super storm

Chapter 754 Want to win!
qua... qua... qua...

In the Liverpool dressing room, the players of the Red Army breathed heavily.

With 45 minutes in the first half and 2 minutes of stoppage time, the Red Army also consumed a lot.

The main reason is the loss of possession. Players have to use more and more active running positions to suppress Barcelona's passing and cutting cooperation. Especially in the last ten minutes of the first half, Barcelona suddenly accelerated the pace to attack.

The most threatening of them is that in the No.309 minute, Liverpool made a mistake under the pressure of Barcelona.

When Skrtel played the ball in the backcourt, he was too light in a hurry. After being intercepted by Harvey, he was quickly assigned to the right. Daniel Alves was like a sharp knife on the right, quickly cutting through Liverpool's left defense. He went down to the bottom line and then passed back to the front of the penalty area in an inverted triangle.

Messi followed up and shot directly, trying to push a far corner.

Fortunately, Reina played well this time, flying to save the ball and giving Barcelona a corner kick, but he managed to keep the goal clean.

Then Barcelona took the opportunity to launch a series of offensives, which made Liverpool almost overwhelmed.

……

In the first half, Barcelona's ball possession rate was as high as 60.00%, while Liverpool's was only a pitiful 32%.

In terms of the number of shots, the two teams are about the same, both shooting six shots.

Among them, four of Liverpool's six shots came from Yang Yang.

And Liverpool's most threatening offense in the first half was Yang Yang's direct free kick, and the offside single-handed shot that was blown off, both of which were very unfortunate opportunities.

For Barcelona, ​​the really threatening attack was Messi's push, but Reina's performance tonight was really good.

Debuting in Barcelona, ​​although Reina once occupied the starting position at the Nou Camp, he was quickly relegated to the sidelines. It was not until Liverpool that he proved his worth again. Therefore, facing Barcelona, ​​Reina seemed particularly excited.

……

Benitez and the coaching staff were very satisfied with the team's performance in the first half.

Whether it is the execution ability of the players or the degree of implementation of tactics on the court, they have done quite well.

But there are still some shortcomings, such as Messi's threat.

"I found that at the moment when we switched from defense to offense a few times, our shots were always a bit blind, and the players always wanted to press on. This is not good. I told everyone before the game repeatedly, let go of the defensive position and fight against Barcelona. This is suicide!"

Facing a sophisticated technical team like Barcelona, ​​there are really not many choices that Liverpool can make.

Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, even Eto'o, Henry and Daniel Alves are all players with super personal abilities, each of them can pass, shoot and break through.

Why did Liverpool adopt three midfielders?
It is to shrink, firmly protect the front of the penalty area, and avoid giving players such as Daniel Alves, Messi, Harvey and Iniesta space to break through with the ball and cooperate with passing and cutting.

It can be said that Guardiola's team has reached a very high level in terms of skills and tactics. Such a team is really terrifying. As long as there is a slight omission, the opponent will immediately catch the opportunity to attack.

Just like in the No. 309 minute, Liverpool was too anxious to counterattack, but Skrtel's pass was not strong enough. Gareth Barry wanted to go forward, but was cut off by Harvey, and then Daniel Alves drove straight in with the ball alone, and no one could stop him.

Barcelona's offense is like mercury pouring down the ground, pervasive, as long as they are given a little space, they can form effective penetration and create a deadly threat.

"You must pay attention, we must maintain enough patience, we must remain calm and rational at all times, we must compete with each other in patience and as a whole, whoever becomes impatient first will lose this game."

Benitez's remarks reminded the players enough that everyone in the locker room is very clear about their responsibilities.

To put it simply, Liverpool would rather stick to this game, dragging the zero-to-zero score into a penalty shootout, and never expose the slightest flaw to Barcelona, ​​​​so that the opponent can take advantage of it.

Many people may think that this is conservative, but they have to admit that this is the only way for Liverpool to have a chance to compete with Barcelona. If they do not maintain a meticulous defensive position, they will be penetrated by Barcelona every minute.

Since they are in the finals, everyone wants to win.

And if you want to win, you have to choose the way that has the best chance of winning.

……

Subsequently, Yesterdam and Gerrard also stood up to speak, encouraging the players to make persistent efforts.

Yang Yang also stood up right after him, first he apologized for his two chances in the first half, and his teammates also comforted him.

Everyone knew that these two chances were not very good, one was earned by Yang Yang himself, and the other was blown away by a misjudgment by the line referee, neither of which could be attributed to Yang Yang.

"You believe me, pass the ball to me in the second half, and I will definitely send it into Barcelona's goal!"

Yang Yang's guarantee is absolutely trustworthy for the players in the Liverpool dressing room.

…………

…………

The start of the second half was still dominated by Barcelona's passing and possession.

Just one minute into the opening of the Spanish giants, Iniesta dribbled the ball and forced a breakthrough. After cooperating with Messi, he got rid of Xavi Alonso's defense and made a diagonal pass to the right from the left side of the arc top area at the front of the penalty area.

Eto'o moved in quickly and slid a shovel shot from the front of the penalty area.

But the ball was blocked from the bottom line by Skrtel, who was plugged in from the back row, and turned into a corner kick.

Then Henry's header went slightly wide of the post.

But then, Harvey made a pass near the middle circle. Henry took the ball from the left, sprinted with the ball in his hand, and dribbled into the penalty area.

This time it was Reina who decisively abandoned the goal and took the ball out of the air.

Minutes, Gerrard got the ball in midfield and was cut off, Barcelona quickly launched a counterattack, Eto'o got the ball from the right and went straight into the penalty area, Messi plugged in, but Arbeloa, who returned to his position in time, took the lead to clear the ball.

Due to physical contact between the two players, Messi fell in Liverpool's penalty area, but the referee Busacca did not interrupt the game and signaled Messi to get up and rejoin the game as soon as possible.

Judging from the slow-motion playback, Arbeloa's hand did hit Messi, but it should not have been intentional.

While Barcelona launched consecutive offensives, Liverpool also played a quick counterattack.

After Carragher got the ball, he quickly made a long pass and cleared directly to the frontcourt.

Dirk Drivet won the ball, Yang Yang grabbed the second spot and tried to pass the ball and pass Puyol, but the Barcelona central defender made a decisive foul and pulled Yang Yang down, and was shown a yellow card by the referee.

This is also the first yellow card of the entire game.

……

Yang Yang took Dirk's hand and struggled to get up from the grass.

For Puyol's foul, he was somewhat angry.

It's a pity that he was not the last defensive player, otherwise, it would not be as simple as a yellow card.

When walking back, Yang Yang noticed that Benitez on the sidelines was making adjustments.

Obviously, the Liverpool coach believed that after the start of the second half, the team retreated too far, which was extremely detrimental to the defense, because the lack of retreat and flexibility made it too easy for Barcelona to face the goal directly.

This is very dangerous.

Therefore, Benitez hopes that the team can press forward appropriately, and it is best to push Barcelona's pass control area out of the 30-meter area to minimize their threat of attack.

After the game restarted, including the three midfielders and Gerrard, they are resolutely implementing Benitez's arrangement.

The midfielder presses forward, and the back line naturally follows suit, while the frontcourt's Couitt is actively withdrawing to participate in the defense of the midfielder.

After seeing the retreat of Dirk, Yang Yang pushed forward his area of ​​activity and directly faced Puyol and Pique.

This is what Yang Yang often does in this game.

Next, all he needs to do is wait patiently for a pass from the midfield.

And this kind of watching his teammates fighting desperately, watching his teammates try their best to press and press, but he can't help in the frontcourt, Yang Yang feels really uncomfortable.

But he also knows his duties well.

The division of labor and cooperation is emphasized on the court. The best way for him to repay his teammates, the head coach, and the team is to fulfill his own responsibilities.

Barcelona started the attack for a while in the second half, played a few powerful attacks, and made a few threatening shots, and finally slowed down their offensive temporarily.

Meticulous defensive system, tenacious defensive tenacity, this is Liverpool's consistent advantages and characteristics.

Barcelona is also very clear that it is unrealistic to want to eat Liverpool in one go, and they may even be ready for a tough battle to some extent.

Otherwise, Guardiola would not use aggressive methods before the game, threatening that Liverpool would not dare to play against Barcelona.

……

The game time is passing bit by bit.

Neither team had any intention of making a substitution.

Barcelona's pass control has taken full advantage, with a ball possession rate as high as 70.00%. It can be seen that the advantage after the start of the second half is more obvious than that in the first half, but Liverpool has always remained firmly in its own half, not giving the opponent the slightest chance.

Liverpool's defense is very meticulous, very solid, but not brutal. Even after six or 10 minutes of the game, there was not even a yellow card, and the number of fouls was less than that of Barcelona. It relied more on the players' running and positioning, and mutual defense to complete the defense and block Barcelona's offense.

This also makes people see the hard work Benitez has put into the Liverpool team in the past few years.

At least this set of defensive formations is enough to make people understand why the Red Army can stand at the Olympic Stadium in Rome.

As Barcelona slowed down their offensive, the game seemed to have entered a stalemate.

But the more this is the case, the more focused the players on the court are, and the more nervous the fans in the stands are.

Everyone knows that behind the calm often represents the undercurrent.

And everyone is waiting for the unexpected to appear.

(End of this chapter)