182. Big Club Liverpool (1)
Evening of February 25th.
Real Madrid’s departure ceremony was taking place in the Santiago Bernabeu area.
Meanwhile, Liverpool, who arrived at the stadium a little earlier than scheduled, went out to the field every 30 minutes to warm up and then returned to the locker room to ensure a perfect match.
And when the starting lineups for both teams were announced, Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez went into the locker room and gathered the players together.
“As expected, Real Madrid dispatched Zidane and Ho-Young Woo at the same time. Accordingly, we have made thorough preparations. is it?”
“you’re right.”
“good night. Gerard, what attitude should we take?”
“As soon as you detect a change in the opponent, you must adjust the gap between the defense, third line, and back space through active communication with your teammates.”
“What about when attacking?”
“Unless the opposing defense goes into the box, Torres, Kuyt and Riena form a huge triangle with me at the center and attempt a line break. “If Garay and Pepe aim to play in the box, we need to open up the attack with organic switching and mid-range shots.”
As Captain Gerrard spoke without hesitation, Benitez solemnly raised his palms.
The intention was not to give a high five, but to convey that ‘that’s enough.’
They were nothing more or less than coaches and players.
In particular, even though Benitez and Gerrard had been together for as many as five years, they still maintained an awkward relationship.
The only person in the club whom Gerrard could not readily contact was Benitez.
Benitez was that kind of person.
Unlike his slightly warm face, he was quite blunt.
Some even called him a ‘dictator without humanity.’
But that didn’t mean there was nothing to say.
Rather, he was a coach who did not receive a good reputation as a person because he was very nagging and interfered too much with the management of players.
‘Still, he’s a good director as far as ability goes.’
A director full of humanity is a pleasure to work with.
However, that only applies if you have talent. If you are a manager who is not good at planning tactics, it is worse than not having any sense of humanity.
At least Gerard thought so.
Liverpool was currently enjoying its best season under Benitez.
They were in second place after Manchester United in the English Premier League, and had advanced to the quarterfinals of the FA Cup by defeating Everton and Aston Villa in turn.
Liverpool, who are enjoying their best season this season, are showing great skills to the point where they are aiming for a treble.
As long as he could deliver as good results as he has now, Gerrard could tolerate the manager’s interference in his private life.
It was Gerrard who was that thirsty for the championship.
‘One of the two teams, the regular league or the Champions League, is bound to win.’
While Gerrard was burning his fighting spirit, Benitez continued his long speech.
“There is a famous saying about the magic of the Bernabeu. Everyone may think it’s funny, but there’s actually a good reason for it. Real Madrid is a team that has a very good ability to control the conditions on the pitch. “It’s common to adjust the height of the grass according to the weather, and even use ball boys to disrupt the enemy team’s flow.”
Benitez, who was born in Madrid and started playing soccer at Real Madrid and his first managerial career at Castile, was well aware of the characteristics of the Bernabeu Stadium.
That’s why I thought there was a good chance of winning today’s game.
“We don’t need to be intimidated. The opponent is strong, but we are stronger than Liverpool. “Show Liverpool’s power to Madrid.”
“yes.”
When Benitez left, the heavy atmosphere subsided.
Then this time Gerrard called the players together.
They linked arms and formed a large circle.
A completely different atmosphere than when Benitez was around.
It was a locker room where you could feel true camaraderie.
Among them, Gerard’s short, bold words came out.
“We go Roma.”
0809 Rome, Italy, final venue of the Champions League.
Gerrard expressed confidence that he could go there.
Beep-
[At 8:45 p.m., the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 began. Real Madrid on the left takes the lead. This is truly a great team. If you look at the recent good results in the league despite injuries to Cannavaro and Fernando Gago.] [
The decision to quickly give up the King’s Cup (Copa del Rey) in a hectic schedule seems to have paid off. Even though Liverpool is on the rise, it doesn’t seem easy to beat Real Madrid at the Bernabeu. The key is how outstanding the Gerrard-Torres line will be.]
Also known as the Zeto line.
This is a duo of Liverpool’s living legends whose characteristic is to arouse admiration in the audience with their performances that are pleasing to the eye just by looking at them.
Moreover, Fernando Torres was from AT Madrid, so he had a lot of experience facing Real Madrid.
It was Torres who knew that much about Real Madrid.
‘It’s a game worth playing.’
Moreover, Real Madrid’s defense is very weak due to injuries to Cannavaro and Gago.
I was confident that I could score as many times as I wanted to.
‘We are superior in the midfield as well.’
[Double Volanci, consisting of Mascherano and Alonso, has the upper hand in the battle for the ball.]
[Not long after the game started, Liverpool is slowly taking over the midfield. Gerrard, who plays as an attacking midfielder, is also actively participating in the back fight. [There is no concession whatsoever.]
The formation that Real Madrid used was 4-2-3-1.
Robben was used as the right winger, Marcelo was used as the left winger, and Woo Ho-young was placed as the attacking midfielder to achieve an even balance.
And Raul went into the top spot and attempted a penetrating play.
but.
[The intention is good, but it is not having much effect. Liverpool’s defense is blocking them time and time again.]
[Liverpool is indeed showing the defensive ability of a team that has conceded only 16 goals in 26 league games.]
17 minutes into the first half.
Hoyoung’s right-footed shot and Robben’s left-footed shot each recorded effective shots, but did not result in a goal.
Still, it was okay up to that point.
The real problem was that Liverpool’s organizational strength was gradually reviving after that.
[Zidane and Mahamadou Diarra, deployed in midfield, are unable to overcome Mascherano and Alonso. Gerrard’s pressure from behind is also playing a significant role.]
[That’s right. By preventing Zidane from distributing the ball, he is fundamentally blocking Real Madrid’s attack. I didn’t know that today’s main target would be Zidane and not Woo Ho-young. It appears that the play that put pressure on Robinho in the last game against Manchester City was a smokescreen operation.]
[You can say that Benitez won the psychological war. A solution seems urgent for Madrid.]
Meanwhile, left fullback Aurelio’s clever overlapping created a decisive chance.
Build-up from left to center.
From there, Liverpool’s attack developed briefly and concisely.
Percussion!
Gerrard looked forward after receiving Aurelio’s pass.
A kill pass aimed at the slightly widened back space followed.
[Fernando Torres attempting line breaking! Use your speed to break through the gap between Pepe and Garai!]
A one-on-one opportunity that comes without warning.
Casillas jumped out at great timing and narrowed the angle, but it wasn’t enough.
Crash!
Fernando Torres calmly opened the goal with an inside kick.
The first goal came from his toes.
[Gooooo! Fernando Torres’ fantastic penetration gives us the first goal!]
[Gerrard’s kill pass after the left and right fullbacks broke through. And even Torres’ line breaking. It really looks like Liverpool. Today again, he did it perfectly.]
Liverpool’s first goal brought despair to the Bernabeu.
The vacancy left by Cannavaro, who had always coordinated the defense, felt very large.
But the really scary thing started now.
[Liverpool changes formation from 4-2-3-1 to 4-1-4-1.]
[It seems to be the same tactic as shown in the last match against Manchester City.]
Liverpool’s team consisting of Riera, Alonso, Gerrard and Kuyt The second line was responsible for the first blocking line, Mascherano was responsible for the second line of defense, and finally, the four back defense line was responsible for the final defense.
It was an extreme defensive tactic that made the enemy’s attack useless by stacking the lines.
‘I remember. At that time, our team suffered a crushing defeat against Liverpool and was eliminated in the round of 16.’
Right now, a phenomenon similar to the future that Hoyoung knew was happening.
That means things are going as expected.
‘Then we can play the game we prepared.’
Everything was going as expected.
Now was the time to show it.
The beginning of a counterattack.
Real Madrid maintained a fast tempo on the field but made tactical changes.
[After conceding the first goal, Real Madrid eventually makes tactical changes.]
[But there are no significant changes that stand out. All we have to do is keep the formation the same and move Woo Ho-young to the top and Raul to the attacking midfielder. I think you can think of it as simply switching. It’s probably to break down Liverpool’s tight and solid defensive line.]
“Hmm.”
Benitez, who was watching the situation, immediately took countermeasures.
He urgently called out fighter-type central defender Skrtel (?krtel) and spoke.
“Abandon zone defense and mark Woo Ho-young with man-to-man defense. The thing to keep in mind is that you should never give him space.”
“Don’t worry.”
Skrtel was confident.
I even had this interview in England before flying to Spain.
-Liverpool will face Real Madrid in the round of 16 of the Champions League. There are many opinions that Skrtel will take over Woo Ho-young due to his position. What do you think about this? He has already brought down numerous central defenders to their knees.
In response to that question, Skrtel, as is his usual personality, spoke without hesitation about his inner thoughts.
-Of course, I also saw him play. It was very impressive. But we will stop him in our own way. Do you know what our team’s current run rate is? He’ll break through our solid defense and probably collapse from exhaustion.
Skrtel dared to speak loudly.
To be honest, I didn’t think I could stop Hoyoung one-on-one.
But being with my colleagues was enough.
It was because I was confident that I could stop Pele in his prime even if he came back.
And just then, Real Madrid’s attack began.
[I look in front of Diarra, who narrowly caught the ball in midfield. There seems to be no place to give the ball away.]
[There is no time to relax even for a second. This is because Liverpool’s players rush in before they even catch the ball.]
Real Madrid’s midfield was severely lacking in numbers to deal with Liverpool’s 4-1-4-1.
However, if they could just break through the midfield, they could have an overwhelming advantage.
That was exactly what Madrid was aiming for.
widely.
[As soon as Zidane receives the ball given by Diarra, he stabs it forward!]
The class is not dead yet.
Zidane’s pass, cleverly slipping between the players’ legs, split the ground and headed toward the front.
It was a pass that made Liverpool’s forward pressure meaningless.
[Woo Ho-young catches the ball with his back to the defense.]
[But there are still six more defenders behind him. This alone is not enough.]
That alone was certainly not enough.
To score a goal, you had to go at least close to the penalty area.
So Hoyoung went.
He broke through Liverpool’s defense line, which was as complex as a spider’s web.
Mascherano did not miss the opportunity to mark Raul.
Blame blame.
“…?!”
[Woo Ho-young breaks through the second line with a light dribble!]
Since he was able to freely use both feet, the perfection of his dribbling has improved.
And most of all, I gained tremendous confidence in ball control.
[Hoyoung Woo is still moving forward with the ball.]
[While Riera fills the side, Aurelio goes into the center and marks Hoyoung Woo.]
The organization was good, so it was pointless.
Hoyoung, who had reached the point where he could freely control the ball, launched the ball with his back foot and then quickly flipped Aurelio away.
At the same time, tempo control is perfect.
Crack, crack!
The tension was high due to the breathless dribbling.
“crazy.”
Hoyoung soon approached the penalty area and stood in front of Skrtel.
Skrtel, who had no idea this situation would come, quickly defended the space.
‘You should never give up space.’
didn’t give it
To anyone who could see it, it certainly looked like all space had been eliminated.
but.
Percussion!
[Woo Ho-young runs to the right! Opens up the shooting angle in an instant!]
Just create space.
What followed next was a left foot out front kick.
And it was immediately after that that the net shook.
Crash!
[Gooooooo! Woo Ho-young’s mid-distance shot shakes the net!]
[Oh my god. What just happened?]
A simple breakthrough that caught Liverpool off guard.
There was no one who could explain what had happened.
What was certain was that it flattened the noses of Skrtel and Rafael Benitez.
Betitez said to the head coach.
“Holy shit. From now on, let’s shift the focus from Zidane to Woo Ho-young. Even if I get some cards, I have to stop him like I did with Robinho.”
Accordingly, the head coach instructed Mascherano and Alonso to follow Hoyoung like a shadow.
But Real Madrid did not sit still either.
[… As soon as the game resumes, Real Madrid changes their tactics again.]
[The formation is changed to 4-4-2. Woo Ho-young, who was an attacking midfielder, moves up to the front and forms a two-top team with Raul. What is the intention behind this?]
Real Madrid revealed their hidden claws as if they had been waiting.
War clouds began to hover over the field.
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