Chapter 713: Bruno's Era
Bruno defeated Barcelona alone!
The day after the game, the Guardian reported on its front page that Manchester United defeated Barcelona 4:0 and advanced to the semi-finals of the Champions League with a total score of 7:1.
"There is a consensus in European football that La Liga focuses on technology, and the Premier League focuses on confrontation. In the past few years, Barcelona has always been a hurdle in front of Premier League teams. From Chelsea to Arsenal, and now Manchester United, there is no Premier League team. Don’t suffer from Barcelona, or even lose the championship. No team in the Premier League can compete with Barcelona, including Arsenal.”
"Since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, the gap between Manchester United, which has fallen into a trough, and the other three top players in the Premier League is not small, and it seems even further away from Barcelona. Although after Mourinho took charge of Manchester United, Manchester United has achieved great results in the past two seasons. A great success. But in the eyes of many fans, Manchester United still cannot compare with super giants like Real Madrid and Barcelona.”
"But after two rounds of games, the result was that Manchester United beat the powerful Barcelona with a score of 3:1 away and 4:0 at home. They eliminated Barcelona with a total score of 7:1 and advanced to the semi-finals of the Champions League for two consecutive years."
"Just looking at the score, it looks more like Barcelona beating Manchester United than the other way around, but if you look closely at the process, anyone will find that Barcelona did lose, even though they controlled most of the ball. right."
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"After the game, former Manchester United captain Rooney commented that in the Millennium Stadium battle, Manchester United could have scored more than five goals, but they were slightly unlucky because Valverde still failed to find an effective solution to Mourinho in a week. Rinho’s targeted tactical approach.”
"In the VIP room after the game, when we met Gary Neville, Scholes, Ferdinand and Rooney, when they commented on the game, they all mentioned one most important person without exception. That’s Bruno!”
"In the post-match press conference, Valverde mentioned Bruno for the second time, and Mourinho also admitted for the second time that Bruno decided the game. This was very similar to after the first round at Camp Nou."
"In the two rounds of the game, Manchester United scored a total of 7 goals, and Bruno scored 5 goals alone. This is definitely a flawless report card!"
"The total score of 7:1 can't help but remind people of Barcelona's elimination by Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-finals six years ago. At that time, Barcelona lost 0:3 at home and 0:4 away from Bayern Munich. This is also It is regarded as Barcelona's most painful defeat in the Champions League. Unexpectedly, six years later, Manchester United will let Barcelona people taste such a bitter pill again. "
"If Bayern Munich swept Barcelona as a whole, now Bruno defeated Barcelona on his own, demonstrating his personal heroism to the extreme!"
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The Guardian made a detailed review of the tactics of the two-round match in its commentary.
Manchester United's tactics have basically remained unchanged, but Barcelona has made a very big adjustment, from the original 433 to 343. Valverde obviously wants to strengthen the offense in the frontcourt. But the result was that after adjustments, the weaknesses in the defense were completely exposed.
"Mourinho's tactics are very clear. It's about technique and coordination. Manchester United is no match for Barcelona, so he has to compete physically with Barcelona. He must use his physical strength to contain the opponent and give full play to his physical fitness. advantage, and this is precisely the weakness of Barcelona, which has mostly small players.”
"Judging from the two rounds of the game, Barcelona's midfield and frontcourt offensive players basically worked independently, and they did not form an effective whole with each other. Let alone cooperate. Even if they protect the ball more and carry it for a while, it will be useless. It’s quite difficult.”
"But in Manchester United's physical style of play, Bruno is a big alternative. Mourinho has full confidence in the 24-year-old captain. He asked Bruno to look for opportunities on the wing and in the center, and Bruno He also lived up to the trust of the coach. Whether it was a hat trick in the first round or a brace in the second round, he gave his best performance.”
"Especially in the second round, Valverde originally arranged for Busquets to mark Bruno, but unexpectedly, Bruno hit a heavy long-range shot at the beginning, which shocked Barcelona's defensive players, and then frequently passed diagonally. And vertical quick sprints, using his speed advantage to create threats. The 31-year-old Busquets obviously cannot cope with the 24-year-old Bruno, and the three-four-three defensive formation makes Bruno more comfortable. , coupled with the team's overall tactical tilt, Bruno has completely become the most threatening attacker on the court!"
"The stronger the stronger, the better Bruno performed in the knockout rounds. In the previous 6 games in the group stage, he scored 7 goals, 5 assists, and averaged 2 goals per game. The efficiency is shocking enough. But here we are. In the knockout rounds, Bruno's performance went to a higher level. In the two knockout rounds with Schalke 04 and Barcelona, Bruno scored 8 goals and 5 assists in 4 games, averaging more than 3 goals per game. This is already. It’s hard to describe in words.”
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British Reuters published an article stating that Manchester United's spirit, coupled with Mourinho's tactics, and Bruno's sharpness, contributed to Manchester United's complete victory in these two rounds.
"Although we have only entered the semi-finals now, it is not appropriate to say something too early, but there is no doubt that Mourinho's team is on the way to Madrid. Manchester United has never been as strong as it is now!"
"In the same way, although Bruno is only 24 years old, we have never seen a 24-year-old player as good as him. He reminds us of Cristiano Ronaldo and Yossi. ”
"Perhaps, many years from now, we will still be able to remember these two games this year!"
"The Times" said that these two rounds of matches are crucial for Manchester United.
"With a complete victory over Barcelona, Manchester United gained not only a place in the top four, not just two wins, but also an atmosphere of confidence and unity, but more importantly, this Manchester United has found its most powerful offensive weapon, that It’s Bruno!”
"Whether it was in the previous Serie A, the Premier League, or the Champions League, Bruno continued to use facts to prove his strength and value. He quickly became Manchester United's most trustworthy main scorer."
"Whether it's Mourinho or the Manchester United players, the most important thing next is how to help Bruno maintain his current form and how to further utilize Bruno's offensive power."
"We have absolutely reason to believe that as Bruno gets better and better, Manchester United will also become stronger!"
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If the British media unanimously praises and appreciates Manchester United and Bruno, then "World Sports" and "Daily Sports" from Catalonia are the mouthpieces of Barcelona, but the two media have no confidence in the results of the game. All regret it.
"World Sports News" publicly stated that Manchester United's advancement is reasonable.
"This is an almost perfect team! After the signings, reinforcements and running-in in the first two seasons, Mourinho's team became more offensive. In the two rounds of the game, no matter in terms of personnel, In terms of deployment and tactical adjustments, Mourinho completely defeated Valverde.”
"Bruno was almost perfect in the two rounds. Five goals allowed everyone to see his strength. Especially in the first half, Manchester United created many excellent scoring opportunities, Bruno himself had two Very threatening long-range shots, one of which was slightly wide and one of which hit the crossbar. Otherwise, Barcelona would have lost this game even more embarrassingly.”
"World Sports News" believes that Bruno's long shot at the beginning of the second round was crucial.
"This long-range shot was of high quality, but more importantly, it gave Manchester United a head start and boosted Manchester United's morale and fighting spirit. It also shocked Barcelona, especially the defensive players on the back line."
"World Sports News" also said that as he grows older, especially after joining the Premier League, Bruno's physical fitness has obviously improved a lot, and he has begun to take more long-range shots, and the quality is still very high, and his physical confrontation ability He has also become stronger, but his skills and explosive power at his feet are still as good as ever.
"There is no doubt that after more than two years of training in the Premier League, his overall strength has improved a lot. He looks more comprehensive and better than when he was in Italy. This allows him to smoothly take over Manchester United's offense. flag.”
"Although I really don't want to admit it, the fact is that at the age of twenty-four, Bruno has replaced Yoshi and become the most comprehensive and terrifying attacker on the planet!"
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"Daily Sports" also gave very high praise to the performance of Manchester United and Bruno, especially Bruno.
"As long as he can maintain the form he has had so far this year, Manchester United will remain the top favorite to win the Champions League, and Bruno also has a good chance of winning the World Footballer of the Year and the European Ballon d'Or again with his outstanding performance this year. breakthrough."
As for Barcelona's performance, "Daily Sports" gave severe criticism. Whether it is Valverde's tactics or the performance of players such as Yossi, Suarez and Coutinho, they are obviously unsatisfactory.
In addition to the British and Spanish media, almost all media around the world focused on reporting on this showdown.
If before, people only ranked Bruno with Cristiano Ronaldo and Yossi, and called the three of them the Big Three in world football, then now, everyone has no doubt that Bruno is already the unquestionable number one in world football. .
World football has truly entered Bruno's era!