Star card system.

In the opening stage, Barcelona organized attacks continuously and got several shooting opportunities, but they failed to convert into goals.

Manchester United's counterattack created two excellent scoring opportunities.

Let the Barcelona players throw the rat weapon.

In the next period of time, Barcelona players received instructions from coach Valverde on the sidelines.

The formation is slightly more retracted, the three lines are balanced, and the ball is steadily controlled to find opportunities.

Don't press too far up.

And Manchester United also got a little breathing space.

Although Valverde has never played against Mourinho, he has carefully studied the videos of Barcelona's previous games.

In the seasons when I played a duo with Real Madrid, the games were really fun to watch.

At that time, Barcelona still had the upper hand, but that was also one of Mourinho's reasons for joining Real Madrid to seek a challenge.

There have been super disastrous defeats of 0-5, and there have also been victories that overturned Barcelona and climbed to the top of La Liga.

At that time, Mourinho was very good at attacking in Real Madrid, especially his rapid progress, which was very beautiful.

Who says Mourinho can't attack, then he definitely doesn't understand football.

Now, Valverde sees the shadow of Real Madrid in Manchester United.

Although Manchester United does not have a super forward combination like BBC, they do have a top midfielder like Xia.

Players such as Lukaku and Sanchez are also very good.

Coupled with De Gea in front of the goal, he is the world's top goalkeeper.

Even Barcelona dare not underestimate such a lineup.

And for Barcelona now, their lineup is not as good as before.

After Neymar, who was entrusted with the important task, left, Barcelona has not found a suitable successor.

You must know that Neymar is one of the top five players in the world. It is almost impossible for such a star to exist in the transfer market.

Although the introduction of Dembele cost a lot of money, it is really not effective.

Putting aside Dembele's ups and downs in form and his youth and lack of experience, his frequent injuries alone are a headache for the club.

Moreover, Dembele is far less self-disciplined than his Barcelona predecessors, and he did not meet the club's expectations on the court.

Neymar is gone, Suarez is not as good as before, and Messi is injured again.

Barcelona's attacking power is far less than it used to be.

There are also problems in the defense line.

Umtiti has been entrusted with important tasks, but he is far from the level of Puyol's successor.

Not even as stable as veteran Pique.

There are also Iniesta and Busquets, both of whom are also old and are more than one level behind their peak years.

Today's Barcelona can still hold on in European football purely by virtue of its integrity, but no player individually has much advantage over their opponents.

The same is true for this game.

Although they retreated appropriately for protection, Barcelona also had many opportunities.

Either Dembele fired an anti-aircraft gun, or Suarez's shot was blocked.

Paulinho is very active and this game poses the greatest threat to Manchester United.

He can dribble the ball forward and has a good shot. His physical fitness and strength are still on line.

Unexpectedly, the Chinese Super League signing who was not optimistic at the beginning of the season has now become an important member of Barcelona.

Xia Xing simply retreated and decisively focused his defensive attention on Paulinho.

Since receiving special care from Xia Xing, Paulinho has never had a chance to score again.

He was depressed.

what's going on?
When playing against Xia Xing in this game, he always had a special sense of superiority.

Inexplicably, I felt that this guy couldn't defend himself.

But I didn't expect it to be so defensive.Only later did he realize what was happening.

It turned out to be Xia Xing's Chinese face, which gave Paulinho too much familiarity.

But this feeling of familiarity is strange.

How is he any of the defensive players who once played in the Chinese Super League?

As the first half passed, Paulinho even had a special thought.

If one day I return to China to play football again, will I feel a little scared when I see the defensive players with Chinese faces...

This is all caused by the guy in front of me...

The referee blew his whistle and the first half ended.

The two sides are 0 to 0.

Valverde frowned, he didn't get the result he wanted.

Mourinho, who was not far away, had a calm expression. He could still accept the result.

Although he asked the players to have the belief to win before the game, Mourinho also knew that it would not be easy.

It would be great if this game is a draw.

Whether it's a clean sheet or a goal, it's all good.

Manchester United's defense was good in the first half, especially Xia Xing's retreat, and the sweeping defense against Barcelona completely cut off the passing and control system.

Especially the final kick, Barcelona didn't even have a few shots on goal.

Either the shot missed in a hurry under Manchester United's defense, or the pass failed to be converted into a shot.

Zero seal, that’s great!

During the halftime break, neither side made any substitutions.

Mourinho is naturally very satisfied with the starting players.

There were no substitutions on Barcelona's side, not because Valverde was satisfied with everyone, but because there was no more suitable candidate on the bench.

Barcelona's lineup at this stage may be the thinnest in recent years.

Sitting on the bench are Vermaelen, Paco, Andre Gomez, and Mecedo. These people, let alone Barcelona, ​​are most likely to be rotations or substitutes even if they are placed in other top giants.

Now Barcelona is really stretched and can only rely on the starting players to hold on, and then hope that Messi will return from injury as soon as possible.

Manchester United still defended unhurriedly, and the occasional counterattack was very effective, which shocked the Barcelona fans.

Time kept passing and the game had reached 69 minutes.

Substitute players from both sides are already active on the sidelines and ready to play.

But at this moment, something unexpected happened on the court.

A not very threatening pass, the ball came to Suarez's feet.

The Uruguayan forward took the ball with his back on the penalty area line, knocked it back to Paulinho, then turned around and sprinted!
It's obviously a two-for-one preparation!
Central defender Smalling quickly followed up and blocked the angle!

But Paulinho didn't pass it back to Suarez, but to Dembele!

Dembele took advantage of the situation and rushed into the penalty area!

His explosive power is extremely strong!
This time, he directly got rid of Manchester United's left back Ashley Young!

Ashley Young quickly chased back, but how could he keep up with the French forward who was more than ten years younger than him?

Dembele has a chance!
At this time, Phil Jones, another Manchester United central defender, saw this and quickly stepped in to take over!

A sliding tackle went straight to Dembélé!

Dembele sprinted quickly and poked the ball gently before Phil Jones could tackle it!
Although the ball passed, the person did not.

He was brought down to the ground by Phil Jones!
The referee's whistle sounded!
"The referee pointed to the penalty spot!

“And a red card for Phil Jones!
“Red dot package, Barcelona’s good luck fell from the sky!

“Barcelona’s attack finally paid off!

"Manchester United is in trouble!" (End of chapter)