Melwood training base, Liverpool, UK. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

In the dim light of the manager's office, Benitez and his assistants watched the footage of the two-legged match between Inter Milan and Manchester United, and each of them had two words written on their faces.

"Inter Milan's home and away tactics are very targeted, and the cold is still cold." Benitez was full of praise.

When he was coaching in La Liga, he did not deal with Gao Han a lot, and the two also had some friendship, so he still knew Gao Han better and knew how much strength this Chinese had.

"Strong attack at home, defense away from home, Inter Milan's tactical flexibility is very large." Assistant coach Paco Jesterdam said.

He is Benitez's chief assistant coach and an old partner, who has worked together since Benitez was in charge of Trinerfe, then to Valencia and then to Liverpool, and the two can be said to have played side by side for many years.

"This is also the most difficult part of the Serie A team, you look at Juventus back then, as well as AC Milan, and now Inter Milan, they are all this kind of offensive and defensive teams, which is a headache." Benitez also felt something.

Many fans are relishing his shock defeat to AC Milan in the Champions League final, but only he knows how thrilling that game was, and to some extent, luck made him victorious.

He has been in charge of La Liga for a long time, and he knows better than anyone how difficult it can be for Serie A teams.

No, in the past Champions League quarterfinals, Liverpool lost 1-2 to Roma in the first leg, and it took a lot of hard work to return to the home stadium before Crouch sealed the victory and finally eliminated the Red Wolves 1-0.

The aggregate score was 2-2, but Liverpool advanced to the semi-finals with the advantage of away goals.

Having faced Serie A teams in two consecutive knockout rounds, Benitez genuinely felt unlucky, especially against the cold.

Of course, he's different from everyone else.

Many people think that Gao Han is invincible, but as an old opponent, Benitez knows better than anyone how many games Gao Han almost has to lose, but in the end, he survived by relying on on-the-spot command.

He is not invincible, but not easy to overcome.

As a professional football manager, Benitez is happy to take on such a challenge.

"Gao Han is the most detail-picking person among the managers I have ever seen, if you want to beat him, you can't tolerate the slightest bit of fancy, you must have real strength as a foundation, and you must also work the details."

Benitez's remarks were unanimously agreed by the aides around him.

This is also the evaluation of Gao Han by the outside world.

'It's a home game, but we can be ugly on the pitch, it doesn't matter, everyone knows that Inter Milan has a bigger chance of winning than us, and we can even play a little bit chaotic and disrupt the rhythm and possession of the opponent.'

In the face of Inter Milan, Liverpool was at an absolute disadvantage in terms of rhythm control and passing possession, so Benitez simply did not do anything and directly disrupted the rhythm and passing control.

Playing to his strengths and avoiding weaknesses, although it was a bit savage, it was his best tactic.

"You have to play seven inches, at home against Inter Milan, we have to try to score first, but our attacking ability is ......"

Benitez didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning was clear.

Liverpool's attack has been problematic this season, or rather, Liverpool haven't had a trusted scorer up front since Owen left Liverpool for Real Madrid.

At present, Benitez is relying on high school striker Crouch, but the England big man is clearly not a scoring striker.

Whether in the Champions League or the Premier League, Liverpool's weak attack has long been criticized.

'So, the only thing we can rely on is set-pieces.

Benitez said, looking around at the assistant group, "There are two weeks left until the first leg of the semi-finals, and we will focus on defending and set-piece tactics in those two weeks. ”

"Understood." The assistants agreed in unison.

Everyone can see that Benitez has set-pieces in mind to put the decisive position in the decisive position.

It will be up to them to beat Inter Milan from set-pieces.

"Defensively, Inter's trident will be difficult."

Benitez pointed to the TV that had just finished broadcasting the game, "As you can see, Rio Ferdinand alone can't stop Inter's trident, and Manchester United's defence is falling apart in front of them. ”

"Of the three players, Ibrahimovic is the most difficult to defend."

The difficulty of the Swedish center forward has long been known in European football, he has the body and strength of a traditional high school forward, but he has a very delicate foot technique, and what is more terrible, this guy is from taekwondo, and his body is full of flexibility.

Arguably, Ibrahimovic is one of the most difficult flowers in the Champions League over the years.

Of course, his quality, and his dominance in the box, there is no doubt about it.

I believe that every team facing Inter Milan will have a headache about how to defend Ibrahimovic.

"We need someone to freeze Ibrahimovic." Paco Yesterdam said.

Several of the other assistants around him were grim-faced.

If Ibrahimovic had been that defensive, he wouldn't have been a headache for all the big clubs in Europe.

"How's Hyypia? He did well last night. Tactical analyst Duff McDonoff suggested.

Paco Jesterdam looked at Benitez and was a little worried, "Will he be able to eat?" ”

Benitez shook his head and said: "It takes 90 minutes to defend Ibrahimovic, Hyypia is thirty-three years old, I'm afraid it will be difficult for him to hold on to the end." ”

Against an opponent like Ibrahimovic, it is a matter of minutes to decide the outcome of the game, and Hyypia still has the strength, but he is not young, and it may be difficult to maintain concentration in the 90-minute game.

"What do you mean......" Paco Jesterdam guessed Benitez's intentions.

"Daniel Ag."

Jesterdam hissed and gasped, "But he didn't perform well in the first leg of the quarter-finals, and in the away game against Roma, the two goals conceded were inextricably linked to him. ”

It was because of Ag's poor performance in the first round that he would send Hypia in the second round, and Hyypia performed well, but at this time, he still had to win Hyypia and continue to trust Ag?

If Agger is up to the task, that's fine, but if he performs badly again, Benitez will definitely have to blame for it, and he may even be scolded by the fans.

"I know Agger very well, he's not the kind of character that gets knocked down easily, he's strong-willed, he's self-reflective, and I'm sure he won't be easily knocked down because of a fight."

As he said this, Benitez's eyes flashed with a fierce look.

He had no choice but to trust Agg.

'That's it, the next two weeks of defence and set-pieces are around Agger and I'm sure he won't let me down.'

Jesterdam and the others looked at each other, and they all felt that Benitez was making a big gamble.

Choosing Daniel Agger to start instead of the in-form Hyypia was destined to be a game he could not afford to lose.

If they lose at Anfield, Benitez will be held responsible.

Even if the opponent is the famous Gao Han.

"By the way, this game is also scheduled to start Cendeng."

"Cendon?" This time Jesterdam lost his voice.

Dutchman Zenden joined Liverpool on a free transfer in the summer of '05, but since he arrived, he has never shown any convincing quality, and has been more of a substitute for the team, which is a fringe role.

But for such a player, Benitez wants to arrange for him to start in such an important game?

Crazy?

Benitez is clearly aware that his choices have puzzled his opponents, but there are some things he chooses based on feeling.

It is true that the player is no longer in peak form, and even in Liverpool, he is a marginal role, but he also has his own advantages, and Benitez took a fancy to him because he played very hard and had strong willpower.

And he's played for Barcelona before, so he's more consistent in terms of the tournament and he's more able to hold his breath in key games like that.

But most importantly, Zenden's passing and running are the best in the Liverpool team.

He ...... Can he do it? "Jesterdam has some doubts.

It's not that he doubts Cenden's strength, but that he's worried about his state.

This is the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals, is it okay to start with such a fringe character?

However, Benitez was adamant that he must start Cendon and said that Cendon has the ability to change the game.

"Sometimes, we need a surprising force to beat the opponent."

Jesterdam and others are clearly aware of Benitez's temper and know that once the Spaniards have made a decision, it will be difficult for others to change it.

"Also, José." Benitez looked at the goalkeeper coach, José Ochuto Reina, "The next two weeks of goalkeeper training should be careful to arrange penalty training. ”

"Penalty training?"

"Just step up the practice, maybe it will be useful." Benitez said.

But everyone knew that this should also be one of his plans.

Even if he can't beat Inter Milan in the whole game, he will drag the two-legged match into a penalty shootout.

Benitez's idea was simple, to set up a game at Anfield and trap the cold Inter Milan, not to mention a goal, which would be the decisive goal in the two-legged match.

Therefore, he must not only carefully select his starting lineup, but also carefully prepare his own tactics.

Isn't it said that Gao Han's best thing is detail?

Then I'm going to use the most exquisite details to kill Gao Han at Anfield!

…………

…………

24 April 2007.

Liverpool Anfield.

When the game reached the 62nd minute, Liverpool was in a counterattack, Zenden received the ball in the gap, turned and rushed forward, Evra accidentally tripped him while defending, and the referee blew a foul.

Liverpool's free-kick in front.

Steven Gerrard took the penalty himself, and the high points such as Crouch, Carragher and Agger all pressed into Inter's frontcourt.

When the referee's whistle blew, Gerrard rushed forward quickly, and there was chaos in the box, with Crouch and Carragher sprinting into the box at the same time, creating the illusion that they were going to rush in and fight for the high spot, and the Inter defenders also swarmed up.

However, Gerrard suddenly crossed to the edge of the penalty area, and after receiving the ball, Agger shook off Cambiaso, who was caught off guard, and then pushed the ball with his right foot into the goal guarded by Cesar.