Chapter 532: The Old Trafford Tragedy

Although in the 76th minute, Robben scored another goal for Bayern Munich with a corner kick, but it didn't help.

In the end, Manchester United defeated their opponents with a disparity of 6:2 at home and advanced to the semi-finals of the Champions League with a total score of 8:4.

So humiliated, Van Gaal hardly wanted to attend the post-match press conference.

When he came to the press conference with a livid face, Ferguson greeted him quite gracefully, and then said: "Before this game, we made sufficient preparations, and we knew we could win. Some unforeseen circumstances made it easier for us to win than expected."

"Thanks to the boys for their dedication to this game. It can be seen that each of them is 100% dedicated. They strictly implemented my tactical requirements, and even did better than I requested."

"If we can maintain the state of this game, I believe that the championship is not far away from us. No matter who the opponent is, we are fearless."

After Ferguson finished speaking, Van Gaal said blankly and without any emotion: "Congratulations to Manchester United, they have entered the top four. We lost, and there is nothing to say about the loss. The boys worked hard enough, I have nothing to blame them Yes. If I have to blame anyone, I will blame myself. My tactics have gone wrong and I didn’t pay enough attention to Ricardo; Union Stadium."

"Ricardo has achieved the limit of what a player can do. I have nothing to say if I lose to him like this."

...

After the game, the German media was full of grief. This "Old Trafford tragedy" was enough to nail Bayern Munich to the pillar of shame for 100 years.

"This is the overall backwardness of German football. This season, no German team has broken into the top four of the Champions League. We have been far apart by La Liga and the Premier League. The Football Association must reflect and reform immediately." Some media analyzed it this way. .

But some media just wailed: "We just lack a player of Ricardo's level. Ricardo, Kaka, Messi, Ronaldo, as long as we buy any one of these 4 people, we have The ability of other European giants to compete."

The views of the two factions collided with each other, and neither of them accepted the other.

The English media was naturally elated.

In football, England and Germany are blood feuds. Since the war of the century in 1966, the two teams have had an indelible grudge.

Every time English football is hit,

The German media are happy to add insult to injury.

While German football suffered setbacks, the British media also had to gloat.

Not to mention, this time is the victory of the British giants against the German giants.

The British media was as excited as when Manchester United reversed Bayern Munich to win the Champions League final in 1999. They talked about the backwardness of German football and the rise of English football.

"The Premier League has become the best league in the world, and we have attracted the best players in the world," the mainstream media BBC announced triumphantly. (Ricciardo and Ronaldo took away the title that should have belonged to Liverpool and Manchester United), but this day must not be too far away, and now Manchester United has enough strength to compete for the honor of English football."

"A player of Ricardo's level has joined the Premier League," the Sun reported in a rare and serious tone, "proving that the Premier League is attractive to top stars. We are already the number one league in the world, and now we only need a Champions League trophy to prove it." at this point."

The hot discussions outside are still going on, and Manchester United has already invested in intense preparations.

Ferguson is very satisfied with the team's victory, and he is even more satisfied that no players were injured and they can face the next challenge with a complete lineup.

On April 11, Manchester United challenged Blackburn away. Ronaldo returned to the starting list again.

At the beginning of this season, Ferguson was very satisfied with Ronaldo, but then Ronaldo suffered constant injuries, gradually lost his form, and his status in Ferguson's mind also declined sharply.

Ferguson even regretted spending astronomical salary to introduce Ronaldo.

After this game, he regretted it even more. Ronaldo wasted two one-on-one chances, and the team finally shook hands with Blackburn 0:0 away.

In the locker room after the game, Ferguson tactfully criticized Ricardo: "You are an outstanding player. I think you should be more confident. Sometimes, you don't need to pass the ball. You should solve the battle yourself."

In his opinion, if Ricardo hadn't been trying to feed Ronaldo, Manchester United would have had a chance to win the game.

Fortunately, in another key game, Chelsea was unexpectedly tied by Bolton at home, and the points gap between them and Manchester United remained at 4 points. With only 3 rounds left in the league, this point difference is desperate enough.

On April 17, Manchester United challenged Manchester City away, Ronaldo was taken from the starting list again, and Owen made his debut.

Aspiring to enter the league and qualify for the Champions League, Manchester City played very tenaciously, using the advantages of the home court to create murderous opportunities many times, while Manchester United stood against strong opponents, looked very tired, and was suppressed on the field. In the end, with Ricardo's free kick before the end, Manchester United won 1-0 with difficulty.

Chelsea lost 1:2 away to Tottenham Hotspur. The point gap has widened to 7 points. As long as Manchester United wins the next round of the league, Manchester United will be able to win the championship trophy two rounds in advance.

On April 19, Manchester United ushered in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, and their opponent was Everton.

Considering that the next game will be against Lyon at home, they should have a greater chance of winning, so after careful consideration, Ferguson decided to put in some effort to compete for the FA Cup.

He did not send all the substitutes and youth players, but used half of the main force and half of the substitutes. Ronaldo was able to return to the starting lineup again, Scholes unexpectedly played the midfielder, Park Ji-sung played the left winger, and Valencia ushered in The long-lost opportunity to play right winger.

Everton is very tenacious in the game, but they have not brought out all the main players. They are currently ranked 8th in the league, only 1 point away from 7th, and they still have a chance to compete for the Europa League qualification, so their focus It is to enter the European war, and the FA Cup is just for fun.

After all, Manchester United is superior, and the depth of the bench is much stronger than Everton, so they firmly occupy the initiative of the game, but they have not scored.

In the 60th minute of the second half, Ferguson played Ryan Giggs and Ricardo in one breath, and Ricardo played the midfielder. And these two also opened the door to victory for Manchester United.

In the 74th minute, after Ricardo dribbled the ball in the middle to attract the attention of several defensive players, he stuffed the ball through the gap and delivered it to the left side of the penalty area. Giggs followed up with a shot in time to bring Manchester United a valuable goal. The 1:0 score was also maintained until the end. Manchester United entered the FA Cup final and will compete with Chelsea for the championship.