Chapter 419 Advance to the top 4

The Premier League civil war between Manchester United and Chelsea is considered to be the most suspenseful match in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals. Ancelotti's team has indeed created many opportunities in this game, but Chelsea's simple and rough offensive mode obviously lacks some wisdom than Manchester United, the Blues midfielder led by Lampard and Essien. It is full of impact, but the front trident can only rely on its personal ability to fight alone most of the time.

In contrast, Manchester United's attackers are undoubtedly lucky, because they have Li Yu, a dominant passer who assists his teammates three times in two rounds.

At the beginning of the game, Manchester United was completely passive on the scene. Chelsea, who broke the boat, bombarded Manchester United's goal with three arrows. Torres' header, Anelka's long-range shot, and Lampard's outpocket all missed the goal.

But objectively speaking, Chelsea's attack did not create an absolute opportunity. Instead, Manchester United used an efficient and indirect positioning ball to complete the goal with a second attack.

In the 43rd minute of the game, Li Yu won an excellent free kick for Manchester United in front of the penalty area. Although the free kick was relieved by Chelsea players, Rooney, who was waiting in front of the penalty area, immediately launched a second wave of attacks. Manchester United No. 10 moved the ball to the right in a large range, and Giggs returned to O Xie Hou Xun. Quickly inserting forward, Oshe understood that he would send a straight plug. Li Yu got rid of Anelka's defense and broke into the penalty area and sent a low pass. The ball passed through the gap between Cech and Terry and went straight to the back point. Hernandez grabbed the goal before Alex.

After fighting again, Ancelotti replaced the mediocre Torres with Drogba, and the pressure on Manchester United's defensive line suddenly increased.

In the 76th minute, "Warcraft" turned around and shot through Van der Sar's ten fingers with a textbook-like chest stop, which once made Chelsea see the hope of reversal, but at the critical moment, Li Yu stood up.

Less than a minute after Drogba scored, Li Yu passed with a wonderful half-high ball in front of the penalty area, assisting the unmarked Park Ji-star on the left side to score a diagonal shot, thus extinguishing Chelsea's counterattack.

After the game, Manchester United No. 9 said frankly: "Chelsea played very well in this game. We know very well that the opponent wants to score goals on this field, and we also need to consolidate our advantage with goals. I think we did a good job. Two key goals helped us finally reach the semi-finals, especially the second goal. It was very timely. It helped us quickly stabilize the situation after conceded the ball.

In addition to being outstanding on the offensive end, Li Yu also showed her previously seriously underestimated defensive ability.

In the 52nd minute, Chelsea launched a long pass and fast attack, and Anelka headed the ball back to the point. As soon as Ramirez received the ball, he was stabbed by Li Yu, who was chasing him.

It seems that Ferguson is a wise choice to let Manchester United No. 9 be completely free on the court in the game.

In the 65th minute, Drogba received Cech's long pass and leaned on Vidic to stop the ball, but Li Yu grabbed the ball at the moment Drogba stopped the ball, and then launched a counterattack on the spot. In the 89th minute, Manchester United No. 9 was still running tirelessly, and this time, he appeared in the penalty area again and intercepted Karau's cross for O'Shea.

In the whole game, Li Yu's running distance reached 12.75 kilometers, nearly 1 kilometer higher than the second place Carrick. You should know, Park Ji-sung, who is famous for his active running and physical strength, only ran 11.06 kilometers.

Look at the scene that happened in the 69th minute of the game. Rooney quickly counterattacked and broke through to the right and sent a high-quality cross. In addition to Hernandez, who competed for the top of the front point, only one Manchester United player was in place. That is Li Yu, who had previously responded near the middle circle. While Rooney completed the breakthrough, Li Yu He has sprinted half of the court to the goal and hit the goal with all his strength, and shook his head on the small penalty area line against Rooney's pass. The ball drew an arc and went straight to the reverse far corner. If it hadn't been for Cech's steady center of gravity and chased the ball in time, Giggs had already locked the victory for Manchester United.

OPTA's post-match statistics show that Li Yu sent the highest four threat balls in this game, two of which were converted into assists. In addition, there were two tackles and two reliefs. As a guest free agent, Manchester United No. 9 perfectly played the two roles of front and back, and deliberately played Harvey's The master pass and Cambiasso's stream of consciousness defense are integrated.

And the two-round assist hat-trick is also destined to make Li Yu a nightmare that Chelsea players can't get rid of for a long time to come.

After the game, Ferguson praised Li Yu's performance and said that it injected three great spiritual attributes into the team - balance, calmness and experience.

There is no doubt that the 22-year-old Li Yu is still one of the indispensable key players of Manchester United. The wind-chasing teenager perfectly interprets another football style with wind-like speed and explosive power. It can be seen that Li Yu's technical consciousness has tended.

More outbreaks can control the battle in a more elegant way.

After the elimination of Chelsea, Manchester United is making steady progress towards another "three crown" after 1999, if the miracle can be replicated.

Ramirez got a red card, and Chelsea's hopes for the Champions League were dashed. Although Drogba's goal once caused waves, Manchester United quickly extinguished their illusions. In the stands of Old Trafford, Abramovich looked blank and supported his chin with his hand, as if he couldn't figure out why fate took him again.

The Champions League has become a knot in Abu's heart. In winter, he bought Torres with a large amount of money. The goal is not to buy a big ear cup, but in the end, it was a bamboo basket. Since entering Stamford Bridge in the 03-04 season, Abu and Chelsea have been fighting for the Champions League for eight years, but they have been empty-handed so far.

Mourinho once said that if you want to win the Champions League, in addition to the strength of the team, it also depends on luck. Abu must have the deepest understanding of this. In the past eight years, bad luck in the Champions League has been like a curse, firmly trapping Chelsea's fate and breaking it no matter what.

In the top four of the UEFA Champions League in the 03-04 season, Chelsea was the most popular. The remaining three opponents Monaco, Porto and A Coruña are not traditional giants, but Ranieri suddenly appeared to switch in the good situation of 11 against 10 away, resulting in a loss in the full game (11 against 10 but losing from 1 to 1 3, 2 goals in a row after 2-0 at home). That was Abu's first experience of the Champions League, but compared with the bad luck he encountered later, this weirdness is actually nothing.

The poison of Chelsea's "Bad Luck in the Champions League" curse, even the strongman Mourinho of the Champions League, could not get rid of it. The three years coached by the Madman was the peak of the Blues lineup, but they didn't even reach the threshold of the finals.

In the 04-05 season, Luis Garcia's goal line disputed goal eliminated the Blues. In the 05-06 season, Del Orno's direct red card in the first half was too strict. Mourinho left the famous saying that "I 11 people can't beat me in Barcelona", and UEFA's arrangement of the referee in this game is also quite controversial. (The referee Haig is a good friend of the retired referee Frisk, who was retired by Mourinho and retired); In the 06-07 season, Chelsea was eliminated by Liverpool's penalty kick. Looking at the total score of 0-3 penalty, the madman couldn't help shaking his head and laughing...

The cruelest teasing of fate was the decisive battle in Moscow in the 07-08 season. When Terry walked to the penalty spot, the Chelsea were ready to cheer, but the Blue Army slipped under his feet, proving the horror of this curse. The bad luck of the following year continued. The 11 to 10 against Barcelona was killed in the last minute of stoppage time, and N penalty kicks were not awarded in the process, and artificial factors were added to the flirtation of fate.

With the strength of Chelsea, it is obviously capable of winning the Champions League, and the results of five semi-finals in 8 years are beyond the reach of ordinary teams. But from the semi-finals to the final and even the final championship, the Blues always have a little luck, and they can't get any luck. In the past two years, Chelsea's cycle has come to the end, losing temper with Inter. Although there is a missed penalty in the first round against Manchester United, the overall performance is still not as good as the opponent, and it is not surprising to be eliminated.

Even Ferguson thinks that Chelsea's persistence in the Champions League is a "phenomenon." The Champions League has become an Obsession for Chelsea," the Lord said. "They signed Torres obviously for the Champions League, and Abu did not hesitate to spend a lot of time for the Champions League. The Champions League is a great game, but being enchanted by the Champions League really tortures me. For a long time, I also had this magic barrier. After losing to Dortmund in the semi-finals in 1997, I once thought that we would never win the Champions League. As for Ferguson's statement, Ancelotti naturally does not agree: "This is not a magic barrier, this is a dream."

It took 13 years for Ferguson to win the first Champions League. It seems that Abu will also go through this long and painful torture. Ranieri, Mourinho, Grant, Scolari, Hiddink, Ancelotti... How many coaches can lead Chelsea to hold the Big Ears Cup in order to break this magic barrier. People are destined to go down in the history of the Blue Army, but now it seems that the two Champions League masters (Mourinho and Ancelotti) who have the ability to win two trophies have lost their horses. Who will be the final answer?

Another strange phenomenon accompanied by Chelsea's "curse of bad luck in the Champions League" is that since Abu entered the 0304 season, any team that eliminated the Blues must enter the Champions League final without exception, and most of them can win the championship (5 out of 7 wins). Is this really God's arrangement and mockery? When will Chelsea come to an end?

The battle of life and death fell 0 to 1, and Ancelotti's substitution came faster than usual. At halftime, Chelsea made adjustments. Drogba went up and Torres came down. The Spaniard's efforts to "break through" in the 13th consecutive game failed.

Torres's starting line-up proved that Ancelotti did not give up on him. The Italians said at the weekend that "Tores may be able to score our most important goal this season" and said that it was naturally the "decisive battle" with Manchester United. However, in 45 minutes, the Spaniard was disappointed again. Except for a slightly threatening header in the 12th minute, his overall performance was still weak. In the 22nd minute, Torres volleyed in the penalty area and even kicked the ball. The golden boy obviously has not found a long-lost sense of foot.

This is Torres's 13th consecutive game without a goal (1 game in Liverpool, 2 games for the national team and 10 games in Chelsea), with a total of 863 minutes. In his career, he has had two similar goal shortages, one in 14 games from February to September 2002, and the other from April to September 2005. 17 consecutive games have been returned without success. I don't know when the third time will end.

It turned out that Torres's starting line-up not only wasted a starting place, but also cut the playing time of another threatening figure. Drogba performed well as a substitute. He not only scored a goal, but also had a good show of continuous breakthroughs. Looking at the bravery of Warcraft, will Ancelotti regret not letting him start? From the goal against Stoke City to the last round of Wigan, Drogba's condition has obviously been on the rise. In those years, Warcraft was on the rise again. Unfortunately, in the most important game of the season, Chelsea only gave him 45 minutes.

After the game, Ancelotti avoided questions about Torres. He just said, "We must trust him. We must wait until he improves." The Italians sound very helpless, and they have to use it even if they are in a bad state. Is it really like the media that Torres's starting line-up is Abu's order?

Five years ago, Abu spent 30 million pounds to buy his beloved shooter Shevchenko and assigned it to Mourinho for use, but the actual effect made the Russians disgraced. Sheva's performance was always unsatisfactory, and he had to appear, which once caused trouble for the madman's platoon. The Daily Mail commented that as long as Abu's personal introduction is made, Chelsea seems to be in trouble. Sheva is like this, and Torres now has this sign.

When evaluating the game, the British news agency compared Torres and Hernandez. Can the contrast be a little clearer? Hernandez signed a £7 million contract and couldn't stop scoring. His goal helped Manchester United reach the Champions League semi-finals; Torres, signed a £50 million contract, has forgotten how to score. So the key is not how much money you spend, but whether you are smart.

Before the game, Ancelotti took Crespo as an example and asked everyone to be patient with Torres. "Crespo did not score a goal in the first six months of Milan, but he scored two goals in the Champions League final..." Now, the Spaniard has missed the "last chance" of this season. The Champions League is out and the league can only be guaranteed. Fourth, even if he breaks the goal shortage in the next league, it doesn't mean much.

Just this week, a outrageous rumor appeared in the newspapers, and the Daily Mail revealed that Abu was considering selling Torres in the summer. The news appeared on April 11 before the Manchester League. It was reported that Abu's patience was almost gone. If there is no sign of Torres recovery before the end of the season, he will listen to quotations from other teams. A Chelsea insider said, "I know the boss is not satisfied with his investment. He may even sell Torres in the summer, although he has just bought him."

It was sold after buying it in half a year. Liverpool once did such a "stupid thing". In July 2008, it bought Robby Keane for 20 million pounds, and sold it back to Tottenham Hotspur for 15 million in January 2009, becoming a laughing stock in the England transfer market.

Judging from the current situation, the news of the Post about Abu's consideration of selling Torres should be just a rumor. After all, the Spanish talent is 27 years old. Unlike Sheva, who has entered the twilight years of his career, his body has not been "abandoned" and there is still hope of recovery, but if he keeps playing like this, It's hard to say how long Chelsea's patience will last.

Chelsea lost 1-2 away to Manchester United and was eliminated from the Champions League. Torres' start became the focus of discussion after the game. Blues coach Ancelotti rarely admits that it may be a mistake to send Espanyol to start.

Torres did not perform well in the first 45 minutes. He was replaced by Drogba at half-time, and Warcraft scored a goal after his excellent performance, which continued his good state in recent games. In this regard, Ancelotti admitted that he may have made a mistake. Maybe, maybe, but I've said it many times this season. I want Torres to start and play such tactics in this kind of game.

"Droba played well in the second half. I hope he exerts more pressure on the forward line, because we need to score goals. Drogba is strong and he can use his strength on the front line, which is why I replaced Torres."

After this game, Torres has not scored in 13 consecutive games (including the Liverpool period and the Spanish national team), with a total time of 817 minutes. Obviously, this state should not be the main force, but Manchester United coach Ferguson believes that Chelsea has been dragged down by the price of 50 million pounds and has to keep his head. Pi Jean Torres started.

Ferguson said: "Many people think Drogba will play, but I think that if they sign Torres at such a price, they must let him play. I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think they will exclude Torres."

Previously, there was a saying that Torres was Manchester United and Vidician's nemesis. Ferguson said that this is a media trick, and Manchester United's defenders can deal with any attacker. Torres has played against us several times before. He has scored some goals at Old Trafford and against us at Anfield, but on the whole, our defense against him is okay. As for him, he is completely concocted by the media. He is an excellent player, but with the experience of Vidic and Ferdinand, they should be able to deal with the best players in the world. They are top players themselves.

However, Ferguson believes that it can't be concluded that signing Torres is a bad deal. At that time, they had a chance to sign Torres. I don't think anyone would miss it. At that time, everyone said it was an extraordinary deal.

"You can't criticize Ancelotti for this. It's a good contract. It may not work at the moment, but Torres is a young man and there are still many seasons to play."

Chelsea is destined to have no championship this season. In the past, any other coach who did not win the championship was fired by Abu. At present, Ancelotti is not sure about his future. He said that it is up to boss Abu to decide. I didn't think about this. I have to continue to work and do my best. As for whether to stay or not, I don't make this decision.