Starting with saving Manchester United

Chapter 73 Yang Fan guessed wrong! [Seeking first subscription]

As dusk falls, the city lights begin to illuminate the night.

Outside Old Trafford, the football plaza on the east side was packed with people.

The square was filled with all sorts of stalls selling food, souvenirs, and various fan merchandise.

The largest number of fans gathered in front of the Trinity statue.

People kept coming up to the statue and asking their friends to take photos for them.

Dennis Law, standing in the center, raised his right hand high, which was aimed directly at the statue of Sir Matt Busby on the second floor of the east entrance of the stadium.

Unlike usual, starting three days ago, red scarves from Manchester United have been tied around the necks of both the statue of Sir Matt Busby and the statue of the Three Saints.

Anyone who watched the morning news would know that this was a prayer.

Hopefully, Sir Matt Busby and the Manchester United legends can help Manchester United defeat Barcelona in tonight's match and advance to the semi-finals!

Manchester United have not missed a single year of the Champions League in the past 18 years.

But now, the chances of finishing in the top four of the league are not very high.

Once this season ends and the 18-year record is broken, nobody knows when we'll be able to return to the Champions League again.

Woodward also addressed this issue in an interview with reporters yesterday.

"It looks like we're very likely to miss out on the Champions League next season; that possibility certainly exists."

"If it really happens, I believe we will be back very soon."

Woodward has stated that Manchester United will spend £2 million on player transfers this summer.

"We will return to the Champions League in one year!"

But this did not quell the unease in the hearts of Manchester United fans.

Manchester has a rare good day today.

But tonight at Old Trafford, the air is so thick it's suffocating.

Whenever fans pass by the Trinity statue and walk to the foot of the Sir Busby statue, they stop to pray.

Hopefully, Manchester United will have good luck tonight!

Hopefully, that young Chinese man can continue his magic!

There is still more than an hour before the match kicks off.

It was peak time for fans to enter the stadium.

On the north side of the football square, a group of protesting fans gathered, holding megaphones and chanting slogans.

"It's been 18 years!"

"We will lose the Champions League!"

Why is this happening?

"Those damn Americans are dragging Manchester United into hell!"

"They take so much money from Manchester United every year that the club is unable to buy current stars or rebuild the team."

The fans were roaring passionately, waving flags against the Glazers.

Instead of wearing Manchester United's red home jerseys, they were wearing green and gold jerseys.

Only the most familiar Manchester United fans would know that when Manchester United wasn't called Manchester United, but Newton Heath, their jerseys were green and gold.

Among the protesters, an elderly man with white hair and beard roared in a hoarse voice.

"Just yesterday, my 8-year-old grandson asked me, 'Grandpa, why are we protesting?'"

"I don't know how to explain it to him. I can't make an 8-year-old understand why those people would lose Manchester United, which we are so proud of."

"Why do our government and our fans allow those damn Americans to treat Manchester United as their ATM, as a tool for their own profit?"

"We are a football club! We are Manchester United!"

The old man's final roar was filled with a heart-wrenching madness.

But as he roared, the Manchester United fans in the football square hurried by, as if they were used to it, and very few people stopped in front of the protesting crowd.

Everyone had only one thought: the competition was about to begin.

Hurry up and get in!

Accompanied by Zhang Han, the CCTV interview team captured all of this at Old Trafford in the twilight.

But they also couldn't empathize with the protesters.

As the crowd surged toward the stadium entrance, they formed a long queue and arrived at the security checkpoint revolving door.

One female fan carried a very special Manchester United flag with her, with a line of text on it.

To my beloved father and most loyal Manchester United fan, Rodman.

He passed away two days ago.

A little boy, carrying a backpack he'd just bought at the Manchester United fan shop with the price tag still on, asked his father with concern, "Dad, if we lose tonight, will we not be able to watch the Champions League for the next year?"

"We will not lose."

"But Dad, the betting company says our chances of winning are less than 40%."

"Don't believe those things, kid. If they were accurate, we wouldn't have won the treble in '99; we would have won nothing."

"But we are facing Barcelona."

The father remained silent for a long time, then said, "I have a feeling that that Chinese man will create a miracle!"

Zhang Han and several members of the CCTV interview team walked in the group, listening to the conversations and dialogues of Manchester United fans around them.

It was clear that they were all very anxious and terrified, and some were even quite pessimistic.

But they still hoped for a miracle.

This is football!

Some saw a Champions League match worth over ten million pounds, some saw the players' desperate struggle on the field, and others saw the heavy expectations of countless fans off the field.

This is a war to the death!

There are less than 1 hours left.

Because they had media passes and had contacted Manchester United in advance, Zhang Han and his party passed through security smoothly.

Entering from the east entrance of the stadium, I arrived at the media area on the south stand. Along the way, I saw all sorts of Manchester United fans and felt the suffocating tension in the air above Old Trafford.

"Only by coming to Europe and experiencing it in person can you truly understand why football drives so many people crazy!"

The head of the CCTV interview team said with great emotion.

Tonight, standing in front of the Manchester United manager's bench, the man on whom countless Manchester United fans around the world place their hopes, is a Chinese man.

This filled them with pride and honor from the bottom of their hearts!

Yang Fan guessed wrong!

Before the match, when they received Barcelona's starting lineup, Yang Fan and the Manchester United coaching staff realized the problem.

In the first leg at Camp Nou, Fabregas performed poorly and was substituted by Martino midway through the game.

Sanchez, who came on as a substitute, performed exceptionally well.

In the subsequent La Liga match, Sanchez also performed exceptionally well, contributing a goal and an assist, helping Messi score twice, and helping Barcelona defeat Real Betis 3-1 at home.

Before the match, almost everyone predicted that Sanchez would continue to start.

At that time, the attacking trio of Neymar, Messi, and Sanchez will be enough to strike fear into the hearts of many.

Surprisingly, Sanchez was not even in Barcelona's starting lineup.

It was Fabregas.

"Should we play like in the first leg, with Fabregas in midfield, partnering with Xavi and Busquets, Iniesta on the left wing, and Neymar on the right?" Mike Phelan tried to guess Martino's intentions.

But who can guess?

If Barcelona continues with the same tactics as in the first leg, how will they turn the tide in the second leg?

The starting lineup is exactly the same as it was a week ago.

"That's a bit strange." Steve Lund shook his head.

Yang Fan felt the same way, but he really couldn't figure it out.

Since we can't figure it out, we might as well not try.

Yang Fan walked to the tactics board and quickly wrote down the list of Barcelona's starting 11 players and their possible positions.

But that doesn't make any sense.

Anyone familiar with Barcelona knows that their positioning on the pitch is chaotic.

The Manchester United players had just returned from warming up on the pitch and were all sitting in their seats, looking up at Yang Fan.

Goalkeeper: De Gea;

Defense: Smalling, Vidic, Phil Jones;

Midfielders: Ashley Young, Cleverley, Carrick, and Valencia, with Fellaini and Rooney up front;

Forward: Robin van Persie.

This is the starting lineup arranged by Yang Fan, still using the 3-4-2-1 formation.

"The 2-1 away win in the first leg proves that our targeted tactics are effective and can suppress Barcelona's passing, possession, and attacking penetration."

Yang Fan began his pre-race pep talk.

Over the past week, Manchester United have been refining their tactics for the match against Barcelona.

Especially some of the problems that occurred in the first leg at Camp Nou.

After winning 2-1 away from home, Manchester United players clearly regained more confidence.

But they're facing Barcelona!

Manchester United's defense could crumble if they let their guard down even for the slightest bit.

Especially in this match, due to Ferdinand's injury, Yang Fan had to bring Phil Jones, who performed brilliantly a week ago, back to the defense and pair Cleverley with him in midfield.

This could be a major hidden danger!

"We will stick to what we said before the match: defend the middle and force Barcelona to advance down the flanks as much as possible, then press them down from the wings and prevent them from moving forward."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

This strategy worked very well in the first round.

"With a 1-2 home defeat, Barcelona will definitely press forward aggressively from the start tonight."

"We need to play it safe at the start and not lose our composure."

If Manchester United is thrown into disarray, Barcelona can easily create opportunities by utilizing the individual abilities of their star players.

Especially those consecutive passes within a small area.

This is terrifying.

"But that doesn't mean we should be conservative."

"Once you get the ball, you must be decisive in your counter-attack."

"Robin, Maruwan, Wayne."

Yang Fan called out the names of Van Persie, Fellaini, and Rooney in succession.

"After the start of the game, the three of you, especially Robin and Maruwan, must hold the front line as tightly as you did in the first round. When we counter-attack, we will launch long passes directly from the backfield."

"Our offensive strategy for this game remains unchanged."

"Goal! Goal!! More golf!!!"

In the first leg, Manchester United dominated in aerial attacks.

Especially with Fellaini, the advantage is really too obvious.

Most importantly, Barcelona doesn't have a very good solution to this.

Busquets is not good at physical confrontations, Mascherano is too short, and Puyol is injured and out of the game.

Who should mark Fellaini?

Pique?

What about Van Persie? What about Rooney?

Barcelona likes to play a ground passing game to penetrate the defense, so Manchester United's counter-attacks need to be fast and high.

This is called asymmetric advantage.

You fight your way, I'll fight mine, let's see who's more threatening!

Manchester United have been preparing around this point all along.

"Everyone!"

Yang Fan had already explained everything he needed to before the competition.

This morning, he also arranged a low-intensity overall tactical drill in Carrington.

So now, he has no more tactical arrangements.

"Barcelona is indeed a very strong team, and they play a very artistic style, which many people like. But in football, playing beautifully or having great strength doesn't guarantee a win!"

"Right now, the vast majority of media outlets outside, whether they are encouraging or regretful, ultimately say one thing: they don't have high hopes for us. Even though we won 2-1 at Camp Nou, it doesn't change their stereotypes about us."

"Before the match, Barcelona coach Martino said they would not let the game go into extra time and would finish it within 90 minutes."

"I completely agree!"

Going into extra time might not be advantageous for Manchester United.

"I believe you will finish the battle within 90 minutes."

"No, it might not even take 90 minutes. As long as we hold off Barcelona's attack, as long as we play to our strengths and execute the tactics we've meticulously prepared before the match, we can defeat Barcelona in less than 90 minutes!"

"Believe me, after tonight, everyone will change their opinion of us!"

"After tonight, no team or media outlet in all of Europe will dare to underestimate us!"

After saying this, Yang Fan smiled and pointed to the players in front of him.

"Alright, stop thinking about anything else, get ready to go on the field and start the game."

"I've already booked a venue downtown. After the game, we'll go celebrate the team making it to the semifinals!"

Upon hearing this, the players immediately erupted in excited shouts.