Chapter 708 Chaos
Back in England, Manchester United ushered in the 34th round of the Premier League on the afternoon of April 13, playing at home against the Hammers West Ham United.
Because they had just fought a fierce battle with Barcelona at the Camp Nou three days ago, Mourinho made a large-scale rotation of Manchester United's starting lineup. Except for Bruno and De Gea who continued to start, the other 9 players did not start.
West Ham United is currently ranked tenth in the standings, but it is only 5 points away from the seventh-placed Wolves, so West Ham United has the hope of hitting the seventh place.
This season, Manchester City won the League Cup and the Champions League, and the FA Cup is also likely to be fought between the two Manchester City giants, so the seventh place in the league this season has the hope of qualifying for the Europa League next season, so except for the big6 teams, the competition for the seventh place among the other teams is very fierce.
If the full lineup was played, West Ham United might not have any idea about this game, but because Manchester United had to fully prepare for the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals with Barcelona, they had to play this league with a substitute lineup, which gave West Ham United hope of defeating Manchester United away.
In fact, this West Ham United is still very strong. The goalkeeper is former Arsenal goalkeeper Fabianski, and the defense line includes former Manchester City defenders Zabaleta, Masuaku, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Winston Reid, Diop and other strong players. The midfield has talented new stars Declan Rice, Felipe Anderson, Lanzini, Obiang, Noble, Wilshere and other generals. There are also former Manchester United players Hernandez, Arnautovic, Liverpool former players Andy Carroll, Antonio and Yarmolenko on the front line.
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In the away game, West Ham United, led by Pellegrini, had a momentum of turning the tables after the opening, and they were not at a disadvantage at all. They even scored a goal in the 10th minute of the game with a header from Little Pea, but it was cancelled due to offside.
After overcoming West Ham United's opening three-pronged attack, Manchester United began to control the situation and scored the first goal in the 19th minute of the game. At that time, Bruno was on the side in Manchester United's attack, Mahrez passed back, Snodgrass tackled Mata on the edge of the penalty area, and Bruno took the penalty kick and scored.
This was Bruno's 30th consecutive penalty kick in his career, continuing to break his record of consecutive penalty kicks.
In the subsequent game, Lanzini's free kick from 25 yards was blocked by the wall, and Anderson's header from the front point slipped out of the goal during the corner kick attack. Bruno's two shots in the penalty area were blocked. McTominay passed the ball, Dalot's diagonal shot from the right side of the penalty area missed the far corner. Mata passed the ball, Mahrez's shot from a small angle on the left side of the penalty area missed the near corner. McTominay's powerful shot from the edge of the penalty area was blocked, and Smalling's header from 12 yards in the corner attack missed the goal.
The two sides were tied 0:1 in the first half, with the visiting team Manchester United leading.
Shortly after the start of the second half, West Ham United equalized the score. In the 49th minute, De Gea threw the ball to launch a fast break, but the West Ham United players saw through his purpose in advance. Rice intercepted and intercepted in time, Lanzini passed the ball from the left side of the penalty area to the far point, Rojo missed the defense, and Anderson shoveled the ball from the right side of the small penalty area into the near corner.
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Afterwards, the two sides continuously deployed their troops. On the Manchester United side, Rashford, Greenwood and Herrera successively took to the field. On the West Ham United side, Pellegrini also sent Antonio, Arnautovic and other offensive players to strengthen the offensive.
West Ham United, who equalized the score, was in high spirits and launched a crazy attack on Manchester United's goal at the Millennium Stadium.
West Ham almost overtook in the 76th minute. Noble passed the ball, Antonio shot from the edge of the penalty area and hit the crossbar. Anderson shot from the left side of the penalty area and was confiscated by De Gea.
In the 78th minute, Antonio headed the rebound ball in front of the small penalty area and was saved by De Gea.
It is said that there will be blessings after surviving a disaster. Manchester United, who escaped a disaster, quickly surpassed the score. In the 80th minute, Mahrez broke into the penalty area with a single knife and was tackled by Fredericks who had just replaced Zabaleta. The referee awarded a penalty again. Bruno scored twice from the penalty kick, rewriting the score to 2:1.
This is also the first time in Bruno's career that he scored twice from a penalty kick in the league. Previously, in the 2016-2017 Europa League group match against Fenerbahce, Bruno had a record of scoring twice from a penalty kick.
After scoring this penalty, Bruno has scored 12 penalties this season, 9 of which occurred in the Premier League, 2 in the Champions League, and 1 in the FA Cup.
This penalty was also the last goal of the game. Manchester United finally defeated West Ham United 2:1 and continued to lead the Premier League standings.
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It is mid-April and the Premier League has already played 34 rounds. Even if some teams have postponed the game, they only have 5 league games left, such as Manchester United and Manchester City. But in any case, the Premier League has entered the end of the season.
Unlike the championship situation in other mainstream leagues that has become clear early, the current situation in the Premier League is still very tense.
At present, the Premier League standings are as follows.
Manchester United has 28 wins, 4 draws and 1 loss, scored 95 goals and conceded 33 goals, with a goal difference of 62, and ranks first with 88 points;
Liverpool has 26 wins, 7 draws and 1 loss, scored 77 goals and conceded 20 goals, with a goal difference of 57, and ranks second with 85 points;
Manchester City has 26 wins, 3 draws, 4 losses, 86 goals scored, 24 goals conceded, 62 goals difference, and 81 points, ranking third;
Tottenham has 21 wins, 2 draws, 10 losses, 64 goals scored, 34 goals conceded, 30 goals difference, and 65 points, ranking fourth;
Arsenal has 20 wins, 5 draws, 8 losses, 65 goals scored, 45 goals conceded, 20 goals difference, and 65 points, ranking fifth;
Chelsea has 20 wins, 5 draws, 9 losses, 57 goals scored, 38 goals conceded, 19 goals difference, and 65 points, ranking sixth;
The competition in the Premier League is actually the competition among the BIG6 teams. Among them, the three Northwest powers Manchester United, Liverpool and Manchester City compete for the league championship, and the three London powers Tottenham, Arsenal and Chelsea compete for the remaining Champions League qualification.
In the meantime, the points gap between the three Northwest powers and the three London powers is very obvious. Manchester City is 16 points higher and has already secured the Champions League qualification in advance. The three London powers can only compete for the remaining Champions League qualification.
Of course, since both Arsenal and Chelsea are still in the Europa League, it is actually possible to compete for the Champions League qualification by winning the Europa League.
As for Tottenham, they have an advantage in the Champions League quarter-finals against Manchester City. They beat Manchester City 1:0 at home in the first leg. It is also possible to win the Champions League to ensure the Champions League qualification for next season.
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When Manchester United defeated West Ham United in the league with difficulty, Barcelona's performance in La Liga was even worse.
Due to the 1:3 defeat to Manchester United at home in the first leg, Barcelona was forced into a desperate situation. Valverde had to line up a substitute lineup in the away game against Huesca at the weekend to save strength for the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals next week.
As a result, the contest between the Premier League's top and second-placed teams ended in a 0:0 draw.
Such a result is difficult for Barcelona fans to accept. After all, Huesca is a La Liga promoted team. This season, it has been deeply trapped in the relegation zone for a long time. Even since the 8th round of La Liga, it has been firmly ranked last in the standings. Its position is as stable as that of Barcelona, which is at the top.
This season, there is a joke in Spain that there are two most stable positions in La Liga, one is Barcelona at the top, and the other is Huesca at the bottom.
As a result, the match between the top team and the bottom team ended with a score of 0:0, which is simply a shocking upset.
Even if Barcelona played with a substitute lineup, Barcelona's strength is completely superior to Huesca.
This result has increased the pressure on Valverde. More and more Spanish media have begun to call for Valverde to leave.
There are even media reports that the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals with Manchester United is the last chance for Barcelona management to leave Valverde. If Barcelona loses again in the game, this game may be the last game Valverde coaches Barcelona.
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Being tied by the second-in-command of La Liga, Barcelona has undoubtedly pushed itself into a desperate situation. Not only in the Champions League, but also in La Liga.
As long as they take another step back, there will be an extremely dangerous abyss behind them.
But Valverde said in an interview with the media that the team did not have enough time to be frustrated, because they were about to face the focus of the second round of the Champions League quarter-finals, and they had to do their best to prepare.
The Barcelona coach even said without any concealment: "In the Millennium Stadium, we must attack with all our strength."
Both the Catalan media and the British media unanimously agreed that Valverde would adopt a 3-4-3 formation.
Because he deliberately honed this set of play when he played against Huesca.
In response, Valverde did not give a direct response, but said: "Manchester United's home record is very good, so all the pressure of this game is on Manchester United, and Barcelona has no pressure."
Yosi also said in an interview with the media that he no longer cares about other things, and only thinks about one thing, that is, how to help the team beat Manchester United away and advance to the semi-finals.
Suarez, Coutinho, Pique, Busquets and other players also accepted media interviews and publicly expressed their confidence in winning a reversal away from home and helping the team advance to the semi-finals.
Barcelona's technical director Abidal said he hoped to see Manchester United continue to defend at home.
"If they only want to keep the score of 3:1, then we will feel very fortunate because our chance has come! With our offensive ability, it is not impossible to score three goals away from home!"
But soon, the British media said that Abidal was deliberately playing psychological warfare.
When Barcelona's provocation was sent to the UK, Manchester United's players also responded one after another.
"I looked at Barcelona's starting lineup against Huesca. They did not arrange the main force. Obviously, they gave up this key league and paid more attention to our opponent."
Red Devils coach Mourinho said in an interview with the club's official website: "We must be well prepared and face this challenge with a positive attitude. We have a good chance in the Champions League. I firmly believe that the team can advance."
Captain Bruno also said that the first round of the game has enhanced Manchester United's influence in world football.
"Before the game, everyone thought Barcelona would beat us, but through this game, we sent a signal to the world that we have enough strength to beat all opponents, even Barcelona at Camp Nou!"
Bruno also called on the players to play at their best level and focus on every minute of the game, just like they did at Camp Nou, because Barcelona will not surrender easily.
"We should forget the 3:1 first-leg score and focus on the second leg."
Manchester United striker Harry Kane also said in an interview: "Barcelona is indeed very strong, but I want to say that at home, whether it is Old Trafford before or the Millennium Stadium after the New Year, we have not lost to any team in the past three seasons."
In addition to Bruno and Harry Kane, Manchester United players have also expressed their determination to win a victory at the Millennium Stadium, even if the opponent is Barcelona, which is going all out.
When announcing the team's 18-man list to England, Valverde responded to Mourinho's provocation and even felt a little angry.
"I like to compete with such a team because their head coach seems to know everything, but generally speaking, people who know everything often know nothing."
Valverde even rarely pointed the finger directly at Manchester United and Mourinho himself. He believed that Mourinho's Manchester United tactics were too simple.
"Just watching a few games, you can know how they play. Mourinho is a coach who is famous for his defense. His Manchester United is also a team that started with defense. The discipline is good, but there will be no surprises. I don't think I need to find out how to beat them, because I already know enough."
The verbal battle between the two head coaches before the game undoubtedly ignited the war between the two teams.
The media around the world have also paid attention to this focus battle.
Barcelona is the first six-time champion team, and since then they have been called the universe team. And last season, Manchester United swept England and Europe, becoming the second six-time champion team in the history of European football, and some people began to call Manchester United the new universe team.
Now, the duel between the old and new universe teams, the contest between the two superstars Bruno and Yosi, the fight between the gorgeous offensive football and the iron-blooded disciplined team, this is definitely the most eye-catching game in the world.
Manchester United's tactics will not change too much, and basically continue the first round of the game. Mourinho is convinced that no matter how Barcelona adjusts, it will never leave two key points.
Busquets is responsible for organization, and Yosi is responsible for offense!
As long as these two points are controlled, Barcelona will be strangled.
But no matter what, the competition between the two teams has already attracted the attention of fans and media reporters all over the world.