Rafael Benitez was unhappy with the goal conceded at the back, first by vice-captain Carragher who was distracted at crucial moments in defence, and then by the fact that captain Steven Gerrard and Xavi Alonso were unable to return to the centre-backs in time to provide a barrier.

If one of the two points is achieved, even if Iello misses the ball beautifully, Ballack will not be able to easily aim at the goal to complete the shot when there is interference.

Of course, it wasn't the fault of a few players, it was the whole backline that went off at this moment.

Benitez was a little relieved after a few words of roaring on the sidelines, and the game had to go on, and there was no need to interfere with the rest of the game because of the goal that had become a fact, otherwise, the gains would outweigh the losses.

When Valencia scored this goal, it was already the 34th minute of the first half, which means that there are about ten minutes left in the first half, and there is enough time to equalize the score if there is a chance, but if you want to score in a hurry, then there will definitely be problems at the back.

After thinking through the core issues, Benitez took advantage of Valencia's still celebrations and hurriedly called captain Gerrard to his side and explained some key things.

And Flores, who was not far away, also hurriedly called Albelda, the captain of the celebration periphery, to his side, signaling the players to pay attention to defense in the next game time, because Liverpool, who lost the goal, will definitely find a way to organize an attack to equalize the score and have to defend.

Of course, it would have been better to be able to take advantage of the counter-attack for the rest of the first half and extend the score to two goals.

Thinking of this, Flores explained again about increasing the investment in defensive counterattacks.

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After Liverpool restarted, the fans in the stands were still intoxicated by the joy of the goal just now, and the whole stadium was basically divided into two parts, one part was singing the team's team song, and the other part was led by fans from China to sing the 'Ai Song'.

Listening to the song from the stands, reporters from China and local reporters in Valencia also sang along, although this goal Ailo did not touch the ball, but this goal was all due to his two consecutive missed balls, only to hit the opponent by surprise, this goal, Ailo has to remember at least half of the credit.

And the commentators in the live studio are still reminiscing about the goal just now, from the bottom of their hearts, this goal is indeed flawless, too exciting, basically a kick, coupled with Iroh's continuous leaks, it is not an exaggeration to say that this goal is a precious work of art.

After the restart, Liverpool's central midfielder, Xavi Alonso, significantly stepped up the number of shots he had on the ball, but he was more likely to split the ball in the middle than through the ball, as Valencia's defensive midfield was too dense to fit in.

Liverpool took advantage of the momentum of wanting to equalize, and at one point suppressed Valencia's defenders in their own half.

I believe that at this time, Benitez must be very regretful that he did not let Crouch play, even if a big man of 2.02 meters does not fight for the top, just standing in the penalty area will cause invisible pressure on the opposing defenders.

Liverpool's attack didn't pick up until the 40th minute of the game, Xavi Alonso's long ball was hoisted into the box, striker Kuyt's header was back, Gerrard saw the ball and picked up his right foot directly to make a powerful volley, but the ball was too difficult for the ball to be suppressed, but it was only over the crossbar.

It was a wake-up call for Valencia's backline.

"There are five minutes left in the game to end the first half, overall, Valencia's attack is slightly superior, but after Liverpool strengthens the defense, they do not have any decent attacking opportunities, but Liverpool after conceding the goal, the attack organized in these minutes is impressive, and at the same time, I have to praise Valencia's defensive attention, and there is no distraction, otherwise it will be very likely that the mistakes made by Liverpool's defenders when they scored......"

Huang Jianxiang glanced up at the time of the game, and then analyzed the overall situation in the past few minutes.

The England commentator looked at the problem from the point of view of Gerrard's shooting form: "Sure enough, it is the spiritual leader of Liverpool!" Steve Gerrard sounded the horn of the team's counterattack with a powerful long-range shot, and it would have been a shame if this goal could have been pressed down so much! However, it can be seen that he is in very good form in this game and if the opportunity is taken well, it is not impossible to score a goal......

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After Gerrard's long-range shot that threatened the goal, Valencia's defenders immediately adjusted themselves and tightened their control of the second drop, so neither Gerrard nor Xavi Alonso had a good chance to get their feet.

However, it is worth mentioning that Valencia did not play a counter-attack while defending well, because David Silva came to the middle of the team, and their three counter-attacking points became two, so it became much easier for Liverpool players to defend, and many times only needed to limit David Villa and Elo.

So when the referee blew the whistle at the end of the first half, it was the home team Valencia who entered the dressing room with a one-goal lead.

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As soon as the referee blew the whistle at the end of the first half, Cristiano Ronaldo got up from the sofa, walked into the kitchen, took out the homemade orange juice in the refrigerator and poured out a glass. ”

"Beer, thank you!"

“……”

Cristiano Ronaldo was speechless, as a true Englishman, and he couldn't forget a bottle of beer, of course, he didn't take the beer, but poured an extra glass of juice.

Rooney didn't care about Cristiano Ronaldo's homemade juice, but watched the wonderful replay of the first half and asked: "Brother Diving, do you think Brother Ai can score in the second half?" ”

Cristiano Ronaldo thought for a moment and finally came to a conclusion, "It's hard to say, ......"

"Why?"

Rooney asked subconsciously.

"You have to pay attention to that damn Argentine's marking of Ai Ge, which is even tighter than the defense of me in the league, like a mad dog! For example, Valencia scored just now, if he chooses to shoot, there will be a 90% chance of not scoring, and that clever leak just deceived Liverpool's entire backline, so that there is the final goal, if Ai Ge wants to score by himself, it is a bit difficult, after all, his goal rate is too high, and the defensive attention he attracts is also the greatest......"

Cristiano Ronaldo patiently analyzed.

Rooney nodded thoughtfully, then suddenly asked, "Did you think we would win the game at the San Siro in the middle of next week?" ”

Cristiano Ronaldo's brows furrowed, and after a while, he said slowly, "It's hard to say......"

“……”

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During the fifteen minutes of the break, the commentators in the studio commented on the highlights of the first half, with Ballack's goal being the focus of the commentary.

Without exception, this goal was all credited to the team goal from Valencia.

"As we all know, the overall strength of this Liverpool team is relatively balanced, there are no players who are too strong, and a large part of the credit for their ability to reach the semi-finals of this season's UEFA Champions League is due to the team as a whole, and in this first leg of the first leg at the Mestalla Stadium, we did not see their team football, but the goal of the home team Valencia made our eyes shine, if Liverpool in the second half did not have a detailed arrangement of attacks, This match will most likely end with a Valencia victory......"

BBC TV football commentators follow the highlights of the first half.

“…… That's right, Liverpool must increase the number of troops invested in the attack in the second half, it is difficult to pose a threat next to Bellamy, Kuyt must be freed from the defense, and at the same time to strengthen Gerrard's forward times, he was too focused on defense throughout the first half, and he only tried a long shot that he was best at, so Liverpool increased his attacking efforts in the second half at the same time, but also gave Gerrard space to create a shot. ”

In many games where there was no way to open the situation, it was their captain Steven Gerrard who helped Liverpool break the deadlock, so Liverpool had a problem at the Mestalla Stadium, so it was natural to think of him.

In a way, it was their captain who sounded the horn of the counterattack for Liverpool - Gerrard!

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No one knew what adjustments were made during the fifteen minutes of half-time, but the commentators in the studio made all sorts of guesses during those fifteen minutes, but they had to wait for the game to start to verify whether their guesses were correct.

When the Valencia players came out of the players' tunnel, the fans in the stands naturally gave the warmest applause, and in their minds, the 11 fighters on the field were very good and impeccable!

Although it was Valencia who kicked off first in the second half, the first shot of the second half was scored by a Liverpool player.

At that time, after Valencia made more than a dozen consecutive passes after kick-off, Ballack saw David Villa, who was retreating, and then passed it, but he didn't expect that the pass was predicted by Carragher in advance, and the ball was broken and counterattacked.

After a few passes of the ball, the Liverpool attacking players moved into Valencia's 30-metre defensive area and Steven Gerrard received the ball in a comfortable position.

Next, without any hesitation, he directly picked up his strong right leg and shot directly!

He shot so suddenly, almost 30 metres from goal, that Canizares was a little flustered when he saw the football, but he reacted quickly and saved the ball with one palm.

Then, there was a burst of exclamations from the stands.

After watching this accurate long-range shot be saved, Gerrard spat out a mouthful of saliva angrily, remembering Benitez's explanation at halftime, "Steve, you are the captain, you should take the ball forward and shoot more on goal!" ”

ps: Three more votes!