Starting with saving Manchester United

Chapter 61 Yang Fan: I'm sorry, I was wrong!

Amidst the roaring cheers of nearly 10 Barcelona fans at Camp Nou, Robin van Persie knelt near the penalty spot in the Barcelona penalty area.

The Dutchman covered his face with both hands, his forehead hitting the grass.

What a great opportunity!

Who would have thought that Pinto would pounce on him?

"The first half is about to end."

"Manchester United missed a golden attacking opportunity."

"Van Persie is also filled with remorse."

"As you can see from the slow-motion replay, Van Persie's ball handling was truly beautiful."

"Moreover, the angle of that shot was quite tricky."

"Unfortunately, he encountered a Pinto who was in superb form."

Manchester United won a corner on the left side of the attacking third.

Rooney sprinted towards the left corner flag.

As he passed the penalty area, the Englishman reached out and grabbed Van Persie's head.

Fellaini also entered the penalty area, went over to Van Persie, and helped him up.

Vidic, Ferdinand, Phil Jones, and Smalling also came up one after another.

In terms of physical confrontation, Manchester United has an absolute advantage.

Their advantage on the golf course is also very obvious.

As Rooney placed the ball in the corner area, Van Persie had already gotten up from the ground with the comfort of his teammates.

At this point, several tall Manchester United players had gathered inside Barcelona's penalty area.

Fellaini, Van Persie, Vidic, Ferdinand, Phil Jones, and Smalling.

Since it was a corner kick on the left, Carrick and Valencia stood on either side of the outer edge of the arc.

Ashley Young, the left wing-back, was positioned outside the left corner of the penalty area.

Apart from goalkeeper De Gea, all 10 Manchester United players on the field were involved in this corner kick attack.

Seeing Manchester United commit so many players to corner kicks, Barcelona's defense naturally spared no effort in response.

The 11 Barcelona players mostly retreated to the area inside and outside the penalty area.

Because Ashley Young is near the left corner of the penalty area, Alves and Neymar are also positioned on that side.

This is to guard against Manchester United's tactical corner kick.

Once both teams have positioned themselves for the corner kick within the penalty area, referee Brych blows his whistle, indicating that the corner kick can be taken.

Rooney slowly raised his right hand, took a deep breath, and quickly took a running start.

Inside the penalty area, players from both sides started running quickly, creating chaos.

Just when everyone thought Rooney would send the penalty kick into the penalty area, the Englishman, on his run-up, suddenly kicked the ball towards the left corner of the penalty area.

Ashley Young ran laterally to the left sideline to receive the ball.

Alves and Neymar both rushed to the left side of the penalty area.

After Rooney passed the ball, he quickly ran back to avoid being in an offside position.

Ashley Young received the ball and, before the two defenders could get close, pretended to dribble towards the byline and feigned a pass to Rooney, which immediately diverted the attention of Alves and Neymar.

You know, once the ball is passed to him, Rooney can cross from the byline.

Just as the two Barcelona defenders shifted their focus, Ashley Young suddenly stopped, cut the ball to his right foot, pulled it back diagonally, cut inside, and immediately curled a shot with his right foot.

The football traced a slanted arc, landing from the left corner of the penalty area towards the edge of the six-yard box.

Almost simultaneously, Fellaini sprinted forward, and as he reached the left edge of the six-yard box, he leaped high, met Ashley Young's left-footed pass, and with all his might, headed the ball towards the right side of Barcelona's goal.

Mascherano, who was marking Fellaini the whole way, didn't even have time to jump for the header. His body was almost knocked into Busquets by Fellaini's charge. How could he possibly stop Fellaini's header?

The football, moving at incredible speed, grazed Pinto's hands as he dove to the side and nestled into the right side of Barcelona's goal.

"In the 45th minute of the first half, Fellaini scores again!"

"What a beautiful header!"

"Manchester United executed a brilliant corner kick attack in the final moments of the first half, once again opening the door to Barcelona's goal!"

"Fellaini again, another header!"

"In this match, Fellaini's superior aerial ability was truly on full display."

"The Belgian midfielder scored his second goal at Camp Nou with a powerful header!"

"Just now, Van Persie's shot that turned into a corner kick was also a result of Fellaini's pass."

"Manchester United's corner kick attack was very well executed."

"Especially Ashley Young, he completely confused Barcelona's defense."

"This must have been carefully planned and rehearsed before the game, so Fellaini was always lurking outside, just waiting for Ashley Young's pass."

"And Ashley Young's pass was also aimed at Fellaini, specifically targeting Mascherano's head."

"If Ashley Young doesn't pass the ball himself, then he should pass it straight to Rooney, let Rooney cross from the byline, or he should find Fellaini."

As Manchester United players caught up with Fellaini and rushed to the sidelines to celebrate the goal, Yang Fan was also in front of the away team's bench, excitedly embracing Mike Phelan, Steve Lund, and others who were rushing out.

"Our corner kick tactic worked!" Mike Phelan shouted excitedly.

The look in his eyes as he looked at Yang Fan was full of admiration.

Back when the Champions League quarter-finals draw was first held, Yang Fan instructed Mike Phelan to focus on practicing set pieces.

The attack from corner kicks is naturally part of it.

Over the past two weeks, Manchester United have squeezed in a few set-piece attacks whenever they had a spare moment.

It's already showing results.

The more Mike Phelan interacted with Yang Fan, the more he felt that Yang Fan was truly unfathomable.

Think three steps ahead before taking one step; always make various plans in advance.

Some of these arrangements were completely unclear to them until things happened, at which point they suddenly realized what had happened.

That's absolutely amazing!

Returning to the locker room with a two-goal lead, the Manchester United players were brimming with confidence.

However, the problem with physical fitness is very serious.

It wasn't just because of the initial attack; more importantly, they simply couldn't win possession of the ball.

Not being able to win possession of the ball not only means running more, but also experiencing greater psychological pressure and naturally, greater physical exertion.

Yang Fan was generous with his praise for the team's performance in the first half.

"Here, I want to sincerely apologize to everyone."

"I was wrong!"

Yang Fan earnestly offered his sincere apologies to everyone in a very formal manner.

The players were completely baffled.

Weren't we leading by two goals?

Why did you apologize?

"I originally thought that getting an away goal in the first half would be a very good result."

"But I never expected you guys would actually manage to snag two!"

Everyone in the locker room burst into laughter.

Many players even cheered excitedly.

They were all yelling and shouting, looking extremely excited.

Mike Phelan and Steve Lund exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with deep admiration.

When it comes to the ability to get along well with players and even win them over, Yang Fan definitely has it (thumbs up)!

See, just a few words made the players this happy.

"However, everyone, I must also remind you that the situation in the second half will be even more difficult."

"We've expended a lot of energy, and our opponents will definitely go all out in the second half, and they'll continue to make substitutions and intensify their attack."

"By then, we will face even more severe challenges!"

Yang Fan's analysis won unanimous approval from the Manchester United players.

They know better than anyone how much physical exertion they've had.

But at this moment, with a two-goal lead, Manchester United players were in high spirits.

"Let them come! We're going all out! Even if we're completely exhausted, we'll fight Barcelona to the bitter end!" Rooney roared as he stood up.

The Englishmen were so excited they almost burst the veins in their necks.

"That's right, let's take them down!"

"If you ask me, we defended quite well in the first half. Everyone should have been more focused, cooperated better, and worked together as a team. We were definitely able to beat Barcelona!"

"That's right, damn it! Losing two Champions League finals in a row was so frustrating, but now we have a chance to get revenge, let's beat him!"

With a two-goal lead, the players were very confident and their morale was soaring.

But as the head coach, Yang Fan is well aware that while players can be passionate, the head coach must remain calm.

Barcelona will definitely launch a fierce counterattack in the second half!

"Our defense was well organized in the first half. We contained Iniesta on the left, Neymar on the right, and Fabregas making runs into the middle very well."

"And there's also harassment targeting Busquets."

Fabregas had almost no good performance in the first half.

Neymar was also isolated on the right flank.

Iniesta, on the other hand, dropped back more often to support the midfield.

Only Messi.

This guy really can't hold on!

But Manchester United, relying on their overall teamwork, didn't give Messi many good opportunities.

To defend against Messi, we still need to rely on teamwork; there's really no other way.

If all else fails, then the only option is to foul early on.

You can't get too close to the penalty area.

Messi's free kicks are also very threatening.

In the final stages of the first half, Manchester United's overall formation was somewhat similar to a 5-3-2 formation, with only Fellaini and Van Persie remaining in the attacking third, while Rooney actively tracked back to defend the midfield.

"Everyone!"

Yang Fan walked to the center of all the players and loudly attracted everyone's attention.

"Barcelona will definitely launch a fierce counterattack in the second half; they will attack even more aggressively and relentlessly than in the first half."

Everyone in the locker room nodded in agreement.

Barcelona will not allow Manchester United to take a 2-0 victory away from home.

In that second leg at Old Trafford, Barcelona basically had no chance of playing.

"Therefore, I would like to remind everyone, and urge everyone, to be fully prepared mentally."

"We are facing an unprecedented and incredibly difficult second half!"

"Because we are facing the strongest team in world football today!"

After giving a serious reminder, Yang Fan didn't forget to give another pep talk.

"Of course, our 2-0 lead in the first half is our biggest source of confidence."

"It also tells us that Manchester United is not a pushover that Barcelona can easily bully."

"If they dare to attack, we can not only defend, but if we seize the opportunity, we will definitely score a third goal, or even a fourth!"

Upon hearing this, the players were all greatly encouraged and roared with excitement.

As Yang Fan predicted, Barcelona launched a fierce attack right from the start of the second half.

Manchester United were well-prepared, setting up a tight defense and making it difficult for Barcelona to launch an attack.

After several attempts to penetrate and advance down the flanks proved ineffective, Messi began to drop back frequently to receive the ball and attempt to break forward using his individual skills.

Before Yang Fan traveled to 2026, the Messi he saw in the matches was basically just taking a stroll.

-

But what about now?

At his peak, Messi can be described as unstoppable.

Especially getting him to get the ball.

When this guy gets the ball and drives forward, even with a numerical advantage in defense, sometimes you're forced to foul him.

There's no way to stop them!

In the 52nd minute, Phil Jones was unable to stop Messi during a marking attempt and was forced to pull him down.

Manchester United's Flying General received the second yellow card of the match for Manchester United.

Rooney's yellow card in the first half was also for a foul on Messi.

After a series of attacks failed to achieve the desired results, Martino made his first substitution of the match in the 55th minute.

Sanchez replaced the lackluster Fabregas.

After the substitution, Iniesta returned to midfield, forming the Xavi-Iniesta-Busquets combination with Busquets and Xavi.

Neymar returned to the left wing, Sanchez played on the right wing, and Messi remained in the center.

Just eight minutes after the substitution, in the 63rd minute, it was a series of passes between Alves, Xavi, and Iniesta in midfield that tore apart Manchester United's midfield defense.

Iniesta delivered a low, through ball, perfectly placed at Messi's feet on the right side of the penalty area just outside the box.

At that moment, Messi was positioned between the two center-backs, Vidic and Ferdinand.

The Argentine player deftly took Iniesta's pass, accelerated forward in an instant, and like a swift swan, darted between two Manchester United veterans into the penalty area, where he easily chipped the ball over the goalkeeper with his right foot.

The entire movement was fluid and seamless, completed in one go!

The ball sailed over the head of the onrushing De Gea and into the Manchester United goal.

1 is better than 2!

The entire Camp Nou exploded instantly!

Manchester United's defense, which they had held out for an hour, was easily breached!