super storm

Chapter 587 I Believe Him!

The ups and downs of professional players have certain rules.

Liverpool's tactic of scrambling to start this season is very effective. The six-game winning streak in the league and the victory over Sevilla in the UEFA Super Cup are the best proofs. This has allowed Liverpool to lead the Premier League standings from the very beginning.

After six rounds, the Red Army ranked first in the standings with [-] points.

Arsenal, ranked behind Liverpool, only scored [-] points, a full four points behind Liverpool.

After that, Manchester City scored [-] points, Manchester United scored [-] points, and Chelsea scored only [-] points.

The Blues have had an unsatisfactory start to the season, which has also led to rumors that Mourinho is likely to be dismissed because of this.

However, there are advantages and disadvantages to being out of form from the beginning.

The advantage is that the advantages are established first, but the disadvantage is that with the intensive schedule, especially the arrival of the national team and the Champions League, the state of the players will inevitably fluctuate and decline, especially when injuries strike.

After playing Portsmouth, Liverpool's fatigue is already very obvious. If it weren't for Yang Yang's goal in the No. 803 minute, this game might end up being a zero-to-zero draw.

But even so, Liverpool still had to usher in injury reductions after the game.

Xavi Alonso, Riise and Mohamed Sissoko are all set to miss the Champions League midweek and even the weekend's seventh round.

The absence of the three generals has a great impact on Liverpool.

Benitez had to switch to a four-four-two against Porto in midweek.

In the frontcourt, a double striker combination of Yang Yang and Didier Dirk was formed; in the midfield, Pennant, Gerrard, Mascherano and Aurelio were partnered; the defense was Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia and Arbeloa, and Reina was the goalkeeper.

As Portugal's top team, Porto not only has excellent technical ability, but also has a strong ability to pass and control. They even do a good job of pressing and pressing at home. Coach Ferreira has made special arrangements for Yang Yang.

From the very start of the game, Porto attacked Liverpool furiously and created chances constantly.

Especially in the 8th minute, Reina made another mistake in his attack. He threw down Porto striker Sektioy when he was one step late, and was sentenced to death by the Slovakian referee.

Porto took the lead with a penalty kick in 8 minutes.

In the first 10 minutes, Liverpool didn't even have a shot.

The defending champion of the Champions League was forced into such a mess, and the state of the Red Army can be said to have fallen into a collective downturn.

Yang Yang still performed very hard on the court, because he only played half an hour in the league on the weekend, and his physical fitness is still relatively abundant, and his condition is relatively good.

But in front of Porto, especially in the away game, it is difficult for Yang Yang to change the situation alone when Liverpool is in a downturn, because it is impossible for him to change the state of his teammates.

Fortunately, the team's defense is still very well organized. Mascherano is as steady as ever and played a key role in the midfield. This made Liverpool collectively sluggish, but Porto failed to create a threat on the offensive end.

Yang Yang also began to patiently look for opportunities in the front, and at No. 307 minutes of the first half, Aurelio sent a kick pass from the left. Yang Yang quickly advanced and grabbed the ball before Bosingwa.

Driven rushed to catch up, calmly pushed in front of the goal, and sent the ball into the goal, one to one!

But the good times didn't last long. Just 3 minutes into the second half, Pennant unnecessarily tackled the opponent's defender from the side and rear during a frontcourt press. He was shown the second yellow card of the game by the referee and sent off with a red card.

This made Benitez extremely dissatisfied on the sidelines, and the Liverpool players on the court were also hit hard.

The second half has just started, so this is it?
Soon, Benítez had to make substitutions, with Lucas Leiva replacing Didier, Gerrard was pulled to the right, and Lucas Leiva partnered with Mascherano in the middle.

Yang Yang stood in the front alone.

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Seeing a long pass from Liverpool sent to the frontcourt, Yang Yang was double-teamed by two Porto defenders, desperately trying to grab the spot, but he still failed to grab it and returned in vain. When he walked back with a depressed face, in front of the coaching bench of the visiting team, assistant coach Paco Yesterdan shook his head helplessly.

"He was never fit to be at the front."

After the start of the second half, Yang Yang felt very lonely on the court.

He worked very hard, worked hard, and had a strong desire to win, but he fell into a situation where he was alone.

Because Liverpool really can't help him too much.

"It's all that damn red card!" Benitez said through gritted teeth.

The Spanish coach was really angry. When Pennant was off the field, he didn't even walk over to comfort him. He didn't even look at him and told him to go back to the locker room.

Yesterdan nodded. He understood Benitez's situation and his helplessness.

Such an early red card dealt too much blow to Liverpool.

Throughout the first half, Liverpool had only two shots. Yang Yang's assist helped Dirk Dirk to push the goal in front of the goal. It can be said that Liverpool performed very tenaciously.

Every team will usher in peaks and troughs. Liverpool is now in a trough. It is really quite good to have the performance of the first half, but Benitez was eager to reverse his opponent in the second half during the intermission.

But who would have thought that Pennant would get a red card in the first 3 minutes.

In this case, Benitez has few options but to choose to defend.

But in this way, the team's offensive pressure was all on Yang Yang.

"I hope he can bear it." Yesterdan said worriedly.

Benitez grabbed his stubbled lips and chin, nodded vigorously and said, "I trust him!"

There was firmness in his eyes looking at the court.

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Porto has the advantage, but in fact, they don't have many real and threatening shooting opportunities.

Quares was very active on the left in the first half, creating a lot of corner kick opportunities for Porto, but in the second half he suddenly switched to the right, which is Liverpool's left, trying to play Arbeloa's side.

Arbeloa is characterized by balance and stability, without any obvious advantages, but there will not be too many omissions.

There are no chances on the two sides, the lack of a powerful center in the center, and Mascherano sitting at the front of the penalty area, Porto lacks effective penetration in the center, making it difficult for the Portuguese super giants to create threats.

In the past few years, Benitez's training in Liverpool, especially the creation of the defensive system, has been quite successful.

One side is passive, and the other side cannot create opportunities. This stalemate has been maintained.

Time passed quickly, and 75 minutes passed before I knew it.

Liverpool was still suppressed in the half-court, and even Yang Yang, who was at the top, had to retreat across the center line to respond. It is not difficult to guess how embarrassing the scene was.

Porto has been unable to attack for a long time, and I am still somewhat impatient in my heart.

After all, this is their home court, and there is one more person than their opponent, so they naturally want to win.

But Yang Yang is like a sharp dagger, pointing at them from a distance, so that they dare not relax in the slightest, and the head coach Ferreira even requires the defense line not to be careless.

God knows, when Yang Yang got a chance and suddenly exploded?
When Yang Yang retreated, Porto's central defenders would not follow up, but instead handed over the task of marking Yang Yang to the midfielders Meireles and Assuncao, which probably also took into account the gap behind them.

If the central defender also follows up, with Yang Yang's speed, Liverpool will pass behind him with a big foot, and Porto will be disarmed.

But in this way, when Yang Yang frequently runs back and forth between the central defender and the midfielder, looking for opportunities, when the Porto players are handing over defense, there will inevitably be a gap.

No.708 minutes, Yang Yang ran back from the front again, and raised his hands high to ask for the ball.

Meirelles paid attention to Yang Yang, but he didn't expect that Yang Yang retreated a little deeper this time.

Aurelio quickly passed the ball over.

The Portuguese midfielder quickly caught up from the side and rear, spotted Aurelio's pass, and directly made a sliding tackle, trying to steal the ball before Yang Yang and destroy it.

But Yang Yang's reaction speed is also fast, knowing that if he stops the ball, he will definitely be cut off, so he took the lead and slammed the ball gently behind him, avoiding Meirelles' sliding tackle.

As if the ball had heard Yang Yang's instructions, it passed over Meirelles' right foot and body, and fell to the area behind him. Yang Yang turned around quickly, started quickly, and chased after him.

Porto realized the danger, and the right central defender Bruno Alves wanted to rush towards Yang Yang immediately.

But unexpectedly, Yang Yang started faster and caught up with the ball first.

The Portuguese central defender is very experienced. When he judged that he could not catch up with Yang Yang, he quickly stuck to the inside of Yang Yang, rushed all the way to the penalty area with him, and tried his best to block all the shooting angles of Yang Yang.

Amid the exclamation of the fans, Yang Yang dribbled the ball straight into the penalty area from the left side. However, Bruno Alves has rich defensive experience. He followed him all the way, never made any moves easily, and was not thrown away by him.

But the Yang Yang of today is no longer the Yang Yang of the past.

With his current ability, facing defensive players, even if you are tight, he will do everything possible to create loopholes.

Therefore, Yang Yang deliberately dribbled the ball with his right foot. At the moment he rushed into the penalty area, his left foot seemed to make a kick.

This immediately tricked Bruno Alves into fooling him, and he directly kicked to block it, but Yang Yang pushed the ball forward with his right foot again.

Seeing that the opponent had caught the trick and Yang Yang was about to get rid of it, Bruno Alves shot very tenaciously and grabbed Yang Yang's right arm and shoulder abruptly.

This caused Yang Yang to take another step slower.

The two chased after him at the same time again, but Yang Yang's speed was still a little faster than Bruno Alves'.

And his attention fell on Porto goalkeeper Nuno.

(End of this chapter)