Chapter 509: Chapter 508: Tigers Devouring Dragon, Do Not Bully the Young and Poor
Ibrahimovic rushed to prevent Barthez from taking the kick.
After getting around Ibrahimovic, Barthez sent the ball flying with a big kick.
Vidic surged out of the penalty area, overpowering Fran to head the football back to midfield.
Blanco also came charging out of the penalty area, heading the football towards the right flank.
Beckham, pressing down on Evra, got to the first drop point.
He knocked over Evra and dashed towards the football, preparing to cross.
Bang!
A leg stretched out, blocking the "muzzle", causing the football to fly directly out of bounds and into the stands on the side.
It was Ronaldo, tracking back in defense.
Peep peep peep!
The head referee blew the whistle three times.
The match ended.
"The match is over! It’s finished!"
"Lisbon Athletic! It’s Lisbon Athletic who have made it into the Champions League final! They have toppled the red dynasty!"
"Manchester United is out! Who could have imagined this outcome before the match!"
"Two minutes! Manchester United played well for ninety-one minutes, but it only took Lisbon Athletic two minutes to destroy everything!"
"The Manchester United players are lying on the pitch, substitute Gary is crying like a child, even more heart-wrenching than Ronaldo was in the eighty-eighth minute."
"Beckham stands with his hands on his hips, sighing, with a hint of bewilderment in his eyes."
"Giggs is gasping for breath, Scholes looks up at the sky, substitute Van Nistelrooy is covering his head with his shirt."
"Following the league title slipping away, being knocked out of both the FA Cup and the League Cup, Manchester United is now out of the Champions League as well. Their performances in all competitions were quite good, but this season they are destined to be empty-handed."
"Ferguson watches the jubilant Lisbon Athletic players, feeling quite pensive. Next season, will he continue to insist on Manchester United’s continental style?"
On the field, the few Manchester United fans, after their initial sadness, began to slowly clap.
The fans of Lisbon Athletic also took a break from their celebrations to join in with applause.
The applause at the venue merged into one.
The Red Devils were conquered.
The first team was defeated by the second team.
The original lost to the clone.
The biggest dark horse in European football this year has emerged.
Deng Kai, as the best player of the game, was interviewed by the media.
Reporter: "You’ve achieved an incredible victory! Congratulations to you all!"
Deng Kai: "Thank you. Indeed, even now we can hardly believe it. Manchester United is very strong, and they had us feeling hopeless at one point."
Reporter: "Ronaldo cried in the eighty-eighth minute. Some people think he is too fragile. What is your view on this?"
Deng Kai: "On the contrary, I think that shows the self-discipline of a top forward. He took the responsibility of the team’s failure to score on his own shoulders, but in reality, neither Scholes nor Giggs, who scored for Manchester United, are typical forwards."
"It is this extreme self-demands that drove Ronaldo to score so many goals. There is no forward at the age of seventeen better than Ronaldo, not in the past, and there won’t be in the future."
"I may have been the best player in this game, but if you look at both matches together, I think Ronaldo was the best player. The three goals he scored at Old Trafford Stadium are the only reason we could advance on away goals!"
"He is the best forward of the season! In the whole world!"
Reporter: "Can you talk about your last goal? It was incredible, the best solo run of the Champions League!"
Deng Kai: "Reina’s pass was great, he understood what I needed and was capable of delivering it. He has always been underrated. Apart from his saves, his footwork is very much capable of helping the team, which is something many people overlook when commenting on goalkeepers."
"By comparison, Barcelona’s focus on developing goalkeepers’ footwork skills is ahead of its time. We owe a lot to Barcelona for being willing to sell Reina to us."
"Without the assistance of this year’s Champions League semi-finalist Barcelona, we would not have made it to the Champions League final!"
"The way I handled the ball for that last goal was by learning from Kaka; he likes to use his head, chest, abdomen, knees—every part of his body—to prepare for the ball early on, aiming for the fastest pace to advance."
"Of course, that move was very dangerous; I felt Silvestre’s studs grazing past my scalp. I must thank Silvestre; for Manchester United, it might not have been the best defensive choice."
"But for me, it perhaps saved my football career. I believe Silvestre could have hurt me if he wanted to. All he needed to do was straighten his leg a bit more... but he didn’t do that."
"Manchester United is great. Not only when they win but also when they lose."
"Just give Ferguson and the current Manchester United players some time, and Manchester United can once again reach the summit of Europe."
Deng Kai was good at giving compliments.
Especially making it up to Silvestre.
If he hadn’t said that, Silvestre could very likely have faced cyberbullying from Manchester United fans, becoming an outlet for their frustration.
That would be incredibly unfair.
Journalist: "So, what’s next? What’s your goal?"
Deng Kai: "I don’t think any team that has made it to the final would aim for anything less than winning the title. We look forward to the showdown with Real Madrid."
Journalist: "Do you think Ronaldo might join Manchester United? Since the last round of matches, this rumor has dominated the headlines. However, as far as we know, Real Madrid seems interested in Ronaldo too."
Deng Kai: "Sorry, we will not discuss any of these topics until the end of this season’s competitions. But I can assure you, Manchester United is closer to Ronaldo than Real Madrid is."
The journalist got excited: "Why? Has Ronaldo already reached a transfer agreement with Manchester United in private?"
Deng Kai shook his head: "Of course not. It’s because we have beaten Manchester United but have not yet defeated Real Madrid."
Journalist: "Is there a possibility that Ronaldo might never join Real Madrid?"
Deng Kai: "We will give Real Madrid the same opportunity."
Journalist: "You are really confident; Real Madrid is considered the team with a higher chance of winning the Champions League than Manchester United this year!"
Deng Kai: "On our journey here, every team we’ve eliminated had a higher chance of winning the title than we did!"
...
Kicker: "Super dark horse! Super last-minute goal! Manchester United pays back the miraculous Eastern power they borrowed from Deng Kai three years ago!"
Bild: "Two goals in two minutes! Lisbon Sporting enters the Champions League final with an aggregate score of five to five against Manchester United!"
Record Report: "The Champions League final, a derby that belongs to Portugal!"
Sky Sports: "Manchester United regrettably defeated! Lisbon Sporting’s miraculous comeback, performing the ’Manchester United moment’!"
The Times: "What goes around comes around, Deng Kai’s comeback! A miss and a shot play Manchester United’s defense like a fiddle, barely escaping the jaws of death!"
Manchester Evening News: "The likelihood of Ronaldo joining Manchester United has greatly increased; Old Trafford needs this top shooter of the year in Europe!"
The Sun Newspaper: "Disaster! My real self has become the clone! Lisbon Sporting uses Eastern Mysticism to devour Manchester United’s season’s fortune to surge into the Champions League! Manchester United agrees to a trade, using ’emptiness in all things’ to secure Ronaldo’s joining!"
Manchester United Official: "We hope Lisbon Sporting can lift the St. Boletus Cup with our blessing!"
It made sense!
With The Sun Newspaper framing it this way, everything became clear.
Manchester United fans were relieved.
No wonder the gaffer insisted on continental tactics this season.
It was intentional not to win the Premier League, a deliberate ’emptiness in all things’.
This was setting an array; it’s called ’Tigers Devouring Dragon’."
Correspondingly, Lisbon Sporting was also arraying on their side, echoing Manchester United from afar, their formation named ’Don’t Bully the Young and Poor’."
