Chapter 732 Repaying others with their own methods

In the stands of the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid, Spain, fans of both teams burst into loud noises.

Amid such roars, players from both teams came out on the field.

"The players from both teams have come out. Let's first take a look at the starting lineups for both teams in this Champions League final."

"For Manchester United, the goalkeeper is Spanish international De Gea, and the central defenders are Maguire and Van Dijk. The left back is England international Luke Shaw, and the right back is Portugal international Joao Cancelo. The double defensive midfielders are Gundogan and Kante, and the attacking midfielder is captain Bruno Fernandes. The forward trident is Mbappe, Harry Kane and Rashford."

"For Liverpool, the goalkeeper is Alisson. The central defenders are Koulibaly and Matip, the right back is the team's youth player Arnold, and the left back is Robertson. The midfield trio is Henderson, Fabinho and Wijnaldum, and the forward trident is Salah, Firmino and Mane."

The players from both teams line up and shake hands. The two captains exchange team flags and toss a coin.

After completing the routine pre-match ceremony, players from both teams returned to their own half.

Bruno called on his teammates to gather together, and the Manchester United players formed a circle.

"We've made it to the finals." Bruno stretched out his hand and shouted, "The only goal is the championship!"

"Target championship!" Kante put his hand up.

"Only champions!" Then Maguire.

"Champion!" This is Harry Kane.

"For the championship!!!" This is Luke Shaw.

……

After everyone put their hands in, Bruno looked at everyone and everyone was looking at him.

Bruno thought of many words in his mind, and finally he just said briefly: "For the triple crown! Fight!"

"Triple Crown!" everyone whispered.

………………

In the other half, on the Liverpool side, Liverpool players also formed a circle and were mobilizing for the final battle.

"This is Madrid, this is the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium, guys." Henderson's eyes swept across the faces of each of his teammates, "Liverpool hasn't won the championship for many years. That's why we have to make history here and win the championship!"

Henderson had a serious expression and said in a powerful voice: "No one deserves the Champions League title except us!"

Hearing this, all the Liverpool players shouted in a low voice: "Champions!"

When the players from both teams stood in their respective positions, waiting for the kick-off, the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium, which had always been extremely noisy and bustling, fell into a brief silence at this moment. Everyone was waiting, waiting for the whistle to start the game.

The referee for this match is Damir Skomina, and the two assistant referees are Jure Praprotnik and Robert Vukan, all of whom are from the small southern European country of Slovenia. The video referee team consists of four people, including Danny Mekely and Poul van Bukele from the Netherlands, and Felix Zwart and Mark Borsch from Germany.

The fourth official is Daniel Hilbert from Germany.

The two linesmen were checking the net to prevent the ball from coming out again after a goal was scored, so as to prevent it from affecting the referee's judgment.

This situation has happened in a football league before. There was a hole in the net. The attacking players saw the ball cross the goal line and go into the goal. However, there was no ball in the net. The defending players naturally did not admit it, and the referee could only conclude that there was no goal.

The referee received a report from the assistant referee that everything was normal. He then had a brief communication with the fourth official. After confirming that everything was normal and the ball could be kicked off, he blew the whistle loudly and clearly.

………………

In the coin toss, Bruno beat Henderson, so Manchester United got the right to choose sides and Liverpool kicked off first.

After Firmino passed the ball to Rashford, he immediately ran forward.

At the same time, Harry Kane immediately rushed over with the ball from Rashford, trying to put pressure on the opponent.

At this time, Bruno also pressed Salah behind Rashford.

Rashford did not give Harry Kane the chance to press closely, nor did he pass the ball to Salah behind him. Instead, he turned and passed the ball to Henderson who came over to Salah to receive the ball.

After Rashford passed the ball, he continued to run forward.

Harry Kane ignored Rashford and rushed straight towards Henderson who had the ball.

Henderson continued to pass the ball back and directly to central defender Matip.

Harry Kane continued to press forward on the ball holder like a hungry wolf, and he continued to pounce on Matip.

Matip was going to pass the ball back to goalkeeper Alisson, but he hesitated.

Seeing Harry Kane's sprinting posture, Matip was really a little scared. He was afraid that if the pass to the goalkeeper was wrong, it would dig a big hole for Alisson. So Matip chose the safest way, he passed the ball to Robertson on the side.

Harry Kane pretends to continue rushing towards Robertson.

As soon as Robertson got the ball, he saw someone rushing towards him. He subconsciously thought it was Harry Kane, so he immediately passed the ball back to Matip.

When Robertson passed the ball, he realized that he had been fooled because it was not Harry Kane but Mbappe who rushed towards him.

What about Harry Kane? The England centre-forward rushed straight towards Matip who was about to receive the ball.

………………

As soon as Matip received the ball, he found Harry Kane rushing in front of him. He quickly dribbled the ball, trying to dribble past Harry Kane.

Matip thought he could dribble past the opponent, but he didn't expect Harry Kane to directly entangle him.

As a tall central defender, Matip's height and weight are both quite good, and his physical fitness is beyond reproach. Matip has a certain foundation in anticipating and clearing high balls in defense, and he also has the traditional problems of this type of defender: he turns slowly and his speed is not particularly fast, but he has certain skills at his feet, and he also has a good long pass, and he can occasionally instigate a few attacks.

Matip joined Liverpool in the summer of 2016. Overall, his performance in recent seasons has been quite outstanding. He is solid in defense and can also help the team strengthen its control of the ball in offense.

However, perhaps due to fatigue after a season's games, Matip's form fluctuated at the end of the season.

Therefore, Mourinho particularly emphasized in his pre-match tactical deployment that among the two central defenders, Koulibaly and Matip, Manchester United's focus today should be on making a breakthrough from Matip.

Now, Matip was entangled by Harry Kane, and he staggered with the ball.

………………

"Pass the ball quickly!" Alisson was anxious and shouted loudly in front of the goal. He was really worried that Matip would be intercepted, then he would have a one-on-one opportunity.

Moreover, in this kind of entanglement, if Harry Kane falls to the ground, who knows whether the referee will call an offensive foul or a defensive foul.

In Alisson's opinion, Matip is a little too proud and too confident in his footwork, or to sum it up in one sentence: sticking to the ball!

Matip also realized that he was playing with fire. He pushed the ball away and was about to kick it away with a big foot.

Harry Kane immediately stretched out his right foot to block.

The next moment, an unexpected situation occurred. Matip's long kick was blocked by Harry Kane, bounced back, and flew towards Liverpool's goal in a strange arc.

Fortunately, Alisson was highly focused and made a wonderful diving save, tipping the ball over the crossbar.

Alisson, who made this excellent save, was furious and yelled at Matip, which roughly meant "You bastard, play with fire yourself, don't hurt me!"

………………

Manchester United took a corner kick and Rashford kicked the ball into the penalty area.

Harry Kane lost his position when competing for the header with Koulibaly, and the ball was headed out of the penalty area by Koulibaly.

Fabinho continued to kick the ball forward, and Henderson in the midfield got the ball before Mbappe, and raised his foot to hook the ball back in the air.

Mbappe missed the first shot, but he immediately came up again to press Henderson.

Henderson protected the ball and pretended to pass it to Salah who came over to receive the ball, but he suddenly pulled the ball and turned around, trying to force a breakthrough.

Mbappe pulled and tugged, and Henderson fell to the ground.

As soon as the referee Skomina blew the whistle, Henderson got up from the ground and was about to take a free kick.

Then, Wijnaldum, who had just received the ball, made a beautiful pull and turned around, and when he was about to make his second move, the football was poked away.

"Beautiful! Kante! This is Kante. At the critical moment, he successfully predicted and completed the steal!"

After Kante poked the ball away, he took a big step forward and blocked Wijnaldum behind him. At the same time, he quickly passed the ball to Mbappe on the wing.

………………

At this time, Liverpool's formation tilted slightly to the right, and Manchester United's right side was relatively empty.

After Mbappe received the ball, he took a few steps forward. Henderson and Liverpool's left back Arnold were immediately attracted by Mbappe's dribbling.

At this moment, Cancelo suddenly inserted at high speed from behind Mbappe and passed Arnold at high speed.

This was what Mbappe was waiting for. He immediately sent a lob ball to Cancelo who was advancing from the side of Arnold.

Arnold was shocked and turned around quickly, rushing towards Cancelo who was about to receive the ball.

Cancelo stretched his foot to take the ball off the air, and then he was approached by Arnold.

At this time, Cancelo's greatest characteristic was revealed. He pushed the ball forward and then chased the ball at high speed.

Arnold was quite fast and caught up immediately. However, the difference in physical confrontation between the two men was revealed at this time. Arnold was squeezed behind Cancelo and was unable to cut in.

Seeing that Arnold was unable to stop Cancelo, Koulibaly rushed out to help.

Cancelo was waiting for this moment, and he immediately passed the ball when Koulibaly reached halfway.