Li Ang found that he had overlooked the role of Carlos's excellent form in the game. Although Inter Milan had one less player to fight, Carlos's superb interception ability and seemingly tireless running in the midfield made up for Inter Milan's numerical disadvantage to the greatest extent.
This also meant that Inter Milan would have more capital to try to attack.
The Inter Milan players on the field "received" a signal from manager Li Ang, and they became determined in their offense.
The decisive factor of the game was the midfield. Liverpool invested more troops in the attack, but their current midfield configuration was strong in offense and weak in defense. It could even be said that their defense was weak to the extreme. They did not have a real defensive player, but they had to go all out to attack.
On Inter Milan's side, the tough style of Carlos, Montari, and Modric made Inter Milan begin to take the initiative in the midfield.
On Liverpool's side, although Benítez had arranged for Lucas Leiva to specialize in defense, he could not compete with three players alone, no matter how strong he was. Furthermore, Lucas's defensive ability and confrontation ability could only be said to be average.
Inter Milan began to invest more in the attack, and Liverpool had to press for the attack. In the last fifteen minutes of the game, the pace of the game suddenly accelerated, and both sides jointly contributed to a wonderful offensive game for the fans.
*****
In the 81st minute, Inter Milan played a beautiful triangle in the front field. With the help of his teammates' positioning, David Silva successfully relied on his personal skills to force a breakthrough from the flank of Liverpool's defensive line. Then, he raised his leg to shoot from a small angle. This shot was aimed at the goalkeeper, Reina. Silva pursued the angle too much and in the end, unfortunately, it hit the side netting. This made Silva very upset. He was frozen by the manager today and stayed on the substitutes' bench for most of the game. Silva's desire to fight was very strong. The young Spanish lad's desire to score was very strong.
Then Liverpool launched an attack. After Babel received a pass from Harvey Alonso, he dribbled the ball along the flank. When faced with Evra's interception, Babel stopped and pulled the ball horizontally. After flashing through a gap, he swept the football towards the goal.
Torres appeared at the front. He successfully blocked Zanetti behind him and forced his foot to shoot.
However, the shooting angle was very small. César stood well and blocked the football out of the end line.
Liverpool got a corner kick.
Alonso kicked a tactical corner kick. Torres was not in the penalty area this time, but came out to receive. Then he pretended to pull the ball and turn around, but he knocked the football with his heel to Pennant, who immediately raised his leg to pass.
Crouch's header was on point and was punched by Inter Milan's goalkeeper, César. Chivu and Torres competed for the second drop point. The football hit Torres' back and bounced up. Gerrard and Montari pounced towards the drop point of the football together. The Liverpool captain fell to the ground in the scramble with Montari and fell right in the penalty area.
The Liverpool players immediately raised their arms and shouted, pointing to the penalty spot. They thought that Montari had fouled Gerrard and it should be a penalty kick.
The Inter Milan players also raised their hands. Their captain, Zanetti, used his left hand to slap his right hand and shouted in English, "Handball!"
The Liverpool players complained that Montari had fouled Gerrard and they wanted a penalty kick.
On the other hand, the Inter Milan players complained that the Liverpool captain had fouled with a handball.
In the stands, the Liverpool fans booed loudly, hoping that the referee could hear them and blow for a penalty kick to Inter Milan.
*****
The whistle of the Belgian referee, Debricre, sounded. He blew for Montari's foul and pointed to the penalty spot at the same time.
The decision made the Liverpool players excited. Their captain, Gerrard, jumped up from the ground and waved his arms vigorously. The other Liverpool players also roared excitedly.
On the Inter Milan side, Montari, who was still lying on the ground trying to delay the game, also got up from the ground. He waved his arms angrily and was extremely dissatisfied with the referee's decision.
Li Ang was also angry on the sidelines. He waved his hands vigorously and chattered non-stop. His face was full of anger. It was not an exaggeration to say that he was flustered and exasperated.
Assistant manager Pablo Banderas immediately stopped Li Ang and stopped his anger from spreading. Even if Liverpool scored a goal, even if Liverpool made a comeback, it would not be a big deal for Inter Milan, who still had the second leg of the game. However, if their manager was sent to the stands for speaking rudely and led to a suspension, it would be the biggest threat and hidden danger for Inter Milan.
On the other side, the Liverpool manager, Rafael Benítez, hugged his assistant, Ander Herrera, looking very excited. If Liverpool scored the penalty kick, then Liverpool would only be two goals behind. Although there was not much time left in the game, the Liverpool people rekindled the hope of a comeback. In Istanbul, in the Champions League final, Liverpool was able to score three goals in a row in the second half of the game in a 0: 3 situation in the first half. That game really tempered Liverpool. The team's fighting spirit was indeed stronger.
The Inter Milan players were furious. They could not accept the penalty. They surrounded the referee and protested angrily.
"Pull that kid back for me!" Li Ang suddenly shouted from the sidelines.
Then people saw Modric hugging Carlos and talking loudly in his ear. Modric pulled Carlos out. Carlos was extremely angry with the referee's decision. He should have been the one to mark Gerrard just now, but he was restrained by Pennant. Montari went to fill his position.
Li Ang's face was livid with anger. On the one hand, he was very dissatisfied with the penalty. However, the angriest thing was that he was angry with Carlos. Did you forget that you have a yellow card on you? Contradicting the referee at this time, could it be that you can't wait to be sent off?! Did you take what I said during the halftime break as a passing wind?!
Li Ang had warned the players at halftime that in today's game, the referee from Belgium, Debricre, was more harsh on the visiting team. They had to be extra careful and especially not try to provoke the authority of the manager.
However, to Li Ang's slight relief, the referee, Debricre, seemed to be "merciful" this time. He only gave a verbal warning to Carlos and did not play a card.
Banderas and Mihajlović both breathed a sigh of relief. If Carlos was also sent off because of a yellow card, then Inter Milan would be faced with great pressure and a test in this game.
In the 83rd minute of the game, the Liverpool captain, Gerrard, won a penalty for Liverpool.
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