host must win

Chapter 411 Defending the European Super Cup

After the game against Everton, the Manchester United team took a chartered flight to Monaco on the Mediterranean Sea the next day, preparing to participate in the European Super Cup match that started on Friday night.

在当地时间周四晚上，也即8月26日晚上，包括弗格森、殷俊在内的多名曼联球员出席了2003-2004赛季欧冠颁奖暨2004-2005赛季欧冠小组赛抽签仪式。

As the first team to defend the Champions League since the restructuring of the Champions League, Manchester United is undoubtedly the biggest winner of this awards ceremony.Yin Jun, Howard, Keane, Giggs and Ruud van Nistelrooy were selected into the best team of the Champions League, accounting for almost half of the best team.In the personal best, Howard was elected the best goalkeeper, and Yin Jun was elected the best midfielder and best player.

Yin Jun won the best midfielder and best player for two consecutive years.

In the ensuing UEFA Champions League group stage draw, Manchester United, as the seed team, competed with Ligue [-] champions Lyon in the second tier, Turkish team Galatasaray in the third tier, and Sparta Prague from the Czech Republic in the fourth tier. Da, in the D group.

This result wasn't the best, but it wasn't the worst either.As the overlord of Ligue [-], Lyon's strength is still good.Galatasaray and Sparta Prague are not very strong, but the long distance is a test for Manchester United.

Of course, there is also the away atmosphere of Galatasaray.For any team, playing in Turkey is not a good experience.

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A day later, at the Stade Louis II in Monaco, Manchester United and last season's UEFA Cup champion Valencia launched a battle for this year's UEFA Super Cup.

As the La Liga champion last season, Valencia is still very strong. After all, they can beat the Galacticos and the revived Barcelona, ​​which proves their strength.

However, the Bat Corps lost their meritorious coach Benitez this summer. The Spanish coach took over Anfield in the summer and became the new helmsman of the Red Army.This is not a small blow to Valencia.

At the Louis II Stadium, Manchester United encountered a tough battle.Yin Jun's goal in the 17th minute of the first half gave United the lead, but Baraja equalized in the 32nd minute.

In the second half, Marco Di Vaio's goal in the 67th minute gave Valencia the lead.

At the critical moment, Yin Jun once again played the role of the mainstay.He first assisted Ronaldo to score in the 78th minute, bringing the two sides back to the same starting line, and then assisted Alan Smith to score in the 83rd minute, allowing Manchester United to win the championship trophy.

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Although they won Valencia and won the UEFA Super Cup, this game consumed a lot of Manchester United players.

After 72 hours, Manchester United flew back to England to challenge Blackburn away.

This is the last game of the 4th round of the Premier League.

Prior to this, Chelsea had already triumphed at home.The Blues' game against the Saints at home also scared the home team fans enough.In the case of a lightning goal in the opening 12 seconds, relying on Beatty's own goal and a penalty kick, he was lucky to win the four-game winning streak at the beginning of the season 2:1.

Arsenal beat Canary Norwich 4:1 in the away game, extending their unbeaten record to 44 games.At the same time, in the Premier League standings, they also relied on the advantage of goal difference to beat Chelsea, who also won four consecutive victories, to top the list.

So, before the start of Manchester United's game, they were already 6 points behind Arsenal and Chelsea in the standings.

In this game, Ferguson rotated the team's starting lineup, with Yin Jun sitting on the bench and Scholes starting as the attacking midfielder.

After the opening, Manchester United, who looked a little tired, was obviously out of shape. The home team had the advantage on the field and took the lead in the 17th minute of the game.

Peterson throws a throw-in from the left, Sylvester is not marking well, Dickov stops the ball and turns around, and hits the upper right corner of the goal with a left-footed half-volley from the corner of the small penalty area. Manchester United is behind 0:1 in the away game .

This score was maintained until the end of the first half.

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Judging from the first half of the game, Manchester United's single forward Smith lacked sufficient support and did nothing under the marking of Short and Amoruso. Cristiano Ronaldo and Kleberson are the two players who performed better for Manchester United, but after the intermission, Kleberson was replaced by Giggs, and Ronaldo was also pushed forward. Manchester United should play three forwards.

It's just that Manchester United's substitution adjustment did not play a very obvious role, forcing Ferguson to make a second substitution adjustment in the 67th minute of the game.Yin Jun replaced Djemba and took over the command of Manchester United from Scholes.

Yin Jun played a role shortly after his debut.

In the 71st minute, Manchester United sent an overhead ball from the right. Yin Jun followed up and nodded with his head. Seeing that he was about to form a one-handed situation, Amoruso knocked him down from behind and was sent off by the referee Willie with a red card.

Souness immediately strengthened his defense and replaced Dickov with Swedish defender Johansson.

However, this substitution adjustment did not help Blackburn. In the 77th minute, Yin Jun received a wonderful pass from Alan Smith's heel and volleyed with his left foot from the edge of the penalty area.Although Friedel responded, but Yin Jun's kick was too tricky to prevent the ball from entering the net.

1:1, Manchester United equalized the score.

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The morale of Manchester United who equalized the score was soaring. In addition, they still had a numerical advantage, completely suppressing Blackburn on the scene, almost pressing the home team in the penalty area and beating hard.

However, Manchester United's second goal was delayed, and Blackburn's old American goalkeeper Friedel showed an extraordinary state.Although he failed to stop Yin Jun's shot, Ronaldo's close-range header and Scholes' volley from the small penalty area were all blocked by him inconceivably.

Before Yin Jun came on the stage, Friedel had made many key saves.

Soon, the regular 90-minute game ended.The officials on the sidelines signaled 4 minutes of stoppage time, and the home fans booed together.Apparently, the home team fans thought this stoppage time was too much.

Blackburn's current situation on the field is very passive, and the home team fans can't wait for the referee to end the game after 90 minutes.

At this time, Manchester United's entire team was on top, except for Gary Neville and goalkeeper Howard who were still behind, the other nine people were basically pressed into Blackburn's big penalty area.

At the end of the game, Manchester United launched the final blow, Scholes made a long pass from the midfielder, Yin Jun overwhelmed Short with a header, and Smith volleyed with his left foot from 11 meters in front of the goal to the top of the goal, miraculously overtaking the score .

The home team was very dissatisfied with this goal. They believed that Alan Smith was in an offside position when Yin Jun's header was ferried.But the slow motion showed that Smith was not obviously offside, he was basically on the same line as Johansson.

(End of this chapter)