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

Chapter 68 Shattered Dreams [Sixth Update]

For Monaco.

Every game from now on will be a decisive battle.

And for Manchester United.

Their only decisive battle is the second round of this Europa League match.

Because after returning to Manchester after the first leg last week.

Manchester United lost to Crystal Palace again away from home.

With the loss of this round of league.

Manchester United is 12 points behind fourth-placed Manchester City.

This is almost a gap that cannot be made up - and now Manchester City head coach Pellegrini has become a stay-at-home coach.

Next season, Guardiola, whose contract with Bayern Munich expires, will join Manchester City.

therefore.

For Manchester City.

The most important thing is to maintain a top four position and secure a place in the Champions League next season.

With the strength of Manchester City's lineup.

Leading by twelve points.

How could they be surpassed by Manchester United - not to mention that Manchester United's league form this season is so bad.

therefore.

If Manchester United fails to eliminate Monaco, they will advance to the next round of the Europa League.

They will most likely miss the Champions League next season.

For Manchester United, this is a final.

It's about dignity and interests.

Before the game.

Manchester United is already in full swing.

Many Manchester United legends have issued calls.

Said he wanted to turn Old Trafford into hell.

To complete a big reversal at home.

".Reversal is in Manchester United's DNA! We can do it!"

".Remember the greatest comeback in the history of the Champions League? 1999!"

".This is the final, the players must try their best, 3-0, 3-0 can turn the tide!"

In Manchester, many media are cheering for Manchester United.

February 23rd.

The entire Monaco team arrived in Manchester by plane.

The city is now in decline compared to its heyday, but it is still one of the most important towns in England.

Two hundred years ago.

Manchester's smoky factories and canals connecting it to the Atlantic Ocean are symbols of the Industrial Revolution.

now.

The canal has permanently become a symbol of Manchester. Both Manchester United and Manchester City have a canal logo on their team logos.

The chimneys that symbolize industry have disappeared.

The huge working class created by the once developed industry has also turned into the mottled walls of the Rust Belt.

But the sport that symbolizes the working class: football.

But it has become a permanent symbol of this city.

When Monaco players walked out of the airport.

The influx of reporters made Monaco players realize that the team they were facing was indeed a top-notch club.

Media from all over the world gathered.

This is an "international" team with a considerable fan base all over the world.

Facing the cameras of the reporters.

Most of Monaco's players chose to keep silent.

Except for the sun.

“How do you feel about Manchester?”

“It’s a nice place. Of course, it would be even better if the weather was better.”

"What do you think of this game?"

“We will do our best.”

"But you're already up four to one."

"So we need to go all out. We won't underestimate Manchester United. This is their home ground. If we don't try our best, we will probably become the background of a miraculous reversal."

Sunshine said this very seriously.

This made many Manchester United supporters feel uncomfortable.

Sunshine sounded respectful of Manchester United when he said this.

But Manchester United supporters would rather see their opponents become arrogant and take it lightly, so that Manchester United will have a chance.

Monaco moved directly into Manchester City's Sports City.

The facilities here are quite luxurious.

The next day, Monaco went to Old Trafford for a visit.

Honestly.

Sunshine was slightly disappointed with this famous stadium.

His impression of this place can be summed up in one word: old!

It even gives people a feeling of "historical relics".

"Manchester United is such a big club, don't they have the money to repair and maintain their stadium?"

Sunshine said as he looked up at the stands.

"Who cares? The grass is good."

Seat B on the side curled his lips and said.

Even before the game.

Jardim kept warning his players.

Never, ever take this lightly.

But the sense of security brought by the 4-1 score still made Monaco players not too wary of fighting at Old Trafford.

They seemed a little slack.

and so.

After the game starts.

Manchester United's fierce attack made Monaco players a little breathless.

The most surprising thing about this game.

It was Manchester United who started an unknown player.

Before this, no one had ever heard of this young player - Marcus Rashford.

He appeared on the left side.

Martial plays center forward.

Rooney plays as attacking midfielder.

Mata moved to the right side of the road.

Some adjustments on Manchester United's offensive end.

This caught Monaco off guard.

In particular, the performance of the eighteen-year-old young player was quite explosive.

The thirteenth minute of the game.

He dribbled past Monaco's right-back Sidibe on the wing, then shot before the defender could block him.

The football flew up and quickly fell to the ground, bouncing after landing in the small penalty area. Goalkeeper Subasic had no time to save the ball before it flew into the net.

If there was a problem with this ball, it was because Monaco players did not pay enough attention to the rookie Rashford.

Well, in the 29th minute of the game.

Mata made a cross from the right.

It was the young player Rashford who cut in from the left and volleyed the ball.

The football flew into Monaco's goal again.

Two to zero!
Total score.

Three to four!
"GOAL! GOAL! GOAL!! AUGH! AUGH! AUGH! Can you believe it? Marcus Rashford! Scored twice! This is his first professional game!!!"

In the commentary box.

England commentator Kolo held his head in his hands.

Beside him.

Neville cheered.

Before the game.

Neville when he saw the starting lineup.

I also have some opinions about Van Gaal choosing Rashford, a player from the youth academy, to start in such an important game.

The result is now
He had thrown all these views out of his mind long ago!

"GOAL! Manchester United scored again! Scorer Rashford?!"

He Wei's tone was filled with confusion and surprise.

Where did this player come from?
"In any case, Rashford scored twice and pulled Manchester United back from the edge of the cliff! For Manchester United, they only need to score one more goal to kick Monaco into the abyss!"

"Is a miracle about to happen?!"

After scoring the goal, Rashford seemed not used to celebrating in front of so many people.

He even smiled a little shyly - I believe that at this moment, any Manchester United fan who saw this scene would think that Manchester United has a striker with extremely explosive talent, who can become Manchester United's future reliance like Giggs and others.

"Well, let us introduce a player from Manchester United's youth academy! Marcus Rashford! A native of Manchester! In his professional debut, he scored twice and helped Manchester United see the hope of advancing!"

anyway.

Rashford, who has the halo of "scoring twice on debut".

Helped Manchester United see hope of promotion again!!
The whole Old Trafford was as hot as an erupting volcano.

In such an atmosphere.

Manchester United quickly regained possession of the ball.

Attack!

Monaco was completely suppressed.

Almost all the players returned to their own half, or even to the front of their own penalty area.

under these circumstances.

Even if it's a counterattack.

It also requires crossing a distance of dozens of meters.

This makes all Manchester United fans believe it.

It was only a matter of time before their team scored the third goal.

The 35th minute of the game.

Rashford cut in from the wing and shot, but Subasic caught the ball. Subasic looked up and saw that his own players were all around him.

Even when I wanted to make a fast break, I couldn't find anyone.

wrong
There are people!
He saw a tall figure running towards the center circle.

Subasic immediately shook his arm and threw the ball over.

"Monaco quickly launches a counterattack!"

The commentators in the commentary booth all pressed their headsets and shouted with all their might.

They have to.

if not.

Their voices were about to be drowned out by the huge boos from the audience!

Sunshine took the ball down.

He was waiting for Mbappe to rush up.

As a result, Mbappe was knocked to the ground by Rooney as soon as he started.

Manchester United has obviously done in-depth research on Monaco.

Knowing Mbappe’s speed is the key to Monaco’s counterattack.

The sun is very strong.

But he has no speed.

and so.

Rooney paid the price of receiving a yellow card.

Mbappe must also be held down.

The fans at the scene cheered for Rooney.

The referee wanted to blow the whistle.

But he saw that the ball was still in Sunshine's control, so he made an "offensive advantage" gesture.

Sunshine dribbled the ball across half court.

He knew Mbappe couldn't come up.

Manchester United players are returning to defense at high speed.

At this time, it actually seems most reasonable for him to pass the ball back.

However, Sunshine did not choose to pass the ball back.

He knew that Monaco was being suppressed too harshly.

If the ball is passed back, there is a high possibility that Manchester United will snatch the ball away again.

Monaco needs to attack!
or.
Need to score!
As the team's main scorer, he must shoulder the responsibility of scoring!

at this time.

Just one goal is enough to suppress Manchester United's momentum!
Just one goal!
Sunshine dribbled the ball forward resolutely.

See Sunshine dribbling towards the penalty area.

The Manchester United players who were returning to defense didn't care about the formation or anything.

They all gathered towards the sunshine.

Anyway.

Now the other Monaco players have no time to come up.

The only threat is sunlight.

Valencia took the lead.

He suddenly accelerated and slid towards the sunlight.

But Yangguang seemed to have known that he was going to do this.

Suddenly he accelerated, dribbled the ball to the sideline, avoided Valencia's sliding tackle, and with the help of Valencia's blocking, he dribbled the ball into the penalty area from the left.

"Sunshine! Rushing into the restricted area!"

to the exclamations of the commentators.

Sunshine dribbled the ball into the penalty area.

And at this time.

Manchester United players have also surrounded him.

The airtight encirclement made people worry for him.

The whole stadium was booing loudly.

Amidst the boos.

Rojo came over to kill him.

He watched Yangguang dribbling the ball over, and when he saw the opportunity, he planned to block the ball and separate Yangguang from the ball.

He rushed forward sideways.

It seemed that he was about to succeed.

But the next moment.

Yangguang suddenly pulled the ball back and collided with Rojo with the side of his body. At the same time, he quickly took a step forward and blocked Rojo behind him.

But his crisis had just begun.

In the penalty area, Manchester United's numerical advantage is very obvious.

There was only one Monaco player in the entire penalty area, namely Yangguang.

There were six defensive players returning to the penalty area.

In addition to Rojo who was squeezed behind him, there was Herrera who was waiting for an opportunity, Carrick and Mata who were rushing towards him, and Phil Jones and Smalling who formed the third line of defense behind them.

oh.
Including De Gea on the goal line, there are eight people.

At this moment, the sunlight was completely surrounded.

Mata pounced first.

The Spanish midfielder's defensive skills are indeed not very good.

His intention was discovered by the sunlight.

He pulled the ball with his left foot and blocked his attempt.

at the same time.

He lowered his body and pushed Carrick on the other side away.

By the way, he hooked his feet and slipped through the gap between the two people.

But right now.

A foot stretched out.

Mata certainly won't give up on defense.

He turned very flexibly and quickly, and stretched out his foot quickly, trying to poke the ball away, but at this moment, Yangguang kicked the ball out.

Mata, who couldn't stop his feet, kicked Yangguang on the ankle. Uncle Mata felt a chill in his heart, and he seemed to see Yangguang flying up and rolling on the ground.

In the restricted area.

Being kicked like this.

Ninety-nine percent of the players fell to the ground and rolled to attract the referee's attention.

After all, it was indeed a kick - even if it wasn't kicked, many players would have pretended to be kicked.

Mata quickly raised his hands, trying to make the referee judge that he did not use excessive force.

But the sun did not fall.

This made Mata, who was already half disappointed, a little stunned.

Take advantage of this opportunity.

Yangguang pushed Carrick towards the middle.

He immediately broke through a gap in the encirclement.

The commentators were all talking about how difficult it was for the striker to handle the ball in this situation and what the reasonable way was.

But right now.

They saw the sun bursting out from the encirclement.
"Yangguang should protect the ball and wait for his teammates, huh? Huh? Yangguang came out?!"

The commentators looked stunned.

The boos at Old Trafford have perhaps never been louder.

When you are in it, it seems that you can no longer hear any other sounds.

In the media box.

Many reporters couldn't help but open their mouths to relieve the pressure on their eardrums caused by the huge boos.

They turned their heads and looked at the stands in surprise.

then
He was attracted into the stadium by even louder boos.

Mata, Rojo and Carrick were all left behind and they were temporarily no longer a threat.

But then Herrera came up.

Behind him are Smalling and Phil Jones.

If Yangguang had dribbled the ball a little further, the ball would have been snatched away by Herrera.

But what surprised the Spanish midfield was.

The football seemed to be stuck to the sun's feet.

Always within his control.

Even though he did several physical confrontations and changes of direction
This big guy has a great feel for the ball.
Herrera thought.

Just now.

He saw that Yangguang's center of gravity was deviating from the middle, and he immediately predicted that Yangguang would take the ball to the middle and then shoot with his right foot, so he quickly moved a step towards the middle.

But right now.

Yangguang suddenly kicked the ball towards the goal with his left foot.

This process is very covert.

It looked like a combined attack and defense move. Yangguang's body leaned towards the middle, and in the process he slightly raised his left foot, as if he was going to spike the ball. Then his left calf suddenly swung, and he poked the ball out like a stock bar hitting the little white ball.

Herrera and the two central defenders behind him, Phil Jones and Smalling, failed to react.

The football had already passed between them at an extremely fast speed.

De Gea always stood on the goal line.

He was also fooled by Yangguang's "fake move".

When Yangguang's upper body leaned towards the middle, his gaze naturally shifted towards that direction.

But then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a white line emerge between Smalling and Phil Jones.

De Gea was horrified.

He was just about to react.

The football had already crossed the goal line and hit the net.

"Ah, this ball. The ball went in?!"

The commentators were somewhat unable to react.

They only saw the sunlight suddenly break out from the encirclement, and then the ball somehow went into the goal.

As Yangguang fell, he saw the football cross the goal line. The tense muscles on his face suddenly became ferocious. He jumped up from the ground, rushed to the sidelines, and slid on his knees at Old Trafford!
Manchester United fans stopped booing and stared blankly at the football bouncing in the goal.

They heard a crackling sound.

That was the sound of Manchester United's miracle dream being shattered.

(End of this chapter)