Football giants

Chapter 349 The Last Hope
Although someone once wrote an article criticizing that John Mortensen is a clown who often laughs and neighs like a horse.

He also said that he couldn't comment on the game at all, but only recited a lot of boring statistics.

But none of these can stop this good nobleman from becoming the darling of England fans and the trump card of BBC TV.

At this moment, the old gentleman is sitting in the media area of ​​the stands of Manchester City's City Stadium.

The game is about to start.

It can be clearly seen that the captains of the two teams have finished guessing sides and are ready to walk back to their own half.

There are a total of three Europa League games tonight.

At [-] o'clock, Manchester United will play against Athletic Bilbao, and Manchester City will play against Sporting Lisbon.

Southampton's away game against Valencia is two hours later than these two games.

It is well known that BBC TV has a feud with Manchester United, so it chose this Manchester City game and arranged it to be broadcast live on Channel [-], which has the most viewers and ratings.

The later match between Southampton and Valencia will be broadcast on the sports channel.

The BBC is not optimistic about this game.

Southampton was tied [-]-[-] by Valencia at home, not only giving the Bats an away goal, but also the team's number one central defender Harvey Martinez was sent off because of a red card.

The Spanish star is the most eye-catching performance on Southampton's defense line this season, and he is also the most general-style. He even overwhelmed Varane who has played in the team for two years and has the title of number one hopeful star.

Harvey Martinez's red card suspension will undoubtedly be a major blow to Southampton's defense.

Moreover, it was an away game and fell behind by an away goal. This is really a blow to Southampton.

Therefore, BBC TV and almost all the media have focused their attention on the Manchester duo.

Among them, the one with the most high hopes is undoubtedly Mancini's Manchester City.

Star-studded and super-strength, Manchester City and Manchester United are closely tied in the Premier League standings this season, and both have hopes of winning the championship.

This also makes people look forward to it. I hope that Manchester City can stand out from the crowd and turn the tide when the Premier League is full of controversy!
John Mortensen thought of this and took a deep breath.

He reached out and touched his gray hair, and he didn't have the time and energy to pay attention to them during the game commentary.

After he calmed down, he raised his hand towards his distant colleague and nodded.

The latter was gesturing towards him, counting the seconds.

"Friends from the audience, everyone is welcome to watch the live broadcast on BBC TV. From the [-] season to the [-] season, the Europa League round of [-] knockout rounds, the second round. My name is John Mortensen, and I am currently broadcasting live at the City Stadium in Manchester!"

With John Mortensen's opening remarks, the whole city stadium also burst into deafening cheers.

Accompanied by the clear whistle of the referee, this highly anticipated focus battle finally kicked off.

"Now we see that the first kick-off is the visiting team, Sporting Lisbon from Portugal!"

"It's Sporting Lisbon's midfielder with the ball, Fernandes."

"Passed to the Spanish player Capel on the wing, this player was once very popular in Seville!"

"After the opening game, although Sporting Lisbon played away, they didn't seem to play conservatively."

"Hey, a tackle from the backcourt by Manchester City, Kompany calmly intercepted the ball and handed it to David Silva."

"David Silva made another pass to Yaya Toure, and another pass to Balotelli who pulled wide."

"Balotelli dared to make moves and wanted to force a breakthrough!"

Deafening shouts resounded throughout the city stadium again.

Manchester City fans just want this voice to cheer for their team!
But this time, Balotelli failed to create a threat.

"Manchester City wins a corner, David Silva takes it!"

"Penalty into the penalty area, Sporting Lisbon's defenders headed the ball out, another corner kick!"

"It's still David Silva who takes the penalty, falls into the penalty area, Kompany, header!"

"Oh, it's a little higher!"

"Although Manchester City's first attack failed to break through the opponent's goal, the fans of the home team are still very excited!"

"It can be seen that Manchester City has adjusted well."

"As the game progressed, Manchester City controlled the ball smoothly, with a high ball possession rate. Sporting Lisbon didn't have many opportunities to get the ball. Once the defense was successful, they would directly open their feet after stealing the ball, looking for the front center Van Wolfswinkel."

"From our statistics, in the first 15 minutes, Manchester City had an overwhelming advantage, with a ball possession rate as high as 70.00%, which is a very shocking figure!"

"Except for some initiative in the opening game, Sporting Lisbon is basically passively beaten!"

"Now let's see if Manchester City can effectively break the goal of Sporting Lisbon!"

With the progress of the commentary, after the fast-paced suppression after the opening, Manchester City gradually exposed problems.

Sporting Lisbon is obviously prepared for this game. They played an away game and arranged five players in the midfield.

This is a very obvious tactical attitude, that is to defend and counterattack!

Although Manchester City's offense is very powerful, there are very few opportunities to form it, and there is much thunder and little rain.

Facing Sporting Lisbon's tenacious defense, Manchester City could not find an effective offensive opportunity.

Unable to attack for a long time, Manchester City panicked.

Having commented on professional leagues for decades, John Mortensen quickly picked up on the sign.

"Manchester City started to play a little anxiously. They should be more patient. Yaya Toure and Pizarro started to advance frequently. This is not a good sign!"

"Mancini should hurry up to stabilize the players. He is only one goal behind now. There are still many opportunities. There is no need to worry. Come steadily. Manchester City has great hopes, but if you are in a hurry and are attacked by the opponent, the loss outweighs the gain!"

But it seems that Mancini did not mean to make adjustments.

He wants to eat his opponent in one bite!
But when the game progressed to No. 303 minutes, Sporting Lisbon intercepted the ball in the backcourt and gave it to Capel on the wing.

The Spaniard countered with a quick dribble along the wing.

Manchester City's defense line was too high, and at this time they had to retreat in a hurry.

"Sporting Lisbon's counterattack was very fast, and the center has already caught up."

"Van Wolfswinkel takes the ball, passes it to Ismailov, passes it straight!"

"Dangerous, Fernandez, take the ball in the penalty area, kick it, the ball is in!!!!"

"No. 303 minutes, No. 303 minutes, Sporting Lisbon made a quick counterattack, Fernandez entered the penalty area, scored with a low shot, [-]-[-]!"

"Manchester City, Manchester City paid the most painful wait for their own carelessness!"

"Now the total score is [-]-[-], and another away goal has been conceded. Manchester City must now score three goals to qualify!"

At this moment, the entire city stadium fell into a deathly silence.

three balls?
To score three goals?
How can this be?

Just now everyone believed that Manchester City could beat Sporting Lisbon at home.

But who would have thought that a goal from the opponent would completely pull Manchester City from heaven back to hell!
God, why?
What is going on here?

…………

…………

Not only the Manchester City fans in the city stadium, but also all the fans waiting in front of the TV are feeling depressed and lost.

The broadcast room at the BBC TV headquarters was also in chaos.

"What's going on? What did Mancini do? Can this be scored?"

"Damn it, Manchester City is really useless!"

"They couldn't bear the pressure at the critical moment. What are they doing?"

Roger Moses was the first to realize something was wrong.

"No, the game develops like this, Manchester City is finished!"

Barbara Slater, program director of the sports department, also nodded, "It's really bad. I couldn't attack for a long time, but was attacked and scored a goal. It hurts morale. Now Manchester City needs to score three goals to advance. The chance is too slim!"

"Most importantly, the mood of the players has changed!"

Roger Moses' words undoubtedly hit the nail on the head.

"Then what should we do now?" Barbara Slater also felt very depressed.

How to drop the chain at a critical moment?
You know, fans all over England, and even Premier League fans all over the world are eagerly waiting for you to stand up and become the savior of the Premier League and help the building of the Premier League to collapse.

But you are lucky, playing at home, with such a big advantage, you actually lost the chain!

"I hope Mancini can reverse the situation!" Roger? Moses has no good way.

He can't replace the team to play, what can he do?
But as soon as this was said, in less than 5 minutes, Manchester City was impetuous and fouled during defense, giving Sporting Lisbon a chance to set the ball in the frontcourt. Fernandez took the penalty and center Van Wolfswinkel made a header.

Two to zero!
Immediately, the entire broadcast room of the BBC headquarters was filled with mourning.

"It's over, it's over, this time it's really over!"

"It's only four and 10 minutes, two goals conceded, the total score is [-]-[-], Manchester City is completely over!"

According to the current score, Manchester City must score at least four goals!
"Damn, such a good card, such a good opportunity, was lost by Manchester City!"

Roger Moses patted his head vigorously, walking up and down in the live broadcast room.

"That's right, Manchester United, what's the current score for Manchester United?"

When Roger Moses shouted, someone immediately extracted information about the match in Bilbao, Spain.

"One to zero!"

"Who scored the goal?" Roger? Moses excited.

He seemed to see a glimmer of life.

But soon, his flame of hope was completely extinguished.

"Llorente, No.20 two minutes, opened the scoring for Athletic Bilbao!"

Everyone in the studio was dumbfounded.

Manchester City can't count on it.

Who would have thought that Manchester United would be so useless!
Ferguson's team has always been the vane of English football, but this time, when he was needed, he withered!
Losing [-]-[-] in the first leg gave Athletic Bilbao three away goals.

Now that the total score has expanded to two to four, Manchester United must score three goals if they want to reverse the situation.

Three balls!

At the home court of Athletic Bilbao, how big is the hope of scoring three goals for the Basque Lions?

The first half of the game ended soon.

Everyone is depressed.

I believe that at this moment, countless England fans are wailing.

City have to score four goals in the second half and Manchester United three goals to qualify.

Judging from the performance of these two teams in the first half, is it possible?
Everyone knows that the answer is impossible!
Roger Moses woke up quickly, and he immediately realized a problem.

"Quick, do we have anyone in Valencia?"

Barbara Slater also reacted quickly.

Yes, with Manchester City and Manchester United being eliminated successively, Southampton has become the only remaining hope in the English League European War.

Although there is little hope, the suspense is still there.

At this time, the match between Southampton and Valencia will be broadcast live, and the ratings must be high.

But the problem is that before the game, the BBC focused on Manchester City and Manchester United, and no one was arranged to talk to Southampton!
Two games are separated by two hours.

In other words, as soon as the Manchester City and Manchester United games are over, the Southampton game is almost about to start.

"Think of it, is there anyone in Valencia?" Roger Moses was going crazy.

Barbara Slater was also racking her brains, and suddenly a person flashed through her mind.

"Yes, she must be talking to Southampton!"

(End of this chapter)