April 3, 2007, evening.

The heavy rain in Milan City fell all day and never stopped from morning to night.

Even though the drainage system of Meacha Stadium is very complete, the venue is still very slippery.

Tonight, in the heavy rain, the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals knockout match is being held here, with Inter Milan hosting the focus of the Red Devils and Manchester United at home.

Before the game, both sides had proposed to postpone the game, but UEFA considered it over and over again and did not agree.

Therefore, the two sides can only engage in this water battle in the heavy rain.

Michael Carrick hates playing in such weather, the ball is wet and slippery and difficult to control.

In this game, he was Manchester United's main midfielder and partnered with Fletcher.

In front of them, Giggs on the left, Alan Smith on the middle, Saha on the right, and Rooney on the single striker.

Behind him were Heinzer, Ferdinand, Brown, Gary Neville, and goalkeeper Foster.

Ferguson blew up smoke bombs before the game, and it was publicized that many main players were injured and absent, and they could not catch up with the game at all. But in fact, all of them, including Fletcher and Saha, appeared.

Only Scholes was suspended for three games and missed the game.

Inter Milan, who plays at home, also sends out all the main players, with goalkeepers Cesar, defenses such as Evra, Cannavaro, Vidic and Macon, and Cambiaso dragging behind the midfield, Yaya Toure and Peron are ahead.

The frontcourt trident is a combination of Cristiano Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic and Adriano.

Inter Milan is strong and Manchester United plays away again, so the Red Devils are still focused on stability in the first leg.

At the beginning of the game, Inter Milan launched an offensive.

After Cristiano Ronaldo received the ball on the left, he faced Gary Neville and tried to hit the ball with his heel. The venue ended up slipping. The Portuguese directly knocked the ball to Gary Neville in his performance.

Gary Neville sent the ball to Carrick's feet, but as soon as the English midfielder received the ball, the opponent's black midfielder Yaya Toure was approaching, which surprised Carrick and quickly passed the ball back to the defense line.

It was raining heavily and vision was greatly hindered.

Everyone in the stadium, including the referee, has long been soaked in a drop of soup.

Carrick wiped the rain from his face and looked at the flashing figures in front of him, feeling very unreal.

But Inter Milan didn't give him much time to think about it. Less than a minute later, Inter Milan, who grabbed the ball again, launched another offensive, and still passed it to Cristiano Ronaldo on the left.

But this time, after Veron received the ball, he passed the ball directly from a medium to long distance, directly behind Manchester United's defense line.

Cristiano Ronaldo quickly penetrated behind, crossed Brown and received the ball and shot directly.

But I don’t know if it was affected by the heavy rain, but the Portuguese’s single kick didn’t hit the ball right and slid out of the far post.

"Hey, guys, cheer up." Captain Gary Neville shouted in the rain.

Carrick also made a gesture to his partner Fletcher, signaling him not to lean too far and pay attention to protecting the defense line.

Inter Milan's opening tactics are very smart and do not blindly pursue passes and controls, but they need offense and efficiency.

In this kind of weather, they choose to use the simplest and most direct way to try to send the ball into the dangerous area, and then rely on the players' personal abilities to create threats.

Carrick wiped his face and looked at the sidelines. In a daze, he saw a head coach wearing a transparent raincoat who was still standing on the sidelines to direct the game, Gao Han.

He admired Gao Han very much because when Gao Han coached Chelsea, he tried to introduce him. The two sides had a telephone exchange. Gao Han told him in person that in time, he would become the best midfielder in Europe, and Gao Han also suggested that he retreat.

At that time, he played for West Ham United in England's second-level English League One.

At that time, Carrick wanted to join Chelsea with great anticipation and wanted to play football under Gao Han, but who would have thought that in the summer of that year, Chelsea suddenly announced Gao Han's resignation and the transfer was declared premature.

But even so, Gao Han was still very graceful and called him personally to explain his difficulties. At the same time, he also encouraged him to continue to work hard and leave West Ham United as soon as possible and go to the Premier League to prove himself.

So Carrick joined Tottenham Hotspur and then came to Manchester United.

When Ferguson invited Carrick to join, he also mentioned Gao Han, so Carrick knew that at least part of the reason why Ferguson relied on him was because Gao Han was famous.

Whether at Tottenham or Manchester United, Carrick never expected that the first time he encountered Gao Han would be like tonight, it would rain so heavily.

Beep!

In the heavy rain, the referee's whistle sounded from the left.

Carrick looked up and walked through the rain curtain and saw Adriano lying on the ground. Manchester United left-back Heinze was explaining something to the referee. Fortunately, the referee did not give the card, but warned him.

Inter Milan's frontcourt free kick opportunity.

"Damn it, beware of their free kicks!" Gary Neville shouted, "Michael."

"I'm here." Carrick ran over immediately.

He knew that the captain was calling him to go over and arrange a wall of people.

Everyone knows Inter Milan's free kick skills. This area is not far away, but not near, and direct shots or cooperation can create a threat.

As it turns out, Inter Milan also lined up two free kick masters, Peron and Adriano.

One left foot and the other right foot are both like covering, but they are so real.

"Be careful." Carrick turned around as if he was facing a great enemy and shouted at his teammates in the penalty area.

The man wall was laid out, and the Inter Milan players did not hesitate at all. The two players started at the same time. Adriano shot with a fake shot. Veron's right-footed free throw crossed the man wall and fell into the penalty area.

Yaya Toure grabbed the first landing point in the penalty area, but the ball was too slippery and he volleyed and directly shot an anti-aircraft gun.

The Ivorians squatted in the penalty area with regret and looked very depressed.

Manchester United is like a survivor.

In three minutes, Inter Milan had already created three shots, but Manchester United's defense could not even block it.

If it weren't for this heavy rain that caused their ability to seize opportunities to decline a lot, then Manchester United might have conceded the goal now.

What a horrible team!

Time passed by minute by minute, but Inter Milan's opening attack continued.

In the seventh minute, Maikon suddenly inserted and made a cross from the right arc. Ibrahimovic volleyed near the penalty spot, but failed to hit the front part. The ball did not hit the force and fell softly into Foster's arms.

Two minutes later, Evra made a straight pass from the left, Cristiano Ronaldo forced a breakthrough after receiving the ball, trying to bring the ball out of the middle between Gary Neville and Fletcher, but he accidentally slipped. The ball was cut off by Manchester United and made the first threatening counterattack in the game, breaking into the 30-meter area of ​​Inter Milan, but failed to get a shot.

In just ten minutes, Carrick felt like it had been a long time.

Yaya Toure is like a difficult piece of dog skin plaster. As soon as Carrick and Fletcher get the ball, he will get close to you immediately. The kid runs with great power. Although his feet are not dirty, he is very aggressive.

He tried to stabilize the rhythm several times or control the ball, but he failed to get what he wanted.

On the contrary, although Inter Milan was in heavy rain, they still frequently cooperated with continuous passes and receiving balls, and the players' running was also very active, and it seemed that the advantages of the entire midfield were very obvious.

Manchester United failed to play their own pace, and the steals and interceptions during defense were not able to exert their power, but Ferguson did not consider letting the team shrink its defense, but instead hoped that the team could gain a foothold as soon as possible.

This is very dangerous!

Carrick instinctively noticed the crisis, especially when he saw Fletcher and Alan Smith pressing forward to grab the ball, he felt even more palpitations.

"Darren, Alan, don't chase the ball and grab it, pay attention to standing firmly." Carrick reminded.

Manchester United's ability to run without the ball is obvious to all, but it depends on which team it is for.

When encountering a team like Inter Milan, chasing the ball is an irrational behavior, because even in heavy rain, their pass control can still make it difficult for Manchester United to press and interception to exert its power.

On the contrary, if the Red Devil himself cannot get it, he will easily get angry and lose his position without consuming physical energy.

They pressed on it, and Carrick could still stand in front of the defense line to protect?

Seeing Alan Smith pressing up and trying to force Cambiaso, Fletcher also followed immediately and was ready to make up for the robbery at any time.

Seeing them like this, Carrick thought about the distance between him and them, and sighed in his heart, and had to follow him.

But at this moment, Inter Milan's central defender Vidic suddenly stopped the ball. Rooney rushed forward and wanted to grab it, but the Serbian central defender suddenly kicked the ball into the frontcourt with a big foot.

In the heavy rain, the ball drew an arc and landed on the right side of the top of the penalty area.

Carrick was slightly surprised and immediately turned around and chased after him.

I saw Adriano blocking Ferdinand with his body at the front of the penalty area and stuck in the best position.

Facing the ball flying from the backcourt, the Brazilian center took a quick step forward, headed the ball and rubbed it directly to the ground on the right.

Carrick was shocked immediately because he saw a blue and black figure rushing towards the middle from the left in the heavy rain, which was Cristiano Ronaldo.

The English midfielder desperately wanted to chase him back faster, but he was so fast.

When Carrick returned to the front of the penalty area, he saw that Cristiano Ronaldo had adjusted, and swung his right foot and directly shot a violent long-range shot from the front of the penalty area.

Carrick was quick to learn and wanted to slide the shovel over to stop it, but it was too late.

Only a bang was heard, and the rain in the surrounding air seemed to have been exploded. Then I saw a round shadow slashing in the heavy rain like lightning in the dark clouds, passing in an instant.

When it appeared again, it had already appeared in the goal behind Foster.

The ball went in like this!

"gallllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll!!!!!!!!!!"

"Just just twelve minutes into the game, Inter Milan took the lead in breaking Manchester United's goal!"

"Ass from Adriano, Cristiano Ronaldo's long shot from the front of the penalty area broke through the Red Devils Manchester United goal!"

"It was a very wonderful, and a very sudden shot."

"Cristiano Ronaldo's shot came very suddenly, and Foster couldn't even react."

"Manchester United starts poorly and concedes one goal first."

Carrick was covered in grass and rain, and he got up from the ground, his eyes were astringent.
Chapter completed!