Qin Xiong had a weekend off. He would not play in the following midweek Champions League game. He would sit on the substitutes' bench and watch the game.
Comain had been under a lot of pressure recently.
Qin Xiong was too famous. After he retired with an injury in the previous round, he did not play in another league game. This caused a lot of speculation on Fleet Street. In addition, Torres came back, but his performance in the league was mediocre. This caused the outside world to be full of doubts about Torres' future.
There was another thing that made Comain angry at the club's transfer negotiation team headed by Wilcot: the news of the full back's introduction was leaked!
Liverpool's number one target was Tottenham Hotspur's Gareth Bale.
It could be said that a year ago, although Bale was young and famous, he could not play as the main force at Tottenham Hotspur. In addition, he was very unlucky. Tottenham Hotspur could not win the games he played!
It was not until a year ago that they got rid of this bad luck.
And in this year, Bale had progressed rapidly and had become the England's number one winger.
Before this season, Bale had always played as a full back. This season, he was pushed to the position of a side midfielder. Not only did he become the Premier League's pass king so far, but he also scored a lot of goals, especially key goals and assists!
This made Comain favor Bale. He envisioned Bale to come to the team to play as a full back and form a dominant offensive combination on the left flank with Qin Xiong!
Because Qin Xiong's range of activity was larger, he could be called a free man in the front field, so Bale's space on the left flank would not be limited.
This ideal design was perfect in Comain's view.
Another point was the new policy implemented by the UEFA before this season. In order to stimulate the transfer of European football, the rules and restrictions of the previous Cup-tied were relaxed!
Bale represented Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League in the first half of the season. As long as he joined Liverpool in the winter transfer and Liverpool signed him up for the Champions League, then Bale could represent Liverpool in the Champions League in the second half of the season! This was also a great temptation for the players!
But the news leaked!
There was still more than a month before the transfer window opened.
The media had wantonly announced that Liverpool were going to bring in Bale, and the rampant news made it more difficult for Liverpool to recruit a player!
This was not a summer transfer window where players did not have to face pressure from the club's coaches, teammates, and fans. They could just leave the matter to their agents to negotiate behind closed doors.
But the pressure of negotiating a transfer in the middle of the season was too great!
This was no different from a betrayal.
However, the news of Liverpool locking in Bale's transfer was made known to Fleet Street.
This also gave Spurs room to maneuver.
As a club controlled by Jews, Tottenham Hotspur was, of course, in order to make money, not to win trophies.
Before the start of the fifth round of the Champions League group stage, the news that the Tottenham Hotspur Football Club had set a sky-high price of 60 million pounds for Bale was exposed on Fleet Street!
At the pre-match press conference for the Champions League, reporters from Fleet Street scrambled to ask questions about Liverpool's plans to bring in Bale after the opening of the winter transfer window.
Comain could only avoid talking about it.
"We are playing a Champions League match tomorrow. I will only answer questions related to the match. Thank you."
The reporters from Fleet Street were not angry. Anyway, Liverpool would meet Tottenham Hotspur in the league on the weekend. There would be plenty of opportunities then.
"Will Qin Xiong play in tomorrow's game?"
"Although his thigh muscle fatigue has recovered, we have already won first place in the group stage. Considering the pressure of the future competition schedule, I will let him continue to rest tomorrow. If not necessary, he will be a substitute."
"Torres's form since his return has been average. How much time will he be given tomorrow?"
"Torres's performance since his return has been good. He contributed a lot to the team's victory last weekend. We still have to rely on him for this weekend's league match. We may give him about 60 minutes tomorrow to improve his game feel."
.....
The more the outside world paid attention, the more it was not a good thing for the club.
In particular, the pressure on the players would be particularly great. The outside world would examine you from different angles, and even judge you!
On the night of November 25th, Liverpool faced Werder Bremen at Anfield.
Qin Xiong entered the stadium early as a substitute player. He greeted the fans at the edge of the stands. Many fans wanted to get his autograph. Qin Xiong said that he could satisfy the fans' requests after the game, but not now.
A substitute player also had to act like a substitute player.
He sat on the substitutes' bench and watched the game with Gerard and Alonso.
Werder Bremen only had one point now, but they were not completely eliminated.
FC Twente had five points, and Inter Milan had four points.
If the other game was a draw, and Werder Bremen took all three points in Anfield, then the last round of the group stage would become a fierce battle between the three teams for a place to advance.
Therefore, Werder Bremen came to Anfield today with a high fighting spirit.
Torres, Babel, and Kuyt partnered as the frontline today.
Liverpool's midfield combination was unusually tough. Meireles, Lucas, and Tiote.
It was enough to withstand Werder Bremen's offense.
The game became an offensive battle. Liverpool gradually gained the upper hand in the tug-of-war with a more lethal midfield.
Werder Bremen attacked with all their might in order to advance. The rear defensive line was full of mistakes, which gave Liverpool many opportunities to play the ball from behind.
Torres finally scored his first goal since his return after missing two chances.
Meireles and Babel also scored.
Liverpool took down Werder Bremen, who had staked everything but lost everything, with a score of 3: 0 at home.
At the end of the game, the Liverpool fans applauded Torres. Torres, who only played 63 minutes, scored a goal and an assist. Such a performance made people believe that the former Holy Baby of the Red Army had been revived!
In the other game in the same group, Inter Milan won 1: 0 at home against FC Twente, withstanding the pressure to return to second place in the group.
After five rounds, the group standings were as follows.
Liverpool 15 points.
Inter Milan 7 points.
FC Twente 5 points.
Werder Bremen 1 point.
In the last round of the group stage, Liverpool was the guest to challenge FC Twente, and Inter Milan was the guest to challenge Werder Bremen.
Liverpool's early advancement had already been settled, but Inter Milan was still at risk of being eliminated.
After the game, a media reporter asked Comain: Would Liverpool go easy on Twente in the last game of the Champions League group stage?
Maybe they could finish off Inter Milan this way!
Comain downplayed it and said, "Inter Milan has the initiative to advance. Liverpool also has its own plans for the season. We can't send our strongest lineup in every game because we have to take care of multiple fronts. So please don't continue with the conspiracy theories. Even if we lose to Twente, is it really to finish off Inter Milan? But what if Inter Milan doesn't lose to Werder Bremen in the away game? Isn't that ridiculous? "
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