With the Premier League and national league cups coming to an end, the eyes of the world are all on the Champions League final at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

This is a matchup that is universally recognized.

Liverpool, who have already won three Premier League trophies, and Barcelona, who have already won La Liga and Copa del Rey, will make history in their own countries.

What's even more exciting is that these are two very different teams.

Liverpool is known for its offensive and defensive balance, although Benitez has brought the European continent's rigorous tactics and created a meticulous offensive and defensive system, but the player's technical ability is far less refined than Barcelona's, and he still retains the momentum and blood of traditional English football in his bones.

The Catalan media even ridiculed Liverpool with exaggeration before, believing that the only player in this team who has the ability to gain a foothold in Barcelona's first team is Yang Yang, and the others may not even be able to play as substitutes when they arrive at Barcelona.

This is enough to prove that Barcelona's characteristics are completely different from Liverpool's.

From Cruyff in the nineties to Louis van Gaal and then Rijkaard, Barcelona's tradition has been to possess the ball, and this has been carried forward once again since Pep Guardiola took over.

In the 08-09 season, Barcelona averaged 65.7 per cent possession per game and nearly 90 per cent pass completion rate, a report card that can be said to have chilled almost all opponents.

The game of football is complicated, but it is simple and simple.

Pep Guardiola and Barcelona's philosophy is as simple as the extreme, with only one ball, and as long as the ball is firmly controlled, they can put themselves in an invincible position, and then force the opponent to take the initiative to show their flaws.

Relying on this seemingly simple football concept, Pep Guardiola's team went all the way through and was invincible, reaching the Champions League final, facing Liverpool with a balanced attack and defense.

It can be said that this is the collision of two very different ideas.

Benitez was born in Real Madrid, but his philosophy is heavily influenced by Serie A, which emphasizes the balance between attack and defence, while Pep Guardiola is a native Catalan leader with a pass-and-possession philosophy that is deeply ingrained in his bones.

So much so that in Spain, many people believe that this seems to be a contest between Liverpool and Barcelona, but it is actually a struggle between Real Madrid and Barcelona.

And the decisive battle is imminent, how to face Barcelona's passing and possession, which has become a big problem for Liverpool.

The morning after the Premier League trophy was collected at home, after the training session, Benitez summoned Yang Yang, Gerrard, Xavi Alonso and Carragher to the office to discuss with the coaching staff how to restrain Barcelona's tactical play.

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When Liverpool plays Barcelona, the first thing to consider is defense.

Some people may think it is strange, in terms of offensive ability, Liverpool is not lost to Barcelona at all, and there is a big killer like Yang Yang, why should you consider defense?

The reason is simple, passing the ball has no advantage at all.

The truth on the football field is simple, whoever has the ball has the initiative.

In the face of Barcelona, who has such excellent passing and ball control ability, Liverpool has no choice at all, and even all teams in the entire European football world have no choice, so they can only defend well.

"Judging from the information we have obtained so far, Messi, Eto'o and Henry, these three people are definitely starting, Xavi and Iniesta in the midfield must also be on the line, but there is suspense in the back position, whether it is Yaya Toure or Busquets, it is not clear for the time being, however, judging from various signs before the game, it is very likely to be Busquets."

Duff McDonoff, Liverpool's tactical analyst, has been following Barcelona for two weeks straight in preparation for this upcoming final.

'There shouldn't be much of a problem at the back, Abidal, Pique, Puyol and Daniel Alves, this is Barcelona's main defence at the moment, if there are no accidents, it should be like this.

After Yang Yang listened to McDonoff's words seriously, the first thing that flashed in his mind was Crouch.

"Can we open the game and grab a wave?" Yang Yang proposed.

The people present are all smart people, and they are all the core of Liverpool, and they all understand what Yang Yang means when they hear it.

In the opening game, Crouch took advantage of the advantages of England's high-ranking players to grab a wave of opening and strive for the first goal.

Benitez shook his head, "I've thought about this, but it's risky. ”

With that, the Spaniard walked to the tactical board and explained while gesturing, "If we use Crouch in the opening, our pressing in the front court will inevitably be affected, and at the same time, our mobility will be a problem. ”

'Barcelona have excellent assist ability on both flanks, especially Daniel Alves on the right, a player I know very well and his attacking ability from the back is almost the best in European football today.

Yang Yang nodded, but he felt that his friend, McConn, who played for Inter Milan, was not lost to Alves.

'If you go to Crouch, then we can only play three strikers and the midfield will be weak, especially at the back.

In Liverpool's deduction, Guardiola may not put Messi on the right side, but if he really puts Messi on the right side, then Messi is bound to cut inside, and there are not enough players on the back waist line to provide protection, which is definitely not good.

What's even more terrifying is that Barcelona's two midfielders, Xavi and Iniesta, also have very strong ability to plug in from behind.

'As I said, the scariest thing about Barcelona's passing system is that there are two things, one is the possession of the ball outside the 30-metre area, which depends on their midfield and defence, but to be honest, it's not that hard to do, a lot of teams can do it, even we can.

"The key to Barcelona's strength now is that they have achieved the first point, but also the second point, which is the passing and possession of the ball on the edge of the penalty area, and they tear apart the opponent's defense at the edge of the penalty area through the skilful and tacit small-range passing and possession cooperation between Xavi, Iniesta and Messi."

"In the face of Barcelona's style of play, one-on-one can't hold at all, and can only rely on the numerical advantage to pile up, and rely on strict defensive positions and positions to block the opponent's passing and possession space."

"Jose Mourinho's Chelsea favourite foul tactics when facing Barcelona, but Pep Guardiola has now pushed Xavi, Iniesta and Messi to the edge of the box, and fouls in this area are very deadly, and we don't do it, so we have to rely on rigorous tactics to compress the opponent."

When everyone heard this, they immediately understood what Benitez meant.

Three back midfielders, playing Barcelona can only use three back three.

The two-back combination of Xavi Alonso and Mascherano is unparalleled in the world, but no matter how strong they are, in the face of Xavi and Iniesta's back insertion, Messi's internal cut, and maybe even Alves's edge attack, can't be stopped at all.

"I can hold Alves down." Yang Yang said confidently.

"Nope." Benitez shook his head without hesitation, "You are the key to our attack, whether we can win this game or not, it depends on you, not only because of your individual ability, but also because you are the only player in our front court who has the ability to hold the ball under the pressure of the opponent, which is crucial for our counterattack." ”

Benitez's implication is that Yang Yang will still be arranged in the middle lane, but it is unknown how it will be arranged.

If Gerrard is really playing in a back three, Gerrard is responsible for suppressing the position of Sergio Busquets or Yaya Toure, then there will be only two strikers left in the front, which is why Benitez said just now that he did not dare to start Crouch.

It is impossible for anyone to ask a player who is more than two meters tall to run and press desperately like a player of one meter and eight, and in the case that passing and controlling the ball is not as good as others, and Yang Yang must be more involved in running and receiving passes in the backcourt, Kuyt, who actively runs and presses, is obviously more suitable.

If it were a normal game, Benitez would definitely take a gamble, but this is the Champions League final.

Sometimes that's the case, the final is unknown, and the manager's tactical starting point is to make himself invincible first.

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'A back three should do a good job of cutting off the link between Andres Iniesta, Xavi and Messi, as well as Samuel Eto'o and Thierry Henry, but we need to step up a little bit more in training over the next two days. McDonov analyzed.

"One more point." Benitez added: "Pep Guardiola has played Messi in the middle a couple of times this season, and if we play with a double midfielder, once Messi plays in the middle and Eto'o plays on the side of Thierry Henry, then Messi retreats to Xavi and Iniesta, and we will be in a great passivity. ”

Everyone nodded.

In this kind of final, any possibility will arise, and there must be no chance of taking it to chance.

"It's going to be an uphill battle." Benitez looked at Yang Yang, Gerrard and Xavi Alonso.

'Barcelona's passing advantage was so obvious that I even thought we would probably have less than 30 per cent possession in this game, so there wouldn't be too many chances left for us and we didn't know exactly when those would happen.

This is the huge psychological pressure that the pass-and-possession style of play puts on the opponent, because the ball is under the control of the opponent throughout the game, and you can only wait for the opponent to make a mistake to get a chance.

Of course, theoretically, there is no team that doesn't make mistakes.

But for the players on the field, you don't know when this opportunity will come, how many times?

Maybe you will play once in the whole 90 minutes, and you will not be given the first 90 minutes, but you will be given at the last moment.

If you can't stay absolutely focused and engaged, and you can't be patient and calm enough, you won't be able to grasp the opportunity when it arises.

The reason why Barcelona is terrible is not only their passing advantage on the pitch, but more importantly, the huge psychological pressure that their passing advantage brings to the opponent.

"Don't worry, as long as you get the opportunity, pass the ball to me, I can catch it!" Yang Yang stood up and assured loudly.

Everyone also looked at him, and their eyes showed trust and dependence.

Except for Yang Yang, no one in Liverpool is sure to do this.

Even if it's Gerald.