"The atmosphere in Anfield Stadium is bursting tonight! The second leg of the UEFA Champions League 18 final will be played here.
Liverpool lost 0: 2 to AC Milan in the first leg at San Siro, which made the prospects of the defending champions advancing to the Champions League quarter-finals very bad. In this critical moment, we saw the Liverpool fans united. They created a huge momentum in the stands in the stadium to put pressure on AC Milan.
The defending champions of multiple competitions did not have the momentum of the past two years in the knockout stages of the Champions League. After losing to AC Milan, La Gazzetta dello Sport said that the Rossoneri would give the defending champions Liverpool a heart-wrenching Battle of Waterloo!
Today, let's see what kind of game will be played at Anfield.
Liverpool played a 4-3-3 formation today, obviously to put pressure on AC Milan.
Goalkeeper: Reina.
Defenders: Johnson, Skrtel, Thiago Silva, Baines.
Midfielders: Mascherano, Alonso, Gerard.
Forwards: Raúl, Suárez, Qin Xiong.
AC Milan played a 4-3-2 formation in the away game today.
Goalkeeper: Abbiati.
Defenders: Abate, Mexes, Bonera, Antonini.
Midfielders: Emmanuel, van Bommel, Robinho, Nocerino.
Forwards: Ibrahimovic, El Shaarawy.
Today, AC Milan put Robinho as the attacking midfielder, and the young players El Shaarawy and Ibrahimovic as the frontline. I don't know if this combination can be a threat at Anfield. Liverpool's home defense is still very tough.
Well, let's not talk about the small talk. Let's watch the game together. "
Liverpool played with momentum from the start of the game.
After a series of passes in the midfield, Baines came up to receive Alonso's pass and then passed the ball straight.
Qin Xiong cut across the front flank and met his long-lost old teammate Emmanuel. He did not pass the ball, but directly chose to shoot from the top corner of the penalty area!
A curveball shot the ball to the far corner of the goal, which made AC Milan break out in a cold sweat.
AC Milan certainly knew the threat of Qin Xiong, so of the three midfielders, Emmanuel and van Bommel mainly cooperated with the defensive line to mark Qin Xiong.
AC Milan's offense relied on the front three. The midfielders, Nocerino and Emmanuel Elsen, were at best able to provide support just past the midfield. The full-backs also did not dare to assist.
This made it difficult for AC Milan's offense.
In the sixth minute of the game, Robinho finally received a pass from his teammate in the backfield at the front waistline. He had just turned to get rid of Alonso's defense when he was faced with Mascherano's pressing. He hurriedly kicked the ball in the direction of Ibrahimovic, but Tiago Silva took the lead and intercepted the ball!
Tiago Silva, who was once the iron guard of the Rossoneri and now met in the old home stadium, had already experienced the loud boos from the AC Milan fans at the San Siro, as well as being called a traitor.
Liverpool's offense was mainly based on the possession of the ball in the midfield. After a horizontal pass, the ball was passed to Qin Xiong's feet.
Qin Xiong continued to control the ball on the left flank of the front field to create offensive pressure.
In the 13th minute of the game, Qin Xiong dribbled the ball on the left flank to break through Abate. In a series of sudden stops and turns, Abate's center of gravity was unstable and Qin Xiong broke through.
Emmanuel Elsen had already retreated into the penalty area to block Qin Xiong's advance. Van Bommel also moved to the left flank in front of the penalty area to prevent Qin Xiong from turning into the corridor in front of the penalty area.
AC Milan's defensive line did indeed list Qin Xiong as the first defensive priority.
However, Qin Xiong was still a threat.
After he dribbled the ball into the penalty area, he suddenly knocked the ball diagonally behind him with his heel.
Baines came up to receive the ball and then directly stuffed it. Qin Xiong used his body to squeeze Emmanuel Elsen out of the corridor to let the ball roll. Then, after the ball rolled over, he simply raised his leg to shoot!
Macy made a crucial interception. His flying tackle touched the ball with his thigh and let the ball fly into the stands.
"AC Milan's penalty area was in danger again. Fortunately, Macy blocked it in time. Otherwise, it would be hard to say whether Qin Xiong's shot would have changed the score. Liverpool put a lot of pressure on AC Milan at home, but their attack was too singular. Almost all of their attacks were concentrated on Qin Xiong. "
This was exactly what Liverpool wanted to do and wanted to achieve their goal.
When Qin Xiong continued to pose a threat on the left flank of the front field, AC Milan's defense would naturally tilt to that side.
In the 21st minute of the game, AC Milan's midfield made a mistake in a pass to the front field.
Nocerino wanted to send a straight pass to Shaarawy, but his intention was too obvious. Johnson blocked the ball and intercepted it.
Liverpool immediately spurred on a quick attack.
Johnson passed the ball to the midfield commander, Alonso, who then diagonally passed the ball directly to the left flank of the front field.
When Qin Xiong retreated to provide support, AC Milan's defensive line was already tilting to that side!
Qin Xiong received the ball and directly sent the ball to the right flank with a wide range long pass.
This change caught AC Milan off guard. They all subconsciously thought that Qin Xiong would come himself!
They were also used to defending against Qin Xiong in this way.
They thought that Qin Xiong would be trapped in San Siro like he was in the last game.
But they were wrong!
Liverpool lost the last game. Not only did Qin Xiong's performance slump, but the entire Liverpool team's operation was not very good.
But after the adjustment in the past half a month, coupled with the importance of this game, Liverpool still had the home advantage, so they naturally played better.
And the strategy of creating a diversion to the east and attacking in the west was even more handy.
This long pass across the cross section of the field made the Red Army fans at the scene exclaim!
There was a big gap on the right flank of the front field because AC Milan's defensive line was concentrated on the left flank.
When Raúl skillfully stopped the ball here, the audience could realize that Liverpool's offensive shift had succeeded!
And Raúl did not dawdle. He immediately passed the ball across.
Gerard, who plugged in from the back, touched the ball before Nocerino, and took advantage of the momentum to charge forward to the front of the penalty area!
Antonini did not have time to join forces with Bonella to block Gerard's forward path before Gerard stuffed the ball directly behind Bonella.
Suárez, who was suspended from the England team, had been holding back for several games!
In coordination with Gerard's straight pass, Suárez's start was amazing. He cut straight to the space behind Bonella, then turned halfway to receive the ball and volleyed!
This volleyed kick gave off a sense of explosive deja vu.
The football scurried into the top corner of the goal in the blink of an eye!
Abbiati did not have time to make a save!
The Anfield stadium cheered. The fans waved their fists and roared passionately.
Suárez rushed into the goal, held the ball in his arms, and then began to run towards the midfield. Gerard patted him on the shoulder on the way. Suárez turned his head and winked at Qin Xiong, who was trotting towards the midfield with him. Qin Xiong's lips curled into a faint smile, which disappeared in a flash.
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