Chapter 26 The Champions League is off to a dark start

Manchester United's day's holiday was soon over and the squad was ready for the game.

After an important league game against Liverpool, Manchester United have won five consecutive league games to remain at the top of the table. Manchester City, on the other hand, beat Crystal Palace 1-0 away and are second in the standings with five consecutive league wins.

In third place is Leicester City, tinkerer Claudio Ranieri's side continue their unbeaten run this season, beating Aston Villa 3-2 at home to move them to 11 points and third in the league.

The fourth-placed team is Arsenal, with three points from a 2-0 home win over Stoke City, Arsenal's points have also climbed to 10 points, temporarily ranking fourth.

Chelsea lost again, with Jose Mourinho's side beaten 3-1 away at Everton, leaving Chelsea completely on par with last season's champions, with a sluggish attack and a loose defence. Chelsea have lost three of their league games after five league games this season, let alone the title race, and Chelsea even have to think about relegation – they are now fourth from bottom in the league and have not dropped into the relegation zone because they have not conceded as many goals as Stoke City.

Of course, no one believes Chelsea will be relegated at the moment, but there is no doubt that Jose Mourinho's side are definitely in trouble.

That's why the media is all around Chelsea.

For Carlo Ancelotti, the drop in media attention for Manchester United is undoubtedly a good thing. Because he can train with the team in a quiet environment.

Manchester United's next game is to travel to the Netherlands to face PSV Eindhoven.

Having just finished a big game, and this game is away from home, the quality of the opponent should not be underestimated, and this game is undoubtedly a test for Manchester United.

After knocking out Club Brugge in the Champions League qualifying round, Manchester United qualified for the main stage of the Champions League. The draw for the Champions League also ended in the last two weeks, but it was an international break at that time, and Li Qingshan did not pay more attention.

Manchester United have been drawn in Group B as the second team in Pot 2, along with Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven, Russian Premier League side CSKA Moscow and Bundesliga side VfL Wolfsburg. This group is neither good nor bad for Manchester United, with the trip to Moscow undoubtedly the most difficult, but the other two teams' away journeys, whether to the Netherlands or Germany, will not be easy for the Reds either.

Of course, this group is much happier than Manchester United's local rivals, Manchester City, who have been placed in Group D this time with Juventus, Sevilla and Borussia Monchengladbach. There is no doubt that this is a group of death.

The ideal group is of course the reigning Premier League champions Chelsea, with Jose Mourinho's side in Group G, along with Porto, Dynamo Kyiv and Maccabi Tel Aviv. In terms of hard power, Chelsea are undoubtedly the dominant strength in this group, but if you take into account Chelsea's poor form in the last month or two......... The possibility of them capsizing in the gutter is not out of the question.

Arsenal are up against Bayern Munich again.

Arsene Wenger's side seem to have had little luck in the Champions League. Bayern Munich and Barcelona have always been Arsenal's nemesis. Arsenal either met either of these two teams in the group stage or in the round of 16.

However, Arsenal's Group F includes Olympiacos and Dinamo Zagreb in addition to Bayern Munich. Arsenal should have no problem qualifying, but if they finish second in the group.... The odds of them running into Barcelona are really too great......

.........

Manchester United arrived in the Netherlands a day early and didn't have more time to adapt.

There is only three days between this game and Liverpool, and it is an away trip to the Netherlands. It's no wonder Carlo Ancelotti was struggling with the FA's league schedule ahead of the game.

'I think the FA should be thinking about the teams that are playing in Europe, because we just got off a crucial league game and then we have to fly to the Netherlands and my players don't have time to rest and recover. Ancelotti said.

Not just Carlo Ancelotti, but many of the coaches who have managed in the Premier League have complained about the schedule. In the eyes of the FA, there seems to be no such thing as a team that needs to play in European competition. This has been a problem for many teams that have to play in European competitions.

In fact, in the game, the whole Manchester United team did seem quite unexcited, and their enthusiasm for running was not high.

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that they haven't fully recovered their physical fitness.

PSV Eindhoven, on the other hand, played at home, with a very aggressive run and a very simple pitch of attacking passes.

In the 26th minute, United finally conceded a goal.

PSV Eindhoven's Lestieni crossed from the left corner, and Moreno's header hit Smalling's head and flew into the net.

PSV Eindhoven leads 1-0!

The Reds then bled together and prepared to fight back, but the whole team was not in good shape in this game.

Li Qingshan retreated to receive the ball and distributed the ball to the right side, but Valencia's cross flew high off the sideline on the other side, and Li Qingshan had no chance to fight for the top at all.

'The whole team didn't look out of shape, they made too many mistakes. Perhaps this was due to the fact that they had just played a high-intensity game, and the United players were a little sluggish when they ran. The narrator said.

Until the end of the first half, United were unable to equalise.

At the start of the second half, Carlo Ancelotti was about to make a substitution. Juan Mata was substituted for Nani.

Juan Mata didn't feel good in this game either, he hasn't fully recovered yet.

Nani came on full of energy and ran aggressively, and his break-through on the flanks was quite a threat. It's just that the feeling of the cross never came out.

However, Li Qingshan's performance was positive, and he finally seized a corner kick opportunity in the 80th minute to score a goal to help his team equalize.

However, towards the end of the game, PSV Eindhoven scored another goal thanks to a counter-attack.

Two to one!

When the referee blew for the end of the game, United suffered their first defeat of the season and the opening of the Champions League.

Defeat in the first group game of the Champions League has cast a shadow over Manchester United's prospects in the Champions League this season.