On April 27, 2011, Schalke's pride went to the Schalke Stadium.

Champions League semi-finals.

It was a historic day for Schalke. Because Schalke made Champions League history this season and reached the last four of the Champions League. It was Schalke's first Champions League semi-final match in history.

Setting a Zào club record, this is definitely a day to remember for a club.

Majestic and high-spirited.

This is the true mindset of Schalke today.

It may be that the victory over Inter Milan has greatly boosted Schalke's self-confidence. However, there are even some that are not self-confidence, because Schalke even underestimated Manchester United.

Even Jin Ming has some of this.

Inter are treble-winning teams. But what about the Triple Crown? It's not just nine goals scored in two legs. The giants can also be defeated, and the giants are not iron-clad.

Manchester United?

Although Manchester United's results in recent years have not been bad, in previous years, they have reached the Champions League finals one after another. But United have also fallen a lot compared to a few years ago. Especially with the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo, many people have also ridiculed Manchester United.

believes that Manchester United, as a top giant in European football, cannot resist Real Madrid's poaching at all.

Beckham in '03 and Cristiano Ronaldo in '09 were both Manchester United's top players before joining Real Madrid, and they were Manchester United's banner players. But they didn't prevent Real Madrid's poaching.

And with the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United's star flavor has faded a lot.

Rio Ferdinand is old, Neville is old, Ryan Giggs is old, Scholes is old.

Although many people think that Manchester United is far better than Schalke, Schalke's players don't think so, and everyone vows to kill Manchester United. Jin Ming also thinks the same way, wanting to beat Manchester United.

Not to mention the fans.

They also believe their club can beat Manchester United. Therefore, before the start of the game, Schalke fans started to cheer for their players non-stop.

Unfortunately, sometimes the reality is very cruel.

After the game began, Jin Ming understood a little bit why Manchester United is a Premier League giant and the overlord of the Premier League. Why Alex Ferguson is the godfather of Manchester United, and why Ferguson is the most respected coach in world football right now.

Very strong.

Originally, seeing Manchester United's starting lineup, Jin Ming didn't think there was anything.

Schalke as a whole didn't feel anything in United's starting line-up.

Take a look at Manchester United's starting line-up for this game, particularly their midfield. From left to right, Park Ji-sung, Ryan Giggs, Carrick, Valencia, it's really not good.

The most famous Giggs is now thirty-seven years old, and it is surprising that he has not yet retired. Now there are a few more people in European football who are still able to play in giants at the age of 37, and they are basically impossible to find.

And Carrick, Valencia, and Park Ji-sung are not great stars no matter how you look at them. Compared to other top giants in European football, Manchester United's midfield is really too bland.

Therefore, Manchester United's starting line-up was very underestimated at the beginning.

But when the fight started, I found that Manchester United was really strong, and Jin Ming could only say that. Or maybe Ferguson is really good, and not average.

Schalke was completely suppressed at their home turf.

"Schalke was completely suppressed. Schalke played too gentlemanly and they had too little restriction on Carrick, allowing Carrick to pass the ball at will in midfield. Rangnick's arrangement was wrong and a failure. ”

Rangnick was going to attack in this game, so he put two people in the midfield, Jurado and Baumjohn. Both of these are good offensive players, but neither is a defensive player.

Therefore, there is only one midfielder in this game, and that is Papadopoulos. Joel Matip was pulled back into central midfield.

This is a lot worse for Carrick's defense.

Jurado and Baumjohn are both very technically good teams, but neither is a defensive player. Their task in this game is to attack, which greatly reduces Schalke's ability to counter-attack in the front court.

Carrick is an interesting player. If you let him play, he will keep the midfield in order, and he will definitely be the core of the world's top midfield. His ability to control the tempo of the game, his passing ability is quite good.

But he also has shortcomings.

After all, it's England's homegrown players. In terms of technical skills, it is much worse than players from South America and Spain. Therefore, once he is pressed, then his performance will be greatly reduced.

Therefore, when many people evaluate Carrick, they say that Carrick in defense and Carrick without defense are completely two people. He's Xavi when he's not defending, and he's not as good as Arteta at Everton when he's defending.

Those opponents in the Premier League who play with Manchester United are aware of Carry's problems, so they are all focused on defending Carrick. However, Rangnick wanted to beat Manchester United with an attack, and lined up a 4-3-3 formation. And two of the three in midfield are attacking players.

That's a big deal.

Manchester United have already won the Premier League title this season, but they can't just brag about it. But Schalke underestimated Manchester United.

Jin Ming also felt that a person's strength is insignificant, really insignificant. After the start of the game, the whole Schalke was beaten back by Manchester United.

Jin Ming is a wide player.

Without the support of the middle, Jin Ming was lonely on the wing. It can only be withdrawn to the back to help defend. Because Valencia and Manchester United's right-back Fabio took turns attacking Schalke's left side.

Jin Ming was in a hurry.

Jin Ming really felt the strength of Manchester United.

How can Manchester United be so strong? Jin Ming didn't understand. Jin Ming only knows that the current Schalke midfield defense is almost papery. Carrick was organising the game and Wayne Rooney was running around in midfield.

Opportunity?

Jin Ming himself couldn't count how many chances Manchester United had in the first half. Anyway, Jin Ming only knew that Manchester United had three or four chances to score in the first half, but Schalke's goalkeeper Neuer hung up and maintained a 0-0 draw.

At the end of the first half, Jin Ming felt dizzy.

The referee's whistle made Jin Ming breathe a sigh of relief. Even Jin Ming felt a little tired, not mentally tired, but physically tired. In the first half, Jin Ming ran more than 6,000 meters, but Jin Ming himself knew that these runs were basically useless.

It was completely moved by Manchester United's players with a passing ball.

"Why, tired."

"Yes."

Jin Ming did not return to the locker room immediately after the end of the first half. Instead, he stood aside and looked at the Manchester United players. From the current status of European football, these players are really not as good as Inter.

Whether it's Park Ji-sung, Valencia, or Carrick, how can they compare to Cambiaso, Sneijder, and Stankovic in terms of fame.

But why does the game feel completely different?

At this time, Raul came to Jin Ming's side and asked Jin Ming.

"Do you feel like Manchester United are strong?"

"Yes."

Jin Ming nodded again, and then said with a wry smile: "Raul, Manchester United is much more powerful than I imagined." I don't even feel like there's hope for us, it's a bit of despair. ”

Jin Ming started playing professional league in the K League in 2007 and has been playing for more than four years now. He has also played a lot of games, adding up to more than a hundred. There were also a lot of losing games. But it's definitely the first time that it's so exhausting and a little hopeless like today.

Really tired.

The feeling of not being able to touch the ball at all, not having a chance at all, is really uncomfortable.

"Huh."

Raul smiled, then patted Jin Ming on the shoulder. Then he took Jin Ming and walked towards the player's tunnel. Raul said as he walked: "Kim, the game is like that sometimes, don't think too much. The coach may have a way to turn things around. ”

"But?"

"Kim, don't say it's Schalke. Even Real Madrid had such a situation back then. So don't take it too seriously and try hard in the second half. ”

"Understood."

Jin Ming was very frustrated and followed Raul into the locker room.

After entering the locker room, Jin Ming found that Jin Ming was not the only one who was depressed. These Schalke players, who had vowed to eliminate Manchester United before the game, did not look very good.

The game is too hard-hitting.

Manchester United are playing with Schalke like a toy.

Strong, these Schalke players present have only one thought, and that is that Manchester United are really strong. Although Inter Milan and Manchester United are both giants, they are currently the top teams in European football. But the state of the two sides is not at the same level at all, and the strength of the two sides is not at the same level at all.

Rangnick himself was overwhelmed by Manchester United's beating.

There is only one thing he knows now, and that is that Schalke have completely lost ground in midfield. Let Carrick easily organize, let Rooney easily break through and pass the ball in the midfield. Shot.

So Rangnick had only one option in midfield, and that was to replace Baumjohn with Kruger. Add a defensive midfielder.

The idea is simple.

Let the midfielder defend more. Elsewhere, Rangnick couldn't figure out much. Let Jin Ming have some disappointment off the field. Schalke played the first half of the game like this, it should be more than lucky, right?