I am the king of football

Chapter 215: First visit to the Champions League
A resounding victory is bound to bring about a state of high morale. When the entire Manchester United team reappeared at the training base after a day's vacation, all the players' faces were filled with joy.

This made Ferguson's subsequent training go very smoothly, and the team prepared for the first away game in the Champions League for three days.

In the second round of Group H of the Champions League, Manchester United will travel to challenge Cluj, a strong team in the Romanian First Division. This team is one of the best teams in the Romanian First Division, but it has not had any outstanding performance in the Champions League.

This is directly related to the fact that Romanian Liga did not even qualify for the Champions League. However, in recent years, as UEFA has actively maintained relations between European leagues, Cluj has also begun to frequently enter the Champions League group stage.

There are almost no famous stars in Cluj's lineup. They are neither rich nor come from top leagues. They came to the Champions League and successfully achieved a record of zero qualifying times from the group stage.

All in all, this is definitely not a strong team. Even some mid- and lower-level Premier League teams can compete with it without losing a single bit.

To deal with such an opponent, especially after the team had a fierce battle with Tottenham, it was naturally impossible not to rotate the players. Ferguson announced the roster for this round of the Champions League when the team was about to travel to Romania the day before the game.

Hernandez, Rooney and Welbeck formed the three forwards, Cleverley, Anderson and Fletcher formed the three midfielders, behind them, Barnett, Evans, Ferdinand and Evra formed the four defenders, and the team's second goalkeeper Lindegaard served as the starting goalkeeper.

As for some main players such as Qin Hu, Van Persie and De Gea, they all sat on the bench. Ferguson will make substitutions based on the team's condition.

To be honest, this is not a big rotation. Rather than a rest, it is more like Sir Alex Ferguson giving players who have not been activated this season a chance to find their form.

Chicharito and Welbeck are substitute players, but they are young players among the substitutes with the potential to become main players, so Ferguson is still very optimistic about them.

As for Rooney, since his return from injury, Ferguson has regarded him as an indispensable part of the team's main lineup. Ferguson is very good at using Rooney, who is hardworking and efficient. He certainly hopes that Rooney can find his form as soon as possible.

Behind the three forwards, Anderson, Fletcher and the clever Cleverley are all the leaders and backbone of Manchester United's midfield. The Red Devils cannot always rely on a group of veterans to conquer the world. These young midfielders who are all under the age of 30 must be trained as soon as possible.

There are not many changes in the defense. New signing Butner got the chance to start again, young Evans continued to learn from Ferdinand, and Evra sat on the side as a steady full-back.

As for the team captain Vidic, he can be said to be the veteran who has declined the most in Manchester United this season. His training status before the past few games did not satisfy Ferguson, so he was not included in the starting lineup.

As for second goalkeeper Lindegaard, the team did not give him a chance to play in the League Cup, but Sir Alex Ferguson finally gave him the chance to start in the Champions League.

All in all, this is definitely not a team without fighting power. There are still many core figures in the team who can decide the outcome of the battle.

That evening, Manchester United's charter flight took off from Manchester Airport and headed directly to Cluj, Romania.

The match started at 7:00 local prime time the next day. Facing the challenge of Manchester United, Cluj, who was ready for the match, fielded the team's strongest lineup.

With the previous experience of Galatasaray losing 0-3, Cluj should have been cautious from the beginning and conceded as few goals as possible, but that was not the case after the start of the game.

From the moment the whistle sounded, the entire Cluj team, which also formed a 433 formation and chose the right to kick off, took the initiative to press forward. Their two wingers were fast and the center forward also inserted very deep, which greatly tested Manchester United's defense. In the third minute of the game, as Ferdinand kicked the ball out of the baseline, the home team got a corner kick opportunity. When the corner kick was taken, Evra headed the ball out of the baseline again, and Cluj took two corner kicks in a row.

But unfortunately, their center forward Capetanos did not seize the opportunity of his teammate passing the ball, and was cleared by the Manchester United defender for the second time. This time, Evans headed the ball and cleared it directly out of the penalty area.

However, this was not the end yet. Cluj was determined to start the game with great momentum. Their midfielders all joined the game and pushed the ball possession line between the two sides to the heart of Manchester United's midfield.

Then, in the eleventh minute of the game, after Welbeck, who had pulled back to assist in the defense, knocked down the opponent's midfielder who was in control of the ball, Cluj got another indirect free kick opportunity in the frontcourt.

The home team's player who is good at long passes, Sogu, pulled back from the frontcourt to take the free kick, while the other players rushed into and out of Manchester United's penalty area.

As the referee blew the whistle, the ball was kicked out with great force, and for a moment Manchester United was in chaos both inside and outside.

It was at this moment that Cluj's power forward Kapetanos seized the opportunity and made a sudden shot from outside the right side of the penalty area. The ball whizzed into the lower left corner of the goal.

1-0, before the game was even fifteen minutes old, the Romanian powerhouse Cluj scored a goal against Manchester United at home.

This was a big event. An excited Capetanos celebrated by doing a forward roll in the Constantine Stadium, which can accommodate 25,000 fans. The home team fans also sang and danced.

Compared to the excited Cluj team, the entire Manchester United team had their brows tightly furrowed. These players, who had not easily gotten the chance to start, were very dissatisfied with the team's backward state.

As Ferdinand kicked the ball towards the starting line-up and shouted loudly, the entire Red Devils team quickly moved.

They didn't even need Ferguson on the sidelines to say much or tell them what to do, as the old coach had already told them in countless training sessions and games.

"The Manchester United team remained dignified and not discouraged by conceding the first goal. They are worthy of being known as the team with the most tenacious mentality in the Premier League."

When Zhan Jun saw this scene, he praised it repeatedly. Some things can be said to be coincidences if they happen once, but if they happen every time, it is inevitable.

After integrating his spirit and football philosophy into the team, Ferguson has become one with his disciples.

"Okay, the game has started again, and the Manchester United players with the ball quickly launched an attack!"

The first chapter is here! Thank you all for your support!!!

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(End of this chapter)