After a long flight, exhausted, Li Liang finally returned to Manchester in the middle of the night.

Early the next morning, he rushed to the AON center to continue training, but he didn't expect to be severely reprimanded by Faria after a while!

"Lee, are you crazy?!

Didn't you tell you that you had 1 day off when you came back, and the most important thing now is that you have to adjust to the jet lag quickly?! ”

Li Liang explained sincerely: "Rui, I really have no problem! ”

Faria couldn't help but say that he drove Li Liang away from the training ground, and threatened: "It's now!"

Lee, go back to the hotel and go to sleep!

Otherwise, I'll ask the guards to help me get rid of you!" ”

In desperation, Li Liang had no choice but to comply.

With three days to go until the Premier League's fourth-round away game against Stoke City, Li Liang failed to pass the test at the Aon Centre in Faria for the players returning from the international break.

In the tactics class, he was disappointed to find that he was not even put in the 18-man squad.

Anthony Martial, Carrick and other teammates were comforting Li Liang in private, and the veteran captain Carrick said: "Lee, you have flown almost half the distance of the world, and this situation is really not suitable for playing!" ”

Anthony Martial also said: "Rather than playing in this state, it's really better to adjust.

Lee, the Champions League group stage is about to begin! ”

Mourinho also approached him: "First of all, congratulations, Lee!

You played really well with your national team! ”

Li Liang asked directly: "Jose, I think I can participate in the competition the day after tomorrow!" ”

Magic Bird shook his head: "No, Lee, I don't think you know much about the Premier League-

We've got 38 rounds to play, the Champions League group stage, the League Cup, the FA Cup, yes, you've played a lot of games at Monaco, but it's different!

You should have realized that the intensity of the game here is difficult to achieve in Ligue 1! ”

Li Liang replied: "Yes, it's faster here, and the confrontation is stronger!" ”

Magic Bird nodded: "So at the moment we are in a different situation than your national team is facing, it will be a long season, we need you to provide energy for the team all the time!"

By the way, Lee, let's talk about your problems against Leicester City......"

……

Li Liang eventually accepted the arrangement and stayed in Manchester, while the rest of his team-mates rushed to the away stadium to prepare for the league game against Stoke City.

The Stoke City Club is located in Stoke-on-Trent, a city of just 300,000 people.

This small city is so famous for its porcelain production that it is known as the porcelain capital of the United Kingdom, so the Stoke City Club also has a resounding nickname - "potter".

Founded in 1863, Stoke City FC is regarded as the second oldest football league club in the world after Notts County.

The veteran team won the English third tier twice in 1932-33 and 1962-63, and they also won the English League Cup in 1971-72.

Heading into the Premier League era, Stoke City's record has been unremarkable, with them not being promoted to the Premier League until 2008/09.

Li Liang's deepest impression of this team is the "grenade expert" Delap.

Delap is an English-born Irish footballer who plays as a midfielder.

The player is incredibly talented, possesses incredible arm strength, and is particularly known for throwing long-range throw-ins.

Li Liang watched Stoke City's 2-1 win over Arsenal live in his freshman year, and Delap's powerful throw-in in that game made the Gunners suffer.

Delap is now retired, but Stoke City, who have another nickname known as 'City in the Sky', are no slouch and often make visiting teams suffer at their home stadium at Britannia.

Li Liang turned on the TV in the hotel room, and the game was about to start.

In the first half, the two sides exchanged attack and defence, and the "potters" were undaunted against the Red Devils who were top of the table.

Li Liang soon found that the Stoke City team, which is also tall and strong, made it difficult for Manchester United to play a smooth attack, and at the same time, the home team's wide open and close-based style of play made Manchester United's backline overwhelmed.

In the 43rd minute, Stoke City's Swiss player, Shaqiri, who once played for the Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, sent a long pass over the top in the midfield, and his teammate Senegalese striker Mam Diouf immediately crossed the penalty area after winning the ball on the right side, and another striker, Cameroonian Choupo-Moting, outflanked it in front of the goal!

1:0！

Manchester United conceded for the first time in four league games, and the camera focused on Jose Mourinho, leaving the United boss helpless.

From the live TV broadcast, Li Liangdu saw that the Italian Damian, who started to play left-back in place of Blind in this game, became more and more difficult under the high-altitude bombardment of the "potters".

In first-half stoppage time, United were awarded a corner from the left.

Mkhitaryan took a high-quality corner, and Matic rubbed Pogba's header in front of the goal!

The ball was accidentally pushed up by the French midfielder to Rashford and bounced into the goal! 1：1！

With this lucky goal, the two sides temporarily ended the half 1:1.

After the adjustments, Manchester United, who appeared on the pitch in the second half, gradually stabilized their position, Mourinho focused on the rearrangement of the left side of the defence, and the pressure on Darmian was significantly reduced.

In the 57th minute, Mkhitaryan sent a subtle assist in the middle of the advancement, Lukaku formed after winning the ball, and the little monster faced the goalkeeper with a single knife The first left-footed shot was saved, and then the second shot was empty!

1：2！ Manchester United see hope of a comeback win away from home!

However, the good times did not last long, in the 62nd minute, the home team's midfielder Pieters crossed from the left, Real Madrid's old player Hesse shot with his left foot from close range in front of the goal, De Gea reacted quickly and flew to lift the ball off the line, and the home team got a corner kick opportunity.

Shaqiri takes a corner kick from the right, and Choupo-Moting, who is ambushed at the back post, jumps high after getting rid of the defense, and shoots directly with a header after a full jump!

The ball leaps high past a helpless De Gea and flies into the corner on the left side of the goal!

2：2！ The tenacious home side equalised again!

Li Liang felt extremely depressed, perhaps because of the FIFA virus (a joke that people used to have a huge impact on the state of players during the international break), and he felt that almost all his teammates on TV were not in shape!

The Magic Birds immediately replaced Marcus Rashford with Juan Mata and brought on Anthony Martial for Herrera to strengthen the attack, but there was nothing to be done under the opponent's tight defense.

The 'potters' also had a great chance to open the scoring after David De Gea's brilliant performance that the Reds would have come close to losing at the Britannia Stadium.

At full-time, Manchester United struggled to get a point away from home.

Li Liang was surprised by the amazing combat power that broke out in Stoke City, could this be the combat power of the legendary "mysterious middle and lower Premier League teams"?!

He didn't have time to think too much because the Red Devils were about to host their first Champions League group stage opponent in two days -

The challenge of the Swiss Super League team Basel.