Chapter 344 Battle of Tianwang Mountain

"Oh, finally the battle at Tianwangshan has come." Lineker arrived at the live broadcast early and looked at the Old Trafford stands with great interest.

"Today, there was finally no betrayal of Ferguson. Manchester United fans were very friendly. After all, they should show the greatest respect to a meritorious coach who has brought 19 years of glory to Manchester United."

"Chelsea this season is even more terrifying than last season. They are undefeated so far. They are 7 points ahead of the second-placed Manchester United team. You must know that in November last year, Manchester United was only 5 points behind. Chelsea was unstoppable in the league. It was basically No team can stop them from moving forward, and just like last season, they seem to be on the verge of winning the league title in advance. Although the season is long, it really doesn’t seem like there is any other possibility.”

Lineker is also very confident that Chelsea can have the last laugh in the league. Second place Manchester United is 7 points behind. At the end of the game, if Chelsea wins Manchester United, the points gap will widen to 10 points. With such a gap, any No team can fill the gap, unless Chelsea themselves fail.

Of course, Manchester United is also very promising. In the last round, they won Middlesbrough 5:1 in the away game, stopping the team's decline, rebounding strongly, and facing Chelsea in a decisive battle at Old Trafford.

What is slightly imperfect is that Ronaldo has had a negative impact due to the bow incident, and everyone has expressed concerns about whether Ronaldo can perform in the game.

But Ferguson chose to believe in Ronaldo today and put him in the starting position. In the starting lineup of 433, Ferguson has made the lineup young to the extreme. Compared to Chelsea, Manchester United has no advantage at all.

Lineker got the starting lineup. Ferguson had already abandoned 442 and resolutely played 433: Van der Sar; Basili, Ferdinand, Vidic, Richardson; Fletcher, Smith, Park Ji-sung; Ronaldo, Rooney, Dong Fangzhuo.

All Manchester United's veterans sat on the bench. Keane, Scholes and Giggs sat closely together, but their eyes were different. Keane's eyes were always focused on the court, Scholes was looking around, and Giggs simply lowered his head and played with his fingers.

It can be seen that the emotions of the three people are quite complicated. It seems like it's been so many years that three people have been on this bench at the same time.

Facing such a life-and-death battle, they could only watch their teammates perform on the bench from the bench, and they could only cheer...

This may be Ferguson's most helpless choice. It's not that he doesn't believe in the veterans, but that he must believe in the winning lineup, because Ferguson has nothing to lose and Manchester United must win.

If you want to win, you must rely on the starting lineup from the previous game. The only change was to replace Scholes with Smith. This is something Lineker doesn't understand very much.

"Scholes performed very well in the last game, why didn't he start this game? Is it because Smith is younger? I personally think that Scholes' role in the midfield is unmatched by Smith, so It's really a bit risky to do it. Although Smith has strong defensive ability in the backcourt and his running range is also wide, he does not have the ability to organize offense like Scholes."

Chelsea's lineup is also 433: Cech; Ferreira, Gallas, Terry, Del Horno; Makelele, Essien, Lampard; Joe Cole, Duff, Drogba.

Chelsea lost to Real Betis in the Champions League in midweek, but the Blues still maintained a 40-game unbeaten run in the league. Drogba and Duff replaced Gudjohnsen and Robben respectively.

Del Horno replaced Carvalho as the starting left back, and Gala moved to the center to partner with Terry. Neither Crespo nor Robben was included in the game roster.

Chelsea have the upper hand in their last three visits to Old Trafford, with 1 win and 2 draws.

"Perhaps for Manchester United, facing the powerful Chelsea, their advantages are courage and youth. The 5:1 victory in the last game allowed them to regain the feeling of scoring goals, which may be their greatest confidence. Source of heart.”

"You never know what kind of fighting power Manchester United will burst out like this. Both teams have been in a very delicate stage recently."

"Even the bookmakers didn't dare to mess up the handicap. They just gave a tie handicap, which means that both sides are very likely to win. Manchester United definitely cannot afford to lose, and Chelsea may only need a draw, because both sides The gap is now seven points."

Dong Fangzhuo was wearing the captain's armband and Terry was standing at the entrance of the players' tunnel. Today, both of them are captains on the field. But this time there was no war of words. Both sides seemed very silent and did not look at each other.

Dong Fangzhuo knew in his heart that playing Chelsea this time would definitely not be easier than last time. Terry and Gallas would definitely defend him more closely, and he would have fewer opportunities.

Terry seems to have solved the friend-wife scandal. His performance this season is even more amazing than last season, and he has even pushed Ferdinand to the bench in the national team. Facing such a Terry, Dong Fangzhuo was mentally prepared.

With the referee's whistle, the game that attracted worldwide attention officially began.

Manchester United took the lead in sending the ball, and Rooney, Ronaldo and Dong Fangzhuo immediately fired three arrows into Chelsea's hinterland.

In the 1st minute, Smith stuffed the ball in the middle to the feet of Cristiano Ronaldo on the right. Cristiano Ronaldo immediately started to volley from 30 yards from the right, but the ball went too far and Chelsea goalkeeper Cech did not make any save at all.

Fortunately, it was Manchester United's home court, otherwise Ronaldo would probably have been booed.

Cristiano Ronaldo seemed not to be affected by the incident. He immediately ran to the left and formed a cross-position with Rooney. After Park Ji-sung intercepted Chelsea's pass, he got the ball again.

Facing compatriot Ferreira, he used his speed to break through to the baseline and then passed directly with his left foot. However, the effect of the cross was not ideal. The ball directly crossed the penalty area and flew out of the baseline.

Obviously he wanted to find Dong Fangzhuo directly with this ball, but his idea was too simple and he didn't master his footwork well...

He is now eager to express himself in front of Manchester United fans and win back their respect and trust.

Facing Manchester United's youth army, Chelsea played relatively conservatively. They seemed to temporarily give up all the space in the field, giving Manchester United a chance to attack.

Of course you're welcome from the Manchester United players. If we don't take advantage of the opportunity to attack now, Chelsea may be even more difficult to beat from behind.

In the 7th minute, Dong Fangzhuo quickly came back to meet his teammates. He tried to receive Park Ji-sung's pass, but Makelele rushed in front of him in an instant, blocking his way back. Behind him, the figure of the African buffalo Essien suddenly appeared. !

Only then did he realize that he was not only surrounded by Gala and Terry, but also Makelele and Essien...