Liverpool and Barcelona returned to the locker room together.
Comain walked into the locker room with a solemn expression. He did not praise or motivate the team. After all, at this point, talking about dreams and goals would seem flashy. The team needed to be realistic to improve the situation.
Comain looked around the locker room with a serious expression and then said in a deep voice, "Everyone knows that we are facing a difficult situation. Although we are ahead in the score, Barcelona did play an unexpected strength at Camp Nou today. Now we are in an extremely passive state."
Comain's words were met with everyone's nod of agreement.
Recognizing reality was the basis for starting to improve it. Everyone had a consensus on this point.
"We can't look at the current score blindly. 5: 3, we are two goals ahead of Barcelona. As long as we keep the score, we can eliminate the defending champions. In theory, this is the case. But if we just defend to the death, can we do it? Not necessarily, really not necessarily. It's not that I have no confidence in our defense, but Barcelona is really strong. We don't have to deceive ourselves! "
The Liverpool players looked solemn. Everyone stared at Comain and thought about how to turn the situation around.
Comain paused for a few seconds and said firmly, "We still have to pin our hopes on the offense! The reason is simple. Now we have the same number of away goals as Barcelona. But if we score another goal, we will be ahead in away goals. Then Barcelona will not only need to equalize the score to eliminate us. They will need to score one more goal! They will surpass us in the aggregate score! "
The players nodded together. Comain's words made sense. Now Liverpool and Barcelona had the same number of away goals. But as long as Liverpool scored another away goal, the aggregate score would be a draw and Barcelona would be eliminated!
Next, Comain explained the tactical adjustments he had made and carefully explained the team's counterattack strategy to everyone.
The Red Army players listened attentively. At this point, no one would take it lightly, and no one would be distracted at such a critical moment.
At the end of the halftime interval, the players of the two teams returned to the Camp Nou stadium again.
The Barcelona fans are now positive and optimistic.
As long as Barcelona scored two more goals, they would be able to tie with Liverpool on the aggregate score.
Scoring goals was a common occurrence for Barcelona. They were a top team with strong offensive firepower that was on par with Real Madrid, Liverpool and other strong teams.
Scoring goals was never a problem!
The two sides switched sides and fought again.
Barcelona immediately launched a fierce attack in the second half.
At one point, Liverpool were a little overwhelmed.
In the 53rd minute of the match, Ibrahimovic acted as a fulcrum in the frontline. He sent Iniesta a diagonal plug. In the match between Johnson and Iniesta, Johnson had lost completely today!
However, Iniesta's shot from the left into the penalty area was not as lethal as his shot from the middle.
After Reina bravely saved Iniesta's shot diagonally towards the goal, Yaya Toure missed the goal from the outside.
Liverpool had not found a good opportunity to make changes in the second half, but Barcelona put Liverpool under unprecedented pressure.
In the 59th minute of the match, Xavi received Messi's return pass from the outside and made a long shot. The football hit the arm of Skrtel, who was defending in the penalty area. The referee decisively awarded a penalty kick, which made the Liverpool players a little crazy.
Skrtel rushed to the referee in a frenzy to protest and appeal.
"My hand did not extend. It was always close to my body and did not expand the defensive area. Why is it a penalty kick? Why! Why? "
Skrtel, who could not control his emotions, was given a yellow card warning by the referee. Gerard and Alonso had to pull him away, and then Gerard went to the referee to protest. But this time, the referee did not listen to any words at all. The penalty could not be changed.
"Oh no, Liverpool was awarded a penalty kick in the second half. This decision is debatable. Although Skrtel's arm was not close to his torso and was a little spread, his sideways movement did not expand the defensive area. This is a fact. But the referee also has a basis for the penalty kick. The football did hit his hand, and then it bounced off the ground and was rescued by Carragher. Now the game has reached the most critical moment. Once Barcelona scores this penalty kick, the difference between the two teams will only be one goal, and there is still half an hour left in the game! "
The Liverpool players stared angrily at Messi to take the penalty kick.
Under the expectant gaze of the 100,000 Barcelona fans at Camp Nou, Messi calmly shot the penalty kick into the lower left corner of the goal!
Although Reina predicted the right direction, the speed of his save was not as fast as the speed of Messi's shot. He could only watch the football fly into the goal regretfully.
Messi once again rushed into the goal, held the ball in his arms and ran to the backfield.
"Messi's shot hit the target! Oh my God! Is a miracle really happening? 5: 4, Liverpool is only one goal ahead of Barcelona! As long as Barcelona scores another goal, the two teams will be tied! Will there be extra time? "
The morale of the Barcelona players was unprecedentedly boosted.
Guardiola kept applauding on the sidelines, praising the players' performance, but also reminding the players to stay calm.
The Barcelona players were in position before kickoff. They exuded a powerful aura. Every player knew what to do. Containing the key players of Liverpool's counterattack was the way they restrained Liverpool today!
The Liverpool players might have started to panic. After the restart, Johnson's irresponsible pass directly returned the ball to Barcelona.
This caused Qin Xiong, who was active in the midfield area, to yell at Johnson.
"What are you panicking for! Calm down, calm down! "
Johnson immediately raised his hand to apologize to his teammates, then ran back to his defensive area to do defensive work.
Barcelona, who became braver as the game went on, saw that the gap between the two teams was only one goal. Their pursuit of offense became even more frantic.
In the 67th minute of the game, Xavi and Yaya Touré did a one-two pass in the midfield. After rushing past Gerard, Xavi stuffed the ball diagonally to the left flank. After Iniesta received the ball successfully from the bottom, he suddenly pulled the ball back in front of Johnson and swung out a gap to pass the ball.
In the middle, Ibrahimovic pressed Carragher to head the ball into the goal.
This goal made the hearts of all the Red Army players and fans in their throats. If it went in, Liverpool would really ruin all the advantages they had built in the first leg.
But fortunately, Ibrahimovic's header was a bit on point and Reina directly hugged it in his arms.
While the Barcelona fans were feeling sorry and the Red Army fans were relieved, Comain roared excitedly on the sidelines.
"Attack! Red Army, attack! "
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