Ferguson did not use the killing tactics in the game, and he was useless to even foul battles.

Since Glory's FA Cup final in his first season at Manchester City, Ferguson has no longer used any foul tactics against Glory, because it is all about assisting Glory...

The impression on Ferguson by Glory's free kick hat trick at that time was too deep...

In this Champions League semi-final, Ferguson, who played away, adopted a defensive counterattack strategy.

Even at Manchester City's home court, it's a search for death.

As for Glory, Ferguson actually didn't come up with any countermeasures.

How to curb glory is a global problem. If he can think of it, he can even win the Nobel Prize for Football - if there is really this prize...

Although I didn't think of how to deal with Glory, it doesn't mean that Ferguson is about to give up the game.

The basis of this strategy of defensive counterattack is that Ferguson does not want to lose away or lose a big score.

In addition, he relies on the outstanding state of Rooney and Klose.

Since the same-city derby in the 27th round of the league, Rooney, who had previously been in a sluggish state, seemed to have found his best form all at once, and performed well in the following games.

Rooney scored his sixth league goal of the season with a beautiful barb.

Now, thirty-four rounds of the league have passed, and Rooney has scored twelve goals in the league, from 27 rounds of the league to 34 rounds, Rooney has scored seven goals in the eight rounds of the league. This state can only be described as "hot".

Klose is also in good condition and is now ranked second in the league scorer list with twenty-four goals.

These two forwards are Ferguson's biggest reliance.

Under the defensive counterattack tactics, strikers are required to have strong ability to seize opportunities and score goals in a very small number of opportunities. They are not qualified to squander those good goals opportunities.

With these two strikers' form, Ferguson believes that they will definitely be able to seize those few opportunities and score goals for Manchester United.

Because the Champions League matches are home and away, away goals are very important.

If this game can draw Manchester City on the premise of a away goal, Ferguson thinks it will be a victory.

And he was also ready to lose.

It doesn't matter if you lose, but just don't lose too much.

If you lose 1:2, return to home in the next round, Manchester United only needs to score one goal and win the game 1:0 to eliminate Manchester City.

So before this game, Ferguson had been letting the team practice defensive counterattacks, mainly defense, and not conceding the ball was the top priority.

※※※

After the game started, Manchester United only took advantage of their kick-off opportunity to attack once and handed over the possession to Manchester City. They themselves retreated to their 30-meter area and were ready to attack Manchester City.

Benitez is not surprised that Manchester United will choose to counterattack on the away game.

Many teams choose to counterattack defensively when facing Manchester City away, even if they didn't play much defensively.

If these teams have to fight against Manchester City when playing away, Benitez will be surprised - he will definitely think that the opponent's head coach is broken.

After 34 rounds of the league, Manchester City scored 88 goals, which is the best in the Premier League. In the whole of Europe, they are also the team with the most goals, tied for Barcelona, ​​and Barcelona also scored 88 goals. Behind them is Real Madrid, Mourinho's Real Madrid scored 79 goals.

The offensive firepower is so fierce that other teams will choose to avoid their edge at home in Manchester City.

Ferguson's choice was not surprising.

It can be seen that Ferguson really puts his skills in defense. When Manchester United shrinks their defense, Manchester City, who plays at home, does not have a good way to break the deadlock.

Although the cheers from the home team fans were loud, they did not help Manchester City score.

After the game started, the two sides soon became a stalemate. From the perspective of ball possession rate and pass success rate, Manchester City had the upper hand, and Manchester City also had more shots than Manchester United.

But even so, the score has not changed.

Ibrahimovic was suspended from the red card, and Berbatov made a start, but he was also surrounded by Manchester United.

The main offensive firepower still depends on glory.

According to pre-match training, although Berbatov is a center, he is not responsible for scoring goals. He mainly creates opportunities for Glory through his own running position and transmission in the frontcourt.

So he will pull out of the penalty area more and give Rong Guang a chance to insert into the penalty area and shoot.

However, Manchester United also has defensive strategies for this offensive routine against Manchester City, so it is difficult for Rongguang to squeeze into the penalty area to shoot.

Manchester United is like forming a movable wall in front of glory. No matter where glory is, the wall is always ahead of him.

The two sides remained stalemate until the end of the first half.

During this period, Manchester City did get some opportunities, not only glory, but others also, but they were not sure. For example, Berbatov had a good opportunity in the penalty area, but unfortunately his shot was blocked by Van der Sar with his knees.

And Manchester United's counterattack can indeed threaten Manchester City's goal.

The counterattack routine designed by Ferguson for Manchester United is like this - a long pass from the backcourt directly finds Klose, allowing Klose to use his bounce and heading skills to ferry the football to Rooney who is plugged in at high speed, and use Rooney's speed and technology to attack Manchester City's defense line.

This routine is very simple, but sometimes it is so simple that you can get unexpected good results.

In the first half, Manchester United's most threatening attack was made like this.

Klose headed the ball and rubbed it. Rooney rushed forward at high speed. Then he received the ball from Klose, dribbled the ball into Manchester City's penalty area, and chose a long shot at the front of the penalty area.

The football drew an arc in the air, bypassing the attacking goalkeeper Joe Hart, and then concentrated on the crossbar under the horror of all Manchester City fans...

Then he bounced back and was kicked out by the central defender Lucio who returned to defense.

This is the closest attack Manchester United scored in the first half.

After the ball failed to enter, Rooney hugged his head with both hands, looking very upset.

In fact, Ferguson was more upset than him in the coaching seat...

※※※

The two sides fought 0:0 in the first half, and Ferguson's strategic goals were halfway through.

Half the time is left, it would be even better if Manchester United can score a goal in the second half.

But Ferguson was very clear-headed. He didn't think he could try more offenses in the second half because he successfully defended Manchester City's offensive in the first half.

Defensively, not conceding the ball is still his first goal.

When playing against Manchester City, the most feared thing is that he is self-righteous and feels that he did not concede the ball in the first half. He also shot and hit the post, threatening Manchester City's goal, so he can try more attacks in the second half.

This mentality often causes teams that do this to concede goals in the second half and eventually lose the game.

There are too many such examples.

Ferguson has studied other teams that have played against Manchester City and found that many of the teams that have lost have this idea - thinking too much is not a good thing.

During the halftime break, Ferguson warned his players not to think that their counterattack threatened Manchester City's goal in the first half and could be unscrupulous in the second half.

"...Our main task in the second half is defense. The tactics are the same as in the first half, without any changes." He said with a stern face, reminding his players with a serious expression and voice. This is a very serious matter and don't have any other thoughts.

At the same time, in Manchester City's locker room, Benitez asked the players not to be anxious in the second half: "The integrity of the defense line must be maintained. Manchester United is waiting for the huge gap behind the defense line after we were eager to push the offense in the second half. They hoped to tie us away. If there were still goals away, it would be even better. We can't let them get what they want..."

Neither side made any adjustments in tactical and personnel, but they just made the players more cautious. There were two rounds of matches in the Champions League semi-finals, and anyone who made a mistake would not even have a chance to save.

This is the same as the league.

The two sides changed sides and fought again in the second half, and everyone soon realized that everything was no different from the first half.

Manchester United still fights against defensively.

"Well, although it is a bit surprising that Ferguson will choose to counterattack defensively, it has to be said that his effect is pretty good. At least Manchester United did not concede the goal in the first half. It is still amazing to be able to prevent Manchester City from scoring forty-five minutes..." Alan Hansen said not long after the start of the second half.

"We all thought that it doesn't matter if Ibrahimovic was absent, as long as Manchester City has Rong. Now it seems that Ibrahimovic's absence from the game still has a great impact on Manchester City. Manchester City's offensive firepower point is Rong alone, making Manchester United's defense easier. If Ibrahimovic is there, the two of them will let Manchester United divide their troops while defending. In this way, whether it is Rong or Ibrahimovic, the defensive pressure they both bear is not as great as they are now, and there is an opportunity to take advantage of..."

Logically speaking, this should be a good thing for Ibrahimovic, but Ibrahimovic, who was sitting in the stands with other teammates, was not happy now.

He frowned and hummed heavily from his nose.

His eyes were always locked on the body of glory.

Aren't you very awesome?

Can't you show off without me?

Then you give it to me again!
Chapter completed!