Star Card System

C Ronaldo was injured and left the field, making the 2-2 draw look extremely bleak.

No one cared about this game, everyone was paying attention to Ronaldo's injury.

You know, he is a 36-year-old veteran.

Any unexpected injury may even end his career early.

Three days later, Manchester United's last friendly match was against Everton.

This is the strongest pre-season warm-up opponent, and Manchester United went all out to win a victory.

With almost all the main players playing, Manchester United led 3-0 in the first half.

They played this game to their heart's content.

Most of the main players were replaced in the second half, allowing the substitutes to practice.

But Xia Xing was still on the court.

Stabilize the backcourt defense and pass threatening balls to young teammates.

In the end, with Van der Beck's long shot, Manchester United locked the total score at 4-0.

Ending with a big win, Manchester United was in high spirits.

But what worried the fans was that Ronaldo did not play in this game.

Although Solskjaer said that Ronaldo was fine in the interview before the game, the fans were still worried.

After the game, reporters still asked about this topic.

Solskjaer still said: "Ronaldo is fine, but he was not allowed to play in this game just to be safe. He will definitely play in the next game, and we need him to win the victory and the championship for the team."

This "victory and championship" refers to the next game.

On August 10, Manchester United will usher in the first important game of the season-the European Super Cup.

In this game, Manchester United will fight for the first championship trophy of the season.

Their opponent is Chelsea in the same league.

Last season, Chelsea had difficulties and obstacles in the league, and their state was ups and downs. In the end, they slowly fell from the championship echelon and only retained the top four seats.

However, in the Champions League, they have won consecutive victories and won the Champions League trophy for the second time in team history.

Tuchel has only coached Chelsea for half a season, and he has made history again. He is the hero of the team.

He is looking forward to greater achievements in the new season.

When facing the interview with reporters, Tuchel was full of confidence.

"As the Champions League champion, we are full of confidence in this Super Cup game! The Blues will win!"

And the Chelsea players are also full of confidence in this game.

"Chelsea will compete for all championships in the new season, and we will create miracles!"

"We will beat Manchester United!"

On the field, the fighting spirit of Chelsea players was also fully reflected.

August 10, Windsor Park Stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

The battle for the first heavyweight championship trophy of this season officially began.

Facing Manchester United with a changed lineup, Chelsea players launched a fierce attack from the first minute.

Tuchel set up a 3-4-2-1 formation and bombarded Manchester United's defense fiercely.

The sharp knives Werner, Mount and Pulisic on the front line are even sharper.

Mount, who grew up at the beginning of last season, has been called the "Chelsea Prince". He started almost all the games without injury, and his performance of 6 goals and 5 assists is quite impressive. For him, the best feature is not the number of goals and assists, but his active pressing in the frontcourt, which creates many opportunities for the team. Last season, his frontcourt steals were close to Liverpool's thigh Firmino.

Werner transferred to Chelsea for 53 million euros last season, and his first season was not ideal. The tactical position of an absolute center forward, but only gained 6 goals and 8 assists in a single season, which is not much better than the auxiliary Mount behind him. This season Tuchel is looking forward to reactivating the German striker.

Compared with the two striker partners, Pulisic's performance seems a bit unsatisfactory. Since returning from Dortmund, he has not been able to find the best of himself. In the 2019-2020 season, he barely had 9 goals and 4 assists, and last season it dropped to 4 goals and 2 assists. It's just that the strength is halved. However, Tuchel is still optimistic about his technical characteristics and is still full of expectations for this young man in the new season.

This young forward line has been unstoppable since at least the first game of the season, bombarding Manchester United's defense.

Behind them, there is Jorginho's overall planning. The 29-year-old has reached the golden period of his career, especially in the just-concluded European Cup, where he helped the team win the European Cup as an absolute main force. Coupled with Chelsea's Champions League title last season, he has been regarded by countless experts as the next Golden Ball winner.

There are also two wingers, Marcos Alonso and Azpilicueta, who are good at speed, dribbling and passing. Chelsea suppressed very fiercely at the beginning of today's game.

Compared with Chelsea, who was in good form in the warm-up match, Manchester United was obviously unable to resist.

They entered the game too slowly this season.

On the one hand, the team's tactical play has changed, and the players still need time to adapt.

On the other hand, many players in the team participated in the European Cup in the summer, especially the English players, who played in the finals in one go. Although Solskjaer gave them an extra week of vacation, they still failed to fully recover their physical strength.

Especially three of the four main players on the defensive line, Maguire, Luke Shaw and Wan Bissaka, are in very poor condition.

The previous warm-up matches were conceded repeatedly, which was related to their poor condition.

There are also players such as Rashford and Sancho on the front line, whose physical fitness is also greatly affected.

Therefore, in this game, they were almost beaten without any ability to fight back against Chelsea's fierce attack.

And Ronaldo was still absent, which made the team still in the dilemma of lacking a goal-scoring center forward.

Cavani worked hard on the front line, but the effect was not good.

Rashford and Sancho, who were on the left and right, did not play the sharp attack of last season in this game.

The weak offense led to great defensive pressure on the team.

Xia Xing frequently retreated to defend, and Manchester United's offensive power was reduced a lot.

If it weren't for Xia Xing's defense and Chelsea's frequent waste of opportunities, Manchester United would have lost the ball long ago.

Although Manchester United did not score, it is not easy to ensure that they did not lose the ball.

Until the 75th minute of the game, Ronaldo came on as a substitute.

Cavani, who was replaced, was a little unconvinced. He walked past Ronaldo with an expressionless face and touched him perfunctorily, which was not even a high five.

And Ronaldo didn't care about these.

He felt that he was fine, but Solskjaer was worried about his health.

As soon as he came on as a substitute, he received a long pass from Xia Xing and shot from outside the penalty area, which slipped past the goal post.

This shot caused applause from the stands.

Manchester United fans were looking forward to Ronaldo's first official goal after returning home.

And Xia Xing also frequently fed the ball to Ronaldo, and even when Chelsea's offensive players were physically weak, he moved forward again and came behind Ronaldo.

This much-anticipated golden pair finally joined together! (End of this chapter)