Chapter 692: The Miserable Soldier

On the evening of March 12, local time in the UK, at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals between Manchester United and Schalke 04 has begun.

Schalke 04 was undoubtedly forced into a desperate situation due to a 2:3 loss at home in the first leg. They have no choice but to beat Manchester United away.

Tedesco, who led Schalke 04 to create miracles last season, has been struggling in the relegation zone and on the edge of the season since the beginning of the season due to five consecutive defeats in the Bundesliga this season.

Now, the Bundesliga has played 25 rounds, and the miners, who have 23 points, are only ranked 14th in the Bundesliga, 4 points higher than the relegation zone, and the pressure to stay in the league is still huge.

In the German media, rumors about Tedesco's imminent dismissal have long been heard.

The only reason for Tedesco to stay in the coaching position is that the miners performed well in the Champions League and advanced to the knockout stage.

It can be said that the Champions League is Tedesco's lifeline. If the miners are eliminated by Manchester United, Tedesco, the hero of last season, may be dismissed at any time.

So in this game, Schalke 04 launched a siege on Manchester United from the beginning, hoping to score as soon as possible and equalize the total score.

Embolo was pushed to the front, Konoplyanka, Bentaleb and Bugstähler were behind him, and McKennie and Serdar were double defensive midfielders.

This set of play emphasizes Embolo's retreat to get the ball and the organization, as well as the other players' quick diagonal insertion behind him.

………………

Manchester United also made full preparations for this game. Mourinho even thought of Schalke 04's opening attack. So at the beginning of the game, when Schalke 04 launched a large-scale offensive against Manchester United, the Red Devils were more defensive.

In this game, Mourinho continued to use the double defensive midfielder combination of Gundogan and Kante, Bruno appeared in the front midfielder position, and the front trident was replaced by Mbappe, Harry Kane and Mahrez.

Kante and Gundogan did not disappoint Mourinho. They blocked Schalke 04's attack after the game started. The miners could not break Manchester United's defense and could only shoot from the outside.

In the first ten minutes, Schalke 04 had three or four long-range shots, which were taken by Serdar, Embolo and Bentaleb, but none of them created a threat. All three shots missed the goal.

Especially Bentaleb's shot in the eighth minute flew directly into the stands.

After enduring Schalke 04's opening attack, Manchester United gradually stabilized their position and began to plan a counterattack.

After all, Manchester United played at home today. Although their victory in the first round away from home has laid a huge advantage for promotion, if possible, they will not give up the game at home.

Especially since they lost to Arsenal three days ago, ending the team's 69-game unbeaten record in the Premier League. If they lose again today, it will be two consecutive defeats in all events.

This is a situation that Mourinho, Manchester United, and even Manchester United fans all over the world do not want to see.

………………

At the beginning of the game, Schalke 04 players launched a crazy attack on Manchester United and frequently created killing opportunities. Goalkeeper De Gea became the busiest player on the back line.

But with Gundogan, Kante and Bruno in the front of the penalty area, Schalke 04 can only threaten through long shots. Although Manchester United's defense and De Gea did not make mistakes, it still gave people a feeling of being in a precarious situation.

Especially when Schalke 04 launched an attack on the left, Konoplyanka hung the ball into the penalty area, De Gea quickly abandoned the goal and took the ball out of the air before Bentaleb, which made everyone sweat.

Then, De Gea had no extra time to think, and kicked the ball forward with a big foot. He wanted to pass it directly to the left to find Mbappe, but at this time, Mbappe was still in his own half and could not catch up at all. The ball went out of bounds and became Schalke 04's out-of-bounds ball.

This was a mistake made by Manchester United. De Gea made a mistake in a hurry. Although it did not cause any losses, it also caused the team to lose the ball.

The Spanish goalkeeper raised his left hand high and apologized to all his teammates.

Bruno clapped his hands vigorously, encouraging his teammates not to be discouraged. As long as they can hold on for this period of time, the team will be stable!

Everyone in Manchester United was mentally prepared for this situation. Mourinho said before the game that Schalke 04 is likely to attack. And this period of time may be ten minutes, or fifteen minutes, or even longer, it may be twenty minutes.

Tedesco has been standing on the sidelines since the start. When he saw De Gea kick the ball out of bounds, he couldn't help but applaud and cheered: "Great! That's it, keep putting pressure on them!"

………………

After Tedesco shouted, he turned around and walked towards the visiting team's coaching bench.

The opening attack was his game strategy, the purpose of which was to disrupt Manchester United's rhythm.

Manchester United's home stadium is the most terrifying devil's home stadium in European football in the past three years, and has never been breached. Although the stadium has changed from the former Theatre of Dreams Old Trafford to the current Cardiff Millennium Stadium, the color of the devil's home stadium has not faded at all.

If Schalke 04 wants to create a miracle in the Champions League and complete a reversal on the road, they cannot play according to Manchester United's rhythm, otherwise they will have no chance.

"Mourinho obviously guessed that we would attack, so even though it was a home game, their start was relatively stable." Assistant coach Peter Perchtold held up a notebook filled with various notes. The little book said to Tedesco, "The midfielder controlled by Gundogan, Kante and Bruno is quite outstanding. This midfielder is definitely the top in Europe."

Tedesco couldn't help nodding. He also observed that Manchester United's midfield is very stable and very solid.

"Then we can only go to the side, and then switch back to the center from the side." Tedesco said.

"That's right." Peter Perchtold agreed.

Tedesco looked at the other assistant next to him, Joseph Eshkorn, and asked: "Joseph, it's almost ten minutes, do you think you can continue?"

"I think I can hold on for at least another five minutes, maybe even ten minutes," Eshkorn said.

………………

Manchester United is in a similar situation to Schalke 04. Both teams played a difficult matchup three days ago. The Red Devils went to the Emirates Stadium to challenge Arsenal, while Schalke 04 traveled to Werder Bremen.

Both teams suffered defeats. Manchester United was defeated 0:2, ending their 69-game unbeaten record; while Schalke 04 was defeated 2:4, only scoring 23 points in 25 rounds, and could fall into the league at any time. The possibility of being in the relegation zone also pushed Tedesco into a desperate situation.

The German media are saying that if Tedesco cannot defeat Manchester United in the away game today and break into the Champions League quarterfinals, then this game with Manchester United will be his last game coaching the Shakhtar.

Tedesco nodded and turned around, continuing to look at the court.

In the targeted tactics he deployed before the game, Manchester United's two most threatening players are Harry Kane and Bruno.

Harry Kane is the captain and main center of the England national team and one of the top shooters in world football today. What’s even more frightening is that Harry Kane is also very flexible, has quite good foot skills, and his tactical role in the frontcourt is becoming more and more obvious, especially between him and Bruno, as well as his strike partners Rashford and Mbappe. The cooperation between them is becoming more and more tacit.

Not to mention Bruno, the first man in the world's football world, the man who ended the Melo era. He is also Manchester United's most threatening attacker. He has superb personal ability and is very comprehensive. He can play any position in the frontcourt. Create deadly attacks from any angle.

Although Tedesco said before the game that he would not deploy targeted defensive tactics against Bruno, in fact, everyone knows, how is this possible?

If you don't guard Bruno, how can you guard Manchester United's offense?

Double midfielders McKennie and Serdar, as well as Bentaleb, who can also play as a defensive midfielder, these three players are the weapons Tedesco uses to restrict Bruno.

Judging from the start of the game, all three of them did a good job and did not give Bruno a chance.

"If we continue to play like this, we can at least get away with a draw!" Tedesco said with confidence.

………………

Being suppressed within half court, Manchester United looked a bit embarrassed. Bruno also had to return to the half court to respond, and even helped his teammates defend.

During a defense, Burgstaller's dribbling was intercepted. Bruno quickly caught up with the ball, avoided Burgstaller's counterattack, and drove horizontally to the center.

McKennie was very close and immediately moved over to defend.

Bruno has been training in whack-a-mole games in a systematic simulation training ground for more than six years. The purpose is to imitate defenders who suddenly appear on the court, so when he saw McKennie approaching, Taking advantage of the trend, he led to the middle and forcibly got rid of McKennie.

After getting rid of two defensive players, Bruno suddenly changed direction and drove the ball towards the goal.

But at this time, Schalke 04's other defensive midfielder Serdar, as well as central defender Stambouli, and McKennie, who had just been thrown away by him, quickly surrounded him and surrounded him. middle.

This made Bruno feel like he was being caught in a trap, but he quickly found a path to pass the ball and immediately passed the ball back to the left. Unfortunately, Harry Kane did not understand his intention and pulled over in time to meet Bruno. After passing the ball, Vanhomoet quickly returned to defense and directly cleared the ball with his big foot.

Although Manchester United's attack failed to create a threat, Bruno's continuous dribbling breakthroughs still won a burst of warm applause from the stands. Manchester United fans were obviously very satisfied with his performance.