Starting with saving Manchester United

The draw for the Champions League quarterfinals took place at 12:8 noon on Friday at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

After the players finished their morning training session and returned to the training building, they did not go back to the locker room, but instead watched the live broadcast of the Champions League quarter-final draw in the second-floor restaurant.

The draw was conducted by UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino and Competition Director Marchetti.

Since the final was held at the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon, Figo, as the ambassador of the final's organizers, served as the draw guest.

When Yang Fan and the coaching staff returned, the live broadcast had already reached the most crucial stage: the draw.

Infantino was explaining the draw rules for the Champions League quarterfinals.

There are 8 small balls in the glass tank, and the names of 8 teams are written on them.

Completely random, with no country-based avoidance and no seeded teams.

Yang Fan noticed that the Manchester United players generally looked quite tense.

During the live television broadcast, as soon as Infantino finished speaking, Figo opened the first small ball, took out the card inside, flipped it over, and pointed it at the television camera.

"Barcelona!" Infantino announced loudly.

Yang Fan observed that when Figo pulled out Barcelona's card, some players were even nervously praying to their God, hoping that Manchester United wouldn't be drawn against Barcelona.

Despite Barcelona's disastrous performance last season, where they were thrashed by Bayern Munich, no one dares to question Barcelona's strength.

Putting aside everything else, just looking at the Round of 16, Barcelona defeated Manchester City 2-0 away and eliminated them 2-1 at home.

The midfield, composed of Xavi, Iniesta, and Busquets, remains strong despite its age, while the forward line boasts world-class attackers such as Messi, Neymar, Sanchez, and Fabregas.

Moreover, Barcelona is one of the top favorites to win the Champions League this season, on par with Guardiola's Bayern Munich.

Manchester United's odds of winning the title are the lowest among the eight teams.

"It can't be that unlucky, can it?" Mike Phelan was getting a little nervous.

Barcelona was drawn first, so the second team drawn will have to play at Camp Nou.

In the live television broadcast, Figo's ruthless hands reached into the glass jar again, took out a small ball, unscrewed it, and removed a paper card from it.

The live stream camera zoomed in again, allowing everyone to clearly see the names on the screen.

Manchester United!

A gasp of surprise immediately erupted in the restaurant.

How outrageous is it?

Yang Fan even saw in an instant that the confidence of at least four or five players plummeted from yellow to red.

Team Universe is just too strong!

"God, we're so unlucky!" Mike Phelan shook his head in pain.

Steve Lund also frowned.

"In Manchester United's history, they have faced Barcelona 11 times, with a record of 3 wins, 4 draws, and 4 losses. In the Champions League, they have faced them 8 times, with a record of 1 win, 4 draws, and 3 losses, putting them at a significant disadvantage."

"They have never won at Camp Nou, and even suffered a humiliating 0-4 defeat. Their last two losses both occurred in the Champions League final."

Upon hearing this, Mike Phelan's expression became even more helpless.

Yang Fan was surprised by Steve Lund's extensive knowledge and ability to recall historical data so easily.

From this perspective, drawing Barcelona is even worse than drawing Bayern Munich.

At the very least, Manchester United's match against Bayern Munich is backed by the fierce rivalry between England and Germany, giving them a certain degree of confidence in terms of results.

However, Manchester United were completely outmatched by Barcelona.

Yang Fan finally understood why the players' confidence had been so severely shaken.

Incidentally, today's draw was just for the quarterfinals. The semifinals draw will take place in mid-April after the quarterfinals are completed.

This is a rule change implemented by UEFA after the 12/13 season, aimed at making the Champions League knockout stage more suspenseful and exciting.

In Yang Fan's previous life, by the 2018/19 season, the rules had changed back, with the quarterfinals and semifinals drawn simultaneously.

The other three matches have also changed somewhat from Yang Fan's previous life.

Real Madrid drew Borussia Dortmund again, but Atletico Madrid faced Chelsea earlier, while Paris Saint-Germain drew Bayern Munich.

This did not surprise Yang Fan.

Drawing lots is a very luck-based activity.

If we've already traveled through time, it would be a bit much to run into Bayern Munich.

Of course, drawing Barcelona is definitely worse than drawing Bayern Munich.

Now that the draw is over, the team must maintain its fighting spirit no matter what.

You can't just admit defeat before the game even starts, can you?

"Alright, everyone, listen to me."

Yang Fan clapped loudly, attracting all the players in the restaurant.

"The draw results were pretty good; we drew our old rivals, Barcelona."

Yang Fan's relaxed and carefree smile surprised the Manchester United players.

Are you that happy because you drew Barcelona?

"You are definitely more familiar with this team than I am. They were completely defeated by Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals last season, both at home and away."

"More importantly, we also have a slight advantage in terms of the schedule."

"I just checked, we have two games a week, and so do they. This weekend they will be playing Real Madrid away at the Bernabéu, next week they will be playing Celta Vigo at home, and this weekend they will be playing Espanyol's city derby."

"These are all tough battles!"

The elements that Yang Fan found on short notice that were favorable to Manchester United did bring some comfort to the players and stabilize their morale.

Compared to Barcelona's schedule, Manchester United have an away game against West Ham United this weekend, a home game against Manchester City midweek, and a home game against Aston Villa next weekend.

After that, we went to Barcelona to visit Camp Nou.

The advantage of playing the first leg away and the second leg at home is almost negligible against the powerful Barcelona.

After reassuring the players, Yang Fan turned to Mike Phelan and Steve Lund and solemnly instructed them: "Before playing against Barcelona, ​​we need to focus on practicing set-piece attacks."

Both of his capable assistants nodded in unison.

……

The media generally do not have high hopes for Manchester United in the Champions League quarter-final draw.

Major betting companies have adjusted their odds based on the quarter-final draw.

Manchester United remain at the bottom of the table with odds as high as 19.00, which is 4.00 higher than Borussia Dortmund, who are second to last.

According to Spanish media, Barcelona drew a very favorable draw, with odds soaring to 2.00, making them the undisputed favorites, even higher than Bayern Munich's 4.50.

This also reflects the public's opinion on this lottery.

With odds of 1 to 19, it's practically impossible for Manchester United to win the title.

Some British media outlets have even asserted that, given Manchester United's current league ranking, the two legs of the Champions League quarter-finals this season will essentially be Manchester United's last two Champions League matches in the next two years.

Yang Fan had no time to pay attention to the widespread pessimism from the outside world; he was focusing on integrating the team internally.

After the players finished lunch, Yang Fan specifically asked Jackie Kay to keep Van Persie, Rooney, Vidic, Ferdinand, and Evra behind.

He met with Van Persie first.

Upon meeting the Dutchman, Yang Fan immediately produced the match performance report and medical examination report prepared by Andy Walker and Paul Gaudino.

All the data indicate that Van Persie's body is still relatively fragile.

Yang Fan was worried about Van Persie getting injured during the previous match against Olympiacos, which is why he substituted him early.

In Yang Fan's previous life, Van Persie was injured in the final moments of this match and missed a month.

Now, Yang Fan has presented a compelling report demanding that Van Persie take a break.

There's an old Chinese saying: "Good steel should be used on the blade."

"Robin, when you played West Ham, you sat on the bench and watched, conserving your energy for the match against Manchester City!"

Faced with Yang Fan's well-reasoned arguments, Van Persie had no choice but to accept.

Furthermore, Yang Fan also presented a training plan tailored for Van Persie, listened to his opinions, and looked for areas that needed adjustment and modification.

Like Van Persie, Vidic has made several appearances in a row, but he received two yellow cards in the match against Liverpool, resulting in a red card. In addition, he received a straight red card earlier against Chelsea, so he will be suspended for two matches this time.

In the next two league matches, Ferdinand will have to start in place of Vidic.

Rooney will start again.

This decision was made after consultation between Yang Fan, Mike Phelan, and Steve Lund.

Manchester United are currently playing a series of matches, and every game is crucial and cannot afford to lose.

If they lose to West Ham United, the morale they built up during their Champions League comeback against Olympiacos will be completely destroyed.

Therefore, the team must maintain this momentum.

But the players can't handle it.

The core players are getting older and are prone to injury. If they play continuously, the result is predictable: they're doomed.

Andy Walker and Paul Gaudino have been closely monitoring the players' physical condition and trying to avoid injuries.

The team needs to implement effective rotation to ensure they can deliver their best performance in the crucial Manchester derby or when playing away at Camp Nou.

Yang Fan is trying to have it all, and every move he makes now is like dancing a waltz on a knife's edge.

So he patiently explained to several key players.

Next, he will communicate with each player individually.

Since the match was scheduled for Saturday evening, Manchester United held their routine press conference at Carrington on Friday evening.

Yang Fan did not participate; instead, Mike Phelan represented the team and announced the 18-man roster for their trip to London.

The starting lineup was not much different from the one that played against Olympiacos.

But the very next day, on the 22nd, the first match of the 31st round of the Premier League shocked fans all over the world!