In late April, Jiang Feng appeared in Manchester again. His team had reached the most critical time to win the championship.

In the Champions League, Manchester United has eliminated the Ligue 1 champion Lyon and entered the semi-finals. In the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals on April 22, Manchester United defeated the semi-final rival La Coruña 2-0 away, and entered the Champions League final this year at the Offschalke Stadium in Gelsenkirchen, Germany with half a foot. Because in the second leg of the semi-finals on May 5, the possibility of their victory was almost zero, even more than two weeks ago, they had a miracle of losing 1-4 in the first leg and eliminating AC Milan with a score of 4-0 in the second leg.

Old Trafford Stadium is now the home court of the devil that is famous all over the world. In this season, in all the competitions that have been held at Old Trafford Stadium (including 17 league games, five UEFA Champions League games, three FA Cups, and three UEFA Cups). Manchester United has not lost any game, with a terrifying 27 wins and one draw, scoring 82 goals, and conceding only six goals.

The games played here are in the shouts of 120,000 home fans at Old Trafford Stadium, no matter how strong their psychological quality is, they will inevitably be affected. Therefore, it is a blessing that La Coruna can not be shaved at Old Trafford Stadium, let alone reverse the gap between the two goals.

In the FA Cup, Manchester United eliminated Arsenal on the fifth of this month and entered the FA Cup final held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, the capital of Wales on May 22.

What Manchester United will face now is the league championship.

Today is April 25th local time in the UK. Thirty-four rounds have passed, and the 35th round is about to usher in.

In the 34 rounds that have been completed, Manchester United achieved an unbeaten record of 28 wins and six draws. With a record of 90, they steadily suppressed Arsenal, who had already completed 35 rounds, also achieved an unbeaten record of 24 wins and eleven draws, and had 83 points.

Moreover, as long as Manchester United defeats their opponents in the next game, they will win the league championship three rounds ahead of schedule. This will be their ninth league championship since its founding in the Premier League.

And their opponents in the 35th round are also very interesting because they are Manchester United's number one arch rival in England - Liverpool.

Manchester United and Liverpool have a long history of grudges, and the game between them is also known as the England Derby.

More than a hundred years ago, in the 19th century when modern football and basketball were not yet formed, horse racing was the first sport in Europe. In 1870, the word "derby" was born in the sports world, and it appeared in horse racing. At that time, in the Epson race in the Shereshi County, Edward Staley, Earl of Derby, Count XII of Derby, referred to "derby" as a horse racing, which refers to a race between two horses who are both 3 years old and weigh the same, with a schedule of 1.5 miles.

In Chinese, derby is translated into "Derby", and there is also the error of pronunciation of the word "Derby". In fact, the British pronunciation of this word is all the sound of "Derby". In Chinese, there are actually many similar errors. Many of them are left behind for a long time because of the convention. In football, for example, leicester, the pronunciation of "Leicester" in British English, and there is also a Leicester Square in central London.

In the 21st century 130 years later, the Epson horse racing continued, but when people heard the "derby" again, it was already on the football field, and the "derby" at this time was also extended to the confrontation between football geographically or neighboring teams.

There are London derby, Manchester derby, Birmingham derby, Northern derby, South Coast derby, etc. There are Roman derby, Milan derby, La Liga derby, Madrid derby, Barcelona derby, and Munich derby in the Bundesliga.

Visiting ancient times in the British football world, if you don’t understand the profound meaning of the derby, you will lose the most primitive understanding of British football. British football originated from the industrial age, and various clubs formed by various regions may form hostile relations due to regional differences, such as Manchester United and Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal.

Manchester and Liverpool are only more than 40 miles apart. While working in the UK, I lived in Liverpool the following year. I often went to Manchester for interviews and could reach two stadiums in Old Trafford and Maine Road within 40 minutes. After Manchester City moved in the summer of 2003, the new Manchester Stadium was only 50 minutes away from Liverpool. A highway M62 connects the two cities together.

However, such a close neighbor is two completely different cities, and two absolutely opposite cities. Opposing hatred accumulates year by year, and the best way to resolve peacefully is to see the heights on the football field.

Liverpool is famous for its harbours. In our history books, it also records many of the city's disgraceful history. For example, Liverpool's early success includes the sale of cheap labor such as African slaves and Chinese "piglets". From the perspective of residents' structure, Liverpool is an Irish immigrant city. It is very convenient to take a boat to Dublin in Ireland and Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, for the first time. Therefore, in religion, Liverpool is a Catholic city, not most cities in the UK.

Likewise, the beliefs are mostly Protestant Anglicanism. The difference in religion is that the fierce historical conflict between Catholicism and Anglicanism in British history always makes other British people look at Liverpool people differently. Liverpool people cherish their cultural background very much, and even their accents are very different from those of other British people, which are mixed with many Irish and Scottish accents, which makes Liverpool people seem quite alternative among British people. British English also has the proper noun for "Liverpool people" and the proper term for scouse.

With a rare cultural tradition and unique geographical location, Liverpool had a very special position during the industrial period: as the most important port in northern Britain, it was the only way for the British Empire's industrial products and materials from various colonies to enter and exit. An extremely busy harbor was transporting and labour from all over the world every day, and then the Mersey River and the canal built in the 18th century lead to Manchester, Birmingham and northern Scotland.

Manchester is a traditional international city, absolutely loyal to the Queen and proud of the people of the British Empire. During the Industrial and Commercial Period, Manchester won the reputation of "world factory" for its great textile industry.

Compared with Liverpool's social form where merchants and transport owners constitute the main body, Manchester is a pure industrial city that works hard, and a large number of working classes constitute their social subjects. Simple, low-key and solid are the characteristics of this labor city. For traditional Manchester people, all prosperity is created through hard work with both hands. Their living habits are similar to those of the Puritans, so Manchester people have no favoritism for Liverpool businessmen who do not work on the surface and have flashy living habits.

In terms of climate, Manchester is the most changeable city in the UK. It is very common to have three or four rains in the same day and enjoy three or four sunlight at the same time, so that Scott uses Manchester weather to describe a woman's mentality. Liverpool is close to the ocean, and the climate is more stable than Manchester.

Liverpool is famous for its bars, just around the city center, with nearly 300 bars. Every weekend, many British and Europeans come to the bar for weekends because of their unique music and humor. Regardless of the cold and heat, Liverpool girls will wear sexy evening gowns to go to the bar on weekends, which has also formed a grand scene in Liverpool. There was once a saying that Liverpool girls are so amazing. Even on Christmas, they will wear bikini to go to the bar. This sentence may be a bit exaggerated, but Liverpool’s bar culture can really make people think a lot.

There are also many bars in Manchester, but when you walk on Oxford Road in the city center on weekends, you don’t feel the joy and relaxation of Liverpool’s weekend bars, but you have to worry about the slag of wine bottles on the street, or the drunkards who complain in a dark corner. The bars here are always places for the working class to relax and vent after work, simple and dull. In Manchester, there is always a kind of tribute to the past glorious years and a kind of sadness that is desolate and helpless.

Even with music, both cities have a confrontational side. Liverpool is considered the birthplace of rock music because they have the great "Beatles", Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr from the basement of the "Crouch Bar" in the heart of Liverpool, and they are also avid football fans.

Manchester's modern music started a little late, but since the 1970s, it has gradually become another important center of rock music and has also had a global influence. However, Manchester's rock heavy metallic colors are stronger and more cynical. Even today, when it is highly commercial, you can still hear some inner despair from the screams of "Oasis". In the band Oasis, there are loyal Manchester City fans and fanatical Manchester United fans.

The opposition of religion, the opposition of social groups, the opposition of industries, the opposition of customs, and the opposition of music and culture constituted the complex relationship between Manchester and Liverpool. In the medieval era, political derbys such as Lancaise and Yorkshire could be resolved through war. In modern society, the derby war between cities took place on the football field.

Every Liverpool fan, whether Liverpool or Everton, hates Manchester United. They themselves can't explain the reason, but they have hated them since childhood, perhaps because Manchester United is too big and successful, or because of the resentment of the confrontation over the past century. What makes Liverpool people most disgusted is that Manchester United players and coaches have a unique temperament: they are the best, and they are not humble at all. They always want people to know that they are the best. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to Piaotian Literature Registered Members to recommend this work. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
Chapter completed!