Starting with saving Manchester United

Chapter 95 Bayern is in a hurry!

When Italian referee Rizzoli blew the whistle to start the match, Bayern Munich took possession of the ball from Manchester United in just 7 seconds.

When Mandzukic and Thomas Müller rushed towards Manchester United's defense, Smalling didn't hesitate and kicked the ball forward with a long kick.

This was also arranged by the head coach before the match.

Maintain a solid defense and eliminate risks!

After Bayern won the ball, during the transition from defense to attack, Schweinsteiger moved to the left wing and passed it to Ribery on the left side of the center circle.

At almost the same time, Alaba made a rapid run down the left flank.

Amidst the cheers of the fans, Bayern's counter-attack was incredibly fast.

But Manchester United's defense quickly took shape.

Valencia retreated to follow Alaba as he rushed towards the byline, and Cleverley immediately marked Ribery on the flank.

Just like in the first leg, Ribery dribbled the ball to the outside, and Alaba cut diagonally inside, resulting in a cross-position exchange.

But both Cleverley and Valencia stayed close to their opponents.

Ribery was forced to cut inside near the byline and stop abruptly before passing the ball back to Schweinsteiger on the left side of the penalty area.

In this match, Schweinsteiger, playing as a lone defensive midfielder, controlled the ball and then made a diagonal pass into the penalty area with his right foot to find Mandzukic.

Thomas Muller also moved forward immediately, ready to seize the second ball.

But Vidic held his position firmly, getting ahead of Mandzukic, and headed the ball away out of the penalty area.

Fellaini, positioned outside the penalty arc, chested the ball down, then turned and launched a long ball forward.

The ball hadn't crossed the halfway line when Dante headed it to the retreating Alaba.

Bayern launched another attack down the left flank.

After Alaba made a run forward, he passed the ball diagonally to Götze.

As a result, Götze cut past Carrick and once again chipped a pass into the penalty area behind him.

Phil Jones outjumped Thomas Müller and headed the ball out of the penalty area.

Cleverley darted forward, intercepting the ball just outside his own penalty area, and then passed it diagonally to the right side of the attacking third.

Rooney made a quick forward run, crossed the halfway line, and caught up with Cleverley's pass along the right flank.

Dante quickly followed up to defend.

Just when Rooney was forced to the right sideline by Dante and everyone thought Manchester United's counter-attack was unlikely to succeed, they saw Valencia rushing forward at top speed, sprinting from behind Dante.

Alaba chased desperately back, but still lagged behind Valencia.

Rooney, understanding perfectly, delivered a pass, sending the ball towards Valencia's sprinting path.

The Ecuadorian player surged forward, caught up with Rooney's pass, took a slight touch on the right side of the penalty area, and delivered a low cross with his right foot.

Van Persie, positioned in the middle, was closely marked by Boateng and attempted to flank him.

But this cross was too close to the penalty area.

Neuer made a decisive move, grabbing the ball before Van Persie could reach it.

They narrowly averted a crisis!

At this point, only one minute of the match had elapsed!

The Allianz Arena was first filled with a heart-pounding, silent gasp, followed by enthusiastic applause.

Yang Fan, the coach of the away team, witnessed Valencia's cross firsthand and couldn't help but feel a little regretful.

It must be said that Valencia's crosses are of mediocre quality.

Van Persie's positioning was really smart.

He paused deliberately, then circled around, timing it perfectly, and was already running on Boateng's right.

If Valencia's cross goes a little further out, Neuer won't dare to come out, and Van Persie can rush over and shoot directly.

It's worth noting that Van Persie can shoot with both feet.

Then you have the ball!

But Valencia's cross was too close to the goal.

In any case, it's a good start.

Yang Fan walked to the sidelines and clapped enthusiastically, cheering for Valencia.

He also gave Van Persie a thumbs-up from afar.

As the Dutchman walked back, he saw Yang Fan's gesture, nodded, and smiled.

The game started at a fast pace.

Neither side held anything back.

No one expected that Bayern Munich, playing at home and focusing on possession, would play at the pace of the Premier League from the very beginning.

What's even more surprising is how quickly Manchester United's counterattack came.

After getting up from the ground, Neuer didn't hesitate for a moment and threw the ball directly to Lahm on the right.

Bayern Munich quickly launched a counterattack.

The previous two times they went down the left flank, but this time Bayern started going down the right flank.

But Manchester United's defense in this match was similar to that in the first leg, very resilient.

When Bayern press forward, even when they're attacking near the penalty area, the Red Devils can always retreat and defend.

But once the ball gets into the attacking third, Manchester United's entire defense quickly pushes forward.

They can even apply some pressing in the attacking third.

However, Bayern pressed hard from the start, and apart from Valencia's cross, Manchester United's other attempts were mostly clearances with long balls.

The game was fast-paced, and time flew by.

Beckenbauer, sitting in the Allianz Arena presidential box, glanced at the time.

Six minutes have passed without us even noticing.

"For the past 6 minutes, we've had possession of the ball most of the time, and the game has mostly been played in Manchester United's half."

"Manchester United tried to counter-attack behind the defense four times, but failed each time and simply gave possession back to us."

Beckenbauer was not only a great "libero," but also a champion godfather.

"Clearly, this is Manchester United's tactic tonight."

"Focus on defense, attack behind the defense!"

Beckenbauer immediately grasped Manchester United's tactical intentions.

He believes that Guardiola must have seen it too.

"We put a lot of effort into our attack tonight, and the pace was fast, but so far, the results haven't been very good," Rummenigge said, frowning.

Beckenbauer pointed to Manchester United's half, "Look, Fellaini has come back to defend."

"Once they huddle in defense, Manchester United's backline has five defenders and three defensive midfielders."

"It's just like a tortoise shell!" Rummenigge sneered.

"But it's effective and practical!" Beckenbauer said casually.

Rummenigge was unable to refute this.

"With Manchester United's squad and strength, they can only play defensively and counter-attackingly against us," Sammer chimed in.

The two teams are not even in the same league.

Just as the three Bayern Munich executives were speaking, another incident occurred on the pitch.

Bayern's midfielder made a mistake while passing the ball, and Fellaini quickly intercepted it and sent the ball to the left side of the defense, where Schweinsteiger was unmarked.

Van Persie ran over and received the ball with his back to goal, but couldn't continue his forward run, so he had to pass it back to Fellaini.

The Belgian was facing the direction of the attack, dribbling forward, and then, just as Lahm came over to defend, he passed the ball back to the left wing.

Ashley Young made a quick forward run along the left flank.

Rame chased after him relentlessly, clinging tightly to Ashley Young's inside.

As the two sprinted to the left side of Bayern's penalty area, Ashley Young suddenly stopped, cut inside with his right foot, and unleashed a powerful shot.

This sudden, unexpected attack sent chills down everyone's spines.

Although the ball went over the goal, the Allianz Stadium erupted in gasps of surprise.

This made the expressions of Bayern Munich's top management, who were sitting in the presidential box, very serious.

Although the game has only been going on for 7 minutes, and it is still unclear how the situation will develop.

But at least in those 7 minutes, they realized that this game would not be easy.

Manchester United is far more formidable than they imagined!

"Both of Manchester United's quick counter-attacks came from the flanks and were very threatening."

"Ashley Young and Valencia both made very decisive runs forward from behind."

"Although Bayern won possession at the start, their attacks failed to create any real threat."

"Let's see, let's try going down the left flank again and find Ribery."

"Bayern's attack down the left flank was similar to the first leg, and Manchester United were clearly prepared."

"In particular, the several times Ribery and Alaba combined failed to achieve the expected results."

During one of Alaba's through balls to the byline, Ribery tried to catch up, but Valencia got there first and blocked his position.

The Frenchman with the scar couldn't get the ball no matter what he tried, and could only watch helplessly as the ball went out of bounds.

Ribery angrily charged up from behind and knocked Valencia to the ground.

Referee Rizzoli then blew his whistle.

The entire Allianz Arena erupted in boos!

Phil Jones, who was closest, was the first to pounce on Ribery.

Almost at the same time, Mandzukic and Schweinsteiger also rushed over.

The whole situation is about to descend into chaos.

Fortunately, Rizzoli stepped in to stop them, and Vidic also pulled Phil Jones back.

But the Italian referee immediately called Ribery over and gave him a yellow card.

The audience booed deafeningly.

Bayern fans are clearly very unhappy about this.

"They're panicking!"

Yang Fan glanced at the time: 10 minutes and 49 seconds.

"That's normal. They're racing against time. They didn't score at the start, so they're probably very anxious."

"Ribery's left flank is the main source of Bayern's attacking firepower!" Mike Phelan analyzed.

Steve Lund nodded repeatedly, "Both of our counterattacks hurt them."

On one hand, the attack struggled to break through Manchester United's defenses, unable to pry open their defenses.

On the other hand, Bayern Munich faced two near-threatening counterattacks from the opponent. How could they not be anxious?

Just two minutes later, Bayern pressed too far forward again.

As a result, after Manchester United intercepted the ball outside their own 30-meter zone, Carrick launched a long pass behind the defense.

This time, Rooney made a forward run at top speed.

And they successfully beat the offside trap!

Just when everyone was on edge, Neuer rushed out of the penalty area, got ahead of Rooney, and headed the ball away to Boateng.

Rooney stormed back.

He's too slow!

But this is another wake-up call!

Yang Fan stood in front of the away team's coaching bench, constantly observing the game.

Guardiola, on the other hand, remained seated calmly in the home team's coaching bench.

Judging from the situation, Manchester United were forced into a somewhat embarrassing situation.

For example, this time in the 14th minute.

During a quick counter-attack by Manchester United, Ashley Young failed to receive the ball properly on his first touch and was immediately blocked by Lahm and Robben near the left sideline of the midfield. When he tried to pass the ball back to Smalling, he inadvertently passed it out of bounds.

It's fair to say that Manchester United made a lot of mistakes.

But Manchester United's tactics really worked.

Especially on the defensive end.

If Manchester United opened up the flanks in the first leg, allowing Bayern to cross the ball to Mandzukic, then in this match, Manchester United effectively neutralized Mandzukic as well.

Once the high points were controlled, Bayern's crosses from the wings became ineffective.

Götze in the middle lane also has a hard time posing a threat.

This stalemate was very disadvantageous for Bayern, so the home team's players became increasingly impatient.

In the 16th minute, Bayern, who had been unable to break through Bayern's defense, made another mistake.

Ribery and Alaba's attempts to break through on the left flank failed, forcing them to pass back to Schweinsteiger on the perimeter.

The little guy had just received the ball and hadn't even come to a complete stop when Ribery ran sideways past him and took the ball with him.

Ribery was clearly looking to combine with Götze in the middle or Robben on the left.

Unexpectedly, he took a slightly longer touch while dribbling the ball.

Cleverley made a sliding tackle, taking the ball from Ribery's feet and bringing Ribery down in the process.

However, the referee did not blow the whistle, deeming it a successful tackle rather than a foul.

Before Cleverley could even get up from the ground, he kicked the ball to the right flank.

Valencia quickly moved forward along the right flank, caught up with Cleverley's ball, and strode forward.

Manchester United's swift counter-attack!

Caught off guard, Bayern immediately retreated.

When Valencia rushed into Bayern's 30-meter zone, Dante and others had already retreated to the edge of the penalty area.

Ecuador immediately passed the ball to Van Persie on the right flank, allowing the Dutchman to receive the ball and play some combination play.

Or wait until Rooney and Fellaini catch up.

But just as Van Persie controlled the ball, he suddenly turned and was about to cut inside past Dante.

When the Brazilian center-back was taken aback, he immediately reached out and pulled Van Persie to the ground in a lap.

Rizzoli's whistle blew again.

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