Football irons are burning

Chapter 352 2003-2004 UEFA Champions League Opening Match
In the middle of the week, Manchester United traveled to Glasgow for the first game of the Champions League group stage.

The Scottish overlords are very good at home, but in the European arena, they have not had good results in recent years.

The game was hailed as an England derby, but the process of the game did not have the strength of a derby at all.

Manchester United took the initiative from the beginning, while the opponent was completely passive. Except for Arteta who caused some troubles for Manchester United, everyone else was dawdling.

In the 19th minute, Li Tie took the ball in the middle and was entangled by Arteta. However, Simao on the wing let it go, and Li Tie immediately passed it.

Simao took the ball and cut easily, then knocked across, and Fran pushed the ball into the near post.

Fran excitedly rushed to the sidelines to celebrate, with flowing blond hair.

The entire Manchester United team's offense is smooth and smooth, and the opponent's defensive strength is too bad.

In the 38th minute, Li Tie made another long shot from the middle, and he was lucky. The opposing player took a block in the middle and the ball was refracted into the net.

This luck left the fans of the home team speechless.

Li Tie also ran to the sidelines to celebrate the goal with a smile. Last time he led Inter Milan to win the championship on this venue, Li Tie felt good, and he also felt good coming here to play this time.

The score of the final game was also 0:4, and Manchester United won a big victory.

Manchester United won the first match of this season's Champions League group stage without bloodshed. After the match, the opponent's coach Souness also believed that Manchester United was superior and Rangers were not their opponents. Not only that, Manchester United also had a high probability of defending the title.

To Li Tie, Souness also had many words of praise. It was precisely because of Li Tie's strong breakthrough in the middle that the Rangers' defense line was in a mess, resulting in such a big loss.

Keane is also very satisfied with the team. Now Manchester United is unprecedentedly strong, with an average goal difference of more than 4 per game. He is indeed very happy to coach.

"The team's tactics are fully played out. Li Tie keeps creating murderous intentions in the middle, and the opponent can't defend at all. In fact, on this planet, it is always difficult to defend against Li Tie. Many people have tried in the past, but basically all ended in failure. He can shoot and pass the ball, which is often difficult to defend against."

Keane spoke eloquently.

In another game of the group, Roma drew 2:2 with Stuttgart at home, which was also surprising.

Stuttgart's Belarusian midfielder Hleb was shining brightly, making the Roma players very embarrassed.

This youth army is extremely powerful, which is impressive.

This also reminded Manchester United that the next away game against Stuttgart may not be easy.

In other groups, strong teams passed the test one after another, but the Serie A team suddenly came to a collective victory. Inter Milan, AC Milan and Lazio all won, which changed the image of Serie A.

The same is true of the charm of football. When you think a certain team is failing, it suddenly rises again.

Even Lazio defeated Galatasaray in the away game at the Devil's Stadium this round. There are also many young players in the Lazio team. It seems that Lazio is also taking a new path, giving up the previous superstar route.

Inter Milan is also filled with a large number of young players. Among the original members of the Triple Crown, there are not many.

This summer, Inter Milan sold several more stars. It seems that this is also forced by the situation.

Real Madrid's Galaxy Battleship also scored 7 goals in the first round and defeated the Ligue [-] team Marseille, which is scary enough.

Marseille's strength is not too weak, but it is vulnerable to Real Madrid.

Ruud Ruud, Raul and Ibrahimovic's three forwards are radiant, and all three scored twice. They really formed the best lineup.

Nottingham Forest in the same group returned to the European arena. In the first round, they defeated Partizan Belgrade with 3 goals in an away game, which also made a good start.

However, in the latest Champions League odds list, Manchester United is still at the top of the list. With Li Tie, Manchester United is the endorsement of the champion.

Real Madrid followed closely behind, and their performance was quite convincing.

Back in the league, Manchester United ushered in the challenge of Arsenal.

In the first five rounds, Arsenal ranked third with 3 wins and 2 losses.

And they did not qualify for the Champions League this season, and the team was also hit hard. They also lost in the UEFA Cup in the middle of the week. It is estimated that they will withdraw early and concentrate on dealing with the league.

There is no secret to the old opponent's move, of course.

In this game, Arsenal implemented an offside tactic against Manchester United's two strikers, which is a good way to deal with speed forwards.

Not long after the game started, Dong Fangzhuo and Fran kept falling into the opponent's offside trap.

Seeing this scene, Li Tie also laughed. Dong Fangzhuo and Fran were also a little immature. It seems that they need to go through some more scenes before they can deal with this tactic.

But to break the offside trap, of course there are anti-offside tactics.

Li Tie immediately called the two of them and muttered to them.

After the game continued, the Arsenal team also restrained themselves. They probably saw Li Tie muttering to the two of them and knew that Li Tie was planning a new tactic.

After kicking every step of the way, Arsenal quickly fell into a passive state.

In the 19th minute, Li Tie sent an exquisite through pass from the middle, Dong Fangzhuo got in place in the penalty area and shot a burst shot. Fortunately, Lehmann reacted quickly and flew to save the ball.

Two minutes later, Fran received a pass from Li Tie to the back corner, but was still saved by Lehman.

These two attacks made Arsenal's defense completely tricked.

Kolo Toure, who returned on loan from Leyton Orient, became a time bomb for Arsenal's defense. His sense of position is not very good.

This has also become a breakthrough for Manchester United.

Seeing that the team was passive, Wenger also walked to the sidelines and yelled a few times, and Arsenal soon started offside again.

In the 29th minute, Li Tie went straight and Arsenal called offside. However, Dong Fangzhuo, who was in the offside position, ran back, but Fran rushed forward.

The Arsenal defense, which had already breathed a sigh of relief, was dumbfounded now.

Forlan quickly stepped forward to get the ball into the penalty area, shook Lehmann and pushed into the empty goal, 1:0!

Old Trafford immediately cheered.

Every time I play against Arsenal, the fans of the home team are always excited. Of course, this is also related to the strength of the opponent, and they can always be evenly matched with Manchester United.

Last season, Manchester United did not take advantage of Arsenal. The home game was 3:3 and the away game was 2:2.

In the FA Cup and League Cup, the two teams also won one game each, which was evenly divided.

So, now leading, for United fans, there is also a sense of relief.

After conceding the ball, Arsenal quickly pressed the attack.

However, Manchester United's defense today is still very stable. The cooperation between Pepe and Vermaelen is becoming more and more tacit, and the goalkeeper Howard also has an excellent performance, making many attacks to resolve the opponent's attack.

Before the end of halftime, Howard attacked to take off the opponent's corner kick, and then he threw the ball to launch a fast break, and directly threw the ball to Dong Fangzhuo in the middle circle.

Dong Fangzhuo quickly scored the ball alone, throwing off the last Arsenal defender Kolo Toure, entered the penalty area, and scored 2:0!

(End of this chapter)