Chapter 713: Bruno's Era
Bruno defeated Barcelona alone!
The day after the game, The Guardian reported on its front page that Manchester United defeated Barcelona 4-0 and advanced to the Champions League semi-finals with a total score of 7-1.
"There is a consensus in European football that La Liga focuses on technology, while the Premier League focuses on confrontation. In the past few years, Barcelona has always been a hurdle for Premier League teams. From Chelsea to Arsenal, and now Manchester United, Premier League teams have suffered a lot from Barcelona, and even lost the championship. In terms of technology and cooperation, no Premier League team can beat Barcelona, including Arsenal."
"Since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, Manchester United, which has fallen into a slump, has been far behind the other three Premier League giants, and even further behind Barcelona. Although Manchester United has achieved great success in the past two seasons after Mourinho took over, in the eyes of many fans, Manchester United still cannot be compared with super giants such as Real Madrid and Barcelona."
"But after two rounds of matches, Manchester United beat Barcelona 3-1 away and 4-0 at home, eliminating Barcelona with a total score of 7-1 and advancing to the Champions League semi-finals for two consecutive years."
"Looking at the scoreline alone, it looks more like Barcelona beating Manchester United than the other way around, but if you look at the process, anyone can see that Barcelona did lose, even though they had the majority of the ball."
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"After the game, former Manchester United captain Rooney commented that Manchester United could have scored more than five goals in the Millennium Stadium battle, but their luck was a little bad because Valverde still did not find an effective way to resolve Mourinho's targeted tactics in a week."
"And in the VIP room after the game, we met Gary Neville, Scholes, Ferdinand and Rooney. When they were commenting on the game, they all mentioned the most important person, Bruno!"
"In the press conference after the game, Valverde mentioned Bruno for the second time and Mourinho admitted for the second time that Bruno decided the game, which was very similar to the first leg at Camp Nou."
"In the two rounds of the game, Manchester United scored a total of 7 goals, and Bruno scored 5 of them alone. This is definitely a flawless report card!"
"The 7:1 aggregate score reminds me of the Champions League semi-final six years ago, when Barcelona was eliminated by the then-powerful Bayern Munich. At that time, Barcelona lost 0:3 at home and 0:4 away to Bayern Munich. This is also regarded as Barcelona's most painful defeat in the Champions League. I didn't expect that six years later, Manchester United would once again make Barcelona taste the bitter fruit."
"If Bayern Munich swept Barcelona as a whole, then Bruno defeated Barcelona on his own, showing personal heroism to the extreme!"
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The Guardian gave a detailed review of the tactics of the two rounds of matches in its commentary.
Manchester United's tactics remained basically unchanged, but Barcelona made a very big adjustment, changing from the original 4-3-3 to 3-4-3. Valverde obviously wanted to strengthen the attack in the frontcourt. But the result was that after the adjustment, the weakness of the defense was completely exposed.
"Mourinho's tactics are very clear, focusing on technology and cooperation. Manchester United is no match for Barcelona, so he has to compete with Barcelona physically, using his physical strength to contain the opponent and play to his physical advantage. This is precisely the weakness of Barcelona, which has mostly small players."
"From the two rounds of the game, Barcelona's offensive players in the front and midfield basically fought on their own and failed to form an effective whole. Not to mention cooperation, even protecting the ball and carrying it for a while was quite difficult."
"But in Manchester United's physical style of play, Bruno is a big exception. Mourinho has full confidence in this 24-year-old captain. He let Bruno look for opportunities in the wing and the middle. Bruno did not disappoint the coach's trust. Whether it was a hat trick in the first leg or a brace in the second leg, he played his best."
"Especially in the second round, Valverde originally arranged Busquets to mark Bruno, but unexpectedly, Bruno fired a powerful long-range shot at the beginning, which shocked Barcelona's defensive players. Then he frequently used his speed advantage through diagonal and vertical quick sprints to create threats. The 31-year-old Busquets obviously couldn't deal with the 24-year-old Bruno, and the 3-4-3 defensive formation made Bruno more comfortable. Coupled with the team's overall tactical tilt, Bruno completely became the most threatening attacker on the court!"
"Bruno's performance in the knockout stage was even better. He scored 6 goals and made 7 assists in 5 group stage games, with an average of 2 goals per game, which was shocking enough. But in the knockout stage, Bruno's performance was even better. In the two knockout rounds against Schalke 04 and Barcelona, Bruno scored 4 goals and made 8 assists in 5 games, with an average of more than 3 goals per game. It is hard to describe in words."
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Reuters published an article stating that Manchester United's spirit, Mourinho's tactics and Bruno's sharpness led to Manchester United's complete victory in the two rounds of the game.
"Although it is too early to say something now that we have only reached the semi-finals, there is no doubt that Mourinho's team is on the way to Madrid. Manchester United has never been as strong as it is now!"
"By the same token, although Bruno is only 24 years old, we have never seen a 24-year-old player as good as him. He reminds us of Cristiano Ronaldo and Yosi in the past."
“Perhaps, many years later, we will still be able to recall these two games this year!”
The Times stated that these two rounds of matches are crucial for Manchester United.
"Manchester United's victory over Barcelona not only brought them a place in the semi-finals and two wins, but also an atmosphere of confidence and unity. More importantly, this Manchester United team has found its most powerful offensive weapon, Bruno!"
"Whether in Serie A, the Premier League or the Champions League, Bruno has been constantly proving his strength and value with facts. He has quickly become Manchester United's most trusted main scorer."
"Whether it is Mourinho or Manchester United players, the most important thing next is how to help Bruno maintain his current form and how to further unleash Bruno's offensive power."
"We have every reason to believe that as Bruno gets better and better, Manchester United will also become stronger!"
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If the British media were all praising and admiring Manchester United and Bruno, then Mundo Deportivo and Diario Sport from Catalonia were both the mouthpieces of Barcelona, but both media outlets regretted the result of the game.
"Mundo Deportivo" publicly stated that Manchester United's advancement was reasonable.
"This is a nearly perfect team! After the reinforcements and running-in in the first two seasons, Mourinho's team has become more offensive. In the two rounds of matches, whether in terms of personnel deployment or tactical adjustments, Mourinho has completely defeated Valverde."
"Bruno was almost perfect in both legs, and his five goals showed everyone his strength. Especially in the first half, Manchester United created many excellent scoring opportunities. Bruno himself had two very threatening long shots, one of which was slightly off target and one hit the crossbar. Otherwise, Barcelona would have lost even more miserably in this game."
Mundo Deportivo believes that Bruno's long shot at the beginning of the second round was crucial.
"This long shot was of high quality, but more importantly, it boosted Manchester United's morale and fighting spirit, and also shocked Barcelona, especially the defensive players at the back."
"Mundo Deportivo" also stated that with the increase of age, especially after joining the Premier League, Bruno's physical fitness has obviously improved a lot. He has started to take more long-range shots and their quality is very high. His physical confrontation ability has also become stronger, but his footwork and explosiveness are as good as ever.
"There is no doubt that after more than two years in the Premier League, his overall strength has improved a lot. He looks more comprehensive and better than when he was in Italy, which allows him to smoothly take over the banner of Manchester United's attack."
"Although I don't want to admit it, the fact is that at the age of 24, Bruno has replaced Yoshi and become the most comprehensive and terrifying attacker on the planet!"
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"Daily Sports" also gave a very high evaluation of Manchester United and Bruno's performance, especially Bruno.
"As long as he can maintain the form he has shown so far this year, Manchester United will remain the favorite to win the Champions League, and Bruno will have a good chance of making another breakthrough in the selection of the FIFA World Player of the Year and the European Ballon d'Or with his outstanding performance this year."
As for Barcelona's performance, Daily Sports severely criticized Valverde's tactics and the performances of players such as Yosi, Suarez and Coutinho, which were obviously unsatisfactory.
Except for the media in the UK and Spain, almost all media around the world focused on reporting this matchup.
If before people only ranked Bruno alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Yosi as the three giants of world football, now everyone has no doubt that Bruno is undoubtedly the number one in world football.
World football has truly entered the era of Bruno!
