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

Chapter 701 Death Race
With the end of the international match day and the restart of the league, Manchester United's toughest schedule of the season has arrived.

从3月30日到4月28日，29天时间里，曼联将迎来9场比赛。

At 3 pm on March 30, in the 3nd round of the Premier League, Manchester United will face Watford at home;

At 4:2 pm on April 7, in the 45rd round of the Premier League, Manchester United will visit Molineux Stadium again after half a month to challenge the dark horse of this season, Wolves.
At 4pm on April 7, Manchester United will face Watford in the FA Cup semi-final at the new Wembley Stadium;

At 4pm on April 10, in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final, Manchester United will visit Camp Nou to challenge the Spanish Super League giants Barcelona;
At 4:13 pm on April 5, in the 34th round of the Premier League, Manchester United faced West Ham United at home;
At 4 pm on April 16, Manchester United will face Barcelona at home in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final;
At 4:21 pm on April , Manchester United will visit Goodison Park to challenge Everton.

At 4 pm on April 24, Manchester United will host Manchester City at home in the 8st round of the Premier League.

At 4:28 pm on April 4, in the 35th round of the Premier League, Manchester United faced the Blues Chelsea at home.

29 games in 9 days, two games a week, and every opponent is not a weak one. Among them, the relatively weaker West Ham United, Watford and Everton are currently ranked 9th, 8th and 11th in the Premier League. They are all typical mid-level Premier League teams and are very difficult to deal with.

These nine games are like nine obstacles for Manchester United to succeed this season. Each obstacle will be a tough battle. If Manchester United can overcome them one by one, there will be a good result. But if there is a mistake in any game, Manchester United will lose a championship, or even all four major titles.

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If Manchester United can eliminate Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-finals, they will face the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals on the evening of April 4, against the winner between Juventus and Ajax.

Both of these teams were once established European powerhouses.

As the dominant team in Serie A, Juventus's fighting power cannot be underestimated after welcoming the new king of football Cristiano Ronaldo this season. They have scored 28 points in 75 rounds of Serie A, and their average points per game is higher than that of Manchester United.

Ajax is also a well-established European giant. Although Ajax's competitiveness in Europe has declined due to the overall weakness of the Dutch Eredivisie since the Bosman Act, this season, under the leadership of young coach Ten Hag, a young team has achieved amazing results. Not only did they fight hard with PSV Eindhoven in the Dutch Eredivisie, but they also made it to the knockout stage of the Champions League. Many young players in the team have attracted the attention of major European giants.

Of course, whether Manchester United can get past Barcelona remains unknown.

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In the first round, Manchester United will face Watford at home.

The Premier League Hornets have had poor results against Manchester United in recent seasons. After Bruno joined Manchester United, they have won five consecutive games against Watford, with a goal difference of more than 5 goals in each game. Last season, they even won two games by a score of 2:5.

Now, Manchester United met Watford for the second time this season, and the game went on uneventfully.

Manchester United took the lead in the 28th minute. Luke Shaw intercepted Deeney in front of his own penalty area and then broke through and made a straight pass. Rashford shot into the net from the edge of the penalty area.

This is Rashford's 10th Premier League goal this season, and he is also the fourth Manchester United player to score double digits. Before Rashford, Bruno, Harry Kane and Mbappe have all completed the task of scoring double digits in the league.

After the start of the second half, Watford, unwilling to accept defeat, launched a counterattack, but several threatening shots were resolved by Manchester United's defense.

The failure to score goals after several consecutive attacks made the Watford players impatient and their formation pressed further and further forward, which gave Manchester United a great opportunity to counterattack.

Manchester United extended the lead in the 72nd minute. Bruno made a straight pass in a quick counterattack, Mbappe made a cross from the right side of the penalty area, Harry Kane shot with his heel but missed, but Foster barely saved the ball, and Bruno, who came in from behind, pushed the ball into the goal from close range, changing the score to 2:0.

Manchester United then made substitutions, with Bruno, Mbappe and Rashford all replaced by Mata, Mahrez and Lingard.

In the end, the score of 2:0 was maintained until the end of the game, and Manchester United passed the first stage of the super devil schedule.

In this round of games, Manchester United's two major rivals, Manchester City and Liverpool, both won easily. Manchester City took only half the game away from home to deal with Fulham, while Liverpool defeated Tottenham 2:1 in a strong dialogue in the Premier League, keeping a close eye on Manchester United.

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In the first game of April, Manchester United challenged the dark horse Wolves away.

In order to cope with the intensive matches, Mourinho made some rotations in Manchester United's lineup. McTominay, Mahrez, Herrera, Fred and Lindelof replaced Harry Kane, Mbappe, Gundogan, Kante and Maguire who started in the previous round and got the chance to start.

After the opening, Manchester United took the lead and quickly took the initiative on the field.

In the 5th minute, Mahrez, who started the game as a right winger, made a cross from the right. McTominay was double-teamed by two defenders in the penalty area. He jumped high and headed the ball, but it was saved by Wolves goalkeeper Patricio.

Manchester United took the lead in the 13th minute. Bruno passed the ball to McTominay in the middle, who made a slight adjustment after receiving the ball, and then shot directly with his right foot. The ball was hit very suddenly, with a good angle and speed. The ball flew straight to the lower left corner. Patricio had no time to react, and Manchester United took a 1:0 lead.

In the 17th minute, Manchester United extended the lead. McTominay pulled to the left and made a lob pass. Bruno came in from behind and headed the ball from close range in front of the goal. His Portugal national team teammate Patricio was caught off guard and could only watch the ball fly into the goal.

The Wolves are indeed a team with strong wolfish nature. Losing two goals in a short period of time did not daze them, but instead stimulated their wolfish nature and launched a crazy counterattack.

In the 24th minute, Manchester United made a major mistake in the backcourt. De Gea passed the ball to Fred at the front of the penalty area, but the Brazilian international stopped the ball a little too long and was directly intercepted. Then Wolves formed a counterattack on the spot. Jota received the ball in the penalty area and shot directly at De Gea to score. Wolves changed the score to 1:2.

However, before the end of the first half, Manchester United once again extended their lead to 2 goals.

Bruno and McTominay made a wonderful combination. McTominay used his chest to stop the ball to Bruno at the front of the penalty area. The Manchester United captain took a long shot directly. After the ball hit the Wolves player, it bounced right to McTominay's feet. After receiving the ball, the Scottish star easily penetrated the Wolves' goal.

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After the change of sides, Wolves launched a fierce attack on Manchester United's goal with the cheers of the home fans. Manchester United's defense was a bit tight, and Cancelo, Fred and Luke Shaw received yellow cards in succession.

However, Manchester United's quick counterattack also posed a huge threat to Wolves. In the 54th minute, McTominay received a long pass from Bruno in the penalty area and headed the ball, but Patricio performed very bravely this time and narrowly saved McTominay's shot.

Seeing the situation was not good, Mourinho quickly made a substitution. In the 64th minute of the game, he replaced Fred, who had a yellow card, with Kante, and partnered with Herrera as a double defensive midfielder.

Kante's appearance helped Manchester United stabilize its defense. Afterwards, although Wolves' offensive was still fierce, it did not pose much threat to Manchester United's goal. Wolves' best chance to score came in the last stage of injury time. In the fifth minute of stoppage time, Wolves striker Caballero's shot hit the crossbar during a counterattack.

In the end, Manchester United beat Wolves 3:1 away.

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On the afternoon of April 4, in the FA Cup semi-final, Manchester United faced Watford at the new Wembley Stadium.

In another semi-final a day earlier, Manchester City beat Brighton 1-0 at the new Wembley Stadium and was the first to advance to this season's FA Cup final.

If Manchester United can win today's game, this year's FA Cup will be a Manchester derby.

Although Watford is currently ranked 9th in the Premier League, they are 16 points behind Arsenal, which is 5th in the Premier League. With only rounds left in the league, their hope of entering the top six of the Premier League and qualifying for the European Cup has been shattered, and the FA Cup has become their last hope to qualify for the European Cup.

Although even if Watford advances to the FA Cup final, their chances of defeating Manchester City are still slim, but it's not impossible, right?

Therefore, in this FA Cup semi-final, Watford performed very bravely.

Because Manchester United will go to Spain to challenge Barcelona in three days, Mourinho made a large-scale rotation of the starting lineup for this game, and even Bruno sat on the bench.

Manchester United played well with the substitutes. In the 36th and 62nd minutes, Jesse Lingard and McTominay scored a goal each for Manchester United, giving them a two-goal lead.

However, Watford then began to explode. In the 79th and 94th minutes, Deulofeu and Deeney equalized the game and dragged it into extra time.

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At this point, Mourinho no longer cared about the Champions League semi-final three days later, and directly sent out two generals, Bruno and Harry Kane, to strive to advance to the FA Cup final.

In the fourth minute of extra time, Manchester United scored a goal and took the lead again. Bruno sent a diagonal over-the-top pass from the middle, tearing open Watford's defense. Rashford made a beautiful arc shot and broke through Watford's goal.

However, before the end of the first half of extra time, Watford equalized the score again. Deeney headed the ball to Gray, who made a wonderful diagonal pass after cooperating with Deulofeu, and Deulofeu broke into the penalty area and shot low from the right wing.

In the 118th minute of extra time, Manchester United took the lead again. Harry Kane was brought down by a Watford defender in the penalty area, and the referee awarded a penalty, which Bruno easily scored.

4: 3!

After a fierce battle, Manchester United finally advanced to the final with difficulty.

This is also the fourth consecutive year that Manchester United has advanced to the FA Cup final. Their previous three opponents were Crystal Palace, Arsenal and Chelsea. Manchester United finally won all three games, overtaking Arsenal and becoming the team that won the FA Cup, a historic tournament.

This year, it’s their turn to compete for the championship with their city rivals Manchester City.

However, the FA Cup final is on May 5, more than a month away, so this is not something Manchester United need to think about at the moment.

At this moment, what they need to consider most urgently is how to deal with Barcelona away from home.

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In the world of football, those iconic figures are as bright as stars. They have left a strong and colorful mark on the history of football with their talents and charm. Whenever a club is mentioned, their names will naturally come to people's minds.

The existence of these iconic figures not only brought honor and achievements to their respective clubs, but also became the flags of the football world, leading the continuous development and progress of football. Every wonderful moment of them will become an eternal memory in the history of football. For example, Gerrard of Liverpool, Henry of Arsenal, Terry and Lampard of Chelsea, and Bobby Charlton, Cantona, Giggs of Manchester United...

As a top club, Barcelona naturally has its own flagship figures. In the past, there were Cruyff, Guardiola, Puyol, and now, the flagship of Barcelona is Yosi.

As a die-hard Manchester United fan, Bruno doesn't like Yosi, but that doesn't stop him from thinking that he has achieved great achievements in his career and is a top superstar who is worthy of leaving his name in football history.

Although Bruno dislikes Yosi from the bottom of his heart, he will not show it in his words or actions.

This time, when being interviewed before the game with Barcelona, ​​Bruno also expressed his respect for the opponent. He thought Yosi was a great player and said that he was proud to be able to compete with such a player.

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Perhaps because of Bruno's remarks before the game, with a kind of respect from the younger generation to the older generation, Yosi also said in an interview with the media: "Although Bruno is still very young, he is already a great professional player. I hope he doesn't play too well, because we look forward to defeating them at home!"

But Yosi also said that Manchester United is very strong and they have won almost all the championships in the past three seasons. Although Barcelona is playing at home, it is not easy to win.

"I prefer to regard this as an ordinary game. We played normally and got the results we deserved. Of course, if we want to satisfy the fans, we need to do more and better."

Compared with the friendship between Bruno and Yosi, the atmosphere between Mourinho and Valverde is full of gunpowder.

The Manchester United manager said in an interview with the media: "Bruno is the best player in the world, even though he is only 24 years old."

Valverde said: "I don't know Bruno very well. On the contrary, I think Yosi is better than anyone!"

But soon, the Manchester United coach said again: "Yoshi? He is indeed very strong, but I am more worried about Vidal and Suarez. These two players are the most threatening players in Barcelona."

Valverde also said that he would not develop targeted defensive tactics specifically for Bruno.

"Maybe some teams will do this, but we are Barcelona, ​​we have our own football, we will not change our game strategy because of any player from the opponent, even if that person is Bruno!"

(End of this chapter)