Chapter 861 Evenly Matched?

April 3rd.

"Man City swept Crystal Palace 4-0 to reach the top, Guardiola claims he is not afraid of challenges"

"On the eve of the Battle of the Kings, Manchester City is in good condition, and Akun scores another hat trick"

April 4th.

"Herrera scored twice, Best added the icing on the cake, Manchester United defeated Aston Villa 3-0 to return to the top of the standings"

"In the season between Manchester City and Manchester City, the difference in points is 3 points with one game less, and the goal difference is 38"

"Best looked solemn and kept silent during the Manchester derby"

April 7th.

Manchester United legends Scholes and Gary Neville are two big mouths questioning the FA's schedule arrangements. Manchester United will play 4 games in the next 10 days, two Champions League quarter-finals, a Manchester City derby, and one more It’s a red-blue battle against Chelsea.

April 9th.

Aguero, who surpassed the second-placed Griezmann in the scorer list with 6 goals, claimed that he has no interest in the Golden Boot award and is only interested in the league championship.

That afternoon, Thomas Muller responded that it was because Manchester City had been eliminated from the Champions League and FA Cup, and you could only pursue the league championship...

April 10th.

Manchester United and Manchester City announced their squads, and to the surprise of the outside world, Luke Shaw finally returned after more than five months.

That night, fans from both sides clashed in a bar in the city. Three Manchester City fans and two Manchester United fans were beaten until their faces were covered in blood. They were all sent to the hospital. Manchester police detained as many as 12 fans from both sides. .

April 11th.

"The Sun" revealed that Manchester City fans set fire to Best's posters in the bar, which led to the conflict between the two sides. However, the Manchester City fans present claimed that there was no such thing.

Kompany denounced Best as the trigger of the bloodshed, and Phil Jones responded hard, asking how much Manchester City is afraid of Best...

April 12th.

In the square outside Old Trafford, Manchester United fans openly displayed banners.

"You are not welcome here."

Until an hour before the game started, hundreds of Manchester City fans were blocked from entering the stadium.

Manchester police sent a large number of riot police officers with police dogs to put pressure on the fans inside the stadium, and mounted police patrols were arranged outside the stadium.

In the Battle of Tianwang Mountain, the atmosphere has already exploded in advance, and the war is about to break out.

In this case, Lineker and Alan Hansen's live show was brought forward.

"The starting list is out." Lineker waved his hand. "There are not many surprises."

"Manchester United starting lineup, De Gea, Coleman, Alderweireld, Phil Jones, Ashley Young, Schneiderlin, Best, Herrera, Griezmann, Luka Library, Thomas Muller.”

"This is basically Manchester United's strongest lineup. Fletcher was supposed to start, but he was red carded and suspended." Today's guest, Scholes, commented: "Herrera's appearance gives the midfield more control, but Lack of speed up front.”

"Haha, you have better control..." Another guest Carragher laughed: "In the last Manchester derby, Manchester United's ball possession rate... Hahaha!"

"Ahem, Mane, Januzaj and Shaqiri are all sitting on the bench. This is indeed questionable." Lineker looked down and said, "Looking at Manchester City, there are basically no surprises."

"Bravo, Walker, Otamendi, Kompany, Kolarov, Fernandinho, JD, David Silva, Aguero, Sterling and Douglas Costa , this lineup has started four consecutive games in the league, and Guardiola has not made any adjustments."

"The only problem for Manchester City is confrontation ability." Carragher commented: "Jingdongan is very helpful in organization, midfield control, and back-row attack, but his confrontation ability in the midfield is not strong. Manchester United has Opportunity to find a breakthrough from him.”

In the Manchester United dressing room.

Sun Wu pursed his lips at the screen, "Look! Just like what Mauricio said, Jingdongan is something we can use."

Herrera nodded vigorously but his eyes wandered. He was given a tactical lesson by Jesus and Sun Wu yesterday.

In the Manchester City midfielder, Fernandenho and David Silva have relatively fixed positions. The former is responsible for transfer, defense, defense and filtering, while the latter is the key figure most likely to deliver threatening balls for Blue Moon. .

But between the two generals in front and back, JD plays a mediating role. He can effectively turn Manchester City's midfield into an organic whole. His flexible movement and ability to go up and down make Manchester City The organization has become more efficient, and this is a star that has been ignored by the media.

But after taking a tactical class and carefully studying Jingdong's movements, Herrera was not confident that he could contain the opponent.

Pochettino stood in the middle of the locker room and once again explained the details of the game one by one. The players below all looked serious. Everyone knew what it meant to win this game and what it meant to lose this game...

As the leader walked out of the locker room, Sun Wu's eyes met with Kompany's opposite. The former had a smile in his eyes, while the latter had no expression on his face.

"Okay, the players from both sides have appeared." Zhan Jun, who comes to every Manchester derby, said loudly in the commentary box: "Both captains Kompany and Sun Wu led the teams out of the player tunnel."

I have to raise the volume. The noise was too loud. Fans from both sides had been fighting for more than half an hour. Riot police were deployed twice. There was even a Manchester City fan who sneaked into the stadium with his butt naked and fought with a police dog. Came for a 50-meter race.

"We saw Hiddink in the stands and Manchester United will play Chelsea in the next round of the Premier League."

"That game happened to be between two rounds of the Champions League. Manchester United's recent schedule has been called a devil." Zhang Lu said with a wry smile: "Fortunately, the weakest team, Monaco, was drawn in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, otherwise Manchester United might have collapsed. That year This is how Queiroz's Real Madrid collapsed."

"In this game, Pochettino continued to use the attacking combination of Sun Wu, Griezmann, Thomas Muller, and Lukaku." Zhan Jun shook his head and said: "Except for Lukaku, the other three are in good condition. , but the question is also here, whether their physical fitness can hold on."

Kompany won the coin toss and opted to take the kick-off.

"Okay, the game has officially started. The referee on duty is the famous Premier League whistle Atkinson. He has officiated two games each of Manchester United and Manchester City in the first half of the season. The Manchester City duo won all four games."

"Manchester City did not try to take a big shot, but passed the ball back to the defense." Zhang Lu smacked his lips. "In the first half of the Manchester City Derby, Manchester United's ball possession rate was only 36%."

Sun Wu immediately observed Jingdong'an's position. The German midfielder and Fernandenho were very close to each other, basically in parallel positions.

Turning back to look at David Silva, this little magician appears in the right midfield. Seven or eight meters ahead is the ribs. That is where Silva, the midfielder, can exert his greatest power.

Sun Wu directed the team to set up a defensive line, but Manchester City took the time to test the attack again and again, passing the ball from the left to the center, then to the right...and then the other way around again.

This is to observe the position of Manchester United's defense through horizontal organization to see if any obvious loopholes can be found.

The 22 players on the field were very aware of the significance of this game, and everyone was very cautious. The first shot did not appear until the 11th minute.

Douglas Costa made a direct pass to Walker who was on the edge. He suddenly cut inside and dodged Sun Wu who was returning to defend. He curled the ball with his left foot, but De Gea was very focused and hit the ball out of the baseline with his fists.

Manchester United's first shot came in the 16th minute. In the frontcourt of Manchester City, Jingdongan's free kick was of low quality and failed to cross the wall. Lukaku protected the ball and split the ball. Griezmann made a long-distance pass and Sun. Wu's shot from the penalty area was also saved by Bravo.

"It looks evenly matched." Mortensen commented: "Although Manchester City's ball possession rate is obviously much higher, judging from the status of the players on the field and the effective offensive data of both sides, it is indeed evenly matched."

But if Sun Wu is asked to evaluate, the word must be enclosed in double quotation marks. He clearly realizes that Guardiola's tactics are very, very sophisticated, and are specifically designed to restrain Manchester United's oppressive defensive system.

Repeated tentative through balls and lateral transfers gradually caused gaps to appear in Manchester United's center. The most obvious proof is that Sun Wu, who retreated from the position, sprinted to complete the powerful shot from the front, even better than Luka. Library is further forward.

Manchester United may not slip through this gap, but it is likely to cause a chain reaction.