The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 307: Defeat at Camp Nou

"Ferguson took a risky move, but ended up suffering a crushing defeat in front of the Spanish giants Barcelona. This is the price of taking risks, and this is the failure that must be tasted in order to conquer the Champions League. Ferguson is willing to take responsibility for this."

--Inscription

In November 1994, the UEFA Champions League group stage started again, with the Red Devils challenging Barcelona away.

At that time, the Champions League rules were very strict, and each club could only use three foreign players at most. This rule was very restrictive for the Red Devils, because many of the main players such as Schmeichel, Cantona, Kanchelskis, Keane, McClair, Giggs were foreign players recognized by UEFA. If Ferguson could only use three of them, many positions would be weakened.

Under such great restrictions, Ferguson risked giving up the main goalkeeper Schmeichel in this game and using Walsh in the starting lineup to free up a foreign aid quota. In addition to Walsh, Cantona was unable to play due to suspension, and Lee Sharpe was seriously injured and missed the game. Ferguson finally sent out Parker, Irwin, Bruce, and Pallister as the four-man defense line, Kanchelskis, Butt, Ince, Keane, and Giggs as the five-man midfielder, and let Mark Hughes rush forward alone. This rare 5 formation is to strengthen the depth of the midfield, arrange three midfielders with strong defensive interception capabilities, and also to strengthen the midfield defense, which is conducive to shielding the opponent's central attack space and increasing interception and stealing capabilities. Ferguson believes that the opponent is very strong, and he is playing away, so everything must be stable first and wait for opportunities to make changes, so he put out three midfielders. Ferguson certainly does not intend to defend to the death. He believes that the two wingers of Kanchelskis and Giggs have speed and technology, and are in excellent condition, which is enough to compete with the opponent and gain an advantage. The lone striker Mark Hughes is very familiar with the opponent and scored a key goal in the European Cup Winners' Cup. He has a way to restrain the opponent's defense.

The ideal is perfect, but the reality is cruel. Ferguson's 451 quickly fell into a passive position in actual combat. The most critical problem was that there were many problems with the positions and coordination of Ings, Keane and Butt. In the final analysis, Manchester United basically never played this formation, so the three central midfielders often had positioning problems, and the mutual defense and running were also very chaotic. Not only that, Barcelona very cleverly set up a 3 attacking formation, with three forwards mainly suppressing Manchester United's pair of central defenders and two full-backs, and also with Ings's retreat. But in the midfield, Barcelona's two wingers are also attackers, and together with the wingers, they quickly tore apart the Red Devils' two full-backs, thus breaking Ferguson's carefully constructed defensive system. The full-backs were suppressed, the wingers came back to help, and the central midfielders also needed to come over to assist in defense, but Manchester United

Starting from the 11th minute, Barcelona frequently launched attacks on Parker's side, and put most of their efforts into this side. As Parker got older, his physical function and speed became weaker. He was frequently beaten under pressure, causing the Red Devils to lose their position in the entire midfield. In Manchester United's backcourt, the whole system could not withstand the pressure after the problem on the right side. Rins, the player in the middle of the three midfielders, retreated deep, while Keane was busy plugging the loopholes. The young Bart lacked experience and was unfamiliar with tactics. He ran around like a headless fly on the court and was easily broken by the opponent. Manchester United also had an offensive in the frontcourt. Giggs and Kanchelskis did have a speed advantage, but Barcelona did not give the two wingers space to speed up and accelerate. They sent the midfield players to intercept early, or used foul tactics to prevent Manchester United from advancing on the wing. Hughes, a striker in the front, lacked supply, and his own playing style was also familiar to the opponent, so he was easily seen dead by the opponent. Without the bold insertion of Ince and Keane, especially without the organization and containment of Cantona, the Red Devils' attack lost its sharpness. Hughes was soon surrounded by opponents, and Kanchelskis and Giggs' passes could not find him at all. He was alone in the opponent's penalty area and almost no threat. Hughes also tried to retreat to support, but there were too few Manchester United teammates who took the initiative to support, and everyone in the frontcourt was soon surrounded. The two wingers and midfielders of the Red Devils did not advance in time, making it difficult for the overall attack line to press forward. The wing fast break that the Red Devils were proud of was almost completely unplayable in front of Barcelona. Giggs and Kanchelskis lacked space, and Hughes was isolated and helpless. Overall, Manchester United has been in a passive position, with huge pressure on the defense line, and the midfielders could not support the offense and defense. Manchester United was frequently penetrated in the ribs, and then the two wingers were torn apart, and the crisis of the Red Devils became greater and greater. .

Ferguson's tactical arrangement and the deployment of the 451 formation were huge risks. The seemingly safe style of play did not have the expected effect, but instead exposed various loopholes. The players soon fell into panic on the field. In the end, Barcelona launched wave after wave of attacks amid the enthusiastic cheers of more than 11 spectators, quickly seized the Red Devils' weaknesses, broke through the Red Devils' defense, and frequently created threats. In the 15th minute, Barcelona's Romario took the ball with his back to the goal in the penalty area and turned quickly, directly deceiving Pallister. Fortunately, his volley did not hit the target. In the 19th minute, Romario received the pass from 3 yards outside the penalty spot and shot directly into the goal, giving Barcelona a 1-0 lead.

In the 36th minute, Manchester United's defense was exposed again. Stoichkov made a short-distance two-pass with his teammates at the top of the penalty area, then dribbled into the Manchester United penalty area like a butterfly through flowers, and after passing Manchester United's Ings and Bruce in succession, he shot and scored, giving Barcelona a 2-0 lead.

The Red Devils were exhausted from defending throughout the entire game, and goalkeeper Walsh collapsed early under the huge pressure and played very poorly. A BBC commentator on the sidelines said, "Walsh's performance was too poor. Almost every shot of Barcelona turned into a goal. Ferguson will definitely regret choosing this guy."

In addition to Walsh's disastrous performance, the Red Devils' backcourt defense also had many problems. Because they fell behind early, Manchester United had to adopt a more aggressive strategy, which also led to the back door being wide open in the second half. The defenders were exhausted and could not hold on. The opponent's sharp passing and fast and changing rhythm. Manchester United was eager to attack in the second half, which made Barcelona play more smoothly and the scene became more and more smooth. In the 59th minute, Barcelona took advantage of the counterattack opportunity to quickly break through the Manchester United defense. Stoichkov easily scored a single goal. Then in the 83rd minute, Romario passed the ball to his teammate, and Ferrer was completely left open. He easily took the ball and shot hard from a long distance, hitting the ball into the dead corner again.

Walsh fished the ball out of the goal four times and the Red Devils eventually had to accept a 4-0 defeat.

For Ferguson and the Red Devils, it was a crushing defeat; for the dream team Barcelona, ​​it was a satisfying battle of revenge.

Since the 1991 European Cup Winners' Cup final, Ferguson's Red Devils have been compared with Barcelona. In that final, Ferguson's team won, but everyone recognized that the two teams were equally strong and Barcelona was not completely without a chance. Only in this game did Ferguson's Red Devils lose miserably. The Red Devils, who lost away from home, were considered to be completely inferior in skills and could not even defend successfully, and were eventually scored 4 goals by the opponent.

This was a defeat that was hard to get over, and the English media was in an uproar. The Times said, "We have been re-educated on the gap between us and the European giants. We just hope that this defeat was caused by Manchester United's accidental malfunction, because the gap shown in this game is really too big."

"The level of the players, the gap in the coach, the restraint of the team's style, everything is despairing." Manchester Evening News reporter Mikel said after the game, "The Manchester United in today's game is very different from the team we are familiar with, but no matter what, we played too badly. It feels like there is a galaxy between us and Barcelona, ​​not just the English Channel."

The big loss made the whole team fall into a low mood. Ferguson realized that the Red Devils were still far from being able to compete with the strongest teams in Europe. There was still a long way to go and countless challenges to face in improving the team's strength.

But no matter what, Ferguson was full of challenging spirit and did not give up his risky choice. This has also been throughout Ferguson's long history against Barcelona. He is always courageous and aggressive when facing Barcelona. In 1999, he tied with Barcelona twice in the treble, eliminated Barcelona in the two-round aggregate score when winning the Champions League in 2008, and lost to the opponent in the Champions League final twice afterwards... In the past ten years, Ferguson's spirit of daring to challenge and attack has always been shining.

To some extent, this defeat also proves the importance of Cantona to Manchester United. In the Champions League, facing a strong opponent like Barcelona, ​​the Red Devils are completely different teams with or without Cantona.

The Red Devils' defeat by Barcelona at Camp Nou was accidental, but some British media did not intend to miss the opportunity. They commented on the Red Devils' defeat and ridiculed Ferguson's stupidity. A reporter from the Daily Mail said, "Ferguson's ability can only be displayed in the Premier League. He will not coach once he leaves England. In any case, being scored four goals by the opponent is a humiliating defeat. Ferguson should apologize and learn from the lesson."

Ferguson sneered inwardly and didn't even want to argue. Winning or losing a game was normal, the Red Devils had also beaten Barcelona, ​​so there was nothing else to it.

After this match, the Red Devils' opponent in the fifth match of the Champions League group stage is Gothenburg.

Manchester United played away in this match. Ferguson's team took off from Manchester and arrived in Sweden several hours later. The players looked exhausted before the game. This match was of great importance to Manchester United. The Red Devils must win to take the initiative to qualify. The Red Devils were full of confidence before the battle and were not prepared for a hard fight. The players underestimated their opponents too much, but they did not know that they were fighting on multiple fronts and consuming too much physical energy. Gothenburg did not have any luxury superstars, but as a champion team dominating the domestic league, they were not constrained by foreign aid and were very good at taking advantage of the carelessness of offense and defense to launch fast breaks and score.

The Red Devils were temporarily sidelined by Schmeichel's injury, which greatly weakened their strength. Ferguson was in a dilemma and had to make major adjustments to the starting lineup, with Walsh once again being sent to the starting position to guard the goal.

The Red Devils also had another difficulty in this game, which was to overcome the long journey to the away game and the unfamiliarity with the opponent's stadium. After the game started, the Red Devils played slowly, but the opponent Gothenburg team was well rested and played vigorously, with a very sharp attack. Blomqvist in their team was radiant, dribbling the ball in the middle and on the wing as if he was in an empty space, and frequently created killing opportunities. The Red Devils' midfield and backcourt players suffered enough from Blomqvist, and he alone paid the price of 4 yellow cards. In the middle of the game, Ince was also sent off with a red card for confronting the referee, which completely made the Red Devils lose their ability to compete.

In this way, Blomqvist led his teammates to great power and helped Gothenburg beat the Red Devils 3-1.

The Red Devils ranked third in the group after the fifth round, and their hopes of qualifying have become slim, especially when Gothenburg and Barcelona both maintained a 3-point lead. They were very likely to play a tacit game and directly eliminate Manchester United.