Brian Robson led the team to Old Trafford, and if there were Manchester United fans who didn't have anything to do in the evening to watch an FA Cup semi-final, it would definitely be to support Middlesbrough, in addition to Robson being Manchester United's meritorious captain, it is no secret that Manchester United fans hate Millwall.

As the protagonists Aldridge and Robson, when the two greeted each other before the game, the atmosphere was very harmonious, the two chatted for a while, Robson congratulated Millwall on winning the Premier League title, and also cheered for them to hit the European Cup Winners' Cup final next.

Robson was one of the first managers to know Aldridge, and the opponents he knew earlier were basically not able to come to the stage of the Premier League, even in the League Cup and FA Cup, the probability of meeting is negligible.

Aldridge accepted the blessing in a low-key manner, and then the two returned to the dugout, at neutral ground, there was no difference between home and away, but Middlesbrough still occupied the home team's dressing room and the coaching box, which Aldridge did not care, and it was harmless.

Middlesbrough struggling in the league were said to have reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup, and they also participated in the League Cup final, but Robson was defeated by rising star Martin O'Neill.

It's not too surprising, cup competitions are a hotbed of upsets, it's normal for relegated teams to reach League Cup FA Cup finals, and even lower-division teams winning the championship is nothing new.

The competition opens with the sound of gongs under the lights of the Theater of Dreams.

Millwall started the game conservatively, basing their interception ability in midfield to stop Middlesbrough's attack.

The midfield partnership between Juninho and Emerson is actually very reasonable and formidable, with Juninho hailed as the most creative midfielder in Brazil of our time, and Emerson as a defensive midfielder. The two are matched with a reasonable division of labor. Thinking clearly. Coupled with the Pulsatilla Lavanelli, who is a good goal-scoring efficiency, Middlesbrough's configuration is the envy of most teams in the Premier League.

Perhaps they were in a hurry to eat their opponents in one go, and they were a lot worse than expected, at least on paper, Middlesbrough were definitely not the relegation favourites expected before the season.

Coming to the semi-finals, we are one step away from the final, and there are only 180 minutes of competition from the championship trophy. So it's definitely going to be a crucial game.

Aldridge sent a lineup that surprised the pundits in such an important game.

In fact, he is still training today, but not mainly in tactics.

It's about working on the mentality of the team.

He used the "veterans" in the main squad to drive the young players to adapt to the mentality of the big field.

As a strong team, you should be mature and patient, and you should not increase the pressure because of the attention you receive in the game, and then your mentality will be unbalanced.

Let Nedved, Claude Makelele, Gareth Southgate and others press for Frank Lampard. Mills and other players calmly faced the mental support of the game.

In this way, Millwall was not in a hurry to press forward after the opening. They also did not deliberately pursue a fast pace, and even though Middlesbrough had the creative Juninho, they faced Millwall, who had a lot of attacking and defending midfielders, and their attacking formation was cut in an orderly manner, and Juninho commanded the team to attack without threat.

Millwall's attack relies on individual combat ability, Nedved, Phillips, Shevchenko three in the midfield, Lampard or Ballack take turns, because of the outstanding individual ability, one-on-one does not fall behind, Millwall put in less attacking force, but there are many opportunities, but not very lucky, Phillips missed the goal with a few shots.

Aldridge stood in front of the dugout and turned back to talk to Jenson, considering whether to let his players play long balls, but there was no attacking fulcrum ahead.

Just as he hesitated, Millwall scored.

Middlesbrough could not attack for a long time and began to press hard, only to be counterattacked and the gates were lost.

It came from Ballack breaking through the middle on the counter-attack, Nedved caught the eye of Emerson, and Ballack drove straight into the box before giving the ball to Phillips, and the knife was immediately bloodied.

Aldridge smiled wryly at Jenson when he saw the goal.

There's no need to discuss.

It's a good game.

"This goal is probably the epitome of Middlesbrough this season, they have a lot of quality, but once the attack is blocked, their mentality becomes impatient, recklessly pressing, and then being counter-attacked, in the Premier League, they are the seventh most goals scored in the Premier League, but the number of goals conceded is the first in the Premier League, even if their defense can be a little better, I think, they should not fall into the dilemma of relegation."

Middlesbrough tried to hold the defence after conceding the goal.

But what else can you do if you have already conceded the goal?

In particular, Millwall's pace of play today was tepid, there was no obvious change, just patiently looking for the opponent's flaws, and then changing the situation through individual ability in the local area, which made Middlesbrough focus on defending and regretting it after the first half, wasting more than 20 minutes in vain.

Aldridge praised the team's performance in the dressing room, in this kind of knockout game, the exercise of mentality is more obvious, because in the league, you are not in a hurry to attack, if the opponent is not in a hurry, it is completely meaningless, the league draw and points to get, the knockout game is completely different, the stronger side can be more calm, and the game against the weak opponent may not see any meaning, but when playing against the opponent of equal strength, this point will become particularly crucial.

In the stands at Old Trafford, more than 30,000 Millwall fans came to cheer on the team today.

Their frenzied enthusiasm completely overshadowed the worried Middlesbrough fans.

The opposing fans are still worried about staying in the Premier League, while the Millwall fans are more emotionally simple.

The Lions are the reigning champions of the FA Cup, and this season, fans believe that the next most important game is to reach the FA Cup final.

The day before, the other FA Cup semi-final had come to an end, with one team having already secured their ticket to the final.

None other than Millwall's sworn enemy: Chelsea!

Because of this, Millwall's fans roared and cheered on the team from the stands.

Take out Middlesbrough. Go to the final to kill Chelsea's title dream!

Second. Aldridge replaces Shevchenko with Glen Schal. Gattuso replaces Claude Makelle.

The formation remains the same, but the style of play is much simpler and rougher.

Because Middlesbrough will have to press the attack with all their might.

Aldridge stood on the sidelines with a solemn expression.

This is a hurdle to test the team.

The removal of Makelele, a key figure in the defence, is undoubtedly a test of the team's defense.

Gattuso and Makelele are two completely different defensive players, Gattuso relies on his strong physique and running ability, sweeping back and forth, but there is a big gap with Makelele in the prediction of the ball in key areas.

But Gattuso was more imposing. This invisible mental power is also a key quality to oppress the opponent aggressively.

To Aldridge's satisfaction, Gattuso withstood the test, at least with the help of Frank Lampard and Ballack, and he did a great job of defending on the pitch, but it was not enough, and he was still a long way from being able to do it on his own.

Middlesbrough went on a rampage for 20 minutes but was disorganized, and the unthreatening hanging only allowed the ball to fly into Millwall's box only to be quickly flown out of the box.

Mills lobs forward with a long ball from the right.

Frank Phillips, who had already run out of space on the left side of the front, stopped and looked up to the sky and sighed as soon as he started the sprint.

The ball was so outrageous that it went straight to the opposition penalty area, and the Middlesbrough defender stopped the ball and passed it to Juninho in front. The latter, impatiently wanting to attack, just turned around. But he didn't notice that Ballack posted up, cut off the ball directly at his feet, and knocked his heel to Gattuso behind him without looking back, and Gattuso didn't stop the ball and knocked Lampard across.

Frank Lampard took a step and then crossed diagonally down the right flank, where Glen Schar sprinted from the flank to the middle and took the ball down the middle of the pitch as soon as he received the ball, which was a stoppage and a blast of speed, and after smashing into the box, he fired a long-range shot.

Bang!

The ball bounced off the crossbar and the Middlesbrough defenders braked hard and turned to look out of the box, where Phillips appeared eerily and jumped up to volley before the ball hit the ground.

The ball flew into the Middlesbrough goal in an inconspicuous arc, but the goalkeeper did not react.

"The World Wave! Brilliant volleys! That's Millwall's super sub, remember his name, Kevin Phillips! This kick definitely has a chance to compete for the Goal of the Year! Millwall's forward line is too enviable, Aldridge Hall should give Phillips more chances and look at his goal, is this a shot that the average striker can make? ”

Aldridge was covering his mouth with his hands folded on the sidelines, and he was very sorry that Glenschal's long-range shot hit the crossbar just now.

But in the next second, Phillips' stunning volley burst his eyeballs.

Aldrich took his hands off his lips, his mouth remaining O-shaped, forgetting to close them for a long time, as if he couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing.

It wasn't a barb shot, but it felt like a stunt from a football commercial.

Because the ball was hit on the crossbar by Glen Charles first, Phillips did not wait for the ball to hit the ground and volleyed, if there were no other players on the field, this could definitely be used to make an advertisement, especially the flight trajectory of the ball after the shot, directly into the dead corner of the goal, give him a thousand times, ten thousand chances, may not be able to play such a jaw-dropping effect!

The Old Trafford stands were boiling, the Lions fans were jubilant, and even the Middlesbrough fans were applauded after seeing the brilliant goal.

"Why don't you leave him behind. Sometimes it takes a player like him to shoot so many unpredictable shots. ”

The coaching staff also came out to celebrate, and then everyone talked about how wonderful the goal was.

Jenson, for his part, offered advice to Aldrich.

Aldrich's face changed from shock to smile, and then to a wry smile at most.

He also wants Phillips to stay, the opponent's age, the technical characteristics have been formed, but he needs games to maintain his condition, if he can integrate into Millwall's core tactical system, Aldridge will give at least 25 games in the season, but he has never been able to integrate into the team, just like the goal just now, it is not a cooperation between players, but he saves the second offensive opportunity to score by personal ability, it is difficult to maintain a stable scoring rate.

The opponent wants to leave, and Aldridge doesn't want to delay the opponent's future, after all, Aldridge can't bet that every time he uses Phillips, the opponent will repay him with an unexpected goal.

After scoring the second goal, Middlesbrough was slightly disheartened and the players gradually lost their fighting spirit on the pitch.

Because Millwall didn't give them any hope of victory in the first seventy minutes of the game.

They just managed a couple of chances to finish and were unthreatening.

In the end, the score of the game was fixed at 2:0, and Aldridge led Millwall to the FA Cup final for the second year in a row.

Middlesbrough can also focus on relegation. (To be continued......)