With the team shouting the slogan of winning the league title, especially with Leicester City coming up at the weekend, Van Gaal can be said to have chosen to skip the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Villarreal on the evening of April 28.

In this game, Manchester United rotated a number of key players, especially the front three of Rashford, Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard, who were not placed in the squad for Van Gaal's away trip to the Stadium of Love Songs, so all three of them stayed in Manchester and did not travel to Spain with the team.

Also not going to Spain was goalkeeper David De Gea, Romero rotated again, and the substitute goalkeeper on the bench was the team's third goalkeeper Johnstone.

However, that doesn't mean Manchester United's squad is inferior. Goalkeeper Sergio Romero is Argentina's No. 1 goalkeeper, with Valencia, Smalling, Blind and Ashley Young at the back four, Marouane Fellaini and Carrick at the back, and Piggy Schweinsteiger who has just returned from injury in the front, Depay and Pereira on the left and right, and Rooney back in the center forward.

From this lineup, it can be seen that Van Gaal's away game is based on defense, so the back line is basically the main force in the recent series of consecutive wins, especially the central defensive duo of Blind and Smalling, and there are no changes.

It was the first game without Marcus Rashford since Manchester United hosted Midtjylland in late February.

………………

Despite a number of player rotations, United played aggressively on the road and had a good chance to open the scoring first.

In the 5th minute of the game, Pereira crossed from the right side of the penalty area, and Depay's penalty spot was pushed at too positive angle and was confiscated by Yellow Submarine goalkeeper Asenjo.

But after all, the Yellow Submarine is the home team, and with the cheers of the home fans, they quickly returned the favor to Manchester United.

In the seventh minute, Dos Santos crossed from a corner from the left, but the United defenders were very attentive and Chris Smalling nodded in front to clear the dangerous cross.

In the 11th minute, Soliano took a quick free kick and Soldado's volley from the right side of the small penalty area slid past the goal. One minute later, Dos Santos' cross from the right corner failed to threaten.

After a few minutes of attack, it was United's turn to attack and found a couple of shots in quick succession.

In the 13th minute, Depay took a tactical corner from the left, and after a series of short passes, the Dutch star's cross from the right side of the box was cleared by a defender, and captain Rooney's volley from the top of the box went wide of the right post.

In the 15th minute, Pereira's shot from the top of the box went wide of the left post.

In the 18th minute, Schweinsteiger's shot from the left side in front of the penalty area was blocked by a defender.

The two sides went back and forth, and the fight was very lively, but because of the lack of decisive characters, the score on the field could not be rewritten.

In the 21st minute, Dos Santos crossed and Pina's shot from the top of the box was saved by Mignolet. Gaspar played the ball again and Pina's shot from the penalty spot was blocked by a defender.

In the 29th minute, Schweinsteiger crossed, and Rooney's shot from the top of the box went over the crossbar.

In the 36th minute, Gaspar's shot from the right side of the penalty area was blocked by Blind, and Villarreal won a corner, but Dos Santos's cross from the left corner failed to threaten.

In the 40th minute, Pereira played the ball and Rooney's shot from the top of the box went over the crossbar to the left.

In the 42nd minute, Soliano went straight to the ball and Soldado's shot from the top of the box went wide of the left post.

In the second minute of stoppage time, Valencia crossed from the right corner, Pereira grabbed the first point, and then was confiscated by Asenjo.

At the end of the first half, Manchester United went into the break with a 0-0 score at Villarreal.

………………

In the second half, the home team took the lead and just 35 seconds into the opening period, Dos Santos crossed from the right corner, and Bakambu nodded the ball into the right post. Then, a tactical corner from the left of Dos Santos failed to threaten.

After defending against the Yellow Submarine in the opening half of the second half, United breathed a sigh of relief and gradually launched a counterattack.

In the 51st minute, Carrick passed the ball and Rooney's shot from the right side of the penalty spot hit the defender and went wide of the left post.

Blind's tactical corner from the left, Carrick passed, Schweinsteiger's shot from the top of the box turned into a pass, and Smalling changed the direction of the ball and was confiscated by Asenjo.

In the 55th minute, Soldado passed the ball, and Gaspar's shot from the right rib of the penalty area went over the crossbar.

In the 65th minute, Carrick went through and Rooney's low shot from the right rib of the penalty area was touched by Asenjo and hit the right post.

Seeing that the score on the field could not be rewritten, Villarreal, who was playing at home, took the lead in making personnel adjustments, replacing Dos Santos with Castillejo, Lopes for Soldado, and Musacchio for Bayi.

In the 86th minute, Schweinsteiger crossed from the left side of the penalty area, and Ashley Young nodded the ball wide of the right post.

In the 87th minute, Suarez went through and Bakambu's 18-yard push was saved by Romero.

In the 88th minute, Manchester United counterattacked quickly, Depay ran 60 meters from the left side of the penalty area and fired wide of the near post.

In the end, Louis van Gaal's side were able to come out on top with a draw away from the Yellow Submarine. All five games between Manchester United and Villarreal ended in a 0-0 draw.

However, despite not winning, United are still the strategic winners, as it was a game that Louis van Gaal strategically abandoned, and it was undoubtedly better to win a draw.

………………

Louis van Gaal's tactical intention to focus on defending on the road has been realized, but there has been a lot of criticism in the media for Manchester United, who are suffering from Rashford's dependency, and once Rashford is not on the field, the players don't know how to score.

In this game, Manchester United got a lot of shooting opportunities, Rooney, Depay and other Manchester United attack groups shot nearly 20 times in total, but one or two did not wear shooting boots, and finally failed to score.

Manchester United didn't care about this, and the team drew away from home, which was undoubtedly the first to win the promotion. Back at home in the second leg, Manchester United, who had done their best, had little problem winning the opponent.

Of course, the Europa League semi-final second leg against the Yellow Submarines is still a week away, and before that they will have to focus on the league clash with Leicester City first.

Leicester City, who are eight points ahead, will win the Premier League title two games ahead of schedule if they are unbeaten at the Theatre of Dreams.

If it weren't for this season's meteoric rise, no one would have believed that Leicester City would be the rivals of Manchester United, who could occupy the top spot in the Reds' most familiar position and have a chance to win the title at Old Trafford.

But this incredible team did just that, and they had the moment when their achievements at the Theater of Dreams went down in history.

For Manchester United, if the home defeat sent the civilian team Leicester City to win the championship in advance, it would definitely be a "great shame", whether in terms of investment, value or history, Manchester United is much better than Leicester City, not to mention that Manchester United is not without desire in this battle, they still have a chance to finally reverse Leicester City to win the championship, not to be missed. I want to talk about "The British Emperor" with more like-minded people, pay attention to "excellent reading literature" on WeChat, talk about life, and find confidants~