Prior to this crucial game, Fenerbahce head coach Portuguese Sermon Perez had been told by the club that his contract at the club would be terminated prematurely if he failed to break through the third round of Champions League qualification this year. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

At the start of last season, Fenerbahce was also eliminated after a hard-fought third round of Champions League qualification.

Although they later made it to the last 16 in the Europa League group stage, it is clear that the competitive and economic benefits are not comparable to reaching the Champions League.

It was clearly not enough to satisfy the ambitious club hierarchy, and with another runners-up finish in the league at the end of the season and another failure to win the title, the club made Champions League qualification the final exam for Perez.

Despite a narrow one-goal win at home, Perez knew that if it weren't for the referee's mistake, Monaco's astonishing performance would definitely be more deserving of the last win than his own team.

He had hardly slept for a week, studying all the Monaco footage countless times before finalizing the final strategy for the game.

He switched to 352, fielded five defenders in midfield, and was determined to strangle Monaco's attacking organization once and for all, and then continued to look for opportunities to exploit Emenech's individual qualities up front.

At the pre-match preparation meeting, he told the players that the "A" plan would be the main focus in the game - the two full-backs would mainly defend at the back, the forward midfielder would be responsible for intercepting near the halfway, and the attack would be dominated by rushing to find Fernando's high point, which was more similar to the 532 "swing bus" to hold the formation.

According to the rules of the home and away knockout rounds, if the two legs are drawn, the number of away goals is doubled before being compared.

So for Fenerbahce, the key to this game is to hold on to the 2-1 scoreline, as Monaco only need to score one goal to knock them out and successfully enter the play-offs in the next round.

Perez felt dizzy at the sight of the opening goal – he barely slept three hours a day for the past week.

It's not just a job, a contract that hasn't been fulfilled, it's about his own honor, which he holds dear so much.

He strode to the edge of the command area, whistled loudly, and then roared again, signaling the players to start pressing—Plan B"—reverting from 532 to 352, and attacking.

After all, as long as they also get an away goal, the opposing home team will have to score at least two more goals in the next game to advance.

If only one goal is scored, it can only guarantee that the home team will not be eliminated, and the game will go to extra time or even a penalty shootout.

The pressure on the home side is also not relieved, and they must take advantage of the situation to extend their lead, otherwise any mishaps will lead to the loss of the temporary advantage.

The two sides restarted a fierce competition, and Li Liang unexpectedly found that Falcao was strange again.

Since six months ago at Stamford Bridge, even an "incomplete" Falcao who has not fully recovered physically and mentally, Li Liang has seen the power of his movement.

From the moment he made up his mind to go to Monaco, Li Liang has been doing relevant "homework". Among them, he also watched a lot of highlights from Falcao's past.

Coupled with a summer training session in Switzerland and the last game in Turkey, Li Liang already knows Falcao's movement habits and running characteristics.

Now he was surprised to find that Falcao's speed and running rate were declining!

Fenerbahce's efforts began to bear fruit, with Van der Wiel on the right gradually coming alive.

Soon, Van der Wiel's breakthrough cross was snatched to the spot by Fernando, and his header was back to Tufan, who rushed to shoot directly from distance before Bakayoko blocked, but Subasic was prepared and held the ball firmly in his arms.

Subaic rushed directly to the edge of the penalty area and threw the ball over the middle line to launch a fast attack, Dillard took two steps and stuffed it directly to Germain who pulled to the right, Germain did not stop the ball and crossed it for the first time, and Falcao who followed in the middle was about to grab a point!

Li Liang and his teammates on the bench were already nervously standing up, only to see Falcao suddenly stumble in the last moment, without making physical contact with any opponent, his body lost control and missed the ball, the ball flew out of the touchline in front of the goal, Fenerbahce's throw-in.

The audience sighed, Li Liang stood motionless, he was already very sure that there must be something wrong with Falcao.

Spinoli also began to hesitate, and he began to notice that Falcao was strange.

Since returning to the team for a medical examination, Falcao's physical condition has been getting better and better, which has also allowed him to play an amazing performance in recent games, as if he has completely regained the form of the year.

The coaching staff is also becoming more and more confident in Falcao, and unanimously agreed to send Wagner Lowe, who was temporarily brought in to fight fires last season and performed quite well, to the transfer market, clarifying the offensive system with Falcao and Germain as the main scorers in the new season.

From this missed goal, Spinoli also began to pay nervous attention to Falcao.

When Falcao was about to take the last step of his left leg to take off, he suddenly felt the same pain in the back of his thigh as before, which made him lose control of his body and unfortunately missed this must-score opportunity that had been held in the past.

He began to realize that something was really wrong with his body.

If he had only subconsciously avoided the movement of his left leg before, from this moment on, Falcao's great fear of injury began to tie his hands and feet layer by layer.

Because of Falcao's aberration, the pressure on Fenerbahce's back line was greatly reduced, and they even began to fight against Monaco with heavy troops.

Only Falcao, who is usually less than half the power, and Germain, who is difficult to support, face three 1.90m giant central defenders, and they can't find any chances at all.

On the contrary, Fenerbahce's two midfielders were freed from defensive pressure and began to press aggressively.

For a while, Fenerbahce team got two good shots in a row, but fortunately, Subasic was in a brave state, and the high resistance defused the danger.

Perez also noticed Falcao's aberration, he rushed to the sideline and whistled again, directing the back line to press further! He asked the players to seize the rare favorable opportunity and continue to exert high pressure on the Monaco team!

Jardim got up and made an urgent communication with Spinoli, making sure that Falcao was in a state of physical condition.

He immediately asked the substitute centre-forward Argentine Carrillo to start warming up, then rushed to the sidelines and directed Dillard to head up front first, with Sidibi moving forward at the same time and Fabinho dropping back to right-back.

Seeing this scene, Li Liang's heart began to feel sad.

He'd seen how far Falcao's Chelsea reserves had fallen, and he knew better than anyone how Falcao had come out of his desperate despair.

If he is injured again at this time, then God is really too cruel to Falcao.