The consequence of Liverpool's loss of possession is that their players haven't touched the ball for a long time.

From the thirtieth minute of the game, Manchester City were in control of the situation on the pitch.

The ball is constantly passing at their feet, and a lot of times it's the kind of ball that is hard to intercept.

This made Liverpool's players drain their energy in vain, but it didn't have any effect.

The first half played 40 minutes, and Liverpool fell behind in all statistics.

They had just 37 per cent possession, more than 20 percentage points behind their opponents.

The number of passes was 188, less than half that of Manchester City.

There were only 27 dangerous attacks, 15 fewer than City.

0 corners, 4 opponents!

On the contrary, there were many more fouls than opponents, and there were more yellow cards.

This is based on the fact that they had a lot of attacking opportunities in the early stages of the game, and once their fitness drops in the second half, this number will only become even more disparity.

Although the score on the field was 1:1, many people saw this and silently sentenced Liverpool to death in their hearts.

Playing a team like Manchester City, it is either directly collapsed by the opponent's passing control and blasting style of play with Lin Quan as the core at the beginning.

Either get caught up in the rhythm of the opponent's possession, lose the initiative little by little, and then enter the rhythm of slow death.

Clearly, Liverpool are in the second situation.

At the end of the first half, the Liverpool players were already a little exhausted because they had run too hard before.

In addition, the previous many positive grabs have not achieved any results, which has also greatly affected their enthusiasm, so that their number of tackles and running range have decreased.

Feeling the drop in the intensity of the opponent's pressing, Manchester City played more boldly.

They make full use of the width of the court, take advantage of the superb footwork of the players on the left and right, and frequently hit from the left to the right, and then from the right to the left, so as to mobilize the opponent's defensive position and consume the opponent's physical strength.

And try to find the opponent's flaws as the opponent's defender moves.

Liverpool's backline was solid and showed no flaws, with City not getting too many chances, trying a couple of long-range shots from outside the box but failing to find the back of the net.

The first half ended quickly and the two sides returned to the dressing room with a score of 1:1.

Although the score was a draw, the atmosphere in the dressing room of the two teams was very different.

The atmosphere at Manchester City was relaxed, the players were talking and laughing, and they didn't feel any pressure at all.

On Liverpool's side, there was silence in the dressing room, the players were busy with their own business, and no one spoke.

That was until manager Jurgen Klopp broke the dreary atmosphere.

……

Pep Guardiola heard the sound coming from the dressing room next door and said with a smile to the Manchester City players:

"I guess Klopp is giving the Liverpool players a kick!"

His words caused a burst of laughter among the Manchester City players, and the managers of all teams have basically done this kind of thing, so everyone understands it in seconds.

Only when the team is in a disadvantageous situation does it need to play chicken blood to stimulate the players and make them better for the next games.

When the team has a huge lead, there is no need to do it.

Now that Liverpool have been branded, it proves that they feel they are at a disadvantage.

But the score is obviously 1:1, and in this game, the two sides are still evenly matched.

It can be seen that Liverpool themselves are aware that their situation will be very bad in the second half.

"Okay, don't care what the opponent has to do, we just insist on doing our own thing, everyone played very well in the first half, and in the second half we continued to follow the tactics we formulated before, Mbappe and Sane, I will replace one or two of you in the 75th minute, I only have one request for you, just play the advantage of your speed and impact after you get on the field!"

Guardiola glanced at Mbappe and Sane, and the two who were named held high with their heads held high and looked like they were actively asking for a fight.

They knew very well that if they were to be substituted, they would likely be the protagonists of the team to win according to the tactics that the coach had laid out in advance.

No one doesn't want to be the protagonist, especially on a big stage like the Champions League knockout rounds.

……

After the start of the second half, Liverpool's tactics seemed to have changed somewhat.

Jurgen Klopp is clearly aware that his players' fitness will not last long if they continue to press high with the intensity of the first half.

So he chose to give up space on the court and retracted to prepare for a defensive counter-attack.

It was a smart choice because City's passing was so good that if Liverpool couldn't get the ball, the players would be wasting their energy.

can retract to play defensive counterattacks, and it is not necessarily a clever tactic.

Manchester City didn't fall behind in the scoreline, so their attack appeared unhurried and very patient.

A 1-1 scoreline is perfectly acceptable to them, so even if they end up leaving Anfield with that scoreline, they don't care.

Liverpool, on the other hand, can they really accept a draw at home?

In the next game at the Etihad, they don't have such a big home advantage.

For a team of Liverpool's momentum, without the frenetic atmosphere at home, their combat effectiveness can be almost reduced by half a notch.

So City played unhurriedly, fifteen minutes later, and with a huge possession advantage, they managed to make three shots on goal.

The opponent played patiently, and the result was that Liverpool had few counter-attacking opportunities.

However, Salah is really brave, although there are few opportunities, he still relies on his own strength to turn Manchester City's wing side upside down.

Fortunately, Manchester City's defense in the middle of this game was very dense and did not give him too many opportunities to cut inside, otherwise, with his strength, he might really be able to create a miracle.

Liverpool fans were very happy with Salah's performance, especially when the team as a whole was at a disadvantage, and they could only hope that a star player like Salah would step up.

"Salah Chong!"

"If you win this game, I'd call you Liverpool's Messi!"

"Why not Liverpool's Lin Quan?"

After Messi and Lin Quan became famous one after another, in the football world, almost every year, there will be a few XX Messi or XX Lin Quan coming out.

Many fans like to call players in the same position and similar playing style as 'Messi' or 'Lin Quan'.

This is the expectation of these people, after all, these two are the two supergiants in football, and fans hope that these people can grow to the height of the two.

Salah resembles the two in terms of position on the pitch, height, weight and style of play.

In addition, after he joined Liverpool, whether in the league or in the Champions League, he has performed better and better, which makes many people very optimistic about him, thinking that he can continue to grow, and may eventually be able to touch the threshold of supergiants.

Salah has lived up to the expectations of Liverpool fans.

In the 67th minute of the second half, Liverpool played a quick counterattack after breaking the ball.

However, City's defence was swift and when Salah burst into the opposition half with the ball, he had four defenders in front of him.

And on Liverpool's side, no one but Firmino can keep up with his rhythm.

Salah just glanced at it and dribbled the ball with a brilliant crotch pass to trick Fernandinho into the snatch, then whipped in a cross from the edge of the box.

Firmino received the ball and wanted to shoot straight away, but it hit the defender.

He hurried to grab the ball again, but was cleared early by City's defenders.

However, the City defenders made a mistake in clearing the ball and Laporte appeared to be trying to pass the ball to his team-mate, but it was kicked into his leg-friend's leg.

Stones, who was turning, lacked preparation and did not clear the ball at the first time, and when he went to clear the siege the next time, a red figure suddenly came out from the side and stabbed the ball into the goal.

It was none other than Liverpool's No. 11 winger Mohamed Salah!

When they saw this goal, the fans at the scene were all shocked.

2 to 4, actually in!

What shit luck is this!

Manchester City's backline can make such a low-level mistake!

Pep Guardiola had already called Mbappe over and was about to tell him what would happen after he came on the pitch.

As a result, I didn't expect such a change on the court.

Because he didn't see the whole process of conceding the ball clearly, Guardiola asked suspiciously:

"What's going on?"

Assistant coach Mikel Arteta explained the process of conceding the goal just now, and Guardiola's expression became speechless.

It's this kind of low-level mistake again, why every time he meets Liverpool, the team's backline can give him a whole job?

In the past, he was the manager who liked to work, but now it has become that the players like to work?

The goal conceded made Manchester City very passive, and Liverpool, who led the score, can now retreat back and play defensive counter-attacks with peace of mind.

The physical exertion of defending counter-attacks will be less than pressing high, which makes Liverpool able to hold on for much longer.

According to his expectations, after 75 minutes, Liverpool's fitness was almost exhausted.

At this time, he replaced a fast, high-impact winger who could easily tear apart Liverpool's backline.

But now it's good, the opponent's formation has shrunk back, whether it's Mbappe or Sane, it's not easy to use at this time.

There wasn't enough space for them to speed up, and the opposition half was full of people, so they couldn't rush up.

The team now needs a battering cone that can smash the opposition backline.

Gabriel Jesus is clearly not a striker on the pitch, and he doesn't even belong to the kind of striker who is serious.

Thinking of this, Guardiola gave up his plan to replace Mbappe or Sane, and instead considered replacing Jesus with a striker.

His eyes swept over the rest of the bench, Sergio Aguero was City's main striker, but he didn't have a lot of attacking ability, and bringing him on the pitch might not have been better than Gabriel Jesus.

So Guardiola hesitated a little, and finally turned his attention to the next person.

There were two strikers on the bench, and in addition to Sergio Aguero, there was only Haaland, who made up the numbers.

When he saw Haaland, Guardiola's expression was even more hesitant.

This kid is big enough, but he's too young.

At the age of 18, can he really beat those old fritters in the Liverpool backline?

Forget it, a dead horse should be a live horse doctor!

Whether it succeeds or fails, you will only know when you try it.

Even if it doesn't work out in the end, the score of 1:2 is not unacceptable.

It's a big deal to go back to the home court and fight it out again!

So, Guardiola named Haaland:

"Erling, go warm up!"

"Huh? Me, me? ”

Haaland thought he was a mascot and had come to make up the numbers.

I didn't expect that at such a critical moment, the head coach would actually name him.

"If you don't want to go up, keep sitting!"

Pep Guardiola glared at him, and Haaland didn't wait for Guardiola to say a second word, and ran away.

Being able to play in the knockout round of the Champions League, Haaland has dreamed of such an opportunity!

How could it be possible to give up?

The reason why I had such doubts just now was because I was so shocked that I didn't react at the first time!

Don't look at Haaland's big size, he seems to be a simple-minded guy with developed limbs.

But in fact, he has a very bright head, and when Haaland was warming up, he began to use his brain and think.

The coach didn't use the positive Indian striker Aguero, but he just clicked on his own small transparent soldier.

This shows that the coach sees the advantages he has and Aguero does not have.

Haaland is not yet 18 years old and is inferior to Sergio Aguero in terms of game experience, skills and team-mate chemistry.

The only thing that can win against the other party is probably his own height and tonnage.

So, the coach took a fancy to his own point and planned to let himself go to the penalty area to compete for the top?

Thinking of this, Haaland glanced at Liverpool's backline and began to think about how to deal with these people after coming on the pitch.

Fans were unconcerned about Manchester City's side arranging a warm-up on a substitute whose name they hadn't even heard of, and they were even more relish Mohamed Salah's goal.

"Salah is really strong, he can seize this kind of opportunity!"

"Something, no wonder he is called Egyptian Messi, 2 to 4 have been successfully beaten to him!"

"Liverpool's transfer is too cost-effective, I feel that after this season, Salah's value may soar to more than 80 million euros!"

"Hehe, only 80 million? You're too conservative, I estimate that the Egyptian pharaoh is worth more than 100 million euros! ”

At a time when inflation in football is serious, the value of players has also begun to rise.

Since the German transfer market increased Lin Quan's value to 200 million euros, the value of the players behind has increased a lot.

Salah is only 26 years old, and as long as there are no injuries or a sudden dip in form, he can remain at his peak for at least five or six years.

It is not surprising to give him a value of 100 million euros.

'How did Chelsea use people in the first place? A De Bruyne and a Salah, both of whom joined the team at almost the same time, were both given up by Chelsea, it's simple! ”

"Hehe, this is called gathering is a piece of, and scattering is full of stars!"

"Alas, the Blues won the SSR card, but they couldn't use it well!" (End of chapter)