May 20, 2012.
The Allianz Arena was unprecedentedly grand. All the German football legends came to watch the Champions League final. The Bayern Munich fans occupied a large part of the stands in the stadium, almost three times the number of Liverpool fans!
The stadium echoed with the cheers of the Bayern Munich fans!
After the cultural activities before the Champions League final ended, the starting players of both teams walked into the stadium holding the hands of the ball boys.
The grand theme song of the Champions League sounded.
The players of both teams stood in a row in the stadium with their heads held high and their chests puffed out. They were ready for a big battle.
"The 2011-2012 Champions League final is about to begin. This season's Champions League final is at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany. This is the home stadium of the Bayern Munich football club. This year, they reached the Champions League final as they wished. The German team led by Jupp Heynckes will face the Red Army Liverpool, the Champions League champions of the past two years!
If Liverpool can win the title, they will be the first team to win three consecutive Champions League titles after the restructuring. This is a rare situation in the history of football. In the past, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, and Ajax have achieved such a feat. Liverpool is expected to be the fourth super team to win the Champions League for three consecutive years!
At the same time, a series of personal records may be broken in this game.
If Liverpool wins the title, Qin Xiong and Raúl will become the players who have won the Champions League six times!
They will be on par with Real Madrid's legend, Hinto. This is a great record!
But Bayern Munich will definitely want to keep the trophy at their doorstep.
Let's take a look at the starting lineup of both teams.
Bayern Munich starting lineup: 4231.
Goalkeeper: Neuer.
Defenders: Lahm, Boateng, Timoshchuk, Contento.
Midfielders: Robben, Schweinsteiger, Muller, Kroes, Ribéry.
Striker: Gomez.
Liverpool starting lineup: 442.
Goalkeeper: Reina.
Defenders: Johnson, Skrtel, Thiago Silva, Baines.
Midfielders: Gerard, Mascherano, Alonso, Tiote.
Forwards: Suarez, Qin Xiong.
The kick-off ceremony for the game has ended. Amidst the enthusiastic cheers of the fans at the Allianz Arena, the game will begin soon. Liverpool will kick off first. "
Qin Xiong and Suárez stood in the center circle. The UEFA Champions League final was about to begin.
Bayern Munich manager Jupp Heynckes and Liverpool manager Comain stood on the sidelines to supervise the match.
Liverpool readjusted their formation before kick-off.
It changed from 442 to 433.
The variable was Gerard.
This was decided based on the opponent's starting lineup.
Since Lahm could play on both sides, no matter if he partnered with Robben or Ribéry on the wings, they could play very well.
Therefore, Liverpool had to target Bayern Munich's attacks from the flanks.
If Lahm played as the left back, then Gerard would play as the attacking midfielder. The formation would remain the same as 442.
But in reality, Lahm played as the right back. In this way, Qin Xiong moved to the left winger position, which could greatly suppress Lahm and prevent Robben from getting enough support.
At the same time, Gerard moved to the right winger position to attack Bayern Munich's weak point, Kontento.
This was arranged in Liverpool's tactical formulation before the game.
It was changed according to the actual situation.
The game began.
Liverpool first controlled the ball steadily in the midfield, and then launched a wave of attacks in the third minute of the game.
Mainly on the right side, Gerard received Alonso's pass from the right side in the front field and did a wall combination with Suarez on the front line.
The Red Army captain cut into the penalty area before Kontento could turn around, and then shot diagonally towards the goal.
Germany's new goalkeeper, Neuer, pounced and blocked the ball out of the end line with one palm.
Bayern Munich was under pressure from Liverpool's strong offensive at the start of the game!
This was also the passive position caused by Bayern Munich's current weak point in the lineup.
On the defensive line, Kontento and Timoshchuk were inexperienced, and the other was a defensive midfielder who temporarily played as a center back. The defensive midfielder, Schweinsteiger, was not a pure defensive defensive midfielder like Mascherano. Not to mention Kroes, who was similar to Alonso, but was not an absolute defensive defensive midfielder.
In this way, Bayern Munich's defensive line could allow Liverpool to do a lot of things.
Liverpool attacked the right side at the start of the game.
The two wingers, Ribéry and Robben, did not contribute much when returning to the defense, which made Bayern Munich's defensive line very passive.
Comain paid more attention to the midfield defense today. After all, the combination of Ribéry and Robben shocked Europe. The double defensive midfielder combination of Tiote and Mascherano and Alonso also had considerable defensive strength at the back. It was necessary to draw out a defensive midfielder to help defend the flanks at any time and contain Bayern Munich's flanks. They also had to combine the sides and the center to penetrate the defense.
Although Gómez was very strong as a striker, as long as Thiago Silva did not respond when the flanks were destroyed, it was easy for him and Skrtel to mark Gómez.
Bayern Munich's midfield control was also good.
Schweinsteiger, Kroes, Muller, and two strong offensive players on the flanks.
Bayern Munich's offense was also not to be underestimated in the European football world.
In the 23rd minute of the game, Kroes, Schweinsteiger, and Robben completed a triangle pass in the front field. Then he suddenly inserted the ball diagonally in front of the penalty area.
Muller did not stop the ball in front of Thiago Silva and directly shot. The football went over the crossbar.
Three minutes later, Liverpool continued to attack the right side, but bypassed it from the left side.
After three passes and two falls in the midfield, Qin Xiong spun the ball out from the left side with his outside instep.
Suárez and Gerard ran in a cross position. Suárez, who went around the back, barely managed to volley the ball from the back of the penalty area. The football brushed the outside of the post and hit the side netting. For a moment, the Bayern Munich fans thought the ball was in!
Liverpool's defense in the backfield was very stable today. The joint defense between the players contained Bayern Munich's flanks combination.
Robben tried to break through twice in a row in 10 minutes. One time, he was forced into the end line by Baines, but the effect was not good. The other time, he was directly intercepted by Tiote.
It was not until the 34th minute of the game that Robben got a chance to raise his foot in front of the penalty area. Even if it was not enough, he barely raised his foot in the gaps between the players. The football flew in an arc towards the far corner of the goal, but in the end, it still slid out.
On the other hand, Ribéry was rather quiet on the left flank. His individual ability was not as good as Robben's, and under the control of Johnson and Mascherano, he could not get the support of Contento in the backfield, nor could he get the support of Muller. This caused him to be repeatedly trapped in a double team situation.
Liverpool created a great opportunity in the 37th minute of the first half.
Alonso suddenly pressed forward and forced Schweinsteiger and Kroes to defend in the middle of the front field. Before the two players could form a double team, Alonso sent a threatening straight pass!
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