Chapter 796: Champions League Restart

When the Champions League resumes, Manchester United will usher in the peak showdown with Real Madrid.

In the four Champions League quarter-finals that have ended, the Premier League team has encountered Waterloo.

Although Liverpool defeated Atlanta 1:0 at home in the second round, they dug too big a hole in the away game in the first round and Klopp's team failed to advance to the quarterfinals.

In the duel between Tottenham and Juventus, although they won 2:1 at home, they were defeated 1:0 by Juventus in the away game in the second round and had to be eliminated due to the disadvantage of away goals.

Because they were eliminated early in the league title race, Manchester City, which went all out to fight for the Champions League, fought their way out. They defeated their opponents 3:1 at home in the first leg. Although they drew 1:1 with Naples away from home in the second leg, they still failed to win. Advance to the quarterfinals.

In the showdown between Paris Saint-Germain and Dortmund, the Ligue 1 tycoons had the last laugh. Although they lost 1:2 on the road, they returned to win 2:0 at home to ensure their place in the quarterfinals.

In the remaining four sets of matchups, Manchester United won the first leg 2:1 away from home and took the lead in the two-leg knockout round.

Barcelona played against Benfica, and the 1:1 draw in the away game in the first leg also made them the favorite to advance.

In the strong dialogue between Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid, Bayern won 3:0 away from home in the first leg, almost standing on the doorstep of the quarterfinals.

Chelsea faced Red Bull Leipzig, but unexpectedly lost 0:3 away from home in the first round, with little hope of advancement.

After the Champions League resumes, due to the epidemic, except for the four unfinished quarter-finals, starting from the quarter-finals, all games will be played at the Stadium of Light in Lisbon, Portugal.

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On the evening of August 7, the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals between Manchester United and Real Madrid was played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Manchester United's temporary home.

This game is still played behind closed doors. For Manchester United, this is undoubtedly equivalent to giving up the home court advantage, and it also gives Real Madrid hope of a comeback on the road.

La Liga ended on the night of July 19. Real Madrid won the first La Liga championship in the post-Cristiano Ronaldo era, which boosted Real Madrid's morale.

Now, after three full weeks of rest, the recharged Galaxy Battleship comes to England, vowing to defeat Manchester United and advance to the quarterfinals of the Champions League.

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"Manchester United launches an attack from the right..."

"Cancelo passed forward and handed it to Mbappe."

"Mbappe takes the ball and passes to the back..."

"Militan took the lead and blocked Harry Kane with his body. The ball went out of the baseline and it was a corner kick."

"It was Manchester United's first corner kick."

"Bruno took a corner kick and Benzema grabbed the first spot and headed the ball high."

"The ball was high but not far away. It was still in Real Madrid's penalty area."

"Varane dribbled the ball and was intercepted by Mbappe..."

"Mbappe passes to Bruno...Bruno shoots..."

“The ball went in!!!!”

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOALLLLL!!!!!"

"In the 29th minute! In the 29th minute, Manchester United scored a goal!"

"Varane dribbled too much in the penalty area and made low-level mistakes. Mbappe actively attacked and distributed the ball. Bruno calmly pushed and shot into the empty goal."

"Varane's mistake was so inappropriate. He was just playing with fire by dribbling the ball like that in the penalty area!"

"Less than half an hour into the game, Real Madrid was already one goal behind, and the total score in the two rounds was 1:3 behind Manchester United by two goals."

"Zidane looked a little disappointed. He put a lot of effort into defense in this game, but in the end, Manchester United still seized the opportunity, and it was Bruno again. This is his 6th Champions League so far this season. Goal."

"This goal fully demonstrates Bruno's calmness and judgment in front of the goal."

"Mbappe's pass after the steal came very suddenly, but Bruno also reacted very quickly, shot quickly and scored the ball."

………………

Because Manchester United's record in recent seasons has been so good, although the team just lost to Arsenal in the FA Cup final and their morale is not high, Zidane still does not dare to be careless.

In this game, although he set up a four-three-three formation, nine players were actually engaged in defense. Many times, only Benzema was left in front to fight back. Hazard and Hazard from the trident Rodrigo also retreated to participate in his own defense.

It can be seen that Real Madrid is really afraid of Manchester United's offense.

In recent years, the grievances and confrontations between the two sides in the Champions League, coupled with the pressure of the Champions League knockout rounds, have resulted in players from both sides carrying a heavy burden. Even the head coaches of both sides do not dare to take the risk easily, which greatly reduces the excitement of the game. .

Real Madrid took the initiative to defend, which was a big test for Manchester United's ability to break through intensive offense.

But everyone knows that breaking through the concentration is a difficulty for all strong teams in the world.

Manchester United could not come up with any effective solution in the first 20 minutes or so.

It is also difficult for Bruno to get a chance due to the joint efforts of Casemiro and Kroos.

No matter how strong he is, it is impossible for him to face the attack of two famous European players, Casemiro and Kroos at the same time. What's more, Hazard and Rodrygo also actively defended in the midfield, making Real Madrid's The defense became extremely solid.

Manchester United seemed to have the advantage, but in fact they failed to get a decent chance.

Of course, Bruno was closely watched by Real Madrid, and Benzema also failed to get rid of Manchester United's defensive confinement. Benzema did not get any chance in the first half an hour.

However, no one expected that Manchester United would create chaos in the penalty area of ​​Real Madrid with a corner kick. In the end, Bruno seized the opportunity and directly pushed the empty goal to break the goal of Real Madrid.

This time, Real Madrid was passive.

………………

Zidane reached out and grabbed a bald head and shook his head. The frown on his eyebrows revealed his inner stalemate at this moment.

"It was obviously not an opportunity, but he caught it!" Zidane said very depressed.

The reason why it was not an opportunity was that the penalty area was too chaotic at the time. No one knew that Varane, a veteran general, was playing with fire in the penalty area. As a result, Mbappe seized the opportunity to steal the ball successfully and passed it to Bruno at the first time. Moreover, Bruno seized the opportunity and shot in a hurry.

"Rafael was a little careless with the ball this time." David Bertoni shook his head and said.

Zidane nodded, it was true.

The most important thing was that after Varane received the ball, he failed to clear the ball in the first time, which was a mistake for a central defender.

The key to Real Madrid's winning the La Liga championship in the past season was that their defense had been greatly improved. They only lost 25 goals throughout the season, 2 goals less than Atletico Madrid. Varane, as the main central defender of Real Madrid, was also highly praised, but in fact, he was not without mistakes. At best, it can only be said that his mistakes did not bring disaster to Real Madrid.

But in this defense, Varane's mistakes were undoubtedly a disaster for Real Madrid!

………………

The main reason why Manchester United has been able to dominate the Premier League and Europe in recent years is that the central defender combination of Van Dijk and Maguire is strong enough to calm the situation.

The reason why Manchester City and Arsenal's defense is unstable is precisely because they both lack a pillar-type central defender.

Without such a central defender, the situation cannot be controlled and the back line cannot be stable.

In fact, Manchester United performed very poorly for a period of time last season. It was from October to early December last year. At that time, Van Dijk and Maguire were in poor condition and made frequent mistakes. Manchester United's defense set a bad record of conceding goals in 15 consecutive games in various competitions, which can almost be said to be close to collapse.

Unexpectedly, Mourinho relied on Bruno's goals and Kante and others' defense in the midfield to survive, which also created Manchester United's current dominance in the Premier League and even in Europe.

This is not a victory for Manchester United as a whole or Mourinho, but the credit of Bruno alone.

During that period, he was almost dragging Manchester United to run and sprint alone.

Real Madrid lacked such a player after Ronaldo left the team.

Benzema has not shown superior strength this season. Hazard has played in form, but he was injured after only four games, and then his form was gone.

On the other hand, Bruno is still so vigorous.

This player has a strong ability to seize opportunities and a keen sense of position, which is unstoppable!

Zidane couldn't help but think of the guy who had gone to Juventus. When Real Madrid had him, he almost had a 1:0 attribute, which was why Real Madrid defended the Champions League at that time.

And the Portuguese in front of him is even stronger than the Portuguese who went to Juventus!

………………

Zidane is now like receiving a hot potato, and he is in a dilemma.

If he continues to defend like this, Manchester United will definitely be happy to see him so negative with a goal in hand, because it means that they can easily win the game, and this is what Zidane is most unwilling to see.

But if you choose a more active style of play, you will inevitably sacrifice defense. Can you defend it at that time?

Bruno, Harry Kane, Rashford and Mbappe form Manchester United's front-court attacking quartet, plus there is a Gundogan ambush behind them. How terrible is this offensive combination? Need I say more?

Thinking of this, Zidane sighed deeply.

"Let's wait a little longer." Zidane said helplessly.

He thought a lot, but in the end it was just one sentence.

Bettoni knew what Zidane meant, and he also understood Zidane's difficulties. It was too early and too risky to press forward now. It would be better to wait for Manchester United to make mistakes, or wait for an opportunity to counterattack in the second half.

In short, Real Madrid is very passive now.

And all this was caused by Bruno's damn goal!