5 to 0.

This is the answer to Manchester United's opening game in the Europa League.

At Old Trafford, they swept past AZ Alkmaar and left their opponents defenseless.

Now, no one questions Manchester United's Europa League group stage anymore.

The strongest opponents can win so easily, let alone the others?

In the second round of the Europa League, Manchester United's opponent was Partizan Belgrade.

This opponent is not weak.

They won just 3-1 against Astana in their last game.

This season, their goal is naturally to qualify for the group stage of the Europa League.

If you can pick up points against Manchester United and then win AZ Alkmaar, you will be assured of qualification.

Even if it's just a draw for Manchester United, it's a win.

Unfortunately, they were disappointed.

In the match played a day earlier, AZ Alkmaar won 3-0 against Astana.

Looking at this result alone, it is a bit better than their 3-1 score.

However, the Belgrade partizan players are confident.

Not to mention that our goal is to win and keep the draw, even if we lose, we can't lose five in one go, right?

Well, it turned out that they were right.

Not five, but six.

Like AZ Alkmaar, the Serbian side don't have any big names.

The most popular player in the team turned out to be a Japanese who had just transferred.

Takuma Asano.

The 25-year-old striker is not very old, but he has a lot of experience in Europe.

Back in the summer of 2016, he moved to Arsenal from Sanfrecce Hiroshima.

Arsene Wenger was optimistic about the youngster's future and sent him on loan to Stuttgart for re-training.

But after two seasons on loan, he waited for bad news.

Arsene Wenger is out of class.

The new coach Unai Emery was not interested in him, but given the Japanese market, he did not choose to sell him and simply continued on loan.

So last season, he returned to the Bundesliga and went on loan to Hannover 96.

This summer, he finally decided to leave.

Whether the transfer to Partizan Belgrade was good or bad, he didn't know, at least he got the main position he wanted.

But for Arsenal, it's definitely a loss.

4 million euros bought, 1 million euros sold, and there was not much rental fee in between.

In this game, Takuma Asano appeared in the starting lineup as the team's left forward.

Every time he met an Asian opponent, Xia Xing's Chinese identity would be brought up.

For example, this time, the Japanese media once again played up the "Asian Derby".

Before the game, when a Japanese reporter asked Xia Xing about the game with great interest, Xia Xing was very cold.

"What Asian Derby? No kidding, it's far from it. ”

This sentence is far from it, which makes the Japanese media and fans quite sad.

What do you mean?

Is it said that Asano Takuma is far behind?

Or is the strength of the two teams far behind?

You must know that in the Asian region, the best selling country around Xia Xing is not even China, but Japan.

Of course, this is not a problem of fan base, but a problem of genuine sales.

It has little to do with this game, so I don't want to mention it.

But even so, Japanese fans are still super fans of Xia Xing.

"He definitely didn't look down on us Japanese players, he meant that Partizan Belgrade was different in size from Manchester United, and there was no comparison."

The Japanese nation is such a perverted and coquettish.

If you beat him and scold him, he will look up to you.

However, just because the fans don't take it seriously doesn't mean the players don't take it seriously.

Takuma Asano, also 25 years old, had a lot of energy in this game.

What's so great about your summer trip?

If I had started at Manchester United, I would have become a world-class player!

But he forgot that his starting point was even more than Xia Xing.

Xia Xing first worked hard in the Championship, and he played directly in the Bundesliga for three years.

If the strength is not good, it just can't work, and there is no point in hypocrisy.

In this match played at Old Trafford, from the first minute, Takuma Asano burst out with full combat.

He wasn't tall or strong enough, which was one of the reasons why he didn't stay in the Premier League.

However, his speed, agility and passing skills made him a good part of the Belgrade Partizan Army.

As soon as the game started, he picked up the ball on the left flank and sprinted quickly!

It's hard not to think of Xia Xing's signature side break move.

Unfortunately, he was soon cut off.

In the midfield position, Nemanja Matic, who assisted in the defense, crashed directly into him.

Takuma Asano slammed into the billboard on the side of the pitch.

Not only that, but Matic didn't foul either.

Reasonable collision!

This led to thunderous applause at Old Trafford.

That's a good decision!

This referee is reliable!

In fact, it is not just a matter of the referee's decision, or the goal is too obvious.

It was a complete five-to-five body collision, and Takuma Asano was confident to make the ball wide, allowing Nemanja Matic to find a good opportunity.

However, Takuma Asano was not discouraged and continued to try to dribble.

In the 7th minute of the game, he again moved with the ball on the left wing.

However, with the lesson just learned, he chose to bypass the strong Matic as much as possible.

Between Nemanja Matic and Fred, a quick sprint!

I've passed Manchester United's double midfield!

Takuma Asano was overjoyed!

But in the next second, it was as if he had hit a mountain!

Bang!

Takuma Asano falls to the ground again!

This time the opponent didn't even move much, just stood in the direction of the ball's travel, and completed the defensive action!

Who is it?

When Takuma Asano got up from the ground, the opponent had already taken the ball away!

It's a summer trip!

Just now he saw that Takuma Asano wanted to go to the middle, so he simply retreated to defend early.

Matic was bypassed by Takuma Asano, and the reason why Fred didn't force it was because he saw that Natsuyuki was already in place.

Fred knows better than anyone that as long as Xia Xing is there, this ball will be fine!

And so it was!

Xia Xing breaks the ball, sprint quickly!

Even if he moves forward with the ball, he is still faster by Takuma Asano, who is quickly chasing back!

This made Takuma Asano chase further and further, and he even doubted physics.

Why is he dribbling the ball faster than me?

It's not fair!

But in the arena of competitive sports, where is there any fairness or injustice?

Xia Xing has already rushed through the half court with the ball, facing the bag of two back players, and quickly sprinted!

On the left side, Xia Xing is galloping!

Not to mention Takuma Asano, even the two backs can't keep up!

Xia Xing's feet were extremely fast, and he strode the ball and rushed to the edge of the penalty area!

Facing the defense of the fullbacks, Xia Xing was once again easy!

Pull the ball, change direction, speed up!

Two actions, plus a body resistance, directly squeezed the full-back down!

In the face of the goalkeeper's blocking, Xia Xing did not hesitate!

Kick up and shoot near corner!

The ball hits the net!

1 to 0!

Manchester United open the scoring!

After the goal, Xia Xing rushed to the stands of die-hard fans and hugged the fans excitedly to celebrate!

He glanced back at Takuma Asano.

His eyes were full of disdain.

Want to learn my signature breakthrough moves?

You're still far away! (End of chapter)