"What do you think, Mike?"

On the bus back to Manchester from Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Ferguson pointed to a copy of The Sun he bought at the airport and asked casually to Mike Ferran, who was sitting next to him.

Mac-Phelan glanced at the newspaper and didn't need to read the contents, just a glance at the headline, and he knew what the old lord was trying to ask, because on the plane back from Germany, what they talked about the most was not the opponent they had just defeated, but another game, that is, their potential opponent.

"The British Civil War? It's not just hope. ”

That's the headline on The Sun, the front page, with two concise and clear pictures, two scoreboards with the same score.

"I'm not optimistic." Mike Phelan hesitated slightly, but shook his head decisively.

The meaning of not being optimistic naturally means that he is not optimistic about the English civil war in the Champions League final, and the object of his disapproval is obviously very clear, that is, their city rival Manchester City. It is true that Manchester City, like them, are already 2-0 ahead, but Manchester United won away and Manchester City won at home, so obviously in the second leg, Manchester City is more risky, and of course, more importantly, the opponent is different.

Hearing Mike Ferran's words, the old lord was noncommittal.

The Sun's report, unlike the understatement of Manchester United's victory, is their victory for Manchester City, almost lifting Manchester City to the sky, and the old gentleman doesn't mind this, firstly, because he is not interested in this kind of subjective reporting by the media at all, and secondly, he must admit that this victory of the rival in the same city is indeed worthy of the praise of the media, especially such a victory that even he is a little surprised.

It is undeniable that after the draw for the quarter-finals, Ferguson thought that Manchester City would not be able to reach the semi-finals at all, let alone the semi-finals. Even in the quarterfinals, he is not optimistic, because it is Real Madrid, and their coach is Mourinho, he admires Linsen very much, but in his heart, Linsen is far from Mourinho's level, the biggest difference is not in ability, but in experience.

Therefore, Linsen's Manchester City can eliminate Real Madrid. It had already been a surprise for Ferguson, and this time, it was an even bigger one.

But, Ferguson agreed with Mike Phellan's idea.

He is also not optimistic that Manchester City will finally be able to play his side in an English derby at the top of the highest stage of European clubs.

In addition to the reasons that Mike Phelan can think of, there is another factor that is why Ferguson would think so.

That's UEFA.

With the exhibition of football professionalism, England has become the benchmark of football leagues around the world, and even Italians who miss the glory of the "Little World Cup" in the past have to admit it. Elite is currently the number one football league in the world. The title of "No. 1 in the world" is obviously not in vain, commercialization is only one of the reasons, but let the world recognize the achievements on the field. is the most convincing proof.

This is evidenced by the fact that in the past six seasons, with the exception of last season, England teams have reached the Champions League final in five consecutive seasons. Moreover, there was a grand occasion that three of the four teams that had semi-finals in three consecutive seasons came from England, and the "three Englands against foreign enemies" once became a feature of the Champions League in those years.

However, this is a grand occasion that belongs to the British. For other leagues, it's obviously not good news, and for UEFA, it's not.

Ferguson likes to "make up" stories when he faces the media, but that doesn't mean he's a conspiracy theorist. The fact is that in so many "three British battles against foreign enemies", how many British and civil wars have there been in the Champions League finals? Only once!

You can say it's purely a matter of strength, or you can say it's just luck, or maybe football is a game of chance, but you can't deny the fact that UEFA does have the same motivation to make the event that belongs to all of Europe and not become a festival that belongs only to England.

For UEFA, there is no direct evidence, and even the most obvious Stamford Bridge tragedy is nothing more than a referee's "dereliction of duty", or an unconvincing quibble from Chelsea fans. But for many people, if something looks like a conspiracy and sounds like a conspiracy, then it's probably about the same, if not a conspiracy.

So, Manchester City want to reach the final?

With Ferguson's thoughts, I'm afraid it's not that easy.

What is certain, however, is that the team next door is undoubtedly in the best and most important moment of their history.

Because now, they still have the chance to become the treble again, and unlike last season, if they complete the treble this season, then what they have created is no longer a surprise, but an out-and-out miracle. The thought of this made Ferguson angry, as he thought of the penalty against Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final. If it weren't for that penalty, it would have been Manchester United, not Manchester City, who would have gone all three lines now.

However, there is still a chance for United not to be too complacent, as two of the three titles that Manchester City are competing for are also the ones that United are competing for. There is no need to mention the Champions League, in the league, they are still the league leaders, although only three points more than Manchester City, but the initiative is in the hands of Manchester United, all they need to do is to maintain the lead until the end.

And this last, in fact, is not far off. Because there are only four rounds left in the league -

Ferguson was determined not to let the beauty next door come to the fore, but in the blink of an eye, they had a stumbling block.

It's on their other nemesis.

Arsene Wenger's side have struggled in the first two rounds, drawing one and losing one in the league, and once again falling to an awkward position of fourth, and not only that, but now they seem unlikely to change that fact, because Chelsea, who have won two in a row, have reached 68 points, eight points above them, while Arsenal are five points above fifth-placed Tottenham.

So, most of the season, it's going to be those four again.

However, before the end of the league, Arsenal finally gave their fans a relieving victory, thanks to a goal from Ramsey in the 56th minute, they beat visiting arch-rivals Manchester United 1-0 at home, although they did not close the gap with Chelsea as Chelsea also beat local rivals Tottenham, but they did deal a blow to their rivals who were aiming to win the title.

A real blow, because of this blow, not only let Manchester United be caught up by Manchester City, who defeated West Ham United at home in this round, and now, they only have a slight advantage in goal difference, and Chelsea, which originally dropped the chain in the middle of the league, also took advantage of the opportunity of Manchester United and Manchester City to wrestle in turn and suddenly "resurrected", and now the gap between them and Manchester United is only one point.

But that's not their real crisis, because after all, they are still at the top of the league standings, and the real crisis is the last three rounds of fixtures, or the next round.

At present, the top four teams in the league are Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal, and Arsenal, which is as much as nine points behind the list, has basically withdrawn from the championship race, leaving only theoretically possible impossibility, because it requires the three teams in front of them to lose all in the last three rounds, and they have to lose a lot of goals, and the remaining three teams can actually be said to be on the same running line.

The most important thing for Manchester United is that there is another major event waiting for them in the final three rounds, one that can be said to actually determine the title of the season: home to Chelsea, and in the next round.

The next round of matches will be just three days after the second leg of the Champions League.

So, in Ferguson's words at the press conference, it is: next week will be the most important week for the team this season.

Manchester United face the biggest week of the season and Manchester City are no better.

It's good to tie Manchester United in the table, but the situation that United are facing now is actually the same situation that Manchester City are facing now. Of course, Manchester City's opponents in the next round are not as difficult to deal with as Chelsea, but purely in terms of wins and losses, it is also a must-win game for Manchester City, because if Manchester City loses this game, then there are only two situations left for Manchester City.

First, if Manchester United wins, Manchester City, which is once again thrown away by Manchester United with a three-point gap, can almost declare a failure to defend the title, because Manchester United's last two opponents are Blackburn Rovers and Blackpool, no matter how you look at Manchester United, it is unlikely that Manchester United will make mistakes on these two opponents, and, even if you make a mistake, Manchester United has a double advantage of three points plus goal difference, don't underestimate goal difference, eight goal difference does not seem to be much, but at that time, Manchester City will be left with only two rounds of league games.

Second, if Chelsea win, then Manchester City will indeed not be left by Manchester United, but unfortunately, they will be the same as Manchester United at the same time. And who are Chelsea's opponents in the final two rounds? Newcastle, Everton.

Notice something? That's right, Everton again.

Their fans don't admit it, but the whole of England knows that they are Everton.

In this case, how dare Lin Sen sit on the hill and watch Manchester United and Chelsea fight? And on the premise that they still need to go to the Longtan Tiger's Den in Barcelona, Spain three days before?

Anyway, Lin Sen didn't dare to be too optimistic.

Whether it's for the league or the Champions League. (To be continued!)

Tips: The new domain name "biquge.info" has been launched by Biquge, and the original domain name is about to be discontinued. Please tell each other, thank you!