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

Chapter 571 One step away

Two days after Bruno received the contract extension request from Manchester United, Manchester United welcomed the 36th round of the Premier League this season at their home stadium, Old Trafford.

Manchester United's game in this round is relatively late, it is the penultimate game, which will be held at 4:30 pm on Sunday.

Before Manchester United's game started, Manchester City's game had already ended. The Blue Moon, who had just suffered a crushing defeat in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals, vented their anger on West Ham United. They defeated the Hammers 4:1 at the London Olympic Stadium.

So, before Manchester United's game started, Manchester City was only 6 points behind Manchester United with one more game to play.

The current Premier League standings look like this:

Manchester United has 34 wins and 31 draws in 3 rounds, ranking first with 96 points;

曼城35轮29胜3平3负，以90个积分排名次席。

As long as Manchester United can beat Arsenal at home in this game, they can lock in the league title in advance.

With only three rounds left in the league, Manchester City is 3 points ahead and has a 9+ goal difference advantage. They really only have a theoretical hope of winning the championship.

In the last three rounds, not only does Manchester City have to win all three games, but they also have to win every game by a large margin. At the same time, Manchester United must lose all three games, and lose every game by a large margin.

Under such harsh conditions, Manchester City has the possibility to tie Manchester United in points and then win the championship with the advantage of goal difference, just like in the 2011-2012 season six years ago.

………………

Because they will face Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in the Champions League semi-final this weekend, Mourinho decisively implemented rotation in the match against Arsenal.

Although Manchester United won the first leg 3-0 at home, Mourinho and all Manchester United players dare not take it lightly. After all, there have been many reversal cases in this season's Champions League, the most famous of which is Roma's 1-4 home win over Barcelona after losing 3-0 away.

Moreover, the second leg of the Champions League semi-final against Manchester City will be next Tuesday night. The break between the two games is less than 72 hours, and the players' rest time is obviously insufficient.

In addition, Manchester United's advantage in the Premier League is big enough, so Mourinho did not hesitate to make large-scale personnel rotations for this league.

Harry Kane, Mbappe, Rashford, Gundogan, Kante, Luke Shaw, Cancelo and De Gea all got a rest, while substitutes including Ibrahimovic, Mahrez, Valencia, Ashley Young, Herrera, Mata, Lingard, McTominay and Romero got a chance to start.

Although Arsenal is known as a strong team in the Premier League, there is still a big gap between its strength and Manchester United. Even though Mourinho made a large-scale rotation of Manchester United's starting lineup, with Bruno in charge, Arsenal still failed to pose much threat to Manchester United.

………………

Manchester United took the lead early in the 16th minute. Bruno passed the ball, Mahrez made a cross from the right side of the penalty area, Lingard's header from the left side of the small penalty area was blocked by Bellerin and hit the left post and bounced back. Bruno, who was unguarded, volleyed the ball into the net from close range.

This was the only goal scored by both teams in the first half, and Manchester United entered the halftime break with a score of 1:0.

Not long after the start of the second half, Manchester United got a corner kick opportunity. Mahrez took the corner kick into the penalty area. Maguire headed the ball, but the ball was saved by Arsenal goalkeeper Ospina. Young player Lingard made a quick follow-up shot and it was 2:0.

Arsenal pulled one back in the 51st minute. Xhaka passed the ball to Sanchez, who shot low from the edge of the penalty area into the bottom left corner of the net, changing the score to 2:1.

Subsequently, Arsenal launched a counterattack, posing a considerable threat to Manchester United.

Manchester United sealed the victory during injury time. Ashley Young made a cross from the left, and Fellaini, who came on as a substitute, headed the ball into the net in front of the small penalty area, locking the score at 3:1.

In the end, thanks to goals from Bruno, Lingard and Fellaini, Manchester United easily beat Arsenal 3:1 at home, raising their points to 99, just one step away from breaking points.

Of course, they are only one step away from winning the 15th Premier League title in team history.

曼联35轮32胜3平99分，93个净胜球；

曼城35轮29胜3平3负90分，71个净胜球。

………………

After the game with Arsenal, the entire Manchester United team immediately began preparing for the second leg of the Champions League semi-final against Manchester City.

Before the game against Manchester United, Guardiola said in an interview with the media: "I am very satisfied with the team's offensive ability, but the opponent is Manchester United. We have to be careful. If Manchester City wants to score and want to tear open Manchester United's defense, they must first break through Kante's defense zone."

The media agreed with Guardiola's words.

First of all, Kante is in great form. The French defensive midfielder is indeed an important factor in Manchester United's outstanding performance in the past two seasons. With Kante in the midfield, Manchester United's defensive barrier has been greatly enhanced.

In addition, they also agree with Guardiola's confidence in Manchester City's offensive ability, because they have defeated their opponents many times in the game, and the total number of goals has exceeded 35, making them the second team in Europe to unlock 90 league goals. Although there is only a theoretical chance of winning the Premier League this season, this does not mean that Manchester City is not outstanding. They have scored points in league games, which is definitely one of the best teams in world football today.

This time, the media is generally optimistic that Manchester City will be able to take revenge at the Etihad Stadium. On the one hand, the Champions League is the only competition that Manchester City still has a chance to win this season, and on the other hand, there is a precedent of Roma's reversal of Barcelona.

If Roma was able to reverse the powerful Barcelona after falling behind by three goals in the first leg, why can't Manchester City reverse Manchester United?
………………

Mourinho ignored the excuses the media found for Manchester City and saw the opportunity to win again at the Etihad Stadium.

He admitted that Manchester City's offensive power is indeed strong, which is where Guardiola's confidence lies, but when it comes to goal-scoring ability, Manchester United is number one.

After 36 rounds of the Premier League, Manchester City ranks second with 35 goals in 102 games, but Manchester United ranks first. The Red Devils also played 35 games and scored 115 goals!
Manchester United scored 13 goals more than Manchester City. Manchester City said they had strong offensive capabilities, but Mourinho smiled and said nothing.

In addition, the most important thing is that Mourinho is concerned about the number of goals conceded. Manchester United has conceded 35 goals in 20 league games, making it the team with the fewest goals conceded in the Premier League; while Manchester City has conceded 35 goals in 31 league games. Although this number of goals conceded is the second fewest team in the Premier League, compared with Manchester United, they have conceded more than half more goals.

You know, Manchester City's goalkeeper is Ederson. As one of the best goalkeepers in the world, Ederson's condition and ability are unquestionable. Ederson has excellent saves in every game. In this case, there is only one reason why Manchester City lost so many goals: their defense is not good...

Manchester City's two full-backs like to assist, especially right-back Kyle Walker, who even plays as a right winger when he is in high spirits.

Facing a Manchester City team that focused more on offense than defense, Mourinho quickly determined the tactics for the game.

"Obviously, I want to attack," Mourinho said bluntly at the pre-match press conference. "In the match against Manchester City, you can't defend. You can only attack and fight against Manchester City and try to score more goals than them."

Manchester City's media regarded Mourinho's statement as his fear of Manchester City's offensive ability. They said with some pride: "This time, we will definitely win!"

The Manchester United media immediately came out to dig out the explanation: He means that your defense is not good.

The Guardian reporter even said bluntly: "Everything he says is right, and everything he does is right. He has rich experience in defeating Manchester City."

………………

The match kicks off at 5:2 pm on May nd, local time in the UK.

Half an hour before the game started, the huge Etihad Stadium was almost full.

"Ji Hai, who do you think will win? Haha, I know the answer." Zhan Jun asked his guest commentator Sun Ji Hai with a smile.

"In this match, the pressure is on Manchester City. Manchester City cannot afford to lose to the same team for the fifth time in a season, let alone fail to win any of the four major titles for two consecutive seasons," said commentator and former Manchester City star Sun Jihai. "But it is not easy to beat Manchester United. Coach Mourinho has built this team into a team with a reasonable age structure and excellent tactical application."

Time passed during the interactive commentary by the commentator and the guest commentator, and soon the players from both teams came out. When the names of the Manchester City players were announced on the radio, cheers rang out over the Etihad Stadium.

"Let's take a look at the starting lineups for both teams."

The starting rosters of both sides of the game were also displayed on the live TV screen.

Manchester City starting lineup (343):
Goalkeeper: Ederson;

Defense: Kyle Walker, Otamendi, Laporte;
Midfielders: Fernandinho, De Bruyne, David Silva, Bernardo Silva;

Forwards: Sane, Jesus, Sterling;

"Manchester City's starting lineup..." Zhan Jun paused, as if he was thinking about what words to use to describe it.

"This is to swallow Manchester United in one bite." Sun Jihai said directly, "This is a very aggressive starting lineup, and also very risky."

………………

"Guardiola is so arrogant." Mourinho said to Faria, he raised the paper in his hand, "Look, three forwards, no, including Bernardo Silva, it can even be a four-forward combination, and in the midfield, there is only Fernandinho as a defensive midfielder, tsk."

Mourinho shook his head and continued: "Is this too confident, or looking down on us?"

"I feel like you're extremely happy right now," Faria pointed out.

"The starting lineup is the first step in a tactical confrontation. Fortunately, I was prepared." Mourinho said proudly. He is now looking forward to seeing Guardiola's expression when he gets Manchester United's starting lineup list.

(End of this chapter)