Midfielder Ruler

After getting the ball, Cristiano Ronaldo always wanted to use his super personal ability to help Manchester United open the scoring at home, but all his efforts were in vain because Tang Zheng, who was responsible for assisting defense, always appeared in time for Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo's weakness in taking the ball is to complete the defensive task.

As the top star in world football, Cristiano Ronaldo has his own pride and cannot tolerate being embarrassed in front of his competitors.

But in many cases, I have to say that time is not forgiving. The young man who was wearing the No. 7 jersey of the Red Devils has lost his speed, and he seems powerless when facing Tang Zheng who is at the peak of his career.

Central 5 commentator He Wei laughed and said: "At this time, Ronaldo has forgotten his technical characteristics. As the top scorer in La Liga and the top scorer in the Champions League, what he is best at is his ability to seize opportunities in front of the goal. If this was ten years ago, Maybe we can calculate it differently. At that time, he was very fast, extraordinary, and time was not forgiving..."

Cristiano Ronaldo spent too much time with the ball, which directly resulted in Manchester United's offense not being enough of a threat to Real Madrid's defense, because when the ball comes to Cristiano Ronaldo, the offense often ends.

Sanchez, who joined Manchester United in the winter window, was very helpless. He is the kind of player who can create a threat only by taking the ball, and Cristiano Ronaldo is a powerful terminator in front of the goal. It means that Sanchez and Cristiano Ronaldo have done their respective things. Not good at work.

How can an attack pose a threat?

Lingard, who has performed well in the past two seasons, is even more helpless. His reputation is already weaker than that of Cristiano Ronaldo and Sanchez. He has very little time to control the ball. From the beginning of the game to now, he has touched the football only once. I can count them on my hands.

Fortunately, Lingard is known for his running. Although he does not have many opportunities to win the ball, his running position poses a great threat to Real Madrid players and indirectly helps the home team Manchester United to compete with Real Madrid at home.

Of course, this is only reflected in the first twenty minutes of the first half.

Real Madrid is always a guest to challenge the Red Devils Manchester United, so they naturally have to play relatively cautiously. After the Real Madrid attack group headed by Tang Zheng adapts to the rhythm of Manchester United's offensive and defensive transitions, they turn to the away team.

"Oh oh oh——"

So much so that the Manchester United fans in the stands let out wave after wave of exclamations.

The commentators in the on-site commentary box subconsciously shouted loudly one after another. When Central 5 commentator He Wei saw that Tang Zheng's sudden shot at the front of the penalty area was saved by De Gea, he regretfully said: "Manchester United's frontcourt is picturesque. De Gea's reputation in the backcourt is not in vain, De Gea once again became Manchester United's savior, he blocked Tang Zheng's long-range shot."

"Beautiful shot! David De Gea has done a great job!"

"Excellent cumming and beautiful thrusting!"

"Bailly's timely shovel interfered with Benzema's shot in front of the goal. Real Madrid almost broke the deadlock!"

"Incredible! David De Gea again! He has made five crucial saves so far!"

…

In the blink of an eye, half an hour into the game, the home team Manchester United was tired of defending under the offensive deterrent of the defending champion Real Madrid. Head coach Mourinho stood on the edge of the home team's coaching area with his hands in his pockets and a frown on his face.

He has asked Cristiano Ronaldo through captain Valencia to pass more passes to his teammates, but Cristiano Ronaldo seems not to have listened at all. He still goes his own way, hoping to help Manchester United break the deadlock with his personal ability.

But Mourinho was secretly happy in his heart, just like when he coached Real Madrid and lost 0:5 to Barcelona as a guest. He knew that the hard steel of real swords and guns would not work but insisted on going his own way. The result was naturally clear at a glance.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who went his own way, failed to bring Manchester United a victory.

Even being eliminated, Mourinho will have enough reasons to give up the 33-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo.

At this moment, Real Madrid broke the deadlock.

Modric received the ball from Tang Zheng and fired an unmarked shot. The ball was blocked by De Gea with one palm, but Modric's corner kick accurately found the spot in front of the small penalty area and jumped high. Tang Zheng got up.

Tang Zheng overpowered Cristiano Ronaldo and Bailly and headed the ball towards the lower right corner of the goal. De Gea's reaction in front of the goal was not unpleasant. Unfortunately, Tang Zheng headed the ball too close to the goal and De Gea's body had not fully sunk yet. The football bounced off the ground and hit the snow-white net...

0:1

Real Madrid takes the lead as a guest!

※※※

Real Madrid broke the deadlock in the 35th minute. The mood of the Manchester United fans at Old Trafford dropped significantly, and the chants they produced were no longer deafening.

Because from the beginning of the game until now, Manchester United at home has not been able to pose a direct threat to Navas' goal. It means that the Manchester United fans in the stands have no hope of winning at home, and it is even difficult to score.

British Sky commentator Andy Gray shook his head and said: "Manchester United lost 1:2 to Real Madrid in the European Super Cup last year. Although they were passively defensive for a long time, their offense could pose a threat to Real Madrid. However, the first half of this game passed. Most of them failed to create pressure for Keylor Navas to guard the goal. If Manchester United cannot solve the problem in the transition from defense to attack, let alone winning at home, even scoring a goal will be very difficult."

The game restarted, and Manchester United, which had a kick-off advantage, tried to create murderous opportunities through quick passes.

However, the Real Madrid players, who were leading the score, were well prepared and quickly recovered their formation. The Manchester United players were not good at positional offense and did not know how to play in the face of limited offensive space.

Sanchez wanted to prove that he was worthy of the team's maximum salary, but Cristiano Ronaldo still tried to solve the problem personally, so that Manchester United's offense was hasty.

Until the end of the first half, Manchester United failed to score.

Fortunately, Real Madrid played very cautiously and did not take risks in the away game, otherwise it is very likely to expand the score.

The fifteen-minute intermission passed quickly. Manchester United took the lead in making substitutions before changing sides in the second half. Mata replaced Lingard, who rarely appeared on the broadcast screen in the first half.

In fact, Lingard performed quite well in the first half. He ran without hesitation to create space for his teammates. Unfortunately, Cristiano Ronaldo and Sanchez were too attached to the ball and rarely passed the ball to Lingard who ran out of space. .

Mourinho can naturally see Lingard's role on the court, but Cristiano Ronaldo, Sanchez and Lukaku cannot be replaced casually, and he can only sacrifice Lingard, who is not very influential.

Mata's appearance did not actually solve Manchester United's offensive problems, but Cristiano Ronaldo was no longer as sticky as he was in the first half, and Manchester United's offense was much better, except that he failed to guard Navas. The goal poses a threat.

Zidane's arrangement of Tang Zheng, Casemiro and Modric in the midfield is very targeted. Casemiro, who is good at defense, replaces Toni Kroos, which can ensure the flexibility of Real Madrid's midfield defense.

Casemiro plays the main defense, with Tang Zheng and Modric assisting in defense, which is enough to ensure the safety of this key area in front of the top of the penalty area.

Matic, one of Manchester United's two defensive midfielders, is mainly focused on defense. Mourinho consciously wants to liberate Pogba, but Pogba is worried that problems will occur when the team switches from offense to defense, and the forward pressure is not large. Therefore, Manchester United's overall offense cannot bring enough threats to Real Madrid's defense.

Of course, the biggest problem still arises with Cristiano Ronaldo.

Although he is no longer as sticky to the ball as he was in the first half, he has never been in a convincing state despite being given high hopes by Manchester United fans.

He missed the goal while grabbing a spot in front of the goal, fired an anti-aircraft cannon from a long distance, and the cross ball flew directly out of the baseline...

No matter how you look at it, this is not the Cristiano Ronaldo who is at the top of world football.

Taking advantage of a dead ball opportunity, the on-site director gave Tang Zheng and Cristiano Ronaldo a close-up shot of their faces.

Tang Zheng, who performed well, was smiling and full of confidence.

Cristiano Ronaldo frowned and had a heavy expression, obviously realizing that his performance in this game was not satisfactory.

This is often the case in games. The more you want to perform, the harder it is to perform convincingly...

※※※

In the 15th minute of the second half, Real Madrid made substitution adjustments, and James Rodriguez replaced Isco.

Three minutes later, Real Madrid expanded the score.

At the top of the penalty area, Tang Zheng received a backheel pass from James Rodríguez after he cut inside, and then shot furiously. The football followed the turf and ran through the gap to the near corner of the goal, which is the lower right corner of the goal.

De Gea reacted very quickly at the goal line. He subconsciously fell to the ground and stretched out his palms to catch the ball. However, because he was in a hurry and his hands were not fully prepared, he only blocked the football and did not block the bottom line. The football was caught by him. Block back the door.

Benzema stretched his foot in front of Bailly and poked the football towards the unguarded goal.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch—"

The huge shouts that originally filled the sky because of De Gea's wonderful save were reduced to a minimum. Only the Real Madrid fans who traveled with the team issued hysterical shouts to vent the team's second goal in the away game.

If the whole game ends according to the current score, Real Madrid will have more than half of its feet in the semi-finals of this season's Champions League!

A two-goal defeat at home was obviously unacceptable, so Mourinho's Manchester United made adjustments again.

Rashford replaced left back Ashley Young to increase the number of frontcourt attackers.

With Rashford coming on, Cristiano Ronaldo is positioned closer to the penalty area.

No one expected that Cristiano Ronaldo, who entered the Real Madrid penalty area in the second half, leaped high and sent Pogba's exquisite cross into the goal guarded by his former teammate Navas.

The scoreboard score changed from 0:2 to 1:2!

The Manchester United fans at Old Trafford had no idea that the team would narrow the score in a seemingly hopeless situation, so they paused for nearly a second before letting out a deafening roar.

You must know that 1:2 is much better than 0:2.

1:2 will give people hope of equalizing the score!

Cristiano Ronaldo looked very excited after scoring the goal. He opened his arms and ran all the way. He ran to the corner flag on the right and performed his iconic celebration. He wanted to prove to the world that he was not old yet and was still the same person who had nothing to lose. Cristiano Ronaldo can't!

The entire Manchester United fans at Old Trafford fell into extreme madness. Although the score was still behind, they seemed to have seen the moment of equalizing the score.

However, God's calculations are not as good as those of humans. One minute later, Real Madrid exceeded the score again!

Bell accelerated his attack on the left rib and forced Matic to foul behind him. The referee's whistle then sounded, giving Real Madrid a direct free kick about 32 meters away from the goal.

Tang Zheng stood in front of the football without hesitation. Standing in front of the goal, De Gea felt nervous and uneasy.

Not long after, his premonition came true.

Tang Zheng's direct free kick hit the 10-minute corner between the left goal post and the crossbar. Goalkeeper De Gea didn't even react.

All he could do was to focus on the football, and he shook his head helplessly until he rolled up the snow-white net...

The direct free kick, thirty-two meters away from the goal, hit the absolute tenth corner, and it was so powerful that it was impossible for anyone to react to save it.

The Old Trafford Stadium, which had just been blazing with fire, seemed to be covered with frost, and the temperature dropped significantly. The Manchester United fans who appeared on the broadcast screen shook their heads and smiled bitterly from time to time, obviously losing confidence in this game at home.

A 1:3 defeat at home will most likely mean that they will miss the semi-finals of the Champions League.

The on-site director gave Tang Zheng a close-up shot of his face. Tang Zheng was so passionate that he celebrated by sliding on his knees.

This direct free kick 32 meters away from the goal was impeccable. Even with his excellent footwork, he still needed some luck, because the slightest difference could make him miss by a thousand miles.

Immediately, the on-site director gave Cristiano Ronaldo a close-up shot with great meaning.

Fans sitting in front of the TV can clearly see the helplessness on Cristiano Ronaldo's face. CCTV 5 commentator He Wei hesitated for a moment and said: "Cristiano Ronaldo's era has completely passed. He is now 28 years old." Tang Zheng is the symbol of the strongest level in world football..."

Sanchez kept shaking his head when Real Madrid players celebrated the goal. His performance in this game was not bad, but not good either.

He couldn't help but look at his friend Tang Zheng. Ten years later, Tang Zheng seemed to have not reached his upper limit, or in other words, he had no upper limit at all.

The game restarted, and Manchester United, who were once again two goals behind, had no choice. After conceding three goals at home, they had to come back in the remaining games, otherwise the second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium a week later would be unlucky.

Real Madrid, who had scored three away goals, chose to retreat at half-time and completely hand over the initiative to the home team Manchester United.

The picturesque attacking line led by Cristiano Ronaldo bombarded the center of Real Madrid's half like crazy, but Manchester United failed to score until the end of the game.

In the end, Real Madrid defeated Manchester United 3:1 at Old Trafford and won the opportunity to advance to the semi-finals of this season's Champions League.

At the end of the game, Cristiano Ronaldo watched Tang Zheng celebrating the victory with his teammates and couldn't help but have a lot of thoughts.

Through this ninety-minute game, he gradually realized that time is not forgiving.