Chapter 149 Porto, a Desperado

Perhaps for Ferguson, the last ten minutes of the first half were the most difficult for the old man, which was simply a torture.

In the last ten minutes of the first half, Manchester United and Porto played with sparks flying, and even a bit of a life-and-death posture. The scene was so hot. Although Manchester United fans always clenched their fists and worried about the poor defense, such a game was really exciting.

Even the on-site commentator felt that his mouth could not keep up with the rhythm of the field. He even joked that this was even faster than the rhythm of the Premier League.

When the commentator hadn't finished talking about who shot the last shot, the next shot might have been shot. The speed of the game was really crazy.

"Oh my god, this is such an intense game. If I commentate like this for 90 minutes, I will worry whether I can still speak the next day."

This is a life-and-death game. Many people even worried before the game whether this game would turn into a dull battle because of the importance of the knockout stage, but now there is no need to worry about this. Maybe this game will set a record for the total number of shots.

Anyway, looking at the current offensive momentum of the two teams, this crazy momentum will not stop before the end of the game, but one of them is active and the other is passive. Compared with Porto's determination to score, Manchester United is more like fighting desperately.

In less than fifteen minutes, the two teams contributed a total of eleven shots, which is more than the cumulative total of the shots in the first thirty minutes.

However, Manchester United only got four shots, two of which were long shots, and only Van Nistelrooy's two headers in the penalty area were very threatening.

But even if Carvalho risked his life, he would still entangle Van Nistelrooy. Under his close care, these two headers did not cause much trouble. Although Van Nistelrooy's skills in grabbing points were indeed very strong, he could not withstand such a persistent dog-skin plaster sticking to him.

Although the angles of his two headers were tricky, the power of the headers became very poor due to Carvalho's entanglement, and was easily caught by Baia.

After Manchester United scored a goal, Carvalho was now completely desperate. He stared at Van Nistelrooy like he was red-eyed.

Although Giggs' breakthrough on the wing was still very sharp, Bosingwa would never consider anything else. He just wanted to stare at Manchester United's wing knife. The physical fitness of this black man was really strong. Giggs was stared at by him and rarely made a very effective cut.

However, Giggs still got two long-range shot opportunities outside the penalty area, but the Welshman's foot was not smooth and he failed to hit the goal frame.

Both straight shots hit the crossbar of Porto and went out of the bottom line, which made Giggs a little annoyed. After all, there are not many such shooting opportunities.

But Mourinho definitely didn't want to see Giggs have such free space. He gestured to Bosingwa, asking him to keep a close eye on Giggs.

Compared with Manchester United's attack, Porto's attack was obviously more threatening, especially in the last ten minutes, when their offensive was like a tide.

Porto's seven shots were all concentrated within 25 meters of the goal, and each time made Ferguson feel uneasy.

Old Trafford may not have made so many exclamations for a long time, but in these ten minutes of the game, including the commentators on the scene, tens of thousands of Manchester United fans have been exclaiming continuously. Every attack of Porto can make them sweat.

Deco's volley from the left side of the penalty area hit the goal post and went out of the bottom line. When Howard failed to save the ball, he was desperate.

However, the crisp sound of the goalpost was so pleasant to Howard's ears today that he wanted to hug the goalpost and kiss it hard.

Perhaps it was the Old Trafford Stadium that showed its power. Today, the American's luck was obviously much better. He missed several shots in a row.

But no one could stand such torture. After Howard escaped several times, he expressed his dissatisfaction with the defenders with loud roars.

"Damn it! Block them! Don't let them shoot so casually near the penalty area! Who can guarantee that they won't score in the next shot!"

But Howard's roar seemed to have no effect. It was not that these guys from Manchester United didn't work hard, but that the opponent's attack was too crazy.

Four defenders plus three defensive midfielders, even if Manchester United had such a strong defense, they still felt very hard when defending.

Sometimes even Scholes had to retreat to the midfield to assist in defense, but the situation did not improve at all, and Manchester United was still in a mess.

Without sufficient defensive strength, even if Manchester United now has seven players who can retreat when defending, they still can't stop the Porto team's invasion.

Especially in the middle, Deco and Lin Yi plus Costinha's occasional forward insertions always put Manchester United's three defensive midfielders under huge defensive pressure.

It's not that these guys don't block desperately, but those Porto people are too cunning, especially the black-haired little bastard, his eyes are like infrared scanning, always able to peek into the most inconspicuous gaps, and often pass the ball through Manchester United's defense.

Bart and Fletcher have been trying to strangle the kid's space for movement, but all they can do is helplessly follow Lin Yi around.

Lin Yi has no fixed attack direction on the field. He is always moving, moving, and sometimes he disappears in a moment of turning. When you find him, he may have already aimed at the goal. This large-scale running makes Bart very helpless.

Wolf, that boy is like a wolf, always finding a gap to attack, and when he opens his mouth to bite his opponent, he will be very cunning.

"How to watch?" Should I follow that boy back to the midfield? Or follow him closely? Bart has tried all these methods.

If he follows that boy back to the midfield to intercept, then Bart will be fooled by Lin Yi like an idiot. That boy has done this before. Bart followed Lin Yi back to the arc of the center circle twice to stop his forward insertion, but Lin Yi made a fake move to stun him.

In a moment of desperation, Bart grabbed Lin Yi's jersey and knocked him to the ground with a little force. If the referee had not shown some mercy at this time, this very kind and honest man would have to sit in the Manchester United locker room to reflect on this stupid red card.

The most fatal point in defending Lin Yi now is not only his flexible dribbling, but also Lin Yi's lizard-like vision and fast and accurate passing.

Ferguson really didn't know whether the boy's eyes could really see everything within 360 degrees around his body. Anyway, he had seen Lin Yi pass the ball more than once without looking back, and there was no mistake. This was simply hell!

Mourinho was also a little surprised by Lin Yi's pass. He knew that Lin Yi had a wide field of vision, but he never thought it would reach such a terrifying level.

And the boy's sense of smell for catching gaps was too sensitive. As long as there was a little gap in Manchester United's defense, he could smoothly stuff the ball in.

McCarthy and Maniche had received such passes from Lin Yi, but their shots and goals were missed, but it was enough to make Howard nervous.

This was not the weirdest thing. The performance of Lin Yi that made Ferguson crazy was the cooperation between him and Deco. The two crazy guys started from the midfield and played three consecutive two-on-one cooperations, directly shaking off half of Manchester United's defensive players. These three cooperations were all one-kick passes.

From the beginning of the pass to the end of Deco's shot, the two guys spent less than a few seconds in total, and did not give Manchester United a chance to defend. If Deco's last shot had not hit the post, perhaps this would have been the most exciting goal of this round of the Champions League.

Roaring and roaring, this might be the most tense ten minutes Ferguson spent at Old Trafford. He completely forgot about keeping his demeanor.

This manic mood is not only a reminder for the old Sir Alex to his players to focus on the opponent, but also a way for him to vent.

Ferguson had never been so irritated in a game, but it was the black-haired kid whose offensive pace almost drove Ferguson crazy.

If the midfield whistle hadn't sounded in time, I don't know if the old Sir would have been in danger of bursting blood vessels because of such excessive violent emotions.

The whistle at the end of the first half saved Manchester United's life, but those Porto players didn't show much disappointment on their faces, and even looked very calm.

"I am satisfied with the result of the first half. This is the opponent's territory, but we played very actively. The opponent was only one goal ahead of us. If we just count the score, those English people just tied us. In the past ten minutes, we were the masters!"

This was the first sentence Mourinho said after closing the door of the locker room. Unexpectedly, he didn't mean to blame the players at all.

Even though Porto is now on the verge of being eliminated, he didn't blame the goal, but cheered for his players.

"We still have 45 minutes left. Keep controlling the ball and the game. For me, the 0-1 result in the first half is actually good."

"This is Manchester. Even if the Italian national team comes here, they can't guarantee that their team can defend against Manchester United's offensive."

"It's okay to lose a goal. What's important is that we fight back! No matter what the result of this game is, I want everyone to see Porto's counterattack!"

After saying this, Mourinho slapped the blackboard behind him hard, and then he shouted loudly to everyone.

"The last 45 minutes is the decisive moment between us and Manchester United. We have to be more crazy. This is the Theatre of Dreams. Let's put on a good show!"

In response to Mourinho, the whole Porto locker room roared wildly. Lin Yi, who was still panting just now, also waved his fist.

This kid who has been wild for a long time now has only one idea in his mind. While he can still run, he wants to completely tear apart Manchester United's defense.

Put on a good show! Damn it, I don't want to be kicked out of the Champions League just like that, even if it's Manchester United, don't come to block my way forward!

Mourinho didn't know what Lin Yi was thinking at the moment, but he knew that he had ignited the courage of these guys to continue fighting with their opponents.

Now Mourinho is most worried that the players will lose confidence and then make more mistakes, leading to Manchester United's second fatal goal.

As long as his players still have the courage to fight to the death with their opponents, then Mourinho doesn't care who the opponent is, anyway, they are all fighting hard, there is no difference.

"The situation is not bad. We knew before the game that we had to score a goal to qualify, so in the next 45 minutes, I just need to attack."

Offense will be the main theme of Porto in the last 45 minutes, and Mourinho is the director, and Lin Yi and the others are the conductors.

A kind of crazy mood began to spread in the Porto locker room. No one knew how these guys would appear on the court after the break.

Anyway, that would definitely not be the scene that Manchester United fans wanted to see. They might have begun to hate the game going on.

No one knew what Ferguson said in the locker room. From the faces of the players who walked back to the field, it can be seen that the old man must be very angry.

A blow dryer is probably inevitable, especially Fletcher and Butt's drooping heads and a little depressed expressions, which explained everything.

The Scottish old man's anger must be directed at his poor midfield defense, but I don't know if such a scolding will have any effect.

But when Ferguson saw the Porto players return to the field, he must not only be angry, but also very stunned.

Because Porto actually made the first substitution, and replaced their old captain Jorge Costa on the back line with a midfielder.

Changing the formation, Mourinho is now ready to go. Anyway, there are only 45 minutes left in the game, and Porto will either win or be eliminated.

Although Porto has an advantage in the last stage of the first half, no one dares to guarantee that they will continue this advantage. Mourinho needs to take a chance.

Anyway, there is only a little time left in the game. Mourinho doesn't want to leave any regrets in this game. Damn it! Fight!

There is no need to be cautious at this time. Since the opponent is already shaky in the midfield, it is better to give them a boost.

And Captain Costa had a thigh muscle strain in the last stage of the first half. During the halftime break, the emergency treatment of the team doctor did not work.

Replace a central defender again? Mourinho once considered this, but this tough guy gave up this idea at the last moment.

Fernandez, the fast winger, was replaced by Maniche to continue the attack on the wing, while Maniche retreated to the defensive midfielder position to defend.

Costinha pressed forward and let Maniche deal with Scholes, making the back line into three defenders, with Bosingwa and Valente still responsible for both sides.

Carvalho was the only central defender left, and he was left alone to guard against Nistraui. There was no doubt that Mourinho was making a big gamble.

If one of Carvalho or Bosingwa was lost, Porto would collapse immediately, but Mourinho was not considering that at all now.

He was betting that his midfield could suppress the opponent and keep the danger away from Porto's goal as much as possible. Although it was risky, it was worth it.

Pushing Costinha, who had a strong ability to control the rhythm, to the midfield was to completely crush Manchester United. With three organizers, Porto had to play with multiple cores.

Since Manchester United now had three back midfielders, Porto's midfield commander would be increased by one to completely decompose Manchester United's defensive system.

Lin Yi's flexible running, Deco's forward penetration, and Costinha's control, Mourinho is determined to destroy Manchester United's midfield.

3-6-1, Porto once again strengthened the personnel combination in the midfield, and now they have completely regarded the midfield as the key to winning the game.

A desperate substitution, now Mourinho no longer considers any stable things, he just wants to fight with his opponent.

Ferguson didn't expect that the Portuguese would play so hard, although he had already told his players to be in high spirits in the midfield.

But now it seems that his opponent seems to have more courage to fight to the end, and those Portuguese lunatics have left no room for themselves.

Ferguson, who has always been experienced, was a little surprised by Mourinho's adjustment. He even subconsciously glanced at the Porto bench.

The expressionless Portuguese stood straight on the sidelines, staring at the court, and his calmness was terrifying.

With the desperate tactical adjustment and the unusually calm expression, Ferguson couldn't figure out what the Portuguese was thinking.

Ferguson had no time to adjust the formation now. Maybe the old man himself hadn't figured out how to deal with such a change.

And Porto would not give the Scottish old man any time to react. After the game resumed, this group of crazy guys rushed up fiercely. The six-man midfielder instantly suppressed Manchester United's offensive attempt, and the war started from Manchester United's half.

Costinha's forward pressure and Lin Yi's pulling on the side completely made the three midfielders too busy this time, and Bart could only deal with Lin Yi himself.

A duel without suspense, this is what Mourinho wanted. What he saw from the sidelines was the scene of the kid passing Bart.

When the opponent's two or three blockade lines were pulled out of system, Lin Yi's fatal knife would stab out fiercely from Bart's defensive position.

Mourinho placed the decisive weight on Lin Yi at the last moment. That kid will be the key to determining the fate of the Porto team.

And the black-haired kid who was already sprinting with the ball will make all the English people remember his name on this night, forever. . .

A pair of nimble feet will trample the greatness of Manchester United underfoot. . .

(Alas, Heat, how embarrassed are you to us... Chandler can grab 17 rebounds in the Heat's interior, can Miami's interior be any more timid?)