Chapter 155: Champions League Final (4)

In football, there is not much rest time for both teams before extra time, only a few minutes to drink some water and eat something to replenish energy, and extra time will start soon.

The whole Liverpool team gathered on the sidelines, drinking water, replenishing energy, several important players and members of the team's medical team helped massage their thighs, and Liu Ting also belonged to the type of massage.

Heynckes was talking about what to pay attention to in extra-time: "We have to play more steadily in extra-time, don't give them a chance easily, even if it drags on to the penalty shoot-out, it doesn't matter, I don't think Liverpool will have anyone afraid of penalty shootouts, we can completely defend and counterattack, you know?" ”

"Got it!" Most of the players were tired and their answers didn't seem imposing.

After Liverpool defeated AC Milan on penalties in the 05 Champions League final to win the championship, Liverpool had a unique confidence in the penalty shootout, although Liverpool also lost in the penalty shootout after that, but this inexplicable confidence has always existed.

While both managers were explaining to their players what to watch out for in extra time, Beckenbauer was telling Platini in the stands: "Congratulations, Mr. President, even if the game is over now, it will be a successful Champions League final, with which European football can expand its influence around the world." ”

In the stands, those celebrities were arranged together, Liverpool's Xu Zhengxin was accompanied, he took over and said: "In the past few years, Liverpool has not been short of goals in the final of European competitions, and the 1:2 loss to AC Milan in 07 is already the game with the fewest goals, I think UEFA should consider giving Liverpool more care." ”

In addition to the 07 game, Liverpool also beat Spanish side Alaves 5-4 in the 00/01 UEFA Cup final, and the two teams scored nine goals together, equalling the total number of goals scored by both teams in the history of the League Cup final, followed by the 3-3 penalty shootout with AC Milan in the 04/05 season.

Xu Zhengxin's words are of course a joke, Liverpool, as a Premier League team, is good if it is not targeted by Platini.

After only about five minutes of rest on the sidelines, the referee came over to inform both teams that extra time was about to start and that the players of both teams were back on the field.

Barcelona made a substitution before extra time, with Pedro coming on for Thierry Henry, who said it wasn't doing well and could have just recovered from injury. In Barcelona's 6-2 away win over Real Madrid, Henry and Messi both scored twice, but Henry was injured in the last minute of the game, and Henry has been recovering from injuries waiting for the Champions League final, the Champions League has always been Henry's dream, and he once publicly admitted that the reason he left Arsenal was to win the Champions League.

Thierry Henry finally made it to the final and got a start, but the performance in this final was not too ideal, so Guardiola replaced Henry with Pedro.

The first half of extra-time in the Champions League final began, and both teams played cautiously in the first few minutes.

The first shot of extra-time came late in the seventh minute when Puyol's cross from the right was met by Keita's long-range shot.

In the 11th minute, Liu Ting was fouled by Pique in front of the penalty area, and Liverpool won a well-placed free kick, and Gerrard's free kick went around the wall, but finally grazed the crossbar and slid past the goal.

The free-kick sparked the hearts of Barcelona fans and made Liverpool fans sigh.

Before the game, Liu Ting and Gerrard both scored 7 goals in the Champions League, second only to Messi with 8 goals, and both had a chance to compete for the Champions League Golden Boot, but Heynckes specifically talked to the two and asked them to win in the final, and not to waste the opportunity because they wanted to score goals to compete for the Golden Boot.

Liu Ting and Gerrard did this in this game, and there were no more unprovoked shots, especially after Messi's goal, the two have less chance of competing for the golden boot, and now the most important thing is to help the team win the championship.

Up to now, both Heynckes and the players on the field have found that there is nothing wrong with Barcelona's two wings, which were considered by Liverpool and even most people to be loopholes before the game, and Liu Ting has no good chance to change to the right after playing on the left side, Puyol and Hilvinho have completed their tasks very well, especially the performance of Silvinho, a veteran, can be called rejuvenation.

This is also the reason why Heynckes asked the team to pay attention to the defense, because the opponent's formation has no good breakthrough points, and the goal of a game can only depend on the individual ability or luck of its own players, which will be the most difficult game for the manager to control.

There were only 15 minutes of extra time in the first half, and the time passed quickly, and both teams failed to score, so they had to wait for the second half to divide the winner, and the second half could not be decided, so it was only a penalty shootout.

There is no half-time break in the extra time of a football match, and the two teams will switch fields at the end of the 15 minutes, although the referee has the right to consider giving two minutes of rehydration at his discretion.

The two teams were given three minutes to drink water on the sidelines, and then the game began immediately.

At the beginning of the second half of extra time, Barcelona began to launch an offensive and attacked in a big way.

In the 16th minute, Xavi went straight through the midfield, and Eto'o's direct shot in the box was blocked by Mascherano.

In the 18th minute, Iniesta broke through with the ball and was pulled down by Mascherano, and during this time, Xiao Ma Ge defended left and right and became the busiest person on the field.

Guardiola on the sidelines looked at the situation on the field and was secretly happy, the reason why he was not afraid of extra time was La Masia's youth training system, La Masia's training camp has always had a tradition of focusing on physical strength, and the players from La Masia are very capable of running, which can complete Barcelona's passing and control tactics, most of the players in this game are from La Masia's academy, Guardiola just wants to take advantage of Liverpool's declining physical strength in extra time to find opportunities, and now Liverpool is overstretched, Everything was expected by Pep Guardiola.

Seeing that Liverpool was suppressed, Heynckes hurriedly used a substitution, and in the 19th minute of extra time, Guardiola sent the veteran Hyypia on the field to replace Arbeloa.

As Liverpool's main central defender, Hyypia has helped Liverpool win the UEFA Cup and the European Champions Cup, and is a meritorious player of Liverpool.

Zhan Jun said: "Hyypia got the opportunity to play, he replaced Arbeloa to play right-back, Heynckes mainly wanted to use Hyypia's experience to help the team defend, during this time Barcelona attacked fiercely, Arbeloa was an attacking full-back, Liverpool's equalizer was scored by him, but he did not help the team's defense enough, Heynckes used this substitution." ”

Heynckes intended to bring Hyypia on the pitch to help the defence, but no later than the substitution was made, Liverpool's goal was breached.

In the 20th minute, Carragher fouled Messi in front of the penalty area, and Xavi's free kick flew directly into the top corner of the goal, and Reina, who was average today, could not do anything.

"Harvey! Nice free-kick goal! Barcelona took the lead again, with only 10 minutes to go before their first treble, the Spanish team's first treble, and they just had to hold on for the last 10 minutes! The Spanish commentator was cheering happily.

Zhan Jun said: "In the face of Barcelona's fierce attack, Liverpool, whose physical strength has declined, still conceded the goal, and at this time there are only 10 minutes before the end of the game, and Liverpool must hurry." ”

The good-natured Heynckes was also angry at the time of conceding the ball, but he didn't know who to be angry at, the ball was responsible for Messi's foul Carragher in a dangerous position, and Reina, who was not very good in this final, was also a little responsible, just now his position was not very good, but both of them were not too responsible to let the two of them carry the blame.

The Barcelona players were celebrating wildly, the Barcelona fans in the stands were also happy, and the Liverpool fans were disappointed and sad.

When the Liverpool fans were lost, Humpty Dumpty Bill kept shouting, spreading to the surrounding Liverpool fans: "Now is the time when the team needs us the most, we have to cheer for them!" ”

Soon there was a neat song of "You Will Never Walk Alone" from the Liverpool fan stands, and the Liverpool players who were still lost on the field looked up one after another, and the Liverpool fans in the stands were standing and singing the team song to cheer everyone.

"You'll Never Walk Alone" is an evolution of a popular song in the early years, the song itself is very melodic and catchy, and then sung by Liverpool, it has long been the most well-known football song in Europe, especially in England and Germany, this song is often heard in games, and the team of the game has nothing to do with Liverpool at all, and even Dortmund fans in the Bundesliga once wanted to position this song as their team song.

With the beginning of the Liverpool fans, many neutral fans also sang along, Liverpool fans sang standing and neutral fans sitting, as if the whole audience was singing the song for a moment.

The game restarted, Liverpool were doing the final comeback according to Heynckes' instructions, and Barcelona reacted most normally, shrinking the defense and counter-attacking when they had the chance.

In the 22nd minute, Liu Ting's long-range shot won a corner for Liverpool.

In the 23rd minute, Torres broke through with the ball and split the ball, and Gerrard's shot on the line of the box was confiscated by Valdés.

Liverpool continued to besiege Barcelona's goal.

In the 26th minute, Kuyt pressed forward and Xavi Alonso broke the ball at the feet of Yaya Toure, Alonso went straight into the penalty area, Kuyt inserted into the box and volleyed, the coolie striker played beautifully, the ball flew directly to the bottom left corner of the goal, the ball was fast and the angle was good, and the ball flew into the goal from before Valdés fell to the ground.

“goooooooooal!!! Kuyt!! He did it! Liverpool equalised, we didn't lose the game! Alan Hansen was cheering for Kuyt.

Kuyt, who scored the crucial goal, rushed to the sideline and slid to his knees, a rare passionate celebration.

Zhan Jun said: "No one would have thought that this extra time would be so ups and downs, the first half of extra time was spent peacefully, just to wait for the unpredictable second half to come, Barcelona scored first to overtake the score, and then only 6 minutes later Liverpool equalized!" ”

The Spanish commentator added: "This discarding was caused by the mistake of the Ivorian, he was carelessly cut off at the back, Liverpool directly reacted and counterattacked, and finally Barcelona was equalized, maybe Guardiola should not have let him play at central defender." ”

Before the Champions League final, Guardiola once wanted Keita to play a cameo at right-back, and finally Keita said that he was very uncomfortable at right-back, so Puyol went to the right side, Yaya Toure was asked to retract to the central defender position, Yaya Toure also said that he did not like the position of central defender and wanted to return to the midfield, and finally Guardiola ordered Toure to go to the defender position.

The neutral commentator said: "This should be the best watching Champions League final in the last two years, first Barcelona scored the lead, Liverpool equalized and then overtook it, then Barcelona also equalized and then overtook it, Liverpool now equalized again, and now the score has become 3:3, Liverpool may be related to the score of 3:3, there are about 5 minutes before the game is over, and it is likely to be another penalty shootout." ”