Ground football: Ronaldo thought I was going to assist him

"Denkay and Ronaldo's championship genes are too strong! Manchester United haven't won the EFL Cup in ten years, and Manchester City haven't reached the EFL Cup final in twenty-five years!"

Cristiano Ronaldo's chance for revenge has finally arrived! Who will emerge victorious this time between Sporting Lisbon's two stars?

Isn't this a bit too much of a coincidence?

But it wasn't actually a coincidence.

Manchester United have returned to their peak form this season. While their starting lineup may not be as strong as it used to be, their substitutes in attack are significantly stronger.

This led to them playing better in the EFL Cup when they rotated their squad.

Manchester City, a mid-table Premier League team, has given up on the league and focused on cup competitions, so this result is not surprising.

Therefore, both sides have a valid reason for meeting.

January 25th, FA Cup fourth round.

Manchester City fielded their strongest lineup and secured a 2-1 victory over Millwall at home, advancing to the next round.

Although the score wasn't lopsided, the game was actually one-sided.

Millwall didn't have many decent chances throughout the game.

Manchester City, on the other hand, unleashed a barrage of 40 shots.

Unfortunately, my foot condition is really bad.

January 29th, the 25th round of the English Premier League.

Manchester City will host Fulham.

Deng Kai completed another hat-trick of goals, dominating the game.

Manchester City continued to defend their home ground glory with a 4-1 victory.

February 1st, the 26th round of the Premier League.

Manchester City will host West Bromwich Albion.

Despite playing at home, Manchester City still made minor rotations to prepare for the EFL Cup final two days later.

In this match, Deng Kai contributed a goal and an assist, helping Manchester City narrowly defeat West Bromwich Albion 2-1.

Manchester City have now won five consecutive matches across all competitions!

This is one of their rare moments of brilliance this season.

Manchester City's rotation in the league undoubtedly demonstrates their determination for the EFL Cup.

In contrast, their city rivals Manchester United fielded their full-strength squad in the 26th round of the league.

Because the competition between Manchester United and Arsenal in the league is about to enter a heated phase.

Manchester United currently have 53 points, trailing Arsenal by 3 points.

Manchester United certainly wouldn't dare to relax.

Therefore, they had no choice but to sacrifice the EFL Cup.

The lineups for the 26th round of the league basically foreshadowed the lineups for the EFL Cup.

Because Manchester United cannot afford to have their key players play two games in three days.

So when Manchester United beat their league opponent 2-0, Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored twice, let out a very unwilling roar at the camera during his celebration.

The camera then focused on Ferguson.

Ferguson wasn't unhappy at all, because he knew that the roar meant Ronaldo had accepted Ferguson's arrangement.

February 3rd, the day of the EFL Cup final.

This morning, Manchester City announced their lineup for today:

Baggio, Fowler, Ribery

Duncan, Essien, Touré

Grosso, Chiellini, Hierro, Maicon

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All the elite troops were deployed.

Shortly after, Manchester United also announced their match lineup:

Diego Fran, Danny Weber

Jimmy Davis, Fletcher, Veron, Stewart

Kieran Richardson, Brown, O'Shea, Roach

Butters

This lineup is very unfamiliar to everyone.

Barthez is the only absolute key player for Manchester United.

Veron, Forlán, and O'Shea are key rotation players.

The others are either youth academy players or simply the fourth or fifth substitutes.

A reporter immediately questioned Ferguson: "Did you give up on the League Cup title? That's a trophy! Is this how Manchester United treats the game?"

Ferguson seemed somewhat helpless about this: "In the league, our competition with Arsenal is very intense. Between the Premier League and the EFL Cup, this is the only choice I have."

"Furthermore, we made it to the Champions League Round of 16. Our opponents in the second group stage were Juventus, Deportivo La Coruña, and Basel, who eliminated Liverpool."

Do you think we can afford to be distracted?

"Or rather, do we even have the right to be distracted?"

"Of course, I hope everyone doesn't underestimate Manchester United's academy players. They are all very good, and we have produced golden academy players like the Class of '92."

"I hope no one underestimates Manchester United's youth academy!"

On the Manchester City side, Duncan also gave high praise to Manchester United's squad: "This team has many potential players."

"Davis, Fletcher, Webber, Roach... Premier League fans are very familiar with their names."

"And Forlán is capable of taking on the role of starting center in any team."

"We will not underestimate this Manchester United team, nor do we have the right to underestimate anyone!"

Jimmy Davis, standing next to Ferguson, was quite excited after hearing that Duncan had mentioned him.

He knew his chance to become famous overnight had come.

Or rather, this presents an opportunity for Manchester United's youth academy to rise in their area.

but……

This generation of Manchester United youth academy graduates is a tragedy.

Because from the back, almost none of them managed to score.

The biggest reason is that their peak period overlapped with that of the Class of '92 players, and they didn't get enough games during their best development period.

Another reason is that, due to Manchester United's strength, their opponents are also very strong.

These academy graduates, in their limited playing time at Manchester United, often face very strong opponents.

For example, the Manchester City team right in front of us.

This is the team that caused even the peak Manchester United to suffer a crushing defeat at Maine Road. If you let a bunch of kids play against them, they are very likely to be crushed.

Once confidence is destroyed, a genius ceases to be a genius.

Therefore, these players should take advantage of the good fortune of the Class of '92 and go to other teams to make their mark. Anyone who stays here is just waiting to die.

amount……

Speaking of which, Davies is a player who cannot leave Manchester United.

Because if the timeline hadn't changed, he would have been loaned to Watford next season, where he was killed in a car accident at the age of 21.

……

Millennium Stadium, Wales.

Because Wembley Stadium is undergoing renovations, this year's EFL Cup final will be held at this stadium.

There were 75,000 spectators in attendance at the match.

This will be England's first champion this year.

The match officially began with the players from both sides entering the field.

Third minute.

Davis faked out Deng Kai and then delivered a cross.

Fran's header went slightly over the bar.

Tenth minute.

Baggio made a rare dribbling breakthrough, shaking off Veron and delivering a cross, proving he's still got it.

Deng Kai arrived just in time and broke the deadlock with a long-range shot that found the net.

One to zero!

Manchester City took an early lead.

This Manchester United midfield doesn't look too bad.

The team features the brilliant Davies, the well-rounded Stewart, the defensive stalwart Fletcher, and the former Serie A best midfielder, the White Wizard Veron.

However, Fletcher's positional awareness was terrible, and the rest of the players were all strong offensively but weak defensively.

Deng Kai's kick was too easy.

Seventeenth minute.

Peron made a call to Fran and connected with him.

Fran received the ball and unleashed a powerful shot to score.

But before the Manchester United players could even celebrate, the referee blew his whistle to disallow the goal.

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