Chapter 933 Offside Goal

After two weeks of waiting, on Thursday night, the long-awaited second leg match between Manchester United and Inter Milan in the second leg of the Champions League knockout round finally kicked off for Red Devils fans and Nella groups around the world.

When the players of Inter Milan and Manchester United walked out of the locker room under the leadership of referee Proenza, the fans of Inter Milan were stunned. This was not only because when two goals were needed, Leonardo discharged A Christmas tree formation, and because of his extremely poor form this season, Pandev, who they called the "living dead", started.

Inter Milan's starting lineup is 1-Cesar; defenders: 13-Maicon, 15-Ranozia, 5-Lucio, 26-Chivu; midfielders: 5-Stankovic, 19-Camby Yasuo, 8-Motta, 10-Sneijder, 27-Pandev; forward: 9-Eto'o

Compared with the first round, only one person was changed, Pandev replaced the injured captain Zanetti.

Pandev is also a very famous star. He defeated Spain in Macedonia and scored in Juventus' defense after his heyday at Lazio. He also played a big role in Inter Milan last season, but Pandev's state this season is extremely sluggish. In the league match against Brescia, Pandev even performed a "hat trick of not scoring a single goal", missing three consecutive single goals.

Due to his poor condition, Pandev failed to start the first round of the battle between Manchester United and Inter Milan. In the end, Inter Milan lost 1:2 at home. However, after the game, no one thought that Pandev could help Inter Milan save the defeat by starting.

"Pandev starts? Does Leonardo want to give up the game?"

"What can Kung Fu Panda do in this state?"

"Can Inter Milan only use General Pandev to defeat Manchester United?"

"Is this the plan to leave Manchester United alone?"

"The last time we played Manchester United at home, we used a 4,213 formation. This time we needed to score two goals, but we actually used a 4,321 formation. Is Leonardo here to be funny?"

"Is Inter Milan going to defend and counterattack?"

"Guess whether Manchester United will attack?"

…

The Inter Milan fans who came to support the game in the stands were talking a lot. These fans came from afar and were die-hard fans. Most of them came to watch the game with the extravagant hope of a first-line comeback, but seeing such a lineup and starting lineup, they all felt a little bit. Not good.

Compared with Arsenal at the weekend, Manchester United has more personnel. Valencia, Carrick and Fletcher in the midfield have returned from injuries.

Having Rooney and Hernandez on the front line is enough. Anyway, Gao Xiaodong scored more goals than the forwards. Even the center backs Vidic and Ferdinand are still unable to play and can only be substituted.

Although Ferguson had a one-half-half advantage, he was still not prepared to defend the score of 2:1. He still arranged a 4-4-2 formation with a balanced offensive and defensive balance, with goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar; four defenders Evra, Brown, and Small. Lin, Rafael; four midfielders: Scholes, Gao Xiaodong, Fletcher, Carrick; two forwards: Rooney and Hernandez.

Although Manchester United has a huge advantage in the total score, Manchester United fans are still worried because Brown and Smalling stand in key positions on their defense. Fans are worried that these two will make low-level mistakes. After all, they played against Inter Milan. For a team with excellent tactics and experience, it is impossible for Ferguson to arrange a strange formation of 6 defenders to make up for the deficiencies in the back line.

Today, the captain's armband of Manchester United was worn on Fletcher's arm. It was the first time he served as captain on the field, and it was against a defending champion like Inter Milan. Fletcher was very excited and couldn't help but applaud the stands when he entered the field. , as if all the fans in the stadium came to support him, which made Gao Xiaodong and Rooney curl their lips.

When the two captains exchanged team flags and emblems and played side by side, Ferguson and Inter Milan coach Leonardo also shook hands and had a simple exchange of words.

"Sire Sir Alex, please show mercy when you come to Old Trafford this time." Leonardo said deliberately showing weakness.

"I'm being humble. We won by luck at Meazza. This game is the real competition." Ferguson said without arrogance.

"It would be great if Inter Milan can leave with dignity." Leonardo continued.

"Haha, come to my office for a drink after the game." Ferguson did not comment on Leonardo's words and changed the topic with a smile on his face.

"Okay, I must try the lord's red wine."

Leonardo let go of Ferguson's hand and walked to the visiting team's coaching bench with satisfaction.

As a coach who has been deeply influenced by Serie A, Leonardo, despite his youth, attaches great importance to tactics and also likes psychological warfare.

When arriving in Manchester, both he and Moratti were very high-profile, which was to encourage players and fans. However, in terms of formation, Leonardo appeared to be conservative, forming a stable Christmas tree formation, and They also showed weakness to Ferguson in person. This was actually to confuse Ferguson and make Ferguson and his disciples feel proud, so that Inter Milan could have a chance to survive the desperate situation.

After taking a group photo, referee Proenza blew the whistle to start the game, and Manchester United, playing at home, took the lead.

After Rooney and Hernandez stepped back, Rooney passed the ball back to the midfielder, and he and Hernandez unhurriedly inserted into the Inter Milan half.

Manchester United's four midfielders today, Carrick and Fletcher are the main defenders, Gao Xiaodong and Scholes are the main attackers, but Gao Xiaodong and Scholes also have defensive tasks.

The ball was passed back and forth between the midfielder and the defender. Manchester United was in no rush to attack. After all, they had a great advantage and were in no rush to score.

Inter Milan did not seem to show determination to win at the beginning. When Manchester United was in possession of the ball, they did not press hard and did not press urgently, giving Manchester United time to control the ball calmly.

Obviously this is a home game, and Manchester United is not a team like Barcelona that controls the ball forever. After passing the ball in the backcourt for dozens of seconds, seeing that Inter Milan exerted little pressure, Manchester United quickly passed through the midfield and pressed the formation. Inter Milan's half.

Nani was injured and Valencia was on the bench. Today's Manchester United does not have a pure full-back. Rooney and Gao Xiaodong mainly play on the wing, and the full-backs come in to play.

Gao Xiaodong advanced to attract Inter Milan players to shrink in the middle. Scholes passed the ball to Rooney. Rooney tried to force the left back Chivu from the wing. Chivu was forcefully eaten. Pandev pulled and pulled Rooney's ball away. , the referee ruled that Pandev had fouled and gave Manchester United a free kick.

Less than a minute into the game, Manchester United won a free kick. Pandev, who had always been criticized by Inter Milan fans, fouled him. This made Inter Milan fans even more dissatisfied. Many people muttered, what else could this guy do besides fouling.

Scholes passed a free kick into the penalty area. Smalling and Rooney's grabs attracted Inter Milan's attention. Fletcher scrambled for the ball from behind and directly pushed the ball into the arms of goalkeeper Cesar.

Cesar hugged the ball and quickly threw the ball to Stankovic to launch a quick counterattack.

Manchester United quickly returned to defense, forcing Stankovic to hold the ball and blocking the connection between Stankovic and his teammates.

Obviously, Inter Milan's core Sneijder was heavily guarded. Cambiasso and Motta, who were passing the ball, were also blocked. Only Pandev, who was in the worst condition and was not expected to start, was free.

There is no way around this. During the transition between offense and defense, Manchester United does not invest enough troops in defense and can only defend the player who poses the greatest threat.

Stankovic did not stick to the ball and directly distributed the ball to Pandev.

Pandev took two steps, saw Eto'o start running, raised his foot and hit the ground directly behind the three Manchester United defenders.

Cheetah Eto'o's explosive power is really fast. He got rid of all the defensive players and formed a tendency to go to the meeting alone.

Brown and Raphael were trailing behind. While Brown and Raphael chased back desperately, they raised their hands to signal that Eto'o was offside.

However, the linesman did not raise his flag, thinking it was a good goal.

With Eto'o's speed, Rafael and Brown could not catch up. Eto'o pushed the arch of his foot against the attacking goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar on the penalty area line and sent the ball into the Manchester United goal.

1:0

Less than two minutes into the game, Inter Milan led Manchester United 1-0, and the total score was tied at 2-2.

The Inter Milan people couldn't believe their eyes, they jumped up crazily to celebrate.

Head coach Leonardo and the assistant coaches also cheered and rushed out of the coaching bench and hugged each other tightly. Although they made careful arrangements before the game, they did not expect to score in less than two minutes after the start. Now Hope is really back, they only need to score one more goal to eliminate Manchester United and reach the quarterfinals.

Ferguson also jumped up and shouted angrily at the referee Proenza, because from Ferguson's point of view, Eto'o was offside.

Many Manchester United fans in the stands also roared in protest. They also believed that Eto'o's goal was offside.

However, Proenza ignored the shouts of Ferguson and the fans. Since the linesman did not raise the flag, he thought it was a good goal.

But then the big screen in the stadium played slow motion. From the slow motion, it looked like Eto'o was half a shoulder above Brown, and it was an offside goal.

The on-site commentator Andy Gray sighed: "This is a misjudgment! Inter Milan took advantage! However, it is normal for the linesman to not see clearly in the flash of lightning. Manchester United has a defensive problem, they simply You shouldn’t give your opponent a suspected offside opportunity! Now the suspense is coming again. Manchester United only has a half-goal advantage. Once Inter Milan scores another goal, Manchester United will be eliminated. A game that looks very stable, but I didn’t expect it. Only two minutes have passed and the situation has changed drastically. Let’s see how Sir Alex Ferguson adjusts.”