Manchester United legend

Chapter 164 Fierce battle against Juventus

Manchester United's opponent in the semi-finals is their old enemy Juventus. The two teams have met many times in the Champions League. Every time Manchester United is always beaten in disgrace.

When I saw Juventus again this time, it was already a matter of fact.The head coach of Juventus was changed from Lippi to Ancelotti. The team banner "Zebra Prince" Piero was not in the team because of injury, and he did not perform well in the league, and he looked a little bit depressed.

This meeting between the two teams made Ferguson's Red Devils feel extremely complicated about the Bianconeri. They were no longer one of the best teams in Europe at that time.

European domestic leagues are fierce, and Manchester United will continue their journey to the Champions League.After entering the semi-finals, Manchester United's opponent is Juventus-this time it can also be called a meeting of old friends.

Advancing to the semi-finals is already the best result of Ferguson leading the team. Manchester United also reached this height in 1997, when they lost to Borussia Dortmund, who finally won the championship.

However, this time Ferguson obviously has lofty ambitions and will not be satisfied with the results of the semi-finals. He wants to lead the team one step further and strive for the Champions League championship.

This season, Manchester United played many classic games in the group stage, and the Champions League semi-final against Juventus will be enough to be engraved in the history of the Red Devils.

If Manchester United wins, it can be said that it is a sign that Manchester United has truly entered the world's super clubs, and it is also a milestone for Ferguson to be truly respected as a legendary coach of European football.

The first leg against Juventus was played on April 1999, 4, with Manchester United at home.

Ferguson continued to use the 442 lineup that has been very proficient this season, dispatched Schmeichel to play the goalkeeper, and let Gary Neville, Borg, Stam, and Irwin form the defense line. Gary Neville, who made mistakes in the league, still gained Ferguson's trust.

Relatively speaking, Juventus's lineup is more famous. They have 1998 World Cup winners such as Zidane and Deschamps in their formation, as well as Davis, a strangling midfielder that is rarely seen in the history of the Dutch team. In addition, there are famous Italian stars such as Inzaghi and Conte.

However, Juventus's internal turmoil has continued this season, which has seriously affected its combat effectiveness.At the beginning of this season, Juventus has been coached by Ancelotti. Although the team left by the famous coach Lippi is still strong, Ancelotti's takeover still allows the team to start a new transformation and reorganization.

In addition, Juventus suffered a serious blow this season, that is, captain Del Piero was seriously injured and missed many games.They only ranked sixth in the league this season, and AC Milan ranked first in the league.

Despite all that, Juventus are a formidable team at Old Trafford.

And Ferguson, who has already clashed with his opponents many times, is full of confidence in this game, and let Manchester United launch an offensive at the beginning, trying to take the initiative.

Juventus adopted an effective strategy of shrinking defense and waiting for an opportunity to counterattack.The game that started from this soon moved towards the rhythm of Manchester United's main attack on Juventus.

I have to say that the defense of the Italian team is still very precise and rigorous. Before 24 minutes in the first half, Juventus did not give Manchester United any good shooting opportunities.

The dense recovery in the midfield cut off the connection between Cole and Yorke. Shrinking the defensive line and compressing the space reduced the danger of Giggs' individual breakthrough, while the cross aimed at Beckham on the right increased the restrictions on Cole and Yorke.

In many cases, Juventus's penalty area is full of zebra-striped jerseys. It is difficult for Manchester United to score into the core area through simple passes and cuts, and they rarely create opportunities that are truly possible to score.

In fact, United's best chance in the first 20 minutes was a free kick from Beckham at the top of the penalty area - that shot slipped out with just one ball deflection!

Manchester United soon paid the price for being unable to attack for a long time. Juventus launched an offensive in the 24th minute. Zidane moved the ball laterally on Manchester United's right, opposite the corner of the penalty area.

Everyone thinks that Davis is just a beast that can destroy, but in fact the beast can also organize and plan.He is Zhang Fei's embroidered flowers, which are thick but fine.

After Davis received the ball, a small slash was passed to Conte, who was inserted diagonally in the penalty area.

The pass went through Jost's defense.Jost's gaze had killed the ball thousands of times, but he was too far away from Conte, and he was still powerless after turning around.

Conte, who was completely unguarded, took two steps to the left after receiving the ball, and then shot from the far corner with his left foot to score!

0 to 1,!Manchester United, who played at home, fell behind and the situation became extremely dangerous.Under the adversity, Manchester United invested more troops to attack, and Jost, who had rarely killed the opponent's hinterland, also charged forward many times.

Before the end of the first half, United found a cross opportunity through Giggs' quick breakthrough on the left wing. His cross from the edge of the penalty area almost set up Cole's header - but Juventus goalkeeper Peruzzi reacted faster.

Afterwards, Scholes returned a turret to Jost in the penalty area, but unfortunately, Jost shot vigorously and deviated from the target in the upper left corner of the gate.

The leading Juventus defended almost impregnable in the first half, and they actually missed a good chance to score.

In the counterattack, Davis caught the ball in the middle and turned around, and then a sharp direct pass found the unguarded Pesoto. The pass was full of imagination, and the line was as precise as drawn by a ruler.

However, Pesoto was obviously not ready to become a big shot. After many adjustments, his final shot still slipped out, leaving his face full of regret.

Davis played his best game of the season, and he shined on the offensive end!In this game, Manchester United attached great importance to Zidane and Inzaghi's defense, but they underestimated Davis' offensive lethality.

In fact, Davis' organizational ability, passing ability and shooting ability are all very strong.

In addition to that brilliant assist, Davis had two chances to kill the game.Judging from Ancelotti's deployment, with Zidane as the commander to attract the opponent's defensive force, and then let the surprise soldier Davis quietly kill, he almost completed the feat of capturing Old Trafford.

At the beginning of the second half, Ferguson replaced Borg with Johansen, and the whole team also strengthened the pressing in the frontcourt, setting off a wave of crazy attacks.

A left corner kick from Beckham almost assisted Giggs to score. Unfortunately, the opponent's Peruzzi reacted quickly, and then Cole had the opportunity to rush forward alone and carry the opponent's defender to make an inverted triangle pass in the penalty area.

Manchester United has been attacking unrelentingly. Even if Jost's goal was disallowed by the referee in the 85th minute, they did not give up. Ferguson also sent Sheringham on the field to strengthen the high-altitude ball in the penalty area.

At the last moment, Giggs received a long pass from Gary Neville, made a high-speed pass from the left, and Scholes followed up with a shot-there was no more concise and sharp offensive organization than this, but it was a pity that he was blocked by the opponent again.When stoppage time came, Manchester United looked like they would lose this game, but the Red Devils did not give up, and the enthusiastic cheers of the fans did not stop.In the first minute of stoppage time, Cole got the rarest one-handed chance. Unfortunately, he only had time to poke the ball before Peruzzi pounced.
No!The whistle has not sounded, Manchester United will not admit defeat.Gary Neville threw a throw-in, the Juventus penalty area was chaotic, and the ball was finally kicked to the baseline. Beckham stepped forward to occupy his position. With his back to the goal, he passed the ball back to the goal with a barb. !

United's late equalizer saw Ferguson's side halted on the brink.

Not only that, the game scene where the opponents were firmly suppressed by continuous strong attacks also made Manchester United players full of confidence.

So what if it is the strongest defense in Italy?So what if you encounter a faint whistle?So what if the continuous attack encounters bad luck?The bloodiness of the Red Devils is our persistence, fighting to the end is our declaration, and never giving up is our pride!

This encounter in the Champions League also made Ferguson feel a lot of emotion in his heart.Since the first time I met Juventus, the in-depth exchanges and dialogues of the three seasons have made Manchester United stronger quickly.United have learned a lot from Juventus.

Competing with an Italian giant and the winner of the Champions League, from being completely behind to being evenly divided, and then from being good at winning games to gradually gaining the upper hand, with Juventus' level as the benchmark, Manchester United's progress is so remarkable.

This filled Ferguson's heart with lofty ambitions. Manchester United's ability to strive for better results in the Champions League is no longer an illusory dream.

The only pity is that Lippi has left Juventus.For Ferguson, the opponent coach who had been carefully pondering and studying in his mind had brought him too many things over the years.

Thinking of the bleak situation of Lippi's departure, Ferguson couldn't help but sigh, "I don't know how long it will be until we meet again, why don't we see each other?!"

(End of this chapter)