Chapter 206 Duty Calls Again

Defeating Milan made Manchester United the eliminated side. Four English teams competed in the Champions League, and two teams advanced to the quarterfinals of the Champions League.

Traditional Premier League leaders Manchester United and Arsenal were eliminated, while Liverpool and Chelsea both advanced strongly.

Liverpool defeated Bundesliga runner-up Bayer Leverkusen 3:1 at home and away, with a total score of 6:2 to advance to the Champions League quarterfinals. Benitez's team was weak in domestic competition, but it was unstoppable in the Champions League.

Chelsea, the Premier League leader, lost to Barcelona 1:2 away from home in the first round, but in the second round they defeated Barcelona, ​​which had Ronaldinho, 4:2 at home, and advanced strongly with a total score of 5:4.

Although Arsenal won Bayern Munich 1:0 at home, they lost so miserably 1:3 in the first leg away from home that it would be useless to return to home.

Manchester United returned to Manchester in the middle of the night. At this time, most people were already lying in bed and asleep, which prevented them from being harassed too much.

But the next day was different.

The British News Agency rated the performance of Manchester United's players. Most of Manchester United's players scored okay, except for Ronaldo, Sylvester and Howard's scores:

Howard: 5 points

Poor performance, no reaction at all to Kaka's long shot, he looked like he was just here to receive a lunch box.

Brown: 6 points

As Gary Neville's substitute, Brown's defense at right back was unsatisfactory, but his contribution to Manchester United's offense was too small. Compared with AC Milan's Cafu, Brown's offense seemed very pale.

Ferdinand: 7 points

There was only one mistake in the game, which was that Crespo should not have been given the chance to head the ball. In addition, Ferdinand performed very well throughout the game and had a very strong ability to read the game.

Sylvester: 4 points

He was sleepwalking throughout the game. He was the traitor arranged by Milan at Manchester United.

Heinze: 6 points

His performance as a left-back is commendable.

Ronaldo: 5 points

It seems that the fierce defense of Milan's midfield has left a shadow on the Portuguese's psychology.

Ronaldo's fake moves are just tricks for the opponent. Technically, Ronaldo may be tied with Kaka, but in terms of passing, the Brazilian is obviously slightly better. Worst of all, he inadvertently made a mistake and allowed Milan to score the go-ahead goal.

Dong Fangzhuo: 8 points

He is Manchester United's leader on the field and the person who scares AC Milan the most. His first goal in the game almost allowed Manchester United to advance to the quarterfinals, but his teammates could not provide him with more With much support, when the team needed to score in the second half, he, Rooney and Ronaldo were lost in Milan's sophisticated defense. He alone could not change the team's destiny.

Rooney: 5 points

This was his most "quiet" game at Manchester United, and he was restrained by AC Milan's experienced defenders throughout the game. Rooney only had two long-range shots in the second half, one missed by 5 yards and the other by 15 yards.

Ruud: 6 points

Manchester United placed their hope of scoring goals on the team's top scorer in the European war. Except for the goal that forced Nesta to own an own goal, he wasted the chances he was sure to win at other times. The night at San Siro was destined to be Not Dutch.

…

Judging from the ratings of the British News Agency, Dong Fangzhuo seems to be a bit outstanding. 8 points is the highest score of the entire team, and Ferdinand has a reassuring 7 points to become a rare player who has been praised. And look at Howard and Silvestad , Rooney and Ronaldo's 5 points, and Ruud van Nistelrooy, who was out of form, we can actually imagine the real situation on the field.

For two consecutive seasons, Manchester United failed in the round of 16 of the Champions League, and there was no excuse for losing this time. In the face of Milan's experience and strength, Manchester United is too young. It's not that Dong Fangzhuo and the others didn't try hard to score goals, but at the last moment, there was really no way.

In fact, Manchester United is no longer the Manchester United it was 6 years ago...

But those who can really see clearly are actually two people, one is the coach who personally built Manchester United, and the other is Dong Fangzhuo, who was reborn as the third captain of Manchester United.

Throughout Thursday, people in Manchester were discussing Manchester United's failure in the Champions League, believing that Manchester United had lost its former glory and that Ferguson still had a lot to do if they wanted to get out of trouble again.

On this day, Ferguson gave everyone a half-day off. Dong Fangzhuo, wearing a white hat, took to the streets. Fans everywhere were talking about it.

"Ferguson is old. It is impossible to use a few young people to conquer the world. He can no longer play the same tricks as the 1992 generation. Now he has to spend crazy money to buy the best players in the world. Look at Real Madrid. , bought the best players in the world, and what do we have?"

"Ruud Ruud was also used by Ferguson. He favored young people and put Ruud on the bench, so that Ruud was completely out of shape in the Champions League."

"Although Chinese Dong can score goals, he is too featureless. In a multi-tactical system, he still cannot make people feel safe, but it is undeniable that he has done a good enough job..."

Thank God, Dong Fangzhuo lowered his hat and walked slowly. Although the Manchester United fans were picky, they did not make him useless.

How can a defeated general speak bravely? As long as the words are not so unpleasant, Dong Fangzhuo will not take them seriously.

"Haha, I just like Manchester United losing. It would be best if they never win the league championship and Champions League again!"

This must be a Manchester City fan...

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Next, Manchester United's task becomes easier. They are still surviving in the FA Cup and Premier League, and their biggest competitor Chelsea is also distracted by the Champions League. Manchester United still has a chance in these two events.

But for Dong Fangzhuo, it was more than that, because he received a call from the national team leader in the morning.

After the FA Cup match against Southampton at the weekend, he will report back to his country. For Chinese football, the most important thing this year is to successfully compete in the Asian quarterfinals of the 2006 German World Cup qualifiers.

On November 18 last year, after the Chinese team reached the Asian quarterfinals as expected, the Chinese team's first game was an away game against South Korea, South Korea, the strongest opponent in the quarterfinals group stage, bar none!

Dong Fangzhuo has been busy with club events recently, and he almost forgot about this game in South Korea, the most difficult game in the group stage.

The goal of the Chinese team is of course to get the top two in the group and directly enter the World Cup in Germany. But Dong Fangzhuo knows that getting the top two in the group stage seems to be more difficult than Manchester United's elimination of Milan in the Champions League.

But even if they can't get the top two, the Chinese team can still compete for third place and then participate in the play-offs, but this is the worst model.

For now, he can only focus on the FA Cup quarter-finals...