Oleg Presas turned 27 on 2 February.

Playing for his hometown team since he was a child, he later moved to a number of low-level teams, and at the age of twenty-one, he came to Barcelona and entered the Barcelona second team, officially becoming the reserve force of this Barcelona team.

A year later, then-manager Louis van Gaal gave him his chance, but he didn't take it and continued to play for Barcelona II in the lower leagues.

After several years of polishing, in January 04, the first team was short of people at the back, replacing Van Gaal, Rijkaard, who took office as the team's manager, gave Oleg a chance, and this time he took it directly and became the main player of the first team in one fell swoop.

In the following two seasons, Oleg played a major role for Barcelona in La Liga and the Champions League.

He can play as a right wing-back or centre-back, or as a back three, which is Oleg's strength.

But this summer, with the additions of Thuram and Zambrotta, Oleg's place in the team has been shaken.

He began to lose his position in the main force.

Although Rijkaard trusts him as always, more often than not, he plays in a rotation role for the team, or as a substitute or even on the pitch in some garbage time.

The intermittent game made it difficult for Oleg to show a stable competitive state, and his performance was also good and bad.

In the last round away to Sevilla, Oleg started at right centre-back, and the result was also average.

Rijkaard made a change in this game, with Oleg in the middle, as he is the tallest player in Barcelona's squad and his task is to keep an eye on Liverpool's high striker Crouch.

It was a player who was two meters and two meters tall.

In addition to freezing Crouch, Oleg is tasked with dragging his feet.

This is a characteristic of Barcelona's three-centre-back, with the two centre-backs of Puyol and Thuram often pulled up to the wings, which requires central Oleg to appear behind them to fill in the defence.

Everyone knows that this is a crucial battle, and whether Barcelona will win or fail this season is all tonight.

To be able to be entrusted by the head coach to start in such an important game is the first time this season for Oleg.

He also cherishes it very much, and at the same time, he vows from the bottom of his heart that he must do his best to show his strength and let everyone, including the head coach Rijkaard, see his value.

Barcelona's strategy was to attack.

Two weeks ago, at the Camp Nou, the team lost 3-1, which caused the team to lose not only the initiative but also the away goal, so at Anfield, Barcelona had to score three goals.

This is also the reason why Rijkaard adopts a three-four-three tactic.

There is no way back for the team!

According to the pre-match conjecture, Barcelona should launch an onslaught from the beginning, relying on the outstanding attacking combination in the front, relying on the talented trident of Ronaldinho, Eto'o and Messi, plus the strategy of midfielders Deco, Iniesta and Xavi, to swallow Liverpool in one fell swoop.

Before the game, everyone in the team was full of confidence in this.

Everyone felt that their team would get the initiative on the road.

The real trouble is how to break down Liverpool's walls and how to score goals.

But as soon as the game started, everyone in Barcelona realized that something was wrong.

Liverpool didn't retreat as they thought!

Even though they are already 3-1 ahead, Liverpool is not conservative in their starting tactics at home, on the contrary, they even look more aggressive, attacking from the start.

The front three of Yang Yang, Crouch and Kuyt pressed the Barcelona backline, while midfielders Steven Gerrard, Xavi Alonso and Mohamed Sissoko pressed Barcelona's midfield.

The backline is still a combination of Arbeloa, Agger, Carragher and Finnen.

Liverpool's starting line-up has hardly changed from the first leg, with the only difference being that they played more aggressively than in the first leg, pressing the entire midfield and defence.

The trident led by Yang Yang also penetrated deeper into the hinterland of Barcelona.

This was clearly a surprise to all that Barcelona had expected.

The pace of the game was wrong from the start.

The front trident has a lot of range of movement, and Oleg has to deal with Crouch, but it doesn't leave him with the ability to juggle teammates on either side.

Barcelona's backline was a bit of a mess as they found three against three and they were a bit at a loss.

Especially Yang Yang and Kuyt.

The Dutchman has a wide range of movement and runs aggressively, especially for Puyol, who plays on the left with his right foot, and he is aggressively pressing, while Yang Yang frequently adopts diagonal and vertical rapid sprints.

Everyone knows that Yang Yang is only twenty years old, and speed and assault with the ball are his forte, but Thuram is already thirty-five years old and can't stop him at all, especially when he sprints quickly.

Oleg was a little at a loss.

Because he doesn't know what he's going to do!

It stands to reason that when Thuram stepped forward to follow Yang Yang, he should be behind Thuram to help him defend and fill in the position.

In this way, as long as Yang Yang breaks through, he can quickly grab it, and even if he can't break the ball, he can block Yang Yang.

But in this case, who is watching Crouch?

If he doesn't make up for Thuram, Yang Yang only needs to seize an opportunity, whether it is a diagonal or vertical attack, as long as he gets rid of Thuram, it will be an excellent opportunity to shoot.

What's more, the head coach on the sidelines has been slow to give specific instructions for adjustments.

Even if it is to bring back Marcos, who has dragged down in midfield, and turn him into a back four.

The lack of movement made Oleg break down a little.

He had a vague feeling that the team's fragile backline was going to be overwhelmed.

…………

…………

The second leg of the Champions League round of 16 knockout round.

There wasn't a second of silence at Anfield from the moment referee Vasalas blew his whistle.

More than 50,000 fans shouted and cheered on the team.

Rijkaard says playing at home is an advantage, but it's also pressure.

That's true, but all Liverpool players clearly enjoy playing on their home turf more.

Because the fans here are the team's best comrades!

Benitez's strategy was essentially the same as in the first leg, including how to keep an eye on Ronaldinho and Messi, except to turn Saviola into Sabio'o.

Also, in order to cope with Barcelona's small diamond four midfielders, Gerrard's position has returned a bit.

Among Liverpool's frontcourt trident, Yang Yang's tactical freedom is the highest.

Kuyt wants to grab Puyol's point, Crouch wants to suppress Oleg, and Yang Yang's task is to attack.

Rijkaard's original idea was very simple, control the ball, control the rhythm, and use the experienced veteran Thuram to limit Yang Yang, then the rest of the things will be much easier.

But the biggest difference between a cup and a league is that it's a surprise win!

The reason why Benitez is good at playing cup games is that he is not only very targeted, but also because he is very good at winning by surprise.

For example, in the game against Barcelona, everyone concluded that Liverpool would definitely continue to play defensive counter-attacks, and even Barcelona's technical director Begiristain felt that Liverpool would play defensive counter-attacks during psychological warfare.

Why?

The first is to lead 3-1, secondly, defensive counter-attacks are Liverpool's forte, and thirdly, pressing out to play is the situation that Barcelona wants to see the most, because it means that Liverpool can no longer defend tightly.

But Benitez had this kind of courage, which caught everyone in Barcelona off guard, and Rijkaard was obviously stunned.

Who would have thought that Benitez had so many tricks not to choose, but chose one of the most unlikely options in everyone's consciousness?

But sometimes that's how things are, the more unthinkable the opponent is, the safer it is.

Liverpool started the game very well, starting from the trident, to the three midfielders, to the back four, the team played very cohesively, and suppressed Barcelona across the board.

Didn't have the ball, but controlled the game.

At this time, Yang Yang knew very well that he didn't need to worry about defense at all, or anything else, there was only one thing he needed to worry about.

That's how to break down Barcelona's goal!

……

Thuram is a very experienced and very good player.

Even though he is thirty-five years old, he is still in good shape.

If the two sides stand on the same level and compete, it is difficult for Yang Yang to have a chance.

That's why Rijkaard dared to put veteran Thuram on the line.

Therefore, Yang Yang changed his strategy, he deliberately leaned left and back, trying to pull Thuram out.

As long as Thuram is out of position, Yang Yang's diagonal and vertical sprints will be able to play a threat.

The thirty-five-year-old French veteran can't keep up with Yang Yang's speed no matter what.

But Thuram couldn't come out, because Yang Yang hit Barcelona's crossbar with a long-range shot from 20 meters away at the beginning, which completely ignited the atmosphere of the whole stadium and shocked Barcelona.

If there was no crossbar, Liverpool would have scored in three minutes!

As a result, Thuram had to come out, and in the ninth minute, he received the first yellow card of the game.

The French veteran is also very difficult to deal with Yang Yang.

Rijkaard didn't make too many adjustments.

Yang Yang guessed that the Barcelona coach should have a headache at this time, and even regretted his starting lineup.

Because he has no way to adjust.

On the counter-attack, Gerrard's back cut made it necessary for him to put Marcos on the edge of the box to protect.

Xavi and Deco are flanked by the small diamond, key to the team's possession playmaking and passing attack, and are also unable to move.

Yang Yang has a feeling that it is not that Rijkaard is too weak, but that Benitez is too strong.

What's more, the team's 3-1 in the first leg of the away game was too crucial, directly forcing Barcelona into a desperate situation, and there was no way back at all, but to choose to die.

Benitez not only had to keep his opponents out of the way, but he also had to push them off a cliff with his own hands.

Yang Yang is the trump card in his hand to coerce his opponent!