Chapter 802 Dark Horse Terminator

At 8 pm on August 18, local time in Portugal, the first match of the 2019-2020 Champions League semi-finals kicked off at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon, with the Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich facing the French Ligue 1 upstarts Paris Saint-Germain.

Both teams are strong. Bayern Munich has won all the first 9 games this season, which is very strong, especially in the just-concluded Champions League quarter-finals, they slaughtered the former cosmic team Barcelona 8:2, which really shocked the world.

As a new European football upstart, Paris Saint-Germain has also performed very well in the Champions League this season, with 7 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss in the first 9 games. Among all the 32 teams participating in this season's Champions League, it is second only to the powerful Manchester United and Bayern Munich.

The collision between these two teams is destined to be a battle between dragons and tigers.

And the fact is that after a spark-splashing game, Bayern Munich still showed a better strength. They narrowly defeated Paris Saint-Germain 4:3 and entered the final first.

This is the first time that the Bundesliga's southern king has entered the Champions League final again after a lapse of 7 years. It is also the 11th time in the history of Bayern Munich to enter the Champions League final. They have tied the number of times AC Milan has entered the final, second only to Real Madrid, which has entered the Champions League final 16 times.

A day later, another Champions League semi-final continued at the Lisbon Stadium of Light, with the Red Devils Manchester United facing the dark horse of this season, RB Leipzig.

This game has also attracted worldwide attention. As the Champions League champion in the past two years, Manchester United is naturally the top giant in Europe. As a team with only a history of more than 10 years, RB Leipzig can be called the biggest dark horse in the history of the Champions League to reach the top 4 of the Champions League.

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This is the first time that the two teams have faced each other in a European war, because Leipzig has not been established for a long time and has only participated in the Champions League in recent years. This is also the first time in the history of the Leipzig team to reach the top 4 of the Champions League. They hope to go one step further and create new history.

As the Champions League champions of the past two years, Manchester United naturally hopes to continue to win the championship this year, thus achieving three consecutive Champions League titles.

That is a feat that Real Madrid, known as the king of the Champions League, has not been able to accomplish!

Originally, if Bruno had not joined Manchester United in advance, Real Madrid would have been the first team to win the Champions League three times in a row since the Champions League reform, which further confirmed Real Madrid's status as the king of the Champions League.

However, after Bruno traveled through time, he came to Manchester United in advance, thus ending Real Madrid's dream of winning the Champions League three times in a row in 2018, and then led Manchester United to open their era!

Mourinho partially rotated Manchester United's starting lineup. On the defensive line, Lindelof and Dalot took turns to play, and Maguire and Cancelo sat on the bench. In the midfield, Gundogan replaced Fred. The front trident was all rotated, and Mahrez, McTominay and Greenwood formed a new combination.

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"RB Leipzig played very actively after the opening and created opportunities one after another."

"Look at this time, Angelino tried to send the ball into the penalty area again."

"Kante intercepted at the front of the penalty area, and Manchester United launched a counterattack."

"Gundogan quickly stepped forward to receive the ball, turned around, and made a long pass directly to the front court."

…

Bruno quickly inserted from the left rib into the gap between two defensive players of RB Leipzig. Nordi Mikiele was almost thrown away by Bruno at the moment of starting.

Upamecano chased Bruno all the way to the goal, but the French central defender was still one step behind Bruno.

After Bruno took a step ahead, when the ball came to his feet, he took a step forward and successfully stopped and dribbled Gundogan's long pass, continued to move forward, and rushed directly into the penalty area.

Upamecano chased Bruno all the way, and Leipzig Red Bull goalkeeper Gulacsi decisively abandoned the goal and attacked. The two teamed up to block Bruno's shooting angle.

But Bruno was prepared for this. When he was about 15 meters away from the goal, he directly kicked the ball with his left foot. The ball passed Gulacsi's head. Although the Leipzig Red Bull goalkeeper raised his hands high to stop it, he could only watch the ball fly over his head and fall to the unguarded goal behind him.

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Bruno knew that the ball was in at the moment of the lob!

This will be his tenth Champions League goal this season and his 73rd Champions League goal in his career!

"Oh, God!"

"Manchester United's quick counterattack..."

"Bruno...the ball is in!!!!"

"It's so shocking! So fast!"

"Manchester United's quick counterattack, the Leipzig Red Bull defenders didn't even have time to react!"

"This is unbelievable!"

...

After kicking the ball, Bruno rushed out of the stadium. Behind him, Manchester United's players also rushed up frantically.

This goal not only caught Leipzig Red Bull off guard, but also caught Manchester United's players off guard.

No one expected that Manchester United's goal would come so suddenly.

Just Gundogan's pass-like clearance, Bruno not only stopped, but also created a counterattack opportunity and broke through Leipzig Red Bull's goal. This is unbelievable.

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"This was a very fast and concise counterattack! From Kante's interception to Gundogan's long pass, the whole process was very fast, and Bruno's ability to run into the gap was once again demonstrated, which was really surprising."

"Let's watch the whole process of scoring again."

"Bruno's stop was very good, almost a continuous stop and pass. Upamecano didn't even have a chance to touch the ball throughout the whole process, and the speed of the Leipzig Red Bull center back could not catch up with Bruno's dribbling speed. This is really surprising, Bruno is too fast!"

"Mikiele's performance this season is pretty good, and he played a great role in Leipzig Red Bull's entry into the Champions League, but unfortunately tonight he met Bruno, the French defender who has become famous in the Bundesliga this season, and he couldn't keep up with Bruno's rhythm and pace tonight."

"And now, Leipzig Red Bull's opening attack failed!"

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Bruno excitedly got up from the ground and turned to celebrate with his teammates who rushed over.

Especially for Gundogan who gave him a wonderful long pass, Bruno laughed and hugged his teammate.

The German midfielder, who is both offensive and defensive, has a great passing skill. The pass was very comfortable, which allowed him to stop and pass the opponent directly.

If the pass was not good, Bruno would definitely need to adjust it before starting.

"Thanks to your assist!" Bruno smiled and thanked.

Gundogan waved his hand and said, "No, no, no, your goal is very exciting!"

Being able to use speed to tear open the defense of Leipzig Red Bull, single-handedly form a single knife, and calmly shoot and score in the case of two players double-teaming, it shows Bruno's strength.

"Then work harder, I feel full of strength now!" Bruno laughed.

After hearing this, everyone around him suddenly became hot.

After several seasons of getting along, Bruno has established his prestige among Manchester United players.

In the eyes of many Manchester United players, Bruno is an omnipotent god!

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In the first ten minutes of the game, RB Leipzig took the overwhelming initiative. Their attack caused a lot of trouble for Manchester United's defense, but Bruno's counterattack goal in the 13th minute poured a bucket of cold water on RB Leipzig's head, making them completely sober.

Whether it was Nagelsmann on the sidelines or Mikiele on the field, they clearly realized their mistakes. Although they have attached great importance to Bruno, it was all based on video analysis or data analysis.

For a player like Bruno, you can't understand how strong he is without a real head-on confrontation!

After scoring the first goal, Manchester United gradually found the feeling of the game, stabilized the situation, and began to slowly take the initiative.

In this game, Mourinho arranged his strongest midfield lineup.

Bruno rushed forward, Kante and Gundogan dragged back, these three players ensured Manchester United's advantage in the midfield, and also quickly put RB Leipzig into a passive situation.

Especially after taking the lead, Manchester United launched attacks frequently.

Bruno also became the most active player on the court. He first made Leipzig Red Bull player Mikilai foul in the front court in the 24th minute.

Bruno took a direct free kick from 35 meters away from the goal, but unfortunately, the angle of the shot was too straight and was directly confiscated by the opponent's goalkeeper.

Bruno raised his hands in frustration, obviously very dissatisfied with his shot.

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Just three minutes later, he got the ball on the left rib again, suddenly got rid of Mikilai, passed the ball diagonally behind him with his right foot, and Mbappe quickly inserted and pushed the ball, but the shot was saved by Gulasic.

But in the 28th minute, Bruno's activity was finally rewarded again.

Kante made a straight pass and found Bruno in the front court, creating a one-on-one opportunity.

Facing Leipzig Red Bull's single defensive midfielder Kampl directly, Bruno simply and directly kicked the ball to the baseline, forced himself to accelerate and overtake, and used his speed advantage to forcefully break through Leipzig Red Bull's defensive midfielder, and crossed with his left foot before the baseline.

To say that Bruno's left-footed cross is indeed not as good as his right foot, but assists are enough.

McTominay, who followed up in the middle, easily headed the ball in front of the goal and broke through Leipzig Red Bull's goal again!

In less than half an hour, two goals ahead!

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The continuous attack made Manchester United completely crazy!

Not only did the rhythm of the game come out, but even the team's frontcourt attack became more and more hearty and tacit.

In this game, although Bruno was arranged as a front midfielder by Mourinho, he actually had a large range of activities. In many cases, his position was even more forward than McTominay, the striker, because McTominay had to actively retreat to respond.

Whether it is taking the ball from the wing and cutting inside, or quickly cutting behind the opponent's defense, these are Bruno's forte.

More importantly, his passing awareness is also very good.

In the 36th minute, he got the ball on the left again and moved it to the right. Mbappe quickly followed up and stopped the ball, and the cross almost assisted McTominay to score again with a header.

Bruno's breakthrough on the left was also very threatening. The second goal came from the corner kick created by his breakthrough.

In the 44th minute, Bruno forced a breakthrough on the left and created a corner kick.

Gundogan's corner kick was passed to the front post. Van Dijk's header hit the left side of the penalty spot. Bruno, who was ambushing on the outside of the penalty area, suddenly jumped into the penalty area. Without stopping the ball, he directly faced Van Dijk's incoming ball. With an angry shot, the football was once again blasted into the Leipzig Red Bull goal!

3:0!

Bruno opened his arms and flew like a glider in Lisbon's Stadium of Light.

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"The game reached the sixty-minute mark."

"The score on the field is still 3:0. Manchester United maintains its lead with Bruno's two shots and one pass."

"Mourinho made a substitution at this time!"

…

When the fourth official on the sidelines held up the No. 8 number plate, Bruno was obviously stunned for a moment because he felt he could continue playing.

He feels that he is in very good condition and if he continues to play like this, he will definitely be able to score more goals or even score a hat trick.

But Mourinho was obviously concerned about the Champions League final four days later and wanted to replace him to preserve his strength.

"Indeed, although we only played for an hour, we can feel Bruno's great strength."

"Both goals were very exciting, one was a single goal during the counterattack, and the other was a calm volley in the penalty area. In addition, Bruno also assisted McTominay to score a header. It can be said that tonight's goal Bruno was outstanding."

Coming to the sidelines, Bruno shook hands and hugged Mata, who came on as his substitute.

When walking towards Mourinho, Mourinho opened his arms to him from afar and said with a smile: "Performance is great, keep working hard!"

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When the referee blew the whistle to end the game, all the Manchester United players on the entire field were celebrating obliviously.

This is the third consecutive year that they have reached the Champions League final!

Because of Manchester United's victory over Red Bull Leipzig, they were called the "dark horse terminators" by the European media.

Last year, they ended the super dark horse Ajax, and the youth army led by young coach Ten Hag collapsed at the feet of Manchester United.

Now, they have once again ended another super dark horse team led by another young coach Nagelsmann, blocking them from the Champions League final.