Ground football: Ronaldo thought I was going to assist him

Cristiano Ronaldo scores a hat-trick in his Old Trafford debut! Manchester United fans spontaneously applaud!

Sir Alex Ferguson applauds Cristiano Ronaldo; is his new summer club emerging?

Thirteen goals to top the Champions League scoring charts! The sixteen-year-old European bronze boot winner is getting stronger and stronger!

Keane and Solskjaer sent off, nine-man Manchester United conceded an equalizer to Sporting Lisbon!

With Pepe and Barzagli suspended, Sporting Lisbon's defense is in serious jeopardy for the next round!

With three away goals in hand, this may be Sporting Lisbon's only chance to advance to the final!

Is the tide turning? Has Sporting Lisbon's winning percentage surpassed Manchester United's? CCTV commentator He Wei disagrees!

The most classic match of this round has been revealed! It's Sporting Lisbon again!

The topic remained highly discussed after the match.

Sir Alex Ferguson was also asked about Cristiano Ronaldo's performance.

He replied, "When any player scores a hat-trick at Old Trafford, he's no longer ordinary. I have high hopes for Cristiano Ronaldo; I believe he has the potential to become a world-class striker."

"Is there any consideration of bringing in Ronaldo? Of course, no team wouldn't want such an excellent striker... I don't think there's any need to worry about the atmosphere within Manchester United. Manchester United's strikers are all very good, and I believe they won't be afraid of competition."

"The final? Of course, I have no doubt that Manchester United will reach the final. Sporting Lisbon did a fantastic job, but the victory will belong to Manchester United. We are fully prepared mentally for the next leg."

"Real Madrid? I don't want to talk about Real Madrid right now. What we should be doing is giving our all in the next game."

Ferguson's response was commendable, expressing Manchester United's confidence without being overly ambitious or giving the impression of carelessness.

Therefore, the vast majority of people still believe that the tide is in Manchester United's favor.

April 27th, the 33rd round of the Portuguese Super League.

Sporting Lisbon vs Benfica.

Sporting Lisbon, who have already secured the Portuguese league title, are once again resting their entire squad.

But they were not criticized after the game.

Because the "li youngsters" played another good game.

Chinese player Yu Shihao scored twice, strongly helping his team to a draw against Benfica.

Benfica exhausted their energy and spirit in the previous round against Porto, and were relatively weak in this round.

April 30th.

The second leg of the semi-final between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich has taken a step forward.

Real Madrid held Bayern Munich to a 1-1 draw, thanks to an assist from the newly crowned Ballon d'Or winner Raul and a goal from the newly crowned FIFA World Player of the Year Figo.

With this, they advanced to this year's Champions League final with an aggregate score of 3-1.

For a time, the Galactic Battleship was unparalleled in its power and might.

That night, Manchester United quietly flew to Sporting Lisbon.

Their morale wasn't high because they were completely out of contention for the league title.

Only Liverpool still has a slim chance.

But once the next round of the league is over, barring any unforeseen circumstances, Arsenal should win the title.

Manchester United's three-peat in the Premier League has come to an end.

If they fail to win a Champions League trophy, then this red dynasty may truly be coming to an end.

No one can be invincible forever. It's already a miracle that this Manchester United team has achieved all these honors, but all miracle creators hope that miracles can last forever.

At least, everyone hopes that the day when the curtain falls will come later.

May 1st.

Both sides subsequently announced their starting lineups.

Manchester United made significant adjustments.

Ferguson set aside his arrogance and brought Manchester United back to a more traditional style of play.

A 4-4-2 formation declared that they were willing to sacrifice everything for the continuation of the dynasty, including Ferguson's dignity.

Van Nistelrooy and Forlán formed a dream duo of centers.

Yorke is on the bench.

Giggs, Scholes, Veron, and Beckham formed a dream midfield.

Breaking through on the left, passing to the right, long-range shots... the only thing this midfielder lacks is defense.

That's the only problem caused by Keane's absence.

If Keane were still in charge, Ferguson would probably have benched Veron, last year's record Premier League signing.

In fact, Manchester United, with its traditional style of play, doesn't really need a midfielder like Veron who is extremely talented in attack.

They need a midfielder who is primarily defensive but also has other roles, or simply a versatile, all-around player.

Veron is a versatile player but has very weak defensive attributes. If his strengths are not brought into play, he will only be a second-rate midfielder.

However, Manchester United's left and right flanks have effectively broken down the team's attacking tasks, leaving Veron with no room to maneuver.

The back line consisted of Phil Neville, Blanco, Silvestre, and Gary Neville.

The goalkeeper is still Barthez.

O'Shea started the last game well, but he started to fall apart after Ronaldo scored.

They were completely outplayed by Ronaldo throughout the match.

It's worth noting that before that match, O'Shea was considered the crown prince by many Manchester United fans.

But after that game, the greatest respect people could show O'Shea was simply not talking about him.

Therefore, once Gary recovers, he will naturally start.

On the other hand, Sporting Lisbon also made significant changes to their starting lineup.

The most unexpected thing is that they actually added a defender to help with the defense because of the decrease in the quality of the defenders.

They continued to use the three-center-back formation.

They even fielded an unprofessional full-back like Maicon as a makeshift center-back:

Cristiano Ronaldo, Didier Drogba

Kaka, Deng Kai, and Ronaldinho

Matthäus, Guardiola

Fonte, Vidic, Maicon

Reina

This has raised questions from the outside world.

But looking at Sporting Lisbon's roster, it all makes sense.

Even Fonte started.

This shows that Sporting Lisbon really doesn't have any more excellent defenders.

Instead of expecting an extra low-level defender, it's better to maintain a high-quality lineup in the midfield and attack.

In the afternoon, Sporting Lisbon fans began to enter the stadium.

Today's home stadium was all green and white, a stark contrast to Manchester United's home ground.

Some fans were holding up banners, while others had paint applied to their faces.

The atmosphere was incredibly lively.

As the capital of Portugal, Lisbon has many residents from other regions who love their hometown teams.

But today, they all wore Sporting Lisbon jerseys and came to this stadium.

Some fans even noticed that the president of a well-known Benfica fan association had come to the stadium to cheer for Sporting Lisbon.

In contrast, Manchester United fans number only a small minority.

Soon, the players from both sides entered the locker room to prepare for the match.

Then, to the stirring strains of the Champions League march, they led the ball boys onto the pitch.

Among them, Deng Kai was holding the hand of his die-hard fan, young football fan B. Fernandes.

Brother B took the lead, his face beaming with pride.

The camera also panned to the stands, where Pepe and Barzagli, both dressed in suits, watched the game with expressions that were even more tense than the players on the field.

I like playing football on the ground: Ronaldo thought I was going to assist him.