strictlysupreme Chapter 518 Victory Continues
Chapter 518 Victory Continues
"To be honest, I don't have much hope that the second half will be exciting." Lineker said, "Objectively speaking, a 1:1 draw is acceptable to Manchester United, who have already qualified, but I don't know if Simeone is willing to accept it."
In the view of the commentator, Atletico Madrid is currently competing with Roma for the second place in the group, and should have more ambition and pursuit. But after the start of the second half, they immediately realized that they were wrong.
The two sides continued to entangle in the midfield, and as the game progressed, about sixty minutes later, Manchester United coach Mourinho took the lead in making adjustments. He replaced Herrera with Rashford.
Bruno retreated to form a double defensive midfielder with Fellaini, Mata returned to the middle, and Rashford returned to the left winger position.
"Mourinho doesn't seem to be satisfied with a draw at home. Now it depends on how Simeone will deal with it."
The camera gave a close-up of Atletico Madrid coach Simeone, and then gave the camera to Carrasco on the bench. Obviously, if Atletico Madrid coach Simeone is also unwilling to draw and wants to make adjustments on the offensive end, the biggest possibility is to replace Carrasco.
Mourinho replaced Rashford to strengthen the attack. On the Atletico Madrid side, Simeone finally took action after nearly ten minutes. He asked Carrasco and Godin to get up and warm up.
"Replacing Carrasco or Godin represents Simeone's two attitudes."
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Mourinho also noticed the changes on the Atletico Madrid bench.
Replacing Carrasco means that Simeone is not satisfied with the score of 1:1, and Atletico Madrid still wants to attack; and if Godin is replaced, it means strengthening defense, which means satisfaction with the score of 1:1 and can accept it.
In the 71st minute of the game, Simeone finally made a substitution adjustment. He replaced Torres with Carrasco.
Simeone was obviously not satisfied with 1 point by replacing Torres, the veteran who was almost exhausted, with a fresh force.
There was no way, because Roma had already taken the lead in the score at the Olympic Stadium in Rome, Italy.
This means that if Atletico Madrid cannot beat Manchester United away, they can only play in the Europa League as the third place in the group.
Choosing between the Champions League and the Europa League, even a fool knows what to choose.
So, Simeone decided without hesitation to fight Manchester United away!
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Seeing Simeone's adjustment, Mourinho also made tit-for-tat adjustments after thinking for a moment. He replaced Lingard with Mbappe.
Replaced with Mbappe, who is fast and has strong impact, and continued to strengthen the attack.
Since you want to fight hard, what should I fear? Anyway, even if I lose, it doesn't affect me!
Seeing Mourinho's substitution, Simeone was a little dumbfounded. This is a little different from the Mourinho he remembered. With Mourinho's style, shouldn't he be piling up defensive players in the midfield and backcourt at this time, and park the bus to deal with Atletico Madrid's counterattack?
After all, this game is not a must-lose for Manchester United.
Standing on the sidelines, staring at the field with a serious expression, he was hesitating.
Mourinho deployed his troops and continued to strengthen the offensive. Simeone was considering whether to adjust to strengthen the defense or to continue to strengthen the offense in accordance with the changes in the situation in order to seize the gap after Manchester United pressed forward to attack.
This is a multiple-choice question, be conservative and accept a draw; or take a chance and strive to win the game.
At this time, Rashford used his speed to break through Savage on the wing, and then suddenly cut inside, pretending to shoot, but sent a diagonal pass. Ashley Young inserted from behind and attracted the attention of the defender, but sent a reverse angle pass back. Mbappe followed up with a burst shot, and the football flew high into the stands.
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Mbappe's shot helped Simeone make a choice.
Manchester United did not mean to let the water go at home. This posture was completely to beat Atletico Madrid to death!
Simeone also made substitutions immediately. He replaced the almost exhausted veteran Gabi with Correa, and replaced the defender Jimenez with forward Bietto.
So far, Atletico Madrid has four forwards on the field, including Griezmann, Carrasco, Correa and Vietto.
This is to fight Manchester United with all his strength.
Mourinho folded his arms and frowned. Atletico Madrid fought desperately, and it was not easy for Manchester United to defend.
Manchester United actually didn't need to fight Atletico Madrid to death. Whether it was a draw or a loss, it didn't mean much to Manchester United.
So, should we replace an offensive player and strengthen the team's defense?
Just as Mourinho was thinking, cheers broke out in the stands. Mourinho looked up, then clenched his fists and leaned forward. Then, even louder cheers resounded throughout the stadium. Mourinho jumped three times on the spot and excitedly punched.
He didn't need to worry about it anymore. His disciples helped him solve his troubles.
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This was Bruno's interception in the frontcourt. After he intercepted the ball at Griezmann's feet, he quickly launched a quick counterattack.
Rashford dribbled the ball forward at high speed, and Godin slid.
Rashford deftly lifted the ball up, jumped up, avoided Godin's tackle, and passed the ball to McTominay.
McTominay took the ball with his back to the defender and knocked the ball.
Bruno rushed up.
"Stop his shot!" Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Oblak shouted.
Felipe came up to block, and then he saw Bruno's foot shape changed when he touched the ball, and the ball was flicked with the outside of his foot, very lightly, and crossed the Atletico Madrid defense line diagonally.
Everyone saw Mbappe inserted from the left, and after receiving the ball, he cut inside directly.
Facing the defender Hernandez who came out to intercept in a hurry, Mbappe did not give the opponent a chance to get close, and directly met the ball and shot!
"Mbappe!!!" With the roar of the commentator Lineker, Mbappe shot hard, and the ball suddenly jumped up and flew straight to the goal of Atletico Madrid.
Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Oblak opened his arms to save the ball, but the shot was extremely powerful and it was an upward ball. The football passed through Oblak's hands at high speed and continued to move forward until the net was rolled up high...
"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOALLLLL!!!!!!!!! Mbappe! Mbappe! He scored for Manchester United! 2:1! Manchester United has reversed the score!" Lineker shouted, "After Manchester United's midfielder intercepted the ball, they launched a quick counterattack. Bruno, Rashford, McTominay, Bruno, Mbappe, Manchester United's talented stars joined forces to contribute a wonderful goal."
"In the 81st minute of the game, Manchester United led Atletico Madrid 2:1!"
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After scoring the goal, Mbappe seemed very excited. He turned around and excitedly pointed at the team captain Bruno who passed the ball to him. Bruno opened his arms, laughed, and hugged Mbappe who ran over.
The other Manchester United players also ran over excitedly and gathered together to celebrate.
This game was too difficult. If we win the game with this goal, it will be the best reward for everyone's efforts.
"This is a very crucial goal. Including injury time, there are more than ten minutes left in the game. Manchester United leads 2:1..."
Manchester United's players are celebrating wildly, while Atletico Madrid's players are depressed, even a little frustrated.
Losing the ball at this time is really a morale-destroying thing.
2:1!
This is also the final score.
After losing the ball, Atletico Madrid, who was forced into a desperate situation, completely gave up defense and attacked desperately.
At this time, they had no choice but to attack. After all, Simeone had used up all three substitutions, and all the players sent were strikers.
On the Manchester United side, Mourinho also immediately used up the third substitution, replacing McTominay with Kante to strengthen the midfield defense.
In the end, Atletico Madrid's last-minute helpless counterattack did not work. When the referee blew the whistle to end the game, the score did not change again. Manchester United beat Atletico Madrid 2:1 at home and ended all the games in the Champions League group stage with an unbeaten record of 5 wins and 1 draw.
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In the press conference after the game, Mourinho was not modest. He praised his players.
"Atletico Madrid is a respectable team. They are strong and aggressive. It is difficult to beat them. So I want to praise all the players. They performed very well. I am proud of the fighting spirit and efforts shown by the players and the competitive state they showed."
Mourinho thought so sincerely, because after arranging the starting lineup with only Bruno as a main player, he was mentally prepared to lose.
However, he did not expect that at the end of the game, the team won another victory, which was really a pleasant surprise.
Listening to Mourinho praising his players, some reporters felt bored, while others nodded in approval and looked excited. The former were from Atletico Madrid's media, while the latter were not only from Manchester United's media, but also from Roma's media. They were also happy that Atletico Madrid lost.
With Manchester United defeating Atletico Madrid at home, Roma, who won at home, finally overtook Atletico Madrid in the standings and advanced to the knockout stage as the second in the group.
A day later, the other four groups also decided the final results.
The Premier League teams performed very well in the group stage of this year's Champions League, and all four teams advanced as the first in the group.
Chelsea in Group A achieved a record of 5 wins and 1 loss in the group stage, ranking first over Basel with 12 points;
Manchester City in Group F also achieved a record of 5 wins and 1 loss, overtaking Shakhtar Donetsk, Naples and Feyenoord, and advanced as the first in the group.
The most surprising thing is Tottenham. In Group H, which has two strong rivals, Real Madrid and Dortmund, Bai Lily has an unbeaten record of 5 wins and 1 draw, and has surpassed Real Madrid to take first place in the group.