Chapter 753 Half of the Country

Bruno scored twice, Manchester United reversed Liverpool 2:1!

This news quickly fermented in the British and even European football circles, attracting the attention and heated discussions of fans all over the world. Everyone was shocked by Manchester United's tenacity in the game, especially when Liverpool scored a goal first, the Red Devils were able to withstand the pressure and scored two goals to reverse the opponent.

However, this news was soon overshadowed by another piece of news, that is, the list of the 2019 European Golden Ball Award was announced!

On the afternoon of October 21, Central European Time, the football magazine "French Football" under "L'Equipe" announced the 30 candidates for the 2019 European Golden Ball Award. Manchester United became the club with the most selected players, including Bruno, Harry Kane, Mbappe, Rashford, Gundogan, Kante, Luke Shaw, Maguire, Van Dijk and De Gea, accounting for one-third of the list, almost the entire Manchester United team's main lineup.

The Premier League, which swept all four teams in the European finals last season, became the biggest winner of this list. In addition to the 10 players from Manchester United, there are also seven Premier League players selected, including Salah, Mane, Arnold, Alisson, Firmino from Liverpool, De Bruyne from Manchester City, and Son Heung-min from Tottenham.

In fact, another Real Madrid player Hazard who was selected for the big list was also selected for his outstanding performance at Chelsea last season.

In this way, there are a total of 18 Premier League players selected, accounting for 60% of the entire big list!

The strength of the Premier League in the past year has once again been best reflected!

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In the middle of the week, the European war started again, and Manchester United played at home against Atalanta, the Serie A team that is currently at the bottom of the group.

Last season's Serie A dark horse suffered two consecutive defeats in the first two rounds of the group stage. After losing 0:4 away to Dinamo Zagreb in the first round, they lost 1:2 to Ajax at home in the second round.

During the game, Bruno met an old friend, his teammate Muriel in Udinese. After leaving Udinese, the Colombian striker moved to Sampdoria, Sevilla, Fiorentina and other teams, and then joined Atalanta this summer.

Muriel is not the main striker in Atalanta, but he has performed well recently, so he got the chance to start in today's game.

At the Millennium Stadium, Atalanta suffered another disastrous defeat. Mbappe scored a hat trick and Harry Kane scored twice. Manchester United defeated the real blue and black 5:1.

Although Bruno did not score in the game, as Manchester United's offensive organizer, he sent four assists.

The group stage schedule has just passed the halfway point, and Manchester United has formed a leading trend in the group, leading the group standings with a 5-point advantage. Ajax and Dinamo Zagreb both achieved a record of 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss. Dinamo Zagreb ranked second with a goal difference advantage, and Ajax ranked third temporarily.

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At the weekend, the Premier League ushered in the 10th round of the game. Manchester United played against the newly promoted Norwich at Carrow Road.

Manchester United lost only once in the last 6 games against Norwich, and won all the other 5 games. In the 16 Premier League matches between the two sides, Manchester United won 12, drew 1 and lost 3, including 3 wins in the last 4 away games at Carrow Road. This is the 68th match between the two sides in history. Previously, Manchester United had the upper hand with 37 wins, 13 draws and 17 losses.

Norwich is currently in a very bad situation. In the first 9 rounds, it only achieved 2 wins, 1 draw and 6 losses, ranking 19th in the standings, and is the team with the most losses among the 20 Premier League teams.

At Carrow Road, Manchester United relied on its strong strength to take the lead after the start of the game and suppressed the home team.

Manchester United took the lead in the 21st minute. Cantwell failed to clear the corner kick, and Harry Kane shot from behind him from 14 yards into the lower right corner.

Manchester United extended the lead in the 29th minute. Godfrey fouled Mbappe in the penalty area and Bruno scored a penalty kick. This is Bruno's 13th league goal this season and his fifth penalty kick this season.

Manchester United extended the lead in the 33rd minute. Mbappe made a diagonal pass from the right in the counterattack. Rashford, who successfully countered the offside, pushed the ball into the net from 14 yards, changing the score to 3:0.

Manchester United scored another goal in the 44th minute. Fred's volley from the outside was blocked by Cantwell's hand. Bruno scored twice from the penalty kick and scored his sixth penalty kick of the season.

Manchester United entered the halftime break with a huge advantage of 4:0, which is also the biggest score of Manchester United after the end of the first half this season.

Manchester United sealed the victory in the 73rd minute. Harry Kane passed forward, Rashford made a wonderful pass with his heel, and Harry Kane shot into the net from a small angle on the left side of the small penalty area, 5:0.

Norwich saved face in the 88th minute. McTominay, who came on as a substitute, lost the ball in the midfield. Hernandez dribbled into the penalty area and shot low into the net from 14 yards, changing the score to 1:5.

In the end, Manchester United beat Norwich 5:1 away and led the Premier League standings with 10 consecutive wins.

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In the middle of the week, Manchester United ushered in the fourth round of the League Cup and challenged the Blues Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Mourinho made a large-scale rotation in the game, and Bruno sat on the bench.

At Stamford Bridge, Rashford became a hero. He first took a penalty kick and broke the deadlock. In the second half of the game, Batshuayi equalized the score, and Rashford then scored a world wave from a free kick to help Manchester United take the lead again.

In the end, Manchester United successfully advanced to the quarterfinals of this season's League Cup.

In the subsequent quarter-final draw, Manchester United got a good draw, and the opponent was Colchester United, which is currently ranked ninth in the English League.

It can be said that this is the most uneven match in the history of the League Cup.

The participating teams of the League Cup are 92 teams from the four levels of the Premier League, the Championship, the English League One and the English League Two, that is, a competition participated by all the professional teams in England.

In theory, the most uneven ranking between the two teams can be 91, that is, the Premier League top team against the second-ranked team in the English League Two. But this situation is basically impossible to happen. After all, the Premier League teams participating in the European war have to participate in the third round. Before that, it is difficult for the bottom team of the English League Two to survive the first and second rounds.

In fact, it is difficult for the English League Two team to enter the third round, let alone survive until the fifth round.

Although Colchester United performed mediocrely in the English League Two this season, ranking only ninth after 16 rounds of the league, with almost no hope of promotion, they performed very bravely in the League Cup. In the first round, they defeated Swindon, the top team in the English League Two, and defeated Premier League teams Crystal Palace and Tottenham in penalty shootouts in the second and third rounds. In the fourth round, they were lucky to encounter another English League Two team Crawley, and Colchester United won 3:1.

However, their good luck ended here, because they encountered Manchester United in the quarter-finals. It is almost impossible to defeat Manchester United at the Millennium Stadium and enter the League Cup semi-finals.

After all, the rankings of the two teams differ by 75 places!

The other three groups of duels are Aston Villa at home against Liverpool, Manchester City away against the English League One team Oxford United, and Everton at home against Leicester City.

Obviously, the two Manchester City giants are the lucky ones in the League Cup quarter-finals, and both encountered very weak teams.

………………In the first game in November, Manchester United challenged Bournemouth away.

At Dean Court Stadium, Manchester United encountered a tough battle.

Mourinho rotated Manchester United's starting lineup again because they had to travel to Italy in the middle of the week to face Atalanta in the Champions League group stage.

In the first half of the game, although Manchester United attacked like a tide, they failed to break through the goal of the Cherry Army. Instead, at the end of the first half, Bournemouth's counterattack penetrated the Manchester United goal guarded by De Gea.

In the 45th minute, Adam Smith made a cross from the right side of the penalty area. Manchester United's old player Joshua King chested the ball and then turned his back to Dalot, and finally volleyed into the net at the edge of the small penalty area.

After the start of the second half, Manchester United's performance was still sluggish, while Bournemouth showed an excellent competitive state and continuously threatened Manchester United's goal. If it weren't for De Gea's heroic performance and consecutively saved the shots of Fraser, Joshua King and Harry Wilson, Manchester United might have suffered a miserable defeat away from home.

It is said that those who survive a disaster will have good fortune in the future. Seeing the bad situation, Mourinho made continuous substitutions. In the 60th minute of the game, Bruno, Harry Kane and Gundogan all took to the field. Mourinho used up all three substitutions at once.

After completing the substitutions, Manchester United began to suppress Bournemouth on the field and equalized the score in the 82nd minute of the game. Bruno's diagonal pass penetrated Bournemouth's defense, and Greenwood volleyed with his left foot from the right side of the small penalty area.

One minute later, Gundogan passed the ball, and Harry Kane shot hard in front of the penalty area, penetrating the goal guarded by Ramsdale.

Manchester United scored two goals in 2 minutes and reversed Bournemouth away.

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On November 6, in the fourth round of the Champions League group stage, Manchester United challenged Atalanta away.

Since Manchester United is currently 5 points ahead of Ajax and Dinamo Zagreb in the standings, and Ajax and Dinamo Zagreb will face off again in this round, as long as Manchester United can beat Atalanta away from home, they will definitely be able to advance to the knockout stage two rounds in advance.

At the Gaves Stadium, Manchester United got off to a dream start. In the first minute of the game, Kane made an assist, and Rashford shot with his right foot in the center of the penalty area, and the ball flew into the lower right corner of the opponent's goal. Atalanta 0:1 Manchester United.

Manchester United, who took the lead, turned the tables on the away field and continuously threatened Atalanta's goal.

In the 29th minute, after receiving a pass from Bruno, Rashford shot with his right foot in the center of the penalty area, and the opponent's defensive player blocked the ball.

In the 30th minute, Manchester United took a corner kick. After receiving a pass from Mahrez, Gundogan shot with his right foot on the right side of the penalty area, and the ball was slightly higher than the crossbar.

In the 34th minute, after receiving a pass from Harry Kane, Mahrez shot with his left foot in the center of the penalty area, and the opponent's goalkeeper saved the ball in the lower right corner of the goal.

In the 40th minute, Bruno shot with his right foot outside the penalty area, but the opponent's defender blocked the ball.

Under Manchester United's strong offensive, Atalanta's defense finally made a mistake. In the 42nd minute, Ilicic handballed in the penalty area, and Manchester United got a yellow card package. Bruno took the penalty and hit it easily.

2:0, Manchester United expanded its lead.

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Perhaps the advantage of two goals made Manchester United relax a little after the start of the second half, which gave the home team a chance.

In the 48th minute, Gomez made an assist through a cross from the side, and Pasalic headed the ball in the center of the penalty area, and the ball flew into the lower right corner of the opponent's goal. Atalanta 1:2 Manchester United.

This was the last goal of the game. In the subsequent games, neither side made any progress. The score of 1:2 was maintained until the end of the game. Manchester United defeated Atalanta away and won four consecutive victories in the Champions League group stage.

Due to another game in the group that was held at the same time, Dinamo Zagreb tied Ajax 3:3 at home. After 4 rounds of group matches, Manchester United led Dinamo Zagreb and Ajax by 7 points. Not only did they advance to the round of 16 two rounds in advance, but they also locked the first place in the group.

More importantly, Manchester United extended their unbeaten record in the Champions League to 30 games!

Starting from the first round of the Champions League group stage in the 2017-2018 season, when they won 6:0 at home against Qarabag, Manchester United remained unbeaten in the subsequent 30 Champions League games, which brought them two Champions League titles and a place in the Champions League knockout stage.

However, except for Manchester United, who was far ahead in the group, the other three teams still had the hope of qualifying. Even Atalanta, who lost four games in a row, had not completely cut off the hope of qualifying from the group. After all, they will directly face Ajax and Dinamo Zagreb in the last two rounds. As long as they win two games in a row and Manchester United does not let up in the next two rounds of the group stage, Ajax and Dinamo Zagreb will suffer two consecutive defeats. In that case, Atalanta will come from behind and rank second in the group with 6 points, thus obtaining another qualification for the knockout stage.

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After returning to the UK from Italy, Manchester United will face Brighton in the 12th round of the Premier League at the weekend. They will play at home.

This is also the last game before the third international match day of this season.

Although they only fought a fierce battle on the Apennine Peninsula on Tuesday night, Mourinho still played the main force in this game.

Brighton is currently ranked ninth in the Premier League and has performed well. They once won 3:0 against Tottenham at home and also beat Everton 3:2. Mourinho dare not be careless.

Manchester United took the lead in the 17th minute. Bruno drove straight into the middle and passed the ball to the left after halfway. Rashford passed the ball back from the left side of the penalty area. Bruno shot from 14 yards and hit Stephens and deflected into the net.

Manchester United expanded the score in the 19th minute. Fred made a free kick from the right, Maguire headed the ball, Harry Kane shot from close range, and Propper, who hurried back, blocked the ball into his own goal before the goal line, and the score was rewritten to 2:0.

Brighton scored a goal in the 64th minute. Gross took a corner kick and Dunk headed the ball from the edge of the small penalty area to score 1:2.

Manchester United widened the gap again in the 66th minute. Fred passed the ball directly, Mbappe broke through the left side of the penalty area and was blocked and passed back. Rashford shot into the upper corner from 12 yards, locking the score at 3:1.

In another focus game at the same time, Liverpool won 3:1 at home against Manchester City and continued to chase Manchester United by 3 points.