Chapter 642 Prelude to the Ascension

On the evening of September 9, in the first round of the Champions League group stage, Manchester United faced Lyon, the former French Ligue 19 powerhouse, at Old Trafford.

This is a very crucial game for Manchester United.

In this Champions League group stage, Manchester United has drawn three strong opponents. Although it should not be difficult to qualify from the group, it is definitely not easy. Whether it is Lyon, Hoffenheim, or even Shakhtar Donetsk, they all have the strength to threaten Manchester United.

Among them, as the former seven-time French Ligue 1 champion, he is very outstanding in terms of both strength and European competition experience.

Moreover, there is a player in Lyon who is very familiar with Manchester United - Memphis Depay!

This Dutch winger, who was once expected by Van Gaal to be Ronaldo's successor, quickly gained a foothold in the former French Ligue 1 champions after being sold to Lyon by Manchester United. Now facing his old club again in the Champions League, Depay is naturally eager to have a good performance, to avenge being abandoned, and at the same time prove to his old club that it was an absolute mistake for them to give up on him.

The players from both teams came to the player tunnel one after another. The referee on duty was conducting the final check before the players from both teams came on the field. When he saw Bruno, he obviously stayed for a while longer and nodded slightly.

This year's FIFA awards ceremony will be held next Monday night, but media around the world know that this year's World Footballer of the Year has already been decided in advance. The reason is that Bruno's performance last season was too outstanding. Not only did he lead the team to win six championships that season, he was also the absolute core and number one contributor to Portugal's World Cup victory. In terms of personal performance, he was not only the Premier League Golden Boot and European Golden Boot last season, but also won the three best player awards in the Premier League again. In the World Cup, he won the Golden Boot and Best Player.

In the face of such an overwhelming advantage, even Cristiano Ronaldo, who is vying to be crowned the best player in the world, could not defeat Bruno and win the World Footballer of the Year title for the third time in a row this year.

Faced with such a hot superstar, no football person can ignore his influence and status.

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Bruno also knows that the whole world is watching him at this moment, so he is very excited in the game and tries his best to show his best.

Less than six minutes into the game, he seized an opportunity on the right, quickly ran out of space and got a chance to counterattack.

Compared with other sports, a football match has eleven players on each side, plus a total of twenty-three people on the field including the referee. Among them, except for the two goalkeepers whose activity area is fixed in the penalty area, the rest of the players are basically moving at high speed, running in and out of each other. If you are not careful, it would be like a cursory glance and you would miss anything.

For any competitive game, concentration is the most important basic quality for players.

This is especially true in football matches where there are many players and frequent running.

In football matches, the most obvious problem of lack of concentration is the inability to catch the path of the ball.

When Manchester United intercepted the ball in the backcourt, Luke Shaw got the ball on the left side of the center line. When he looked forward, Lyon's left-back Ferland Mendy obviously did not catch the crisis because he thought the ball was still on the other side.

But in the next step, when Luke Shaw quickly made a long diagonal pass and sent the ball quickly behind Lyon's left-back and left center-back, he hurriedly realized the danger.

Just as he turned around to chase the ball, Bruno had already passed by him at the fastest speed, like a gust of wind, quickly caught up with the football, and easily stopped the ball with his chest.

Fortunately, not all of Lyon's defenders were distracted like Ferland Mendy. Denayer reacted immediately, quickly returned to defense, and blocked Bruno.

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Two people were one on one. Bruno stopped the ball with his chest and started quickly, trying to shake off the opponent, but Denayer decisively committed a foul and tripped Bruno to the ground.

The referee gave a yellow card without hesitation.

Lyon won a chance to catch their breath and quickly retreated to their own penalty area to organize their defense.

Bruno's cross from the right found Harry Kane accurately, but the England center forward's header just barely skimmed the crossbar.

Although they failed to score a goal, Manchester United gave the opponent's central defender a yellow card just six minutes into the game. Mourinho's opening tactics worked and Bruno's start was very eye-catching.

Lyon head coach Bruno Genesio was very angry on the sidelines and kept complaining to the fourth official, obviously thinking that the punishment was too severe.

As a defender, especially a central defender, if you get a yellow card, you will be restricted and unable to move freely.

Of course, in comparison, if there was no foul, Bruno would have passed him directly and entered the penalty area, and it would have been difficult for Lopez to stop him. At that time, conceding a goal would have only made him more passive, so Denayer's choice was understandable.

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Mourinho stood on the sidelines and seemed relaxed from the beginning of the game.

When he saw Bruno give Denayer a yellow card, he just laughed.

Although we failed to score a goal from the set piece in the frontcourt, this result was already quite good.

When they saw Bruno constantly retreating on the field, while calling on his teammates to try to launch an attack on the right, Mourinho and Faria looked at each other and smiled again: What a smart boy!

Denayer had a yellow card and was already restricted in his play, and Bruno signaled his teammates to play more on the right, which felt a bit like adding insult to injury and taking advantage of his weakness.

This is definitely a very commendable choice in a football match.

He is indeed a great man who can surpass two superstars, Cristiano Ronaldo and Yosi!

On the field, with Bruno's call, Manchester United's attack quickly tilted to the right.

Mbappe and Cancelo, Manchester United's right-wing combination is known for its offensive ability. With the addition of Bruno, Manchester United's right-wing attacks suddenly became more frequent, putting huge pressure on Lyon's left.

Although Manchester United did not make too many personnel adjustments this season, their strength is already very strong. After two seasons of running-in, they have already reached an excellent state, which is much stronger than Lyon. Especially when Bruno is active, Lyon's left side is exhausted.

In the 21st minute, Rashford made a diagonal pass to the front of the penalty area from the left, and Harry Kane passed the ball to Bruno who came in from behind.

Mbappe had no chance and pushed the ball back to the midfield without stopping it, giving it to Bruno.

Bruno quickly passed the ball to the right, Cancelo made a run-in and after receiving the ball, he took it directly to the right side of the penalty area, pulled out Ferland Mendy, and then suddenly passed the ball into the penalty area.

At this time, Bruno had already run to the open space. After receiving Cancelo's cross pass in the penalty area, facing Denayer, he pulled to the left and swung his left foot to shoot directly!