Among the materials provided to Yang Yang by the Liverpool coaching staff, there is an article dedicated to a detailed analysis of AC Milan's Christmas tree formation.

Head coach Rafael Benitez and tactical analyst Duff McDonoff both agree that AC Milan's success this season has come from Carlo Ancelotti's tactical adjustments, with Ambrosini playing with a back three being key.

The biggest role of the Christmas tree formation is to defend, especially in the middle of the penalty area.

Four, three, two, one, you can see from this series of numbers, four defenders, three midfielders, two forward midfielders, and one striker.

When it came to shrinking the defence, AC Milan's hinterland was home to seven defensive players.

If you want to control the situation on the football field, you must either control the ball or control the space, and if you want to get these two things, you can't do without people, so some people say that the advantage on the football field is groundbreaking, that is, how to create a numerical advantage in the local area, and give full play to this advantage.

At the edge of the penalty area, there are two attackers and only one defender, and that's dead.

If it is the other way around, then the attacker is probably out of business.

The same is true for AC Milan, with seven players in the box and at the edge of the box, plus two midfielders, ensuring that AC Milan can press all opponents who enter the 30-metre zone, forcing them to start from a distance and make it difficult to create a threat.

Because, inside and outside the penalty area, the most threatening, the most critical areas are occupied by them.

This is the biggest advantage of the Christmas tree formation, and it is also the most headache for opponents!

But everyone also knows that on the football field, it is not enough to rely on defense, no matter how well the defense is done, there is not enough offensive threat, sooner or later it will be taken down by the opponent.

So there are two strikers and a striker up front.

The trio have always been in a triangular position, and their characteristics are different.

Inzaghi is good at running and interspersing behind, Kaka is fast, explosive, good at attacking from behind and breaking through with the ball in the middle, and Seedorf is more comprehensive, creative and has outstanding passing awareness.

The three players complement each other and complement each other, forming a tactical level when attacking.

They can pull the side, they can play small combinations in the middle, or they can play quick counterattacks.

No team would dare to be careless in the face of such an attacking combination, nor would the full-backs dare to press rashly, as Seedorf and Kaka can both create a threat on the flanks.

But how can there be perfect tactics in the world?

One of the weaknesses of the Christmas tree formation is that it is recycled as a whole, and when it moves from defense to attack, it is very far from the goal, so in essence, it is a very conservative defensive counter-attacking tactic.

So how to solve the problem of too far away?

Pirlo's long pass and Kaka's speed!

Another problem is that it is easy to get out of touch.

In the first minute of the game, Liverpool's goal was the best proof of that.

After kick-off, AC Milan launched a press in the midfield, trying to control the ball from the beginning, but Liverpool played a long ball directly behind him, and the midfielder did not have time to return to the edge of the penalty area, which led to Gerrard being able to easily find Yang Yang when he stepped in to get the ball and assisted him to score with a header.

At that time, Liverpool used their speed to disconnect the two lines of AC Milan's defense.

On top of that, the width of the attack is heavily reliant on two full-backs, and without the support of full-backs, the attack is too concentrated in the middle, which makes it easier for opponents to defend.

And after Liverpool opened the scoring, the trend of the game basically fit the situation of the Christmas tree formation.

……

After scoring the first goal, Liverpool took the initiative to press out to attack, but at the same time, whether it was Gerrard who broke forward, or Mascherano and Xavi Alonso, they all firmly held the middle.

Finnan and Aurelio on both wings did not dare to press too much, at most they were on par with the two midfielders.

In the frontcourt, Yang Yang contained Otto and Gattuso, and Pennant attacked AC Milan's left side with all his might, not only suppressing Jankulovski, but also creating threats on the pitch.

This made the situation on the whole field of AC Milan very embarrassing, and it can even be said to be embarrassing.

The front trident that the Rossoneri relied on, with Inzaghi having no shot on goal and Kaka having a long-range shot, made Seedorf invisible throughout the first half.

It can be said that Liverpool's tactics were very, very successful throughout the first half, playing AC Milan only had the power to parry, and there was no room to fight back, and it was difficult for the attack to pass through the midfield, on the other hand, Liverpool frequently created threats.

In addition to a lightning goal in the opening game, Yang Yang also cut inside with the ball on the left side in the next time, transferred with his right foot, and passed diagonally behind him, Pennant quickly inserted behind Jankulovski, crossed to the penalty area, and Gerrard inserted and pushed the shot, which missed.

Then Yang Yang sent a wonderful pass on the left side, picked the pass to the back point, Pennant followed up and hit the goal directly, but still missed.

The most threatening attack of the game came in the 28th minute.

Pennant sent in a pinpoint cross from the right that fell to the back post.

Yang Yang quickly plugged in, the header in front of the bottom line was ferried, and the head returned to the goal, and Kuyt pushed it from close range in front of the goal.

As a result, the veteran Maldini blocked the shot as if he were a god, and then Gerrard's follow-up shot was also disrupted by Ambrosini.

Yang Yang also created a long-range opportunity for Xavi Alonso in the 32nd minute, and the Spanish midfielder's heavy shot hit the crossbar directly, but he still couldn't find the back of the net again.

In the 36th minute, Pennant created another chance from the right and sent the ball into the right side of the penalty area, Gerrard inserted the ball and crossed to the goal, Kuyt was interfered with by Nesta, the shot failed to hit the goal, and was tackled by Otto in front of the goal line.

……

It can be said that throughout the first half, Liverpool had the advantage.

In addition to possession, Liverpool are ahead of AC Milan in all attacking statistics, and the number of shots on goal is far ahead.

However, in this situation where they had the advantage, and everyone even thought that Liverpool should be able to score again soon, AC Milan equalised.

In the 44th minute, AC Milan launched a quick counter-attack, Seedorf dribbled the ball on the left and was tackled out of bounds by Mascherano, AC Milan threw the throw-in, reorganized the attack, and when the ball was sent into the box, Carragher took the lead to clear the ball, but Kaka scrambled to get the ball on the edge of the arc of the box, and Xavi Alonso fouled while defending.

Pirlo took the free-kick when Inzaghi, who was in line with the Liverpool players, turned sideways and hit his left upper arm, scurling a line and slamming into the Liverpool goal.

Reyna judged the original trajectory of the ball, but did not expect the ball to change direction when it hit Inzaghi.

It was definitely an unbelievable stroke of luck.

Liverpool's players immediately signaled to German referee Van Del that this should be regarded as a handball, but Van Del said that Inzaghi's arms were not open at the time, and there was no obvious awareness of active handball, but only passively touched the football.

In other words, AC Milan relied on God's reward to equalize the score!

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The home team's dressing room was so quiet that only the footsteps of the players remained.

It's absolutely unacceptable to be equalised by an opponent when you have the advantage.

And that's what happened!

What else can be said other than to say indignantly, what kind of luck did AC Milan take?

Yang Yang sat in the locker room, took off his shirt and pants, and sweated profusely.

The temperature in Athens is so hot, even at night, that it is still so hot that the physical exertion of the players is significantly greater than usual, which is quite bad for Liverpool.

Because the Red Army adopted the tactics of rushing and encircling, it just needed physical fitness.

The Liverpool coaching staff also developed a strategy specifically for this situation, putting ice cubes in their training vests and each player wearing them for two or three minutes to make sure they could recover as quickly as possible.

Yang Yang was the first to wear it, so he is sitting now, while the other teammates who put it on are walking around the locker room.

All that's left in the locker room is their voices, and the occasional movement of the staff.

Yang Yang believes that what the team needs most now is not mobilization, but affirmation.

The team played very well in the first half and as long as we keep the pressure on, there will definitely be chances in the second half.

But the key is to be patient, not rush, continue to play the way you did after taking the lead in the first half, and sooner or later you will be able to score again.

But if you're in a hurry, Kaka's dribbling speed is quite fast, and Xavi Alonso's foul just now is also a little helpless, because if Kaka really starts, it can't be stopped at all.

Whether it is the suppression of the front court or the interception and pressure of the midfield, Liverpool has done a good job, and it can even be said that there is no problem, but it is a little unlucky.

……

"Everybody sit down, we have more important things to take care of."

Rafael Benitez and Jesterdam walked into the dressing room and loudly motioned for the players to take their seats.

There was a dead silence in the locker room, and everyone looked up at Benitez.

'The first half was very successful, we completely suppressed AC Milan and in the second half we had to continue, taking advantage of the space behind the defenders and playing to the advantage of our quick counter-attack.

The players all nodded.

'We were unlucky in the first half but that was in the past, 1-1 was nothing for us, we had chances to score again, you did a really good job and keep creating chances and we will score again.'

It is clear that the Liverpool manager also believes that the team's various targeted tactical arrangements in the first half have been achieved and have achieved results, and there is no need to make changes and adjustments at all.

But at the same time, Benitez also said that he would make a substitution in the second half about 15 to 20 minutes.

Everyone knows that the first person to be replaced by the team is Crouch.

The tactical role of the England striker in the front court is still very obvious, especially against a team like AC Milan, whose high ball advantage can often play a key role.

Benitez put him on the bench in this game, and he was originally used as a surprise soldier.

If the second half still doesn't open up, Crouch will come off the bench.