I'm 198cm tall. Are you giving me a Maradona template?

Chapter 63 Europa League, Manchester United is coming [First update]

".The games in January 2016 are all over. If we have to choose a best player this month, it must be Monaco's center forward Yang Guang. This Chinese striker started all three league games in January and scored five goals."

".Monaco's new players are performing better and better. They have brought new vitality to Monaco's lineup."

".The 442 system established by Jardim looks very clever. Based on the running enthusiasm of young players, Monaco is creating a youth storm in the French Ligue ."

If it were before that.

Paris Saint-Germain coach Laurent Blanc still has reason to turn a blind eye to the threat posed by Monaco.

So, now, Monaco has narrowed the gap to only 1 point.

There was no way he could ignore this emerging competitor in the league.

In his meeting room.

The news reports about Monaco made the coaches of the Paris coaching team present at the meeting frown.

Blanco turned off the TV.

Looking at his assistants.

“We can no longer ignore them.”

Blanco said.

"I think everyone has watched their game tapes in recent games. What do you think?"

“They have great running ability.”

"The stability of the newly formed defense is unexpectedly good."

"They are feared on both offense and defense. This team should not be underestimated!"

Everyone expressed their opinions.

Blanco nodded.

"I'm glad people are realizing that. I think we need to educate our players."

"The competitor is coming!"

"And they are incredibly powerful!"

The next day, before Paris Saint-Germain's training session began.

Blanco organized a team meeting.

During the meeting.

He stressed the mentality of the team.

"We can't underestimate Monaco."

He said as he looked at his players.

"The French Ligue 1 championship does not naturally belong to Paris Saint-Germain. If we think we can easily win the French Ligue 1 championship, then I can guarantee that this season's league championship will definitely not belong to us!"

The head coach's words made the Paris players look very solemn.

Even Ibrahimovic, who behaves very wildly in the outside world.

Now his face is also solemn.

They all know the threat posed by Monaco.

After completing the signings in the winter window.

This young team, their starting lineup and substitute lineup, even seem to have no weaknesses.

"We have to seize every game and take every three points!"

Blanco said.

Blanc warned his players not to underestimate Monaco.

And for Yalding.

If he wants to lead Monaco to the championship, he also has to keep an eye on his main rival, Paris Saint-Germain.

He devised a plan to score points.

The goal is to go all out in the league, get three points, keep the pressure on Paris, and wait for Paris to make mistakes.

Paris Saint-Germain's opponent in the Champions League quarter-finals is Chelsea.

Mourinho's second Chelsea is not an easy opponent to deal with.

And for Paris Saint-Germain investors.

No matter how many French Ligue 1 titles they win, winning a Champions League title will not be as effective in enhancing Paris Saint-Germain's brand power and influence throughout Europe.

therefore
When the Champions League game comes.

Paris Saint-Germain’s main focus will definitely be on the Champions League!
The next two rounds of the league.

In the 23rd round of the league, Monaco defeated Bastia 2-0 at home, and Sunshine's consecutive scoring streak finally stopped.

But three days later.

In the 25th round of the league, Monaco defeated Nice - at home and won the derby on the Cote d'Azur. Sunshine scored the only goal of the game, raising his goal tally to goals.

at the same time.

Paris Saint-Germain also won these two rounds of the league.

The two sides still maintained a one-point difference.

Monaco's opponent in the 11th round of the French Cup is Lyon, and it will be an away game.

After a little consideration, Jardim decided to strategically give up the French Cup game and focus on maintaining the league.

It turns out.

His decision was correct.

Paris Saint-Germain before travelling to London to take on Chelsea.

On February 2, in the 13th round of the league, Paris Saint-Germain, playing with a rotated lineup, drew - with Marseille away from home.

This draw made all Monaco supporters excited.

Because it means.

If they beat Saint-Etienne away on February 2, in the 14th round of the league, Monaco will lead Paris Saint-Germain by one point and top the standings!

The opportunity to top the standings obviously makes Monaco players very excited.

This also affected their performance in the game.

Perhaps because Monaco wanted to attack too much, its attack was just a lot of noise but little results.

There are only flowers blooming but no fruits.

Monaco had not scored a goal until the 80th minute of the game.

The score on the field is still zero to zero.

There are already countless Paris Saint-Germain fans in front of the TV shouting "Come on Saint-Etienne!"

The 83rd minute of the game.

Yangguang got the ball outside the penalty area and made a move to pass it to the side, just like he had done several times before.

Saint-Etienne's defense fell into inertial thinking. They all retreated and prepared to prevent Sunshine from rushing into the penalty area to grab the ball.

This is his most threatening offensive method.

As a result, Yangguang immediately turned around, faced the goal, and shot the ball from the penalty area line.

The football was shot into the upper right corner like an arrow!
One to zero!

"Positive!!"

In the commentary box.

All the commentators were stunned for a moment before seeing this goal, and then started cheering.

"A bolt from the blue! Sunshine! Still sunshine! His 26th goal in the league! He is carrying Monaco forward!"

"If this score remains until the end, Monaco will officially surpass Paris Saint-Germain in this round of the league and take the top spot in the league standings!"

While the narrators are talking.

The sunlight was drowned out by the Monaco players who flocked in.

Everyone knows the value of this goal.

The league is about to enter the final sprint stage!

It would be of great significance if they could take the top spot in the standings at this time!
"Hold on! Hold on!!"

Sunshine shouted with his fist clenched.

Jardim on the sidelines was also ready to make a substitution.

Carvalho and Moutinho are ready to play.

They replaced Mbappe and B Silva.

The final moments of the game.

Monaco plays 541 and parks the bus away from home!
After taking the lead, Monaco built a great wall in front of its own goal in the last few minutes to withstand the home team's crazy counterattack.

The moment the whistle sounded at the end of the game.

In front of the TV, countless Paris Saint-Germain fans had looks of panic on their faces.

"The game is over! The game is over! Monaco overtook Paris Saint-Germain and topped the standings!!"

As the commentators chanted.

The camera was locked on Yang Guang who scored the only goal of the game.

Yalding breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at his assistant.

"Now, we can think about how to deal with Manchester United."

Carlos laughed.

Jardim was actually a little hesitant in the Europa League.

The reason for hesitation is simple.

Monaco is now ranked first in the French Ligue 1 standings.

Should we give up all other fronts and focus all our energy on the league?
But if you do this.

It seems a bit of a pity.

Because Monaco was eliminated from both the French Cup and the French League Cup, two domestic cup competitions.

That being the case.

They actually have some spare energy and can be distracted by the Europa League.

And after the reinforcements in the winter window.

Monaco's bench depth has also increased visibly.

Really give up on the Europa League completely.

Both the coaching staff and the players.

Everyone feels a little unwilling.

Jardim has not made a decision yet.

When he and Carlos returned to the locker room.

The noise in the locker room could be heard from far away.

"Champion! Champion! Champion!!"

All I could hear was the players shouting.

A smile appeared on Yalding's lips.

But then someone started to lead the way.

"Defeat Manchester United and advance to the Europa League!"

This is the sound of sunshine.

"Beat Manchester United! Go to the Europa League!"

The other players followed suit and chanted.

Jardim and Carlos looked at each other.

"If we give up the Europa League, it will hit the players' morale and confidence."

Carlos whispered.

Sunshine doesn’t care what the coaching staff thinks.

He has been looking forward to this game for a long time.

In recent rounds of leagues.

His grades are basically B.

The treasure chests that he got could not directly improve his strength.

Sunshine after summary.

It is believed that this is caused by two reasons.

On the one hand, it is because he has not scored enough goals - if he can score a hat trick in every game, he will definitely be rated S.

But is a hat trick so easy to accomplish?
At the end of the day, he is still human.

On the other hand, the opponents in the French Ligue 1 are not strong enough and famous enough.

Therefore, it is not easy to get a high score in the game.

And against Manchester United.

These problems will no longer exist.

Manchester United's fame and status in European football are evident here.

As long as he can play in this game.
Do not!
It was these two games that performed well enough.

Then you will get two chances to draw an S-level treasure chest.

Manchester United.
George Best, Bobby Charlton and Dennis Law, the three ancient saints, are all top-level players in terms of talent.

The players in Class of 92 were also top-notch: Giggs, Scholes, Beckham, Neville, etc.

There are also Cantona, Keane, the Black Wind Twins, etc.

There are also representatives of Ferguson's second generation of Red Devils, Rooney and Ronaldo.

As a top-level competitive team.

Yangguang has been thinking about fleecing them for a long time.

Therefore, he had been looking forward to this game for a long time.

We can even meet giants of this level in the Europa League.

If it was the Champions League, wouldn't we be able to kill anyone we want?
When Yangguang thought of this, tears couldn't help but flow from the corners of his mouth.

However, there is still a risk for Sunshine against Manchester United.

That is, the coaching staff may strategically give up the Europa League. This is if the coaching staff really does not include the Europa League in their plan.

Wouldn't it be a waste of time to wait for so long?

So, Sunshine decided to talk to the head coach.

"You said we shouldn't give up the Europa League?"

Yalding looked at the sunlight in surprise.

"Well, Boss, I do think so."

"Why?" Yalding leaned back tactically, leaning against the back of the chair. He wanted to hear what ivory could come out of Yangguang's mouth.

"Think about it, we're playing against Manchester United!" Sunshine said, "Manchester United is ranked so badly in the Premier League now, it's very difficult for them to get into the top four, so they must want to hope to win the Europa League to advance to the Champions League next season!"

"Doesn't this just prove that the opponents we face aren't some big clubs that don't regard the Europa League as a piece of cake?" Jardim said.

"So we can't give up!" Yangguang waved his fist and said, "Our morale is high now, how can we take the initiative to interrupt the momentum of victory?"

"If we back off against Manchester United directly, wouldn't that undermine the players' confidence?"

"Boss, we Chinese have an old saying, 'When two brave men meet in a narrow road, the bravest one wins.' Now our team has reached the most critical moment, so we must not give up!"

As Yalding listened, he couldn't help laughing.

"Alright, alright."

He waved his hand.

"I had no intention of giving up the Europa League."

Yangguang looked stunned.

"Hahahaha." Yalding laughed.

"How about it?"

Sunshine walked into the locker room.

The players came over.

"The boss said that he had no intention of giving up the Europa League."

Sunshine said.

In the locker room, everyone's spirits were high.

"it is good!"

"It's just Manchester United. If we just give up like that, it would seem like we're afraid of them."

"They are sixth in the Premier League and we are first in Ligue 1."

"What's there to be afraid of?"

There is one thing that Yangguang said that is very true.

If Monaco directly gave up the Europa League.

Maybe it can save the team a little bit of energy.

But the blow to the team's morale was huge.

not to mention.

Monaco is indeed not completely unable to cope with fighting on two fronts.

They added four main players in the winter window.

The four main defenders in the first half of the season all sat on the bench.

They are available for deployment at any time.

"Where did this kid come from?!"

Carrington training ground.

In the 25th round of the Premier League, we drew 1-1 with Chelsea away from home.

Manchester United head coach Van Gaal didn't care about the mess in the league and turned his attention to the Europa League.

The current situation in the Premier League is very pessimistic for Manchester United.

They have only got 25 points in 39 league games, ranking sixth in the league, behind Leicester City, Tottenham, Arsenal, Manchester City and West Ham United. They are two points behind fifth-placed West Ham United and eight points behind fourth-placed Manchester City.

The Premier League has been a bit weird this season.

25 league rounds have passed.

Before this, Leicester City, which was thought to be "going to fall apart sooner or later", is now getting stronger and stronger.

A series of consecutive victories have consolidated the team's first position, and the team is five points ahead of second-placed Tottenham and ranks first in the league.

Instead, it is the traditional strong teams such as Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool.

The performances are more eye-catching than the last.

Especially Chelsea.

Chelsea, with a total value of over 800 million, dived into the relegation zone under the leadership of Mourinho.

After 25 league games, they only got 30 points, ranking 13th in the league, 23 points away from the top and only 6 points ahead of the relegation zone.

In Mourinho's third season at Chelsea, he seems unable to escape the curse.

But even without Chelsea and Liverpool, the two major rivals for the top four.

Manchester United's chances of finishing in the top four this season are becoming increasingly slim.

therefore.

in England.

Many media outlets believe so.

Manchester United's only hope of qualifying for next season's Champions League.

Just win the Europa League!

The Europa League was originally a rather useless competition for a giant club like Manchester United.

But since UEFA decided to give the Europa League champion an extra Champions League spot.

The Europa League has also become a hot commodity in the eyes of many top clubs, especially those in leagues as competitive as the Premier League.

Van Gaal was still quite tough when facing the media.

It means that Manchester United still has hope of competing for the top four, and being eight points behind is nothing.

But deep down, he knew it.

Whether Manchester United can get into the top four is no longer something that Manchester United can decide on their own.

Therefore, the Europa League is also a relatively important "backup" arena for Manchester United.

At Manchester United right now, both the top management and the fans are not used to missing the Champions League.

after all.

Manchester United were too successful during the Ferguson era.

So successful that Manchester United fans think.

Missing the Champions League will never have anything to do with Manchester United.
But Ferguson retired after winning the Premier League title in 2013.

In the 13-14 season, Moyes directly led Manchester United's championship to fourth place in the league.

Before the season was over, Ferguson's chosen successor was sacked.

Van Gaal took over Manchester United in the 14-15 season.

He led Manchester United back to the top four that season.

As a result, it looks like Manchester United will drop out of the top four again this season.

Ferguson was in charge of Manchester United for 20 years in the Premier League and the team never fell out of the top three.

As a result, Moyes came and we were seventh in the league.

Van Gaal finished fourth in the league in his first season with Manchester United.

In the second season, we are expected to fall outside the top four.

It's clear to everyone.

If Manchester United misses the Champions League again next season.

Then Van Gaal will definitely be fired - Manchester United's owners, the Glazer family, may not care whether Manchester United can win the championship, but they care very much whether Manchester United can make money.

Missing the Champions League.

That means tens of millions less in earnings each year.

The Glazers will surely react.

"He has explosive physical fitness, good stamina, good heading, good footwork and relatively reasonable kicking."

Van Gaal sat in the chair, replaying some video footage of Sunshine in his mind.

"damn it"

The Dutchman muttered.

Originally, he thought that getting Martial from Monaco was already a very good deal.

Then there was another sun in Monaco.
Let’s compare them horizontally.

"Little Henry" Martial is no longer popular
If I had known earlier.

He is also willing to spend tens of millions of pounds to buy Martial and add tens of millions more to attack the Sunshine.

Unfortunately.
At the time when Martial moved to Monaco.

Who knows the character Sunshine?
It’s no use saying anything now. For Van Gaal, the most realistic issue is how he can limit Sunshine’s performance in these two home and away knockout games.

Think about it.

Van Gaal thinks that with those defenders of Manchester United.

What about Smalling, Phil Jones, Blind, Rojo?
The level of these people.

If they want to limit the Sunshine through defense, they can only hope for a miracle.

therefore.

Manchester United still needs to think of a solution on the offensive end.

Control the ball first, try not to give the opponent too much possession and offensive opportunities, and reduce the number of direct confrontations between Sunshine and his own defense line.
Van Gaal frowned.

After taking over Manchester United.

Only then did he know
How much workload does this job that I have taken over involve?

This is a classic car that has been running for decades.

I had to drive, try not to fall behind, and repair the car at the same time.
Even Van Gaal, who has seen a lot, now feels overwhelmed.

With the full return of European competitions.

The UEFA Champions League became the most frequently reported event in European media at the end of February.

but.

in England.

Europa League match news also has a place.

Because of the two biggest teams in England.

Both Manchester United and Liverpool will appear in the Europa League knockout rounds this month.

The team Liverpool drew is Augsburg, currently ranked 11th in the Bundesliga.

Relatively speaking.

The match between Manchester United and Monaco is still more topical and attracts more attention - after all, Monaco is now first in the French Ligue 1 standings.

All major British media believe that.

Manchester United will definitely take the Europa League very seriously.

[Daily Mail]: The Europa League is much less intense than the Champions League. Manchester United is now number one in the Europa League winning odds list, and they really have a chance to advance to the Champions League through the Europa League.

[The Telegraph]: Although Monaco is first in the French Ligue 1 standings, it is difficult for Monaco to compare with Manchester United when looking at the strength of the lineups of both teams. In addition, given Manchester United's current situation, it should not be a problem for Manchester United to eliminate Monaco and advance to the round of 16 of the Europa League.

The British media are optimistic about Manchester United.

And in France.

The media's views are somewhat divided.

Some people think that Monaco is in good form and will definitely eliminate Manchester United.

Some people think that Manchester United is famous, has strong on-paper strength, and has rich experience in European competitions, so Monaco cannot take advantage of it.

In the midst of such discussions.

The first round of the game is quietly approaching.

2 month 18 day.

7:30 p.m. local time.

Stade Louis II.

Players from both teams have come out to warm up.

There was only half an hour left before the start of the game.

Major television stations are also making intensive final preparations before the game.

You can tell from the number of reporters and commentators around the stadium.

How much attention this game against Manchester United has received.

England's Sky Sports also sent a live commentary team.

at this time.

Sky Sports commentator Kolo, and two invited commentators Gary Neville and Carragher stood in front of the camera, doing their final pre-match preview with the warm-up footage of the players from both teams as the background.

"I think Manchester United will win. Manchester United has reason to go all out in this game. It must be admitted that Manchester United's chances of getting the top four in the league are slim. So... Manchester United needs to win the Europa League and cannot miss the Champions League next season!"

As a Manchester United legend, Gary Neville's expression was very solemn.

"Liverpool too," Carragher interjected.

"Hahaha"

Several people laughed.

Host Chloe asked another question.

"Gary, predict the score of this game."

"Zero to one, zero to two." Gary Neville shrugged. "Maybe zero to three."

"So Manchester United wins?"

"Of course!"

　First update

　　
　
(End of this chapter)