From the man behind the football king to the football king.

Chapter 504 The Devil’s Home Field
When the game resumed, the chants for Bruno could still be clearly heard.

Bruno used his goal celebrations to constantly remind his excited teammates that the game had just begun and it was not the time to celebrate. Being two goals ahead is not really a big advantage when the opponent is a team of Roma's level.

If you want to win the game, you must maintain this lead until the end. So now is not the time to relax, if you want to win, keep playing like this!

The reason why Bruno attaches so much importance to Roma is because in his memory, Roma's combat effectiveness in the Champions League this season is really not weak. In the group stage, they defeated Chelsea to rank first in the group, and achieved 1 win and 1 draw in the two games against Chelsea, and scored 3 goals in both games. When it came to the knockout rounds, they fought hard all the way to the semi-finals. Every knockout round was a classic.

In the quarter-finals, they faced Ukrainian Super League leader Shakhtar Donetsk. After losing in the first round away from home, they returned to home and equalized the total score 1:0, and then relied on away goals to eliminate their opponents and advance to the quarter-finals. powerful.

Facing the powerful Barcelona in the quarter-finals, after a 1:4 defeat in the away game in the first round, they came back 3:0 at home in the second round, turning the former Cosmos team into the "King of Reversals" and "King of Reversals" in football. The King of Disastrous Defeats.”

Bruno doesn't want Manchester United to end up in the same situation as Chelsea. He must help Manchester United secure victory in their hands.

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After the game started, Roma found that the Manchester United they faced had not changed at all. They did not relax because of the two-goal lead, and there was no such situation where the forwards wanted to attack and the defenders wanted to defend, and there was no disconnect between the front and back.

What they faced was still the aggressive Manchester United that pressed the whole court and defended from the Roma penalty area.

This kind of football made Roma players very uncomfortable. Once Manchester United grabbed the ball, they launched a quick counterattack on the spot, leaving Roma exhausted with them, running from here to there, from the front to the back, unable to rest at all.

The rest of the first half was always like this.

Roma wanted to organize an attack, but was always interfered with by Manchester United. After finally organizing it, the forwards wasted it again.

Perotti and Dzeko always couldn't touch the football in front, and the two had to take turns to retreat, but with little effect.

Bruno led Manchester United's midfield to cut off the connection between the Roma midfielder and forwards. Roma's midfielder Nainggolan's performance in this game was also average due to lack of support.

However, Roma's luck is pretty good, because Manchester United's several threatening quick counterattacks were either because the Manchester United forward failed to seize the opportunity, or they were resolved bravely by Roma goalkeeper Alisson.

Until the end of the first half, the score had not changed, and Manchester United led Roma 2:0.

The statistics of the first half also show the overall advantage of the home team: Manchester United had eleven shots, Roma only had four, and none of them were on target, while Manchester United had four shots on target. The time of possession was 56% for Manchester United and 44% for Roma.

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Many commentators said this: "The Roma players finally waited until the halftime break. I hope that in the locker room, their head coach Di Francesco can make some adjustments to this bad situation..."

This halftime break is indeed a relief for the Roma players. They hope to take a fifteen-minute break to calmly think about why the first half turned out like this.

And if possible, Bruno hopes that the game will continue like this without rest until the end of the game. But the rules of football are arranged this way and he must abide by them.

Back in the locker room, Mourinho praised the team's performance, but he did not praise it lavishly. Instead, he told everyone: "I only praise your performance in the first half, but it does not mean that you will praise your performance in the second half." You can get carried away. I hope everyone will remember the 2005 Champions League final. AC Milan led Liverpool 3-0 in the first half. As a result, the AC Milan players returned to the locker room and started celebrating wildly. It was so loud that it went through the wall and the Liverpool players heard it, so the whole world knew what happened in the second half. Do you want to be the laughingstock of the world?"

"No one wants to!" everyone replied.

Mourinho nodded and continued: "So the second half must be played like the first half! No celebrations are allowed unless the final whistle blows!"

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As a tactical opponent, Mourinho has nothing to adjust. The team just needs to continue playing like this.

But in the locker room next door, Di Francesco's mood was not so relaxed. He was disappointed with the team's performance, but he did not shout angrily at the players.

Before Di Francesco took over as the coach of Roma, he did not have any outstanding resume. He only coached for a few years in another Serie A team, Sassuolo, and his results were not too outstanding.

Therefore, in the locker room of Roma, a powerful Serie A team, he actually has no authority as a coach, so he has always kept a low profile.

But faced with such a dilemma, he has to do something, right?

He cleared his throat, signaling for everyone to quiet down and listen to him.

The players who were still talking about the first half gradually calmed down after a while. Some looked at the coach, while others simply lowered their heads, not knowing what they were thinking.

"Well, our first half performance... was a little bad." Di Francesco said, while he was paying attention to every Roma player to see if there was anything strange in their expressions. "I believe you all know that if we continue to be so confused in the second half, I don't think we can win this game. Do you hope... do you hope that we lose this game on the road? So in the second half we have to do Come up with countermeasures. We...we must strengthen our defense against Bruno!"

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Some players who had turned to look at Di Francesco turned their heads away.

If this continues, what will be the difference from the strategy in the first half?
It is always said that Bruno must be defended strictly, but how to defend Bruno strictly? He couldn't say anything.

This left Roma players at a loss.

Stroman could only rely on his own foul to stop Bruno. As everyone saw, that foul gave Manchester United a chance to calmly launch an offensive, which ultimately led to the second goal conceded.

Foul tactics are of course a type of defense, but it is hard to say whether they can have the expected effect.

Di Francesco then shifted the topic to offense. He believed that the key was the team's poor offense, not the poor defense.

As long as the team's scoring problem is solved, all other problems will be solved.

How can you win a football match without scoring?
So score goals!

He asked Perotti to drop back a little more and link up the midfield and frontcourt. He also noticed that Manchester United's midfield cut off the connection between Roma's midfield and forwards, hence the request. "We must score goals. As long as we can get a goal back this morning, the initiative in this game will return to our hands. The leading side is always under great pressure, especially if they lead so early, we have a whole Forty-five minutes can bring the score back, as long as we can score as early as possible!”

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That’s what Di Francesco said, and that’s what he pursued.

Ten minutes into the second half, seeing that the team had not yet scored, Di Francesco made a very unexpected substitution. He replaced Stroman with Florenzi!
This is a substitution to strengthen the offense, but the problem is that he replaces Stroman, the most active and tenacious performer in the Roma midfield!
Stroman was a little unhappy when he was substituted, but he still put the overall situation first, took off the captain's armband, handed it to Florenzi, and then trotted off the field without wasting time.

But this substitution was destined to be wrong. Not only did it not help Roma regain the initiative in the game, but it also lost more control.

Without Stroman, Bruno performed more freely. He played with Gonalons to his heart's content and was able to show off his skills when facing Florenzi.

Manchester United regained the upper hand.

Di Francesco also realized his mistake, so he made new substitution adjustments. In the 65th minute, he replaced Gerson with Lorenzo Pellegrini, allowing Roma to return to a double midfielder. Configuration.

Pellegrini is a versatile midfielder who can play as a midfielder, attacking midfielder or defensive midfielder.

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After Pellegrini came on the field, his active running and fierce defense slightly curbed the offensive of Manchester United's midfielder, but he was unable to provide more support for the team's offense.

Due to the confused substitution of Stroman before, Di Francesco wasted a substitution opportunity. Now he only has one substitution left. The game is less than 70 minutes. Just in case, he This substitution quota must be reserved so that substitution adjustments can be made if a player is injured or falls to the ground due to exhaustion and cramps and is unable to continue the game.

Perotti's retracement did not help the team connect the midfield and frontcourt. More often, he and Dzeko could only rely on their personal skills to seek breakthroughs and shots in Manchester United's defense.

Can Roma still win like this?

As the game progressed, more and more people raised such questions.

The TV broadcast kept showing close-ups of Di Francesco, and his expression gradually became serious. From the 70th minute on, he had been standing on the sidelines and never returned to the coach's seat.

He stared anxiously at the court, sometimes waving his arms and shouting a few words to remind the players to attack or defend, but it didn't help.

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In the 80th minute, Di Francesco finally decided to give it a try. He replaced veteran Perotti with Shalawi.

But there was too little time left for El Shaarawy. The player who even scared Mourinho only had ten minutes to perform.

At the last moment of the game, Manchester United began to make continuous substitutions, replacing three main players and replacing them with three substitutes.

Roma also seized this opportunity, and Shaarawy assisted Dzeko to score a goal, but this goal could not change the outcome of the game.

In the end, Manchester United defeated Roma 2:1 at their home court.

The score looks a bit lackluster, and may even give people the illusion that Manchester United won by a fluke, but anyone who has watched the game knows that Di Francesco's Roma are completely at a disadvantage, losing only one at Old Trafford. A ball is truly lucky.

If Manchester United's strikers were better able to seize opportunities today and the players had better luck, they might have recreated the famous scene of Manchester United's 7-1 bloodbath in Rome ten years ago.

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After three rounds of group matches, Manchester United has formed a dominant force in the death group of Group C with three consecutive victories. They are closely followed by Roma, who lost to Manchester United in the game. They have 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss. Ranked second with 4 points.

The real surprise of this round was another game that ended three hours early. Qarabag drew 0:0 at home with Atletico Madrid.

As one of the top three in the Western Premier League, the Shelters Army, which has dominated the Champions League over the years and has reached the finals twice, failed to win Qarabag in the away game!
This allowed Atletico Madrid to only score 3 points after 2 rounds with 1 draws and 2 loss, almost bidding farewell to the competition for first place in the group in advance.

This situation allows Manchester United to advance to the knockout rounds two rounds in advance as long as they defeat Roma away from home in the next round, and even lock in the first place in the group two rounds in advance.

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The TV broadcast once again gave Bruno a close-up shot.

"Although he didn't score a goal in the game, he was undoubtedly the best player in the game!"

After celebrating the victory, Bruno led his teammates to applaud the fans in the stands and thanked them for their support in this game. This victory is the best gift for them.

And Manchester United fans can have a good time again this evening.

Commentators praised Manchester United's home court: "Since Mourinho took over at Old Trafford, Manchester United has never lost at this stadium!"

"During this period, Manchester United played 38 games here, and Mourinho's team achieved a terrifying 35 wins and 3 draws. The last time they failed to win at Old Trafford was on April 4 this year, when they were tied 4-1 by Everton."

"Manchester United's loss at Old Trafford dates back to the beginning of 2016. In the 2015rd round of the 2016-23 Premier League season, they were defeated 1:0 by Southampton at home. Since then to now , the Red Devils have never lost in all 49 games at home!”

"Unknowingly, Old Trafford has returned to its true colors as the devil's home ground!"

"Of course, for Mourinho, who once created a record of 9 unbeaten home games in 150 years, now leading Manchester United to 38 unbeaten home games is nothing more than triviality. We have reason to believe that he can lead Manchester United to create more Unbeaten home record in multiple games!”

(End of this chapter)