Chapter 135, Very Desperate

On December 7, in the fifteenth round of the Premier League, Manchester United defeated Newcastle 3-1 and got the three points they wanted.

Now that the league is over, it's time for Kinteg to consider the Champions League.

Three days later, Manchester United will welcome the last opponent in the Champions League group stage at home, Shakhtar Donetsk. The outcome of this game is also of decisive significance to Kinteg.

The outcome of this game is likely to determine whether Jin Taige can continue to coach at Manchester United...

In the second day's training, Kintag sat on the sidelines and watched the group points of the Champions League, his brows were frowned.

At present, Manchester United has three wins and two draws, with 11 points, ranking first in the group; Leverkusen has three wins and two losses, with 9 points, ranking second in the group; Shakhtar Donetsk has achieved two wins, two draws and one loss, with 8 points, ranking second in the group. Ranked third in the group; while Royal Sociedad had four losses and one tie, and the group was at the bottom with 1 point.

Although Manchester United has now won the first place in the group, Manchester United, Leverkusen and Shakhtar Donetsk all have the possibility of advancing before the results of the final round. In the last game, Shakhtar Donetsk scored 5 goal differences from Real Sociedad in one breath. At present, they are only one goal difference less than Manchester United. This situation is very delicate for the group to qualify.

In the last round of the game, if nothing else happens, Leverkusen's victory over Real Sociedad should be a certainty. After their victory, the points reached 12 points. No matter what the result of the other game is, they are definitely promoted . In another game, if Manchester United wins, they will still advance to the first place in the group with 14 points; Losing to Shakhtar Donetsk, then Shakhtar Donetsk and Manchester United will have 11 points together, and as long as Shakhtar Donetsk wins, their goal difference will definitely surpass Manchester United. In the second place in the group, it became Shakhtar Donetsk with a dominant goal difference.

According to this situation, the ranking of the three teams cannot be determined until the end of the final round of the group stage.

Kintag thought of the terms set in the contract when he signed the contract: the top 4 in the Premier League and the top 16 in the Champions League. If you can't reach this minimum goal, you can only be beaten back to the youth team.

Although the team's current performance in the league is not ideal, it has at least retained its fourth place in the league; but if this Champions League game is lost, Manchester United will be eliminated directly from the Champions League group stage. Kintag is very sure that if this happens, the Glazer family will definitely not mind firing themselves this winter.

Therefore, Jin Taige is under a lot of pressure in this game. He needs to win, and even if he can't win, he must not lose!

During this period of time, this match became the most important match for Kintag. Although it did not determine the champion, it determined whether he would stay or not.

Two days before the game, Shakhtar Donetsk came to Manchester ahead of schedule for adaptive training, which shows how much they attach importance to this game.

Their Romanian coach Milka Lucescu has been coaching the team since 2004, and it is now the 10th season. He has won 7 league titles, 4 Ukrainian Super Cup titles and 1 Europa League title. cup champion. Especially when they won the Europa League in 2009, Lucescu and his Shakhtar Donetsk reached their peak.

They also caused United a lot of trouble when they were away to Shakhtar Donetsk in their last Champions League game, especially with their two Brazilian attacking players, Teixeira and Douglas Costa, who both had Manchester United's defense was in disarray. Facing these two men again in this game, Jin Taige specifically asked his defensive players to strengthen their marking on the two men and not give them a chance.

Three days later, the game finally arrived.

At the pre-match press conference,

Kintag told the media that Manchester United's goal is to win and advance to the last 16 of the Champions League.

A reporter asked Jin Taige, in fact, Manchester United can advance even if they win a draw. Will Manchester United play a defensive counterattack in this game?

Kintag said very firmly that there is only one goal for Manchester United in this game-to win.

Jin Taige not only said so, but also his request to the players is to strive for the victory of the game.

In his previous life, he came from a distant eastern country. In that national team, he had seen too many tragedies of "a tie is enough to qualify". He understands that in football games, it is often "seeking to win is to win, and seeking to win is to lose." If the mentality of the players changes, their morale will also be affected. Therefore, Jin Taige never stopped mentioning the matter of "a draw can qualify" to the players. His goal is only to win, nothing else.

At the press conference of Shakhtar Donetsk held later, their coach Lucescu was more determined: "Although Manchester United's giants, although their players are worth more than us, although this is an away game... …But we came to Old Trafford and we came here with all our might! To win! We just want to win! To get the three points and reach the last 16 of the Champions League, that's our goal!"

The high-spirited words of the coaches of both sides made this game the focus of this round of the Champions League.

Kintag sent his strongest lineup in this game, which is still the familiar 4-4-2 formation: the goalkeeper is De Gea; the defense is the combination of Smalling and Vidic partnering central defenders, and the left and right sides are Edgar. Fora and Rafael; Kante and Giggs in the midfield, Mahrez and Martial on the left and right; the striker is a combination of Rooney and Van Persie. The seven substitute players are: Alisson, Alonso, Jones, Ashley Young, Valencia, Carrick and Icardi.

In the home team's locker room, Kintag looked at the players and asked, "Do any of you remember our goals for this season?"

"Triple Crown!" Raphael yelled loudly. Raphael, who was always playful and active, also looked serious today.

Not only him, but everyone's expressions were very stern. Everyone knew the importance of this game.

Jin Taige pointed to the tactical board next to it, on which was written the points of the four teams in the group: "In all fairness, we performed well in the European arena this season. Five Champions League games, 3 wins and 2 draws, with 11 points. If Putting it in other groups, it is almost a certain situation. But our current situation is still not safe. If we lose today, then the next Champions League match will have nothing to do with us. Although the third place in the group can go to the UEFA Champions League The UEFA Cup, but in my goal of the treble, there is no Europa League as an option. We are the glorious Manchester United, the red legend! The UEFA Champions League cannot be without us! Guys, I hope you will ditch the 'draw to qualify' today 'The idea, at Old Trafford, we want to win, we want to appear first in the group! This is our goal!"