host must win

Chapter 497 Losing the initiative to compete for the championship

Although Manchester United won at home, it is far from being locked in the semi-finals. Therefore, in the Premier League weekend, Ferguson had to carry out some rotations on Manchester United's lineup. In addition, Giggs and Fletcher were not included in the squad by Ferguson because of injuries.Ruud van Nistelrooy, Ronaldo and Rooney are on the bench.

The reason why Ferguson made such a decision is because Manchester United's opponent Norwich in this round of the game is limited in strength. Even if they play with a substitute rotation lineup, they have a great chance of winning.

After 31 rounds of the league, the Canaries only won 3 games, and their overall record was 3 wins, 11 draws and 17 losses. They are firmly in the position of deputy squad leader with 20 points, which is just a quarter of that of Manchester United, which scored 80 points. one.

More than that, they have huge problems on both offensive and defensive ends. So far they have only scored 30 goals, ranking second to last among the 20 Premier League teams, only slightly better than Blackburn who only scored 25 goals ; On the defensive end, they have conceded 63 goals. They conceded the most goals among the 20 teams, even conceding 12 more goals than West Brom and Fulham, which conceded the second most goals!
Such a team almost booked a place for relegation in advance.

The Red Devils are facing such a team, even if they play with a substitute lineup, they are still optimistic about Manchester United winning the away game.After all, this Red Devils still has star players like Scholes and Alan Smith on the offensive end, while on the defensive end there are giants like Ferdinand, Gary Neville, and Heinze.

But the result surprised everyone. Under the pressure of the Norwich players, Manchester United did not create too good a chance to shoot. Although they shot the goal 8 times, it was difficult for them to really threaten their opponents.Norwich, on the other hand, achieved a 2:0 advantage through a free kick goal and a quick counter-attack goal after a successful counter-robber.

Although Ferguson sent Ronaldo, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Rooney to come off the bench successively, these substitution adjustments did not play much role when Manchester United lost control of the midfield.

In the end, Manchester United had to swallow a 0:2 fiasco.

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In a sense, this is a complete defeat for the Red Devils.After Manchester United lost to Chelsea in the first round of this season, they maintained an unbeaten record of 30 Premier League games and were also terminated.

Ferguson lost his temper after the game. Not only did he refuse an interview with Sky TV, but he also angrily refused when Manchester United TV extended the microphone to him.It can be seen that Ferguson is really angry, because Manchester United TV has been interviewing Ferguson after the game for 7 years, no matter what happens.

Ferguson not only vented his grievances to the media, but the Manchester United players did not escape his thunderous anger. After the game, Ferguson locked the Manchester United players in the locker room and reprimanded them for a long time, although outsiders did not know what Ferguson said in it. Shouted something, but from the dejected expressions of the Manchester United players, it can be seen that they were criticized badly.

It is worth mentioning that this is the 500th Premier League game coached by Manchester United coach Ferguson. Unexpectedly, such a day that should be commemorated has become another disaster in his 19 years of coaching Manchester United.

At the same time, former Manchester United goalkeeper Schmeichel also criticized Ferguson's formation, saying that the current depth of Manchester United's bench is not enough for Ferguson to rest assured that so many main players are rested.Schmeichel said: "I really don't know what Ferguson was thinking at the time. I think the players he sent to the starting lineup can't complete the task of winning in terms of strength and experience. The current Manchester United team is not strong enough to make a substitute lineup. To the extent that you can easily win the game against the underdogs.”

The only consolation for Manchester United is that the title rival Chelsea was also tied 1:1 by former Manchester United captain Steve Bruce's Birmingham City at Stamford Bridge in the game that ended earlier.

But despite this, Manchester United still lost the top position in the 1-round standings by 8 point, and they are also at a disadvantage in the competition for the Premier League title.

Don't look at the 1-point gap, but considering the terrible stability of Manchester United's current title rival Chelsea, this 1-point is likely to be an insurmountable moat!
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In the middle of the week, the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals continued.

In the first two games in European local time on Tuesday night, although Bayern Munich defeated Mourinho's Chelsea 3:2 at home, they lost 2:4 away in the first leg. Unfortunately, Bayern was eliminated with a total score of 5:6.And Mourinho led Chelsea to the Champions League semi-finals for two consecutive years, and performed very well.

The other game is the Milan derby.

Due to the 0:2 loss in the first round, Inter Milan has been pushed to the brink of despair, and they have no choice but to win this game.As a result, Shevchenko's goal in the 30th minute completely pushed Inter Milan into the abyss, and the referee on duty, the German Merck, canceled Cambiasso's goal in the 71st minute of the game, which became the overwhelming international goal. Final straw for Milan fans.

The angry Inter Milan fans behind the gate of Dida threw down the mineral water bottles one after another. Dida fell to the ground after being hit on the right shoulder by an exploding fireworks while cleaning up the sundries in the penalty area. Dida was quickly lifted by the staff Enter the center of the field for rescue, and players from both sides gather in the midfield.

The game was therefore suspended.Zanetti and the staff were cleaning up debris in the penalty area, and the referee Merck waited for Dida to receive treatment.Ancelotti taught the players face-to-face opportunities in due course.Mancini sat on the bench with a sad face.

As the scene could not be controlled, the Inter Milan fans in the stands continued to throw fireworks and other dangerous objects. The referee Merck told the AC Milan players to retreat into the lounge, and the AC Milan fans also played "EXIT" and "GAME OVER" in the stands. slogan.

After 5 minutes, Inter Milan players and game officials left the field one after another.The riot police entered the side stand to maintain order, and the staff continued to clean up the venue.The referee Merk and the game supervisor then decided that the game would continue at 22:40 local time.

Players from both sides entered the field to resume the game, and Abbiati replaced Dida.

The game had just resumed, and several fireworks were thrown from the stands on this side, and even sundries such as umbrellas appeared.The referee Merck immediately announced the end of the game ahead of time, and the AC Milan players were about to express their gratitude to their fans in the stands but were stopped by the coach.

Although the final result of this game has not yet come out, according to the regulations, Inter Milan will almost certainly be sentenced to a 0:3 loss.In addition, there will definitely be other penalties, such as fines, empty home games, and even suspensions.

(End of this chapter)