From the man behind the football king to the football king.

Chapter 546: Champions League Knockout Round

A week later, Manchester United easily defeated Huddersfield 5-2 in the fifth round of the FA Cup and advanced to the quarterfinals of this season's FA Cup. Harry Kane scored twice in the game and Bruno provided an assist.

From this day on, Manchester United will once again enter a busy schedule this season. From the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals on the evening of February 2 to the FA Cup quarter-finals on the evening of March 17, Manchester United will have eight games in the Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Champions League in one month!

On the evening of February 2, we faced Huddersfield away in the 17th round of the FA Cup;

On the evening of February 2, the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals will be played away to Shakhtar Donetsk;

On the afternoon of February 2, the League Cup final against Arsenal;

On the evening of March 3, the 1th round of the Premier League will be played at home against Chelsea;

On the evening of March 3, the 6th round of the Premier League away game against Crystal Palace;

At noon on March 3, the 10th round of the Premier League will be played at home against Liverpool, which is the second leg of the Reds derby this season;

On the evening of March 3, the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals was played at home against Shakhtar Donetsk;

On the evening of March 3, the FA Cup quarter-finals were played at home against Brighton.

These eight games are tough battles, especially with Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool, the traditional three strongest teams in the Premier League, and the two rounds of the Champions League quarter-finals.

………………

In the middle of the week, Manchester United will go to challenge Shakhtar Donetsk. Among the 16 teams in the Champions League knockout stage, Shakhtar Donetsk is not a very strong opponent, but at this time, it is a very difficult opponent to deal with, because Shakhtar Donetsk is deep in the European continent. When cities like Manchester, which are affected by the marine climate, have gradually ushered in relatively mild temperatures, Donetsk is still covered with ice and snow. The huge change in temperature is definitely a big difficulty for the away team.

Mourinho also has another difficulty, which is the League Cup final at the weekend.

Although the League Cup is a bit useless for a top team like Manchester United, after reaching the final, Manchester United has no reason to give up.

However, because the two games are less than four days apart, and the team has to travel back and forth between Manchester and Donetsk, two cities 3,000 kilometers apart, the players will certainly not be able to recover their physical strength.

Therefore, Mourinho had to make a choice between the two games. In the end, he still planned to play with the substitute rotation lineup against Shakhtar Donetsk, and then use the main lineup to impact the first championship of the year.

However, Mourinho will not completely give up the game against Shakhtar Donetsk, so the team's midfielder and captain Bruno will still travel to Ukraine with the team and will start in this game.

Having been with Bruno for almost two years, Mourinho has long discovered a magical thing, that is, running back and forth between home and away games has almost no effect on Bruno. This guy can always seize every minute and every second to rest and maintain enough energy to devote himself to the game.

………………

The players' idea is very simple, that is to play well. As for how to play well, that is the problem that the head coach considers. So they can always smile and joke during training.

As February begins, we are still ranked first in the standings and are 2 points ahead of Manchester City, which makes everyone feel good and it seems that victory is in sight.

Manchester United is one of the top European clubs, so naturally their opponents are top clubs like Real Madrid, or at worst Premier League giants like Manchester City. As for Shakhtar Donetsk, they don't take it seriously at all. Even though their opponent is also a regular in the Champions League, we are also a team striving for the championship. They have motivation, don't we?

When everyone is motivated, it all depends on who is stronger.

In terms of strength, Manchester United is obviously superior, so Shakhtar Donetsk is not a problem.

………………

The match against Shakhtar Donetsk is on Wednesday night in the middle of the week, and the match against Arsenal is on Sunday night.

Before the match against Shakhtar Donetsk, Mourinho made major adjustments to the starting lineup and he was already preparing for the match against Arsenal.

He gave up the 433 that he had always insisted on. Ibrahimovic was in poor form and became a substitute, and a defensive midfielder Fellaini was added to the midfield.

In the past two seasons, with the arrival of Kante, Fellaini has had fewer and fewer opportunities to play for Manchester United. Even when he does play, he is mostly a substitute.

In this match against Shakhtar Donetsk, he regained the starting lineup and started at the same time as Bruno, which made him realize that this might be an opportunity.

In Fellaini's opinion, Kante won the starting position over him because of his good relationship with Bruno and good cooperation with Bruno on the field. If he also performs well when playing with Bruno, it may change his position in the team.

So Fellaini was very active and excited in the game, even a little too excited.

Just ten minutes into the game, he earned a yellow card with an unnecessary flying tackle in the midfield.

This foul made Mourinho very dissatisfied off the court because it was completely unnecessary. Bruno was already waiting in front of the opponent's dribbling route, and his tackle was meddling.

Bruno also shrugged and spread his hands towards Fellaini, expressing his incomprehension.

………………

Fellaini did not take Bruno's statement seriously. His mind was now full of thoughts on performing well in the game and impressing head coach Mourinho.

He was just like Gascoigne in the 1991 FA Cup final. In that game, Gascoigne, who played for Tottenham, seemed very excited during the warm-up. Later in the game, he tackled Charles of Nottingham Forest, not only giving the opponent a direct free kick that resulted in a goal, but also causing himself to be injured and carried off, ending his own FA Cup final ahead of schedule. This was also his last game for Tottenham.

In the 17th minute, when Fellaini was dribbling forward in the midfield, the midfielder of Shakhtar Donetsk came up to defend him and pulled his jersey. Fellaini, who was completely immersed in the game, seemed to have forgotten the rules of the football game. In order to get rid of his opponent, he swung his right elbow violently and hit the opponent's face hard.

The miner player did let go of Fellaini's jersey, but he was knocked to the ground by Fellaini's fierce elbow and lay motionless!

"Oh my God...what happened on the field? Fellaini's elbow foul was very bad! And the Shakhtar Donetsk player...looked shocked..."

Fellaini did not stop after elbowing, but continued to dribble the ball as if nothing had happened. Perhaps in his opinion, the opponent must have dived, and it was not a serious foul. Until he heard the referee's whistle, he was still a little dissatisfied and thought that the referee's decision was wrong.

But soon he found that everyone was running behind him.

In addition, some players from Shakhtar Donetsk rushed towards him with unfriendly expressions on their faces. He suddenly realized that the situation was not good and felt a little scared.

In his eyes, the Shakhtar Donetsk player closest to him seemed to want to punch him, and at this moment, Bruno stood in front of him.

………………

"There, there!" he cried. "Calm down! Calm down... Calm down..."

He is not afraid of fighting, he just doesn't want his team to be short of players because of fighting. You know, now is the critical moment in the championship competition. Facing the situation of fighting on multiple fronts, it will be a loss no matter who is missing.

What's more, judging from Fellaini's foul just now, he is destined to be sent off. We really can't afford to have any fewer people. If we have two fewer people facing a team that has made it to the knockout stage of the Champions League, it will be really difficult to play.

So he hopes that everyone can be calmer, mainly for the benefit of his own team.

It is unwise to conflict with the other party at this time.

After stopping the players of Shakhtar Donetsk, Bruno asked his teammates to drag Fellaini out and not to mix in the crowd, which would only anger the opposing players.

"Push him away!"

After hearing what he said, Mahrez pulled Fellaini out. Of course, he did not forget to complain a few words: "What on earth are you doing, Fellaini? That is an unnecessary action!"

Fellaini's brain hadn't reacted yet. He explained to himself in confusion: "He pulled my jersey..."

"That doesn't mean you need to elbow me!"

"I just wanted to get rid of him..."

"You can tell this to the referee, but I don't think it will be of any use..." Mahrez held him tightly and shook his head.

With one less player, this game will be difficult...

………………

Under the control of Bruno and others, the conflict finally did not happen.

When the Shakhtar Donetsk players went off the field to receive treatment, the referee immediately showed Fellaini a red card, which somewhat calmed the anger of the Shakhtar Donetsk players.

Mourinho was even angrier off the court. He was not angry because the referee sent him off, but because he was angry at Fellaini's performance.

I finally let you play and gave you the opportunity, and this is how you repay me?

Fellaini looked up at the red card held high by the referee, and his head buzzed. He knew he was finished...

It was not until this time that his brain suddenly woke up and realized what he had done.

He turned his head mechanically to look at the coaching seats off the field, and just saw Mourinho kicking the mineral water bottle away.

It seems that I have indeed left a very deep impression on the head coach, but this impression may not be a good one...

He walked off the field with his head down in silence, and the Metalist Stadium of Shakhtar Donetsk was filled with boos, all of which were to bid him farewell.