[Football] King Of Europe

If he still wants this player to be good and able to serve as a defensive anchor in future Champions League games, or to protect his career, then it is best to let him go now.

At the same moment, the captain of Porto looked at the coach who had high hopes for him. There was a pain in his eyes that could not be ignored. The heavy gloom seized Costa, making this always strong man seem to be walking under dark clouds.

Mourinho closed his eyes.

It was just a moment, after he opened his eyes again, the young marshal of Porto looked as usual.

He turned his head to the bench, and swept across the faces of the players sitting there. After seeing the green-eyed boy, a thought popped into his mind, but he suppressed it immediately.

Without thinking too much, Mourinho named the substitute: Pedro Emmanuel.

"Porto... Jorge Costa was injured and Mourinho replaced the No. 3 Pedro Emmanuel. It was a counter-substitution!"

Costa and Emmanuel exchanged a hug on the sidelines. The former walked to the bench and sat down in silence.

A bottle of water was handed over, and Costa took it and thanked him.

Sebastian patted his captain on the shoulder and said comfortingly, "It's okay if you want to open it up."

"I hope so..." Costa shook his head and said bitterly, "I have already conceded a goal."

"However, only one was lost, which was much better in the pre-match predictions."

The 1:0 score was maintained until the end of the first half. After Costa went off the field, Manchester United did not score.Emmanuel's instructions after playing had a certain effect. At least Porto's defense has not been defeated, and Manchester United has not yet taken advantage of their main injury to expand the score.

Players on both sides walked towards the player tunnel in twos and threes. The difference was that one side looked relaxed and the other looked frustrated.

"... the end of the first half. So far, the total score of the two rounds is 2:2, Manchester United holds an away goal! If this score is maintained until the end of the game, Manchester United will step on Porto's corpse. Into the quarter-finals!"

According to the promotion rules of the Champions League, the total score of the two rounds is the same, and the away goal is the same. The current situation is that Manchester United has one goal and Porto has only one duck egg. It is no wonder that the Manchester people look beaming.

When Mourinho opened the door and walked into the dressing room, he didn't hear anyone talking. The Porto players sat silently on the bench, and the dressing room was silent.

——This is a situation he had envisioned before.

So he was even able to clap his hands. Accompanied by the crisp applause, his slightly smiling voice said, "Relax... Isn't this the situation we assumed before?"

"Pedro has already told you that I am very satisfied with the result of the half-time game. It is good to be behind 0:1... You don't need to take risks, just control the ball and control the game. Now it seems that you all do Why are you so upset when you come down to my request and are only one goal behind?"

"We knew before the game that we needed goals to get to the next round. Playing at Old Trafford with the idea of ​​a goalless draw is pure nonsense, even if a 0-0 draw with Manchester United would guarantee us progress, but It's almost impossible to get out of here. It's just about scoring a goal, which is what will happen in the next 45 minutes. There is still such a long time to end the game, you will never lose confidence, Can't score a single goal in the whole second half?"

"We just need one goal. If you keep your heads down and get discouraged, maybe we need more goals - that's what no one wants to see, isn't it?"

"In the second half, I need you to continue to strengthen the defense. Manchester United's schedule is much tighter than ours, and they don't have that much physical strength to maintain the entire high-intensity game..."

Faria posted the recent schedules of the two teams on the tactical board in due course. Compared with Porto's sparsely played three games, Manchester United's combined league and cup matches are twice as many as theirs!

"And when they are tired, it is our best chance to score!" Mourinho's voice echoed throughout the dressing room, and he looked at his players with burning eyes, "And at that time, at 20 minutes after the start of the second half! At that time, I will make substitution adjustments..."

The 15-minute break at halftime was fleeting, and Valentin Ivanov blew the whistle in his mouth, and the second half began.

Manchester United took the lead in making substitutions.No. [-] Saha replaced Djemba, who performed poorly in the first half, and stood on the field.

"Ferguson chose to make a substitution! In the first half, Djemba, who was like an invisible man, was replaced. Saha and Giggs, who had just played, formed a double attacking midfielder. At the same time, Scholes' position was withdrawn... see It looked like Ferguson wanted to strengthen his control of the midfield."

Just as the commentator's voice fell, Porto took the lead and launched a wave of offensive.

Russian striker Alenichev made a low pass from the right and entered the penalty area. Manchester United, who had just changed into a new formation, could not react in time. Fletcher made a left-footed clearance error and kicked the ball. Porto striker Alberto grabbed the ball to the right of the goal. A low shot from a small angle from the side, unexpectedly Howard played bravely to block the ball.

After a wave of ups and downs, the Manchester United fans were in shock. Unexpectedly, the ball just blocked by Howard was taken by the Portuguese again.Porto defender Maniche volleyed with his right foot from the back row on the penalty area line, and flew out of the bottom line by rubbing the crossbar.

In less than 1 minute, the Porto made a comeback. Albert grabbed the ball and broke into the right side of the penalty area. Facing Brown's block, he fell directly to the ground.

Porto fans instantly boiled up.

"Penalty! Penalty! Penalty!"

They shouted the way they expected to be punished, but the Russian referee Ivanov did not call the penalty, and Brown looked at the opportunity to shovel the ball away.

The Porto players were still thinking about protesting to the referee, but Manchester United had already rushed to their half with the ball quickly.This kind of body pushing... always only depends on the referee's scale, and there is nothing they can do about it.

"There is no doubt that diving is as shameful as their last game!" Keane vowed.

Manchester United can only stand on the field at the moment because of the red card he received before, but his spirit is obviously with the Manchester United players. The moment Keane saw Brown fall down, he began to curse, and the surrounding Manchester United fans supported him.

But 4 minutes later, Fletcher got entangled with Albert again.In midfield he had a very dangerous kick but missed Alberto.

"Fletcher escaped unharmed... If he really stepped on Alberto, a card must be taken."

Time passed by every minute and every second, and the two sides played extremely fiercely on the court.The entanglement between Fletcher and Alberto seems to have ignited the anger of the players. In the past time, the Porto player has been verbally warned three times and Scholes has also received a yellow card.

But... still no goal!

Although Porto was very close to scoring at one point, and although Manchester United got several chances later, they never really blasted the opponent's goal.

However, playing according to the current situation is obviously beneficial to Manchester United.

The rhythm on the field seems to have entered the control of Manchester United. The sporadic offensive organized by Porto cannot cause too much threat. They still focus on defense.

Ferguson's face on the coach's bench also looked a little more relaxed than at the beginning.After replacing Djemba, Scholes and Giggs' double front midfielder control is stronger than before. It is not easy for Porto to rely on Deco alone.

But Ferguson does not believe that the young Portuguese will not make any changes.Mourinho will give up this game?Don't be kidding, judging from the verbal battle between the two a few days ago, he also firmly believes that Mourinho definitely has a backhand.

The Portuguese is very eager to win. Judging by the current stalemate in Porto, Mourinho will definitely make adjustments, but he can't guess when the opponent's substitution will come.

Just like Mourinho guessed the Manchester United lineup before the two teams fought, Ferguson also gathered technical coaches to predict the Manchester United lineup.He didn't expect Sebastian to play directly in the last game. In this game, he guessed that Mourinho would start the teenager, but reality told him again that he guessed wrong.

But in any case, Ferguson does not think that Porto's No. 15 will always sit on the bench. Anyone with eyes can see his contribution in the previous game.Although he has been out of the public eye for two months, Manchester United's scouts and even the coach have been paying attention to him.

"At the 64th minute of the game, the score was 1:0. Except for Jorge Costa's counter-substitution due to a thigh muscle strain in the first half, Porto still did not make any personnel adjustments!"

While speaking, the commentator turned his gaze to Mourinho. If this continues, they can only go home!

But perhaps just to reflect his statement, Mourinho turned to the fourth official the moment his voice just fell.

Porto make a substitution!

Mourinho finally making adjustments?

Scattered blue and white fans at the scene looked at the big screen, and at the same time Ferguson looked at the electronic cards held up by the fourth official on the sidelines - Porto No. 19 down, No. 15 up!

Alberto, who had fought fiercely just now, was replaced, and it was Sebastian who played!

Oh?

Has it finally changed?

The boot hanging above his head finally fell off, and Ferguson breathed a sigh of relief inexplicably.He just guessed when Mourinho would make a substitution, but he didn't expect the opponent to choose at this time, in the middle of the second half, 25 minutes before the end of the game.

Also a Manchester United player... will have the most physically exhausting 25 minutes.