Ace Young Marshal

Chapter 505 Difficult First Round
In the 26th round of the league, Liverpool played against West Brom at home.

Situ Yunbing is looking forward to a victory to allow the team to consolidate its advantage and start the European war in the second half of the season!

But what surprised Situ Yunbing was that Liverpool's defense was blown today!
To be exact, West Brom completed the defensive counterattack very well. On the basis of a strong defense, they relied on the young genius Lukaku, known as the little monster, to blow up Skrtel in the counterattack!

Lukaku made a contribution in the first and second halves, while Liverpool hit the three-post and crossbar before falling behind by two goals!

When the game came to 70 minutes, even some fans of the Red Army in the Anfield stands were very pessimistic, thinking that the team's first home defeat of the season was about to be born!

But Situ Yunbing actively deployed troops on the sidelines, changed to three defenders, and then Vardy!

Gareth Bale didn't have much room to play today, he was replaced early and Coutinho came on.

After strengthening the chances of grabbing points in the long-range penalty area, Liverpool's indiscriminate bombing of West Brom in the last 20 minutes of the game showed a crazy momentum.

In the 83rd minute of the game, Coutinho made a long shot from outside the penalty area and made a save from West Brom goalkeeper Foster. Vardy sent the ball into the goal with a clever supplementary shot!
Liverpool pulled one back.

Liverpool, who attacked successively, repeatedly attacked West Brom's defense amid the hoarse cheers of the Red Army fans at Anfield.

When the game came to the stoppage time period, Suarez responded to Mahrez's pick pass in the penalty area and flew the header directly to the middle of the goal. Vardy took the lead in diagonally in front of defender Ridgewell and shook his head to attack the goal. It flew into the goal from above Foster's head!

Liverpool equalized at the buzzer!
All the Liverpool fans at the scene were extremely excited. When they were still expecting the team to create a miracle reversal, the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game.

Situ Yunbing went to shake hands with West Brom coach Clark after the game with a heavy face. For West Brom, a draw at Anfield Stadium can be called a victory, but it is definitely a great victory for Liverpool. A result that is difficult for most people to accept.

The problem is exposed a little bit, and Situ Yunbing has no good solution at present, just like Skrtel was blown up by Lukaku today, in fact, if he is a defender of other giants, he will also perform abnormally or just cannot defend No matter how top defenders are, no one is immune to mistakes, because every player is a human being.

What the giants have done defensively is nothing more than to increase the fault tolerance rate.

A better defensive concept, a stronger defensive system, and defensive players with better personal abilities can all bring a higher defensive fault tolerance rate.

In Liverpool's central defender combination, Benatia has shown a gradual upward trend in recent years, and has entered the ranks of the top European central defenders, but Skrtel and Agger have not, they are always far from the top ranks There is a certain distance. If Situ Yunbing wants to reform the back line, he can only give Benatia another good partner.

Liverpool's loss of points at home is tantamount to giving Manchester United a chance.

Manchester United also beat Everton 2-0 at home and scored all 3 points!
Liverpool, 67 points.

Manchester United, 59 points.

The gap between the two teams was 12 points before the third round, but now it has become 8 points. Manchester United seems to have opened the door to a reversal!
Situ Yunbing responded to Alan Hansen with a tough attitude before the game, which did not silence the "Liverpool legend". Alan Hansen did not continue to speak publicly on this topic, but other Liverpool legends stood up again. John Barnes suggested that Situ Yunbing should listen more to his seniors, which would help his coaching.

Situ Yunbing felt a little annoyed by this and didn't want to make any further responses.

After half a day of Valentine's Day in Liverpool with Sigrid, Situ Yunbing led the team to St. Petersburg, Russia, where the first round of the UEFA Europa League 1/16 final is about to begin.

It is still freezing cold to go to Moscow in mid-February. In the pre-match report for this game, Alonzo gave the advice: Go all out!

In his report, he explained in detail that this away game will most likely determine whether Liverpool can advance to the next round.

If Liverpool wants to make a comeback at home even if they lose in the first round, then their guest challenge to Anzhi in the group stage is enough to give enough warning!

Their main opponent is not how strong Zenit St. Petersburg is. Of course, they are not weak, but what bothers Liverpool is the local severe cold weather and changes in physical condition caused by adjusting jet lag.

Compared with playing away games from the UK to Germany, Spain, Italy, France and other countries, the time zone span of the British expedition to Russia and the cost of the journey are very different.

So if Situ Yunbing has ideas about the Europa League, then this away game must not have the slightest reservation of strength!

Because it is very likely that Zenit St. Petersburg will do their best to defeat Liverpool at home, making it extremely difficult for Liverpool to come back even if they return to home!

Situ Yunbing made a decision after careful consideration, and rushed to St. Petersburg with the main force of the whole army!

Even three days later in the FA Cup, they will fight against rival Everton!

Situ Yunbing, who led Liverpool's low-key expedition, couldn't help shivering when the plane landed in St. Petersburg.

It's unbelievable that it's still snowing here!

With the experience of being a guest in the group stage to challenge Anzhi, the Liverpool generals were already mentally prepared before coming to St. Petersburg, but in fact some of the main players did not come at that time. The weather in the UK was not good. It's better, at least much better than London.

But after everyone came to St. Petersburg, they all seemed a little depressed, and the harsh cold weather was restricting everyone's excitement.

Zenit St. Petersburg is not an easy team to deal with. At least they have Hulk and Dani on their front line. It may not be enough to impress them in the top European arenas, but at their home court, Zenit St. Petersburg The unique combat effectiveness cannot be ignored.

Situ Yunbing, who was standing in the St. Petersburg Stadium in a warm coat directing the game, felt that his nose was a little bit frozen, which made him put his hands in front of his mouth and nose from time to time to breathe out to warm his nose.

Liverpool's away attack, the best of the best, and still playing a very utilitarian defensive counterattack, what Situ Yunbing wants is the result, not the training, so the result will be the most important in the choice of tactics!
The coach of Zenit St. Petersburg is the former Rome coach Spalletti. He did not let Zenit St. Petersburg launch a fierce offensive against Liverpool, perhaps out of fear of the Premier League giants.

Liverpool's overall state is mediocre, and many advantages cannot be brought into play. The team's overall reaction seems to have dropped a lot. Situ Yunbing has some psychological preparations for this.

However, Zenit St. Petersburg can't do much in front of Liverpool's intensive defense. Hulk's impact is very strong, but Zenit St. Petersburg's overall creativity is not high, and there is no advantage in technical and tactical play. , which put the game in a stalemate for a long time.

Until the 71st minute of the second half, Liverpool got a good free kick opportunity at the front of the opponent's penalty area in the frontcourt.

Gerrard took the penalty and blasted the ball into the upper right corner of the goal with a powerful volley!
The direct free kick of the captain of the Red Army broke the deadlock and balance of the game!
Situ Yunbing did not breathe a sigh of relief after the team scored a goal, but arranged for the team to change their style of play intensively, allowing them to assume a more rigorous stance, leaving only Bell and Suarez in front to counterattack.

Zenit St. Petersburg began to attack wildly. In fact, regardless of whether Liverpool scored this goal or not, they will attack Liverpool's defense at full speed in the last 20 minutes!
Because they know that if they want to advance to the next round, they must win their opponents at home to have any hope!
Under the pressure of Zenit St. Petersburg's full attack, Liverpool showed unusual calmness and teamwork ability. Flaws to play a quick counterattack!
After Suarez pushed the offensive to the dangerous area of ​​the frontcourt, he completed the pass and cut cooperation with Gareth Bale. He regained control of the ball on the penalty area line, changed the direction and wiped the opposing defender Leto, and then calmly pushed the goal to the lower left. The corner sent the ball into the goal!

Suarez's goal made Situ Yunbing extremely excited. For a moment, he even felt hot all over his body, dispelling all the chills!
The generals of Zenit St. Petersburg were a little helpless. Liverpool's dense defensive formation made them really helpless, and they couldn't penetrate Liverpool's gate even though they tried their best!

When the whistle sounded for the end of the game, Situ Yunbing breathed a sigh of relief. After shaking hands with Spalletti after the game, he gestured to the disciples on the sidelines, telling them not to stay on the field. Too much stay, they have to buy time to return to Liverpool as soon as possible!
There is another FA Cup game waiting for them in three days, and a week later, Zenit St Petersburg will return to Anfield.

The knockout round of the Europa League is a fight between the top 32, which is one more round than the knockout round of the Champions League.

If you count the Europa League qualifiers, Liverpool played a total of 10 games in the qualifiers and the group stage, including today's game, they have played 11 games!
The frequency of the schedule is beyond imagination!
But it is precisely this frequent schedule that gives Liverpool enough training ground and space.

In the knockout match against Zenit St. Petersburg, the first round of the away game was the most difficult. Now Situ Yunbing has completed the game with the main lineup. The next round of confrontation will rely on the substitute lineup. He cannot play in the Europa League. Excessive consumption of the main lineup on the field.

At least in the context of the uncertain situation of the league championship situation, it is not a wise approach to invest too much in other battlefields.

(End of this chapter)