princely elegance

Chapter 234 Home Streak Record
With the reopening of the Champions League, fans all over the world are paying attention to Manchester.Although Schalke 04's home game against Barcelona will start at the same time, but in terms of attention, there is no doubt that the collision of red and white is the highest!
Real Madrid and Manchester United, the two most profitable and successful clubs in the world, started fighting for a place in the semi-finals under the arrangement of UEFA.

A few days before the start of the game, the media of the two countries began to hype it up. Don’t look at the fierce quarrel in the domestic league, but in the large area of ​​Europe, the media of La Liga and Premier League will unite together with patriotism. Cheer on your country's clubs.

The first to speak was naturally the local media in Manchester. As the mouthpiece of the Red Devils, the "Manchester Evening News" praised their team and belittled their opponents without the slightest politeness.

"There is no doubt that, no matter from which point of view, Manchester United's strength is higher than Real Madrid. First of all, as the head coach, the German exposed his weakness of not being good at changing formations when he played against Roma. If it weren't for the Argentine's I am afraid that the Manchester that is now here will not be Real Madrid. In terms of statistics, after Manchester United defeated Lyon at home in the last round, they tied the record of ten consecutive home victories in the UEFA Champions League created by Juventus in 96/97. , and is now on track to break that record."

"The same is true in terms of players. Both Ronnie and Ronaldo have reached their peak this year. Together, they can break the door of any team. What's more, Pepe, the core of Real Madrid's defense, has suffered from the last game. Red card and suspension. It is impossible for Metzelder to replace the role of the Portuguese. On the other hand, Manchester United has a complete staff. When they played against Bolton in the last round of the league, Ronaldo had just broken the club legend George Best's 32 in a single season. The ball record. In this game, Manchester United must win and will create a new record of eleven consecutive home victories in the Champions League."

The words of the "Manchester Evening News" were reprinted by countless media, and at the same time declared Manchester United's determination to win.And Ferguson also accepted an interview before the start of the game. He said very vaguely that Real Madrid's player configuration is not inferior to Manchester United, but he has found the opponent's weakness and will attack it during the game.

After hearing this interview, Schuster just smiled contemptuously. Could he still not know that this was the opponent's psychological tactic.Anyone with a little brain in this passage will know that Ferguson is saying that Real Madrid's head coach is the weakness of the entire team, because there is a sentence in front of it that "the player configuration is not inferior to Manchester United".If Schuster was a player, he might still be disturbed by this aggressive method, but now he is a middle-aged uncle, but he is very optimistic.Anyway, before the start of the game, he told everyone in the team to keep a low profile, practice the secret tactics of 5-2-3, and prepare to surprise Ferguson during the game.

Now it's in the opponent's territory, so it's more disadvantageous to fight a war of words.However, Schuster's refusal to fight does not mean that the media in Madrid will not speak. "Marca" first launched a refutation against the statement of "Manchester Evening News".

"The winning streak at home in the Champions League is not a big deal. If Gago hadn't come to the Bernabeu two years earlier, this record would have belonged to us. You must know that since the Argentine prince joined Real Madrid last winter, the team won the Champions League at home. The record is also a complete victory. From defeating Bayern in the top [-] of last season, to defeating AC Milan with three goals at home in the top eight, plus three group matches and one knockout match this season, Real Madrid already has a record of six consecutive victories at home. Wait until Real Madrid Winning the championship this season, and then winning three games in the Champions League group stage next season, can also break Juventus' record of ten consecutive victories at home."

"Although Pepe is suspended and unable to play, can Manchester United's defense withstand Real Madrid's strongest offensive firepower in Europe? Raul and Van Nistelrooy are the top scorers in the Champions League and the second. The old owner who was ruthlessly abandoned, the king of the small penalty area will definitely make the whole Old Trafford regret silence. As long as Real Madrid shows their strength, even an ordinary coach can lead the team to win the championship. In the face of absolute strength , tactical coaching, etc., don’t have much effect.”

As soon as "Marca" faced the match, the whole of Europe boiled instantly. After Schuster and Real Madrid players came to Manchester, they refused to disclose any news except that they were familiar with the field and closed training.This war of words must be fought with the cooperation of both sides. Now only Manchester United is unilaterally talking, and the fans are tired of seeing it.Fortunately, the mouthpiece of the White Army still didn't hold back, and jumped out to take over the battle.

In fact, what the fans don't know is that the reason why "Marca" jumped out was because of the hint from the top management of Real Madrid. In order to let the team concentrate on training, Schuster specially called Mijatovic. Let him find someone to share Manchester United's attention.When Real Madrid's transfer manager heard what was going on, he immediately agreed with a pat on the chest. After a few phone calls, "Marca", one of the club's two major newspapers, began to attract hatred.

I have to say that the content of this passage is very irritating. First of all, it is to refute the reason why Manchester United's ten-game winning streak at home is not a big deal, which almost made Manchester United fans vomit blood.What is "wait until Real Madrid wins the championship this season".See what you mean, Real Madrid seems to have eliminated Manchester United, defeated Barcelona, ​​and reached the final.

There is also the second paragraph which is even more irritating. Ruud van Nistelrooy's departure made most Manchester United fans feel heartbroken. This is to violently tear off their hard-to-heal scars and make them hurt again.There are two former Manchester United players in Real Madrid's team. The left-back Heinze who just transferred in the summer, the fans of the Red Devils are not heartbroken at all, because this Argentine actually said that he is going to Liverpool. Isn't this a suicide from the fans!
But Van Nistelrooy is different. The king of the small penalty area scored 150 goals for the team in five years for Manchester United and won four championship trophies.When the Dutchman left, there were still many fans begging Ferguson not to sell him. In the eyes of the Red Devils fans at the time, two Cristiano Ronaldo were not as good as one Ruud van Nistelrooy.Although it may be the other way around now, it also shows Ruud van Nistelrooy's status in the minds of Manchester United fans.

And "Marca" not only mentioned this matter, but also devalued Ferguson as worthless.What is meant by "in the face of absolute strength, tactical coaches and so on don't have much effect".Isn't this clearly saying that Ferguson is useless in this game? Moreover, do you Real Madrid have this strength? If you want to say this, it should be us Manchester United.

While the mouthpieces of the two sides were engaged in a passionate war of words, the players on both sides had a tacit understanding of retreating and cultivating their internal strength, preparing to rely on their own strength to overpower the opponent in the game.Ferguson saw that Schuster was so calm under his provocation, and knew that these small tricks would not work.

If this is the case, then rely on your own strength to crush the opponent in the "Dream Theater".For this game, Ferguson has absolute confidence. After four years of hard work, he finally built a top team again.Even the treble champion Manchester United at the turn of the century may not be able to win the current team.And the suspension of Real Madrid's rear core Pepe is good news.

Ferguson is confident that with his coaching level, he can tactically overwhelm the "rookie" Schuster.No matter how the Germans change, it is impossible to exceed his expectations.

If it is said that Manchester United can exert all their strengths by coach Ferguson, then Real Madrid can exert all their strengths by relying on the team's core Fernando Gago.

Ferguson sees this very clearly. After all, the current Real Madrid team is no different from the post-Galaxy era.In the post-Galaxy era, as long as Zidane is off the field, Real Madrid will be in chaos on the field.The offense depends on the French king to sort out on the court, and the defense is not at all.

Compared with that time, the only advantage of the current Real Madrid team is that the uncles in the frontcourt at least know how to defend, and the overall age is more than five years younger.It's just that if Gago is not on the court, the offense is still a mess.Guti can only be a passer, and he will never be an excellent commander if he does not have a good view of the overall situation.

The Argentine prince is the only player in Real Madrid without a substitute, which shows his importance.Schuster was able to lead Real Madrid to the Champions League until now, basically relying on Gago to play out the strengths of the stars in the midfield and frontcourt in series.The two rounds against Roma were particularly obvious. Gago scored two of the four goals and provided two assists. Without him, Real Madrid would have been killed by Spalletti.

Therefore, if Ferguson wants to win this game, the most important thing is to block Gago. As long as this Argentine prince is seen dead, then Real Madrid will be an army without a coach, let him kill him.

"Carlos, you are more familiar with Real Madrid, tell me your opinion!"

In the conference room, Ferguson was also lining up troops, but only Queiroz, the former Real Madrid coach, was by his side.After a failed season in Real Madrid, the Portuguese returned to Ferguson to learn from him, and was ready to wait for Sir Alex Ferguson to retire to take over Manchester United.

"As long as we bring out our own strength, the team will be able to defeat the opponent, and we don't need to care about Real Madrid's changes."

This was Queiroz's answer, and it was also what Ferguson was thinking, but this time what he wanted to ask was how to block Gago, the opponent's commander. Ferguson wanted to win the game with less effort.

"It may be difficult to block the Argentine. Now that the team does not have a top midfielder like Roy, Michael or Irving alone may not be able to restrict it. Even if two people play together, they may not be able to do well."

After listening to Ferguson's question, Queiroz frowned and expressed his concerns. Gago faced De Rossi and Perotta's defense with ease when facing Roma. Manchester United's Carrick and Hargreaves is also half a catty when he goes up.

"How about putting Park Ji-sung on and breaking the Argentine out of Real Madrid's formation with his movement?"

Queiroz is not a mediocrity either. He was able to become Ferguson's assistant coach twice, and he has real materials. His words made Ferguson look satisfied.

(End of this chapter)