1460 Battle for the Throne
"The atmosphere at Anfield tonight was amazing! The second leg of the Champions League 1/8 final will be played here.
Liverpool's 2-0 defeat to AC Milan at the San Siro in the first leg left the defending champions in the Champions League quarter-finals very unpleasant, and in the moment of crisis, we saw the Liverpool fans come together and create a huge noise in the stadium stands to put pressure on AC Milan.
The defending champions on multiple fronts don't have the momentum they have had in the knockout stages of the Champions League in the past two years, and after losing to AC Milan, Sport Newspaper claims that the Rossoneri will give defending champions Liverpool a heart-wrenching Waterloo!
Let's take a look at what the game will play out at Anfield today.
Liverpool set up a 433 formation today, obviously wanting to put full pressure on AC Milan.
Goalkeeper: Reina.
Defenders: Johnson, Skrtel, Thiago Silva, Baines.
Midfielders: Mascherano, Alonso, Gerrard.
Forwards: Raul, Suarez, Qin Xiong.
AC Milan set up a 4312 formation on the road today.
Goalkeeper: Abbiati.
Defenders: Abate, Mex, Bonella, Antonini.
Midfielders: Emmanuelsen, Van Bommel, Robinho, Nocerino.
Forwards: Ibrahimovic, El Shaarawy.
Today AC Milan let Robinho play as a midfielder, teenager El Shaarawy and Ibrahimovic in the attack, I don't know if such a combination can play a threat at Anfield, you must know that Liverpool's home defense is still very tough.
Okay, without further ado, let's watch the game together. ”
From the very beginning of the game, Liverpool played with momentum.
After a succession of passes in midfield, Baines came up to meet Alonso's pass and then passed through the ball.
Qin Xiong cut cross-cutting on the side of the front field, and after encountering his long-lost old teammate Emmanuelson, he neither passed nor passed, but directly chose to shoot from the top corner of the penalty area!
A curling shot into the far corner of the goal sent AC Milan into a cold sweat.
Of course, AC Milan knew Qin Xiong's threat, so in the three midfielders today, Emmanuelsson and Van Bommel mainly cooperated with the back line to mark Qin Xiong.
AC Milan's attack relied on a front three, with Nocerino and Emmanuelsson in midfield at best playing just past midfield, and the full-backs did not dare to assist.
This made it difficult for AC Milan to attack.
In the 6th minute of the game, Robinho finally received a pass from his teammates at the front waistline, just turned to get rid of Alonso's defense and faced Mascherano's pressing, he hurriedly kicked the ball in the direction of Ibrahimovic, but Thiago Silva took the lead to steal the ball and cut it off!
Once the Rossoneri's defender, Thiago Silva has already experienced the huge boos from AC Milan fans at the San Siro, as well as the infamy of being a traitor.
The attack on Liverpool's side is dominated by midfield possession first, and then passes the ball to Qin Xiong's feet after making lateral passes.
Qin Xiong continued to control the ball on the left side of the front court to create offensive pressure.
In the 13th minute of the game, Qin Xiong forced Abate on the left side, and Abarth's center of gravity was unstable and was broken through by Qin Xiong in the continuous emergency stop and turn.
Emmanuelsson had already retreated into the box to block Qin Xiong's advance, and Van Bommel also moved to the left side in front of the box to prevent Qin Xiong from turning to the corridor in front of the penalty area.
AC Milan's defense did list Qin Xiong as the first defensive priority.
However, Qin Xiong is still creating a threat.
He slammed the ball into the box and slammed it diagonally with his heel.
Baines assists to meet the ball and then plugs it straight, Qin Xiong uses his body to squeeze away Emmanuelson's corridor to let the football roll, and then after the football rolls over, he simply shoots with his feet neatly!
Mexes made the key tackle when his flying tackle touched the ball with his thigh and sent the ball flying into the stands.
"AC Milan was in danger again in the penalty area, but fortunately Mexes blocked it in time, otherwise it would be difficult to say whether Qin Xiong's shot would have rewritten the score. Liverpool put a lot of pressure on AC Milan at home, but the attacking point was too single, and almost all the attacks were concentrated on Qin Xiong. ”
That's exactly what Liverpool wants to do and want to achieve.
When Qin Xiong continues to threaten on the left side of the front, AC Milan's defense will naturally lean towards this side.
In the 21st minute, the AC Milan midfielder made a mistake in the forward pass.
Nocerino tried to feed El Shaarawy a through ball, but the intention was too obvious and Johnson got in on the spot to cut the ball away.
Liverpool immediately instigated a quick attack.
Johnson passed the ball to midfield commander Marcos Alonso, who then crossed the ball diagonally to the left flank.
While Qin Xiong retreated to respond, AC Milan's defense was already leaning to this side!
Qin Xiong met the ball and directly made a wide range of long passes, passing the ball to the right side.
This change caught AC Milan off guard, and they all subconsciously thought that Qin Xiong would come by himself!
They were also used to defending Qin Xiong like this.
It is believed that Qin Xiong will be trapped and killed at the San Siro as he did in the last game.
But they were wrong!
Liverpool lost in the last game, not only Qin Xiong's performance was sluggish, but the operation of the whole Liverpool team was not very good.
But after the adjustment of the past half month, coupled with the importance of this game, Liverpool still have the advantage of being at home, and their performance will naturally be better.
And the strategy of attacking the east and the west is more handy.
This long ball in the cross-section of the cross-frame stadium made the Reds fans at the scene let out an exclamation!
There was a big gap on the right side of the pitch as the AC Milan defence was concentrated on the left.
When Raul expertly stopped the ball here, the crowd was able to realize: Liverpool's attacking diversion was done!
Raul didn't drag his feet, and he immediately crossed the ball.
Gerrard, who was cut in behind, touched the ball before Nocerino and took advantage of the situation to get to the front of the penalty area!
Before Antonini could join forces with Bonella to block Gerrard's path, Gerrard sent the ball straight behind Bonella.
Suarez, who was suspended in England, has been holding back several games!
Combined with Gerrard's through ball, Suarez started amazingly, cut straight behind Bonella, and then half-turned to meet the ball and hit a volley!
This volley creates the visual sensation of a burst of shots.
The ball flew into the top corner of the goal in the blink of an eye!
Abbiati didn't even have time to make a save!
Anfield cheered and the fans waved their fists and roared passionately.
Suarez rushed into the goal to hold the ball in his arms, and then began to run towards the midfield, Gerrard patted him on the shoulder on the way, Suarez turned his head and winked at Qin Xiong, who was trotting towards the midfield together, and a faint smile rose at the corner of Qin Xiong's mouth, which flashed away. (To be continued.) )