Chapter 1,185 Veterans Never Grow Old

It is a recognized fact that Benfica is not as strong as Manchester United.

However, Benfica's small skills are no worse than Manchester United. Facing the powerful Manchester United, they are not conservative. After grabbing the ball, they use skillful small-scale cooperation to quickly advance towards Manchester United's penalty area.

At the beginning, Benfica attacked Manchester United's right wing. They believed that Valencia and Phil Jones on the right wing were young, lacked defensive skills and experience, and would easily cause breakthroughs.

Benfica midfielder clown Aimar and his compatriot Gaitan continued to play one-twos on the right side of Manchester United, passing Valencia and Gao Xiaodong. However, when Gaitan dribbled the ball towards full-back Phil Jones, the empty space However, Aimar was caught by Gao Xiaodong and tripped from behind.

Gao Xiaodong's movements were hidden and the referee Skomina did not see it.

The referee did not blow, and the home fans were dissatisfied. This indirectly destroyed Benfica's cooperation. They immediately booed the referee and Gao Xiaodong.

Without Aimar's support, Gaitan had to single out Phil Jones.

Gaitan's personal skills are good. He swayed away from Phil Jones's center of gravity and quickly dribbled past Phil Jones.

Phil Jones was shaken a little embarrassed, but he was young and in good physical condition. He adjusted his center of gravity as quickly as possible and chased Gaitan desperately.

Gaitan was not slow, but Phil Jones, who was chasing after him, still put a certain amount of pressure on him. When he passed the ball, he used too much force and the ball flew directly over the goal and into the stands.

After Manchester United gained the ball, goalkeeper De Gea passed the ball to Carrick, allowing Carrick to organize the attack.

Carrick tried to pass the ball to Gao Xiaodong, but Benfica's players kept a close eye on Gao Xiaodong. Carrick could never find a good passing route, so he had to pass it to Giggs.

When he was young, Giggs was also a strong man who could challenge an opponent's defense line alone, but now Giggs can control the ball without losing it and pass the ball, which is already very good.

The fact that Giggs was able to gain Ferguson's trust at such an old age certainly did not rely on personal friendship. He has a high football intelligence and knows how to avoid his own weaknesses.

The ball was passed to Giggs, who turned to the center and tried to pass it to Gao Xiaodong.

When all the attention was drawn to Gao Xiaodong, Giggs suddenly made a diagonal pass to the front of the penalty area to find Rooney.

Giggs passed the ball very suddenly.

Not even Benfica's centre-back expected it.

It was too late to grab the ball, and captain Louisson could only push forward to prevent Rooney from breaking through or shooting.

Benfica's two central defenders were there, and Rooney didn't think about shooting or even breaking into the penalty area. All he had to do now was pass the ball to Gao Xiaodong.

Rooney doesn't care whether Gao Xiaodong is the core of Manchester United. He believes that Gao Xiaodong has good skills and many clever ideas. If the ball is passed to him, he will definitely find loopholes in the opponent's defense.

Rooney turned around to protect the ball, but his eyes were looking for Gao Xiaodong.

Gao Xiaodong and Rooney still have a tacit understanding. After Giggs passed the ball to Rooney, he quickly moved forward, then changed direction and got rid of the defender.

What appeared in Rooney's field of vision was Gao Xiaodong with no defensive players around him. Even for a moment, it was enough. Rooney believed that if he passed it to Gao Xiaodong, Gao Xiaodong would definitely be able to catch the ball.

Rooney leaned on the arch of Louis's foot and passed the ball in front of Gao Xiaodong.

Garcia was thrown away by Gao Xiaodong's change of direction. He saw Rooney turn around and realized that Rooney was going to pass the ball to Gao Xiaodong. He immediately accelerated forward and tried to steal the pass.

Gao Xiaodong saw Garcia rushing up from behind to steal the ball. He didn't wait for the ball to come over. He ran two steps quickly, stepped on, pulled and turned around, just in time to pass the rushing Garcia.

It is very dangerous for Gao Xiaodong to get the ball at the front of the penalty area. Benfica's center back Luisson quickly blocks the ball forward, denying Gao Xiaodong a chance to shoot from a long distance.

Full back Garret moved in quickly and ran towards Rooney to prevent Gao Xiaodong from passing the ball to Rooney.

Benfica's attention has been focused on Gao Xiaodong and Rooney, and even the more active Valencia has been paid attention to, but veteran Giggs has been ignored.

This is normal. Although Giggs is famous, he is already 38 years old. Players of this age either retire or become coaches. Fighting on the green field is no longer suitable for them.

Giggs didn't touch the ball a few times after the start, and he basically passed the ball as quickly as possible when he got it. However, this does not mean that he has no desire to attack or even score goals.

Seeing Rooney holding the ball, Giggs quietly moved towards the penalty area, but Rooney did not pass the ball to him.

After Gao Xiaodong got the ball, Benfica's players were highly nervous and focused on Gao Xiaodong. Giggs felt that the opportunity had come, and he quickly moved towards the ribs of the penalty area.

Giggs did not raise his hand for the ball, nor did he shout. He believed that Gao Xiaodong could see him, just like he believed in Scholes.

Gao Xiaodong saw Giggs, but he deliberately made a gesture to shoot with his left foot. He quickly pushed with his right foot and passed the ball to Giggs.

"Well done!" Giggs was overjoyed and did not forget to give Gao Xiaodong a thumbs up when he stopped the ball.

If he were ten years younger, Giggs would have just passed the ball and entered the penalty area, but now, Giggs does not have that explosive power.

Giggs took a step forward and lobbed a shot into the back corner of the goal from the ribs of the penalty area.

When Giggs received the ball, Benfica goalkeeper Arthur realized that Giggs might shoot. In Giggs' position, shooting from the near corner is the most threatening, and Arthur moved to the near corner as quickly as possible.

Arthur was shocked when he saw Giggs shooting into the back corner, but he just moved to the right. It was too late to save and he could only resign himself to fate.

The Benfica players in the penalty area jumped up to head the ball, trying to push the ball out, but the arc of the ball's flight was a bit high, and they did not touch the ball despite their best efforts.

All eyes are on the ball.

Go in, Manchester United takes the initiative and is likely to win this game.

If they don't score, Benfica will inevitably strengthen its defense against Giggs, and it will definitely be more difficult for Manchester United to score goals later.

With a "bang" sound, the ball hit the crossbar and bounced to the top of the net.

"Oh! What a pity!"

"Depressed! He actually hit the crossbar!"

"What bad luck!"

Chinese players, fans and coaches all sighed with regret.

Benfica fans cheered happily as if they had scored a goal.

In fact, not conceding a goal and scoring a goal are basically the same thing.

"What a pity!" the on-site commentator He Hui sighed: "Good pass! Beautiful shot too! Just didn't score! If the goal had been scored, Giggs would have been the oldest goalscorer in the Champions League! I didn't expect that. The most threatening shot comes from Giggs, and now it seems that Sir Alex Ferguson has a reason for arranging Giggs to start."