Chapter 497 Losing the initiative to compete for the championship
Although Manchester United won at home, they were still far from being locked in the semi-finals. So in the Premier League weekend, Ferguson had to rotate some of the Manchester United lineups. Yin Jun rested, Keane was suspended due to accumulating yellow cards. In addition, Giggs and Fletcher were not placed on the roster by Ferguson because of injury. Fanny, Ronaldo and Rooney were on standby on the bench.
The reason why Ferguson made such a decision was that Manchester United's opponent Norwich had limited strength in this round of games, and even if he used a substitute rotation lineup, he would have a great chance of winning.
After 31 rounds of the league, Canary only won 3 games, and the total record was 3 wins, 11 draws and 17 losses. He firmly ranked as deputy squad leader with 20 points, and his score was exactly one-quarter of Manchester United, who scored 80 points.
Not only that, they have huge problems on both ends of offense and defense. So far, they have only scored 30 goals, ranking second to last among 20 Premier League teams, only slightly stronger than Blackburn, who has only scored 25 goals; on the defensive end, they have conceded the most goals among 20 teams, and even West Brom and Fulham, who have conceded the second most goals!
Such a team almost booked a relegation quota in advance.
When facing such a team, even if they play as a substitute, all parties are still optimistic about Manchester United winning away. After all, this Red Devils still have star players like Scholes and Alan Smith on the offensive end, while on the defensive end, there are strong players like Ferdinand, Gary Neville and Heinze.
But the result surprised everyone. Under Norwich's press, Manchester United did not create a good shot opportunity. Although they shot 8 times on goal, they were unable to truly threaten their opponents. However, Norwich scored a 2:0 advantage through a free kick goal and a quick counterattack goal after a successful counterattack.
Although Ferguson sent Cristiano Ronaldo, Fanny and Rooney to play as a substitute, these substitution adjustments did not play much role when Manchester United lost control of the midfield.
In the end, Manchester United had to swallow a 0:2 defeat.
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In a sense, this is a complete defeat for the Red Devils. Manchester United has maintained a record of 30 Premier League unbeaten games since losing to Chelsea in the first round of the season and has also been ended.
After the game, Sir Joseph lost his temper. Not only did he refuse the interview agreed by Sky TV, but he even refused angrily when Manchester United TV reached out to him. This shows that Ferguson was really angry because Manchester United TV has been interviewing Ferguson after the game for 7 years, no matter what happened, it is no exception.
Sir Joseph not only vented his resentment to the media, but Manchester United players did not escape his thunderous anger. After the game, Ferguson locked the Manchester United players in the locker room and scolded them for a long time. Although outsiders did not know what Sir Joseph said or even shouted in it, it can be seen from the depressed expressions of the Manchester United players that they were criticized very badly.
It is worth mentioning that this is the 500th Premier League game coached by Manchester United coach Ferguson. Unexpectedly, such a memorable day became another disaster in his 19 years of coaching Manchester United.
At the same time, Manchester United's former goalkeeper Schmeichel also criticized Ferguson's platoon, saying that the depth of Manchester United's bench is not enough to allow Ferguson to arrange so many main players to rest with confidence. Schmeichel said: "I really don't know what Ferguson thought at that time. I think the starting players he sent cannot complete the winning task in terms of strength and experience. Manchester United is not yet strong enough to be able to win easily when playing against weak teams."
The only thing that gave Manchester United a little comfort was that the championship rival Chelsea also tied 1:1 by former Manchester United captain Steve Bruce's Birmingham City at Stamford Bridge in the game that ended earlier.
But despite this, Manchester United lost the position of 8 rounds of points with a difference of 1 point, and was also at a disadvantage in the competition for the Premier League championship.
Although this 1-point gap is the terrible stability of Manchester United's current championship rival Chelsea, this 1-point is likely to be an insurmountable barrier!
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In the middle of the week, the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals continued.
In the two games that started first on Tuesday night local time in Europe, although Bayern Munich defeated Mourinho's Chelsea 3:2 at home, he lost 2:4 away in the first leg, Bayern, the only Bundesliga, was unfortunately eliminated with a total score of 5:6. Mourinho led Chelsea to the Champions League semi-finals for two consecutive years and performed very well.
The other game was the Milan Derby.
Due to a 0-2 loss in the first leg, Inter Milan was forced to the brink of despair. They had no other way except to win in this game. As a result, Shevchenko's goal in the 30th minute completely pushed Inter Milan into the abyss. The referee on duty, German Merck, canceled Cambiaso's goal in the 71st minute of the game, becoming the last straw that broke the fans of Inter Milan.
Inter Milan fans who were angry and out of control behind Dida's goal threw down mineral water bottles. While clearing the debris in the penalty area, Dida was hit on the right shoulder by a burning firework and fell to the ground. Dida was quickly carried into the center of the field by staff to rescue him, and players from both sides gathered in the midfield.
The game was suspended as a result. Zanetti and the staff were clearing the debris in the penalty area, and the referee Merck was waiting for Dida to receive treatment. Ancelotti gave the players face-to-face advice. Mancini sat on the bench with a sad face.
As the scene could not be controlled, Inter Milan fans in the stands were still continuing to throw dangerous items such as fireworks. Referee Merck asked AC Milan players to retreat into the lounge, and AC Milan fans also played slogans such as "EXIT" and "GAME OVER".
Five minutes later, Inter Milan players and game officials left the court one after another. The riot police entered the stands to maintain order, and the staff continued to clean up the venue. The referee Merck and the game supervisor decided to continue the game at 22:40 local time.
Players from both sides entered the court and resumed the game, and Abiati replaced Dida to play.
The game just resumed, and several fireworks were thrown again on the stands, and even umbrellas and other debris appeared. Referee Merck immediately announced that the game ended early, and AC Milan players were ready to express their gratitude to the fans on the stands for their fans who were drunk by the coach.
Although the final result of this game has not yet been released, according to regulations, Inter Milan will almost certainly be sentenced to lose 0:3. In addition, there will definitely be other penalty clauses, such as fines, empty home games, or even bans.
Chapter completed!