After two consecutive defeats, Manchester United's advantage in the standings is only 3 points, but this is the number of points it leads in one more game.
If Arsenal wins, then Manchester United will no longer have any points advantage!
The Premier League needs to ensure that the Champions League matches are equally important. Manchester United drew a 0:0 draw away from home in the first round. As long as they beat their opponent Marseille at home, they can advance to the top 8 of the Champions League!
There were many problems with the 0:0 score in the last game, and Marseille head coach Deschamps' understanding of Li Yu was a key reason.
Deshang was Li Yu's first coach and led Li Yu on his career path. The two had the same agent, and they had a deep relationship with each other, and the relationship between master and apprentice was good.
During the year he led Li Yu, Deschamps understood the technical characteristics of Manchester United's No. 9 very well, so it was not surprising that he was able to successfully contain him.
Of course, the poor performance of other players in the first round was also an important reason why the Marseilles were able to freeze Li Yu.
In the second round, with Rooney in poor condition, whether Li Yu can perform has become the key.
The two sides had a goalless draw in the first round. In the 1999 Champions League group stage, Manchester United defeated Marseille 2-1 at home. Manchester United faced French teams at home 11 times in history and remained unbeaten with 8 wins and 3 draws. Marseille visited England 9 times in history.
Only achieved 1 win, an away win against Liverpool at Anfield in the UEFA Champions League group stage in 2007. Vidic was absent due to injury, Nani recovered from injury in time, Giggs and Scholes also returned to the starting lineup, and Hernandez remained the same.
On the bench, Rooney continues to partner with Li Yu on the front line, and Heinze returns to Old Trafford to play against his old club again.[
Before the game, both sides observed a moment of silence for the victims of the Japanese earthquake.
Manchester United took the lead in the 5th minute. Rooney passed the ball to the left. Giggs passed a low ball. Rooney passed the ball from the left side of the penalty area to the goal. Li Yu from far away made an easy shot into the empty goal.
1:0!
Marseille's 512-minute run without conceding a goal in the Champions League was ended.
Li Yu's competitive shot opened the door to victory for Manchester United at Old Trafford!
Rooney's assist also heralded the strong return of Manchester United's No. 10.
In the next game, Manchester United was much more relaxed. With a one-goal lead, the Marseilles had to attack, otherwise elimination would be waiting for them.
After the goal, the scene of Manchester United's two strike partners embracing and celebrating has not been seen for a long time!
Manchester United defeated Marseille with a difficult 2-1 at home. Manchester United No. 9 Li Yu was undoubtedly the number one contributor. Manchester United's two killer goals helped Manchester United win the Champions League quarter-finals with difficulty. This is also the fifth consecutive season that Manchester United has at least
Reached the Champions League quarterfinals.
When the game reached the last minute of stoppage time, Manchester United, which had used up three substitutions, was fully defensive. Li Yu received a throw-in ball thrown by Rooney near the opponent's corner flag area, picked up the ball with his back, and Marseille right
Defender Fani came to defend.
In order to buy time to regain possession of the ball, French international Valbuena, who had already received a yellow card, came to help defend. He violently hit Li Yu from behind.
Not to be outdone, he pushed the French bantam tiger with his butt and tried to use his arms and elbows to drive away his opponent who kept making small moves.
In the panic, the ball was knocked out of the sideline, and Spanish referee Caballo blew the whistle to end the game.
But at this moment, Senegalese international Diawara came over. The 32-year-old African uncle rudely pinned Li Yu's leg with his leg, causing the completely unprepared Manchester United No. 9 to stagger; and then again
Look at Li Yu's face.
The Manchester United killer who finally broke out pointed at his opponent, spread his hands and asked why the opponent did this. On the sidelines, Manchester United coach Ferguson was also paying close attention to the progress of the matter.
At this time, Rooney drove Li Yu away from the incident, and just when everyone thought the matter was about to come to an end, Marseille winger Andre Ayew walked straight towards Hernandez.
And he bumped into Li Yu deliberately. Fortunately, Li Yu regained his senses and ignored his opponent.[
In this life-and-death battle for Manchester United in the second round of the Champions League quarter-finals, Li Yu not only scored two goals, but also successfully controlled the ball at the last moment to kill time, and ignored his opponent's constant provocations, thus avoiding a dangerous situation.
Received additional penalties from UEFA.
On the court, fighting is a matter of courage, but a real man responds to his opponent with goals one after another. From this perspective, Li Yu can be called a pure man. Ferguson also expressed his affirmation after the game.
Since Vidic and Ferdinand are both absent, Ferguson has to discharge the old and young center back combination of Brown and Smalling, and this has become the biggest variable in the team's home game against Marseille.
There was almost no suspense when the attacking group led by Rooney and Li Yu broke into the opponent's goal, but whether the defense could withstand the opponent's wild offensive was the key to whether the team could advance. As a result, Brown scored an own goal, and the right back position
O'Shea and Rafael, who came on as a substitute, suffered thigh muscle strains one after another, and half of the four defenders were weak. Fortunately, Manchester United still has Edwin van der Sar, a patron saint who can always be trusted.
Objectively speaking, Marseille created many scoring opportunities throughout the game. If one of them can be converted into a goal, Deschamps' team will also eliminate Manchester United and advance due to the advantage of more away goals.
In the 36th minute, Marseille defender Diawara received a cross from Taivo from the right and headed towards the goal from the edge of the small penalty area. The ball missed the left post and Van der Sar stood there without any reaction.
, if the ball is within the goal range, even if Van der Sar has three heads and six arms, it will be difficult to save it.
However, the Marseille players probably did not expect that missing this must-goal would mean that the team would never be able to break through the gate guarded by Van der Sar, because since then, all Marseille's threatening attacks have been resolved one by one by Van der Sar.
Gignac, Ayew, and Remy could not find any loopholes in the Dutch goalkeeper. Except for Brown's finishing moment, Deschamps saw an opportunity. At other times, Van der Sar's steady performance made Marseille's attackers frustrated.
And return.
In the 48th minute, Marseille organized a very threatening attack. Sheyrou passed a long free kick. Ayew headed the ball in front of the penalty area to ferry Gignac.
The arrow missed, but Van der Sar was always observing Gignac's movement and immediately attacked to seize the ball before Gignac could take the shot.
In the 74th minute, Remi broke through from the right and passed a low pass to the middle. Sheyrou shot from 10 yards away from the goal. The ball went straight to the far corner. This goal was very close to Hernandez's second goal.
The footwork of people shooting is also the same, but the people standing on the goal line are not on the same level. Facing Li Yu's shot, Mandanda, who was still cruising in the near corner, took the initiative to disarm and did not make any save action.
In contrast, Van der Sar's performance fully demonstrated the difference between a world-class goalkeeper and an ordinary goalkeeper.
Van der Sar, who was still blocking the near corner before, quickly moved to the center after Remi passed the ball. At the same time, he judged the flight trajectory of the ball at the moment Sherou completed the shooting action, thus accelerating to move to the far corner, and when the ball was about to
The moment he crossed the goal line, he dived sideways to resolve the danger.
In the 79th minute, Van der Sar once again miraculously saved the opponent's close shot. Evra's header was not far away, and Fani shot low inside the penalty area. The ball went straight to the bottom right corner of the goal, but Van der Sar
Sa moved ahead to seal the angle and held the ball firmly.
He saved the opponent's must-goal 3 times, intercepted crosses 2 times, and destroyed the opponent's single shot once. Although Van der Sar's performance was not as eye-catching as Li Yu, who scored twice, his effect was no less effective.
In the post-match ratings of "Sky Sports", Van der Sar, offensive hero Li Yu, and offensive core Rooney also received a high score of 7 points, which shows how outstanding Van der Sar's contribution to Manchester United's thrilling promotion was.
Just as Arsenal coach Wenger said after the FA Cup match between Manchester United and Arsenal: "Van der Sar is one of the greatest goalkeepers in world football. He is irreplaceable for Manchester United. If Van der Sar is
If De Sarna really chooses to retire at the end of this season, then Manchester United will immediately feel the gap, no matter who they find as his successor, Van der Sar's experience and skills are unparalleled."
In that game, it was thanks to Van der Sar's many miraculous saves that Manchester United was able to defeat their old enemy Arsenal with a strange formation of 7 defenders and advance smoothly. The 70,000 spectators in the audience shouted "Ed" with tears in their eyes.
"Wen (Van der Sar), fight for another year" scene made the whole Old Trafford tremble.
In fact, this fan activity with the theme "Edwin must stay" has been going on for several weeks.
Rooney also admitted after the game that he once again begged Van der Sar to stay in the shower, and his teammates also discussed this topic with Van der Sar many times.
But unfortunately, Van der Sar does not intend to change his plan. The Dutch goalkeeper is ready to spend more time with his recovering wife and two children. Van der Sar said: "I don't think retirement is a very bad decision.
In fact, I am looking forward to this day very much. It is a good choice for me to say goodbye at my peak. I will stay away from football and the hustle and bustle for a while. After all, I have been working hard in football for 20 years. But
, I still have many beautiful things to accompany me, that is, my beautiful wife and lovely children." Faced with Van der Sar's determination, Rooney had no choice but to say: "We must respect his decision."
Ferguson is also well aware of the importance of Van der Sar to Manchester United. Speculations about Van der Sar's successor have been throughout the season. Liverpool's Reina, Schalke 04's Neuer, Inter Milan's Cesar, Madrid
De Gea of Sporting and Stekelenberg, who was appointed by Van der Sar, have all had scandals with Manchester United. Even a little-known young upstart like Lindegaard has been involved in the scandal because he is the same as Manchester United legendary goalkeeper Schmeichel.
From the fairy tale kingdom Denmark.
Being given limited reverie by many Manchester United fans shows how much regret Van der Sar's announcement of retirement left for the Red Devils. Schmeichel retired gloriously after writing an immortal legend at Manchester United and left Manchester United for 5 years.
After suffering the loss of his goalkeeper, Van der Sar now also chooses to retire quickly before stepping down from the altar. I wonder how long it will take this time for Manchester United's No. 1 to step out of the shadow of his world-class predecessor.
If it hadn't been for Manchester United's killer Li Yu scoring the second goal in the 75th minute, Ferguson's Manchester United would have been blocked by the French from the top eight of the Champions League. Before the game, everyone knew that the Red Devils would only lead by 1 goal.
It is not safe, and you may be killed by your opponent at any time.
The goal advantage was overturned. But I am afraid not many people could have expected that the person who scored Van der Sar's goal did not come from Deschamps, but a fire in Sir Alex Ferguson's own backyard - Brown's own goal forced the Scots to sit on the bench.
, and felt like sitting on pins and needles for more than 10 minutes.
In the 82nd minute of the game, when Brown was clearing the opponent's corner kick on the edge of the penalty area, he accidentally hit the ball directly towards his own goal. Van der Sar did not expect this to happen, although Scholes cleared the ball inside the goal line.
, but the Spaniard Caballo, the referee on duty, decisively declared the goal valid.
Because of a bad mistake, the already settled battle gave the French a glimmer of hope. Fortunately, the Red Devils were united and their 1-goal advantage in the two rounds was finally maintained until the final whistle.
Brown, who has a fierce playing style, once again failed to withstand the pressure in a key game. Because of his mistakes, the team almost lost to Macheng. It should be said that he served as a fire fighter to replace the injured Vidic and Leo in the key game.
As a team member, Brown's performance was not up to par.
For the sake of the team's promotion, "Sky Sports" after the game was quite polite and gave Brown a passing score of 6 points. However, in the fans' ratings within one hour after the game, the Manchester United veteran only had the team's lowest 52 points.
, this own goal that almost caused the team to stumble obviously made a lot of Red Devils fans unhappy.
Judging from the data on Manchester United's defensive end provided by opt, Brown's contribution in the entire game was comparable to that of another central defender, Smalling. The former succeeded in all 4 steals and made 1 key clearance; the latter made 7 rescues, 3 of which were successful.
Successful steal 1 time. But in the details of handling the ball, the Red Devils veteran seemed particularly embarrassed. If the Marseille players didn't feel so bad in front of the goal, Manchester United would probably have conceded more goals because of Brown's mistakes.
The most impressive detail is that in the 62nd minute, the visiting team's full-back Taiwo sent a cross from the left. Wes Brown in front of the goal made a simple clearance and missed the ball due to interference.
It turned into a funny clearance error. Fortunately, the opponent clicked someone nearby to respond, otherwise this would have been an empty-net opportunity.
This kind of amateur error occurred in the knockout round of the Champions League. Brown's mistake was so disgusting that his teammates didn't even have time to wipe his ass. Don't forget the most threatening goal scored by Diawara in the first half of the visiting team.
At that time, it was Brown who was closely guarding the Marseille defender. The latter's lack of concentration caused him to fail to keep up, giving the Senegalese a header opportunity in the small penalty area. If Diawara, who was born as a defender, was not good at shooting,
Manchester United had already tied the score.
In today's game, apart from conceding the ball, the two most likely conceding situations were caused by Brown. The latter's state in the key battle is really not reassuring.
Brown's appearance data this season has almost reached the lowest point of his career efficiency at Manchester United. Most of his 10 starts were in crucial games.
Among them, in the FA Cup match against amateur team Crawley, Brown, wearing the captain's armband, led a group of second-tier players to eliminate the opponent. He also scored the winning goal and became the man of the match. But this also became
There were only a handful of games where he played well this season, and in that game, Crawley's amateur players had limited abilities. They barely had many opportunities to threaten Manchester United's goal, and Brown's defensive impatience was covered up.
Speaking of key battles against strong teams, Brown has never been able to put up a decent performance this season.
In the away game against Villa, due to Brown's mistake, Manchester United directly lost two goals and was tied by the opponent; when facing Liverpool, Brown was easily passed by Suarez and scored a goal. He also became the target of Van der Sar's frequent roars throughout the game.
; Against Arsenal, the veteran's performance finally improved, ensuring that the team kept a clean sheet; but today, Brown once again gave Ferguson a "disgrace" with an own goal.
In the four key games this season, Brown's performance in three games was not worthy of a passing grade. The figure who assisted Ronaldo to score in the Champions League final may never come back.
If it weren't for the injuries to Vidic, Ferdinand and Evans, it would have been difficult for Brown to get as many playing opportunities.
Against Chelsea, Ferguson paired O'Shea and Smalling. Although the Red Devils also suffered a defeat, there were no obvious loopholes in the performance of the two central defenders.
The game at Anfield was originally Brown's redemption battle, which would directly determine whether he could stay with the team after the end of the season. However, the performance of England's central defender was not ideal. Brown, who was sentenced to "suspended death," finally survived.
The match against Arsenal, this match
The game has made another big mistake. It is destined that this veteran who has been loyal to the Red Devils for 19 years since his apprenticeship will most likely be kicked out by Ferguson this summer, and Manchester United fans can only send "Let's go, let's go, you
There is no need to miss anything.”
With Vidic and Ferdinand returning one after another, Manchester United's remaining games will be related to the championship competition. Brown, who has made too many mistakes, is likely to have the opportunity to play in key games.
It is undeniable that Brown's relative experience and ability on the defensive end are still there. When the winter transfer window opened in January, six Premier League clubs, including Tottenham and West Brom, made offers for Brown. This also provided support for the veteran.
Leaving laid the groundwork.
The return of glory against amateur teams in the FA Cup cannot change the fact that Brown's status in the team is declining. Interestingly, midfielder Gibson still supported Brown at the beginning of this month, thinking that he and Evans were the equals between Vidic and Ritchie.
The best choice when O's can't play, not even mentioning Smallin, who has been playing steadily recently. I won't say what the Irish's vision is, but with his state of often sleepwalking on the court this season, maybe he should play more
