Chapter 419 Halftime break and fierce confrontation

The situation in the first half of the game was almost the same as what the media and fans thought. Chelsea had a great advantage, and the score was even beyond the expectations of both sides. After all, 3:0 at halftime was indeed a big gap. Most people thought that the final score would be of this size.

So no goals in the second half?

Of course not. With Chelsea's offensive capability, it is unlikely that they would not score a goal in 45 minutes. I am afraid that Liverpool will also attack desperately. In such a crazy situation, it is not easy for Chelsea to defend the goal.

At this time, during the half-time, media from all over the world were analyzing the first half of the game.

Everyone agreed that the first half belonged to Wang Li alone. Of the three goals, two were scored by him and the remaining one was an indirect assist. His performance was undoubtedly the best among everyone.

The second is Thomas Clarke. If it were not for the outstanding performance of this young goalkeeper, Liverpool would never have been scoreless now. Just look at Gerrard's two wonderful shots in the first half. If it had been an average goalkeeper, they would have definitely lost one or even two goals.

Everyone is speculating that the England national team will probably call up this young player to join the national team next season. After all, the England team has always been short of goalkeepers. As it stands now, the aging David James and Paul Robinson have almost no competitiveness in front of Thomas.

Such a young main goalkeeper of the England team really has a bright future.

"In this game, all we can see is Chelsea's excellent performance. Liverpool, the traditional powerhouse, has declined. They have lost too much and cannot be compared with Chelsea at all. Although they are both English teams, I have to say with regret that Liverpool has lost."---Sky TV.

"......From here, we can see the gap between domestic players and world-class stars. Both teams are very skilled in cooperation. For example, in Chelsea's second goal, we can see that when Robben passed the ball, Drogba started to run forward and created an offside in such a forward position to look for shooting opportunities. This kind of awareness and cooperation is really not easy. We should strengthen this point..."---The ancient oriental court sports TV station.

"Oh my God, Liverpool is so lucky, they actually made it to the Champions League final. Look, now their true colors are exposed. However, I really envy their luck. They can draw so many good teams. After playing against Juventus, they have been facing weak teams. This is really incredible. There is no suspense in the game anymore."---Italian Sports Radio.

"...It's a pity, our players tried very hard, but luck didn't seem to be on our side. I hope the players can play better in the second half and try to tie the score. That would feel great, we are all looking forward to that moment..."---Liverpool TV.

In Chelsea's locker room, the players were chatting and laughing in groups of three or four, talking nonchalantly about the first half of the game. From their expressions, it was clear that almost all the players were no longer stressed.

With three goals in hand, the players didn't have to feel any pressure at all. No one believed that Liverpool could equalize in the second half. Not to mention the gap between the two teams, even if Liverpool fought back fiercely, didn't the team still have Thomas?

Thinking about that kid's goalkeeping ability, everyone in the team had to give him a thumbs up, excluding Wang Li, because he felt that he would be better at goalkeeping than Thomas, there was no doubt about it. With the Tianshan Six Yang Palm, the six moves could almost defeat all the moves in the world, so as long as he reacted, he could at least touch the ball.

Of course, he wouldn't mention these to others. At least, he is a striker now, right?

The feeling of scoring a goal is definitely different from standing in the goal waiting for others to kick the ball. At least he himself doesn't like being a goalkeeper.

The atmosphere in the team was indeed very good, but when the head coach Mourinho walked into the locker room, the players found that the Portuguese man did not smile at all. He just had a stern face and began to arrange the tactics for the second half. "... We have a three-goal advantage, so our focus in the second half is defense. Duff, I will arrange for you to play at the right time. Remember to focus on defense and don't participate too much in quick counterattacks. Allen and Alkin are enough."

Dave nodded, knowing that he was not fast.

"Midfielders should retreat 5 meters at the right time."

Mourinho pointed at the tactical board with a serious face and continued, "We need to strengthen our defense in this area. 75% of Liverpool's attacks pass through here. That's where most of Gerrard's activities are. As long as we suppress this area, it will be difficult for them to attack."

"In this way, they can only attack from the wing. So, Frank, you have to pay more attention to the left wing. When Alkin attacks forward, it is likely to leave gaps in the backcourt. You must be ready to fill in at any time to avoid missing anyone and reducing their offensive space..."

Mourinho said a lot, but most of them were defensive methods that Chelsea often used, and they were only aimed at Liverpool. He made slight modifications in some small places, so the tactical arrangements were completed in about 4 minutes.

However, the players are not concerned about this. What they care about is why the head coach has a serious face. You know, Chelsea is now leading 3:0, and this score is enough to make them proud.

Yes, you can be proud, but Mourinho is afraid of this: "You have to remember that the game is not over yet. I don't want to see any player get carried away!"

As he said this, he glared at Joe Cole fiercely. When he first entered the locker room, he saw Joe Cole gesturing to lift the championship trophy: "I hope you can keep your mentality stable and save your happiness and excitement for the end, not now!"

"We haven't won the championship yet, and there are still 45 minutes left in the game. I know you are all very excited now, but the game is not over yet!! It's not over!! Anything can happen in 45 minutes. Liverpool can't give up the championship trophy so easily. They will definitely launch a massive offensive to seize opportunities. If there is a mistake and the ball is lost, the trophy we have in our hands may fly away. Do you understand?"

Seeing that the players all lowered their heads, Mourinho walked out of the locker room with satisfaction.

He was not saying these things without purpose. There have been too many reversals in the championship finals. Although he is very confident, he cannot guarantee that Chelsea will not be reversed. After all, the ball is round and anything is possible. As an experienced head coach, what he needs to do is to try his best to avoid this situation. As long as the players have a good mentality to participate in the game, then victory will definitely belong to them.

"Hehe, I really am a genius."

Think about it, the year before last, I won the UEFA Cup and led Porto to achieve the good result of the small treble; last year, I led Porto to the Champions League throne and achieved an excellent record of the treble; and with this, after being appreciated by the Russian tycoon, I came to Chelsea, and in just the first season, I won four championships including the League Cup, League, FA Cup and Champions League.

All in all, the results are getting better year by year!!!

"So, what is my goal for next season?"

Mourinho was a little bewildered when he thought of this. He thought to himself, "I'm so young, but I've already reached the pinnacle of coaching. It's really hard to find an opponent. The strongest person in the ancient and modern universe, Dugu Qiubai, feels the same way."

What the Chelsea players who were scolded and felt ashamed of themselves didn't know was that at this moment, their mysterious head coach Mourinho was standing in a single room with a strange smile on his face..................

Meanwhile, in the Liverpool dressing room, Benítez did not criticize the team. He simply consoled them, saying: "Play with a happy heart. Even if we don't win, this is the European final. Relax and play to our strengths. Only then can we play better. Only in this way can we have a chance to equalize the score."

He did not scold the players who performed poorly, nor did he put the blame on any player. Benítez knew that the reason for this score was the overall strength gap between the two teams, and he had no way to change it.

With a huge gap in strength, the Portuguese player on the opposite side is very conservative and there is no loophole at all. How can this game be played?

He was also at a loss at this time. When he was in Spain, he did not back down when facing Real Madrid and Barcelona, ​​but when he came to Liverpool, he understood more clearly why the Premier League is much stronger than La Liga. Whether it is top teams such as Manchester United and Arsenal, or second-tier teams such as Everton, Tottenham and even Middlesbrough, their strength should not be underestimated. There are so many good teams supporting the Premier League, which makes it so popular.

As for the Chelsea team in front of him, he thought of all kinds of ways, and he didn't know how many hairs he had lost, but he still couldn't find a strategy to deal with it.

"...Don't worry, we still have a chance to win. In the current situation, we have to fight! As long as there is a glimmer of hope, we can't give up easily. I believe that everyone's chance to participate in the European Champions League final is definitely not many. Think about it, how to play in the second half..." This is all he can say to boost the team's morale.

Trailing by three goals, Liverpool had no choice but to launch a massive attack. Only by raising the team's fighting spirit could they have a chance to equalize the score.

Benítez's words were not very sensational, but they worked.

Long before the game started, Liverpool players had been hearing the words "You will be losers". Although they said they were dismissive, they took it seriously in their hearts. The current situation further proves the vision of the media and fans, and also proves that their strength is indeed weak.

"We are the weak ones!?"

No one wants to admit it, but this is the situation now!!

There are still 45 minutes left in the European final. What should we do? Should we continue to waste time until the end of the game, or should we just give it a try? Who cares? We only have so much time left. If we don’t give it a try, how can we know that we will lose? ?

If we fail in the end, if we didn’t try hard enough, will we regret it later? We didn’t say it, but everyone knew that we would definitely regret it!

But what if we have tried hard before? Then it is really because of our lack of ability, and we can’t blame others!

Damn, how many times can you get an erection in your life! ? If not now, when! ?

Thinking of this, all Liverpool players became motivated. There was a gleam in their eyes. They looked at each other and understood what the other was thinking without any words.

Seeing the expressions of the players, Benítez understood something. He nodded with satisfaction and began to arrange tactics for the team.

Talking about the same old thing for a long time, he first talked about Wang Li.

Every time he talks about this, he gets a little excited, because Liverpool has played against Chelsea 4 times, including this game, and has conceded as many as 8 goals to Wang Li. It seems that Wang Li exists specifically to score goals for Liverpool. How can Benítez not be excited?

However, Benítez did not talk about the defense against Wang Li first, but said that in the offense, if Wang Li is close to him, he must pass the ball in advance. This has been confirmed by many games. Wang Li's ability to steal the ball is definitely the best in the world.

Afterwards, he talked about the defense problem, but he didn't say much. In this regard, he could only pray that Wang Li was not in good condition, otherwise if any defensive deployment was made against him, a large-scale attack would be out of the question.

"So, can we foul in the second half?" Finnan asked at this time.

Benítez rolled his eyes and said, "Of course you can do it when it's appropriate. Are you afraid of getting a yellow card? This is the Champions League final! In the final, our results will not allow us to participate in next year's Champions League. So, even if we get sent off with a red card, the worst that can happen is that we lose the game. So, when necessary, it's okay to intensify physical confrontation and make bigger moves."

"...But don't commit fouls in dangerous places, it won't be worth it." Finnan nodded and said nothing, and the other Liverpool defenders also understood what Benitez meant. It was obviously unrealistic to defend the black-haired boy with normal means, so we had to change our thinking. Although there were many actions in the first half, the whole team only received one yellow card, which was indeed too...few.

I can only say that they were too civilized in the first half. Then in the second half they could use fouls to stop Chelsea's counterattack. After all, this is the last game and their last chance, so what does it matter if they get a few cards?

Thinking of this, several thugs in the team who usually had an attitude of "I'm the boss and I'm afraid of no one" had ferocious looks on their faces, and the representative among them, Jamie Carragher, had a determined look on his face.

Benítez seized the time and rushed to make some tactical deployments during the half-time break. In fact, he did not expect the team to win. He just wanted to try harder and fight harder. Even if he lost, he would lose for real instead of giving up the game.

However, tactics are still very important. A football match cannot be put on hold. The tactics arranged during the halftime break are the premise for directing the second half. Otherwise, if you want to suddenly change the tactics, unless the team and the coach have a particularly good understanding and use some conventional formations, it is simply impossible to do so in terms of details.

This is also the reason why the head coach plays a huge role in football matches. A good head coach will always suppress the opponent when arranging tactics, making it difficult for the opponent to adjust even if they see that they are being suppressed in the middle of the game.

In this way, the chances of winning are much greater.

On the other hand, Chelsea head coach Mourinho did not go back after explaining the tactics to the team. He believed that the players would do everything well. After all, the team's performance has always been good.

Under the anticipation of the fans in the stadium and nearly 200 million fans in front of the TV, time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, 15 minutes had passed quietly and the players of both teams came on the court.

After the two teams took their positions, the second half of the game began with the referee's whistle.

At the beginning of the game, the two teams seemed to have a tacit understanding. Liverpool deployed its formation and prepared for a massive attack, while Chelsea contracted its defense, compressing the opponent's offensive space and taking a defensive stance.

In the frontcourt, only Wang Li and Drogba stood closer to the front.

In a stable advancement, Drogba, as the team's center forward, is often further forward than Wang Li. However, once the game starts, Drogba's position moves back a little. After all, he still has defensive tasks, and his dribbling ability is not very strong, and he is not very useful in quick counterattacks.

Liverpool's attack was very sharp. Gerrard, Xabi Alonso and Riise formed a trident in the midfield, passing the ball back and forth, tearing Chelsea's defense apart. Once they found an opportunity, they would pass to the middle, where Baros was the top striker, and occasionally Gerrard would also come in to look for shooting opportunities.

On the wing, the strength of striker Luis Garcia should not be underestimated. He put a lot of pressure on Chelsea's wing. Fortunately, Lampard's defense alleviated the pressure a little.

However, it was not easy for Liverpool to find shooting opportunities. Terry, Makelele and Carvalho, the three main defenders, stood on the penalty area line, which was a deterrent to every attacking player. Within 5 minutes of the kick-off, Liverpool had three shooting opportunities, but only one of them entered the goal frame and was easily caught by Thomas.

As time passed, the hearts of the Liverpool players gradually sank.

Although they seem to be in the lead now, the team is still three goals behind!!!

If they couldn't score a goal in the first few minutes, there would be no way they could equalize the score, which made the players a little anxious, so they made more and more aggressive moves in the fight.

The few gangster-level players who got permission from the head coach were the representatives of this group. This made the game very different from the kick-off, and it was difficult for both teams to start attacking.

But this scene made the Turkish fans very excited. In their opinion, what's the point of watching a game whose result is predetermined? This kind of ** game is the most interesting.