Chapter 255 Fighting Manchester United Again

At the same time that Manchester City eliminated PSV Eindhoven and advanced to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, the other round of 16 games also ended.

The finalized teams are Roma, Bayern Munich, AC Milan, Manchester United, Liverpool, Valencia, Manchester City and Chelsea.

Among the eliminated teams, the most interesting ones are naturally Barcelona and Inter Milan.

Barcelona's opponent is Liverpool, the two teams are two-time Champions League winners, and the match between them is also the focus of the Champions League round of 16.

The life-and-death battle between the two teams is also a duel between the two core players of the two sides, Gerrard and Ronaldinho, both of which are the most concerned players in European football.

In the end, Gerrard's Liverpool knocked out Ronaldinho's Barcelona.

When the referee Vander blew the final whistle, the scene of Ronaldinho's sad end seemed to be a revised version of the German World Cup when Brazil was out.

Ronaldinho's recovery in the second half was powerless to save Barcelona, ​​who was struggling to recover, and Gerrard's wonderful performance throughout the game gave him a higher evaluation than Ronaldinho after the game.

From the perspective of the scene alone, Ronaldinho was completely submerged under Liverpool's strict defense in the first half, while Gerrard, who was placed on the right, repeatedly delivered cannonballs for his teammates. In the second half, Ronaldinho was elves. The skill is Barcelona's biggest threat, and Gerrard acts as the main striker of Liverpool's counterattack.

At the beginning of the game, Gerrard and Kuyt cooperated twice in a row to make Barcelona goalkeeper Valdes busy early. Since then, the defending Liverpool have concentrated on the defensive counterattack, but they have also gained a tidal wave of offensive.

Among them, the interception of the Barcelona players by the Liverpool midfielders is very important. It is often Gerrard, Sissoko and other midfielders who grab the ball and then pass the ball decisively and organize the attack.

Liverpool's tackle success rate was as high as 90% in the whole game, which is enough to reflect the repeated setbacks of Barcelona's attacking players.

Among them, the captain Gerrard contributed 4 successful tackles, while Ronaldinho was zero.

Ronaldinho is known for his skills unique to Brazilian players. If you just evaluate its technical level, it is not an exaggeration to give full marks. But in terms of defensive ability, this will be unflattering. Gerrard, who can attack and defend, has shown the advantage of his comprehensiveness in this game.

When the team had the upper hand, Gerrard only wanted to play the ball. In the second half, when Barcelona counterattacked, Gerrard stepped forward as the main attacker. This is the leader of the team.

long before the game. The Red Army commander warned his teammates that "the revolution has not yet succeeded".

Because Barcelona, ​​with Ronaldinho, Eto'o and Messi, is not impossible to make a comeback, while the Brazilians were active in the second half, Gerrard, who was not to be outdone, contributed 4 runs with the ball.

The first time was slightly off target, the second was destroyed by Marcos, and the other two forced Barcelona goalkeeper Valdes to make wonderful saves.

In addition, the Red Army captain has 16 wonderful passes. One of them nearly brewed Bellamy's close-range lore. It's a pity that the Welshman flanked in place but was unstable. At the last moment of the game, Gerrard was still sparing no effort to create a free kick. Sky Sports pointed out that Gerrard was still inspiring other Liverpool players at the last minute of the game, and " The Daily Mail praised Gerrard's "tireness" throughout the game.

Comparing the technical statistics after the game, Gerrard is comparable to Ronaldinho in both shooting and passing.

But in terms of defense and range of activities, Gerrard, who is active in three positions of the right offensive midfielder, the right defensive midfielder and the attacking midfielder, can win more recognition from the outside world.

Sky Sports gave Gerrard a game-high 9 after the game, against a backdrop of 5 and 6. This number is even more eye-catching.

Veteran Liverpool expert Tomkins once said, "The 27-year-old Gerrard can also improve himself by accumulating experience. Especially when he understands the essentials of game tactics from the manager."

The Liverpool captain has had amazing performances in cup finals over the past few seasons, such as the FA Cup with West Ham and the Champions League with AC Milan.

With such a trump card, Liverpool fans have begun to look forward to the ultimate honor of the season.

British media also claimed that, over Barcelona, ​​Liverpool began to dream of Greece.

In addition to the life-and-death battle between Liverpool and Barcelona, ​​which attracted attention, the game between Inter Milan and Valencia was also very interesting. The biggest focus of the match between the two was not the game, but after the game.

After the game between Valencia and Inter Milan, Inter Milan has been determined to be eliminated, and what happened next is jaw-dropping - Inter Milan and Valencia players fought a gang fight!

After a 2-2 draw away from Inter Milan in the first round, Valencia drew 0-0 at home again with solid defense and advanced with more away goals.

The game originally ended like this, but because of the contradiction on the field, Valencia player Marchena had a conflict with Inter Milan's Burdisso, and Marchena kicked Burdisso in the face.

Marchena's actions became the trigger for a large-scale conflict.

Valencia substitute Navarro rushed into the pitch and pushed Burdisso to the ground. A number of Inter Milan players tried to chase Navarro, but Navarro quickly ran off the court.

There was further friction in the tunnel between the two sides.

Inter goalkeeper Toldo entered the Valencia locker room, and his teammates Figo and Cambiasso were also involved in the melee.

It wasn't until stadium security intervened that prevented the situation from escalating.

This incident became the biggest news after the round of 16, and was reported by almost all media in Europe. UEFA also specifically stated that it would impose a 'global' ban on the 'player', which means that Valencia and the international Several Milan players are likely to be unavailable for the remainder of the season as a result.

While paying attention to this 'pitch violence', the English media are most pleased with the results of each English team. There are four English teams participating in the UEFA Champions League this season, Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool. All four teams have reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

The English media said happily, "This shows that the Premier League has surpassed other leagues in an all-round way and has become the world's largest league!"

However, whether the Premier League is the largest league has no direct relationship with each club, after the second round of the round of 16. The focus of each team is also on the draw for the Champions League quarter-finals.

According to the UEFA Champions League quarter-final drawing rules, the home and away games will also be decided by lottery, which means that the four teams in England are likely to have a civil war. Each team is likely to meet the other seven teams.

in eight teams. The opponents that Manchester City want to meet are naturally the 'weak teams' among them, but in fact, there is no dark horse this season. Even Roma, which is not well-known in European competitions, is quite strong this season, so Wansheng is not interested in drawing lots. No worries.

"No matter what opponent we meet. We will try our best to win!" That's what Wansheng told the media before the draw.

But after the draw is over. Wan Sheng still had a wry smile on his face.

AC Milan.

This is definitely an opponent that no other team wants to face, and although AC Milan have not recovered from the 'Phonegate' scandal last season, they are still quite strong in Europe.

This can be seen from the odds of various bookmakers.

So far, among the odds offered by various bookmakers, the top four are Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and AC Milan. In contrast, Liverpool and Bayern Munich belong to the second echelon, while Rome and Valencia are completely Not optimistic, their winning odds remain more than 30 times.

The bookmaker's odds don't tell the whole story. But you can also see the public opinion.

Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and AC Milan are the four most difficult teams to deal with without a doubt. Manchester City is also one of them, but Wansheng would rather meet the 'more familiar' Chelsea and Manchester United than AC Milan. The team has little experience in European competitions and has played against Bayern Munich twice. It can be said that Still have some understanding, Roma and Valencia are considered 'weak teams', and the most difficult to play is AC Milan.

But the result of the draw has been determined, and Manchester City can only accept this opponent.

At the same time, the English media were very excited, because there was no so-called 'Premier League civil war' in the quarter-finals. Chelsea drew Valencia, Manchester United's opponent was Roma, Liverpool played Bayern Munich, Manchester City played against AC Milan, The four Premier League teams are all staggered and play against teams from other countries.

This also means that the Premier League teams are likely to meet in the final!

British football is even more delighted. English fans have enough reasons to look forward to Liverpool in 2005. The four "giant clubs" in the Premier League will ensure that the English team will once again bring the championship trophy back to England.

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After the Champions League, it is the FA Cup round of 16, Manchester City's opponent is Norwich.

Wansheng was impressed by Norwich, who was the league's biggest rival in his first season in charge of Derby County.

After a failed Premier League season, Norwich fell back to the Championship, where they had a solid record and were trying to make it in the cups, and now they're up against Manchester City.

Manchester City has been in very good form recently. Although this game is away, it still performed well.

In the end, Manchester City defeated Norwich 3:1.

The result of this game also surprised Wan Sheng. It was not the score. In fact, Wan Sheng's mind was not on the FA Cup at all. The team also adopted a 'rotation' in this game, and several of the main players did not play. , What he considers is that the FA Cup game can be won if it can be won, or it can't be won. After all, the team has more important leagues and the Champions League.

But in the end they won and Manchester City reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

At this stage, it would be a pity not to take the initiative to fight for it, so Wansheng felt that he still had to fight for this meaningful event in the FA Cup.

March is coming to an end. The battle for the top spot in the league is still quite fierce. In the face of Manchester City's strength, Manchester United is a little bit unwilling to admit defeat. In recent games, except for the draw with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, all other games Victory, but despite this, as some media said, "Manchester City's results are a little desperate." Since Christmas, Manchester City has not drawn a game and remains unbeaten in the league, so Manchester United and Manchester City have opened up again. Two points difference, plus the delay in Manchester United and Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City in the standings are as much as 9 points.

Because Manchester City and Arsenal have also been postponed, Manchester City and Manchester United have the same number of games, so these 9 points are pure 9 points, and Manchester United has little hope of catching up with Manchester City.

Chelsea, another team that had hoped to compete for the league title before Christmas, sank a bit after Christmas. Two consecutive draws and a loss to Liverpool made the gap between them and Manchester City as much as 14 points. Mourinho, the mouth's mouth, also had to admit, "Chelsea has no hope of participating in the title race this season."

Then it all depends on whether Manchester United has a chance.

So the English media began to analyze the league competition. The public opinion is that "whether there is suspense in the battle for the top spot in the Premier League" depends on the next Manchester derby. If Manchester United can defeat Manchester City and recover the 3-point gap, Then the gap between the two teams is 6 points left, and with 7 rounds left in the league, it cannot be said that there is no chance, but Manchester United lost the game, then it is really hopeless.

With a gap of 12 points and 7 rounds, there is only a theoretical possibility to catch up.

In various public opinions, Manchester City ushered in the game against Newcastle United. In order to prepare for the more important Manchester derby, Wansheng once again chose to rotate.

Even so, Manchester City beat Newcastle United 4-3 away.

Newcastle United lost the game, but after the game they were considered 'fairly good' and it was important to note that they scored three goals, so far no team in the league has scored twice in a game. Newcastle United did it, which shows Newcastle United's attacking ability.

Wan Sheng did not take it to heart.

The team sent a semi-substitute lineup for this game.

If the main force is on the court, the game will not be so difficult. Fortunately, in the end, the team won and did not lose two points in vain, which is a good result.

After this victory, Manchester City's winning streak reached 14 games.

14-game winning streak is quite an excellent result, but this is meaningless in Wansheng's view, because the task of winning streak in the season requires 15-game winning streak, and in the task of the football training master system, 14-game winning streak and 10-game winning streak are nothing. The difference is to receive a 10-game winning streak level reward.

So he takes the next game against Manchester United very seriously.

As long as this game can be won, the task of 15 consecutive victories can be completed, and at the same time, pulling down 12 points from Manchester United is enough to ensure the team's league championship!

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PS: Brothers, monthly pass! ! ! (To be continued ~^~)