Liverpool have a very strange tradition.

The night before each home game, the team gathers for the hotel to stay at is the Hope Street Hotel.

But the players' favorite place to go after the game, or on a regular basis, is the St. Thomas Hotel.

The two hotels are not far away, and Anfield is about a 10-minute drive away, but for Liverpool, they are like two different places.

If the players are in a good mood or win at home, it's going to be the St. Thomas Hotel to celebrate.

The owner of the hotel is a die-hard Liverpool fan, and he will definitely chase every game, whether it is home or away.

Of course, the owner of the Hope Street Hotel is also a Liverpool die-hard, and this hotel has been the hotel where Liverpool stayed before the home game for so many years, and it has never been changed.

The only difference is that there is a St. Thomas Bar inside the St. Thomas Hotel, which is the most atmospheric and popular place for Liverpool fans, and Liverpool players often meet here.

Daniel Agger's Italian restaurant is also nearby.

Interestingly, the night before the Chelsea game, the players checked into the Hope Street Hotel and were discussing how to celebrate at the St Thomas Hotel after tomorrow's game.

Because the owner of the St Thomas Hotel has said that as long as the team wins against Chelsea and advances to the final, he will invite the whole team to celebrate, and all the drinks in his bar will be served free of charge.

Of course, the target is limited to Liverpool's players and employees.

This is definitely a tempting condition for the likes of Gerald and Carragher.

Every player sees something different, some see the atmosphere, some want to drink, and some think of beautiful women.

And when the time comes, it will definitely be another sleepless night.

……

Yang Yang and Xavi Alonso were not interested in any of this, so the two took the initiative to ask the manager to apply for the same room.

Benitez agreed.

So, all night, Xavi Alonso sat on the bed and read a book, Yang Yang studied his opponent on his laptop, and by the way, he wore headphones and watched Su Ye, he is now more than Maxwell was at the beginning, and he wants to see Su Ye every day.

Finally, it was almost time, and Yang Yang turned off the computer.

"Do you think it's weird?" After turning off the lights, Yang Yang suddenly asked.

"It doesn't seem like there's any targeted training." Xavi Alonso said.

In the dark, Yang Yang snorted, "The boss just let us have a shooting drill." ”

It was a training session this afternoon, with Rafael Benitez sending Aurelio and Arbeloa on either side of the box from outside the box, passing the ball to either side of the top of the box, and then the other players got up to play into the near corner.

Jesterdam took a notepad and took notes over there.

Each player had a few shots in both positions, but the coaching staff didn't say a word about what was going on.

"It's normal, he's always secretive." Xavi Alonso said.

"But he's reliable every time." Yang Yang replied.

He had a resounding in his head what Benitez had told him, that he had discovered a very secret hole in Chelsea, which I am afraid even Mourinho himself was not aware of, but what it was, he still kept it hidden.

Could it be that this shooting training has something to do with this?

"I remember, once he said that when playing with a national team, there are often many players who are familiar with each other, and when communicating before the game, it is inevitable that the content of the game will be involved.

The stadium is like a battlefield, and it is understandable to obtain information before the game, and you can only blame yourself for not having enough sense of confidentiality.

"So, since then, he's never announced some tactical details in advance of the game, only on the day of the game, sometimes even in the pre-game dressing room, just before the game, just to avoid leaks."

When Xavi Alonso said this, Yang Yang felt a little funny, but he didn't resist.

He has never been a very curious person, and if it has something to do with him and he needs to do it, Benitez will tell him sooner or later, and there is no need to be in a hurry.

"Huh." In the darkness, Xavi Alonso's voice came from the next bed, "Yang, we're going to make it to the final, right?" ”

"Yes!" Yang Yang replied without hesitation, paused, and added, "Not only do we want to enter the finals, but we also want to win the championship!" ”

"That's really calculated by Gerald!" Xavi Alonso laughed.

Yang Yang couldn't help laughing, and that night, Xavi Alonso also told him.

"He's a fortune teller!"

…………

…………

The next morning, Yang Yang still went to the gym to train for a while.

De Michel was always with him, and he is now in charge of the team's training program in the gym.

On the day of the race, all the itinerary is strictly scheduled, including the lunch break.

Yang Yang is a special one, because he has become accustomed to his training mode, such as going to the gym in the morning and swimming at noon, these are all habits that he has accumulated over the past few years, and his body has already adapted to it.

Even in a way, the gym or swimming is an alternative relaxation for him.

Two hours before the game, the team departed on time from the Hope Street Hotel and boarded the team's bus.

When the players walked out of the hotel, the Liverpool fans were already waiting in front of the hotel, cheering for the players, singing the team anthem or shouting the players' names, hoping they could beat Chelsea tonight.

But no one is going to come and crash the team, because they all know that the players need to be calm before the game.

Every night game, the start is Liverpool's evening rush.

The police car will clear the way for the Liverpool bus in front of it to ensure the team arrives at Anfield on time as expected.

The players were on the bus, there was no communication, no talking, there was silence.

In the past, when he was at Ajax, Yang Yang would go to the super training ground to train, but not at Liverpool, because it was only ten minutes away.

Everywhere the bus passes, crowds of Liverpool fans cheer on the side of the road.

The seats on the bus are also exquisite, some players are more casual, but some are more superstitious, they will always deliberately choose the same teammates to sit together, such as Aurelio, he has to sit with Yang Yang, because he believes that it can bring him luck.

In fact, after he sat with Yang Yang, he performed well in every game.

But Yang Yang sometimes really wants to tell him that the reason why he is doing well is because he has himself in front of him, not because the two sit together before the game, because Yang Yang doesn't like to sit with Aurerio very much.

The two have a good relationship, but Aurelio likes to talk when he is nervous.

But today, he didn't speak.

This is the first time he has touched the threshold of a Champions League final!

Benitez sat in the front row, usually reading the newspaper or playing Sudoku, and he was obsessed with the math game.

Yang Yang felt very troubled by this, because he was not interested in brain-consuming calculations like Sudoku at all.

But the Spaniards are obsessed with it, which is also in line with his image.

What is different from usual is that when the team bus passed by the University of Liverpool, several Chinese students played Chinese slogans, cheering for Yang Yang, and they all wore Liverpool jerseys, apparently planning to go to Anfield, which made Yang Yang feel moved by his hometown and old acquaintance, waving to them through the car window to express his gratitude.

……

When you arrive at Anfield, prepare, rest, warm up and head back to the dressing room......

Everything went in order and everyone was used to this kind of home preparation day in and day out.

It has also been proven that Liverpool's home results this season have been really good.

As the players returned to the dressing room and prepared for the final game, head coach Rafael Benitez finally unveiled his last killer feature of the game.

'I've always believed that a good manager has to be forward-thinking, and before the most important game, he has to be reserved for his tactics, and in fact, I've always done that.

The locker room was so quiet that only Benitez's voice remained.

Everyone knew that this was the final tactical arrangement before the last game, and everyone listened very carefully.

'I had noticed a hole in Chelsea long before the first leg, but in the first leg I didn't use it because I wasn't sure I could hit it at Stamford Bridge, so I deliberately saved it for the second leg.

Benitez said this with a lot of confidence, and that confidence was contagious to every player in the dressing room.

"If you think about it, it's not hard to see that we've never practised set-pieces in the last few games, haven't we?"

After hearing this, the players thought for a moment and nodded their heads in unison, it is true that they have not practiced.

"If you think about it again, in the first leg and in the last two league games, did I deliberately ask you to take a penalty from a set-piece, or in the middle of the box?"

Everyone nodded again.

All corners and free-kicks in front of the pitch are penalty points, so against Portsmouth, Hyypia scored a header, and everyone thought that it was a hole that Benitez saw the opponent and did not expect to prepare for this game.

Yang Yang immediately guessed that this was called wanting to cover up, because he knew that Mourinho would definitely study Liverpool's last few games, especially set-piece tactics.

Well, on the contrary, Mourinho's Chelsea hole must be a set-piece defence, and a front point!

'So, tonight I'm going to tell you that Chelsea's set-piece defence, the near post is their weakness, they always have holes in the near posts, it's just that the opposition doesn't take advantage of that hole a lot of times and use it to score.

'So tonight, I need someone who can get out of the crowd and attack the near post in the right spot when the other players are around the six-yard box when the team takes a corner or a set-piece up front!

'It's going to help us get past Chelsea!' Benitez said loudly.