Chapter 774: Winning a Championship First
Chapter 774: Win a Championship First to Calm Down the Nervousness
By the end of February, the epidemic had broken out all over the world. In European countries including the UK, the epidemic was getting worse day by day. Football matches in various countries also began to restrict fans from going to the stadium to watch the game, and the news that the leagues of various countries would be suspended was also rampant.
Under such circumstances, Manchester United ushered in the first championship battle in 2020.
On the afternoon of March 3st local time in the UK, the 1-2019 English League Cup final kicked off at Wembley Stadium, with the Red Devils Manchester United facing Aston Villa.
The game has started for three minutes. Although it is only three minutes of game time, Aston Villa's head coach Dean Smith is already a little restless.
Looking at Manchester United's increasingly powerful offensive, he didn't realize that he had been fooled.
Mourinho announced before the game that Manchester United would play with a rotated lineup and adopt a more conservative tactic in this game due to the heavy consumption in the midweek match with Real Madrid.
After learning about this, Dean Smith made a decisive decision that his team would take the offensive stance in the game. Since Manchester United was so cowardly, they would not be polite.
Therefore, in the starting lineup, Dean Smith, contrary to his usual practice, fielded a 343 formation, with the intention of crushing Manchester United in one go.
But after the game started, Manchester United took advantage of the opportunity to kick off first and directly attacked Aston Villa's goal, and continued to exert pressure.
This is not a sneaky development at all, it's a sign of wanting to bite Aston Villa to death? !
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Of course, Mourinho was not lying. Manchester United did use a rotating substitute lineup.
The starting lineup that played against Real Madrid in the middle of the week, except for the captain Bruno in the midfield and the defenders, all other positions were rotated. The front trident is McTominay, Greenwood and Mahrez, the midfield partner with Bruno is Gundogan and young player Bellingham, and the goalkeeper is Argentina's national goalkeeper Romero.
In fact, Mourinho had considered stabilizing the game at the beginning and then putting pressure on the opponent's goal, but after seeing Aston Villa's starting lineup, he understood Dean Smith's wishful thinking.
Later, in the coin tossing session, Manchester United's captain Bruno Fernandes lost to the opponent's captain Grealish. The opponent got the right to choose sides and Manchester United got the right to kick off. Mourinho immediately made a prompt decision. He whistled to attract Bruno's attention, then held up three fingers: abandon plan number one and adopt opening tactic number three!
Mourinho has made sufficient preparations and plans for this game!
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On the field, Manchester United continued to put pressure on Aston Villa's goal.
Manchester United's attack had just ended when Aston Villa goalkeeper Niland hugged the ball. He then tried to throw the ball with his hand to launch a quick counterattack, but Aston Villa's counterattack was intercepted as soon as it reached the midfield, and Manchester United's attack came again.
Manchester United's center forward McTominay received the ball with his back near the midfield. He did not choose to stop the ball, but headed it directly.
Then people saw Bruno running quickly and catching up with the football.
"Stop him!" Dean Smith screamed from the sidelines.
Aston Villa defender Targett quickly came up to intercept.
Bruno swayed his upper body from side to side, pushed and pulled his right foot, and then suddenly accelerated, using the change in speed to pass the interceptor.
In the stands where Manchester United fans were, the fans cheered loudly.
"Duck! Bruno!"
"Bruno! You can do it!"
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Among Aston Villa's three central defenders, the right central defender Engels was defending Greenwood, while the left central defender quickly came over to defend Bruno.
Then, just as he pounced over, he saw Bruno deftly knock the ball over and then cut inside and change direction while dribbling at high speed. All he could do was watch in despair as Bruno passed by him like the wind and entered the penalty area!
The rest was easy. Facing the attacking goalkeeper Niland, Bruno easily dribbled past the last interceptor and then shot into the empty goal!
The ball went in!
In the League Cup final, Manchester United led their opponents Aston Villa 1-0 just five minutes into the game.
The Manchester United fans in the stands became excited. They howled, shouted and cheered desperately.
Among them, a little guy clenched his fists, jumped up and down excitedly, and shouted: "Oh, oh, oh! Well done! Give them another shot, and they will squirt!"
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"Well done! Guys!" Mourinho stood up from the coaching bench, walked to the sidelines, applauded and shouted, then he high-fived Bruno who ran over to celebrate.
Returning to his seat, Mourinho breathed a sigh of relief.
Things will be much easier if we are one goal ahead, as now they have the initiative.
Of course, judging from the deployment of Villa head coach Dean Smith, he wants to focus on offense. In the entire midfield of the 3-4-3 formation, there is not a single real defensive player!
It’s really fierce!
This is a coach who is very passionate at heart.
Mourinho glanced at his colleagues in the Aston Villa coaching booth and nodded slightly to show his respect.
He likes this kind of man!
On the other side, Dean Smith waved his hands angrily and cursed: "This damn bastard! Shit! Liar!!!"
He is in a state of grievance that he has no way of saying. Should he tell others that the information he got was wrong and that he had been tricked by the cunning Mourinho?
He didn't even think about it. If he didn't play any tricks and just followed his own pace, would all these troubles still happen?
Dean Smith was yelling on the sidelines and waving his arms, signaling his team to press forward!
attack!
attack!
Crush the damn Manchester United players with attack!
Dean Smith has no other choice, this is the only way. Now the score is behind, especially with the purely offensive starting lineup he fielded, what else can he do except press forward and compete with Manchester United for goals?
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"Dean Smith's team showed a strong desire and courage to attack. It was obvious that their tactic was to defeat Manchester United with offense. They almost ignored defense. Are they going to fight hard to win the championship?" Commentator Andy Gray also expressed his respect for the Aston Villa coach. It was rare to be so courageous when facing Mourinho's Manchester United.
Aston Villa's players faithfully carried out their coach's intentions and tried to put pressure on Manchester United's goal.
Aston Villa striker Samata controlled the ball in front and was immediately pressured by Manchester United defender Maguire, so he could only pass it back to Nakamba.
As soon as Nakamba stopped the ball, a Manchester United player came up and followed him closely.
Nakamba leaned against the defender, pulling the ball back and forth, but couldn't find a gap to pass forward.
Mourinho smiled proudly in the coaching booth. Manchester United's current defensive ability and fighting intensity obviously made the opponent's players very uncomfortable.
In desperation, Nakamba chose to pass the ball back, but young player Bellingham suddenly rushed forward to steal the ball, which scared Nakamba. He hurriedly kicked the ball back with less force, and Gundogan, who had been watching closely from the sidelines, made a sliding tackle.
"Nice tackle!"
Gundogan shoveled the ball in front of him, supported the ground with one hand, and swept his foot to Mahrez who came over to receive the ball. Mahrez immediately passed the ball to Bruno on the right.
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When Aston Villa players saw Bruno get the ball, they immediately felt they were facing a formidable enemy, and their captain Grealish immediately ran up to defend.
However, as an offensive player, Grealish's defense was just for show and did not play much of a role.
"Pretty!"
Bruno pulled the ball and turned around, suddenly speeding up, and nimbly passed the ball past the opponent along the sideline. Then, facing Grealish who was desperately chasing him, Bruno knocked the ball directly to Greenwood who came over to receive it.
After passing the ball, Bruno continued to rush forward and Greenwood was smart enough to pass the ball back to him.
Two over one!
Taggert learned his lesson this time. He was afraid of being overtaken and did not dare to get too close. However, Bruno pushed the ball to the left, tricking Taggert into moving his steps slightly. He immediately used the arch of his foot to poke the ball between Taggert's legs, then quickly turned around and passed him!
"WOW, Bruno is as agile as a rabbit... The rabbit is running wild!"
Bruno was very fast and caught up with the football.
At this time, Aston Villa's defense was in chaos, and the lagging defender Mings hurried to fill the position.
Bruno made a slight adjustment and immediately made a move to shoot.
Bruno's long-range shooting ability is well known. Although Mings knew that this might be a fake move, he did not dare not take action to block it.
Bruno took advantage of him to stretch his legs to prevent the shot, pulled the ball back, tapped his left foot lightly, and dodged in from the defender's side.
"The second one! It's over! It's a single blow!"
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Mourinho's butt had left his seat. He leaned forward, clenched his fists, and stared at Aston Villa's penalty area.
Aston Villa goalkeeper Niland left the goal and Bruno pretended to lob the ball, but suddenly passed the ball!
He pushed the football to the left, and then people saw Greenwood start instantly, get rid of the entanglement of defender Engels, and leap forward.
Facing the huge empty goal, all Greenwood had to do was to push it!
"Bruno has a one-on-one chance! Pass the ball... Greenwood! Greenwood!! Greenwood!!!"
"GOOOOOOOOOOOOALLLLL!!! Easy shot! The second one! Bruno assisted Greenwood to score! Two goals! Manchester United leads Aston Villa 2:0!" Martin Taylor stood up from his seat with the microphone.
In the stands where Manchester United fans were, when they saw Bruno pass through the crotch of Targett, Manchester United fans were already cheering.
When he faced Mings, faked a shot and passed the ball, Manchester United fans cheered and celebrated.
The cheers finally reached their climax after Greenwood scored the goal.
"Long live Manchester United!!"
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Aston Villa players had no way to deal with this goal.
Thanks to their head coach Dean Smith who wanted to defeat Manchester United, who played with a substitute rotation lineup, with offense and win the sixth League Cup in Villa's history, he sent out an extremely offensive lineup. Their midfield completely lacked barriers, and after the ball was quickly passed to Bruno's feet, it was almost inevitable to concede a goal.
Faced with Bruno, who had excellent footwork and fast speed, their defense was just running around desperately. They just watched Bruno make continuous breakthroughs, causing chaos in front of Aston Villa's goal, and then sent the ball to the most dangerous place.
Mourinho jumped up from his seat and cheered.
We are two goals ahead, everything is under control!
"F**K!" Dean Smith was so angry that he cursed and punched the awning behind him angrily.
Then, as if this punch was not enough to vent his anger, he punched again.
"hiss!"
The next moment, Dean Smith gasped and grinned.
It hurts!
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Greenwood's goal became the heavy hammer that crushed Aston Villa's fighting spirit!
Even though their head coach Dean Smith jumped up and down and yelled like a monkey on the sidelines, he was unable to help Aston Villa change the situation on the field.
Before the end of the first half, Manchester United took advantage of a set-piece opportunity and their tall and strong central defender Maguire scored with a header, changing the score to 3:0!
At the beginning of the second half, Bruno was pushed to the ground in the opponent's penalty area. Manchester United got a penalty kick. Bruno took the penalty himself and scored steadily, changing the score to 4:0!
Mourinho stood on the sidelines, smiling and applauding. He knew that the overall situation was decided!
Aston Villa's morale was low, and it wasn't until the 80th minute of the game that their captain Grealish scored a face-saving goal.
Finally, when McTominay's kick, which looked like a pass or a shot, went wide of the goal, the referee blew the third whistle to end the game.
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"The game is over! The game is over!" the MUTV commentator shouted happily.
Although the League Cup championship seems a bit tasteless compared to the Premier League championship and the Champions League championship, and even less important than the FA Cup championship, it is an official cup championship after all, and winning it still makes people happy.
On the field, Manchester United players were celebrating happily, even Bruno.
The League Cup is the first championship Bruno won after joining Manchester United.
Before the start of the 2016-2017 season, although Manchester United played the Community Shield against Leicester City and won the championship, Bruno had just joined the team not long ago and was not included in the team's roster by Mourinho, so his first real championship trophy for Manchester United was the League Cup championship with Manchester United at the end of February 2017.
In the following 2017-2018 season, Bruno led Manchester United to win the championship again, so now he has won the League Cup trophy for the third time.
