Chapter 714 Three Kingdoms War
Confidence is something that is really hard to grasp and build, but once you have it, it is really different.
After the team eliminated Barcelona with a total score of 7:1, Manchester United won 4:0 away against Everton in the 35th round of the Premier League.
Mourinho has tasted the sweetness of the rotation system and continues to rotate the team's lineup. Eight people, including Harry Kane, Mbappe and Rashford, sat on the bench, but Bruno, Maguire and De Gea still started.
Greenwood, Mahrez and Lingard formed a front trident, the midfield was Bruno, Mata and Herrera, and the back line was Maguire partnered with Smalling, Ashley Young and Dalot.
Such a Manchester United team, most of whom were substitutes, was in high spirits and won another hearty victory at Goodison Park.
The two sides fought hard in the first half and the score was 0:0, but at the beginning of the second half, Bruno assisted Rashford to score in just four minutes, opening the scoring for Manchester United.
After that, Bruno's middle lane kept suppressing Everton's defensive strength. In the 56th minute, Mata assisted Rashford to score again in the middle lane.
In the 71st minute, Manchester United scored another goal. This time it was still Bruno who instigated the attack. In the end, Mata's pass broke through Everton's defense and found Harry Kane. The English center easily headed the ball into the goal.
In the 88th minute of the game, Manchester United scored the fourth goal of the game. Bruno passed the ball to the right, Mbappe rushed forward, and after passing the defender and goalkeeper, he sent the ball into Everton's goal.
In the end, Manchester United defeated Everton 4:0 away.
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On the evening of April 24, there were two more games in the Premier League, namely Arsenal away challenge to the dark horse Wolves, and Manchester United home against Manchester City.
These are two make-up matches in the 31st round of the Premier League, and they are also regarded as the key battles for the Premier League title this season.
Before the game, Manchester United, who had one less round, led the Premier League standings with 91 points, while Liverpool followed closely with 88 points in 35 rounds; Manchester City ranked third with 84 points in 34 rounds.
If Manchester United can beat Manchester City at home, they will basically lock in the league championship this season in advance. Because with only the last three rounds left in the league, they are 6 points ahead of Liverpool and have a goal difference advantage.
For Manchester City, this is their last hope to reverse Manchester United, because they are currently 7 points behind Manchester United. If they cannot win, then with only three rounds left in the league, there is only theoretical hope.
Even if they lose away, they will completely bid farewell to the competition for the league championship in advance.
In addition, in the Premier League civil war in the Champions League quarter-finals, Manchester City was eliminated by Tottenham and has missed the Champions League championship this season.
Although they have won the League Cup and reached the FA Cup final, the Abu Dhabi consortium, which has invested heavily in the past few years, can't meet their requirements with one or two domestic cup championships.
So for Manchester City and Guardiola, this is a real do-or-die battle!
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With two consecutive 4-0 wins and 11 unbeaten games in all competitions, Manchester United, with the home advantage, has the momentum to defeat Manchester City and lay the foundation for winning the league this season.
But when the referee blew the whistle after 90 minutes of the game, Bruno could only raise his head helplessly and clearly felt a chill.
Manchester City, which has won ten consecutive Premier League games, is facing the desperate situation of being eliminated from the competition for the league championship, forcing the Blue Moon to take the initiative in the next few games.
Mourinho also expected this, so he focused on defensive counterattacks.
Manchester United launched a wave of attacks after the opening. If they could score a goal, they would be able to play defensive counterattacks more easily.
Bruno's right side frequently created threats. Bruno once passed the ball to the back point, and Rashford headed the ball from close range, slightly brushing the post and going out of the bottom line.
But in the 15th minute, Manchester City seized the opportunity to counterattack and entered Manchester United's penalty area for the first time in the game. Pogba passed the ball, and Bernardo broke into the right side of the penalty area and faced Luke Shaw with a low shot into the near corner.
After the goal, Manchester City celebrated wildly, especially Pogba, who assisted, provoked Manchester United fans in the corner flag area, almost causing a riot.
This was also the only goal of the game.
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After breaking the deadlock, Manchester City firmly controlled the ball under their feet. It was very difficult for Manchester United to even get the ball, let alone break their goal.
Bruno was once again frozen by the opponent throughout the game. Apart from a good pass to Rashford in the opening stage, he did not give any threatening offensive highlights.
In this game, he faced the defensive midfielder combination of Fernandinho and Pogba, as well as the back line of Kyle Walker, Kompany, Laporte and Zinchenko.
After Bernardo scored a goal, Manchester City adopted a ball possession tactic. It was difficult for Manchester United to grab the ball, and Bruno could hardly find even a gap, and he did not get any chance.
Manchester City's ball control is really terrible!
It's so terrible that people can't help but feel desperate!
This is the world's top ball control master Guardiola, who used a group of the world's top ball control players to train the world's top ball control formation!
This is the masterpiece of tikitaka tactics in today's world football!
In addition, these Manchester City players have an extremely strong desire to win. Every Manchester City player runs relentlessly on the court and passes the ball constantly, giving no chance to the Manchester United players to be surrounded by multiple people.
At the end of the game, Manchester City's ball possession rate was as high as 69%!
Bruno was so convinced that he lost!
The only good news is that even if Manchester United loses this game, they still have a 3-point lead in the standings.
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"Hey, buddy, are you okay?" Bernardo Silva walked over and looked at Bruno with concern.
"It's okay." Bruno shook his head.
How could it be okay?
Bernardo Silva also knows in his heart that losing is not pleasant at all.
Bernardo Silva gets along very well with Bruno. He understands Bruno and knows that Bruno may seem humble and low-key on the surface, but in fact he is very strong in his heart and can even be said to be competitive.
"Brother, this is none of your business. You have done your best." Bernardo Silva advised.
"I know." Bruno nodded. The Manchester City in front of them is not inferior to Manchester United at all in terms of player strength or coach's coaching ability. In the confrontation between the two teams, whoever wins is a 50-50 decision, and any result is not an accident.
But even after understanding this, Bruno still felt very uncomfortable.
He doesn't like losing. It can even be said that he hates losing. He wants to win.
The more naturally Bruno behaved, the more Bernardo Silva felt the heaviness and depression in his heart, but there was nothing he could do to help with this kind of thing, and he could only rely on Bruno to adjust and resolve it himself.
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After losing the ball, Bruno was not in the mood to catch up with Bernardo Silva because he saw that many Manchester United players were very uncomfortable.
Losing this game is a very painful thing for Manchester United, because it means that the team's unbeaten record at home has been ended!
Since Mourinho took charge of Manchester United in 2016, Manchester United has not lost at home in a 90-minute game.
The unbeaten record of 84 home games was ended, and the players themselves felt uncomfortable.
The 0:1 loss to Manchester City not only gave Manchester United their second defeat of the season, but also allowed Manchester City, which was about to be eliminated, to rejoin the championship competition. Manchester United had to face Liverpool and Manchester City in the next three Premier League games. The competition between these two powerful enemies.
Bruno was also very depressed. He hated losing more than anyone else, but he had to accept this reality.
"Okay, don't be sad." Bruno walked over and reached out to Maguire who was sitting on the ground.
In this game, the England center back was responsible for marking Aguero and performed well. The Argentine center basically had no good opportunities. However, unexpectedly, Luke Shaw, who had always performed well, failed to freeze Bernardo Silva. .
Maguire grabbed Bruno's hand and got up from the ground, his eyes red.
"Be strong. Losing is not terrible. The most important thing is to learn lessons. If your skills are not as good as others, let's practice again and try to come back for revenge next year." Bruno encouraged.
Maguire nodded vigorously.
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Bruno turned his head and saw a frustrated Luke Shaw. At this moment, the England left back's face did not have the usual relaxed smile, but was replaced by shame and guilt.
"Don't be like this, it's not the first time you've lost." Bruno said with a fake smile.
"Actually... I was a little anxious at the time, I..." Luke Xiao's voice was choked up and he couldn't continue.
He wasn't crying, but he looked miserable.
It is entirely conceivable that he will be criticized by many media and fans after the game.
Bruno patted his shoulder hard and said with relief: "It's okay. If you didn't do it well this time, then try harder. The most important thing now is not the pain and discomfort. We don't have time to stop and lick our wounds slowly. ”
After hearing this, Luke Xiao took a deep breath and nodded heavily.
As time enters the end of April, Manchester United's schedule becomes increasingly cruel. At the weekend, they will face Chelsea at home, followed by two legs of the Champions League semi-finals with Ajax, as well as the last two league games, followed by the FA Cup final. And if possible, the Champions League final.
Therefore, it is useless to say anything now. The most practical thing is to cheer up and play hard.
Bruno turned and walked towards Van Dijk, Gundogan and others.
On the sidelines, Mourinho watched the scene happening on the court silently. Like Faria and Carrick, he was very happy to see Bruno mature.
They all understand Bruno's character and know that at this moment, Bruno is definitely in a worse mood than all the Manchester United players present, but he can still endure the discomfort in his heart and comfort his teammates one by one. This is an improvement.