Chapter 555: Great Victory over Rome

If Manchester United wants to create an unbeaten record in all competitions this season, they still face many challenges, and the first opponent is Roma.

At 2018:4 pm Greenwich time on April 4, 7, in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, Manchester United will face their former group stage opponent Roma at Old Trafford.

Since Manchester United's schedule is home first and away later, which is widely considered to be a bad schedule, this home game is crucial and the team must do their best to win so that they can play away in a more relaxed environment.

Because of this, Mourinho not only made a large-scale rotation of the team's starting lineup in the match between Manchester United and Swansea at the weekend, but even Bruno, who came on the field, only played for about an hour. On the one hand, it was because Manchester United had already secured the victory, and on the other hand, it was also to save strength for the game against Roma.

Bruno is very clear about his task. The most important thing for him now is to maintain his own condition and try to help the team go further, whether it is the Champions League or the league.

The only difference is that the Champions League is more imminent because of the obvious points advantage in the league.

If possible, Bruno would certainly want both the Champions League and the league, but if he has to choose one or the other, he will choose the Champions League.

The last time he won the Champions League was three years ago, and the last time Manchester United won the Champions League was ten years ago.

This season's Manchester United is undoubtedly the year that makes him feel the most confident, and he really doesn't want to miss it.

In comparison, Roma's situation is not so good. They are only ranked third in the Serie A standings, 18 points behind Juventus, which is at the top of the table. With only eight rounds left in the league, they only have a theoretical hope of winning the championship. They were eliminated in the round of 8 in the Italian Cup, and in the Champions League, they faced a strong Manchester United in the quarterfinals, making it very difficult for them to advance.

Of course, relatively speaking, the Champions League is Roma's last hope of winning the championship this season.

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As Manchester United will play three games in six days, including the world-renowned Manchester derby at the weekend, Mourinho made adjustments to the starting lineup.

The goalkeeper is De Gea, the back line is Ashley Young, Lindelof, Smalling and Cancelo, the three midfielders are Bruno, Herrera and Mata, and the front trident is Mahrez, Ibrahimovic and Lingard.

Several players who played in last weekend's game, including Harry Kane, were put on the bench by Mourinho.

Roma's starting lineup is 451. The goalkeeper is No. 1 Baker, the four defenders are No. 25 Perez, No. 20 Fazio, No. 11 Kolarov, No. 44 Manolas; the midfielders are No. 8 Perotti, No. 6 Strootman, No. 16 De Rossi, No. 7 Pellegrini, No. 24 Florenzi; the single striker is No. 9 Dzeko.

Both teams are very familiar with each other, know each other well, and there are no secrets at all.

Roma kicked off the game first, but Manchester United launched a strong attack from the very beginning.

Herrera was very active from the beginning of the game. He directly intercepted Roma's pass and passed it to Bruno in front, who took a long shot. It was a heavy shot from 30 meters away, but the accuracy of this shot was a bit poor and it did not hit the goal frame.

Although the first shot was not threatening, Manchester United's attack went very smoothly. Just four minutes later, Cancelo quickly inserted and formed a continuous cooperation with Mahrez on the right. The Portuguese right back passed the ball into the penalty area. Ibrahimovic blocked Manolas with his body and pushed the ball into the goal from close range.

1: 0!

Such a goal was really too simple. Ibrahimovic ran to the sidelines excitedly to celebrate his goal.

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After taking the lead, Manchester United continued to keep pressure on Roma, but the Red Wolves were not to be bullied and soon posed a threat, but they were still unable to break through Manchester United's midfield suppression.

In the 35th minute, Ashley Young dribbled forward, Lingard cut inside quickly, attracted Stroman, and knocked Ashley Young's pass back to the bottom line, forming a beautiful two-pass.

Bruno made a decisive move forward and made a cross from the left side of the penalty area. Ibrahimovic headed the ball from close range and scored again.

2: 0!

Ibrahimovic scored twice and immediately rushed to the sidelines excitedly, looking extremely excited.

As a superstar in world football, Ibrahimovic has scored numerous goals and won numerous championships in his career. But there is always a pain in his heart, that is the Champions League.

He started playing for Ajax in the Champions League in the 2002-2003 season. This season is his 15th season in the Champions League, with more than 120 games and more than 50 goals, but he has never won the Champions League with the team.

Not only has he never won the Champions League, he has never even made it to the Champions League semi-finals in his entire career. Although the teams he played for were able to advance to the Champions League knockout stage almost every season, most of them were eliminated in the first round, and rarely advanced to the quarter-finals.

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Correspondingly, Ibrahimovic has scored very few goals in the Champions League knockout stage, scoring only 14 goals in the previous 10 seasons. Although this is enough to make him rank in the top 20 in the Champions League knockout stage history, it is incomparable to Ibrahimovic's experience of advancing to the Champions League knockout stage 14 times in his career.

In fact, it was not until the 2009-2010 season that Ibrahimovic scored his first Champions League knockout goal against Stuttgart.

伊布的欧冠淘汰赛最高光时刻是在2015-2016赛季，尽管2013-2014赛季欧冠打进10球，但在淘汰赛只对勒沃库森打进2球，2015-2016赛季欧冠16强巴黎对切尔西的对决非常精彩，伊布两回合贡献2球1助，是球队晋级的最大功臣，随后在八强对阵曼城时又添1球。

The serious injury last season almost made Ibrahimovic bid farewell to the green field completely. After more than half a year of recuperation, although Ibrahimovic returned, he had little chance to play facing the competition from Harry Kane and McTominay.

But even in such an unfavorable situation, he scored a goal as a substitute in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16, and scored twice again in the starter today. He has unknowingly scored three goals in the Champions League knockout stage. How can he not be excited?

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Just like Ibrahimovic played very happily, Bruno also played very relaxed in this game because Manchester United had complete control of the situation and scored early.

Under such circumstances, it was naturally impossible for him to fight to the death with all his strength.

Properly allocating one's physical energy is also a science for professional players.

During the half-time break, Mourinho also spoke highly of the performance of Manchester United players, believing that the team should keep up the good work and try to defeat Roma at home to severely damage the opponent's morale.

After the change of sides in the second half, Manchester United's performance did not decline at all.

In the 60th minute, just before Bruno was substituted, he took advantage of a set-piece opportunity in the frontcourt and assisted Lindelof to score again.

Then in the 73rd minute of the game, Roma scored a goal from a corner kick, but Manchester United quickly responded in the 81st minute when Gundogan, who came on as a substitute, assisted Ibrahimovic to score.

In the end, Manchester United defeated the Red Wolves 4:1 at home and won a resounding victory.

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After the game, Manchester United's performance was unanimously praised by Fleet Street.

The Times believes that Manchester United did not give their best in this game, as most of the main players such as Harry Kane, Mbappe, Rashford, Kante and others did not play, and Bruno, who started the game, did not perform at his best. Even after the advantage was established early in the game, Bruno was substituted just after 60 minutes of the game.

"This is obviously at the behest of coach Mourinho because the team is facing Manchester City next."

The best player of this season was Ibrahimovic who scored a hat-trick. This was the first hat-trick for the Swedish giant in the Champions League in his career, and he received unanimous recognition and praise after the game.

But what surprised the major media on Fleet Street the most were several substitute players of Manchester United.

Ashley Young made an assist to Ibrahimovic. His defense on the left was very stable and his offense was also impressive, which once again won unanimous recognition from the media.

Cancelo's performance on the right was equally impressive, especially his assist for Ibrahimovic's first goal. He had continuous cooperation with Mahrez before that, which was very exciting.

But the one who really impressed people was Spanish midfielder Herrera.

The Times wrote: "Herrera is like an alert hound in the midfield. Everything that De Rossi and the Friuli stadium do cannot escape his keen sense of smell. At the same time, he has outstanding running ability. He is almost everywhere and keeps chasing the ball throughout the game."

The Guardian also gave a high evaluation of Herrera's performance, saying that in addition to his excellent ball control, steals and counter-steals, his passing was also quite good, and he was able to actively run to assist his teammates and find better passing routes. "

The Manchester Evening News believes that Herrera is a rare talent in the midfield. "The combination of him, Bruno and Mata played at the level of Europe's top midfield tonight, which was particularly impressive. I think after tonight, Mourinho will have a happy worry, that is, who should he choose between Kante and Herrera."

Although Bruno did not perform very well in this 4:1 match, the media not only did not make any accusations against Bruno, but many media including The Times, The Guardian and Manchester Evening News took the initiative to defend him.

The Times believes: "Bruno obviously focused all his attention on how to help his teammates score goals, which made him forget to score a goal for himself!"

The Guardian quipped: "It is said that Bruno has a good relationship with Ibrahimovic. He must like watching Ibrahimovic score goals!"