Chapter 1,182 Benfica, the Opponent

A 5-goal away victory over Bolton Wanderers is of great significance to Manchester United.

This season, Manchester United's rival in the same city, Manchester City, is powerful and in amazing form. Like Manchester United, it has now won four consecutive games and won every game by a big score. It is Manchester United's biggest opponent in the championship.

After winning this game, Manchester United is tied with Manchester City in points, and relies on the advantage of goal difference to beat Manchester City to the top of the list. This allows Manchester United to go to the away game against Benfica, the biggest opponent in Group C.

Manchester United's draw in the Champions League group stage this season was very good. After the draw, the media directly stated that Group C and Group H had not yet played, and Manchester United, Benfica, Barcelona and Milan had already been drawn into the top 16.

Of course, besides qualifying, Group C and H have other suspense, that is, who will be the first in the group?

The four teams in Group C are Manchester United, Benfica, Basel and Galati Steel.

The current strength of Benfica is still good. Although Aimar and Saviola have passed their peak period and Coentrao was sold to Real Madrid for 30 million euros, they also got Argentina international Garay from Real Madrid. , and signed Spanish international Capdevila and Serbian midfielder Matic. Capdevila, in particular, will fill the void left by Coentrao's departure. Therefore, compared with last season, Benfica's strength has not suffered much loss. .

Although the strength is good, the game is not convincing. In the qualifying round, Benfica met Eredivisie Twente. As a result, it took a lot of trouble in the away game to advance.

However, if you look back at history, Benfica also had a highlight against Manchester United. In the 2005-2006 season, Benfica defeated Manchester United in the group stage and qualified, and at the same time gave Manchester United their only group stage exit in the new century.

In addition to that painful lesson, Manchester United has an absolute advantage in history with 6 wins and 1 loss in 7 games against Benfica. It is difficult for Benfica to repeat the good show of defeating Manchester United this time.

Basel, another team in Group C, has entered the group stage for the fourth time since the Champions League was restructured, and it is also the third time in the past four years that they have qualified for the group stage. Basel, led by the German Fink, has shown strong momentum and has replaced the past teams such as Grasshopper and Youth to become the new representative of Swiss football. Unlike many small teams that mainly feature foreign players, Basel's current framework is based on local Swiss players.

They met Manchester United in the second stage of the 2002-2003 season. This was also their only experience of qualifying for the group stage after the Champions League was restructured. In the UEFA Champions League group stage last season, Basel defeated Roma in an away game, which was considered one of their more glorious scenes in the Champions League.

Generally speaking, there is a big gap between Basel's strength and Manchester United and Benfica. Whether they can produce some wonderful goals has become the only thing to watch, and the possibility of qualifying is very small.

As for the Romanian league champions Galati Steel, it is their first time to participate in the Champions League. One point or one goal is the best result. Dreaming too much will probably lead to greater humiliation.

The first place in the group stage has a schedule advantage, and the opponents in the knockout rounds are relatively weak. Therefore, when there is no suspense about qualifying for the group, ensuring the first place in the group is Manchester United's only goal.

Judging from the strength of the three opponents in the group stage, Benfica is the one that can threaten Manchester United's first place in the group. Therefore, this away game against Benfica is also the most important and difficult game for Manchester United in the group stage.

Before leaving for Portugal, Manchester United coach Ferguson and team core Gao Xiaodong were interviewed by the British media "Sky Sports". Sir Alex Ferguson said: "I think we are very lucky in the draw, because sometimes you may draw a very special one." A difficult group, which means not only that there are a large number of good teams in the group, but also that they need to travel a long distance. If you study the group of Manchester City, it is grouped with Napoli, Bayern Munich and Villarreal. It is simply a super death group, a group that no one will be happy about. These four teams are all the kind of teams that are in the top seven of their national leagues, so no one will be too easy in this group."

Later, Manchester United coach Ferguson talked about the trend of the Champions League, saying that Italian football is now in a difficult moment and looking forward to the English and Spanish teams reaching the end. "Italian football is now in a virtuous cycle. Naples is doing well and has some good players. The mainstream is still English teams and Spanish teams, so you would expect the teams from these two countries to go to the end. stage."

After talking about the draw for this season's Champions League group stage, Sir Alex Ferguson began to talk about his team, "In the away game against Benfica, experience will become very important, so my team may be different on Wednesday. Benfica has always been It’s a tough nut to crack, our games here are always tough. I’ve watched a lot of their away games and they play really well. There’s no doubt that in the Champions League, the young players will get a good education. Experience, but the important thing now is to be able to qualify in the group stage. Our home games will be better than the current situation, our first home game is against Basel, young players can participate in this game, Benfica game, you not only have to respect them, You still need to be more cautious.”

Gao Xiaodong made his debut in Portugal. Current Benfica head coach Jesus played against Gao Xiaodong when he coached Braga. Benfica's substitute forward Yu Debao is also Gao Xiaodong's good friend. Gao Xiaodong knows Benfica well.

Because of understanding, Gao Xiaodong did not dare to underestimate Benfica.

Gao Xiaodong told reporters: "Although the Portuguese League is not as strong as the Premier League, the top three in Portugal, Benfica, Porto and Sporting Lisbon, cannot be underestimated. They have very good personal abilities, and the team mainly plays a technical style. To a certain extent, There is some restraint against Premier League teams, and Manchester United must not be careless and underestimate the enemy against Benfica."

Gao Xiaodong also has high praise for Benfica head coach Jesus. He believes that Jesus is an experienced coach who is confident and passionate and can inspire the players' fighting spirit. His team is very combative and will never be easy to deal with.

Finally, Gao Xiaodong also talked about his friend Yu Debao, "Yu Debao is my friend. He has good scoring ability, but he did not go well at Benfica. I hope he can start the game. Of course, the substitute is also good, as long as we can compete on the same field again." , of course, I will not show mercy just because he is my friend. I will definitely try my best to defeat Benfica in this game and lay a solid foundation for qualifying from the group."

In Portugal, the Benfica coach is also preparing for this game with Manchester United.

Benfica head coach Jesus knows his situation in Group C very clearly. He said: "Manchester United is the strongest team in Group C. There is no doubt that they will get a qualifying spot. Our opponent is Basel. But this does not mean that we will give up in this game against Manchester United. We will definitely strive to win this game. I believe that we have the ability to beat any team at the Stadium of Light."

Speaking of Gao Xiaodong, Jesus said with admiration, "Gao is one of the best players in the world and the most versatile player. He can decide the outcome of the game. Like Ronaldo, he is trained by Portuguese football. He has many fans in Portugal. I believe that there will be many Portuguese fans to support him on the day of the game, so I hope Benfica fans will buy tickets to support Benfica. If the Stadium of Light is occupied by opponents’ fans, it will be a What a joke.”

Gao Xiaodong's friend Yu Debao also talked about Gao Xiaodong. Yu Debao said excitedly that Gao Xiaodong is the best player in the world and the pride of Chinese football. He has never played against Gao Xiaodong in the Champions League. He He is eager for Gao Xiaodong's arrival, and hopes to have a Chinese derby with Gao Xiaodong.

Yu Debao also warned his teammates that they must keep an eye on Gao Xiaodong. Even if they can't keep an eye on Gao Xiaodong, they must try their best to restrict Gao Xiaodong. If Gao Xiaodong is allowed to play to his fullest, it will be a disaster for the team.

The first round of the Champions League group stage is about to begin. The focus of the battle is naturally Barcelona vs. Milan. However, because Manchester United and its opponent Benfica both have players from the Chinese national team, this game has surpassed the battle between Barcelona and Milan in China and has become the most popular match in China. The game that Chinese fans and media pay the most attention to.