Starting with saving Manchester United

Chapter 97: Advancing to the Finals!

"Bayern's current situation is very unfavorable."

"Having conceded two goals, they now need to score five to turn the tide."

"But we can see that Bayern players on the pitch are still attacking aggressively."

"Guardiola made tactical adjustments and began to focus his attacks on his own right flank."

"Use Robben and Lahm to launch a strong attack on Manchester United's left flank, draw the defense's attention, and then try to pass the ball to the center and right flank."

"Look at Robben's dribbling inside this time, and his left-footed cross to the far post."

"Thomas Müller heads the ball into the net at the far post!"

"It just grazed the post and went out of bounds."

"Bayern's attacking strategy has indeed changed a lot since the adjustment."

"For the home team now, it's not so much about qualifying, but more about dignity."

"Especially Guardiola, this is his first season coaching Bayern, and being eliminated from the Champions League in this way is definitely unacceptable to him."

"After all, Bayern Munich thrashed Barcelona 7-0 on aggregate last season."

"Okay, De Gea has launched a long goal kick."

"But Bayern still managed to get the ball back."

"Bring it back, find Mandzukic."

"Vidic came up and cleared the ball with a header."

Fellaini chests the ball down, then flicks it on, switching the ball to the left flank in the attacking third.

"Beautiful, that's Fellaini's specialty."

"Look at Ashley Young's left flank this time."

"Manchester United's wing-back came on very quickly in this game."

"But Ram returned to defend in time."

"The two are in a one-on-one situation on the wing."

"Ashley Young fakes a shot, tries to get to the byline, cuts back, cuts inside with his right foot, and passes diagonally to the far post!"

Is anyone there?

"Goal!!!!"

"Valencia!"

"Antonio Valencia scores at the far post!"

"3 to 0!"

"In the 36th minute of the first half, Manchester United once again completed a counter-attack after intercepting the ball near the halfway line."

"Ashley Young cut past Lahm and then crossed the ball diagonally to the far post with his right foot."

"The shot was very accurate, and Valencia's encirclement was also very timely."

"3 to 0!"

"The final score is now 5-0!"

"Bayern must score 6 goals."

"That's the most brutal part of the Champions League knockout stage!"

"After conceding two goals in the first leg, Bayern completely lost control of the game."

The instant Valencia scored, Yang Fan saw Guardiola, standing in front of the home team's coaching bench, slap him hard across the face.

Even as an observer, Yang Fan felt a headache for him seeing his forehead.

But the next moment, he realized what was happening and cheered excitedly.

A connection between the two wing-backs!

Yang Fan himself never expected that Ashley Young would be the one to assist Valencia.

This stage of the competition has truly taken him completely by surprise.

Before the match, his biggest thought was to shut out Bayern Munich.

A better result would be 2-0.

Unexpectedly, three goals were already scored before the first half was even over.

What else can be said?

"Guardiola is so enthusiastic!"

When Yang Fan walked back to the away team's coaching bench, he couldn't stop smiling.

Mike Phelan, Steve Lund, and others were also in high spirits.

No one could have imagined the competition would go this far.

It can only be said that the most unpredictable thing about football is the score.

Because people's hearts are random and constantly changing!

No one can use an outsider's perspective to guess the players' mindset during a match.

This is why so many tragedies occur.

What surprised Yang Fan and everyone at Manchester United even more was that something astonishing happened again just six minutes later.

At the bottom of the center circle in Manchester United's half.

Bayern's attack down the left flank failed, and as they passed the ball back to Schweinsteiger to regroup, Cleverley suddenly rushed in and dispossessed Schweinsteiger.

After intercepting the ball, Cleverley played a through ball behind the defense.

Bayern's defensive line has pushed up to the midfield line, leaving a large gap behind them.

Van Persie made a quick forward run to chase.

Neuer rushed out of the penalty area again, and was about to reach the 30-meter zone.

This time he didn't use his head, but his foot, trying to clear the ball away.

Unexpectedly, Van Persie lunged forward and dodged to the side.

The ball struck Van Persie squarely, bouncing off to the right side of the center circle in Bayern's half.

At that very moment, Rooney surged forward, met the falling ball with a header, and then accelerated to catch up.

Dante desperately reached out to pull Rooney's jersey, but he couldn't hold onto the chubby Rooney.

Rooney charged forward like a bull, caught up with the ball he had dribbled out, and unleashed a powerful shot.

Poor Neuer!

After clearing the danger, he realized it and quickly ran towards the goal.

Similar situations have occurred repeatedly throughout the first half.

He was robbed by Van Persie once before.

Unfortunately, Bayern's defense was pushed too far forward, and Manchester United were constantly launching long balls behind the defense.

This time, Rooney took the shot from about 35 meters away.

Footballs are much faster than people.

The German goalkeeper could only watch helplessly as Rooney took a shot, the ball whistling past him and into Bayern's goal.

Only then did he retreat back inside the penalty area line.

Neuer knelt down in the penalty area, facing the goal, looking utterly frustrated and desperate!

Even when he was still playing for Schalke 04, he was already known for frequently breaking out of the penalty area.

Never before in a match have we seen such a relentless surge into the 30-meter zone, only to have our opponents seize the opportunity twice to score into empty nets with long-range shots.

What else could he say?

Is this his problem?

The entire Allianz Arena fell silent.

All that could be heard was Rooney's roar after scoring, and the cheers of Manchester United players and fans celebrating the goal.

4 is better than 0!

The final score is 6-0!

Manchester United's counter-attacks were very efficient and targeted.

But what about Bayern Munich?

Throughout the entire first half, they didn't manage a single shot on target.

Not even once!

"This is what I said before, we had too much ineffective possession."

In the stands of the Allianz Arena, Beckenbauer looked at Neuer kneeling in the penalty area and asked with a sense of sympathy.

Rummenigge and Sammer, who were standing nearby, remained silent.

Bayern Munich is far stronger than Manchester United.

This is beyond doubt.

Why did the game turn out like this?

It's clear to everyone that Manchester United's targeted tactics have worked!

Both legs of the match worked!

"Manchester United is not strong, Yang Fan is a rookie, and they have many problems."

"But they did one thing right, which was to find our Achilles' heel in both rounds."

"That's enough for them to win!"

After Beckenbauer finished speaking, he shook his head and sighed helplessly.

Bayern Munich's players are all excellent, with outstanding skills and exceptional talent.

But if the game turned out like this, the problem certainly doesn't lie with the players.

They all did their best!

So where is the problem?

"Is Guardiola's tactical style really suitable for us?"

Beckenbauer's question once again silenced Rummenigge and Sammer.

Nobody knows the answer.

Just like when last season was halfway through, no one would have thought that Heynckes would eventually lead the team to a treble.

It's as if before tonight's match, no one could have believed that Manchester United would achieve such a victory at the Allianz Stadium.

This is football!

That's life too!

They don't reason or make any sense to you at all!

When the first half ended with a score of 4-0, everyone already knew that the second half was meaningless.

Bayern Munich also suffered a major blow.

During halftime, Guardiola made a substitution.

Javi Martinez replaced Mandzukic.

After the substitution, Bayern's formation changed from 4-1-3-2 to 4-2-3-1.

Thomas Müller was moved up to the forward line.

This feels like a return to the days when Heynckes was the coach.

Similar situations have occurred repeatedly this season.

According to German media and fans, whenever Guardiola's possession-based tactics fail at Bayern Munich, they bring back Heinz.

Keith's football is the best remedy for Bayern's problems.

But this time, the prescription didn't work either.

Because Bayern lost so badly in the first half!

It could even be described as a complete defeat.

As a result, the players have completely lost their fighting spirit.

One of the most obvious pieces of evidence is Guardiola's signature possession rate.

Bayern maintained 8% possession in the first half.

But what about the second half?

After 60 minutes, the score was still 4-0, and Bayern's possession had dropped to only 7%.

What's even more unacceptable to Bayern fans is that the Bayern players on the field are still unable to create any threats.

Whether it was Alaba's shot from a tight angle after breaking into the penalty area, Javi Martinez's header from a corner, or Robben's curling long-range shot after cutting inside from the right wing—

All of them were off target range for Manchester United.

Manchester United also failed to create any effective attacking opportunities, but their defense remained solid.

Bayern Munich's first shot on target in the entire match came in the 61st minute.

Thomas Müller's shot inside the penalty area forced a save from De Gea, who pushed the ball out of bounds.

The subsequent corner kick was again aimed at Javi Martinez, but he still couldn't get the ball on target.

By the 68th minute, with time running out, Bayern's situation was becoming increasingly precarious.

Even the Bayern fans in the stands had given up hope that their team could turn the game around.

Even just one goal would be great.

However, the back-and-forth pressing near the center line eventually escalated into a physical contest between Lahm and Ashley Young, with Lahm clearing the ball out of bounds.

Manchester United's throw-in.

Ashley Young quickly threw the ball to Smalling.

Then pass it to Fellaini in front.

Fellaini then gave the ball back to Ashley Young.

Ashley Young dribbled along the left sideline past the halfway line, but was marked by Lahm and immediately passed the ball across to Fellaini.

After passing the ball, Ashley Young suddenly took a step forward and sprinted quickly.

Fellaini, understanding perfectly, delivered a through ball.

Ashley Young sprinted forward with all his might, chasing after the ball.

Ram tried his best to get back on defense, but he was a step too late.

When Ashley Young chased to the left side of the penalty area, he turned his head and glanced at the penalty area.

Van Persie and Rooney hadn't even had a chance to get in yet.

So the Englishman made a sudden stop, cut the ball off, passed it to his right foot, and then pulled it sideways.

Ram rushed too far ahead, quickly brought it to a stop, and immediately changed direction to get close to it.

But Ashley Young had already cut inside with his right foot.

Just as the Englishman was about to cut inside into the penalty area, Lahm panicked and, without thinking, made a sliding tackle, bringing Ashley Young down to the ground along with the ball.

The referee, Rizzoli, immediately blew his whistle.

At that moment, Ram felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

He saw Ashley Young fall forward into the penalty area.

Rizzoli pointed to the penalty kick without hesitation, and at the same time reached out and pulled a scarlet card from his breast pocket, pointing it at Lahm.

"Red card and penalty kick!"

"This is the ultimate punishment!"

"Rizzoli's sentence this time was very harsh."

"From the slow-motion replay, we can see that Lahm made a scissor tackle from the side and behind, and that it was inside the penalty area line."

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"Let's change the angle. We didn't touch the ball, but tackled Ashley Young directly on the shin."

"This action may not have had an obvious intention to cause harm, but it certainly deserves a red card."

"The penalty kick will be even less of a problem."

"Referee Rizzoli's decision was very accurate."

"Ram is indeed anxious."

Allianz Stadium was filled with boos.

Instead, Ram, who received the red card, did not argue but kept shaking his head.

Before leaving the field, he made a special trip over to check on Ashley Young, who was lying on the ground, and only after confirming that the latter was alright did he turn and leave.

For Manchester United, Robin van Persie was responsible for taking the penalty.

The Dutchman placed the ball at the penalty spot and slowly retreated.

When Rizzoli blew the whistle, Van Persie quickly stepped forward and calmly fired a shot with his left foot.

Neuer misjudged the direction and lunged to the right.

Van Persie's penalty kick went straight into the left side of the goal.

"hat trick!"

"Van Persie!"

"Ronaldo Van Persie scored a hat-trick in the Champions League semi-final!"

"5 to 0!"

"This is a result that surprised everyone!"

"Manchester United, after winning 2-0 at home, went on to achieve a stunning upset, thrashing Bayern Munich 5-0 away!"

"What's even more unexpected is that in last season's Champions League semi-final, Bayern Munich eliminated Barcelona from La Liga with a total score of 7-0 on aggregate over two legs."

"No one expected that, a year later, in the Champions League semi-finals, almost the same Bayern Munich team would suffer a crushing defeat to Manchester United, whose strength is clearly far inferior to their own, with the same aggregate score."

"We saw that the live TV broadcast focused on Bayern Munich's management in the stands."

"I wonder how they are feeling right now, what they are thinking?"

"But that's football!"

"It always surprises everyone by doing things in unexpected ways."

"At just 25 years old, Yang Fan, a rookie without even a coaching certificate, would step by step drag Manchester United out of the mire and lead them to the Champions League final in Lisbon, Portugal!"

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