Chapter 1037 Worse News
Lineker, who was also in the commentary booth, felt a huge sense of loss, but he still had to muster up the energy to continue commenting on the game.
"At the end of the first half of extra time, Manchester United was defeated by Liverpool. Salah, the Egyptian who had missed many one-on-one opportunities in previous finals and was nicknamed 'soft-footed shrimp', proved himself at this moment!"
"It was a solo effort that combined speed and intelligence. He used his speed to get past Van Dijk, and when facing De Gea, he cleverly chose a clever shot instead of a powerful volley. In that case, this shot might have made De Gea a success again!"
During the commentary, Lineker wanted to sigh.
Lineker used to be a complete "Messi fan", but with the rise of Bruno, who continued to lead his team to create one miracle after another, Lineker gradually turned into a "Bruno fan".
In fact, as a famous "football gentleman" in football history, Lineker simply likes the wonderful football.
At the beginning, Yosi used his outstanding football skills to lead Barcelona to become the "Universe Team". Lineker was impressed by him and became a famous "Messi fan".
In recent years, with Yosi's aging, Bruno has replaced him as the world's leading footballer. While his football isn't as flashy as the Argentinian's, it embodies simplicity and practicality to the extreme. His movements on the field are almost entirely unnecessary; every one serves a purpose. This is the true meaning of the saying "great sound is silent, great image is invisible."
In addition, Bruno has won too many championships and personal honors, and the team he plays for is Manchester United, the representative of British football. Naturally, Lineker fell in love with him and became the number one "Bruno fan".
Salah redeemed himself and performed perfectly in this attack, but it also meant that Bruno was getting further and further away from his goal of winning the Champions League.
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While Liverpool players were celebrating the goal wildly, Manchester United players were stunned.
They had never felt this way before when Liverpool scored the first goal in regular time. At that time, they thought, "I have seen a lot of storms, so what's the big deal about falling behind by just one goal?"
Sure enough, in less than five minutes, Bruno helped Manchester United equalize the score, proving that Manchester United was not at a disadvantage when facing Liverpool.
But the goal conceded now had a different meaning. This was overtime, and the team had fought hard for 105 minutes before conceding.
Everyone's physical strength was already running low, and losing the ball seemed to drain all their strength in an instant, making people feel despair.
We lost the ball in regular time, but we quickly scored back. Can we score again this time?
Many people feel that there is little hope because they no longer have enough physical strength.
Why were we suppressed by Liverpool in the first half of extra time? Because we had physical problems.
After a season of high-intensity competition, my physical strength has reached its limit by the last game. Now I am relying entirely on willpower to hold on. If I collapse, I can do so at any time.
We originally thought that we could hold on through the first half of overtime and continue to fight with Liverpool in the second half, but Salah's goal made many people lose hope of winning.
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Bruno supported himself on his knees, bent over, opened his mouth and gasped for air, like a fish out of water.
His hair was as wet as if he had just washed it, sticking to his scalp. Sweat was like heavy rain, flowing down his cheeks and dripping on his chin.
The jersey on his body was already soaked and stuck tightly to his body.
At this moment, he didn't care about feeling disappointed and sad about losing the ball. He just wanted to take a few more breaths of oxygen.
Although he has always been hailed as an "Iron Man" by the media, and people have the impression that his physical strength is endless, everyone has his own limits, and so does Bruno.
The data does not lie. In the 90 minutes of regular time of this game, Bruno ran a distance of 18.37 kilometers, breaking the single-game running record of 17.82 kilometers set in the Champions League final against Real Madrid four years ago.
This is an incredible statistic!
You know, according to statistics from professional football organizations, in top competitions like the Champions League, a running distance of about 12 kilometers is already very good.
In this game, Bruno ran 50% more than those top players who ran actively!
Moreover, the overtime match was already halfway through. Bruno's running distance had already exceeded 20 kilometers, reaching 20.77 kilometers!
No matter how fit you are, running nearly 21 kilometers in two hours will drain all your energy!
Moreover, when playing against an opponent like Liverpool and conceding goals, and falling behind, it is not something that needs to be taken too seriously. In comparison, it is more important to recover some physical strength.
Only if you have the physical strength and can run can you achieve something. If you don’t have the physical strength, no matter how many ideas you have in your brain, they will just be empty talk.
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Outsiders didn't know what Bruno was thinking, but seeing how miserable he looked, they all thought that Bruno was about to collapse.
The running data on the field is not a secret. The commentators have it at all times, and interested viewers can also get it.
As the core of Manchester United, if he can't hold on, it will definitely not be good news for Manchester United.
Manchester United fans are worried and keep praying to God, hoping that Bruno will not fall!
Although Bruno's biggest impression on Manchester United fans has always been his incessant running ability, the situation is different at this moment.
This season, although Mourinho still implements a rotation tactic within Manchester United, Bruno will not be included in Mourinho's rotation most of the time, because he is too important to the team. Manchester United with him and Manchester United without him are completely two different teams.
Under such circumstances, Mourinho will keep Bruno on the field unless it is some unimportant game or the game enters garbage time.
In addition, Manchester United has reached the final in all competitions this season, including today's Champions League final, Manchester United has played a full 67 games this season, more than any other team!
As the captain and undisputed core of Manchester United, Bruno played a full 60 games for Manchester United, and was rarely substituted early. He played the full time in most games.
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Not only that, Bruno is also the absolute core player of the Portuguese national team. He has played 7 games for the Portuguese national team this season!
Starting from the Community Shield on August 8 last year, Bruno has played 7 games in the following 294 days, an average of one game every four days!
In these 67 games, Bruno played a total of 5829 minutes, averaging 87 minutes per game!
In fact, including injury time, Bruno's actual participation in the game has exceeded 6000 minutes!
In the entire world of football, only Manchester United's main goalkeeper De Gea has a playing time close to Bruno. The Spanish national goalkeeper's total playing time in all competitions this season is more than 5800 minutes.
It’s just that because Bruno’s physical fitness is so good, no one has seen Bruno like today for a long time.
However, the last game of a season, a fast-paced and high-intensity Champions League final, places higher demands on the players' physical fitness.
After a season of consumption, Bruno's physical strength was already very little, and after facing a game like this that lasted more than a hundred minutes, it was normal for him to be in such a mess.
Although it is a very normal thing, it still makes Manchester United fans worried.
It’s not that they don’t understand the players’ difficulties, but at this final moment, they also hope that the players will overcome any difficulties no matter how great they are.
We have spent so much effort and paid such a huge price, and finally reached the last step. Giving up, no matter how good the reasons are, is hard to do!
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Bruno's condition was noticed not only by the fans but also by the commentators, which seemed to further confirm their idea that Manchester United was likely to collapse.
"Bruno looks very tired... This is normal. He ran non-stop for 13 minutes in this game, covering a distance of nearly miles. Although Bruno has always been physically fit, he couldn't help but feel tired after such high-intensity running..." Lineker said, his tone revealing worry and helplessness.
He didn't express his concerns, for fear of ruining the mood of the Manchester United fans in front of the TV.
In fact, he didn't need to say it, the Manchester United fans in front of the TV were not fools or blind people, they could see and guess it.
Many worried voices appeared on the Internet.
"Bruno looks like he can't run any more, will Mourinho take him off?"
"Damn it! If they really replace Bruno, I'll turn off the TV!"
"That's right, Bruno is already off the field, what's the point of Manchester United playing! If I were Mourinho, as long as Bruno still has the strength to stand on the field, I would not replace him, even if I asked him to pass the ball forward in the backcourt!"
"I'm afraid Bruno doesn't even have the strength to make a long pass. What can he do on the field..."
"Bruno's style of play relies heavily on physical fitness, and his performance this season has been excellent enough. Fortunately, he's still young, and even if he doesn't perform well this year, there's always a chance for him to make a comeback... That's all I can comfort myself with..."
"The person above mentioned that, it seems to be true... A few days ago I saw a report saying Bruno had won five Champions League trophies and eight top league titles. I thought Bruno was already very old, but after careful consideration, he only turned 5 in September this year..."
"Bruno is awesome!"
"As expected of the King of Football!"
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