Manchester United legend

Chapter 132
The second round of the Champions League knockout round is Manchester United's home game against Monaco. This is also the second match between the two sides this season.

Manchester United, with a disorganized lineup, formed a 442 formation. Van der Goult replaced Schmeichel who was injured in the previous game. The two brothers Gary Neville and Phil Neville played together. Ferguson continued to let Gary Neville play the center back.

In the midfield, Beckham, Scholes and Butt started at the same time, Solskjaer played as a left winger, and Cole and Sheringham partnered as strikers.

Such a lineup is obviously intended to play offensive football, but Ferguson's wishful thinking was hit in the head at the beginning of the game. Taking advantage of the slow passing of Manchester United players in the backcourt and a little carelessness, the French stepped up their counter-attack in the frontcourt and caught Manchester United by surprise.

Just in the 5th minute of the opening, Monaco successfully counterattacked in the backcourt of Manchester United, and then launched a quick assault. After three passes, Trezeguet had already dodged the space and dribbled the ball towards the penalty area.

His hard-hitting shot went straight into the top corner of the near goal - there was nothing Van der Gould could do about it, he wasn't even able to react effectively.

Trezeguet's powerful shot surpassed the imagination of ordinary people, and also exceeded the perception of Van der Gou.Trezeguet shot the ball at a speed of 96 mph (153 km)!This is already the fastest shot to enter the top ten in football history so far!
Caught off guard, Manchester United once again fell behind. According to the rules of the Champions League, Manchester United must win to qualify. This made the game an endless dilemma for Manchester United.

In the following time, the Red Devils players began to attack aggressively, counterattacked frantically, and put in all their efforts for the hope of promotion.

Soon the game became completely one-sided, and the scene completely turned into half-court offense and defense.

Manchester United kept attacking, while Monaco focused on defending. All 11 players returned to the penalty area to form an iron bucket.

Manchester United's strong attack did not have much to do against Monaco's defensive defense. Although Solskjaer received a pass from the right in the 53rd minute of the second half and scored an equalizer for the team, although Manchester United still surrounded the opponent for most of the second half.

The goalkeeper in front of Monaco is the French team's bald goalkeeper Barthez!
In the end, Manchester United was tied 1-1 by their opponents and was out unwillingly.People will not step into the same river for the second time, but obviously this sentence does not belong to Manchester United, nor does it suit Ferguson.

After being eliminated for lack of away goals a few seasons ago, Manchester United once again tasted the bitter fruit of failure for the same reason.

The group of Red Devils soldiers who did not make it to the semi-finals and boasted before the game that they would go to the final and win the championship became the object of ridicule on Fleet Street.

They have all forgotten that only Manchester United has supported the face of English clubs in the Champions League for a long time.

The summary of Manchester United TV is objective but cold. "The Champions League, which had high hopes this season, was eliminated by Monaco, which is not a super team. Manchester United lost the opportunity to show the demeanor of England's strong team in a higher level. The ambitious Ferguson was hit again. He and his children can only wait for the next year to fight again."

Manchester United has finished this season's Champions League journey.Taking Juventus as a coordinate and comparison standard, we can actually see that Manchester United has made great progress: in the dialogue with the top European teams, Manchester United can finally not fall behind.

Manchester United's two games against Juventus in the group stage, especially the first game can be called the masterpiece of Manchester United this season.

That battle was also enough to prove that Manchester United had enough strength to compete with the top European teams. After years of sculpting and polishing by Ferguson, the Red Devils finally grew into a European team after a long period of confrontation with European teams.

Of course, Manchester United still has many problems. The biggest shortcoming is the lack of stability.In addition, this young team still has the problem of immature experience, Ferguson's command style still maintains the usual bravery and fearlessness, the Red Devils and Ferguson are not old enough, they can play wonderful games, beat the mighty Juventus, defeat the fierce and crazy Feyenoord, but they can also be tied and eliminated by the less outstanding Monaco.

Manchester United is out of the Champions League, and other teams continue to play the game to the end.In the end, Real Madrid and Juventus joined forces in the final.

Putting this season's Champions League in another context, we will find some new changes on and off the football field.

In the end, Juventus broke into the finals for three consecutive seasons-this is already a miracle.

No team has done it since.There are very few teams that can even reach the finals twice in a row.

Unfortunately, Juventus lost again.Piero, Inzaghi, Zidane, including Lippi must be very depressed.

Juventus was extremely strong in those years, but they only won one Champions League title, and there are still only two until now, which is the least among the top giants.

That year Juventus lost to Real Madrid in the Champions League final.This is also the first time the Spanish giants have regained the Big Ears Cup after 32 years.

This championship also marks the beginning of Real Madrid's real revival.The former Yugoslavian star Mijanovic made a fatal blow in the final. Mijanovic, who is elegant and full of artistic beauty, became the biggest contributor to Real Madrid's championship.

However, what is even more surprising is that Real Madrid's young star Raul started to take over, he is like a piece of rough jade, gradually shining.

Of course, at that time, no one expected that he would become the banner of Real Madrid and the soul of Spain's frontcourt, and no one would have predicted that he would be the number one player in the Champions League with statistics, and even less that he would surpass Muller to become the top scorer in the Champions League and Real Madrid for a time.

No one would have imagined that he would end up leaving Real Madrid so rough, and no one would have imagined that coach Milagones coached Spain and excluded him from the Matador Legion before Spain truly became the European champion and the world champion!
Of course, there are still many Red Devils comparable to Raul, not to mention that Beckham has already shined, and Giggs, who had become the main force at that time, was not too sharp.

Many years later, after Raul played for Schalke, he met Giggs again in the Champions League. The two real veterans are no longer the key to deciding the game, but their spirit of still doing their best still moved us.

Of course, they also exchanged jerseys tacitly after the game.

That scene made countless people sigh. At that time, one was a handsome and elegant prince in white clothes, and in the blink of an eye, he turned into a middle-aged hard-working uncle with melancholy eyes and stubble;

In addition to Raul, Inzaghi, Beckham, Giggs, Trezeguet and other players, the most dazzling superstar in this Champions League is Ukrainian nuclear warhead Shevchenko.

The young Ukrainian killer was born in this UEFA Champions League. He staged a hat-trick against Barcelona, ​​which shocked the football world and helped Kiev beat their opponents 4-0. At that time, Dynamo Kiev and Shevchenko could be described as super rookies and super dark horses.

In the following Champions League, Sheva once again attracted the attention of the world. He scored twice against Real Madrid and Bayern respectively and became the top scorer in the cup.

It's a pity that his team was eliminated in the semi-final against Bayern. If it weren't for that, Shevchenko might even perform miracles.

The splendor at that time is already a passing memory for Ferguson. The rise of other giants, the shining of new stars, the ownership of the championship, the evolution of tactics... It seems that they have nothing to do with him.

Like a ferocious but lonely wasteland wolf, Ferguson is tasting failure alone, licking his wounds, and preparing for the next departure.

In any case, he must conquer his opponents, and he must conquer this pinnacle territory in football.

(End of this chapter)