Chapter 619 The Battle for the Top Spot

On the evening of February 16, QPR, with its youth lineup, reversed Barnsley 2:1 at home and successfully advanced to the FA Cup quarterfinals.

On the evening of February 20th, QPR visited Turk Telekom Stadium to challenge Galatasaray.

In the winter transfer window, Galatasaray introduced Sneijder and Drogba, greatly increasing their strength.

With Sneijder, Drogba, Yilmaz, Altentop, Muslera and other famous players, Galatasaray will never give up easily.

Moreover, Galatasaray's home stadium has always been known as "hell". Playing in such an away game is a great psychological test for QPR players.

In the 12th minute of the game, Galatasaray took the lead and scored.

Drogba scored the ball in the frontcourt, Selkuk passed the ball, Yilmaz lifted the ball with his heel and passed two defenders, and then fired a powerful shot from the penalty spot, breaking Handanovic's ten fingers!

This is Yilmaz's seventh Champions League goal this season. He and Ronaldo are tied for second in the Champions League scorer list. The first place is Liccardo, who has scored 9 goals in 6 games.

QPR's morale was completely suppressed. Galatasaray played better and better at home, especially Drogba, who constantly threatened QPR's goal.

In the 18th minute, Sneijder sent a through ball, Drogba broke in and fired with his left foot, but Handanovic made a great save and saved his inevitable shot from the bottom line.

In the 21st minute, Drogba took the ball and moved it to the right. Altentop volleyed hard from the edge of the penalty area and hit the crossbar, scaring the QPR fans from afar into a cold sweat.

In the 38th minute, Drogba once again sent a wonderful pass. Yilmaz shot hard with his left foot in the penalty area. This time it was Handanovic who made the contribution again, magically lifting the ball over the crossbar.

If it weren't for Handanovic's heroic performance, QPR would have been three or four goals behind.

It was not until 40 minutes later that Galatasaray's physical fitness declined and QPR found some opportunities.

In the 42nd minute, Neymar broke through from the right and sent a cross. Klose headed the ball towards the goal. Muslera threw the ball away, but Nainggolan who followed up missed the shot and missed the opportunity to equalize.

However, in the first minute of stoppage time, QPR played a skilled counterattack. Modric's long pass directly found Klose. Klose sent the ball behind him. Ricardo used his speed to throw off the defense and get in to catch the ball, forming a 2-player 2 situation.

In front of the goal, he broke through Nokowu and sent a low pass to the goal. Neymar easily pushed past Muslera and equalized the score for QPR.

In the second half of the game, Galatasaray continued to press QPR. First, Drogba almost scored with a header from Amrabat's cross, and then Bastos' long shot hit the post again.

At the end of the game, Drogba showed his monster attitude and used his body to carry the two of them to send a wonderful pass. Yilmaz broke into the penalty area and shot hard. Handanovic once again saved the ball and tried to keep the goal. .

In the end, QPR got a draw on the road and scored a valuable away goal.

Although the process is not very pretty, the result is good.

QPR returned to London non-stop and began to prepare for the game against Manchester United three days later.

The British sports media has reached a fever pitch. This game, which is related to the championship situation this season, has touched the hearts of all English fans.

Manchester City and Chelsea have fallen far behind. Manchester City is 15 points behind Manchester United and QPR with one game less, and Chelsea is 18 points behind. They are destined to be unable to pose a threat to QPR and Manchester United.

The winner of this game will take the initiative in the championship battle.

The two teams were also troubled by the Champions League competition. QPR experienced a tough battle at the Turk Telekom Stadium, and Manchester United also struggled with Real Madrid at the Bernabeu. Neither team was able to play at their best.

Relatively speaking, Manchester United's lineup may be more complete, and their main players have no injuries.

On the QPR side, Modric was injured against Galatasaray and Nainggolan also suffered an ankle sprain.

Although he insisted on playing the entire game, it is still unknown whether he can play against Manchester United. Ronaldo is injured, Fernandinho is suspended due to accumulation of yellow cards, and Ricardo is also slightly injured. The situation is quite serious for QPR.

"Manchester United is a great opponent. Although this game is our home court, we are missing several generals. Modric, Nainggolan, Ricardo and Ronaldo are all unable to play, so we will still focus on defense. Lord, strive for a draw," Simeone said at the pre-match press conference.

"I don't believe a single punctuation mark of Simeone's words," Mourinho commented. "It's hard to say between Modric and Ronaldo. Ricardo will definitely start in the game. Just wait and see."

Gary Neville said in an interview: "Manchester United is very stable this season and is in excellent form. But we cannot underestimate QPR. Under the leadership of Ricardo and Simeone, QPR has only lost 2 games this season. Now. The problem is that if one side loses in this game, it is likely to be demoralized and lose the entire season. Therefore, I think Manchester United must first defend well in this game and ensure that there is no Losing and drawing are acceptable.”

Liccardo said: "Manchester United has never been an easy opponent to deal with. In the first round of this season, we drew a draw, which basically reflects the strength comparison between the two sides. I'm not sure I can win in this game. Whether I can play or not depends on the team doctor’s diagnosis, but I believe that whether I can play or not, we will not lose.”

On February 23, at 15:00 pm London time, the Loftus Road Stadium was packed with 16,000 QPR fans and 2,000 Manchester United fans coming to watch this top-of-the-table battle.

Outside the stadium, there were more than 20,000 QPR fans and thousands of Manchester United fans who failed to buy tickets and could only watch the big screen outside the stadium.

Ricardo is already considering plans to expand Loftus Road or build another stadium.

The existing stadium can no longer meet the growing demand of fans.

This season, QPR has sold 16,000 season tickets, and there are still a large number of fans who want to buy season tickets, but they cannot sell them because they must reserve tickets for the away team.

Loftus Road is already saturated.

However, the team's current economic situation can only reach break-even, and Liccardo does not have the extra financial resources to build a new stadium.

It can only be accumulated for a few more seasons.

Looking back on the court, Manchester United deployed a 442 formation today, with goalkeeper De Gea, defenders Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic and Evra, midfielders Carrick and Giggs, and Nani and Ash on both sides. Leigh Young, forward Robin van Persie paired with Hernandez.

On QPR's side, Simeone deployed an aggressive 4231 formation today, with goalkeeper Courtois, defenders Alex Sandro, Alderweireld, Miranda and Walker, and midfielder Pogba paired with Nairobi. Ingeland, attacking midfielder De Bruyne, Ricardo on the left, Neymar on the right, and lone forward Vardy.

The war is about to break out.