4-0!
The Dark Horse Thrashes Lazio at Home!
That was the headline splashed across the major newspapers after the first leg of the UEFA Cup semi-final.
Nobody had expected the match to become so one-sided.
Yet it did.
The surprise was that the team collapsing was not New Manchester United, but Lazio, who had been widely regarded as one of the favourites to win the competition.
Lazio's performance throughout the match could only be described as disastrous.
The players worked hard, but they never managed to take control of the game.
Afterwards, many Italian commentators agreed that the decisive factor had been New Manchester United's dominance in midfield.
With Redondo on the pitch, his distribution from deep and two incisive passes that tore open Lazio's defence allowed the Red Rebels to control the match.
They went into half-time leading 2-0, and Redondo's contribution had been crucial.
In the second half, Mourinho replaced Redondo, who was unable to continue, with young Italian midfielder Daniele De Rossi.
De Rossi joined Essien and Yaya Touré in a three-man midfield.
It was a system New Manchester United had used on numerous occasions before.
With three midfielders who were all excellent defensively working together, Lazio's attack was completely suffocated.
Already two goals behind, the Italian players gradually lost confidence.
New Manchester United, by contrast, showed no intention of becoming conservative simply because they were ahead.
They continued attacking ruthlessly.
And they received their reward.
A devastating 4-0 victory.
The result forced people to admit that New Manchester United genuinely possessed the quality to win the UEFA Cup.
And with Juninho and Kaká returning from suspension, the team would only become stronger.
Following Lazio's crushing defeat, much of the media focused its criticism on Stam.
Many believed the pre-match transfer speculation had affected his concentration and contributed to his mistakes.
Immediately after the match, reports emerged that Stam was indeed considering leaving Lazio.
His preferred destinations, however, were not New Manchester United, but Juventus and AC Milan.
Mancini's failure to react decisively after Lazio fell behind was also considered one of the main reasons for the heavy defeat.
If he had substituted the ineffective Corradi when Lazio were 1-0 down, or at least made the change at half-time and introduced another midfielder to strengthen their control of the centre, perhaps the defeat would not have become so severe.
They might even have managed to score an away goal.
With Lazio's quality, some Italian observers argued, overturning a three-goal deficit at home would not have been impossible.
But Mancini's hesitation had allowed his team to be torn apart in Manchester.
Mourinho, by contrast, appeared to have complete control from beginning to end.
Whether before the match, after taking the lead, or when making substitutions, every decision seemed carefully planned.
Redondo's withdrawal.
Hleb's substitution.
Every change had a clear tactical purpose.
The match had remained firmly under the Portuguese manager's control.
Tactics had decided the contest.
New Manchester United deserved their victory.
Even the most bitter sections of the Italian media had to admit that much.
All they could do was insist that once the tie returned to Italy, Mancini's side would respond.
They believed a desperate Lazio, backed into a corner, would strike back with everything they had.
But what actually happened?
...
When the referee blew the final whistle in the second leg of the UEFA Cup semi-final, the Stadio Olimpico fell silent.
Even Lazio's most loyal supporters could barely make a sound.
They had spent the entire match urging their team forward.
Lazio had worked hard.
They had fought desperately.
Mancini had even finished the match with four forwards on the pitch, effectively pushing his formation into an extremely aggressive 2-4-4.
But none of it produced a victory.
The scoreboard inside the Stadio Olimpico never changed.
It was 0-0 before the ninetieth minute.
And it remained 0-0 after the final whistle.
Had this been a routine match in La Liga, many supporters might have dismissed it as painfully dull.
Plenty of pundits questioned Mourinho's approach as well.
They believed he had travelled to Rome with only one objective.
A 0-0 draw.
Winning the match had never seemed particularly important to him.
The squad Mourinho announced before the game only strengthened that impression.
Who would have expected him not even to bring Kaká to Rome?
The Italian television commentators were particularly ruthless.
At half-time, they openly mocked New Manchester United's defensive tactics, especially Mourinho's insistence that nearly every player retreat behind the ball.
"I think the best players in the first half have been the two Yaya Tourés."
"Two Yaya Tourés? There's only one on the team sheet. Are you sure you're watching the right match?"
"You think I'm wrong?"
The commentator dramatically pointed towards a replay showing Drogba making an excellent defensive tackle in midfield.
"Look at that. Isn't that Yaya Touré?
"Look at the defending.
"Perfect timing, excellent technique, intelligent positioning.
"He's having a magnificent match."
"That's Drogba."
"Drogba? Really?
"Are you sure?
"Isn't he supposed to be the striker?
"Why is he back here defending like a holding midfielder?"
"Look at the shirt number. That's 11, not Yaya Touré's 19."
"Oh, thank goodness.
"For a moment I thought New Manchester United had somehow managed to put two Yaya Tourés on the pitch.
"But I am certain about one thing.
"Drogba is playing in the wrong position.
"He should be a defensive midfielder.
"Look how good he is there!"
...
After the match, almost every major Italian newspaper criticised New Manchester United for being too conservative.
They argued that the Red Rebels had never seriously intended to win at the Stadio Olimpico.
From the very beginning, they had approached the match with a defensive mentality.
The English media immediately responded.
Their argument was simple.
Italian football had no right to complain about defensive tactics.
New Manchester United had already won the first leg 4-0.
If Mourinho had gone to Rome and ordered his team to attack recklessly, then either he had lost his mind or football tactics had somehow gone backwards.
Several English newspapers suggested that the Italian criticism came mainly from embarrassment.
A team sitting near the top of Serie A had just been knocked out of the UEFA Cup by a club from England's second tier.
Naturally, that was difficult to accept.
The Italian media quickly fired back.
They told their English counterparts to look at the facts.
The UEFA Cup had long since become Europe's secondary competition.
The Champions League was what truly mattered.
And in the Champions League semi-finals, Italian clubs occupied three of the four places.
The fourth belonged to Real Madrid.
Where were the English clubs?
The Italian press then used the Champions League to mock English football.
Serie A clubs, they argued, simply did not care enough about the UEFA Cup.
That was the only reason outsiders such as New Manchester United and Celtic had been allowed to reach the final.
Some newspapers even described it as one of the weakest UEFA Cup finals in history.
Whichever side won, they claimed, would become one of the least convincing champions the competition had ever produced.
England's Champions League performance admittedly gave the Italian media plenty of ammunition.
Three Serie A clubs had reached the quarter-finals.
All three advanced to the semi-finals.
Manchester United, meanwhile, were eliminated in the quarter-finals.
Arsenal and Newcastle had both gone out during the second group stage.
There was no denying the contrast.
But naturally, the English media had no intention of admitting defeat in the argument.
Instead, they began heavily promoting New Manchester United, the only English club still competing in Europe.
The Red Rebels were suddenly presented as the hope of English football.
At the same time, the media produced a seemingly reasonable explanation for the Premier League's disappointing European results.
English clubs struggled because the Premier League demanded more matches, had a more congested schedule, and featured more intense competition than other major European leagues.
There was no winter break.
As a result, English teams often suffered physically after Christmas, especially when competing on several fronts.
Otherwise?
Well, even a club from England's second tier had reached the UEFA Cup final and might even win it.
Imagine, then, how strong the Premier League really was.
...
Ethan had little interest in the argument between the Italian and English media.
As long as it did not interfere with the team's preparation, he did not care how much the newspapers exaggerated things.
From the commercial department's perspective, the more attention New Manchester United received, the better.
The club was already holding discussions with several sponsors.
If New Manchester United won promotion to the Premier League and then defeated Arsenal in the FA Cup final and Celtic in the UEFA Cup final, their sponsorship income would increase significantly the following season.
Ethan had also made another promise earlier in the campaign.
As long as the club secured promotion, regardless of how far they eventually went in the UEFA Cup and FA Cup, every penny of prize money earned from those competitions would be distributed to the players as bonuses.
Ethan would also personally provide an additional promotion bonus.
Another advantage for New Manchester United was the schedule.
Both the FA Cup final and UEFA Cup final would be played after the league season had ended.
That allowed Mourinho's team to focus entirely on their remaining league fixtures, especially the decisive clash with Portsmouth.
There was more good news.
Arsenal, New Manchester United's opponents in the FA Cup final, had already secured European qualification through the Premier League.
That meant regardless of the result at Cardiff, New Manchester United would qualify for the following season's UEFA Cup.
Those developments removed considerable pressure from the squad.
After the second leg against Lazio, Mourinho officially announced that the team's primary focus would now shift towards the league.
New Manchester United had been fighting on several fronts for almost the entire season.
Even so, their performances in the First Division had remained excellent.
Now that they could finally concentrate on the league, many English newspapers described it as terrible news for the rest of the division.
The nightmare was back at full strength.
During an interview, Mourinho finally revealed his target for the season.
He wanted New Manchester United to repeat the brilliance of the previous campaign.
Win the First Division.
Win the UEFA Cup.
Win the FA Cup.
Complete another treble.
"Winning three trophies in consecutive seasons would surely make New Manchester United legendary in the lower divisions," a reporter said.
"If you actually achieve it, what would your target be in the Premier League next season?"
Mourinho smiled confidently.
"A lot of people say the gap between the Premier League and the First Division is enormous.
"They used to say exactly the same thing about the gap between the First and Second Divisions.
"But over the last few years, we've never regarded ourselves as a team whose only objective is survival.
"So if we're in the Premier League next season, avoiding relegation won't be our target."
"Then what will be?"
Mourinho smiled mysteriously.
"You'll find out when the time comes."
Another reporter asked, "What is New Manchester United's response to reports that Stanković and Stam may leave Lazio?"
Mourinho considered the question for a moment.
"They're two excellent players.
"Unfortunately, they won't be joining New Manchester United, which is disappointing.
"But we'll bring in players who are even better suited to us and have greater potential."
"Can you give us any names?" the reporter immediately asked.
Mourinho shook his head.
"Sorry. No comment."
With that, he turned and walked away.
(To be continued.)
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