July 21.

Rand Overfield Stadium.

Manchester United vs Barcelona.

It was Manchester United's first match in the International Champions Cup of the season and the first official friendly of the new season in the hearts of Manchester United's players.

In the first two games of the big leagues, everyone was still relatively relaxed and did not have too much pressure.

Now it's different.

Mourinho's words the other day were taken to heart.

There are very few players in this Manchester United squad who have won the Champions League.

The last time Manchester United won the Champions League was during the Alex Ferguson era ten years ago.

Everyone in the team is looking forward to the moment of reaching the top.

How wonderful it would be to take it!

In the room, Lukaku talked to Xia Xing about the Champions League title more than once.

"Man, when you won the five crowns at Leicester before, you were so handsome!"

"It's okay, it's mainly the teammates who give you."

'If I had been in the team at the time, it would have been easier for Leicester to win the title.'

"Well, I'll admit it, Van Persie was getting older at the time, and his fitness, speed and strength were declining, and you were better at those things."

"In your eyes, do you think we can win the Champions League at Manchester United?"

"I think so."

"Or you have a vision! I think I can, too! Let's join forces, the world is invincible! ”

“……”

"And Pogba, he's not bad, it's not as good as you, but it's okay."

“……”

"I also like Nemanja Matic, he's straight and tough defensively."

“……”

'Mkhitaryan is okay, his breakthroughs and passes are down from his Dortmund days, but it's okay.

“……”

"Xia, why don't you answer?"

"I'm asleep."

"Oh, I'll just say you're probably asleep, rest early, good night."

"Good Night ......"

That's true for Romelu Lukaku, it's true for a lot of other young players.

They won the Premier League last season, won the Europa League and won two domestic cups.

The honor of the Quadruple Crown did not put them to sleep on their laurels, but inspired them to be even more ambitious.

In fact, the quadruple was not enough to support their pride.

It's just the Europa League, after all.

Everyone is looking forward to the Champions League title now.

Especially after Mourinho brainwashed them, they faced Barcelona with a scream.

Manchester United was in full swing in the game, but Barcelona looked a little sluggish.

Now the situation is completely opposite on both sides.

Manchester United won the league title last season, beating bitter rivals Manchester City and Liverpool; Barcelona were robbed of the league title by Real Madrid in the last minute of last season, losing to their arch-rivals.

Manchester United won the Europa League last season in Europe. Barcelona were knocked out of the Champions League early in the quarter-finals by Juventus last season and watched Real Madrid finally reach the top.

Manchester United have been going well in the transfer market this summer and have bought the man they want; Barcelona was poached as soon as the transfer window opened, and the core of the team, Neymar, was poached, and it has been fruitless to buy someone, so he could only buy Dembele at a high price, and he was injured when he came, and now he has just recovered.

In many ways, Manchester United is now far better off than Barcelona.

But in fact, when it came to the game, Manchester United did not have the advantage!

Barcelona still played in the familiar 4-3-3 formation, which has become a tradition for Barca.

There is no Neymar on the front line, but Dembele is here, and the lineup is still complete.

Although he has just joined the team, Dembele is very active.

As soon as the game began, Dembele attacked on the left.

Dribbling past two United defenders in a row, cutting inside and shooting into the far corner!

Romero leaps to his feet and knocks the ball out with both fists!

Brilliant shots, great saves!

Although he was injured when he first came to Barcelona, the injury was not serious and he has recovered now.

The shot was powerful, and just by looking at Romero not choosing to hold on to the ball, you knew that the shot was strong.

Next, Barcelona's attack still relies more on Messi on the right side.

Messi was well rested this summer and was clearly in good spirits.

Catching the ball in the face of Xia Xing, an in-cut plus change of direction!

Xia Xing has been passed!

This time, it's neat!

Wonderful!

Even Xia Xing was surprised!

Although he was just helping to defend, it was so undeserved to be passed so easily.

Xia Xing also sensed the problem.

During this period of warm-up with the major league teams, he couldn't find the state of the official game at all, so his game state was not very good.

Although there is a "virtual arena" that plays against each other for ten hours a day, it is not true after all, and it doesn't matter much if you win or lose.

There is a lack of tension, and the whole body is not tense enough.

After this time, Xia Xing turned on the sweep mode.

In central midfield, he runs around a lot and defends with all his might.

Even if it's a physical confrontation, it's not worth it.

This made Barcelona's offensive pressure suddenly come up.

Especially Messi, after passing Xia Xing once, he has never been able to bargain on Xia Xing's side.

However, Messi is not stubborn, he sees that there is no opportunity for individual performance, so he seeks to make balls for his teammates.

During this time, Suarez has received two excellent crosses from Messi, and almost scored with two explosive shots in the penalty area.

In addition to the performance of the striker, Barcelona's midfield also cooperated tacitly.

Barca's midfield pairing for this match is Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and Rakitic.

After Xavi's departure, Iniesta became the brainchild of Barcelona's midfield.

Now that he's older, he's not as forward as he used to be, and now he's more of a playmaker in midfield.

A lot of times old team-mates have a special feeling, especially Sergio Busquets.

It seems that Xavi has always been there, and it is Iniesta who has left?

Indeed, after Andres Iniesta's ageing, Barca's midfield lacked world-class attacking masters.

Players such as Rakitic and Raphinha are good, but they are far inferior to Iniesta in attacking forwards.

You must know that Iniesta was once ranked in the top three of the Golden Globe Awards.

However, even without the peak Iniesta and the sharp dribbling Neymar, Barcelona still has many offensive means.

In the 38th minute of the game, Messi took the ball on the left side, and Xia Xing continued to press forward.

Messi made a feint, Xia Xing was not deceived, but suddenly pressed forward and used his body to collide!

Messi hurried out the ball!

What a close chance to concede!

The ball was handed to the feet of Andres Iniesta behind him, who had already observed his team-mate's movements!

A long pass straight to the right!

Find Dembele!

Dembele is extremely fast and stops the ball in front of the baseline!

Quick crosses!

Suarez in the middle of the penalty area shoots from a half-height shot!

The ball blasts out of the net!

1 to 0!

Barcelona open the scoring!

Barcelona's new coach Valverde on the sidelines of the pitch applauded hard!

Mourinho shook his head slightly.

Even if the state is not good, but Barcelona is still Barcelona, the background is too deep.

It's really a skinny camel bigger than a horse...... (End of chapter)