Chapter 944: Difficult Progress

After a thrilling victory over Inter Milan at home and a 4-for-8 draw against Schalke 04, Manchester United's entry into the semi-finals of the Champions League is almost certain.

In the FA Cup, Manchester United's substitutes and newcomers also performed equally well. They have already reached the semi-finals. As long as they defeat their local rivals Manchester City, they can reach the final, because the other semi-final opponents are Stoke City and Bolton. Between the winners, the semi-final between Manchester United and Manchester City can be called an early final.

However, the league that originally had a huge advantage was chased by Chelsea by 6 points due to an away defeat to Liverpool. There are still 9 rounds of games left, one of which includes a strong dialogue with Chelsea. In fact, these 6 points are not stable enough.

Manchester United attaches great importance to the match against the relegation team Bolton in the 30th round of the league. This is not only a matter of three points. If Manchester United and Bolton both eliminate their opponents and reach the FA Cup final, they may face each other in the FA Cup final. Therefore, If Manchester United can beat Bolton in this game and meet in the FA Cup final later, they will have enough advantages in their hearts.

Good news came from Manchester United before the game. Among their injured players, Evans, Berbatov and Park Ji-sung have all returned from injury. Although they may not be able to return to their peak form, there is one more person in the front, middle and backcourt. At least Ferguson does not need it. Then worry about arranging troops.

However, there is also bad news. "Sky Sports" broke the news that Manchester United planned to renew Gao Xiaodong's contract, but the two parties failed to reach an agreement on annual salary and liquidated damages, and Gao Xiaodong refused to renew the contract. Subsequently, the "Daily Mail", "The Sun" and other major media followed up with reports and hyped the news, while small media and portals, in order to attract attention, weaved various stories about Gao Xiaodong leaving Manchester United, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Chelsea and Gao Xiaodong. Xiaodong’s agent came into contact with fake news.

When the news first broke that Gao Xiaodong refused to renew his contract, Manchester United fans didn't care. Gao Xiaodong had only been here for less than a season. How could he leave? Even if he wanted to leave, he would not release the news when the schedule was the most tense. However, Three people become a tiger, so many media are hyping it, and Manchester United fans all over the world are starting to get nervous.

Although Gao Xiaodong still has two years of contract, after moving to Manchester United, Gao Xiaodong's performance was amazing. Every Manchester United fan hopes that Gao Xiaodong can stay at Manchester United for a long time instead of playing for another year or two.

In addition, what makes Manchester United fans so worried is that Gao Xiaodong has played for three clubs before, but Rexos has played for the longest time for only two seasons. Manchester United fans are worried that Gao Xiaodong will leave again after Manchester United wins the Triple Crown. .

Fans were furious and reporters kept asking questions, which made Manchester United's morale almost unstable. Ferguson had to hold a press conference to explain Gao Xiaodong's contract extension. Ferguson said: "Gao Xiaodong is still very happy living at Manchester United. He can feel the joy of playing here and win the respect of fans and teammates. I believe he will stay at Manchester United for a long, long time..."

But the fans were not satisfied with Ferguson's explanation, because what Ferguson said were empty words.

Gao Xiaodong is also very happy living in Inter Milan, winning games and championships, but Gao Xiaodong still transferred. Fans hope that the club can come up with some good news to reassure them, such as the progress of contract renewal negotiations, or Gao Xiaodong Promise of.

However, Gao Xiaodong has not accepted interviews from reporters recently, and his social software has not been updated, which makes fans even more unsure.

On the day of the game, many fans held up banners hoping that Gao Xiaodong would renew his contract, as if Gao Xiaodong was about to leave.

Although the players at Manchester United feel that Gao Xiaodong has only been here for less than a season and is unlikely to leave, after all, Gao Xiaodong has a history of leaving Inter Milan after just one season, and his teammates are also uneasy.

Teammates like Rooney and Nani who have a good relationship with Gao Xiaodong all asked Gao Xiaodong what was going on.

In fact, Gao Xiaodong knew what was going on, but he was also helpless.

He is indeed in talks to renew his contract with Manchester United, which started after playing for Inter Milan, but this is the initiative of the Manchester United club. Mendes hopes that the annual salary will be increased to 15 million and a liquidated damages will be set, so that Gao Xiaodong can The initiative to stay is in your own hands.

Mendes did this because Gao Xiaodong's performance at Manchester United was so eye-catching and he won the Ballon d'Or. He has enough confidence.

But Manchester United feels that the annual salary of 15 million euros is a bit high, and they only want Gao Xiaodong to renew his contract and do not want to set liquidated damages.

It is normal for players and clubs to have disputes over contract renewal. No matter how important Gao Xiaodong is to Manchester United, no matter how reasonable his request is, the club cannot agree to it. In this case, future negotiations will be impossible.

It's just that he is famous. Gao Xiaodong has been at the forefront of the media ever since he was selected for the Golden Globe Awards. If Gao Xiaodong had not continued to perform brilliantly, he might have been surrounded by the media and could not take care of himself. Now that we finally have an opportunity, how can the media let it go?

Gao Xiaodong could only tell his teammates that this was all media hype and that he had no intention of leaving. He also wanted to play at Manchester United for a few more seasons.

But it's all in vain. Even if Gao Xiaodong personally said that he would not leave, his teammates would still be dubious. Unless the contract renewal negotiations between Gao Xiaodong and Manchester United come to a conclusion, there will be news about Gao Xiaodong's transfer or not.

Ferguson has rich experience and has experienced this kind of thing a lot. Players want to make more money, the club does not want to spend more, and he does not want to get involved unless it affects the team's record.

Manchester United has just eliminated the defending champion in the Champions League. Their morale is high and their confidence is high. Fans believe that playing against Bolton is a great opportunity to widen the points gap with Chelsea, because this round Chelsea and Manchester City will play.

But after the game started, Manchester United fans discovered that Bolton was not easy to play.

Bolton are on the edge of the relegation zone. The situation is very dangerous. Even if they face the powerful Manchester United, Bolton will never surrender. They played very tenaciously and actively at Old Trafford, hoping to get a valuable goal. point.

Ferguson deployed the centre-back combination of Smalling and Evans, forward Hernandez partnered with Rooney and Valencia, and Gao Xiaodong partnered with Scholes and Carrick in the center to launch a strong attack on Bolton.

But in this game, forward Hernandez was in poor condition, and Evans and Smallin in the backcourt were also unreliable. The midfielder led by Gao Xiaodong had to help his teammates attack forward and wipe the center back's behind. , it was like being a father and a mother at the same time, and the beating was very uncomfortable.

However, the most uncomfortable thing for Manchester United was the penalty made by the referee Marriner. In the 32nd minute of the game, he missed Cahill's handball. Five minutes later, Cahill flew to tackle Evans with both feet, and Marriner did not touch Cahill. I will not take any punishment.

In the second half, Bolton, with the referee's connivance, played more roughly. Ferguson and the players frequently protested to no avail.

Unable to crack the opponent's "tortoise shell", Manchester United's players became more and more impatient. In the 64th minute of the game, Evans tackled Davis head-on in front of the penalty area. Davis' leg was hit by Evans' shoe spikes. After creating a gap, referee Marriner sent Evans off with a direct red card and sent Ferguson to the stands for applauding him.

With nearly 30 minutes left, Manchester United had to fight with ten men. Fans thought that Manchester United might be in trouble. Bolton also tried to counterattack, changing the plan of getting one point into three points, but with one less player, Manchester United's magic was unleashed. He just pressed Bolton and continued to attack.

In the 86th minute of the game, Berbatov, who had just come on as a substitute, took a left-footed long shot from outside the penalty area and was saved by Bolton goalkeeper Jaaskelainen. The ball fell to Berbatov's feet. He shot again outside the penalty area. Bolton goalkeeper Jaask Lai Po missed the ball, and Gao Xiaodong suddenly stepped in and succeeded in making a supplementary shot, turning the score into 1-0 and giving Manchester United the lead.

Bolton then launched a massive counterattack, but Manchester United used their experience to delay the game and finally won Bolton in a thrilling home game.

In another focus game, as Chelsea defeated Manchester City 2:0, they continued to chase Manchester United with a 6-point gap, while Arsenal was tied by West Brom, and the points gap with Manchester United widened to 10 points. Basically, The chance to compete for the championship has been lost.

PS: Happy New Year, brothers. 17 years have finally passed. In the new year, I wish you all good luck and all your wishes come true.