With the referee's whistle, Manchester United, who kicked off first, immediately launched an attack on their arch-rival's goal.
After receiving the ball, Carrick spotted an opportunity and sent a long pass directly to Rooney up front.
David Luiz got there first and headed the ball clear over Rooney's head, but Manchester United's entire formation pushed high, crossing the halfway line and applying intense pressure on Manchester City.
This immediately turned into a scramble in the space between Manchester City's half and their penalty area.
Although Gao Shen had mentally prepared for this, he was still surprised by the intensity.
"This old man's really decided to go all in, hasn't he?" Gao Shen said with a wry smile.
Carlo, Lucas, Sarri, and the others all understood his relationship with Ferguson. Before the match, Gao Shen had even sent a box of wine to Ferguson.
Even though he tried to keep it low-key, he was still "accidentally" photographed by ever-present reporters.
"He just wants to dominate the opening," Sarri analyzed.
It was actually quite a desperate move.
Just watching how Manchester United started, you could see that while Manchester City tried to control possession, United didn't care for it. They simply launched it forward when there was an opening, and when there wasn't, they passed back to reorganize. But the ball looked like it was burning their feet, gone the moment they touched it.
Of course, you could also say this was due to City's pressing and pressure.
At the very least, in City's attacking third, the front three of Gareth Bale, Suárez, and Robben pressed hard and relentlessly.
Among them, except for Robben, the other two were physical monsters capable of running full throttle for ninety minutes, covering twelve to thirteen kilometers, and even sprinting in the dying moments.
Especially Gareth Bale.
The first 80 minutes were just his warm-up.
Now ask yourself, how do you go up against a team like that?
You can sit back and defend, give City the ball. But whether or not you can actually hold them off is one thing. Even if you do, City's energy efficiency is far superior. By the end, you're bound to be in trouble.
So Ferguson's choice was really born of necessity.
There's nothing you can do when you're technically inferior.
Gao Shen walked to the touchline and signaled to Javi Martínez to watch Sneijder closely.
As long as Sneijder was blocked, United could only go wide or rely on long balls.
Ferguson was bold, going high from the start.
Just a minute and a half into the game, Lass Diarra and Sneijder had already pressed into Manchester City's box, forcing Neuer to clear long.
The match quickly turned into a back-and-forth affair, with most of the play taking place in City's half.
In the third minute, Manchester United got a real chance to break into the box. Valencia used his speed on the right to get past his man and delivered a low ball into the right side of the area for Rooney.
When Rooney received the ball, he was under pressure from David Luiz and had to turn to shield it. When he tried to lay it off for Sneijder, he mispassed and Javi Martínez cleared it.
This exposed a key issue United currently faced.
Rooney's passing under pressure wasn't stable enough, making it hard to connect midfield and attack.
But with Berbatov on the field, it would be even worse. That cool guy could go the full 90 without breaking a sweat and should not be used lightly.
"Ferguson must really miss Benzema," Gao Shen said with a grin.
There were indeed rumors that United were trying to bring in the underperforming Benzema from Real Madrid. The French striker had fallen out of favor under Mourinho and saw limited game time. Mourinho preferred Adebayor.
Mourinho even compared Benzema to a cat, saying he lacked aggression.
Whether that was provocation or conflict, Benzema really looked like he might leave.
…
In the first five minutes, Manchester City didn't even get into United's penalty area. They were completely blocked out.
What's worse, it didn't look like that would change anytime soon. United were truly throwing everything into it.
Ferguson's attitude was even more determined than Gao Shen had expected. That relentless drive to score made United utterly fearless on the pitch.
City's attack was slow to get going, but Gao Shen had given his instructions before the match, so the players weren't panicking and stayed calm. This had become a hallmark of Manchester City this season. They were starting to develop real composure.
Media and fans had another word for it—dominance.
In response to United's pressure, City's approach was simple. On the left, they didn't bother dealing with Park Ji-sung. Robben contained Evra.
The Korean was brave and decent defensively, so Gao Shen didn't take him too seriously, nor was he worried about Lichtsteiner's side.
If Nani were subbed in, then things might get tricky.
Valencia on the right tried to break through with off-the-ball runs. But in the first five minutes, he was caught offside twice.
Both the Ecuadorian winger and Ferguson were speechless.
The moment a long ball came over, he was offside. Seriously, how is he supposed to play like that?
Fabio was active too, constantly pushing forward.
But United's center forward still couldn't connect.
As Gao Shen had said, Rooney was excellent, but it was still tough for him to act as a lone striker in a 4-3-3.
Seeing the situation settle, Gao Shen relaxed a bit. He turned to Sarri and said, "See? When your midfield isn't dominant, a strong center forward is more important than anything else."
Gao Shen wasn't just talking about United, but about his future Leeds United project as well.
He and Sarri had discussed it before. Gao Shen believed that in leagues like the Championship, or even the Premier League, when you can't dominate midfield, having a strong center forward is crucial to the overall strength of the team.
The difference lies in just how dominant that striker is.
Sarri agreed with the view, but in the Championship, which emphasizes physical battles even more than the Premier League, how easy is it to find a striker who's both physically strong and able to coordinate with midfield link-up play?
Rooney isn't that rough, right?
Even with all his ability, in a Champions League semi-final against a side like Manchester City, his passes were still error-prone. If it were someone else, it would probably be worse.
Chelsea is exactly the kind of team Gao Shen was talking about.
Because they had Drogba.
And in today's football, where do you find another Drogba?
"Don't worry. I'll find one for you!" Sarri still remembered Gao Shen promising him that with absolute confidence. He had high hopes.
…
You had to admit, Ferguson was fierce, with an iron will.
From the first minute, United pressed City like mad. They looked like they wouldn't stop until they scored. Even when City calmly settled into their rhythm, United didn't let up, organizing wave after wave of attack.
By the fifth minute, there was no sign of United easing up.
By the tenth minute, still no change.
Even by the fifteenth minute, they didn't back off.
Even the pundits on the sidelines were shocked.
What was Ferguson doing?
He was playing with his life!
Gao Shen had expected Ferguson to come out aggressive, and maybe focus on the early phase, but he didn't expect this level of commitment, this sense that the match would be decided in the opening minutes.
If United scored, City would be in a very tough spot, dealing with United's tight defense and fast counters.
Rooney, Valencia, and Sneijder were ready for that.
On the other hand, if United failed to score, things would be unpredictable.
The worst—and most likely—scenario was that they couldn't break City down and then got hit on the counter.
That would mean Ferguson's tactical plan had completely failed.
Still, you had to respect the courage in his choice.
It fit Ferguson's personality perfectly.
He'd rather die on his feet than live on his knees.
While United continued their intense pressure, City weren't sitting back.
Gao Shen kept adjusting the team, stabilizing the situation, and looking for an opening to strike.
But you had to admit, United were defending very well, with incredible speed.
As soon as they lost the ball, City's counterattack had barely crossed midfield before United had already dropped back.
During a break in play, Gao Shen called Lichtsteiner over from the right flank.
"During counterattacks, if we're not breaking through from the front, you and Filipe take turns going up. Let Bale and Robben stretch the flanks. You cut inside aggressively from the outside."
"Understood, boss." Lichtsteiner nodded and returned to the pitch.
…
The game resumed, and Lichtsteiner quickly passed on Gao Shen's instructions to his nearby teammates.
Manchester City began to make adjustments.
But by now, 20 minutes had already passed.
Both teams had burned through a lot of energy with the high tempo. United, in particular, had pushed hard. All the constant sprinting back and forth started taking a toll, and their pressing slowed slightly.
No team could keep that kind of intensity going for a full 90 minutes.
For United to press like that for over 20 minutes was already a stretch.
But when they lost the ball, they still fell back with lightning speed.
In the 23rd minute, Manchester City seized an opening and launched a quick counter.
Robben carried the ball up the right, cutting inside from about 30 meters out, but was double-teamed by Carrick and Evra and forced to pass back.
Rakitic sent it to David Silva, who tried to play a forward pass to Suárez.
But after receiving the ball with his back to goal, Suárez was quickly surrounded by United defenders and had no choice but to play it back to David Silva, with Rooney also tracking back.
David Silva laid it off to Rakitic to reset the attack, but United's defensive pressure ramped up.
With no options, Rakitic passed back to Javi Martínez, who sent it further back to David Luiz.
All the attention was on the left half of the pitch.
Only Gao Shen, on the sideline, noticed that Lichtsteiner, just in front of him, had quietly crossed midfield and was still charging forward at full speed.
David Luiz saw it!
(To be continued.)