"The game started for almost 10 minutes, but the situation on the field was still very tight, both sides focused on the midfield to fight for control, rarely attacked head-on, let alone threatened the opponent's goal opportunities, let alone ......

Andy Gray followed the trend on the court and commented.

“…… A large part of the reason for this result is that this game is no longer a 1/8 final or a 1/4 final, but a real semi-final, only the winning side can enter the final, there is a good saying, offense wins fans, but only defense can win the championship, at this time, it is still necessary to be cautious. ”

Taking advantage of a dead ball, the director of the Mestalla Stadium gave a shot to Iello again.

This game is different from the usual Champions League matches, playing for nearly ten minutes, Iello feels that Mascherano who defends him is not as weak as he seems, he runs actively, he is full of energy, and his defensive awareness is very outstanding, and he can often be prepared to anticipate his next move, which is really a difficult opponent.

Less than ten minutes into the game, Iroh had given Mascherano a definition.

However, thinking of this, the corners of Iro's mouth curved an arc, in words that boost morale, it is this kind of opponent who can arouse his fighting spirit, otherwise, where does the sense of accomplishment come from?

Want to beat me completely? Then give me the remaining 80 minutes to tense your nerves!

※※※

If there is one player who is the most active in this game, it is undoubtedly David Silva, who is no longer a pure winger, he will often return to the deep middle to get the ball, which is very troublesome for the Liverpool defenders in charge of marking, with a Mascherano keeping an eye on Irlo, if another person is sent to mark David Silva, then this defensive system is not far from collapsing.

Therefore, in addition to defending Ailo, the defense of Valencia's other attacking players is zone-defended.

Before this game, Benitez gave Gerrard more of a task that leaned towards defense, attacking with long passes, using the speed of Bellamy and Cendon to open the gap, but the number of troops invested in the attack was still a bit insufficient, and if you want to get results, you have to wait for the opportunity to come.

Although Liverpool also had a striker in front of Kouyt, he used his fitness to harass Valencia's midfielders in the opening period, looking for opportunities to help his team score, and waiting for him to find an opportunity.

Benitez, who was standing on the sidelines, looked at the situation on the field and nodded, obviously satisfied with the result, the first thing to do in the away game is to try not to concede a goal, and then to score a goal.

Benitez is satisfied with the situation on the field, but Flores is not satisfied, seeing that the team has not threatened the opponent's goal at this time, this is a bad sign, if it continues like this, it will definitely affect the morale of the team, and the attack must be strengthened!

Taking advantage of a sideline ball, Flores gave Albelda a few words.

※※※

As the game progressed, Valencia's dominance began to show, with the attacking players in midfield having a clear individual technical advantage, especially Arlo and David Silva.

Mascherano did keep an eye on Elo's defense, but Elo did not break through with the ball, and more often chose to kick the ball, using the tacit understanding with his teammates to mobilize Liverpool's defense.

Slowly, Mascherano felt a sense of pressure.

In the 16th minute, in order to avoid Mascherano's defense, Iello retreated deep this time, and he went to the left-back position, which made Mascherano a little speechless, so far away from the goal, is it necessary? So he hesitated a little, looked at the left-back Del Orno in a position higher than Elo's, pondered a little, and stopped.

Mascherano doesn't believe that Iroh will stay at left-back for the rest of his life, he will always run up front to participate in the attack, since you like to run so much, then let you run enough, let's have a fisherman's advantage.

The football is passed quickly, and as the attacking core of the pitch, the football will naturally pass to his feet, even if he has retreated to the full-back position, it will be passed to him.

In order to maintain a balanced position on the field, both Baraja and Albelda naturally wanted to run forward, with Albelda running towards the defensive area of Mascherano who was standing on the right side of the defense.

Seeing Albelda running slowly, Iello often walked forward with his right foot, and the opposing striker Kuyt came up to grab the ball, so he passed the ball to Del Orno, and then suddenly accelerated, brushed past Kuyt, and then received the ball back from Del Horno, which made it difficult for Mascherano to do.

As a good defensive midfielder, Mascherano knows that he needs to protect space when defending, but at this time Iroh carries the ball forward, and Albelda rarely sits forward, he knows that this will definitely cause panic among his own defenders, and at this moment, he does not know whether to step forward to mark Ailo or turn back to chase Albelda, but it is undeniable that whoever he chooses to mark will ignore the other one.

Mascherano gritted his teeth, but decided not to move, in his eyes, Eloco was much more important than Albelda.

Seeing that Mascherano had no intention of turning around to protect the defensive space, Iello passed the ball directly to Albelda with the outside instep, and then quickly ran forward to help the captain pull away the defenders.

Seeing that Albelda was unmarked, Gerrard had to leave his defensive area and run towards Albelda, but just as he left his defensive area, Albelda passed the ball, and in Gerrard's panic, Ballack received the ball and adjusted slightly, and suddenly shot from 30 yards out in the middle before Xavi Alonso came up to make up for it.

If it weren't for Reina's timely reaction, it is estimated that this goal would have been there.

"Watch your zone!"

Gerald turned around and roared at Mascherano in shock.

In his mind, the defensive responsibility just now lies entirely with Mascherano, and if he hadn't turned in time to keep up with Albelda, Ballack would not have been able to get this long-range opportunity.

In the face of the captain's angry rebuke, Mascherano could only shout injustice, who let the head coach Benitez arrange for himself an "exclusive" defender identity of Iello, one defense and two, no matter how you choose, it is you who suffers.

If he chooses to turn around and defend against Albelda, he believes that Valencia's attack will be even more dangerous!

For Valencia's attack, Benitez just regarded it as an accident, and did not yell at the players on the field, after all, he is not a manager with this kind of outgoing personality, as long as the players do not make big mistakes, it is not a problem to limit Valencia's offensive system.

Looking at the ball that saved the bottom line, Flores spat hard, if this ball was scored, then the game would be much easier.

※※※

Three minutes later, Valencia's attack returned, and Mascherano was once again in a one-two-game situation, this time choosing to turn and defend Albelda, but it was for Elo to suddenly move the ball forward, and if it weren't for captain Gerrard's quick eye, Ailo would have laid the ball into the box.

After this defensive crisis, Benitez immediately noticed that something was wrong, and hurriedly took advantage of the opportunity of the dead ball to explain a few words to the left full-back Reese before returning to the coach's box.

After two consecutive two-on-ones, Benitez put Kuyt up front for Liverpool to help defend on his own right, so as to compensate for the threat posed by Albelda's forward attack without affecting the solid defensive system.

And in this case, Liverpool's formation will then become 451.

The defense was solved, but when attacking, it seemed impossible to advance, and Bellamy's strength alone could not break through Valencia's entire backline, and in this way, Liverpool fell into a difficult situation in attack.

However, Benitez decided to continue to play like this, and the team should at least ensure that the goal is not conceded in the half, and as for the attack, wait until the end of the half......

※※※

After Albelda's attack was recognized, Iroh consciously expanded his range of movement, from the previous entire left side to his own right side, and such a wide range of runs also made Mascherano troubled again.

Mascherano did keep Airo on his feet and couldn't directly participate in the attack, but Valencia's attack was not too disturbed, and there were two threatening attacks.

In the opening 20 minutes, the two sides had a four-to-one shot ratio between the two sides, with Valencia leading at home, and the difference in possession between the two sides was also 65% to 35%.

"Mascherano was very successful in defending against Elo, but Valencia's attack was not disturbed by this, this is the appearance of a mature team, often when key players are limited, there are other attacking points, and this is the case with Valencia now, over time, Liverpool's backline will definitely be torn apart......"

Huang Jianxiang explained according to the progress of the game.

The commentator of the BBC in England had a different opinion, "The Argentine Mascherano who was on loan from West Ham United during the winter break was really useful, in these 20 minutes, he did a good job of completing the defensive tasks assigned to him by the manager Rafael Benitez, and he did not have any temper in the defense, I firmly believe that as long as it continues like this, it will be Liverpool to win this game......"

Iroh turned his head to look at Mascherano, and at the same time, Mascherano also looked at Iro, and the two looked at each other, and Iroh grinned first, and then quickly looked away and returned to the midfield, ready to scramble for this header.

What do these mean? Mascherano rolled his eyes.

ps: New January, is April Fool's Day being pitted? Ha ha... The shyness of the passing years begged for tickets! Thanks to Yechen, Ghost Brother, and Little Angel for the monthly pass...