Full-level pass, please call me the speaker of the Three Lions

Chapter 389 UEFA: Playing Barcelona? Satisfy you!
【Ding dong! 】

[Achievement "Champions League Debut" achieved]

[Achievement rating: A]

[Achievement Reward: 2 Free Attribute Points]

【Ding dong! 】

[Achievement "First Champions League Goal" achieved]

[Achievement rating: A]

[Achievement Reward: 2 Free Attribute Points]

[Achievement "First Assist in the Champions League" achieved]

[Achievement rating: A]

[Achievement Reward: 2 Free Attribute Points]

[Achievement "Champions League goal double" achieved]

[Achievement rating: A]

In his Champions League debut, Ling Feng played for seventy minutes.

He completed the one-stop operation of scoring, assisting, scoring twice and celebrating with a yellow card!

This may be the first player in the Champions League to achieve this special achievement!
The only regret for Ling Feng was that if he could score one more goal, he would be able to take the match ball of his Champions League debut home as a souvenir.

They did not stay in Romania for too long, and the next morning the Manchester United players took a flight back to Manchester.

Compared with the other four major leagues, the Premier League's schedule is the most grueling.

Especially for Premier League giants with European competition tasks, they have to fight on four fronts almost every season.

League, League Cup, FA Cup, European Cup!
Manchester United will also face this situation this season.

Just three days after the Champions League play-offs, Manchester United welcomed their first home game of the new league season at Old Trafford!

The opponent is the "Saints" Southampton, who ranked sixth last season!
This summer, for Southampton, it is another transfer window where key players are lost.

Senegalese winger Mane, who is an absolute pillar of the team's offense, was acquired by Klopp's Liverpool for 34 million pounds;
The team's midfielder, Kenyan midfielder Wanyama, was snapped up by Tottenham at almost the bargain price of 11 million pounds!

The team's main center forward, Italian striker Pelle, joined the Chinese giants Taishan with his beautiful model girlfriend Varga.

The revenue from selling players alone exceeded 50 million pounds!
It is worth mentioning that with Mane's transfer to Liverpool, this is the third consecutive season that Liverpool has "purchased" players from Southampton!

The good cooperative relationship between the two teams has made Liverpool fans, nicknamed "Red Army", also regard Southampton as their "fellow countrymen"

However, Southampton's scouting team is not stupid and does not intend to start a supermarket sale in their first season in European competitions.

In addition to selling people, they also "restocked" the same location:
Bayern youth midfielder Hojbjerg and Norwich local winger Redmond have joined the team!
However, these two are still far behind Mane and Wanyama.

With the transfer and departure of several absolute main players and the arrival of new players, Southampton's strength has been visibly affected.

In the first round of the league, we faced newly promoted Watford at home, but were tied by our opponent!

In the second round, they will be visiting the Theatre of Dreams to face the Red Devils Manchester United, who spent the most on signings in the summer window and are in hot form recently!

Therefore, most media and experts before the game predicted that Manchester United would win easily!
At the pre-match press conference, reporters also asked about the adaptation speed of Ling Feng, Ibrahimovic, Kante and other new players, as well as Ling Feng's hot form.

Mourinho's answer was also very domineering:
"Capable players will not fail to adapt to the new environment."

"Football is not that complicated. The pitch and ball are the same, the goalposts don't move, and the opponents are always eleven players."

"As one of the best in the world, I am not surprised at all by Ling Feng's speed of adaptation."

"Both the club and I believe that he is definitely the key figure in leading the team back to the top!"

"And the team and I are very fortunate to have a striker like Zlatan in the team. He is a born winner!"

"Kante has proven himself in the Premier League and the European Cup. He is definitely one of the best defensive midfielders in football today."

After praising his disciples, Mourinho ended the press conference and returned to the locker room.

The first thing he said when he came up was:
"We must win this game!"

. . .

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the great Old Trafford."

“This is the second round of the 2016-17 Premier League, Manchester United is playing against Southampton at home.”

"This will be a new beginning for Mourinho and Manchester United."

In this game, on the offensive line, Mourinho still used the front four from the first round of the league.

Ibrahimovic is the lone striker, Ling Feng is behind him, and on his left and right are Martial and Rooney.

After all, the big win over Bournemouth in the first round of the league proved that there is no problem with this front four!
However, he did make personnel adjustments in the selection of defensive midfielder and defender.

The team's offense can sometimes change dramatically in a short period of time.

There are many cases where changing coaches is like changing knives.

However, the team's defensive system requires long-term research and analysis before it can be built.

Considering Carrick's age and running ability, Mourinho chose the more physically fit Spaniard Herrera to partner with Kante as a defensive midfielder.

Then Smalling was put on the bench, allowing Blind, who has better passing ability, to start and form a central defender combination with Bailly.

Obviously, he hopes to observe the players through the early season games and slowly select the best midfield and backcourt configuration.

At the packed Old Trafford Stadium, Ling Feng finally wore the red and white No. 7 home jersey for the first time and played his first home game for Manchester United!
When Ling Feng followed the Manchester United team into the Theatre of Dreams, all the fans cheered warmly.

The cameras at the scene were all aimed at the new Red Devils No. 7 in the Mourinho era!

Click, click, click!

Even though Ibrahimovic's fame and status in football are much higher than Ling Feng's.

Even though Rooney is the top star of Manchester United and the Three Lions.

However, Ling Feng is the destined one for Manchester United's revival!

The first time Ling Feng walked out of the player tunnel at Old Trafford, he heard the shouts of fans in the nearby stands:

"Ling!"

"Ling Feng!"

"Dude! Look over here!" At this moment, Ling Feng heard a very familiar voice.

When he looked in the direction of the voice, he saw two unexpected faces!
In the second row of the main stand near the stadium, two fans wearing Foxes jerseys stood out among the red.

One is short and fat, the other is tall and thin.

They are actually the Foxes' die-hard fans, Big William and Bob!
"Fuck!"

Ling Feng raised his hand and pointed at the two of them with a little surprise, then after seeing the No. 7 Fox jerseys on them, he immediately smiled and gave the first thumbs up before the game started!

Although I am a die-hard fan of Blue Fox.

However, Big William and Bob are still Ling Feng's fans.

Ling Feng was also very touched that the two chose to come to Manchester to support him when the Foxes had no games.

You know, before the game, when he posted on social media that he was about to make his debut at the Theatre of Dreams, these two old guys sent him congratulatory text messages.

But they didn't expect that they would come to Old Trafford specially to cheer him up!
Following Ling Feng’s like, the camera also very cleverly captured these two conspicuous brothers.

Then, Ferdinand, the Manchester United star who was the commentator of this game, also made a joke during the live broadcast:
"These two are obviously Ling Feng's loyal fans!"

"Nice jersey. But sorry man, he's ours now!"

With a long whistle from the referee, Mourinho's first home game for Manchester United officially kicked off!

"Ling got the ball in midfield."

"Rooney's cross was just over the bar for Ibrahimovic's header"

"Kante made a steal, Ling Feng took the ball and made a precise diagonal pass to the left. Unfortunately, Martial took too much of the ball."

At home, Manchester United unsurprisingly firmly controlled the situation on the field.

As for Southampton, with the departure of "big thigh" Mane, the offensive threat in the frontcourt has been greatly reduced. Whether it is Sean Long and Tadic, or Gabiadini, or Redmond, they can not pose much threat to Manchester United's defense.

They couldn't even get past the long-running defensive midfield duo of Kante and Herrera!
As the best midfielder before Kante joined, Herrera was once known as "Manchester United's Iniesta".

This Basque player who made his debut in La Liga is very comprehensive. He can not only control the ball in the midfield, but also send threatening passes forward.

It can also serve as a midfield barrier, intercepting the opponent's attack with active running and fighting spirit.

In addition to being good at both offense and defense, he is also a very strong runner.

During training and daily interactions, Ling Feng quickly became friends with the Spaniard.

In his opinion, the Spaniard is one of the players with the best professional attitude in Manchester United!

During training, he always gives his all and focuses fully.

In daily life, Herrera is also a very low-key and friendly brother.

Knowing that Ling Feng could speak Spanish, he enthusiastically recommended to him the attractions and special food of the Basque region.

Of course, the reason why the defense was not put to much of a test was also because the frontcourt offense was so fierce!

Compared to the big win over Bournemouth in the first round of the league, Mourinho, who was facing his first game at Old Trafford, gave the frontcourt players more freedom on the offensive end.

He let the left and right wingers Martial and Rooney switch positions with Ling Feng in the middle more often, and then let Ibrahimovic be the fulcrum in the frontcourt to pass the ball to several people.

This was only the second game that Manchester United's front four played together.

However, the scene of the four players working together has allowed Manchester United fans to see the brilliant attack of the team under Ferguson's leadership in the past!
The active and orderly running of the front players was simply unimaginable in the Van Gaal era!
The arrival of Ibrahimovic also made all the media and fans realize how important it is to have a center forward!
Of course, as a number nine, Ibrahimovic's fulcrum and finishing in the frontcourt are certainly important.

However, without Ling Feng, a super midfielder who can attract the opponent's defense and create opportunities at every moment, neither the newly arrived Ibrahimovic, nor Rooney or Martial who struggled last season, would be able to play as easily as they do now!

Amid the waves of cheers from Manchester United fans in the stands, the home team took the lead in the score just thirteen minutes into the game!

Ling Feng suddenly shot the ball from 35 meters away from the goal in the midfield, and it went straight through the goal guarded by England's substitute goalkeeper Foster!
This powerful and heavy artillery shot has a domineering attitude that will not stop until the net is broken!
The Red Devils' No.7's celebration after scoring the goal also showed the best style of the Premier League.

He was seen standing proudly with his arms open, looking around with an arrogant look on his face. An aura of a king who didn't care about anyone else arose spontaneously!

At that moment, many Manchester United fans were surprised and rubbed their eyes, thinking they saw Cantona with his collar turned up!

After Ling Feng scored the goal, the photographer on the scene also captured a subtle detail.

Just as Ibrahimovic and Rooney were running towards Ling Feng who was standing there, Martial ran over slowly with an expressionless face.

After Ibrahimovic and Rooney hugged Ling Feng, he arrived at the celebration scene with teammates including Kante and Herrera.

In this game, Manchester United did not give Southampton any chance from beginning to end.

The Saints, who made it into the top six last season, didn’t even have a single shot on target at the Theatre of Dreams!

De Gea enjoyed a 90-minute sunbath in front of the goal.
In the end, with Ling Feng's pass and shot, Ibrahimovic and Lingard scored respectively, and Manchester United defeated Southampton with a clean 3-0 in their first home game!

The first home victory was also a good start for Mourinho's Manchester United.
. . .

A few days later, Manchester United faced Steaua Bucharest in the second leg of the Champions League at Old Trafford.

The big win in the first round allowed Mourinho to rotate all the players with confidence.

After defeating Steaua Bucharest 2016-17 with an all-substitute lineup, Manchester United defeated their opponents - in total over two rounds and successfully advanced to the group stage of the - UEFA Champions League!

The next day.

The 2016-17 UEFA Champions League group draw ceremony was held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

Thirty-two teams are divided into four tiers based on their Champions League points and form eight groups.

Manchester United was placed in Group C, with opponents including Barcelona (La Liga), Borussia Mönchengladbach (Bundesliga) and Celtic (Scottish Premier League)!
After watching the entire process and results of the Champions League draw with his own eyes, Ling Feng's mouth twitched, and he immediately gave UEFA an international friendly gesture in his heart!

Mom!
I just sang the chorus of the Champions League theme song at my Champions League debut, and it came true?!
UEFA: Don’t you want to play against Barcelona? Satisfy you!

In fact, everyone knows that the Champions League draw has always been done behind closed doors.

In order to create hype and attract traffic, UEFA likes to create dramas where enemies meet on a narrow road.

For example, last season they faced Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid in the knockout rounds; Real Madrid once again met their old rival Dortmund in the group stage.
The reason why Manchester United was placed in the same group as Barcelona, ​​in addition to the past grievances between the two teams, is due to three people.

One is Mourinho, who used to work as a translator at Barcelona and offered himself but was ruthlessly rejected by Barcelona;
One is Ibrahimovic, who once played for Barcelona but had a feud with Guardiola;
One is Ling Feng, who is regarded as a competitor to Messi and Ronaldo by Mourinho and the British media!

Of course, compared to the comparison between Ling Feng and Messi, the grievances between Mourinho and Ibrahimovic and Barcelona are the reasons why UEFA "pulled" these two teams together!

Apart from the strongest opponent in the group, La Liga giants Barcelona, ​​the Bundesliga powerhouse Borussia Mönchengladbach and the Scottish Premier League champions Celtic still have a certain gap in strength with Manchester United.

Whether or not they can qualify as the group leader depends on the two games against Barcelona.

For Manchester United, which has made major reinforcements in this summer window, of course it must not only return to the title race in the league, but also be competitive in the Champions League!
(End of this chapter)