Star Card System

July 21.

Landover Stadium.

Manchester United vs. Barcelona.

This is Manchester United's first match of the International Champions Cup this season, and it is also the first official friendly match of the new season in the hearts of Manchester United players.

In the first two games against the MLS, everyone was relatively relaxed and did not have too much pressure.

It's different now.

Everyone remembered Mourinho's words a few days ago.

There are very few players in this Manchester United team who have won the Champions League.

And the last time Manchester United won the Champions League was in the Ferguson era ten years ago.

At this moment, everyone in the team is looking forward to the moment of reaching the top.

How wonderful it will be to win!

In the room, Lukaku talked to Xia Xing about the Champions League more than once.

"Man, you were so cool when you won five titles in Leicester City!"

"It's okay, mainly because of my teammates."

"If I was in the team at that time, it would be easier for Leicester City to win the championship."

"Well, I admit that. Van Persie was older at that time, and his physical fitness, speed and strength had declined. You are better in these aspects."

"Then with your vision, do you think we can win the Champions League in Manchester United?"

"I think we can."

"Don't say you have vision! I think we can too! Together, we will be invincible!"

"..."

"And Pogba, he's not bad either, not as good as you, but he's OK."

"..."

"I like Matic, too, he's straightforward and tough on defense."

"..."

"Mkhitaryan is OK, his breakthroughs and passes are not as good as they were in Dortmund, but he's OK."

"..."

"Xia, why don't you answer?"

"I fell asleep."

"Oh, I said you might have fallen asleep, go to bed early, good night."

"Good night..."

Lukaku is like this, and so are many other young players.

Last season they won the Premier League, the Europa League, and two domestic cup titles.

The honor of the four crowns did not let them rest on their laurels, but inspired them to be more ambitious.

In fact, the four crowns were not enough to support their pride.

After all, it was just the Europa League.

Now everyone is looking forward to the Champions League.

Especially after Mourinho brainwashed them, they were like chicken blood, howling at Barcelona.

Manchester United was in high spirits during the game, while Barcelona seemed a little depressed.

Now the two sides are in completely opposite situations.

Manchester United won the league championship last season, beating their arch-rivals Manchester City and Liverpool; Barcelona lost the league championship to Real Madrid at the last moment last season and lost to their arch-rivals.

Manchester United was in high spirits in the European war last season and finally won the Europa League; Barcelona was eliminated by Juventus in the quarter-finals of the Champions League last season, and watched Real Madrid finally reach the top.

Manchester United had everything going well in the transfer market this summer and bought the people they wanted; Barcelona's core player Neymar was poached as soon as the transfer window opened, and they wanted to buy people but failed. In the end, they could only buy Dembele at a high price, and he was injured when he came, and he has just recovered now.

In many aspects, Manchester United's current situation is far better than Barcelona.

But in the actual game, Manchester United did not have the upper hand!

In this game, Barcelona still used the familiar 4-3-3 formation, which has become a tradition of Barcelona.

Neymar was no longer on the front line, but Dembele came, and the lineup was still complete.

Although he just joined the team, Dembele is very active.

As soon as the game started, Dembele launched an attack on the left.

He dribbled past two Manchester United defenders, cut inside, and shot into the far corner!

Romero jumped up and punched the ball out with both fists!

Wonderful shot, wonderful save!

Although he was injured just after coming to Barcelona, ​​the injury was not serious and he has recovered now.

This shot was very powerful. Just looking at Romero not choosing to hold the ball, you can tell that the shot was very strong.

Next, Barcelona's attack still relies more on Messi on the right.

Messi got enough rest this summer and was obviously in great spirits.

Receiving the ball and facing Xia Xing, he cut inside and changed direction!

Xia Xing was passed!

This time the pass was neat and tidy!

It was wonderful!

Even Xia Xing was surprised!

Although he was just assisting in defense, it was really wrong to be passed so easily.

Xia Xing also felt the problem.

During this period of warm-up with the American Major League team, he couldn't find the state of the official game at all, so his game state was not adjusted very well.

Although there are ten hours of competition every day in the "virtual arena", it is not real after all, and winning or losing doesn't matter much.

Lack of tension, not tight enough all over.

After this, Xia Xing turned on the sweeping mode.

In the midfield and backcourt, he ran a large area and defended with all his strength.

Even the physical confrontation was not weak.

This put Barcelona's offensive pressure on the rise.

Especially Messi, after passing Xia Xing once, he never got the upper hand from Xia Xing again.

But Messi is not stubborn. Seeing that there is no opportunity for personal performance, he seeks to pass the ball to his teammates more.

During this period, Suarez has received two excellent crosses from Messi and almost scored with two shots in the penalty area.

In addition to the performance of the striker, Barcelona's midfield also cooperated well.

In this game, Barcelona's midfield combination is Iniesta, Busquets and Rakitic.

After Xavi left, Iniesta completely became the brain of Barcelona's midfield.

Now he is older, not as good as before, and now he is more of a midfielder to organize passes.

Many times, old teammates have a special feeling, especially Busquets.

It seems that Xavi has always been there, and it is Iniesta who left?

Indeed, after Iniesta got old, Barcelona's midfield lacked a world-class forward attacking expert.

Rakitic, Rafinha and other players are good, but they are far inferior to Iniesta in forward attacking.

You know, Iniesta was once ranked in the top three of the Golden Ball Award.

However, even without the peak Iniesta and the sharp dribbling Neymar, Barcelona still has many offensive means.

In the 38th minute of the game, Messi got the ball on the left, and Xia Xing continued to press forward.

Messi made a fake move, but Xia Xing was not fooled. Instead, he suddenly pressed forward and used his body to collide!

Messi hurriedly passed the ball!

It was a close call!

The ball was passed to Iniesta behind him. Iniesta had already observed the running position of his teammates!

A long pass went straight to the right!

Looking for Dembele!

Dembele was very fast and stopped the ball before the baseline!

A quick cross!

Suarez in the middle of the penalty area shot a half-high shot!

The ball hit the net!

1-0!

Barcelona scored the first goal!

Valverde, the new coach of Barcelona, ​​applauded vigorously on the sidelines!

Mourinho shook his head slightly.

Even if the state is not good, Barcelona is still Barcelona. The foundation is too deep.

It is really a lean camel that is bigger than a horse... (End of this chapter)