Chapter 1347: Liverpool (5)
PS1: This is Monday's update.,It's a little late.,I hope you don't care too much about the update time.,I promise not to break the update......
PS2: Let's talk about the book friend group here, the group number is three, seven, zero, five, four, nine, nine, one, nine, nine, verifies that the answer is NTR knight, well, that's it.
Cristiano Ronaldo's goal completely changed the course of the game, because before that, although Fiorentina had an away goal advantage and only needed to draw a clean sheet with Liverpool in this contest to advance to the semi-finals, anyone with a little bit of brains knows very well that this advantage is really not insurance against a nervous team like Liverpool. Because you don't know when this opponent is going to go crazy and mess up a good situation before you can react.
What's more, don't look at Fiorentina has always taken the initiative on the pitch, comprehensively suppressing Liverpool at both offensive and defensive ends, but the situation of not scoring has also invisibly increased the psychological pressure on the players. After all, if Liverpool are not careful, Liverpool will take a chance to score, then the passive will become Fiorentina.
From this point of view, Ronaldo's goal can be said to be crucial for Fiorentina. With the aggregate score leading, the Purple Lilies will have more leeway to maneuver with their opponents, while Liverpool, who are behind the score, will have to step up their attack in the following time to regain the disadvantage. Because if Fiorentina keep the score until full-time, then the Reds will have to say goodbye to the Champions League once and for all!
Therefore, after referee Merck announced that the goal was valid, the Fiorentina players rushed to the junior, who had just turned 20 years old, and then threw Ronaldo high into the air under the command of Vieri!
Watching a frustrated Cristiano Ronaldo being thrown into the air by his players again and again, Mourinho turned around and threw all the players out of the bench to warm up - with a one-goal lead and less than half an hour to go, Mourinho felt the need to make a substitution at this point in order to keep his team fit and ready for the Liverpool man's dying comeback.
At the same time, after the Portuguese teenager opened the scoring for Fiorentina, Benitez, who was about to replace Hamann to strengthen the midfield defense, had to urgently call off the substitution. After all, in the unfavorable situation of the team falling behind by one goal on aggregate, it is not wise to replace a defensive midfielder to take the initiative to weaken the already small attacking force on his side.
The most important point is that Benitez, who has studied abroad in Italy, believes that Fiorentina will definitely choose to shrink their defence after taking the lead, and use the opportunity of their own side to press on the attack to concentrate on Liverpool's counter-attack. With this in mind, Benitez could no longer do anything stupid to weaken his own offensive power.
"Coach, let me take charge of the team's offense in a moment." Just as Benitez was struggling to find a way to break the enemy, Gerrard suddenly said, "Although I have never played in the attacking midfield position before, since Nedved and Ballack have been able to successfully complete the transformation, there is no reason why I can't do this!" ”
"Hmm...... All right. Then the team's offense will revolve around Steven (Gerrard) you, don't live up to my expectations. Benitez thought about it and found that there was really no better way, so he agreed to Gerrard's request, "As for the defensive work in the midfield, I will put someone else in charge, Steven, you just put all your energy into the attacking end." ”
In fact, there are other considerations for Benitez to agree to Gerrard's request. You must know that after Owen left, Gerrard was Liverpool's well-deserved number one star and dressing room boss. For the sake of his position, Benitez must have a good relationship with Gerrard, the team's flag, otherwise what awaits him will be a notice of dismissal from the top.
However, what Benitez didn't expect was that Mourinho did opt for a substitution before the game restarted. However, the Portuguese teenager did not let Fiorentina play the counter-attack, as he expected, but made two counter-changes: De Rossi replaced Ballack, who was a little exhausted, and Vieri was replaced by Diego Milito!
me, what the hell is this guy thinking? When the score is ahead, he didn't choose the most secure defensive counterattack, but started an attack with us, which is not scientific! Faced with this situation, Benitez's heart can only be described as a collapse. He couldn't figure out how Mourinho would choose to play against Liverpool at such a time.
"Hehe, you know you're going to think I'm going to let the team play a defensive counterattack after I'm ahead. How's that, you're dumbfounded, aren't you? Looking at Benitez, who was on the sidelines with a stunned look, Mourinho sneered in his heart and thought quite proudly.
If it is replaced by a team like Juventus, Mourinho will definitely let the team play defensive counterattacks after taking the lead, but when it comes to Liverpool's nervous knife, Mourinho will never put the offensive initiative in the hands of the opponent. After all, once these Liverpool guys are allowed to play their form, it will be Fiorentina who will suffer at that time.
Adapting to local conditions, rather than copying so-called common sense and experience, is one of the important criteria for a manager's coaching ability and tactical level.
As a result, the miscalculated Benitez had to watch the team's backline be torn apart by the attacking trident composed of Milito, Di Natale and Cristiano Ronaldo in this matchup, and Di Natale scored another goal in the 73rd minute to rewrite the score to 2-0!
In this way, Fiorentina leads Liverpool three to one on aggregate. With less than twenty minutes left in the game, Purple Lily's one foot has already crossed the threshold of the semi-finals!
After the aggregate score became 1-3, the Liverpool players' originally restless mood began to relax. After all, when the game is played to this extent, even if they try to defend to the death, they will not be able to get the team a ticket to the final four. Therefore, instead of being beaten to death by the opponent in embarrassment, it is better to take advantage of the opportunity of the game to give it a go, and maybe there is a glimmer of life.
After letting go of this big burden in their hearts, the performance of Liverpool's players actually began to gradually improve, no longer blindly passively beaten or timid, but on the field and Fiorentina back and forth, several attacks were played very well, creating a certain threat.
It would have been nice if these boys had played like this earlier, and they didn't play at their normal level until this time. Looking at the players on the field, Benitez couldn't help but sigh secretly while being relieved. He also feels now that leading a team like Liverpool is really a very test of the heart's endurance.