Before the 18th round of the Premier League, a situation appeared that made Liverpudlians cry and laugh.

In the Champions League group stage, Liverpool finally snatched the top spot from PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League group stage, but the number 15 drew Barcelona in the Champions League knockout draw in Nyon, Switzerland.

In terms of strength alone, Barcelona is definitely the strongest one in the round of 16 of the Champions League, and the loss to Fiorentina in the Champions League final in the summer can only be said that Chen Yu is too magical, and the final stunner makes the Barcelona people have no time to show their skills, if there is no Chen Yu's stunner goal, the final champion must be Barcelona's.

Liverpool manager Benitez looked frustrated, he said that Liverpool's signing luck today was indeed very average, and after the draw was announced, he received many calls from Barcelona. Old friends who knew each other well during his time in charge of Real Madrid and Valencia sent their condolences. Benitez said: "...... It makes me feel like Liverpool have been eliminated, but I don't think we don't have a chance to knock out Barca, who are the best at the moment and everyone thinks so. They have Ronaldo, Deco and Samuel Eto'o, and it's the best squad in Europe. But let's not forget that we're talking about the Champions League, and on this stage, some things are a lot more complicated. Just like when we met Benfica last year, we were fancied to reach the next round and as the defending champions we were knocked out early. I'm very familiar with Barça. Especially at Camp Nou, I had a pretty good result when I was leading the team. We have a lot of players poached from Barcelona and there is no doubt that they will give it their all against them. Another important thing is that we also have Barcelona's nemesis Chen, who has been in a state of recovery now, and you can see that he scored every game, and two months later, when Liverpool meets Barcelona, I believe you will see a peak Chen Yu, and a whole team that is not inferior to Barcelona in terms of form and level. ”

Benitez was stating the reasons why his team was not weaker than Barca, but others took his words as a joke, and before the draw, Barcelona had expressed their desire to meet the title of the previous season. After the draw, Barcelona president Laburta said contemptuously: "This is the opponent that Barcelona hopes to meet the most in the round of 16 draw, and now I can go to the hometown of the Beatles to see."

"World Sports" even said: "Lady luck is on Barcelona's side. Liverpool won't play away; Barcelona are not afraid of Liverpool's straight-up football; Last but not least, Barcelona are stronger than Liverpool. ”

Even the "As" newspaper, known as the mouthpiece of Real Madrid, is also optimistic about Barcelona's prospects, editor-in-chief Alfredo said: "Barcelona is like a jet, as long as its own power does not appear in the problem, it is difficult to be beaten, the factors that are unfavorable to Barcelona are not nothing, the schedule of home and away first, the opponent's coach Benitez is a Spaniard, the atmosphere at Anfield Stadium is terrifying, they still have Chen, but on the whole, for Barcelona that has matured after the Champions League final, these are not enough to affect the whole situation." ”

If the conversation between Liverpool and Barcelona is the most striking, then Real Madrid and Bayern are definitely not weaker than the former, although the situation between the two teams is now peaceful

The peak form of winning the title has slipped compared to the year, but Real Madrid and Bayern are two champions in 00 and 01, which is also a contest between former Champions Cup winners, Real Madrid Bayern has no less fans around the world than Liverpool and Barcelona, and even surpasses, if they can bring in strong reinforcements when the transfer door opens in January, the game will definitely be more interesting.

Compared with Liverpool, the other three giants of the Premier League, Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea, have all drawn good draws, avoiding Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Fiorentina, and drawing Lille, Porto and Eindhoven respectively, and there is no suspense to break into the quarterfinals.

The other three games were drawn by Inter against Valencia, Fiorentina against Ligue 1 giants Lyon and Milan against Celtic.

Milan has no suspense, even if Ancelotti is all on the bench, he will not necessarily lose, and Inter vs Valen, Roma vs Lyon These two conversations are more interesting and suspenseful, Valencia's strength has not been weak, and the defensive counterattack is very good, Inter Milan is now unstoppable in winning streaks, but King Adriano has not come out of hibernation, in addition, Inter has not won the league championship for so many years, it is easy to wait until Juventus is punished to the second division, Milan deducts points, and their desire for the league must be stronger, The league and the Champions League will certainly make Mancini a difficult choice.

Fiorentina is the last Serie A and Champions League double, but after Chen Yu's transfer, Fiorentina's state and strength plummeted, and now the civil war is suppressed by Inter Milan, and the foreign war almost failed to qualify from the group, fortunately, Valencia sent a substitute after the last round of early qualification, Fiorentina was able to qualify as the second in the group, and it is difficult to say whether the defending champion can pass the level of Lyon.

The Champions League knockout stage will be played on February 20 and 21 with the first leg coming up, with two months to go, but the major bookmakers have given new odds to win the title, and the changes in the odds can also show how good or bad the teams are drawn.

WITH CHELSEA FACING PORTO AND BARCA FACING THE STRONGER PREVIOUS YEAR'S CHAMPIONS LIVERPOOL, THE BLUES' ODDS ON BETFAIR HAVE LEAPFROGGED THEM TO THE TOP OF THE TABLE. In addition, the Red Devils Manchester United, which encountered the weak team Lille, also received widespread support, and Real Madrid, which encountered Bayern Munich's team, the odds did not fall but rose, squeezing out the Lyon team into the top three, which makes people feel like they are tired, while Liverpool has been declining in the odds of winning the championship, and is now ranked 11th in the odds of William Hill, and the odds on BETFAIR are ranked 12th, only behind them are Eindhoven, Porto, Lille and Celtic.

The lack of luck in the Champions League and the slightdown of last year's champions have made Liverpool's players and fans hold back their anger and unleash their anger on their league opponents.

Liverpool have won four consecutive league games in the last four rounds, scored eight goals in the last two rounds, and now in the 18th round they have welcomed the underdogs Charlton Athletic, who have won only three games in 17 rounds, and the players and fans are full of confidence and ready to go to Charlton's Valley Stadium to slaughter the city.

However, the biggest highlight of this game is Chen Yu's start, after five consecutive substitutes, Chen Yu's run-in with his teammates has been getting better and better, and his physical condition is getting better and better, before the Champions League draw, Benitez said that Chen Yu can start now, but the specific game has not yet been decided, after the draw, Benitez made it clear that Chen Yu will start in the game with Charlton.

This was Chen Yu's first start after seven months of injury, and although the opponent was only Charlton, it also made Chen Yu's fans ecstatic.

Although Chen Yu scored goals every game after his comeback, scoring 5 goals in four rounds, the fans still feel that it is not enjoyable, after all, there is too little time, and there are not many opportunities to get.

At the time of the summer transfer, Liverpool bought the injured Chen Yu, when the "Times" reporter Rod Ridder asked Henry and Drogba respectively, whether they would be worried that Chen Yu would threaten them to compete for the top scorer, Henry has suffered from Chen Yu, he said that if Chen Yu can come back early, he is a strong contender for the top scorer, but Drogba contemptuously said that in the Premier League, only he and Henry are the kings, and this season he booked the top scorer in advance.

Drogba's domineering made his fans very excited, but Chen Yu's fans were furious, but because Chen Yu didn't know when he would come back, and he didn't know what his state would be after his comeback, they could only hold back their anger in their hearts, and now, they can finally declare war on Drogba loudly.

At 12:45 local time on December 16 and 20:45 Beijing time on December 17, Charlton's longest-used stadium in its more than 100-year history, The Valley Stadium, welcomed Liverpool, the former British football hegemon.

Due to the world superstar, the second place in the European Ballon d'Or Chen Yu will start the game, the valley stadium that can accommodate 26,500 people is full, and the black market price of tickets has also risen from no one to the current 200 pounds a piece, according to the survey, the main buyers are Chinese fans.

In this game against Charlton Athletic, ranked 17th, Liverpool played the main force and discharged the 433 formation that Benitez had never used: goalkeeper 25-Reina; 3-Finnan, 4-Hyypia, 23-Carragher, 6-Reese; 14-Alonso, 8-Gerrard, 16-Pennant; 17-Bellamy, 18-Kuyt, 9-Chen Yu.

Charlton Athletic, who play at home, are not afraid to be feared, having won three of their last four meetings with Liverpool at the Valley Stadium, and Charlton players and fans alike are expected to extend their win against Liverpool, who have been away from home in recent seasons.

Charlton didn't play conservatively after the start of the game, with homegrown goalscorer Darren Bent and Dutch legendary goalscorer Jurvan Hasselbaink, they hoped to use their sharp forward line to break Liverpool's goal and give the Reds a disadvantage.

However, Liverpool's spirit today is obviously very different from the original, the previous four victories they three relied on Chen Yu to break the deadlock on the second half substitute, and today Chen Yu started, Liverpool's attack with three strikers is much stronger.

In the third minute of the game, Liverpool launched a fierce offensive on the wing, and the starting Chen Yu was like no one on the side, and he continued to eat Romedalar and Traore with speed, but his cross was shoveled out of the bottom line by Kuyt in the middle.

A minute later, Chen Yu made a comeback, this time he shook off Traore and then did not cross, but cut into Charlton's penalty area along the bottom line, the Charlton players at this moment were a little annoyed and angry, and the substitute Hredasson raised his foot and kicked Chen Yu's face when Chen Yu picked the ball past him, Chen Yu covered his face with his hands and fell to the ground, and the referee decisively awarded a penalty.