Chapter 975 Raul Breaks the Record

Veltins Arena

More than 60,000 fans were staring at the stadium intently, giving out one or two deafening applause and cheers from time to time.

Blue team flags and large and small banners almost covered the entire stand. Among them, a giant banner nearly ten meters long and several meters wide was particularly eye-catching.

This banner reads: Create a miracle! We have awakened all the energy! Schalke 04 must win! "

The support of the fans is the best stimulant. After returning to the home court, with the support of more than 60,000 fans, the Schalke 04 players really seemed to have awakened all their energy and suppressed Manchester United at halftime at home. friction.

The game has been played for 30 minutes. Facing the powerful Schalke 04, Manchester United has few shooting opportunities and mostly defends in its own half.

However, Manchester United coach Ferguson is still sitting firmly on the coaching bench with a relaxed expression. He is leading by three goals at home. Although he is very passive now, he has not lost a goal. The initiative and psychological advantage of promotion still lies with Manchester United.

Schalke 04 head coach Rangnick, known as the Bundesliga professor, was different from his usual calmness. He kept dancing towards the court and shouting a few times.

For Rangnick, he doesn’t want the scene to look good now. What he needs is to score. He must score one in the first half so that there will be hope in the second half. If he cannot score in the first half, Schalke 04 will be nothing in the second half. Hope.

In a VIP box in the stands, Bayern coach Magath and chairman Rummenigge were also watching the game between Manchester United and Schalke 04.

Bayern and Manchester United are divided into half zones. Manchester United beat Schalke 04 5:2 in the first round, while Bayern defeated Chelsea 1:0 away from home. Manchester United and Bayern have the best hope of advancing to the semi-finals, so Magath personally came to Felting. Si watched the match between Manchester United and Schalke 04 to prepare first-hand information and prepare for the semi-finals.

Seeing Manchester United being beaten by Schalke 04 in the first half, Magath looked solemn and said: "Ferguson is really an old fox. He has such a huge advantage, but he is still so low-key, willing to let a team like Schalke 04 Hit with pressure."

Rummenigge was stunned and said: "You mean Ferguson did it on purpose?"

Magath said: "It should be that Schalke 04 is ranked 14th in the Bundesliga and is a relegation team. Manchester United also has the ability to suppress Schalke's offense in the away game, but Manchester United did not do this."

Rummenigge sighed: "When people get old, they want stability. The Ferguson who snatched the Champions League title from us was not like that."

Magath said: "Manchester United is difficult to beat. Their three lines are all very strong. Their weakness is that some positions are aging and it is difficult to withstand repeated attacks from their opponents."

Rummenigge said: "How about we face them?"

Magath said: "The outcome is unpredictable."

Magath saw where Manchester United's weaknesses were, and so did Professor Rangnick.

Manchester United left back Evra, center back Ferdinand, midfielder Scholes, and center Berbatov. These four are all over 30 years old. Their condition and strength cannot be compared with their peak years, but they are in the Manchester United team. But they all play a very important role.

Now Rangnick's goal is to attack these four positions, hoping to use physical fitness and strength to break down Manchester United's defense.

A year ago, there would have been no problem with Rangnick's tactical design, because at that time, Scholes' role in organizing and dispatching in the middle was irreplaceable. But after spending a lot of money to buy Gao Xiaodong in the summer, the all-round Gao Xiaodong can completely replace him. Scholes organizes the schedule, so Scholes rotates frequently this season. In this game, Manchester United is based on counterattack. Gao Xiaodong's main task is to defend, and most of the organization and scheduling are left to Scholes, but now Schalke 04 is pressing Scholes and not letting Scholes get the ball. Coles played a bit awkwardly under the constant pressure from his opponents. Gao Xiaodong immediately got into position and began to take over the team's offensive responsibilities, putting pressure on Schalke 04.

Scholes and Gao Xiaodong now have an increasingly tacit understanding of cooperation. Gao Xiaodong's conditions,

He immediately retreated to assist Fletcher in defense.

Gao Xiaodong's premise is fine. Manchester United's first half today is for stability, but that doesn't mean they don't need to attack. Even the iron barrel formation must have a certain counterattack ability, otherwise the opponent will continue to attack. Even a good defense can't stop it.

Although Gao Xiaodong can not only organize and dispatch, but can also penetrate forward and shoot from long range, which poses a greater threat, Schalke 04 has no way out at this moment. Even if Manchester United attacks more powerfully, they must attack, and even attack harder. fierce.

Under Schalke 04's desperate attack, Scholes's defensive strength and speed were not as good as Gao Xiaodong's. There was not enough pressure on Schalke 04's offensive players. Raul, Edu and others gradually got better shots. Chance.

Now Ferguson was a little anxious. With less than ten minutes left in the first half, Ferguson would rather not score than concede a goal in these ten minutes.

When Gao Xiaodong served a throw-in, Ferguson told him to reduce his forward penetration, come back to defend, defend the first half, and then counterattack in the second half.

Seeing the fierce attack of their opponents, Scholes and Evra were a little unable to hold on. Gao Xiaodong had no choice but to retreat, assist the back line in defense, and changed his counterattack method to long passes to find Berbatov.

After Gao Xiaodong retreated, Manchester United turned into a three-back midfielder covering the front of the penalty area, almost indistinguishable from the iron barrel formation. Schalke 04 had a chance to take the ball from the wing, but it was very difficult for the midfielder to advance forward and attack. The offense is basically just behind the times and poses no real threat to Manchester United's goal.

The first half of the game came to an end quickly. Neither side scored a goal. The referee gave 1 minute of stoppage time. Generally speaking, this minute of stoppage time does not have much effect. Manchester United players They all hope to end it as soon as possible, go back to rest, and regain the bad temper and face they suffered in the first half in the second half.

But the Schalke 04 players didn't think so. They urgently needed a goal and they didn't want to go back to the locker room with a 3-goal deficit.

When the stoppage time was about to pass, seeing the referee holding the whistle in his mouth, Manchester United's defensive players relaxed a little, feeling that the game was almost over and they could call it quits.

But at this time, the Schalke 04 players did not consider time. When the referee was about to blow the whistle, they not only did not relax, but intensified their attack.

Schalke 04 suddenly exerted force, and Manchester United's players were a little absent-minded. As a result, tragedy happened.

Schalke 04 midfielder Baumjohn suddenly pulled wide when receiving the ball. He quickly changed direction with the ball and walked towards the baseline.

Evra and Nani both came to defend, but Baumjohn gave up and passed directly from the right side of the wing. Jurado passed through the middle and the ball penetrated both Manchester United's defense lines. Raul suddenly came over from nowhere and hit Van der Sar with his right foot 8 meters from the door on the right side.

1 to 0!

Raul scored the 71st goal in the Champions League, breaking the personal scoring record in the Champions League, helping Schalke 04 take a 1-goal lead at home, and also tied Shevchenko with 18 Champions League knockout goals. nt

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