champion light

Chapter 1183 stalemate
Ferguson didn't use killing tactics in the game, he didn't even use foul tactics.

Since the FA Cup final in Rongguang's first season in Manchester City, Ferguson no longer used any foul tactics against Rongguang, because it was all assists for Rongguang...

Rong Guang's free kick hat-trick left a deep impression on Ferguson...

In this Champions League semi-final, Ferguson, who played away, adopted a defensive counterattack strategy.

To attack at Manchester City's home court is courting death.

As for Rongguang, Ferguson actually didn't think of any countermeasures.

How to curb glory is a worldwide problem. If he can figure it out, he can even win the Nobel Football Prize for this—if there is such a prize...

Although he didn't figure out how to deal with Rong Guang, it didn't mean that Ferguson was about to give up the game.

The basis of the strategy of defensive counterattack is that Ferguson does not want to lose in the away game, or does not want to lose by a big score.

In addition, he relied on the excellent state of Rooney and Klose.

Since the derby in the seventh round of League No.20, Rooney, who was in a sluggish state, seemed to have found his best form all of a sudden, and performed well in the next games.

Against City, Rooney scored his sixth league goal of the season with a superb overhead kick.

Now, 34 league rounds have passed, and Rooney has scored twelve goals in the league. From 27 to 34 rounds, Rooney has scored seven goals in eight league rounds. This state can only be described as "hot".

And Klose has also maintained a very good state, and now ranks second in the league scorer list with 24 goals.

These two strikers are Ferguson's greatest reliance.

Under the tactics of defensive counterattack, it is even more required that the forwards have a strong ability to seize opportunities. If they want to score goals in very few opportunities, they are not qualified to squander those good scoring opportunities.

With the state of these two strikers, Ferguson believes that they will definitely be able to seize those few opportunities and score goals for Manchester United.

Because the Champions League matches are home and away games, away goals are very important.

So as long as Manchester United can score a goal in the away game, it will make the players a lot easier and increase the team's hopes of advancing to the final.

If this game can draw with Manchester City on the premise of an away goal, for Ferguson, he thinks it is a victory.

And he was ready to lose.

It doesn't matter if you lose, as long as you don't lose too much.

Lose 1:2 and return to the home court in the next round. Manchester United only needs to score one goal and win the game 1:0 to eliminate Manchester City.

So before this game, Ferguson has been letting the team practice defensive counterattacks, mainly defense, and not conceding the ball is the top priority.

※※※

After the start of the game, Manchester United only used their kick-off opportunity to attack once, and then handed over possession to Manchester City, while they retreated to their own 30-meter area, waiting for Manchester City's offense.

Benitez is not surprised that Manchester United will choose to defend and counterattack away.

Many teams will choose to defend and counterattack when they face Manchester City in the away game, even if they did not play defensive counterattacks very much before.

If these teams play against Manchester City when they play Manchester City away, Benitez will be surprised-he will think that the opposing coach's brain is broken.

In the 34 rounds of the league, Manchester City scored 88 goals. This number is the highest in the Premier League. In the whole of Europe, they are also the team with the most goals, tied for the first place with Barcelona. Barcelona also scored 88 goals.After them is Real Madrid, Mourinho's Real Madrid scored 79 goals.

The offensive firepower is so fierce that other teams will choose to avoid it at Manchester City's home court.

Ferguson's choice is not surprising.

It can be seen that Ferguson really worked hard on defense. When Manchester United shrunk their defense, Manchester City, who were playing at home, had no good way to break the deadlock.

Although the cheers of the home team fans were loud, it did not help Manchester City score.

After the game started, the two sides soon became deadlocked.Judging from the ball possession rate and pass success rate, Manchester City has the upper hand, and Manchester City has more shots than Manchester United.

But even so, the score has not changed.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic was suspended with a red card, and Berbatov replaced him in the first game, but he was also surrounded by Manchester United.

The main offensive firepower still depends on glory.

According to the pre-match training, although Berbatov is a center forward, he is not responsible for scoring goals. He mainly creates opportunities for Rongguang through his running and passing in the frontcourt.

So he will pull out of the penalty area more, giving Rongguang a chance to insert into the penalty area and score a goal.

However, Manchester United's offensive routine against Manchester City also has a defensive strategy, and it is difficult for Rongguang to squeeze into the penalty area to shoot.

Manchester United is like forming a movable wall in front of Rongguang. No matter where Rongguang is, the wall is always in front of him.

The two sides remained in a stalemate until the end of the first half.

In the middle, Manchester City did get some opportunities, not only glory, but also others, but they didn't grasp it.For example, Berbatov once had a good chance in the penalty area, but unfortunately his shot was blocked by Van der Sar with his knee.

And Manchester United's counterattack can indeed threaten Manchester City's goal.

Ferguson's counterattack routine for Manchester United is like this-a long pass from the backcourt directly to Klose, let Klose use his jumping and header skills to ferry the football to Rooney who is plugging in at high speed, and use Rooney's speed and technology to attack Manchester City's defense.

This routine is very simple, but sometimes it is so simple that unexpected good results can be obtained.

In the first half, Manchester United's most threatening attack was played like this.

After Klose's header was ferried, Rooney advanced at high speed, then received the ball from Klose's ferry, dribbled the ball towards Manchester City's penalty area, and chose a long shot at the front of the penalty area.

The ball arced in the air, rounded the attacking goalkeeper Joe Hart, and then concentrated on the crossbar as all the Manchester City fans watched in horror...

Then it bounced back and was kicked out by the returning central defender Lucio.

It was United's closest attack in the first half.

After the ball missed, Rooney put his head in his hands, looking very annoyed.

In fact, Ferguson is more annoyed than him on the coaching bench...

※※※

In the first half, the battle between the two sides became 0:0, and Ferguson's strategic goal has been half completed.

Half the time, it would have been better if United had scored in the second half.

But Ferguson was very clear-headed. He didn't feel that he could try more offenses in the second half just because he successfully defended against Manchester City's offensive in the first half.

Defense and not conceding the ball are still his first goal.

When playing against Manchester City, the most fearful thing is self-righteousness. I feel that I didn’t concede a goal in the first half, and there was another shot at the center post that threatened Manchester City’s goal, so I can try to attack more in the second half.

This mentality tends to cause teams that do this to concede goals in the second half and end up losing the game.

There are too many examples of this.

Ferguson has studied other teams that have played against Manchester City and found that many of the losing teams have this kind of thinking-too much thinking is not a good thing.

During the intermission, Ferguson warned his players, don't think that their counterattack threatened Manchester City's goal in the first half, and they can be unscrupulous in the second half.

"...Our main task in the second half is still defense. The tactics are the same as in the first half, without any changes." He said with a straight face, reminding his players with a serious expression and voice that this is a very serious matter, don't have any other thoughts.

At the same time, in Manchester City's dressing room, Benitez asked the players not to rush in the second half: "The integrity of the defense must be maintained. What Manchester United is waiting for is the huge space behind the defense after we rushed to press the attack in the second half. They hope to draw us away.

Both sides did not make any adjustments in tactics and personnel, they just made the players more cautious.There are only two rounds in the semi-finals of the Champions League. If anyone makes a mistake, there is no chance to save it.

This is not the same as the league.

In the second half, the two sides changed sides and fought again. Soon everyone could see that everything was no different from the first half.

Manchester United is still a defensive counterattack.

"Well, although Ferguson's choice of defensive counterattack is a bit surprising, I have to say that the effect of his doing so is not bad. At least Manchester United did not concede a goal in the first half. It is still very remarkable to be able to keep Manchester City from scoring for 45 minutes..." Alan Hansen said not long after the start of the second half.

"Before we all thought that Ibrahimovic's absence didn't matter, as long as Manchester City still has Rong. Now it seems that Ibrahimovic's absence actually has a great impact on Manchester City. Manchester City's offensive firepower is only one person, which makes Manchester United's defense easier. If Ibrahimovic is there, the two will make Manchester United divide their troops when defending. In this way, no matter whether it is Rong or Ibrahimovic, the defensive pressure on the two of them will not be as great as it is now, so they have a chance to take advantage..."

It stands to reason that this should be a good thing for Ibrahimovic, but Ibrahimovic, who is sitting in a special area in the stands with other teammates, is not happy now.

He frowned and snorted heavily.

His eyes were always locked on Rong Guang.

Aren't you amazing?
Can't you stand out without me?
Then you give me one more time!

I don't want to miss the final!
(End of this chapter)