Football King Bale

Chapter 622: The Sorrow of Barcelona

On Wednesday, April 17, Manchester United ushered in a make-up match in the Premier League. This was the 29th round of the Premier League. Manchester United challenged the Hammers away to West Ham United.

Bell started the game, but at Upton Park, Manchester United encountered stubborn resistance from West Ham United. After a fierce battle between the two sides, Manchester United relied on Bell's shots and passes to reverse the Hammers 3:2.

Manchester United continues on the road to reversal. It seems that this season, they are destined to go further and further on the road to reversal.

After winning this victory, Manchester United's record reached 31 wins and 1 loss, and the winning streak reached 19 games. There is only one game left to break their previous Premier League record.

From the 38th round of the 2010-2011 season to the 19th round of the 2011-2012 season, Manchester United once created a terrifying 19-game winning streak (one game was postponed in the middle).

On April 20, Manchester United ushered in the 34th round of the Premier League at Old Trafford, against Aston Villa.

Because he is going to Germany to challenge Dortmund in the middle of the week, Ferguson has hidden many main players in this game. Bell naturally does not start. In addition, Modric, Rooney and others are also given rotations.

However, even with such a semi-main team, Manchester United still achieved a big victory at home against the not-so-strong Villa team. Van Persie, who started the game, showed off his power and performed a hat trick to help Manchester United 3 The :0 defeat of Villa also allowed Manchester United to successfully break the winning streak in the five major leagues set two years ago.

Although Manchester United successfully broke the winning streak, Bell did not receive the lottery prompt after the game, which surprised him.

However, considering that he had previously broken the player's natural annual goal record set a year ago with 100 goals in the year, and did not receive a lottery draw on the first day of the New Year, Bell didn't think much about it.

Let's wait until the end of the season and see. Maybe the lottery will happen at some point in the middle?

After winning against Villa at home, Manchester United's record this season became 32 wins and 1 loss, and they have scored 96 points. As long as they score another 7 points in the remaining 5 games, Manchester United can successfully break the five major league points records set last season.

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Just when Manchester United arrived in Germany, another Champions League semi-final that started one day earlier revealed a shocking upset.

In the match between Bayern and Barcelona at the Allianz Arena in Munich, the home team defeated the visiting team 4:0!

For a moment, the whole world was stunned!

The former Cosmos team was beaten 4:0? Did I see a fake game?

After the shock ended, this result was quickly accepted by people, and it was regarded as the end of this team called Dream Three Barcelona, ​​or the end of a cycle.

To some extent, Barcelona's Dream Three period can be regarded as beginning on April 8, 2009 - Barcelona defeated Bayern 4:0 at home in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League in the 2008-2009 season, almost five years later. , also a 4:0 score, Barcelona's glorious era came to an end.

Coincidentally, Barcelona's dream era also ended after a 0:4 loss - a 0:4 loss to AC Milan in the 1993-1994 Champions League final.

During Barcelona's Dream II period, there was also an iconic 0:4 loss - a 0:4 away defeat to Getafe in the Copa del Rey semifinals on May 10, 2007.

Perhaps this result is a bit shocking, but the process is actually not surprising at all. After being defeated by Manchester United in the Champions League final two years ago, Barcelona has experienced a significant decline in the past two seasons. First, they were overthrown by Real Madrid in La Liga last season. Although they are about to regain the La Liga championship this season, their performance in the Champions League and Copa del Rey is unsatisfactory. Lost 1:3 at the feet of Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey.

They haven't encountered any strong opponents in the Champions League, but they have been stumbling along the way. In the last round against Paris Saint-Germain, they only relied on the advantage of away goals to advance.

0:4 is Barcelona's most painful defeat in the Dream Three period. The last time they conceded 4 goals dates back to the 1:4 away loss to Real Madrid on May 7, 2008. The last time they conceded 4 goals in the Champions League dates back to May 28, 2011. In the Champions League final, they lost to Manchester United 3:4 in Rome, and the last time they lost by 4 goals dates back to May 10, 2007, when they lost 0:4 away to Getafe in the Copa del Rey semifinals.

In addition, 0:4 also allowed Barcelona to tie the club's biggest loss record in the history of the Champions League. In addition to being bloodbathed by Milan in the 1994 final, they also lost to Dynamo Kyiv led by Shevchenko 0:4 in 1997.

The offense was penetrated by the opponent, the shortcomings of the defense were maximized, and Messi lost his magic. Just like Barcelona in its peak period made the opponent invincible, now Bayern is also invincible. Vilanova only did There was a substitution adjustment. In the 83rd minute, Villa replaced Pedro after falling behind 0:4.

This may be because the head coach is very clear that Barcelona's passivity and backwardness cannot be changed by changing one or two players. From the technical and tactical to the spiritual level, Barcelona needs a thorough transformation. What Barcelona needs is a thorough transformation. Revolution, not lingering tinkering.

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What disappointed Barcelona fans was not only the result of this game, but also the performance of their number one star Messi.

"If we really enter the Champions League final and face Manchester United, believe me, it will be a great game." In an interview with the "Times of India" before the game, Messi looked forward to another duel with Bale.

"We will definitely see the best Messi!" Xavi also said this at the pre-match press conference.

But at the Allianz Arena, people saw Messi at his worst. Despite playing the entire game, the Argentine barely posed any threat to Neuer. Ronaldo, who sleepwalked in the 1998 World Cup final, seemed to possess Messi overnight. In the quarter-finals of the World Cup in South Africa, Messi cried bitterly after Argentina lost 0:4 to Germany. Tonight, Messi was once again beaten by a tall and strong German man. Will Flea shed tears again in the locker room?

Messi played injured for half an hour against Paris Saint-Germain two weeks ago. Although he was walking most of the time, Messi's breakthrough ball in a split second directly kicked Ancelotti's team out of the game.

Messi, who scared Saint-Germain to death, was completely controlled by Bayern Munich tonight. From the technical statistics, it is not difficult to see Messi's poor state. The Argentinian only contributed 1 non-threatening shot, he did not pass any threatening balls, and conceded as many as 13 times.

How to limit Messi? Bayern Munich gave the best answer. Regardless of whether Messi is in the center or on the right, defensive players are always staring at Messi's horizontal breakthrough with his left foot, which makes the Argentinian play quite awkward.

Due to the lack of ability to handle the ball with his right foot, Messi often can only use his left foot when getting the ball. After this line was stuck, Messi's power was greatly reduced.

This is also considered to be Messi's Achilles' heel that prevents Messi from reaching higher heights. We have to admit that it is equivalent to Bale and Ronaldo, who have relatively balanced left and right feet. After understanding Messi's characteristics, it is better to take targeted measures. Defensive placement.

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What's even more disappointing is Messi's mental state. Although Barcelona lost and even lost their pants, Messi kept walking leisurely on the court. His running distance was only 7409 meters.

Injuries are no excuse for Messi. Two hours before the game, the Barcelona team doctor gave the green light for Messi's comeback. He has fully recovered from the muscle injury in his right thigh.

Messi, who has been accustomed to walking in recent years, seems unable to go all out on the court again. The sharp breakthroughs of the past have completely disappeared. Barcelona's laziness in pressing has made Barcelona's high-position counterattack system inherently flawed. Messi's confusion seems to have been transmitted to his teammates.

At the moment when a superstar is most needed to shine, Messi is lackluster at the Allianz Arena. From this point of view, Messi is indeed not an ideal captain candidate. He lacks Cristiano Ronaldo's "win even if he dies" fierceness, and he lacks Bell's ability to remain calm in the face of any difficult situation. Shockingly stable mentality.

Should Messi start tonight? In an online survey conducted by AS Daily, 88% of fans voted against.

Of course, the blame for Barcelona's offensive failure cannot be entirely shouldered by Messi alone. Due to the malfunction of the midfield, Messi had to retreat too much to the forward line. The further away from the goal, the less threatening Messi is.

Messi's retreat left Barcelona's offense with the only option of inserting from the wing. But Alexis Sanchez and Pedro lacked enough talent and they were completely defeated in the duel with Alba and Lahm.

From this perspective, Russell's crazy pursuit of Neymar does make sense. With Messi retreating to the midfield, Barcelona needs a player who can use his personal ability to cause damage to the opponent's defense. Putting all the pressure on Messi's shoulders will only turn "Messi dependence" from a chronic disease into a terminal illness.

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Barcelona's disastrous defeat at the Allianz Arena sounded the alarm for Manchester United, who played the next day. Although Dortmund is not as good as Bayern, they suppressed Real Madrid twice in the Champions League. First, they defeated Real Madrid to qualify first in the group stage, and eliminated Real Madrid again in the quarterfinals.

Such a team is definitely capable of creating danger for Manchester United!

But the good news for Manchester United is that Dortmund's core and last year's European Golden Boy Award winner Gotze will not play in this game because he was injured in the quarterfinals against Real Madrid.

In addition, because Gotze is determined to move to Bayern, the relationship between the European Golden Boy Award winner and the team's head coach Klopp is somewhat tense, and the fans do not like to see Gotze.

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