Manchester United legend

Chapter 254 The Dust Settles
Five days after Manchester United won the Premier League title, they suffered heavy losses in the Champions League. On April 4, in the second round of their Champions League quarter-finals, Manchester United lost 18-1 away to Bayern Munich and were eliminated 2-1 on aggregate.

Although Manchester United attacked Bayern Munich's goal madly, they met Kahn, the lion king who was cheating.

On April 4, van Nistelrooy moved to Manchester United from Eindhoven in the Netherlands. The price of 23 million pounds set a new transfer fee record for Ferdinand from West Ham United to Leeds United.It also broke the Manchester United history player transfer record.But Ferguson still thinks the transfer is worth the money.

On April 4, after both Black and Carbone missed penalties, Bradford lost 28-1 away to Everton and became the first team to be relegated from the Premier League this season.

On May 5th, Coventry won first and then lost. They lost 5 to 2 away to Aston Villa. They were relegated one round ahead of schedule and bid farewell to England's top league for the first time in 3 years.

On May 5th, in the last game of the 7th round of the Premier League, Manchester City lost to Ipswich Town 37-1 with an away goal and became the last team to be relegated.

On May 5, when Bowyer was suspended, Leeds United lost 8 to 0 to Valencia, and were eliminated with a total score of 3 to 0, stopping the semi-finals of the Champions League.Previously, they were known as the biggest dark horse of this Champions Cup, having eliminated Barcelona, ​​AC Milan, Lazio and Deportivo.

On May 5, West Ham United coach Redknapp turned against Chairman Brown and left West Ham United. On May 9, in the FA Cup final, Liverpool beat Arsenal 5-12 with Owen's two goals in the last 10 minutes, taking home the second trophy of the season.

On May 5, Arsenal coach Wenger decided to renew his contract with Arsenal for 15 years, worth 3 million pounds.

On May 5, Liverpool won the UEFA Cup in Dortmund and achieved the Triple Crown.

On May 5, the Scottish coach Ferguson, who has coached Manchester United for 19 years, announced that he would leave Manchester United permanently after the contract expires next season because he could not get the commitment of the Manchester United board of directors to his position after retirement.

On May 5, Royle, the head coach of the relegated team Manchester City, was fired, which caused a great shock in British football.

Then this year's European Champions Cup was won by Bayern Munich. With the outstanding performance of Lion King Kahn, Bayern finally won the cup.

At the Premier League awards ceremony, the best team was given to Liverpool. The team won three cup championships. They won the FA Cup this year, and the League Cup and UEFA Cup also became the Triple Crown.The young teenagers Gerrard and Owen in the team are known as the Liverpool twin stars.

The best player is Vieira at Arsenal.He has been trained by Wenger and has become one of the best midfielders in the Premier League.
The top scorer is Hasselbaink from Chelsea with 23 goals.

The best coach was not awarded to Ferguson, who led the team to win three consecutive Premier League titles, but to Ipswich Town coach Burleigh, who led the team to the UEFA Cup in the first season of entering the Premier League.

The best striker is Liverpool's Owen, who won the FA Cup and UEFA Cup and the League Cup for Liverpool.

United's only award was Best Midfielder, which went to David Beckham, who has nine goals and has been very competent for England.

The best defender is Arsenal's Adams, who is solid and has no major mistakes.

The best assists came from Arsenal's Thierry Henry and Manchester United's David Beckham, both of whom had 9 assists, enabling their teammates to score.

The team with the most goals: Liverpool, with 127 goals in the League Cup, Premier League, UEFA Cup and FA Cup.

The team with the most games: Liverpool, with a total of 63 games in the four major competitions.

Team with the most home goals: Manchester United, with 49 goals.

Team with fewest home goals: Coventry, 14.

The team with the most away goals: Liverpool, 31 goals.

Player with the most shots: Thierry Henry of Arsenal with 123 shots.

Player with the most offsides: Arsenal's Thierry Henry with 75 offsides.

The team with the most fouls: Sunderland, 38 games, 662 fouls.

Team with the most shots: Manchester United with 38 shots in 544 games.

Team with the most passes: Manchester United, with 38 passes in 19808 games.

Team with the most tackles: Leeds United, with 38 tackles in 1109 games.

Then this summer ushered in several transactions that changed European football. Let me talk about the background of the transfer first.
In the 2000-2001 season, the transfer focus was on Real Madrid and Barcelona, ​​Roma and Lazio, two rivals in the same city.

Real Madrid poached Barcelona's core and captain Figo. Figo helped the team regain the league championship. Coupled with the outstanding performance of the Portuguese national team in the 2000 European Championships, Figo scored a shocking goal. Figo threatened Zidane's No.1 status in world football at the time (Inter Milan's Ronaldo had a long-term injury). Figo ushered in the peak of his career when he joined Real Madrid.

On the other hand, Barcelona, ​​after Figo left the team, it was always difficult to find a suitable replacement and fell into a slump.

In the Serie A Roma duo, the 99-00 Serie A champion Lazio introduced two Argentine stars, Crespo and "Bug" Claudio Lopez, and the stars gathered to try to defend their title.In the last season, they only ranked sixth in the league. Roma, who was thrown 18 points away from their rivals who won the championship, introduced "God of War" Batistuta from "Violet" Fiorentina, Samuel from Argentina's Boca Juniors, and Brazilian international Emerson from Bundesliga Leverkusen. The two teams almost formed half of the Argentine national team.

Batty won the coveted Serie A championship in Rome. His departure from Fiorentina heralded the end of the era of the seven sisters in Serie A. Some teams found it difficult to maintain amid fierce competition.

In the 2000-01 season, in the UEFA Champions League, Bayern Munich eliminated Real Madrid and Valencia two La Liga teams by virtue of Kahn's outstanding performance, and regained the Champions League. Valencia finished runner-up for two consecutive times.

In the Bundesliga, Bayern's dominance is no longer there. Although they have won three consecutive championships, they barely won the championship with a goal at the last moment of the last round, which is very thrilling.Real Madrid, Roma, and Manchester United won La Liga, Serie A, and the Premier League respectively.

Winners need to consolidate their status, while losers need to return to hegemony. The summer of 2001 became an excellent opportunity for the giants to reshuffle their cards.

On the eve of the collapse of the football bubble, Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Manchester United, Lazio, Leeds United, Borussia Dortmund and other top teams recruited again.

(End of this chapter)