Chapter 345: The Situation Ahead
Not only the Real Betis 'human wall players' were surprised, but everyone in the field, including Liverpool's teammates, was surprised by Zhang Tiehan's goal, and when they saw the exquisite arc of the foot in the air to complete a sharp turn, the Liverpool player's first thought was that if they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they would not have believed that it was Zhang Kick!
Sure!
Will Zhang Tiehan kick a curling free kick? Sows climb trees, right......
When they think of Zhang Tiehan's football, they can only think of a few words - rampage, brutality and unreasonableness, might, strong shooting, and savagery...... In short, no matter which one has nothing to do with subtlety, but this ball was kicked in front of their eyes, it was indeed a subtle arc, and the opposing goalkeeper could only watch the football into the goal and react at all.
Is this David Beckham possessed?
Well, Gerrard must admit that he was also shocked, he is very familiar with Beckham, and he can completely see that this kick is very similar to Beckham's arc free kick, Zhang Tiehan also said just now, he and Beckham have learned curveball and want to try, what is the result? He didn't report his hopes, but he didn't expect it to be like this.
The guy who had been learning free-kicks for a few days played a delicate arc that David Beckham himself could hardly have played.
This...... How is this possible?
He tried his best not to believe it, but the matter was in front of him, and he couldn't help believing it, he could only sigh that the world was unfair, everyone's qualifications to play football were indeed completely different, like this guy, he actually learned free kicks for a few days, and he could use it to score goals.
It's not fair? Tynyima is not fair.
Gerald was quite jealous.
But it's not just him, the other Liverpool teammates look at Zhang Tiehan with strange eyes, all kinds of envy and jealousy, if you want to say blessings, there is also a little bit of ...... It's just a little bit, and most of the eyes don't belong to the friendly side after all. Fortunately, they concealed their 'jealousy' thoughts and happily celebrated the goal with Zhang Tiehan.
β¦β¦
At the sight of that wonderful arc, Benitez sat up from the dugout.
Zhang Tiehan went to take a free kick, he didn't feel anything, Liverpool's free kicks and penalties were decided by the players themselves, and Zhang Tiehan's footwork was also good. His powerful volley was quite threatening, but Benitez didn't expect the ball to score, he thought it would be a boccia, that kind of ball can pass under the foot of the wall, slightly less technical, if you let the ball pass under the feet, with Zhang Tiehan's footwork, it is still very possible.
Benitez took a free kick against Zhang Tiehan, and there was still some expectation.
But that's too far from what he expected...... One day at a time. Seeing that arc, Benitez stood up directly, he watched quietly, watching the football hoist into the opponent's goal, and his hands couldn't help but clench his fists.
This is genius!
Benitez had seen Zhang Tiehan practice arc free kicks, and he only thought it was a practice of footwork, after all, this kind of unique free kick. It's not something that can be practiced overnight, and it takes more than sweat. There is also talent, in his opinion, it is obvious that Zhang Tiehan does not have the talent to play arc ball.
But he really did it!
Much earlier than he imagined, no, it should be said that in his imagination, Zhang Tiehan would never be able to kick a delicate curveball like Beckham in his life. Zhang Tiehan did it in just a few days.
"Genius! Talented! Benitez muttered to himself.
It wasn't until the assistant coach and substitutes behind him celebrated the goal that Benitez came back to his senses, and the goal scored to give Liverpool a two-goal lead.
He raised his fist high, his face looking excited.
No one knows. At this moment, what came out of his mouth was, "Oh, Zhang! Really genius, genius, genius...... I am really the most discerning, the income of a champion in exchange for Zhang, it is worth it! β
I don't know if he is praising himself or Zhang Tiehan.
β¦β¦
βGoalοΌ The ball is in! Sheet! A wonderful curling free kick! β
"This ball reminds me of David Beckham!"
"I didn't expect Zhang to be able to kick such a delicate curveball! Pretty! Real Betis goalkeeper Contreras was completely unresponsive, he could only watch the football fly into the goal! β
"I don't believe what I saw was real, Zhang actually kicked into an arc......"
"In the future, goalkeepers who face Zhang kicking free kicks should pay attention, Zhang Ke will not only volley vigorously. He can volley hard and he can also kick a wonderful arc......"
"From this ball, we can see that although Zhang is rough on the outside, he will also be very delicate in his heart."
"Hearing your words, perhaps the beauties of England are going to suffer."
"Such a man who does not like...... If he gives me a phone number, I can't refuse to sleep with him......"
"Angelia, please note that this is a playing field, not a bar......"
It may not matter whether it is a football field or not, in the media seat of the game, a group of reporters were talking frantically about the ball just now, but a tall and moving woman did not speak, she looked at the man on the field blankly, thinking about the arc just now, and her heart was a little drunk.
If Zhang Tiehan came over, he would definitely exclaim a name - Alexia!
Of course, this woman has not appeared in Zhang Tiehan's life for a long time recently, even the last time. Wen Ju's party, Zhang Tiehan didn't say a word to her, and now Zhang Tiehan didn't think of her, at this moment, Zhang Tiehan only felt that a few days of practice was really worth it, not in vain, Beckham's free kick does have a set, if it is played in his way, it really depends on a lot of luck to score the ball, but the arc free kick directly bypasses the human wall, it doesn't matter how the human wall is, as long as the opponent's goalkeeper is not extraordinary, the ball is easy to hang in.
Scoring goals has become easy.
Zhang Tiehan was very happy and didn't care about the 'jealousy' in the eyes of his teammates, he hugged each other with everyone he saw in celebration, ran to the stands, and raised his hand to the cheering Liverpool fans.
The gesture drew even more shocking cheers.
Liverpool fans are different from players and coaches, they don't care why Zhang Tiehan can kick a curveball, the only thing they know is that Zhang Tiehan scored, he helped the team rewrite the score, his table is quite good, Liverpool leads by two goals. That's why they deserve to cheer loudly for the team.
At the same time, they also cheered for Zhang Tiehan.
Half a year Zhang Tiehan conquered most of the Liverpool fans with goals, when he first came to the team, although the value was high, but in fact, Liverpool fans were wait-and-see towards him, most England fans only pay attention to the English league, and the Champions League is also the game of the domestic team. Or the Champions League final, obviously Roma has nothing to do with either, so Liverpool fans don't actually know how good Zhang Tiehan's table was last season, and all they know is the number.
But in the past six months, Zhang Tiehan has continued to score goals and goals, and he is now the team's top scorer, and his impact in the front court is not comparable to others.
Not only did he score first, but he was also quite tactically effective.
A lot of Liverpool games. The commentators were calling Zhang Tiehan's name all over the stadium, which also gave Liverpool fans a more intuitive understanding of Zhang Tiehan, they were very happy to have such a great star in the team, and now, their support is from the bottom of their hearts.
Many people came to see the game for Zhang Tiehan, and now when they see Zhang Tiehan scoring a goal, they are naturally very excited, and they feel that this game is not in vain.
This is the current influence of Zhang Tiehan among Liverpool fans.
β¦β¦
After the celebration of the goal. There is not much time left in the game.
Actually, before the time of celebration. The Real Betis players did not ask the referee to restart the game, and this attitude also proves their current thinking - the game must be lost, and it doesn't matter if it is a minute or two more.
Yes, that's what they think.
From the first minute of the game, they saw no hope of victory, namely the delay in Liverpool's goal. They also failed to find hope, because the difference in strength between the two teams was too big, and the game was very depressed.
Now that Liverpool have two goals, they don't even think about winning.
Hurry up and end the game! It's not a pleasure...... Real Betis players think so, so you can imagine what the next game will look like. It is worth mentioning that after the goal, Zhang Tiehan was replaced by Benitez, who let Colwill play.
Colwill is a very good player, he can play as a left striker or left wing-back, he can also play as a second striker behind the center or as an attacking midfielder, he has a strong left foot, he has a precise and powerful shot, he is extremely fast, and he has a strong ability to break through alone.
At Liverpool, Colwill is definitely one of the best players.
He is an Australian player who has won three consecutive Australian Footballer of the Year awards, and when he moved to Liverpool from Leeds United in 2003, Colwill was worth 10 million pounds, when he was only 24 years old.
It's a pity that after coming to Liverpool, Colwill has been injured frequently.
Colwill made just 17 appearances for the team last season, and most regrettably, Colwill also played in Istanbul against AC Milan, only to be substituted after 10 minutes due to injury, and he was not able to experience the miracle with his team-mates.
Now Colwill can only be reduced to a substitute, and it is an intermittent substitute, Benitez has always hoped that he can be better, so that the number of appearances that can be given to the team will increase, and his form will also turn around, which is really a big help for the team, after all, a player like Colwill who can play well in any position in the front court is what every team likes, you don't have to worry about replacing the player, no one is available in the same position.
Apparently Benitez also has expectations for Colwill and hopes the Australian striker can make a difference.
Replacing Cowell has another meaning: a final investigation of him.
Colwill has gradually lost trust from Benitez due to repeated injuries, and ahead of this game, many British media outlets predicted that time was running out for the Australian, perhaps only a month or so, and if he did not show himself before the winter transfer window opened, then Colwill would be destined to be sold.
Over the past 18 months, Colwill has become almost a waste of Liverpool, with groin and ligament injuries leaving him sidelined for long periods of time, and Benitez's patience is gradually losing sight. One of the most disappointing performances came in last season's Champions League final, when Colwill was unexpectedly deployed as a starting striker, but after playing more than 20 minutes, he went off injured and scrapped a substitution for Rafael Benitez, after that. Colwill disappeared from sight, and many people could barely remember that there was such a player at Anfield.
Clearly, Cowell understands his current situation.
Although he was only on the pitch for a few minutes, Colwill was still playing seriously and you could see that he was working hard and he was lucky in the last minute of the game. Colwill set up Morientes for the final goal with a diagonal through ball.
Liverpool lead 3-0.
It was also the last goal of the game, and not long after the goal, the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game, and Liverpool beat Real Betis by three goals at Anfield to complete their fourth Champions League group stage victory, which also made Liverpool suddenly better in the group shape.
However, the not-so-good news came after the game, as Chelsea also won and are currently one less win than Liverpool, but the final round of the group stage is Chelsea's home game against Liverpool. The two teams will meet at Stamford Bridge, and if Chelsea can win, they can win the group and win the group.
Liverpool had such a good result that they could only be relegated to second place after losing to Chelsea.
This has made the English media pay more attention to the shape of Group G, after all, there are two English teams in Group G, and now these two teams in the Premier League table this season are going to fight for the top spot in the group. They were all expecting it to be a good fight.
But Benitez's statement disappointed many media outlets.
Liverpool's win over Real Betis was enough to guarantee qualification from the group. Topping the group will depend on Chelsea's next game at Stamford Bridge, with Rafael Benitez expressing his satisfaction with the ease with which he was present.
'As a manager, I'm happy that the team has qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League,' said Benitez, 'and we did a good job. This result is very good for us because from now on we can focus on the Premier League. β
In the Premier League, Liverpool are seven points less than Chelsea and have played two games less. The seven-point gap is not big, it is not small, the whole Liverpool is obviously hoping to make a difference in the league, not all the time in Europe, after all, in the past ten years, Liverpool has not had any outstanding performance in the league, and the Champions Cup, they have won one last season.
Speaking about the match against Real Betis, Benitez was satisfied with the team's performance, "Our opponents were good, I'm happy with our table, we created a lot of good chances and scored three goals, I can't imagine the team can be better. β
Some reporters questioned how much Liverpool wasted in the first half.
Benitez just smiled, "You mean we should win 4-0, 5-0, or even more?" β
Next to him, Real Betis coach Irueta immediately turned black.
The reporter stopped talking.
That's the way it is, if 3-0 is not satisfactory, and what is said to be 'too many opportunities wasted', then it is estimated that the game will not be able to play, in football games, 3-0 can be regarded as a big victory, especially in the Champions Cup, every team is the best in each league, and will attach great importance to the Champions Cup, so winning 3-0, and talking about what wasted opportunities, it is really boring.
Another reporter asked about Colwill, who appeared at the end.
Benitez didn't hide anything, and he bluntly offered to give Colwill another month.
'We need to see next month if Colwill can still play for us.' "I have no plans to sell him at the moment. β
Speaking of Colwill, Benitez said a lot, and obviously he used to put a lot of energy into Colwill.
'He's got the talent, but the question is, does he have the desire to play.' In the last few minutes, although Colwill tried to show his strength, in fact his physical condition was not at its best, and it seemed a little difficult to make movements, except for a cross to complete the assist, the rest of the time he was in a state of "disappearing", it is difficult to say what has been proven.
Benitez then talked about the shape of the Champions League group stage.
He thinks it doesn't matter if you win first or second in the Champions League, "Sometimes even if you win the group, it can be difficult to play against the second place in the other group, sometimes you finish second in the group and you can be happy to be drawn to win the other group, so it doesn't matter to me now that the group is top, I just have one thing to care about, and that is that we will move our focus to the Premier League and continue to consolidate our form in the league. β
Benitez said that he did not want to compete with Chelsea for the group position, which disappointed many media outlets, after all, they had been expecting Liverpool and Chelsea to fight in the Champions League for a long time.
But this is understandable.
The time is about to enter December, the fatigue period of each team is coming, Liverpool has a difficult period every year, they can't compare with Chelsea and Manchester United, Liverpool's bench depth has always been a problem, and the team of Colwill, Hamann, Reese, Garcia, Pongler and other teams are very prone to injury, and even Alonso, Gerrard's physical condition is not too good.
After Christmas, they will have to face at least three fronts β a Carabao Cup defeat against Manchester United, and a Carabao Cup win β they will have to play on four fronts, and with such a difficult schedule, it is understandable that Benitez wants to retain his strength and not go toe-to-toe with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
After the game, Zhang Tiehan, Gerrard and other players were also interviewed.
Gerrard supported Benitez's statement: "That's the way the team is and we want to top the group, but it doesn't mean much. β
Zhang Tiehan said, "As long as I participate in the competition, I will definitely strive for victory." β
He also meant very clearly, as long as I played, Chelsea would not want to win the game easily, and that's what he meant, but when the whole team, including manager Rafael Benitez, made it clear that he would not compete with Chelsea for the top spot in the group, not many people seemed to care about what Zhang Tiehan said. (To be continued......)