Manchester United legend

Chapter 220 Manchester United vs Real Madrid
After Manchester United defeated Fiorentina, Manchester United dealt with it in the last round. They drew 0-0 with Valencia tacitly in the away game, and finally ranked first in the group.

As the defending champion, Manchester United easily qualified first in the two rounds of the Champions League group stage, which is also in line with the predictions of fans and the media-after all, many fans believe that Manchester United is the favorite to win the championship.

Ferguson is also looking a bit smug about the games ahead, and his team did look comfortable and happy in the group stage.The 6 consecutive opponents have hardly caused trouble for Manchester United.

After Manchester United successfully qualified first in the UEFA Champions League group stage, their opponent in the quarter-finals was Real Madrid.

Many years later, Manchester United fans still remember this match between Real Madrid and Manchester United.

Before the game, public opinion created a lot of momentum and publicized the dialogue between the two teams as a "championship battle"-the confrontation between the defending champion Manchester United and the previous champion Real Madrid was almost like a final staged in advance.

Manchester United has a strong lineup, the halo of glory of winning the championship last season is still shining, and the stars of the 99 golden generation in the team are shining.

Real Madrid has famous stars such as Raul, Morientes, Redondo, McManaman, Carlos, etc., and their appeal is also super.

Not only that, Real Madrid is the team that has won the most Champions Leagues in Europe. It is known as the number one football club in the world, and its reputation is even much greater than Manchester United.

In history, Manchester United has not achieved any success in Spain. The two giants have also met in the Champions League many times before.Those conversations are so sparky, they're brilliant.

1957年时皇家马德里队以总比分5比3淘汰了曼联，主场以3比1获胜；而曼联队在11年后得以复仇，在老特拉福德1比0取胜，在伯纳乌3比3战平对手后把皇家马德里队淘汰。

What's interesting is that the winners finally won the Champions League that year, so the media also called this game "the game that determines the champion of this year's Champions League!"

The first match between the two sides was held at Real Madrid’s home court. Before the game, the Spanish media interviewed Real Madrid’s left-back Carlos. The Brazilian dismissed the question of “How do you defend Beckham?” He said: “Beckham is slow and his technique is sloppy. It is not difficult to defend him. On the contrary, I will let him see how to attack from the side. There is no doubt that I will make Beckham suffer a bit!”

Carlos' remarks escalated the gunpowder of this encounter, and the game started in the anticipation of the fans.

Real Madrid, which sits at home, has an advantage. With the advantage of the home court, they have played momentum and created many offensive opportunities, making Manchester United's front gate dangerous and jittery.

At the beginning of the game, Real Madrid's Raul passed Stam and broke into the penalty area. Borg quickly filled the position before intercepting the ball.

Soon Raul interacted tacitly with Salgado on the right. Salgado went all the way into the penalty area without any defense and then shot from a small angle. Bosnich reacted quickly and saved the end line. In the 8th minute, Real Madrid launched another offensive.

Six minutes later, McManaman made a comeback and shot from 6 meters in front of the goal, and the ball slipped wide.

After finally withstood the opponent's continuous offensive, Manchester United stabilized their position and launched an attack after 15 minutes.

In the 17th minute, Giggs accurately passed the ball to Cole on the edge of the penalty area. Unfortunately, Cole's shot did not find the target and the ball went above the crossbar.

After 1 minute, Manchester United once again played a sharp wing attack. Giggs broke through the interception of the two defenders and passed the ball easily to Cole.

Cole dodged Campo and shot directly, but was hugged by Casillas - Casillas was only 18 years old!
Real Madrid quickly retaliated. In the 20th minute, Raul made a strong shot. Three minutes later, Morientes hit the goal in the penalty area-both attacks were miraculously resolved by Bosnich.

Cole got Manchester United's best chance in the 25th minute. Beckham took a right corner kick and Stam headed the ball to the goal. Cole actually headed the ball high in front of the goal!

The escaped Real Madrid continued to put pressure on Manchester United. In the 31st minute, Carlos shot 20 meters away and went over the crossbar. After 2 minutes, Carlos shot again from a long distance and missed the post. Then Raul shot into the center of Manchester United again. Bosnich resolved them one by one, showing extremely agility and composure.

On the contrary, Cole performed as if he lost his soul throughout the game. He received Beckham's cross from the right in the penalty area in 43 minutes, but the shot from close at hand still missed the post.

Subsequently, Scholes made a strong shot and was thrown, Yorke made a supplementary shot from an offside position, and the goal was disallowed.

In the second half, Real Madrid was still in control of the situation. At the beginning of the game, they got a free kick 25 meters away. Carlos shot through the wall of 6 Manchester United players, but Bosnich still bravely fell to the ground to save the ball.

In the 51st minute, Scholes missed the shot from 20 meters away. In the 60th minute, Beckham's free kick was also intercepted. Manchester United's offense did not pose a threat until the 75th minute. Beckham made a cross and York went wide in the penalty area.

Before the end of the game, Real Madrid besieged the gate of Manchester United. McManaman overwhelmed Manchester United's penalty area and created many good chances to score goals. Unfortunately, Morientes and Balic failed to make contributions.At the last moment of the game, McManaman and striker Morientes broke through Manchester United's defense in two-on-one cooperation. He has already faced Manchester United's gate directly!

Only Bosnich became the last patron saint of Manchester United. He struck out in time and fell to the ground to block McManaman's shot. In the end, McManaman's shot hit Bosnich's leg.

The whole game ended 0-0, and the suspense will be solved in the next game.

As the Spanish media said, "Manchester United was lucky to get a draw." Manchester United retreated from the Bernabeu, but in fact Manchester United's performance in this game was really not good, which cast a lot of shadows on the hearts of Manchester United fans.

If it weren't for bad luck, Real Madrid could have won easily, and even the carnage by a large score was not a problem.

Although the two teams have many superstars, from the perspective of the game, Real Madrid's performance in the three lines is better than Manchester United: the combination of Raul and Morientes in the frontcourt is far more threatening than Cole and Yorke, while Redondo shines in the midfield. He has the upper hand in the contest with Jost and Scholes. Carlos also performed very well.

The most dazzling is the former Liverpool midfielder McManaman, who has played against Manchester United many times. He almost broke the entire defense of Manchester United. The old Irwin had to pay the price of a yellow card to slightly prevent him from cutting.

Jost and Yorke seemed to disappear in the Manchester United team, and Cole repeatedly missed the ball.

As for the two wings that Manchester United is proud of, this game did not show enough power. Although there were two accurate crosses that almost led to goals, Beckham was still defended by Carlos' strong defense, and it was difficult to calmly play from the right. The ball did not provide much assistance to the frontcourt attack.

Giggs' breakthrough was only extremely sharp in the first half, and there were almost no successful attempts in the second half.

If you really want to say that the Manchester United team has performed well, it is really only Bosnich.

However, Bosnich is rarely trustworthy.Judging from his performance throughout the season whether he was insane, is he worthy of entrusting the overall situation of the game?Even the most confident Red Devils fans dare not guarantee it.

(End of this chapter)