Liverpool's tactical strategy in the final made Inter Milan very uncomfortable.
The defensive line could not ignore the offensive threat posed by Torres, so they did not dare to act rashly.
The rear defensive line had to defend against Gerard, Alonso, and Qin Xiong's attacks. It was especially difficult for the attacking players in the front field to help the defense.
Who could they rely on?
Snede? Eto 'o? Or Milito?
In the 14th minute of the game, Sneijder once again controlled the ball in the middle of the front field. This time, he tried to find Milito to cooperate with him. He immediately passed the ball to Milito in front of him after dodging Gerrard's pressing.
But as the football was rolling, Liverpool's defense immediately acted.
Mascherano and Lucas quickly carried out a double team. Mascherano entangled Milito, and Lucas went to intercept the ball. The two men cooperated very well and perfectly stifled Inter Milan's attack when it showed signs.
Liverpool could be said to be stationed in the midfield today. The core of the offense and defense was in the midfield, and the transition between offense and defense was very smooth.
Lucas first passed the ball to a very safe flank.
Aurelio ran up from the left flank to receive, and then passed the ball over after Qin Xiong ran into a gap.
Qin Xiong first dribbled forward along the flank, and Alonso in the middle of the midfield came forward to run positions.
When Zanetti and Maicon formed a double team on Qin Xiong's side, Qin Xiong suddenly passed the ball back. Aurelio did not retreat behind his side of the flank. He received Qin Xiong's pass and then passed the ball diagonally to the middle of the front field.
Alonso kicked the ball out before Cambiasso could close in on the ball. It was a diagonal pass!
Qin Xiong ran diagonally behind Zanetti, and in front of him was the center back, Samuel.
At this time, Amuel made a decision.
He had to go forward to intercept and stop Qin Xiong from controlling the ball. Otherwise, it would make Qin Xiong's threat skyrocket.
Just before he and Qin Xiong scrambled for the ball, Qin Xiong took the lead to touch the ball. He kicked the ball out and gently tapped the ball with his right foot. The football changed its rolling trajectory and rolled from Samuel's side to the empty area behind him!
Samuel immediately braked and turned back to chase. He saw Torres seize this fleeting opportunity. Behind him, when Lucio and Maicon were about to double-team him, the goalkeeper, César, also decisively abandoned the goal.
The moment Torres caught up with the football, he used his left foot to kick the ball into the far corner of the goal.
César reached out to block. It was a completely subconscious action, but his palm failed to touch the football.
At this moment, the Inter Milan fans in the Bernabéu stands had their hearts in their throats until they saw the football, which was kicked by Torres in the far corner of the goal, graze the outside of the goalpost and fly out of the end line. Only then did they breathe a sigh of relief.
Torres shook his head in disbelief when he saw his shot slide past the goal.
He felt that what he lacked was just a little bit of luck!
"Liverpool almost scored the first goal of the final! Torres received Qin Xiong's straight pass and did not stop the ball. He directly kicked the ball into the far corner of the goal. César could not touch the football. When everyone thought that the goal would change the score, they did not expect Torres's shot to miss the goal by a hair's breadth! It was really just a little bit more! "
Mourinho watched with trepidation on the sidelines, but he would not show a trace of nervousness on his face.
Liverpool's tactics today made Inter Milan very uncomfortable, extremely uncomfortable!
The gap in the rear defensive line caused by Samuel's forward tackle only appeared for a short time, but this gap was quickly grasped by Torres!
The threat of Torres alone was enough to contain Inter Milan's entire rear defensive line!
Comain's move really caught Mourinho off guard!
He maximized the team's star player's advantage!
Inter Milan's offense on the right side was originally very strong. They had Maicon, who could challenge the world's best right back!
But today, he just had to go up against Qin Xiong, who was also the world's best overall star player!
If Maicon could replace Qin Xiong one-on-one, commonly known as a pair, then Inter Milan would certainly be happy to do this deal!
But Qin Xiong was an offensive player, and Maicon was a defensive player. Defense was inherently more passive than offense!
Maicon could not replace Qin Xiong at all. Instead, he had to conscientiously stay in his defensive zone and defend well, not giving Qin Xiong any chance.
Otherwise, once he was not in his defensive zone, Qin Xiong could stir up trouble in this area, and Zanetti would find it difficult to withstand!
Without the support of the offense on the right side, Inter Milan's original idea of a defensive counterattack was focused on by Liverpool.
From the 15th minute of the game, Mourinho knew that this game would be extremely difficult. It should be the most difficult game since he coached Inter Milan.
Even though Inter Milan had lost games in the past, Inter Milan at that time was not as good as Inter Milan under his command now in terms of tactics, team configuration, and coordination.
But even so, Inter Milan did not even have a decent shot in the first 20 minutes of the game!
They focused mainly on defense and could not counterattack. They also had to bear Liverpool's unscrupulous bombardment of long shots. The mental pressure also made Inter Milan more passive.
In the 21st minute of the game, Gerard received Alonso's cross from the right side of the front field and suddenly lifted his leg to shoot a long shot!
The football flew into the penalty area and was blocked by Lucio. The football still flew in the direction of the goal after the refraction, and finally flew out of the end line about half a meter away from the left goalpost.
Inter Milan narrowly escaped a disaster.
Three minutes later, Qin Xiong controlled the ball on the left side of the front field and attracted a number of Inter Milan's defenders before he kicked the ball back. After swinging out a gap in the pass, he accurately sent the ball to Alonso's feet.
Alonso was 30 yards away from the goal and directly kicked the goal!
This time, the football hit the goal range and flew straight to the top right corner of the goal.
César brilliantly pounced to block the ball in the penalty area, and Lucio directly lifted the ball with a long kick.
When the football flew into the midfield area, Lucas boldly went forward to fight Snede's header and headed the ball to the right side.
Johnson went forward and did not stop the ball and directly kicked the ball to the right side of the front field.
Gerard pulled to the side and stopped the ball and turned around. When Chivo came up to intercept, he directly lifted his leg at a 45-degree angle from the side.
He consciously passed the ball behind Inter Milan's defensive line. Because they had just gone through a defense, Inter Milan's defensive line was redeploying the defensive line. The defenders subconsciously walked forward, and Gerard's pass went around behind them.
Torres quickly inserted diagonally behind Lucio to snatch the ball. Gerard's pass was urgent and fast. Torres's entire person flew out to snatch the shot. He knew that if he could shoot the ball in the direction of the goal, the ball would basically go in!
César had just made a save and had not yet regained his footing.
But Torres missed the football in the end and watched the football bounce past in front of his eyes.
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