Chapter 505: The Group of Death in the Group of Death
Premier League fifth round, Old Trafford, Manchester United vs Wolves.
Promoted Wolves were founded in 1877 and are founding members of the Football League. At the height of the 50s, Wolves won the Old League One title three times in a row. In the late 80s, Wolves' results fell all the way from League One to League D. In 1989, Wolves, who had sunk to the bottom, began a slow revival. After suffering three promotion play-off failures, they finally stormed into the Premier League in 2003. But in '04 they fell to the Championship again. In '09 they were promoted to the Premier League for the second time... 10 years again downgraded.
Wolves are back in the Premier League for the third time after a nine-year hiatus. In the first four rounds of games, Wolves played 4 games, 1 draw and 3 losses, ranking first from the bottom of the standings. In other words, this game is a battle of the Premier League.
On the commentary bench, the big-mouthed Dunphy said: "Manchester United's starting lineup in this game is basically the same as last game. The only difference was that Ibrahimovic was in the starting line-up. Now Manchester United's forward line has become LIL again, but one of the L's has changed from Lukaku to Lewandowski. ”
Fat Bob said: "Manchester United have an absolute advantage in terms of quality. The biggest attraction of this game is not the victory itself, but Ibrahimovic, who started for the first time since his comeback! ”
The camera on the big screen at the Theatre of Dreams moves to the die-hard stands: the old lieutenant's daughter is holding a poster of "Come on Ibrahimovic" to cheer on the team with the suspended Manchester United's new wing.
The referee blew the whistle and the game began.
United were firmly in the driver's seat from the start. Wolves' possession in the first 20 minutes was horribly low, less than 30 per cent.
The formation of the Wolves team once became 631.
In the 25th minute, Manchester United broke the deadlock.
Old lieutenant Liu Yun hoisted the ball into the box, and Lewandowski fired into the net from close range in the box. 1:0!
The big-mouthed Dunphy said: "The former Bundesliga goalscorer is in hot form after his transfer to Manchester United! In the shooter list, he followed the old lieutenant. ”
Ten minutes later, United made a comeback.
Liu Yun received a pass from Marcus Rashford on his back at the edge of the box. He used a clean Cruyff to turn past the Wolves defender behind him and get up to his feet decisively! The ball flew straight to the top right corner of the goal, the ball went in, 2:0!
Four minutes before the end of the first half, Ibrahimovic made a contribution! Marcus Rashford's low cross was met by Ibrahimovic, who leaped high and knocked on the door with a header from Wolves. 3:0!
"Yay~" The Manchester United fans in the audience were boiling. They were happy not only because Manchester United had a three-goal lead over Wolves, but also because of the goal from Ibrahimovic who had returned! Ibrahimovic has regained his pre-retirement form. Manchester United's forward line has lost Romelu Lukaku and Mkhitaryan, but it has added the returning Ibrahimovic and the super-fast rising star Qu Bai. Coupled with the Premier League Golden Boot old lieutenant Liu, last season's Bundesliga Golden Boot Lewandowski... Manchester United's forward line today can be described as luxurious.
Manchester United fans didn't rejoice for long.
Ibrahimovic ran wildly towards the camera on the touchline after scoring and was about to celebrate in front of the camera when suddenly he grabbed his right leg and fell to the ground.
Eevee has cramps! I had cramps after just over 40 minutes on the field!
The team doctor entered, and after a brief check-up, he gestured to Mourinho: Ibrahimovic was no longer able to continue the game.
Mu Shuai had no choice but to make substitutions. Replace Ibrahimovic with Dalmian.
Jose Mourinho began to regret not listening to the advice of his fitness coach and sent Ibrahimovic to start. It seems that Ibrahimovic will not be able to play the full game for the time being.
At the end of the first half, Manchester United led Wolves 3-0.
In the Manchester United dressing room, a group of players walked up to Ibrahimovic: "Is it okay, Ibrahimovic? ”
A cold compress was being applied to Ibu's legs: "It's okay. But I'm probably really old. It took less than 45 minutes to get out of shape. ”
At the start of the second half, the situation on the field was still one-sided. However, United's luck did not seem to be good, as none of their five shots hit the woodwork in the second half.
It wasn't until the 83rd minute that United won a corner in front. Liu Yun took a corner kick, Bellerin jumped high to head the ball, and the ball went in. 4:0!
The rest of the game went into garbage time. Manchester United's superstars are keen to conserve fitness. The game was very dull.
With the referee's whistle, the game ended, and Manchester United swept Wolves 4:0.
The big-mouthed Dunphy commented: "With goals from old lieutenants Liu, Robert Lewandowski, Ibrahimovic and Bellerin, Manchester United beat Wolves 4-0. However, in the 43rd minute of the game, Ibrahimovic went off with a cramp and we had to worry about it. Will Ibrahimovic be a good starter this season? This is an unknown. ”
Fat Bob said: "Maybe Ibrahimovic has just returned and has not yet adapted to the pace of the Premier League. A goal can still show his value. We're expecting him to get better and better. ”
The fifth round is over. With Manchester City held to a draw at home to Arsenal, Manchester United are two points clear at the top of the table.
Meanwhile, Nyon, Switzerland.
UEFA is in the process of preparing for this season's Champions League. I don't know what the UEFA officials are pumping. They went so far as to decide that there will be no seeding teams in this season's Champions League group stage. That said, there is a good chance that multiple big teams will meet in the same group.
Four days later, Jose Mourinho and Manchester United captain Liu Yun flew to Nyon, Switzerland, to participate in the draw for this season's Champions League group stage.
The 32 teams competing in this season's Champions League are:
Premier League teams: Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal.
La Liga teams: Barcelona, Real Madrid, Valencia, Atletico Madrid
Serie A teams: Juventus, AC Milan, Roma
Ligue 1 teams: Paris Saint-Germain, Lyon, Marseille
Bundesliga teams: Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen
Ukrainian Premier League team: Shakhtar Donetsk
Greek Premier League team: NEK Athens
Russian Premier League team: CSKA Moscow
Israel Premier League team: Maccabi Tel Aviv
Kazakhstan First League team: Lokomotiv Astana
Turkish Super League team: Galatasaray
Dutch Bundesliga teams: PSV Eindhoven, Ajax
Portuguese Premier League teams: Porto, Sporting Lisbon
Croatian Super League team: Dinamo Zagreb
Belgian league team: Gent
Scottish Premiership team: Celtic
Swedish Superliga team: Gothenburg IFK
Serbian Super League team: Red Star Belgrade
In this draw, there will be no seeded teams, but the principle of avoiding domestic teams will be followed.
After the draw ceremony, whether it was Mourinho, Liu Yun or anyone who participated in this draw, fans all over the world were stunned!
Group A: Ajax, Sporting Lisbon, Celtic, Arsenal
Group B: Shakhtar Donetsk, Bayer Leverkusen, CSKA Moscow, Juventus
Group C: Real Madrid, Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich
Group D: Barcelona, Manchester City, Lyon, Athens NEK
Group E: Chelsea, Valencia, PSV Eindhoven, Porto
Group F: Atletico Madrid, AC Milan, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Dinamo Zagreb
Group G: Marseille, Roma, Galatasaray, Gent
Group H: Borussia Dortmund, Lokomotiv Astana, IFK Gothenburg, Red Star Belgrade
In the group, the four teams in Group C actually included last season's La Liga champion Real Madrid, Premier League champion Manchester United, French champion Grand Paris, and Serie A champion Juventus! It's the group of deaths in the group of death!