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

Chapter 526: King meets king? A chance to surpass Messi!

In the sports world, there is a saying that "kings never meet kings".

In the football world, the duel between Messi and Ronaldo was once the most watched game on the planet!
none of them!

Over the years, every Spanish national derby involving Messi and Ronaldo has been broadcast live in more than 90 countries around the world.

The real-time number of viewers could even reach a staggering hundreds of millions!

What is the world's number one sport?!

For Manchester United and Ling Feng, drawing Barcelona in the Champions League quarterfinals is neither good nor bad.

All I can say is that it’s not easy to play against any of the teams that make it to the quarterfinals of the Champions League.

Of course, judging from the strength of the team lineups and past record, Manchester City and Liverpool were defeated by them in the league double kill, and Roma's lineup is average.

Apart from the fact that these three teams are relatively easier to play against, there is actually no difference between drawing Barcelona and drawing Bayern, Juventus or Real Madrid.

The strength of these four teams is similar and each has its own characteristics.

The characteristic of Barcelona is Messi!
Ling Feng's first encounter with Messi was in the Champions League group stage last season.

At that time, Ling Feng completed two shots and one assist at Camp Nou, single-handedly defeating the MSN combination which was at its peak at the time!

It was thanks to this battle that the whole world came to know this rising British star!

Everyone knows the rest of the story.
Ling Feng led Manchester United all the way to the Champions League final with fire and lightning, preventing Real Madrid from defending the Champions League title. He also personally climbed to the top of Europe and even the top of football!
Ballon d'Or, 100-goal record, Lawrence
It only took Ling Feng one year to become the best player in the world on par with Messi and Ronaldo!
The Champions League showdown between Ling Feng and Messi, the two new and old kings of football, obviously attracted a lot of traffic and attention!

This season, with Neymar moving to Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona also introduced several new players.

In particular, the two blockbuster signings of Dembele and Coutinho, which cost over 100 million yuan, were the team's helpless measure to make up for the loss of Neymar.

In addition to the dissolution of the MSN combination and the huge changes in a single point in the team's lineup, with the arrival of new coach Valverde, the team's tactics have undergone tremendous changes, and the formation has also changed from the usual 433 to 442!

Although he lost Neymar, the crown prince, and due to tactical changes, Messi was forced to retreat to midfield to take on more organizational responsibilities.

However, as one of the best players in creating opportunities on the planet, Messi still uses his strong personal ability to lead Barcelona to advance triumphantly and be invincible in La Liga!
From the beginning of the season, they took turns leading with Valencia, to later expanding their lead, and establishing a huge lead from the first half, and have been unbeaten in 28 games so far.

Especially in the two rounds of the Spanish national derby, they also achieved an unbeaten record of one win and one draw.

This season, Barcelona completely suppressed Real Madrid in the league, showing its dominance in the post-MSN era.

However, in the Champions League, Barcelona's problem of relying too much on Messi on the offensive end was still exposed.

It was bad enough that they couldn't score against Juventus in the group stage, but they couldn't even penetrate the goal of Greek giants Olympiacos, which was enough to prove that there was something wrong with Barcelona's offense.

The midfield control is weakened and the offensive means are single
Fortunately, the defense is still reliable.

The central defender combination of Pique and Umtiti is getting better and better, and the two wingers Alba and Roberto also put in solid performances.

After entering the knockout stage, Barcelona regained their form, defeating Chelsea 4-1 in two rounds and successfully advancing to the quarterfinals.

However, the draw with Manchester United still made Barcelona fans a little nervous and they cursed UEFA a thousand times in their hearts.

It is worth mentioning that Deco, the sports director representing Barcelona at the Champions League draw, looked very serious when he saw that his opponent was the defending champion Manchester United.

There is no other reason. As the six-time champion in 2017 and the Premier League devil that has never lost a game so far, Manchester United is definitely the most difficult team to play against among these eight teams!
Judging from the Champions League odds, defending champion Manchester United also ranks first!

Judging from the strength of the lineup and competitive state, Manchester United has been invincible in the Premier League this season and has never lost!
Of course, it is also true that the opponents we face in the Champions League are weaker.

Just because La Liga powerhouse Sevilla cannot threaten Manchester United doesn’t mean that Barcelona, ​​one of the two giants of La Liga, cannot penetrate Manchester United’s goal!

In any case, as soon as the draw results came out, it immediately caused heated discussions in the football world.

In the eyes of all media, this head-on confrontation with Messi is definitely the battle of the century like Mars hitting the Earth!

In the eyes of many football experts and celebrities, this second match on the Champions League stage may be the best opportunity for Ling Feng to prove that he has surpassed Messi and Ronaldo and become the best player in the world!
As the saying goes, kings do not meet each other, and one mountain cannot support two tigers.

Is it Messi who is half a step away from being the best, or is it Ling Feng who is the king of the new era? !

Everything will be revealed in the Champions League quarter-finals!
However, before the peak showdown with Barcelona, ​​Ling Feng and Manchester United had a two-week break.
They first defeated Brighton in the FA Cup quarter-finals with a rotated lineup and reached the semi-finals.

Subsequently, because the 31st round of the league against West Ham United conflicted with the FA Cup, it was postponed to May.

As a result, Manchester United got a two-week break.

It was during these two weeks that the players were able to gain a rare respite from the intensive multi-line operations.

At the same time, the team's injury situation has been greatly alleviated.

After a short three-day holiday, the players, under the leadership of head coach Mourinho, entered into an intensive preparation phase.

However, their target of preparation is not the upcoming league opponent Swansea, but the first big obstacle the Red Devils face in defending the Champions League - Barcelona!
Like Manchester United, Barcelona also has a huge lead in La Liga.

This means that Barcelona can temporarily put aside the league situation and concentrate on the Champions League match against Manchester United.

Therefore, it can be predicted that Barcelona will definitely send out its entire main lineup to fight hard with Manchester United.

Especially Messi who is in excellent form, he is always one of the most difficult players to defend on the planet!

Of course, every team facing Barcelona will face the issue of "how to limit Messi".

However, this is not a problem for Mourinho.

You know, he may be the head coach in the world who is best at restricting Barcelona and Messi!

What's more, last year, even though their lineup had not been upgraded, they defeated Barcelona away from home thanks to Ling Feng's superb performance.

Although in the second round of the group stage, Barcelona pulled one back.

But, they ultimately had the last laugh in the Champions League!
After upgrading the lineup this season, Mourinho is full of confidence that the team can defeat Barcelona!
On the last day of March when the weather on the British Isles warmed up slightly, just before the Champions League match against Barcelona, ​​Manchester United won 2-0 against visiting Swansea at home with a rotated lineup.

The process and results of the game did not cause any waves.

On the contrary, Mourinho's remarks at the post-match press conference caused quite a stir:

"Jose, this is the second time that Manchester United, under your leadership, has faced Barcelona in the Champions League. What do you think of this matchup?"

"I am looking forward to returning to Camp Nou again. I have many good memories here." These words made the reporters imagine a lot.

They really couldn't figure out the "good memories" Mourinho mentioned. Was he referring to the good times he had as a translator at Barcelona, ​​or the classic moment of running wildly at Camp Nou!
However, Mourinho obviously knew what the reporters were thinking, and then he raised his lips:
"I hope my team can have the last laugh at Camp Nou again, so that I can experience the joy of defeating Barcelona again!"

These words are obviously an acknowledgement of his good memories at Camp Nou, which was the victory when he led Inter Milan to defeat Barcelona in the Champions League final!
Mourinho's remarks directly added a bit of gunpowder to the upcoming Champions League showdown.

Barcelona, ​​on the other hand, sent out Pique, the future president of Barcelona and a central defender who can see through football, to hit back at Mourinho's remarks:
"Mourinho seems to have forgotten how they lost to us at Old Trafford last season. We will make them remember."

At the same time, in Barcelona, ​​Spain
Joan Gamper Sports City.

In the dark tactical room, the game video was playing on the huge projection screen.

If you look closely, you can see that it was a Red Derby where Manchester United beat Liverpool 3-1 at home!
All the stars of Barcelona gathered together, watching every second of the game attentively.

Even the "Barcelona King" Messi is no exception.

Last year in the Champions League group stage, they lost to Manchester United at home at Camp Nou, which surprised the Barcelona stars and also made them lose face.

You know, at that time they had the strongest trident MSN combination in history!

But they lost to a wealthy and declining club that had been in decline for several years, and a rookie in the Champions League who was playing in the Champions League for the first time!
This is absolutely a shame for the Catalan giants who think highly of themselves!

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This year they meet Manchester United again in the knockout round, and of course they want to avenge last year's defeat!
The new coach Valverde is also a head coach with ideas.

The reason why the match between Manchester United and Liverpool was chosen as the match sample for key analysis is very simple.

Liverpool is also one of the top eight teams in this season's Champions League. The match between the two teams can, to a certain extent, be regarded as a match at the top eight level of the Champions League.

Secondly, the time is relatively close, which is of certain reference value for them to understand their opponents.

However, after watching the entire game, the Barcelona stars only saw Manchester United completely suppressing Liverpool, who also reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League, at home!
This is enough to prove that Manchester United is much stronger than Liverpool!

In particular, the Red Devils' strong control over the game and fierce offensive also made Barcelona's defenders frown and began to have waves of thoughts in their hearts:

If I face such a fierce attack, can I defend myself?

If I face Ling Feng, whose personal abilities have exploded, can I stop him?

Of course, this wasn't the only Manchester United game they watched during this period of preparation.

In fact, they have watched a Manchester United game video almost every day over the past week.

Then conduct tactical analysis through edited game highlights.

And today is no exception!
After watching the entire game, Valverde also began to play some clips of the game, just like a teacher in a coaching academy, holding a stick and starting to lecture the "students" in the audience:

"Today we will take a look at the opponent's usual offensive tactics in this game."

"In this attack, Ling Feng was the initiator of the attack and got the ball in the midfield."

"Lukaku likes to get the ball from the side or attack from behind the ribs, so you have to pay attention to Ling Feng's through balls."

".We must kill Ling Feng as soon as we counterattack!"

"It doesn't matter if you commit a foul!"

Just as he finished speaking, Ling Feng, who was cycling in the gym in Manchester, suddenly felt his nose itchy.

"What's going on? Is someone saying bad things about me behind my back? Or is Barbara thinking about me?"

Thinking of this, Ling Feng took off the headphones his girlfriend had given him, clicked on it, and sent a text message to his girlfriend:
"Baby, what are you doing?"

A short while later, he received a beautiful selfie of his girlfriend wearing black-framed glasses and busy developing new season designs.

His eyes suddenly lit up, and Ling Feng immediately gave praise:

"So pretty! Heart emoji!"

Compared to the Barcelona players who were on high alert, the Manchester United players were in a very calm state of mind.

Especially when seeing the captain and locker room boss Ling Feng so calm, the other Manchester United players also felt reassured.

What about Barcelona?

What about Messi?
They are the kings of Europe!

. . .

Soon, with the media warm-up, the pre-match war of words and the active preparations of both sides, the time came to the day of the game.

The streets of Manchester have long been occupied by the red wave.

Men, women, young and old were all wearing Manchester United jerseys from different eras, with all kinds of team peripherals on their bodies and hands, and they were all heading in the same direction.

Their destination is Manchester’s holy place - Old Trafford Stadium!
Some football bloggers who specialize in street interviews also randomly interview people outside Old Trafford:

"Hey man, do you think Manchester United can win this game?"

"Of course! We will beat them 3-0 at home!"

"What about you, ma'am?"

"I guess the scoreline will be 3-1, our captain will score a hat trick and Messi will score a face-saving goal for Barcelona."

"Suarez? He is no longer the world-class center forward who first arrived at Barcelona!"

It is worth mentioning that as Barcelona's center forward, Suarez has not scored a goal in the Champions League for more than 300 days!

Add to that Dembele, Coutinho, and these high-paid, low-skilled "scumbags", and Messi alone is simply unable to withstand Manchester United's fierce attack!
Moreover, before the Champions League showdown, Barcelona coach Valverde continued to field his full main lineup in the away game against Sevilla in order to maintain his unbeaten record in the league.

In the end, it ended in a 2-2 draw.

Less than seventy-two hours after this fierce battle, Barcelona players had to travel to Manchester.

Therefore, most British media believe that Manchester United, who have the home advantage and whose main lineup has been rotated and rested, has a greater chance of winning!

(End of this chapter)