Vă aştept gândurile, ranturile sau întrebările pe marginea etapei 33, una care stă în umbra semifinalelor de Cupă. Tabloidele vor umfla derbyul mancunian mutat pe Wembley, făcându-l cel mai important din istorie dar nu trebuie uitat că City şi United au mai jucat o semifinală de Cupă în 1926.
City a bătut cu 3-0, dar avea să piardă finala cu Bolton şi să retrogradeze la finalul sezonului. Era o vreme când „albastrii” şi „rosii” mergeau către Sheffield cu acelaşi tren, făceau caterincă pe drum, se mai şi încăierau, dar rămâneau împreună ştiind că: ‘Tha’ll be slashed to ribbons wi’ th’ gangs at Sheffield!’
Cu Tevez absent, Dzeko şi Balotelli trebuie să demonstreze azi că Mancini n-a cheltuit £52m degeaba. The honeymoon is over, nu mai e loc de explicatii sau scueze. Pentru United e mai degrabă business as usual. John Nicholson spune asa:
I think we take United’s success for granted to the point where we almost blank it out now. We’re so used to them winning trophies that to the neutral fan, there is nothing exceptional or notable about it anymore. But if you pause for a minute and take a look at their 20 year haul, it is incredible by any team’s standards: 11 league titles, probably 12 with this year’s looking already in the bag. It’s amazing. Add in the FA and League Cups and a couple of Champions Leagues too. Incredible.
Even this season when they haven’t always been that good, they have never let their winning spirit flag. They are winners. It comes with the DNA of the club now and if you’re not a winner you won’t last long at Old Trafford. The will to win and the determination to beat your opponents, even if they have better players than you, is what defines them. They just don’t know when they are beaten and no amount of money can buy that. It is ingrained into the character of the players by the club and the manager.
Cealaltă semifinală va avea loc duminică, între Birmingham şi Bolton. Tot duminică se joacă Arsenal – Liverpool.