From the man behind the football king to the football king.

Chapter 968: Double Attack

In today's game, although Mourinho deployed a 433 formation, Bruno was not a pure attacking midfielder before, but a left midfielder. He was basically parallel to Kante, Gundogan, and Bellingham who replaced Kante.

Now, Bruno has moved to a front midfielder, closer to Liverpool's penalty area. Of course, the defensive pressure he faces from Liverpool will naturally be greater.

In the eyes of many people, Bruno's approach may not be a good choice, because he exposes himself directly to Liverpool's aggressive defenders. How can his small body withstand the impact of Liverpool's defenders?
The space and time he needs to play will no longer exist, or will be difficult to obtain, so close to Liverpool's goal.

So even if he was close to the goal, how could he possibly perform well enough to help the team turn the situation around?

This seems to have become a paradox - if you don't move forward, there is no threat; if you move forward, you will be restricted and still not a threat.

………………

After Bruno went up, he did feel more pressure.

As soon as he received the ball, it was tackled by Koulibaly and he himself was knocked to the ground.

The referee Atwell did not make any comment. In fact, Koulibaly's shot was not considered a foul and the call should not have been made.

However, there were still boos from the stands on both sides where Manchester United fans were sitting. Ever since Atwell blew the whistle on Salah's offside goal as a valid goal, the Manchester United fans at the scene have been displeased with the referee.

Bruno got up from the ground without complaining, he was still looking for opportunities.

There is not much time left for him and the entire Manchester United team, and he has no time to argue with the referee.

He kept running back and forth in the frontcourt, raising his hand to ask his teammates for the ball, even though there were always Liverpool players following him.

Time passes by second by second.

At this time, the passage of time can no longer be calculated in minutes. In that case, there is really very little time left for Manchester United.

Manchester United pressed forward and besieged Liverpool's penalty area, while Liverpool retreated and shrank into their own 30-meter area.

Bruno decided to go one step further. Even if the opponent committed a foul outside the penalty area, it would only be a free kick, which would not be fatal.

What would happen if I entered the restricted area?

Liverpool players are more or less cautious and dare not make any big moves on themselves.

………………

Thinking of this, when Rashford got the ball on the wing, Bruno decisively rushed into the penalty area and ran towards Rashford.

Rashford also saw Bruno's forward run, so he quickly passed the ball over.

At this time, Bruno was accompanied by Liverpool player Matip.

With Matip almost closely marking him, Bruno suddenly stepped forward, moved towards the ball, then trapped Matip behind him and caught the ball.

However, Matip is not a pushover. Although he was blocked by Bruno behind him and could not reach the ball for a while, he did not give up defense. Instead, he stuck closely behind Bruno and prevented him from turning around.

Matip believed that as long as he prevented Bruno from turning around, there would be no threat to his goal.

But Bruno didn't think so. Since he was already in the penalty area, it didn't make any difference whether he turned around or not.

He leaned back and held back Matip, preventing him from suddenly circling forward and stealing the ball.

Then he leaned his body to the right and made a move to break through from that side. Sure enough, Bruno felt Matip shifting his center of gravity behind him.

This was just a feint by Bruno. After tricking Matip into changing his center of gravity, he raised his right foot, bypassed his left foot that was supporting his body from the front, and suddenly knocked the football to the left and rear, just passing Matip!

The football was knocked towards the middle of the penalty area, where Gundogan rushed up and received the ball!
………………

“What a great opportunity!!”

"Beautiful! A wonderful heel pass!!"

……

Amid the commentators' shouts, Gundogan received the ball from Bruno with almost no one marking him. He did not continue dribbling the ball, but chose to shoot directly!
"Gundogan--!!" Gary Lineker shouted in a drawn-out voice.

But just as he roared, the football that Gundogan had just shot hit a "mountain"!
Alisson rushed over, his raised hips were like the peak of a mountain, the football hit it, bounced upwards suddenly, and then went over the crossbar!

"Ah! Ah! Ah——!" Faced with this scene, Gary Lineker was amazed and didn't know what to say...

That was a shot that was very close!!

"Gundogan! Great save! Alisson saved Liverpool!" Gary Lineker exclaimed. He was ready to cheer for Gundogan's goal. Although this goal could not completely change the situation on the field, Manchester United could at least equalize the score.

But then he saw that Gundogan's shot was blocked by Alisson.

Although Lineker was slightly biased towards Manchester United and Bruno, as a neutral commentator, he had to applaud Alisson's wonderful save. "Alisson!" The other commentators also shouted at the same time, but their feelings were different.

The local commentator of Liverpool cheered for Alisson very simply: "He made an amazing save! It's incredible! Facing a close shot! He used his body to block the ball! The great Liverpool goalkeeper! An unshakable mountain!"

He Wei's emotions were more complicated, because Alisson's save meant that Manchester United was closer to being eliminated: "Alisson's save was really crucial! It can be said that this was Manchester United's best shooting opportunity in the second half, but Gundogan's shot was blocked by Alisson!"

………………

After making a crucial save, Alisson got up from the ground, waved his fist vigorously and roared.

The Liverpool players who were stunned when Gundogan shot just now finally reacted at this time.

They were saved by Alisson again. Someone gave him a thumbs up, and Koulibaly simply threw himself on him and gave him a big hug.

Huge cheers rang out over the new Wembley Stadium, these were the Liverpool fans' celebrations after surviving the disaster.

As for those Manchester United fans who were ready to cheer, their cheers were blocked by Alisson.

There was also an outcry on the Internet.

"He is truly worthy of being the man who can beat Ederson to secure the position of the Brazilian national team's main goalkeeper! This save and this reaction are absolutely amazing!"

"Alisson is awesome!"

"Saint-Alison!"

"Bruno was unlucky to run into Alisson... If Liverpool were to focus on defending, it would be very difficult for Manchester United to score..."

"Liverpool is indeed strong, with Salah on the offensive end and Alisson in front of the goal. Both of them performed superbly today, and it's time for Liverpool to win a championship!"

"Think about it, Liverpool has been pretty miserable in recent years. The team is so strong, but they always fail to win the championship..."

"It's not just Liverpool, isn't it the same for Manchester City? And Chelsea, they're not doing bad either..."

"I can only say that Manchester United is too strong! You know, they have not only dominated the Premier League in recent years, but the Champions League has not escaped their clutches either..."

………………

The TV was replaying the previous attack and defense, but this time, the focus was on Alisson.

Through this set of shots, everyone can clearly see how Alisson made this save.

In fact, when Bruno took the ball with his back to the goal, Alisson's body tensed up and he lowered his center of gravity, like a cheetah that has already set its sights on its prey and is ready to jump out of the grass at any time.

Then, at the same time that Bruno used his heel to knock the ball directly to Gundogan, he had already decisively abandoned the goal and rushed towards the ball.

His reactions are quicker than any other Liverpool player.

It was precisely because of his early attack that he was able to get to Gundogan the moment Gundogan shot.

At that time, he had basically blocked all of Gundogan's shooting angles, and the football could basically not fly away.

Seeing that Gundogan's shot was saved by Alisson, Bruno spread his hands behind him and patted his hips helplessly.

His pass was really excellent, and Gundogan's forward run was also very active and sudden. Every aspect of his passing, running and shooting was impeccable, but he just couldn't break through Alisson's defense, so he could only express helplessness.

Gundogan was even more disappointed than him. When he saw the football being blocked, his knees went weak and he fell to the ground. Then he held his head with his hands, looked up at the sky, speechless.

When Bruno passed the ball to him, he really thought he would shoot the ball into the goal and keep a glimmer of hope for the team.

But this was a goal that was almost certain to be scored, but it was blocked.

If he kicked the ball a little higher, or if he rubbed it with a "scoop", would it be able to bypass the defense and fly into the goal?
………………

"It's such a pity that Gundogan didn't score this goal... I hope the Manchester United players will not be affected by this goal..." He Wei said worriedly.

But in fact, he believed that if the ball did not go in, it would almost certainly affect Manchester United's confidence and morale.

In the situation just now, no one can be completely unaffected, unless they are emotionless robots.

This is indeed the case. All Manchester United players, including Bruno, were in a brief moment of confusion.

However, Bruno had experienced countless big scenes after all, and he quickly woke up from the blow of loss. He walked up from behind, put his hand on Gundogan's shoulder, and said in his ear: "It's okay, Ilkay."

Then he raised his head and raised his voice to say to his teammates in and outside the penalty area: "At least this ball proves that their defense is not impeccable! There is still time, the game is not over yet, keep working hard!"

He clapped his hands and shouted to his teammates: "Come on! Come on!"

(End of this chapter)