crossed from the left side of the box and Berbatov got past Kolarov from three yards and fired over the crossbar.

In the 25th minute, Valencia took a corner kick and Vidic's header from 1o yards went wide. In the 29th minute, Vidal fouled Carrick in front of the penalty area, Nani's free-kick shot was blocked by the wall, and then Valencia drove a corner kick, and Berbatov's header was deflected wide again. In the 32nd minute, David Silva passed the ball, Dzeko stopped the ball unsteadily, and Toure's turning shot from the left side of the box hit the side-netting.

In the 39th minute, Nani fired a long-range shot from the left that went wide of the near corner. In the 43rd minute, Yaya Toure's shot from inside the box was blocked by Vidic. A corner was ensued and Kompany's curling shot from 25 yards went wide of the right-hand post.

Neither side could find the back of the net in the first half, and although both had some chances, they missed one by one, and the absence of the main strikers on both sides hurt their finishing ability a lot. At halftime, Li Chengfeng decided to make some changes. With Alex Ferguson out there, this was City's chance, and Li Chengfeng decided to play a little more varied to test the resilience of their assistant coach Hui Lan.

In the second half, City changed their straightforward approach to the first half and became patient, passing the ball on the edge of the United penalty area and moving the opposition defenders back and forth. It didn't take long for United to show their flaws, and in the 52nd minute, Carrick made a mistake in front of the penalty area, Yaya Toure shook the ball past Vidic and fired a low shot that passed between Van der Sar's legs and into the net to give City a 1-o lead.

The copper-headed, iron-brained tofu waist has always been Manchester United's lifeline. Since Roy Keane's retirement, Manchester United has had a problem with the waist, Ferguson has made many attempts to completely solve this problem, and finally came out with Hargreaves, and as a result, he has been healthy for a year, and Fletche, who was comforted, could not play in this game, and their midfield defensive problems were exposed even more seriously in this game, and finally there was a mistake in Manchester City's back and forth transfers.

This is incomprehensible, there is no suitable player, no matter how strong the coach is, he can't solve the problem, not to mention that Ferguson is not in the coach's box, Huilan's response is just in the established tactical play, asking Manchester United's players to run faster and more, as early as Li Chengfeng expected. Manchester City have stepped up their disruption to United's line of play up front, preventing United from playing with familiarity, while the backfield has compressed their space to break through, making them much less of an attacking threat.

Without Alex Ferguson on the sidelines, United's players became impatient, and with Paul Scholes being sent off for a foul on Zabaleta in the 72nd minute, they were even less of a threat to the City goal.

In the end, Manchester City eliminated Manchester United 1-o to end the opponent's hopes of a treble, and Li Chengfeng hopes that this game will be a turning point this season, so that Manchester City can regain the power of Manchester United and win the most important title.

As luck would have come, United missed out on their next league game as they played an O:O away at Newcastle. The FA Cup semi-final three days ago was too draining for them to recover, and with the impact of Rooney and Alex Ferguson's absences still there, they were lucky to have a draw away from home, and Newcastle deserved to win on the pitch.

City's chances came again, and this time they didn't miss it, closing the gap on Manchester United to one point after a 1-o away win over Blackburn Rovers in the relegation zone.

In the 34th round, Manchester United welcomed back their manager Alex Ferguson with a victory, and Manchester City easily defeated West Ham United 2-1 at home, and the point gap between the two sides remained at 1 point.

The 35th round of the English may be the one that decides the championship. Manchester United are away to Arsenal, who have not yet fully landed on the top four, while Manchester City are at home to another top-four team, Tottenham Hotspur, who are only five points away from Arsenal, and if Arsenal lose to Manchester United in this round and they win against Manchester City, then they are only two points behind, and with three league games remaining, there is still a chance.

However, Arsenal in the state of fighting for the top four is an extremely terrifying existence, not to mention Manchester United and the drag of the Champions League, they only went to Germany 3 days ago to play 9o minutes away from Schalke O4, although the away win, but the price is also huge. In just a few days, the player's form could not be restored at all. Arsenal unsurprisingly won at home to Manchester United, extending the gap to Tottenham Hotspur to eight points.

Arsenal's win will be too much of a blow to Tottenham's players, who are on the verge of playing Manchester City, and even if they win against Manchester City, their chances of closing the five-point gap in the remaining three league games are too slim. Such a gap is too big, and the Tottenham players, who had been full of fighting spirit before, were suddenly discouraged.

In such a short period of time, even a psychic master could not calm their lost mood. Li Chengfeng originally thought that he would encounter Tottenham's stubborn resistance, but the game was much easier than he imagined, Manchester City did not encounter much resistance, defeated the opponent with an economical 1:O, and finally reversed Manchester United by 2 points in the standings, once again taking his fate into his own hands.

I knew that it would be so easy, I should have sent the main force in the Europa League semi-final round with Benfica a few days ago, Li Chengfeng was a little annoyed, although half of the rotation was sent, so that the main team was rested, and the away score of 1:2 was not satisfactory, but after all, it was lost to the opponent, and if you want to advance, you must use all your strength in the second leg of the home game.

However, after that, it was the away game against Everton, which was not an easy opponent to deal with, Li Chengfeng suffered more than once against them, and Manchester City also lost at home in the first half of the season. They are now battling Liverpool for their last Europa League spot and this one will definitely give it their all.

How should you choose? League or Europa League? Do you have a choice, of course, all of them. It's not that Li Chengfeng is greedy, but that he has to do it. Li Chengfeng came to coach Manchester City, not for one or two titles, but to create a new giant club. A wealthy club must have the backbone of a wealthy club, and there must be a group of top players worthy of a wealthy club. They don't have to be strong, they're tough enough, they're hungry for titles and they're willing to give for the team.

Manchester City's heritage is too weak, Li Chengfeng wants to build a giant club as quickly as possible, one is to win the championship as much as possible, and the other is in the team culture, so that the players are hungry for the championship and are willing to give everything for the championship, and all players who fail to meet this requirement will be eliminated.

The second leg against Benfica was very important on both sides, and Li Chengfeng was unwilling to give up any title contention, while Benfica only had such a title to compete for this season, and they were even more reluctant to give up. The two sides will fight it out at the Abu Dhabi Stadium.

Facing second-placed Manchester City, Benfica playing away are playing cautiously and looking to hold on to their leg advantage on the road. Li Chengfeng was also mentally prepared for this, and he put high school striker Dzeko at the front to act as the fulcrum, with Royce, Tevez and Bale behind him. These are all players who can cooperate with others and solve problems independently, and Li Chengfeng believes that their frontcourt cooperation is enough to break Benfica's goal.

In the 18th minute of the game, Manchester City really broke through Benfica's goal, Reus crossed from the left side of the penalty area, Dzeko grabbed a header in front of the goal, 1-o! Manchester City regained the advantage of qualifying.

In the following games, Benfica launched a crazy counterattack away from home, with Cardoso, Saviola, and Gaitan beginning to threaten Manchester City's goal frequently. Li Chengfeng looked at the passive situation on the field, and shook his head again and again, even if he is already a contender for the championship, but Manchester City does not have the mentality of a strong team, and in the face of such a degree of impact, he cannot maintain the usual stability and self-confidence, so he will fall into the current panic.

Li Chengfeng replaced Dzeko at half-time and replaced De Jong with Tevez in front to enhance the hardness of the midfield. A villain like De Jong doesn't care about this level of impact, and after a few tackles on the back, Benfica's offensive was contained. In terms of strength, Manchester City still has to be better than Benfica, and after not falling behind in momentum, Benfica also lost the opportunity to turn the tables.

In the end, Manchester City won 1-O at home to Benfica, and the two sides were tied 2-2 on aggregate, and Manchester City eliminated Benfica by virtue of away goals to meet another Portuguese giant, Porto, in the final. Manchester United, on the other hand, were even more relaxed, with a 2-O win away from home allowing them to rotate their rested main players at home, and still easily qualify, where they will face a resurgent Barcelona in the final.

(End of chapter)

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