I am the king of football

Chapter 222 The Beginning of the Nightmare

Defeating Stoke City was just an ordinary victory for Manchester United. As a traditional Premier League giant, they still have their own pride.

Except for the other BIG6 teams in the Premier League, if any other team cannot get points from the opponent, Ferguson will have an in-depth discussion with his players.

No one wants to be beaten by their own boss, so in almost all games where points must be scored, no matter who plays for Manchester United, they will try their best to win.

This is also the core factor that allows Manchester United to maintain its top position in the league despite not performing well in strong matches in some seasons.

Without further ado, as the Champions League match was coming up in three days, the Red Devils team did not have a holiday to win the game this time. Instead, they gathered on the training ground the day after the game to prepare for the third round of the Champions League group stage.

This time, their opponent is the Portuguese Super League team Braga, which is now in an abyss where it is very likely to be eliminated early as the bottom of the group.

小组赛第一轮0-2输给克鲁日，第二轮又复刻比分0-2输给加拉塔萨雷，他们现在积0分净胜球-4，称得上是一塌糊涂。

But facing such an opponent, Ferguson did not relax his training requirements for the players. Everyone maintained the training intensity as if they were fighting a strong enemy.

There are no weak teams in the Champions League. Ferguson has only won two Champions League titles in all his years in the Premier League. In these years of Champions League journey, he has seen too many upsets where the weak defeated the strong.

However, things did not go as planned. During this high-intensity training process, Manchester United's defense made mistakes again.

First, Ferdinand fell to the ground during a normal confrontation in a training match and was diagnosed with a right shoulder contusion by the team doctor. Then Vidic was beaten to a pulp in a training match the day before the game. Thirdly, Evra also caught a cold.

For all these reasons, Ferguson naturally could not let these veterans play again. After repeated consideration, he came up with a brand new defense line arrangement.

"De Gea is the goalkeeper, and the back four is Rafael, Evans, Carrick and Butner."

Carrick can be described as a brick of revolution, he can be moved wherever needed. This season, he has played all positions in Manchester United's midfield and backcourt except goalkeeper. As a midfielder with a tough style and comprehensive abilities, he is indeed very much loved by Ferguson.

The second is Buttner. This full-back has rarely had the opportunity to play in consecutive games. This time he even got the chance to start for Manchester United in the Champions League, which made him extremely excited.

Then, in the midfield arrangement, since Carrick had been placed on the back line, Ferguson simply arranged his favorite four-midfield arrangement.

Rooney was on the left, Shinji Kagawa was on the right, Cleverley and Fletcher were in the middle, and in front of them Qin Hu and Van Persie were partners on the front line.

This is different from the team's playing style and layout in many previous games, and it is not the formation Ferguson most wants to arrange, but there is no way, such changes in the team's defense line are difficult to predict in advance.

It can only be said that if the team's lineup is not updated in time, even a top coach like Ferguson will have to bear the backlash.

It was a sunny day. Manchester was bright in late October and did not become too cold as autumn came.

The red and white Braga bus drove into Manchester that morning. As the game was in the prime time in the afternoon, the visiting team did not rush to Old Trafford immediately, but went to the training base temporarily loaned from Manchester United's arch-rival Manchester City for another rehearsal.

With the team already at the end of its rope, the visiting team's condition today was unexpectedly good. Perhaps it was the calmness that came with having nothing to lose, or perhaps it was the determination that came with having no way out and might as well fight to the death.

In short, when Braga arrived at Old Trafford in the afternoon, neither the huge boos from Manchester United fans nor the bright and powerful Red Devils team warming up in the distance could affect them. They only had the word "winning" in their minds, which might be the bonus brought by the desperate efforts.

As both sides quickly completed the various procedures before the start of the game, the two teams soon stood facing each other on the court.

"CCTV! CCTV! Hello, dear viewers, welcome to watch the third round of the 12-13 UEFA Champions League Group H match between Manchester United and Braga at home. I am the commentator Zhan Jun!"

When Zhan Jun's voice sounded, the visiting team had already put the ball at the kick-off point.

"In this match, Braga, wearing the light yellow away jersey, will kick off first and they will attack from left to right!"

“Sh ...

As soon as Zhan Jun finished speaking, the referee blew the whistle to start the game and quickly kicked the ball out. Braga used a 4231 formation in this game, which gave them a huge advantage in the midfield.

This advantage was clearly evident after the opening, as Manchester United was unable to steal the ball from their opponents in a short period of time.

However, this was not the worst situation. The worst thing was that Manchester United's new defense was not able to hold up as Ferguson thought, and they soon had holes.

“After continuous passing to the wing, Braga quickly launched the first attack after the opening!”

The game had just reached one and a half minutes when Braga's left-wing player Vienna pulled to the side and shook off Shinji Kagawa, who was not good at defense, and made a 45-degree cross. The ball flew to the right side of Manchester United's penalty area, where Buttner was guarding.

Just when Evans wanted to remind Butner loudly, Butner, who wanted to wait until the ball dropped before taking it off, felt the shadow above his head.

"Alan! Headed the ball past Buttner!"

"Oh!"

With a dull thud, Braga's midfielder Alan launched an attack at this moment. Batner became a background board in embarrassment, and the ball flew into the goal in front of De Gea's unprepared eyes.

"The ball goes in! Braga, they take the lead away from home! This is a dream start, it's incredible~"

It's not just once that Manchester United's defence seems to be vulnerable to lightning goals from opponents this season.

When Alan, who scored the goal, happily rushed towards his teammate who assisted him to celebrate, Butner on the field looked as pale as death, which made De Gea, who wanted to make a few more criticisms, pursed his lips and finally chose to shut up.

The chance of starting as a substitute player is already good, but if you fail to grasp it, you are doomed to have difficulty getting promoted. In the cruel competitive sports, some things are more deadly than unspoken accusations.

At this moment, the Manchester United team had not anticipated that this lightning goal was just the beginning of a nightmare. They would fully experience Braga's desperate struggle in this game.

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

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(End of this chapter)