The first leg of the UEFA Champions League 14 finals was over. Since the next leg was only a week away from the current one, Liverpool and the other teams participating in the Champions League could only adopt a stance of avoiding the competition because they were sandwiched in the middle.
Liverpool were better off. At least they had a huge lead in the league.
After Manchester United played the first leg of the Champions League 14 final against Bayern Munich, they were faced with a battle against Chelsea!
Ferguson was a stubborn old man. Even if he was behind Liverpool by nine points, he still refused to admit defeat. The media, fans, and maybe even the Manchester United players were in despair, but he still refused to admit defeat!
He kept declaring in front of the media that Manchester United still had a chance!
Ferguson rarely bombarded the Football Association's match schedule. Perhaps because he was a veteran, he felt that it was meaningless to go against the Football Association on such matters.
Even if Manchester United's Champions League battle was mixed with what Ferguson thought was a battle for the title and had a life-and-death battle with Chelsea at Old Trafford, Ferguson still hoped that Manchester United could do their job well and defeat the Blues with their strength.
However, on Tuesday of this week, Fleet Street announced the main referee for the match between Manchester United and Chelsea, and it caused an uproar.
Mike Dean, the controversial man in black, was arranged to be the referee for the key match.
Just last week in the game between Burnley and Blackburn Rovers, Dean had "created" a penalty kick.
After the game, the Blackburn Rovers player, Olsen, who admitted that he won the penalty kick by diving, said, "I did it because Dean likes to award penalties (16 penalty kicks in 24 games this season). However, I think he is likely to make another mistake in the game between Manchester United and Chelsea. Maybe he will overcompensate and not award a penalty kick."
Sure enough, Olsen was right!
In the 26th minute of the game between Manchester United and Chelsea, Park Ji-sung dribbled the ball from the right side into the penalty area. Just after entering the penalty area, Zhirkov extended his leg and knocked down "Kimchi Bro," but the referee, Dean, refused to award a penalty kick.
In response to this, The Guardian's live broadcast questioned, "If Dean doesn't think this is a penalty, then why didn't he give Park Ji-sung a yellow card for diving? Not giving out a yellow card and not giving out a penalty kick is too illogical. "
Just as the controversy had yet to subside, on the other side, Manchester United created another problem for Dean.
When Anelka was in possession of the ball in the penalty area, Gary Neville directly knocked down the French striker from the side. Since the Chelsea players did not protest, Dean was happy to let the matter go and avoid another penalty.
Burnley's manager, Lawrence, predicted before the match, "The club has already listed this referee as the one with the worst penalty kick. Maybe Mike Dean will feel that he can't give any more penalties because of this. He might be too timid to blow for a penalty. "
Therefore, when Lampard snatched the ball in the penalty area and knocked down Berbatov at the same time before the end of the first half, Dean naturally did not cross the line.
In the second half, Dean still did not have too many convincing penalties.
During one of the snatches, Ferdinand had already twisted the Frenchman between Anelka's legs. Although Anelka got up to control the ball again, he was pushed and shoved by Ferdinand from behind. Dean turned a blind eye and let Ferdinand "violently" do as he pleased.
However, Manchester United still ended up as the side that suffered a loss.
In the 79th minute of the game, Kalou dribbled the ball in the middle and gave the ball behind him. Drogba was clearly in an offside position, but the assistant referee pressed the side flag firmly under the ground, and Dean did not run to the position at all.
He watched as Warcraft, who was a mile away from his offside position, sent the football into Manchester United's net.
After that, Macheda's goal was also suspected of handball in the eyes of the British media. But in any case, Manchester United ended up losing the game.
Although Park Ji-sung and Anelka each had a penalty kick, the British media pointed out that the situation could not be viewed that way because there was a sequencing issue. If Park Ji-sung's penalty kick had been awarded and Manchester United had tied the score, then the direction of the game would have been completely different.
However, it was a pity that Dean made the wrong calls again and again.
Lampard's cousin, Redknapp, said, "As a player, if you don't run enough on the field, you will lose every chance to get the ball. But isn't it the same for a referee? Dean always runs very little in the game, but he always makes a series of unconvincing penalties. "
Some Red Devils fans directly scolded, "An idiot referee and a retarded assistant referee screwed up the game."
But there was no doubt that Drogba's most controversial penalty kick might have also ruined Manchester United's unrealistic dream of four consecutive championships. Because under the premise of the 38-round league system in the history of the Premier League, there had never been a situation where a team that had lost more than seven games had won the championship.
After the game, Ferguson was furious with the assistant referee's penalty kick, believing it to be an obvious misjudgment.
"What I don't understand is that the assistant referee was standing in front of the ball and there was no one around him to interfere, but he made a misjudgment," Ferguson said bluntly.
"For such an important game, we really need high-quality referees. But today's situation was the complete opposite. The referee's performance was really bad, really bad." Ferguson was furious.
The old Sir Alex's anger could be imagined. He did not care about fighting to the death with Chelsea at this point in time. The more difficult the old Sir Alex, who had experienced great storms and waves, the more he straightened his back and faced the difficulties head-on!
But the referee ruined the game. Not only did Manchester United lose the game at Old Trafford, but they were also getting further and further away from the "championship" that Ferguson had mentioned!
Because Chelsea had overtaken Manchester United in the league table and was one point ahead of Manchester United to become second place in the league!
Finally, when it came to the championship situation, Ferguson was really a little disappointed and lacked confidence.
"There are still five rounds left in the league. We are nine points behind Liverpool. Maybe after tomorrow, this gap will be widened to 10 or 12 points, even if it is only nine points. Considering that we are still one point behind Chelsea, Manchester United is completely at a disadvantage in the championship! But Manchester United still won't give up! "
Ferguson's lack of confidence was because he had recognized the reality, but his tone was still very tough.
The Red Devils and Manchester United would not give up!
As long as there was a theoretical possibility of winning the title, Manchester United would never give up. This was the idea that Ferguson had instilled in Manchester United from the first day he coached Manchester United as a godfather. It was also the Red Devils spirit that kept Manchester United standing under his control!
However, Fleet Street was more realistic. The BBC football commentator released the "Premier League season closing statement" at the end of the game.
"Chelsea's victory at Old Trafford has directly sent Liverpool to the throne of the Premier League! Will Liverpool lose four out of six league games? Impossible! Can Manchester United and Chelsea win all the remaining five league games? Not necessarily!
Who is the champion?
Liverpool! "
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