Chapter 723: A Tale of Three Cities

May 12, 2019.

All ten matches of the 38th and final round of the Premier League will kick off at 3 pm local time in London.

At 1 pm, almost two hours before the game, Manchester United fans were already queuing up to enter the stadium.

The official website of Manchester United called on fans to come to the Millennium Stadium to cheer for the team and fill the stadium to prepare for the club to win the league championship three times in a row after a lapse of ten years. This will be the 23rd time that Manchester United has won the English top league championship, and it will also be the 16th Premier League championship in the club's history.

This call on the official website of Manchester United was sourly accused by some media as being arrogant, because there was no need for the club to call at all, and all the tickets for this game were sold out half a month ago.

Even the tickets for the cheapest seats with bad locations and obstructed views have now been hyped up to a high price of 200 pounds, but they are still out of stock.

According to the prediction of The Guardian, if Manchester United wins the championship on the day of the game, nearly 500,000 Manchester United fans from all over the world will rush to Cardiff City.

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As the undisputed overlord of the Premier League era, Manchester United is not only the Premier League team with the most fans, but also the Red Devils' number of fans is second to none in the entire world football. Only super giants such as Real Madrid and Barcelona can barely compete with Manchester United.

Another point is that Manchester United is the most widely supported in the British upper class.

The reason why Manchester United is widely supported in the British upper class is partly due to its historical achievements and influence.

The history of Manchester United can be traced back to 1878. It was originally an amateur team composed of railway workers. Although it was not glorious in the early days, the Munich air crash in 1958 made Manchester United the focus of national and even global attention.

Since then, Manchester United has rebuilt and achieved great success under the leadership of Sir Matt Busby, including the victory of the European Cup in 1968, which gradually made Manchester United a giant team in England.

After entering the Premier League era, under the leadership of Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United won 13 league titles in 20 years, becoming the undisputed overlord of the Premier League, and won two Champions League titles, truly becoming a world-class giant, and expanding Manchester United's influence to the world.

According to the Sun, the VIP box of the Millennium Stadium that night will be full of celebrities.

This is the foundation of the giant team!

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At two o'clock in the afternoon, one hour before the start of the game, Manchester United's bus had arrived at the Millennium Stadium. They were warmly welcomed by the fans outside the stadium, and huge cheers resounded from the stadium.

The big screen inside the stadium also broadcast the arrival of the team bus, which attracted huge cheers from the audience.

The team captain Bruno got off the bus first, followed by De Gea, Harry Kane, Rashford, Mbappe, Kante, Maguire, Van Dijk, Luke Shaw and other players.

Mourinho and the coaching staff got off the bus last. Manchester United's head coach did not accept media interviews, but he made a "V" gesture to the camera, which immediately caused excited shouts from fans at the scene and in front of the TV.

Then, the scene changed, a police car led the way, followed by a vehicle with the logo of the English Football Association, slowly arriving at the Millennium Stadium. Several English Football Association staff got off the car. One of them pushed a silver-gray travel safe from the car, and several staff members guarded the safe and sank deep into the stadium passage.

Then, the staff arrived at a house. One of them entered the password, opened the safe, took out a guy with a black hood, and put it in the middle of the table.

The black hood was removed, revealing the true face inside, which was the Premier League championship trophy that had arrived at the Millennium Stadium.

Seeing this scene, huge cheers resounded throughout the stadium.

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Mourinho did not have a smoking addiction, but at this moment he was hiding in the bathroom of the stadium and smoking to relax his tense nerves.

Since taking over as the coach of Manchester United, although he has led the team to win countless championships and honors in the past three years and has become the undisputed top coach in the world of football, Mourinho has also been under tremendous pressure.

As the head coach of Manchester United, a world-class football giant, he is always in the spotlight of the world, and his every word and action is watched by the world.

Although he has achieved great success, it is a huge pressure for everyone.

This can also be clearly seen from his graying hair.

Mourinho put out the half-smoked cigarette, turned on the faucet, washed his face, wiped it with a towel, and turned back to the locker room.

Mourinho clapped his hands, signaling everyone to stop what they were doing and listen to him.

"Although the media are hyping this game, saying how crucial and important it is. But..." Mourinho raised his voice and said loudly, "I still want to say that what they said is not entirely correct."

"This is our championship night!" Mourinho waved his right fist, "It's that simple!"

After encouraging the players, Mourinho left the locker room and left the locker room to the players.

Bruno began to communicate with his teammates until someone knocked on the door of the locker room, reminding them to go out and prepare for the game.

At 15:00 GMT on May 12, 2019, amidst the huge cheers inside and outside the Millennium Stadium, the referee of this game, Anthony Taylor, blew the whistle to start the game.

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“GOOOOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!”

There was a huge cheer in the stands of Anfield Stadium.

Just in the 17th minute of the game, Liverpool led Wolves 1:0 with Mane's goal.

On the field, Liverpool players were celebrating the goal enthusiastically; in the stands, 50,000 Liverpool fans cheered loudly.

Klopp did not get up. He sat in the coaching seat and turned his head to ask, "How is Manchester United?"

He did not ask about the situation on Manchester City's side. Before the game, Liverpool's points were 1 point higher than Manchester City's. This confirmed that as long as Liverpool won, they would definitely suppress Manchester City, so Klopp only cared about the situation on Manchester United's side.

"Manchester United is still 0:0."

Klopp nodded and said nothing. The game had just started for 17 minutes, and it was too early to say anything now.

………………

Brighton Yuntong Community Stadium.

"Liverpool scored a goal, and the goal was scored by Mane." Arteta said to Guardiola.

The Spanish bald man nodded expressionlessly, and then asked: "What about Manchester United?"

Arteta said: "It's still 0:0."

Guardiola nodded and said nothing.

Among the three teams, Manchester City's situation is the worst, and their conditions for winning the championship are very harsh: first of all, they must hope that Manchester United cannot win, which is the most important prerequisite; then Liverpool cannot win either, in which case, Manchester City will win the championship if they win.

So, in practical terms, for Manchester City to win the championship, two conditions must be met at the same time: Manchester United does not win, and Liverpool does not win.

This is too difficult!

………………

Manchester City took the lead in the 28th minute.

At that time, Laporte passed the ball to David Silva after dribbling forward. Silva sent a wonderful pass with his heel. Aguero, who successfully countered the offside, shot low from the top left corner of the small penalty area. The ball went through the legs of Brighton goalkeeper Ryan and went into the net.

Guardiola stood up and applauded.

"What's the score on Liverpool's side?" Guardiola asked Arteta.

He actually knew that Liverpool should still be leading 1:0, but he still wanted to ask, hoping to hear a sudden change, such as Liverpool being equalized by Wolves.

"You asked me if it was 1:0 before." Arteta blinked, "Now it's 2:0, Mane scored twice."

Guardiola: ...

Well, whether Liverpool is leading 1:0 or 2:0, it doesn't mean much to Manchester City.

Of course, Guardiola still expects Wolves to fight for their reputation. The gap between the two goals is not particularly large. Wolves can still give Manchester City and Guardiola certain expectations and fantasies.

As the biggest dark horse in the Premier League this season, Wolves have created quite a few upsets this season. In the third round, they tied Manchester City 1:1, in the 12th round, they tied Arsenal 1:1, in the 15th round, they beat Chelsea 2:1, in the 20th round, they beat Tottenham 3:1, in the 30th round, they tied Chelsea 1:1 again, and in the 31st round, they beat Arsenal 3:1...

This is a strong team.

Guardiola is most worried about Manchester United. If Manchester United wins, everything will be in vain.

And with the strength of Cardiff City, it is really hard for people to have expectations...

………………

At the same time, the cheers at Anfield were deafening.

In the 31st minute of the game, Matip made a steal, Arnold made a diagonal pass, and Mane scored a header from the edge of the small penalty area, changing the score to 2:0.

This is Mane's 22nd league goal this season, tied with Salah for third place in the Premier League scorer list, second only to Bruno and Harry Kane.

Liverpool fans were very excited. They cheered not only for the team's expanded lead, but also because Manchester United was still tied with Cardiff City at 0:0 at the Millennium Stadium.

If Manchester United and their opponents draw, Liverpool will win the championship with a 2-point advantage.

Klopp was in a very good mood.

"It's still 0:0 for Manchester United," asked the famous German coach.

"Yes, 0:0," said the assistant who was listening to the live broadcast of the game with headphones.

Suddenly, he frowned and said, "There is a goal, Manchester United scored."

Klopp: ...

Almost at the same time, Guardiola also asked Arteta what the score was for Manchester United.

Arteta said, "It was 0:0, which was good, but it became bad when you asked, and now it has become 1:0."

Guardiola: ... (I have a sentence MMP and I don't know if I should say it or not)