Chapter 262: Don't be sour if you can't eat grapes
When the snow came winter, the Champions League group stage also entered the final stage.
With one game left in the group stage, some have already qualified with a smile, while others have gone home to wait for the coming year. Of course, there are many teams fighting for the last spot.
With one round left in the group stage, nine teams – Juventus, Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Lyon, PSV Eindhoven, AC Milan, Barcelona, Inter Milan and Chelsea – have already qualified early, and for the vast majority of them (seven), the last game is just a fight for the top spot in the group. Among the teams that have not yet qualified, there are still 8 teams that have the possibility of winning the group.
Group C and Group H are the two leading groups, with Juventus winning five and Chelsea winning four and drawing one, both of whom have already finished a round ahead of schedule. In Group F, Milan only needs one point to overtake Barcelona to win the group. Group D will be contested by two teams that have already qualified, Manchester United and Lyon, with Lyon having the advantage of hosting Sparta and Manchester United away to Fenerbach. The situation in Group E and Group G is somewhat similar, with only two teams likely to win the spot, and the current leaders have already qualified.
The most complicated will be Group A and Group B, both of which are entangled in the battle for the top spot in the group at the same time.
In Group B, Bayer Leverkusen have to fight Dynamo Kyiv at home, with Kiev needing only a draw and the home side having to win. Unless Real Madrid can't win against a dismal Roma away from home, of course, this situation is not impossible.
Group A was even more difficult as Liverpool drew away to Monaco and Olympiasco beat both Cruña 1-0 at home.
So far, Olympia Cisco is in first place with 8 points, Liverpool and Monaco are second with 7 points each, and Super Laco is completely out of the competition, ranking fourth with only 4 points.
In the final match of the group stage, Olympia Cisco, Liverpool, and Monaco will qualify if they win. However, it will be too difficult for Liverpool to qualify in conjunction with a draw with Olympia Cisco, because with the form that Deportivo La Coruna has shown in their first five games, Monaco will not be able to win them even on the road.
Now that Monaco have secured a place in qualifying, Liverpool will be sure to beat Olympia Cisco and secure three points at Anfield.
This is also the one thing that the Liverpool media has paid the most attention to since Gerrard's return.
The league can be lost, the Champions League must be won!
There will be 500W pounds to advance to the group stage, and maybe this 500W pounds is the life-saving money of Liverpool's winter transfer window!
'Don has tried his best to keep the club alive with one of their last hopes of qualifying, but obviously it's not the comeback gift I wanted. Gerrard was slightly disappointed in his post-match interview, but everyone could tell that when the name "TOM" was mentioned. The Red Army captain's eyes were full of light.
This is the hope that Tang Wu has kept for Liverpool after working alone for two months, and this is the last spark of hope for Liverpool.
However, when it comes to the Champions League finale in two weeks' time, the Reds captain showed a lot of confidence: "I remember the pressure we had in the Champions League group stage in '02, when we had to beat Roma 2-0 to qualify from the group. It's a far cry from then and I'm sure I'll give the fans a satisfactory answer at Anfield. ”
The Reds captain's comeback and speech calmed the fans down a bit, and now is not the time to denounce Benitez, the balding manager. The team still has the hope of qualifying under the hard work of the goalkeeper who just joined the team in the new season, how can he add to Liverpool's blockage at this time?
Looking at the devastated team, even the media sighed: what the club needs now is comfort.
At 2am on Wednesday, Liverpool's John Lennon Airport returned to their territory with fresh wounds and a barely accountable draw.
Benitez is at the front, suffocating with several draws and a goalless goal in the month. While the Spaniards and the team were expecting to go home and sort out their troubled thoughts, a decoration at the entrance of the passage ruined the plan.
It was a blue flag embroidered with the Everton crest.
As if to remind Liverpool that their city rivals, who are just one park away from Anfield, are currently third in the league, behind Chelsea and Arsenal.
"Fack!" Gerrard stepped forward and raised his hand to tear Everton's flag off.
Other Liverpool veterans were also resentful, believing it to be an "ominous" call-up.
In the usual training, Tang Wu and other new players were told more than once that Manchester United is the devil's team, but Everton is Satan's team.
In a similar vein to the north London derby, Liverpool's urban derby is steeped in history.
The fans of the two teams have almost never been in touch, and there have been few transfers between the players.
Don't talk about others, let's just say that Lu Xiaopang, who has been in the prime of the Premier League recently, has told bad things about Liverpool in front of the camera more than once. And all this stems from his old club Everton.
"Falk Steven, who gave you permission to do this?" Gerrard was seen by several Everton fans when he tore the Everton flag, and they were not afraid of the Liverpool players who followed behind them, and shouted and gathered over.
"Steven, Liverpool is no longer good, it's finished!"
"Yes, one fool, two lame, die!"
Everton fans will be lame at one moment and cover their heads at the other, playing the role of Liverpool's injured player in this Champions League game. They want to taunt the Liverpool players and preferably provoke violence on the part of these key players and get the FA to send them a couple of suspensions.
In this Champions League, not only Luis Garcia was replaced with a thigh strain, but Josemi, who came on as a substitute, was also hit on the head in the second half. As if God didn't think that was bad enough, Traore, who has been in good form lately, also sprained his knee in the game.
One comeback, three wounded, such a result once again hurt Liverpool's vitality.
There weren't many Everton fans, but the crowd was gradually crowding around. Under the shouts of "hang back, hang back", Gerrard, who held the flag in his hand, was in a dilemma.
He was very keen to trample the flag of his rival at a time when the team was at a low point, but the fans obviously would not agree with him doing so, and forcing it would definitely lead to a large-scale conflict; But to let him relent, and hang the flag back with his own hands, for the captain of the Red Army, it is absolutely impossible to do.
Just as Gerald hesitated, a six-fingered left hand took the hot potato from his hand.
"My captain just saw that there was some gray on this flag and wanted to shoot it off." Under the watchful eyes of the people on both sides, Tang Wu leisurely walked to the wall with the flag, and then hung it up again.
"Poor Everton, it's hard to be here to greet us so late. Now that you think about it, they haven't played in the Champions League for 74 years. ”