Chapter 587 Captain
Now Bruno is like an oversized magnet, attracting Isco and Benzema.
Isco was almost close to him, and just when he thought he could catch him, Bruno suddenly ran forward. Looking at his feet, where is the football? !
Before running, Bruno used a small and inconspicuous move to knock the football to Valencia not far away. It happened to be out of Isco's blind spot, so he didn't see it at all.
When he found that the football was not at Bruno's feet, he hesitated for a moment, and then rushed to Valencia.
How could the experienced Valencia wait until he was entangled? He directly sent the football forward and gave it to Bruno.
Bruno broke into the midfield with the football, and Kroos and Casemiro rushed up.
This time, Bruno did not turn around and pass the ball back under the interception of the two midfielders. He used the outside of his right foot to pass the ball to Mbappe who was waiting on the sideline, and then continued to run forward, while raising his hand to signal Mbappe to pass the ball over.
Two-on-one!
Such an obvious cooperation idea can be seen by a fool, let alone Casemiro. He immediately followed Bruno and retreated. Kroos was also shaken by Bruno's hand and did not defend Mbappe at the first time.
Mbappe saw that there were two fingers on Bruno's raised hand. He knew that this was a fake two-on-one. His obvious move was just to help himself attract the opponent's defensive attention and create opportunities for his breakthrough.
So he kicked the ball out and broke through!
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When there was no one around, Mbappe rushed forward.
His task was simple, which was to move forward with the ball, as far as he could, and use such a simple and rough breakthrough to oppress the opponent and force the opponent to return to defense.
If you can't break through... it's also very simple, pass the ball out, and you must not force a breakthrough if you can't break through.
Mourinho repeatedly reminded the players before the game not to do it recklessly. Because once the ball is lost, Manchester United's defense will face a very dangerous situation. Real Madrid can regain the initiative by controlling the ball at their feet.
This game will actually be very tiring for Manchester United players led by Bruno. In order to prevent Real Madrid from controlling the situation, they must always keep the game in a high-tempo and high-confrontation state.
But playing the game like this consistently is very, very tiring.
This is why many teams can suppress those giants at the beginning of the game by relying on active fighting, but they will quickly collapse in the second half because they have no physical strength and can't run.
In order to prepare for this game, the entire Manchester United team focused on physical training. As we all know, Mourinho's football puts the players' body and physical fitness in a very important position, so the training is the same. He has led Manchester United for two years now. Manchester United is famous for its excellent physical fitness in the Premier League. Their training intensity is one of the best in the Premier League. Without some physical fitness, they really can't hold on.
Long-term high-intensity training has allowed Manchester United to maintain a fast attack for 90 minutes. However, this game is different from the ordinary Premier League. The intensity of this game is much higher than that of ordinary Premier League games. The experience of Premier League games may not be useful here.
This game will require higher physical strength, so even if the focus is on physical training, Mourinho standing in front of the coaching seat is not sure whether he can hold on for the whole game.
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Mbappe's breakthrough did not continue, and he soon encountered Marcelo's interception.
The Frenchman did not choose to force a breakthrough. Although it is not impossible, it is better to be safe at this time. Someone can make a better choice than him.
That person is Bruno.
Bruno received Mbappe's pass.
He did not receive it in the middle of the penalty area, where Casemiro was.
After pretending to play two-on-one with Mbappe and attracting the attention of Casemiro and Kroos, he suddenly stopped and turned around, retreated, and ran behind Mbappe.
Mbappe found that he could not break through, so he passed the ball back directly, and it fell at his feet.
Bruno did not stop, nor did he give any Real Madrid players a chance to press forward. He directly kicked a long diagonal pass!
The ball flew over everyone's head and landed directly on the right side of Real Madrid and the left side of Manchester United.
Because Manchester United's offensive focus was on their right side and Real Madrid's left side before, it was natural that the entire Real Madrid team formation tilted towards this side, and Carvajal, the full-back, also retreated to the penalty area, looking more like a central defender than a full-back, which created favorable conditions for Cancelo to receive the ball when no one was guarding the wing.
If Bruno stopped the ball, looked around, and hesitated, then even a fool could find the loophole over there, and Carvajal would immediately rush over to fill the position, and Ronaldo, Modric and others would also rush back to defend.
Now, because Bruno made a long pass, Real Madrid was caught off guard.
When Cancelo received the ball, there was no Real Madrid player around him!
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While Bruno passed the ball to that side, Manchester United quickly changed the direction of attack, and the players who pressed Real Madrid also ran to that side.
After Cancelo got the ball, he dribbled inside diagonally. Carvajal rushed up. Cancelo did not challenge Carvajal alone, but passed the ball to Rashford on the ribs, and then cut in straightly, and it was a trend of two passes to one!
Before the game, all Manchester United players had to understand a fact, that is, their personal ability was not high enough compared to Real Madrid players.
There is nothing to be embarrassed about. Only by recognizing this reality can they beat Real Madrid.
Because after recognizing it, they will realize that if they want to defeat Real Madrid, they can never rely on themselves alone, but rely on the strength of the team. The gap in personal strength depends on the team. I am worse than you alone, but the two of us are not necessarily worse than you. The three of us are definitely better than you alone!
With this idea, tactics are much easier to execute.
But Rashford did not pass the ball directly to Cancelo who cut inside, because Real Madrid guessed that he would do so. Carvajal immediately retreated and stared at Cancelo.
Rashford passed the ball horizontally to Bruno.
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Bruno has always been a person Casemiro pays close attention to.
The experience of predecessors shows that if you lose your attention to this person for one minute in the 30-meter area in front of your goal, it is very likely to cause a loss of the ball.
Because as long as Bruno receives the ball, he can either shoot it himself, pass it to the side, or pass it directly into the penalty area. There are many options and possibilities, and the chance of defending him is naturally reduced.
So he will not give Bruno the opportunity to receive the ball here.
What he didn't expect was that Bruno didn't intend to receive the ball at all. He just missed the ball and ran forward into the penalty area.
The one who received the ball next to him was N'Golo Kante who came in from behind!
"Kante!"
Casemiro was stunned by Bruno's fake shot, and he didn't react when Bruno slipped in beside him.
Then he saw Kante received the ball, and before he could understand what was going on, Kante just received the ball and sent the ball out again-through!
Bruno, who entered the penalty area, ran diagonally to the east and found a gap, and Kante just passed the ball over.
Two passes!
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Bruno half-turned to receive the ball, and Ramos, the central defender and captain of Real Madrid, pressed forward like a mad dog.
Bruno did not give him a chance to stick to himself. He just received the ball and turned to shoot. The action was done in one go and was very sudden.
Navas saw the football rushing over, and hurriedly fell to the ground and tried his best to save it, but still did not touch the football!
"Bruno shot!!!"
The Olympic Stadium in Kiev also exclaimed at the moment he shot.
Everyone watched the football fly past Navas's hand and run to the far corner of the goal. The hearts of Real Madrid fans were hanging, and Manchester United fans stood up collectively, ready to cheer for the goal.
Navas turned his head to look at the football, with some despair and surprise in his eyes.
But the football did not fly into the goal, but went out from the outside of the goal post.
"The ball... the ball didn't go in! What a pity! Oh! Oh——" He Wei held his head with both hands, and sighed loudly while lying on the commentary stand.
Manchester United fans also did the same set of actions as him.
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Manchester United's attack was unsuccessful, but they proved to Real Madrid and those who doubted them all over the world that Manchester United was capable of launching an attack that could threaten Real Madrid's goal!
Not only did the Manchester United fans in the stands sigh, but so did the Manchester United fans in front of the TV.
If this goal had gone in, the game situation would have been in favor of Manchester United, and the next game would have been at least a little easier, and it would not have been impossible to win the game by taking advantage of this opportunity.
But soon they all applauded. Although there was no goal, it was still a wonderful attack, which gave them hope.
Who said Manchester United had no chance to defeat Real Madrid?
Not only did the fans see hope, but in the hearts of Manchester United players, this hope was more solid, more reliable and greater.
Through cooperation, everyone worked together, it was possible to defeat Real Madrid, and the chance was not as small as they had imagined before...
Bruno, who did not score, did not show much regret. He turned around and gave a thumbs up to Kante who passed the ball to him, thanking him for the pass.
He did not take the failure of this attack seriously, which shows that he is full of confidence and confident that he can threaten Real Madrid's goal again in the next game.
His performance naturally made his teammates full of confidence.
As a captain, it is not enough to just show off on the field!