Chapter 424 Advance to the Champions League Final

In November this year, Ferguson will celebrate the 25th anniversary of his joining Old Trafford. This season, Manchester United is very likely to win the Premier League and the Champions League, the two most important events. But Arsenal legend Ian Wright poured cold water on Manchester United in today's Sun column. He believes that the Red Devils are likely to end the season empty-handed in the end.

"I have no doubt that Manchester United will reach the Champions League final. They are still leading by 3 points in the remaining three rounds of the league, which is a good situation. But at this moment, I am more optimistic about Chelsea winning the championship. You know, they were 15 points behind Manchester United in early March.

"I was optimistic about Chelsea at the beginning of the league, but the subsequent strength of Manchester United surprised me. But look at the game at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, Manchester United's performance was unconvincing, and they only won five games away. They performed well in Old Trafford, but Chelsea have been here in the past three times and won two of them, so the result of the game is hard to say.

Looking at the match between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, I have to say that Ancelotti's team has been very lucky recently, and they have players who can decide the outcome of the game, so I'm sure they will beat Manchester United on Sunday. The performance of the strong teams this season has ups and downs, and it seems that they all lack enough desire for the championship. No one is unique. Manchester United has always been weak. Chelsea is good and bad, and Arsenal has too many draws.

"Manchester United will easily defeat the Germans. Barcelona seems to be their opponent in the Champions League final. Manchester United will have a headache for the Spaniards. The Red Devils were disappointing in the match against Arsenal, and my former owner deserved to win. Looking at Manchester United's past away games against Sunderland, Newcastle and West Bromwich Albion, I will ask myself why they can't win these games?

Wright's peak time was spent at Arsenal. His adopted son Wright-Phillips has played for Manchester City and Chelsea successively. It is not surprising that Old Wright is not optimistic about Manchester United at this time. However, Ferguson has no time to take care of these painless sarcastic words. His attention has been focused on the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals against Schalke 04 on Tuesday.

In an interview with the media before the game, the Scotsman said that the two-round match with Schalke was "important", but he thought that Manchester United would get through the difficulties safely: "We are now in a good position as we hoped at the beginning of the season. ( Mid-week game) I will make some adjustments, no doubt. Scholes will definitely return, and so will Berbatov and Owen. I will add some fresh blood to the game. At the same time, he also told Sky Sports that some other front-line players will get a chance to rest.

On the other hand, Manchester United No. 9 has also stood up to encourage teammates to attack the championship. In an interview with Manchester United's official website, he said: "The advantage of Manchester United (compared with Chelsea and Arsenal) is that we are a big club with a long history and are used to such competition. Some of our players have experienced the same stage, and young players are more eager to win because of the team's tradition. I sit in the locker room and look at my teammates. They are all excellent players. I firmly believe that we can win the trophy.

Li Yu believes that if Manchester United wants to concentrate in the next game, they must show a "stable performance" and avoid making mistakes: "From goalkeeper to striker, we all need to concentrate. We need to avoid low-level mistakes and give ourselves the best chance to play every game as the last game. At the same time, he did not forget to look forward to the medal of the Premier League champion: "This honor means a lot to me. I really want to win this medal and lift the championship trophy, which will be the perfect curtain call for my entire Premier League season.

At the same time, Schalke coach Ronnick said that his team may still reverse Manchester United's promotion away from home. If he can bet, he will bet on Schalke to pass.

Last season in the Champions League, Manchester United was eliminated by Bayern by two goals in a row with a 3-0 lead at home, and Schalke must replicate such a German miracle. Ronnick said, "You can never predict what will happen on the football field."

"The situation may change very quickly, just like when we saw when Bayern visited Manchester United last season, we must organize well and seize the opportunity, even if there are two minutes left."

Lonick also mentioned Manchester United's stoppage time miracle in 1999. We must remember Manchester United's victory in 1999, in which they fell behind 0-1 and won by two goals in stoppage time.

"I'm not allowed to bet, but if I can, I will bet on Schalke (promotion)."

On the side of Manchester United, Manchester United coach Ferguson confirmed that England striker Rooney may not be able to participate in the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals with Schalke 04, and midfielder Fletcher will be able to play. In addition, he hinted that he might make appropriate efforts in the game against Schalke to prepare for the weekend and Chelsea.

Ferguson revealed that Rooney's "hamstrings have some feelings", and before deciding on the starting list, he will carefully examine the situation of the English. According to the analysis of The Sun, Ferguson may not let Rooney take the risk of starting, but instead of Li Yu leading the front line. After all, the two-goal advantage gives Manchester United room for rotation at home.

Fletcher was able to play after recovering from his illness, and Ferguson said that the Scottish midfielder may play as a substitute. Fletcher will play part of the game," Ferguson said. "In last week's reserve team game, he showed a great improvement, and his weight has returned to normal."

The Manchester United coach also hinted that he would send some substitutes to play Schalke and focus on the weekend's game against Chelsea. If you look at last year's situation, the team was very tired in the game against Chelsea after losing in Munich," Ferguson said. "All the top four teams lost last weekend, which is obviously influenced by the European game."

"When I choose the starting lineup, I must consider these factors. We have two key games, both of which are very important. It is very critical for Chelsea, so I have to choose the right lineup for Schalke to ensure that the team has abundant physical fitness in Sunday's league. I hope the lineup I chose is still good enough to win the game with Schalke.

"We are the favorite to win the league championship. After all, we are three points ahead, but everything may change quickly. We still have a very important task, as I said last week, the good show is not over yet."

In addition, Ferguson also said that Van der Sar should ignore the call for him to stay and insist on his decision to retire. The 40-year-old Van der Sar is still in good shape recently, and there are voices hoping that the Dutchman will change his decision to play for another year, but Ferguson has the opposite view.

"If you want me to give advice to Van der Sar, now I will say, retire," Ferguson said. "He is at the peak of his career, but sometimes, when a player reaches this age, he may suddenly decline. I don't want to see Van der Sar like this. He should retreat bravely. His career is extraordinary, not only on the court, but also his character and self-discipline as a professional player. My advice to him is that it's time to retire. He doesn't have to risk for another year, because it may lower his image.

When it really arrived at the scene of the game, Ferguson's rotation strength was a little surprising.

Ferguson's crazy nine-person rotation made Schalke 04, who had been disarmed, see a glimmer of hope. However, the Germans who suppressed it seemed to forget that Valencia, who blew up his left defense line, was still on the field in the last game. As a result, the Flash became a well-deserved ruler of the game with one pass and one shot, which not only helped Manchester United grab the tickets to the Champions League final to Wembley, but also made the Red Devils' embarrassing record of four games against the German team in the two rounds of the Champions League knockout stage.

Valencia once said that she preferred to make wedding clothes for her teammates than to score goals. But this does not mean that the Flash lacks the ability to score goals.

While contributing 11 assists to the team last season, Valencia also scored 6 goals in his personal book. In the opening match of this season, Valencia opened the record in the Community Shield against Chelsea, opening the door to victory for the team.

After recovering from injury, Valencia started for the fourth time, and scored a goal to secure the victory for Manchester United in the game against Fulham. Valencia's goal is also crucial in this game.

At the beginning, in the face of Schalke 04, the substitutes of Manchester United did not show the confidence and dominance of the team in the last round, but the situation on the field changed subversively in the 25th minute of the game. Anderson broke the ball in the front court and launched a counterattack on the spot. Valencia, who had previously participated in the defense in the first half, inserted into the penalty area at a high speed like lightning, leaving Schalke 04 left-back Escudero far behind him. Gibson's scalpel-like oblique pass was accurately sent to Valencia's running route, and the Flash steadily. Stop, facing the attacking Neuer, calmly shot diagonally at the far corner of the goal. Although the European king-level goal god has tried his best to block the angle of the shot, he still can't stop the ball from flying from his crotch into the net.

Valencia's goal extinguished the Germans's counterattack and set the main tone for the game. A devastating victory is ready to come out.

Sure enough, just 6 minutes later, Manchester United scored the second goal. Valencia received Anderson's return and passed it to the penalty area. Gibson made a long shot in front of the penalty area, and the ball hit Neuer's hand and bounced into the goal.

Valencia's light weight-lifting pass has become the key link for the winning goal. Since then, Manchester United has completely taken the initiative of the game, and Manchester United's right-wing Tianzun has also ravaged the opponent's defense more unscrupulously.

In the 35th minute, Valencia received a cross from Anderson's outside of his foot and got another chance to single out Neuer in front of the small penalty area. After a short confrontation, Valencia suddenly changed to shake Neuer. Unfortunately, his shot was blocked by the defender on the goal line. Perhaps humiliated, Neuer then angrily pushed Valencia in a confrontation.

In the 46th minute, Valencia made a comeback. He sent a precise low pass from the right side. Unfortunately, Anderson adjusted the time too long after taking the ball in the penalty area and failed to form a shot. In the 54th minute, O'Shea made a cross from the left, and Li Yu missed the front point, but Valencia has cleverly formed a cover at the back point. If it hadn't been for Schalke 04 players to destroy it in time, Valencia would have easily get a header against the empty goal, just as Ferguson praised Valencia not long ago: "Now Valencia is always The most dangerous areas can appear.

OPTA's post-match statistics show that Valencia's two-footed shots hit the goal range in the whole game, completed 39 passes, sent 6 passes, made a free kick, two tackles were all successful, and another one was cleared, and the performance was extremely comprehensive. For the players of Schalke 04, whether it is a double bag or pulling the jersey, it can't stop Valencia, who is in a state of helplessness today. There is no doubt about the post-match score of Sky Sports - Valencia tied for the highest 8 points in the game.

As Rooney's golden partner, Valencia previously gave the impression that it was a fresh acceleration breakthrough + right foot cross. However, after coming out of the shadow of broken legs this season, Valencia has returned gorgeously in an amazing way. In addition to retaining the killer trump card of the full moon machete, the Flash has comprehensively improved in terms of offensive coverage, small-scale cooperation and internal cutting ball, richer killing modes, and diversified offensive routines, so that Valencia is like a phoenix with broken wings, waving its golden new wings to bathe in the fire. Ferguson once praised that "Valencia is making progress every month", and now it seems that the evolution speed of the Flash has even exceeded the Lord's expectations.

More importantly, the time of Valencia's return happened to be a critical period for Manchester United's three-line battle. Ferguson said with great emotion: "It's really helped me that Valencia can come back in this joint eye."

It turns out that Valencia, which has been recuperating for half a year due to broken legs, has indeed played an extremely important role in Manchester United's sprint stage.

Even in the first half of the season, Nani, who was killed by God, was reduced to the second head of the team's side attack under the light of Valencia. Giggs and Park Ji-sung were completely liberated to the middle to relieve the pain before the team's midfield.

After recovering from injury, Valencia once said that her greatest wish was to regain her form and participate in the Champions League final at Wembley Stadium. Now, Valencia's wish has been successfully realized. The next goal of the reborn Flash will be to complete another stage of transformation on the top stage of European football.

Ferguson once said that Valencia is the kind of player who always surprises people. Defeat the invincible Barcelona? Why not?

Manchester United (@Manchester United News) easily eliminated Schalke 04 and met with Barcelona in the Champions League final this season. Red Devils coach Ferguson said that he would communicate with Real Madrid coach Mourinho and consult about his experience in playing Barcelona.

Although Real Madrid was eliminated by Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals, Mourinho also defeated the same opponent in the King's Cup final, and Ferguson has a good relationship with the madman and naturally talks about his experience of playing Barcelona when chatting.

Ferguson said, "I have communicated with Jose (Mourinho) a lot, and I talked to him last week."

"It's not that we haven't seen Barcelona before. We have played against them and watched many of them this season. But we will talk about any information, because Jose will be very helpful in this regard.

On May 28, in Wembley, Manchester United will challenge Barcelona as the number one hit, and Ferguson said that confidence is important. I think we can't go to the finals without confidence. Barcelona is in very good shape this season. Our opponent is an extraordinary team.

"But they can't scare us. We won't be afraid. In the face of Barcelona, we need to find a way. The last time we met with them, we were popular. Maybe we had more experience, but they were definitely at the peak.

"At the beginning of the season, if you look forward to the finals, you will think that Barcelona can enter, because their level can be seen by everyone. But we are in a very good away state in Europe. We have found a way to play away. Wembley is a neutral venue, but we will be well prepared.

In addition to Mourinho, former Manchester United star Ronaldo may also be able to give some advice to the Red Devils, but the Portuguese are still angry. As soon as he mentions Barcelona, he complains about the referee.

C Ronaldo warned Manchester United that if they want to beat Barcelona, they had to defeat the referee first: "I don't want to believe that there are black hands behind all this, but something happened," the Portuguese said. "It's hard to understand that so many things have happened in such a short time. Barcelona is an excellent team, but there is a lot of help behind them. This is nothing new. For Barcelona's opponents, sometimes the game is an impossible task.

If Manchester United wins the championship, Ferguson will win the Champions League trophy for the fifth time, which no one can compare in the history of the Premier League, even the coach of the Liverpool dynasty, Paisley. However, Lord's focus has shifted to the Premier League, and the battle between Manchester United and Chelsea this weekend is crucial.

"Compared with last year, the situation is very different. At that time, we lost to Bayern and then immediately played Chelsea. The players were very tired in the first half, but we will have a physical team to play this Sunday, and we will go all out."

This game against Schalke is the 250th European game under Ferguson's command, and Manchester United has reached the UEFA Champions League final three times in the last four seasons, which is a reflection of the old coach's ability to plan. Speaking of sending substitutes, Ferguson said: "It's not an easy decision to let some players take turns in this game, but losing to Arsenal at the weekend forced me to make this choice."

The battle with Chelsea in Old Trafford is related to the final suspense of the Premier League. Recently, Manchester United is facing a strong enemy. Who will laugh to the end in this confrontation with Chelsea?