Chapter 201: Champions League Flames Rekindled (Part 1)
In the stands, reporters from London shook their heads.
In this game, Tottenham Hotspur can be said to have been beaten without temper, maybe it's a little unfair to say this, after all, from the perspective of the scene, Tottenham is not too embarrassed, but, it is precisely because of this, if you think about it carefully, you will feel the horror of this Liverpool team, or more precisely, Liverpool's number one star Jiang Chenxi's strong scoring ability, Tottenham Hotspur was knocked out unconsciously.
The camera gives a close-up of Tottenham Hotspur's star Harry Kane.
Kane worked hard in the game, especially at the start of the first half, but the England international was unable to get closer to scoring throughout the game, and his efforts were insignificant in front of Liverpool's three goals.
With a 3-0 lead, Liverpool played a little relaxed, which allowed Tottenham to seize a late opportunity in the game, Alli assisted Elkeson to score a goal to make it 1-3, but the goal came in the second minute of stoppage time and had little impact on the outcome of the game.
After Tottenham Hotspur pulled a goal back, the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game.
Liverpool got off to a flying start with a 3-1 win at home to Tottenham Hotspur in the Devils' schedule.
……
After the game, the Tottenham Hotspur fans in the stands who came to watch the game away from home booed, they were very dissatisfied with the team's performance in this game, in the previous game, Manchester United defeated Burnley 3-1 at home, and now, after Tottenham Hotspur lost this round, the Red Devils surpassed Tottenham Hotspur by two points and ranked fifth in the standings, in addition, Arsenal defeated Leicester City 2-1 in this round, and the points also tied Tottenham Hotspur, from the current situation, Tottenham Hotspur will not be in contention for the top four, and if the situation continues to deteriorate, even fifth-place Europa League qualification will be in jeopardy.
In his post-match press conference, Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino conceded defeat, "The win belongs to the good performers, Liverpool play very experienced. ”
"Jiang is a real phenomenal player, he is too strong." Pochettino was full of praise for Jiang Chenxi, "He didn't actually get many chances today, maybe this is not his best state, but this is Jiang, it is enough for Liverpool to win." ”
When the Guardian reported on the game after the game, their views were relatively consistent with Pochettino's, however, they did not think that Jiang Chenxi was not in the best condition, but preferred to agree with another statement: Obviously, Jiang did not do his best in this game, he stayed, Liverpool is about to enter the sprint stage of the season, at this moment, Jiang needs to allocate his physical strength more reasonably, and at the same time adjust his condition, he is the most indispensable person for Liverpool now.
……
At the end of the 25th round of the league, Liverpool continued to lead the Premier League standings, with the Reds reaching 62 points, six points ahead of second-placed Chelsea, Manchester City continued to secure their third-place position, and Southampton's fourth-place position in this round of league draws was no longer secure, and he was chased by Manchester United behind him to only one point.
Round 25 was played in midweek, and just three days later, Liverpool had a game at the weekend for the fifth round of the English FA Cup.
Liverpool will face Crystal Palace away from home.
With Liverpool set to travel to Schalke 04 in the Champions League knockout rounds next week, Klopp opted to rotate for the FA Cup tie with Crystal Palace.
In this game, Klopp sent a lot of substitutes.
However, Jiang Chenxi still started.
After the League Cup semi-finals, Liverpool are taking the FA Cup seriously and the club is looking to win England's oldest competition.
Therefore, in the game with Crystal Palace, Klopp arranged Jiang Chenxi to start, he is now very clear about the current situation of the team, with Jiang Chenxi on the field, it will be easier for Liverpool to win, Jiang Chenxi is not on the field, Liverpool will be more difficult even if he wins.
Previously, Klopp was worried about Jiang Chenxi's physical exhaustion, but after the observation of these games and the examination of the team doctor, Jiang Chenxi's physical condition was better than expected except for some muscle fatigue, which also made Klopp dare to use Jiang Chenxi boldly, in order to avoid a bitter battle with Crystal Palace, he sent Jiang Chenxi.
Jiang Chenxi also lived up to expectations, although he only played for an hour in the game, he still managed to lead this semi-main Liverpool team to win 3-1 away from Crystal Palace, and he showed a good competitive state with one pass and one shot in the game.
……
After the FA Cup game against Crystal Palace, the next game is Schalke 04.
Liverpool departed for Schalke on Monday to prepare for the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie with Schalke 04, although their game was only played on Wednesday evening.
Liverpool had to adapt to the venue and the local weather a day in advance, as it was still very cold in Germany in February, and Liverpool needed to adapt to the cold weather as soon as possible.
In Klopp's view, Schalke 04's strength is weaker than Liverpool's, and Liverpool's away win over Schalke 04 is not small, but there is one thing that Liverpool needs to be vigilant against, that is, the cold weather in Germany.
Bitter cold weather will be Liverpool's biggest enemy in this game.
On Tuesday evening, the Liverpool squad watched the live broadcast of the Champions League round of 16 at their hotel.
Two games kick off at the same time on this evening, Paris Saint-Germain hosting Chelsea, which is considered a close match, while Bayern Munich face Shakhtar Donetsk away in a game that is considered to be a suspenseful match with a comfortable win away from home.
The Liverpool squad did not watch the Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain matches, and Klopp arranged for the whole team to watch the FC Bayern Munich and Shakhtar Donetsk matches.
"Watch this game seriously." Klopp said, "The cold weather will cause huge problems for Bayern, and it will not be so easy for Bayern to win this game. ”
Hearing Klopp say this, the players were a little unconvinced.
Who is Bayern Munich?
This team, Real Madrid and Barcelona are known as the three super giants in football at present, and with the strong strength of the Bundesliga's 'Southern Star', Shakhtar Donetsk is simply unable to compete.
Clearly, the Liverpool players thought Jurgen Klopp was a bit 'alarmist' and over-exaggerated the impact of the cold weather on the game.
However, after the 90-minute live broadcast of the game, everyone was shocked.
……
In Ukraine, on a cold winter night of minus 7 degrees, the mighty Bayern Munich seemed to be frozen, and there was nothing the team could do to take the opponent throughout the game. In the first half, both teams had no chances, and in the second half, Bayern midfielder Alonso was sent off with two yellows and one red. In the end, Bayern drew 0-0 away at Shakhtar Donetsk.
Throughout the game, the Bayern Munich players were seen slipping and falling on the pitch.
The camera gave a close-up of Bayern Munich's bench, Bayern Munich's substitute stars buried their bodies in thick down jackets, and their breath was white mist, and when Alonso, who was sent off with a red card, he even sneezed twice in a row.
"In this game, Bayern was not so much forced to draw by Shakhtar as it was to be bound by the cold weather." Klopp looked around at his players and said with a serious expression, "Tomorrow night, the local temperature in Schalke may be below -two degrees Celsius, and now anyone still thinks I'm making a big fuss?" ”