Chapter 504: Devil’s Home

When the game resumed, the hymns for Bruno could still be clearly heard.

Bruno used the time to celebrate the goal to constantly remind his excited teammates that the game had just begun and it was not the time to celebrate. Leading by two goals is not a big advantage when the opponent is a team of Roma's level.

To win the game, you have to keep this lead until the end. So now is not the time to relax. If you want to win, just keep playing like this!

The reason why Bruno attaches so much importance to this Roma is that in his memory, Roma's combat effectiveness in the Champions League this season is really not weak. In the group stage, they beat Chelsea to rank first in the group, and won 1 and tied 1 in the two games against Chelsea, and scored 3 goals in both games. In the knockout stage, they fought hard all the way to the semi-finals, and each round of the knockout stage was a classic.

In the quarter-finals against the Ukrainian Super League overlord Shakhtar Donetsk, after losing the first round away, they returned to their home court and tied the total score with a 1:0, and then eliminated the opponent with the advantage of away goals to advance to the quarter-finals.

In the quarterfinals, facing the powerful Barcelona, ​​after losing 1:4 away in the first leg, they turned the tables at home with 3:0 in the second leg, making the former universe team completely become the "king of reversals" and "king of defeats" in football.

Bruno doesn't want Manchester United to end up like Chelsea in the past. He must help Manchester United firmly grasp the victory.

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After the game started, Roma found that the Manchester United they faced had not changed at all. They did not relax because of the two-goal lead, nor did the forwards want to attack and the defenders want to defend, and there was no situation of disconnection between the front and back.

They were still facing the active Manchester United who pressed all over the court and started defending from the Roma penalty area.

Such football made Roma's players very uncomfortable. Once Manchester United grabbed the ball, they launched a quick counterattack on the spot, making Roma run around with them, running from here to there, from the front to the back, and they could not rest at all.

The rest of the first half was always in this situation.

Roma wanted to organize an attack, but was always disturbed by Manchester United. It was not easy to organize it, but the forwards wasted it again.

Perotti and Dzeko could not touch the ball in front, and the two had to take turns to retreat, but with little effect.

Bruno led Manchester United's midfield to cleverly cut off the connection between Roma's midfield and forward. Roma's midfield brain Nainggolan's performance in this game was also average because of the lack of support.

However, Roma's luck was not bad, because Manchester United's several threatening quick counterattacks were either because Manchester United's forwards failed to seize the opportunity or were bravely resolved by Roma's goalkeeper Alisson.

Until the end of the first half, the score did not change, and Manchester United led Roma 2:0.

The statistics of the first half also showed the comprehensive advantage of the home team: Manchester United had eleven shots, Roma only four, and none of them were on target, while Manchester United had four shots on target. The ball possession time was 56% ahead of Roma's 44%.

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Many commentators said: "The Roma players finally waited for the halftime break. I hope that in the locker room, their head coach Di Francesco can make some adjustments to this bad situation..."

This halftime break is indeed a relief for the Roma players. They hope to calmly think about why the first half turned out like this through a fifteen-minute break.

If possible, Bruno hopes that the game will continue like this and there will be no rest until the end of the game. However, the football rules are arranged like this, and he must abide by them.

Back in the locker room, Mourinho praised the team's performance, but he did not praise it too much. Instead, he told everyone: "I only praise your performance in the first half, but it does not mean that you can get carried away in the second half. I hope everyone remembers Istanbul in 2005. In that Champions League final, AC Milan led Liverpool 3:0 in the first half. As a result, AC Milan players who returned to the locker room began to celebrate wantonly. Their voices were so loud that they even passed through the wall and were heard by Liverpool players. So the whole world knew what happened in the second half. Do you want to be a laughing stock in the world?"

"No one wants to!" Everyone replied.

Mourinho nodded and continued: "So the second half should be played like the first half! Unless the final whistle blows, no celebration is allowed!"

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The tactics are right, Mourinho has nothing to adjust, the team just needs to continue playing like this.

But in the next locker room, Di Francesco was not so relaxed. He was disappointed with the team's performance, but he did not yell at the players.

Before taking over Roma, Di Francesco did not have any outstanding resume. He only coached Sassuolo, another Serie A team, for a few years, and his results were not very outstanding.

Therefore, in the locker room of Roma, a Serie A powerhouse, he, as a coach, actually had no authority, so he always kept a low profile.

But facing such a dilemma, he had to do something, right?

He cleared his throat and motioned for everyone to be quiet and listen to him.

The players who were still talking about the first half just now gradually quieted down after a while. Some looked at the head coach, while others simply lowered their heads, not knowing what they were thinking.

"Well, our performance in the first half was... a bit bad." Di Francesco said, while he was paying attention to every Roma player to see if there was anything wrong with their expressions. "I believe you all know that if we continue to be so muddle-headed in the second half, I think we can't win this game. Do you hope... hope that we lose this game away? So we must make countermeasures in the second half. We... we must strengthen our defense against Bruno!"

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Some players who originally turned their heads to look at Di Francesco turned their heads away.

If this goes on, what is the difference from the strategy in the first half?

It is always said that Bruno should be strictly defended, but how to defend strictly? He couldn't say anything.

This made the Roma players very at a loss.

Stroman could only rely on his own foul to stop Bruno, and as everyone saw, the foul gave Manchester United a chance to launch an offensive calmly, which eventually led to the second goal.

The foul tactic is of course a kind of defense, but it is hard to say whether it can play the expected role.

Then Di Francesco shifted the topic to offense. He believed that the key was the team's weak offense, not the poor defense.

As long as the team's goal problem is solved, other problems will be solved.

In a football match, how can you win without scoring?

So you have to score!

He asked Perotti to retreat a little more and connect the midfield and frontcourt. He also noticed that Manchester United's midfield cut off the connection between Roma's forwards and forwards, so he made such a request.

"We must score. As long as we can get a goal back this morning, the initiative of this game will be back in our hands. The leading side is always under great pressure, especially when we are ahead so early. We have a full 45 minutes to catch up, as long as we can score as soon as possible!"

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Di Francesco said so and pursued so.

More than ten minutes into the second half, seeing that the team had not scored yet, Di Francesco made a very unexpected substitution. He replaced Stroman with Florenzi!

This was a substitution to strengthen the offense, but the problem was that he replaced Strootman, the most active and tenacious player in the Roma midfield!

Strootman was a little unhappy when he was substituted, but he still put the overall situation first, took off the captain's armband, handed it to Florenzi, and then trotted off the field without wasting time.

But this substitution was destined to be wrong. Not only did it not help Roma regain the initiative in the game, but it also lost more control.

Without Strootman, Bruno's performance was more comfortable. He played with Gonalons to his heart's content, and he could also show off his footwork when facing Florenzi.

Manchester United regained the upper hand.

Di Francesco also realized his mistake, so he made a substitution adjustment again. In the 65th minute, he replaced Gerson with Lorenzo Pellegrini, allowing Roma to return to the configuration of double defensive midfielders.

Pellegrini is a versatile midfielder who can play as a forward, as well as a front midfielder and a defensive midfielder.

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After Pellegrini came on the pitch, his active running and fierce defense slightly curbed the offensive of Manchester United's midfield, but he could not provide more support for the team's offense.

Due to the previous confused substitution of Strootman, Di Francesco wasted a substitution opportunity. He now only has one substitution quota left. The game is less than 70 minutes. In order to be on the safe side, he must keep this substitution quota, in case a player is injured or falls to the ground due to physical exhaustion and cannot continue the game, so as to make substitution adjustments.

And Perotti's retreat did not help the team connect the midfield and frontcourt. More often, he and Dzeko could only rely on personal skills to seek breakthroughs and shots in Manchester United's defense.

Can Roma still win like this?

As the game time goes on, more and more people raise such questions.

The TV broadcast kept giving Di Francesco close-ups, and his expression gradually became solemn. From the 70th minute, he has been standing on the sidelines and has never returned to the coach's seat.

He anxiously watched the field, sometimes waving his arms and shouting a few words, reminding the players to attack or defend, but it was of no avail.

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In the 80th minute, Di Francesco finally decided to give it a try, and he replaced the veteran Perotti with El Shaarawy.

But there was too little time left for El Shaarawy, the player who even Mourinho was afraid of, only had ten minutes to perform.

In the final moments of the game, Manchester United began to make substitutions, replacing three main players with three substitutes.

And Roma also seized this opportunity, with El Shaarawy assisting Dzeko to score a goal, but this goal could not change the result of the game.

In the end, Manchester United defeated Roma 2:1 at home.

The score looks a bit lackluster, and it even gives people the illusion that Manchester United won by luck, but anyone who has watched the game knows that Di Francesco's Roma is completely at a disadvantage, and it is really lucky to lose only one goal at Old Trafford.

If Manchester United's forwards had better ability to seize opportunities today and the players had better luck, maybe they could have reproduced the famous scene of Manchester United's 7:1 bloodbath of Roma ten years ago.

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After three rounds of group matches, Manchester United has formed a leading position in Group C, the death group, with three consecutive wins. Following closely behind is Roma, who lost to Manchester United in the game. They have 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss and 4 points to rank second.

What was really surprising in this round of matches was another match that ended three hours in advance. Qarabag tied Atletico Madrid 0:0 at home.

As one of the top three teams in the Spanish Super League, the Sheet Army, which has been a force to be reckoned with in the Champions League over the years and has reached the finals twice, actually failed to beat Qarabag away from home!

This made Atletico Madrid only get 2 points after 2 draws and 1 loss after 3 rounds, almost saying goodbye to the competition for the first place in the group in advance.

This situation means that as long as Manchester United beats Roma away in the next round, they can advance to the knockout stage two rounds in advance, or even lock in the first place in the group two rounds in advance.

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The TV broadcast gave Bruno a close-up again.

"Although he didn't score a goal in the game, he is undoubtedly the best player of the game!"

After celebrating the victory, Bruno led his teammates to applaud the fans in the stands and thank them for their support in this game. This victory is the best gift for them.

And Manchester United fans can have a good night again.

The commentator praised Manchester United's home stadium: "Since Mourinho took over Old Trafford, Manchester United has never lost a game in this stadium!"

"During this period, Manchester United played 38 games here, and Mourinho's team achieved a terrifying 35 wins and 3 draws. The last time they failed to win at Old Trafford was on April 4 this year, when they were tied 1:1 by Everton."

"And Manchester United's loss at Old Trafford dates back to the beginning of 2016, in the 2015-2016 season In the 23rd round of the Premier League, they were defeated 1-0 by Southampton at home. Since then, the Red Devils have not lost in all 49 home games! "

"Unconsciously, Old Trafford has restored its former devil's home!"

"Of course, for Mourinho, who once created a record of 150 unbeaten home games in 9 years, leading Manchester United to 38 unbeaten home games is just a piece of cake. We have reason to believe that he can lead Manchester United to create more unbeaten home records!"