freeallnovels Chapter 438
Chapter 438
Chapter 438
Liverpool and Barcelona are about to usher in an exciting matchup in the semi-finals of the Champions League. The performances of the two teams in the Champions League are excellent both offensively and defensively. How Liverpool will deal with Messi is also worthy of attention.
Danny Murphy, a player who once played for Liverpool, expressed his views on the game in the "Daily Mail" column. He believes that Liverpool has the ability to defend Messi, but Barcelona has a player whose role cannot be ignored. Left back Alba.
Murphy believes that stopping Messi will not be easy, but it is not impossible for Liverpool's midfielder.
Although Zhang Mai will miss the first game against Barcelona due to injury, so that fans around the world cannot see the wonderful picture of the old and new generations of super giant midfielders PK, but Henderson, Fabinho and Wijnaldum all have good performances. Defensive awareness, while Keita and Milner have excellent athletic ability and positional sense.
Like the last round of Manchester United gave Barcelona too much space, Messi's two goals also came from mistakes in the backcourt, which Klopp did not allow.
Compared with Manchester United, the interception attribute is better than Manchester United's Liverpool midfield configuration, which can deal with Messi better and more calmly.
But Murphy also pointed out that Barcelona's newly promoted winger Alba will give Liverpool a headache.
Alba's offensive power is very strong. If he and Coutinho jointly deal with Arnold on the left, the defense on this side will be very difficult and Henderson will be required to give appropriate assistance.
In addition, Liverpool is afraid of Messi, and Barcelona will also be afraid of the offensive power of Salah and Mane.
Therefore, Liverpool needs the remaining 7 people to form a high-intensity defense line, so that the striker trident can play to its fullest.
How to defend Messi is a problem that all teams facing Barcelona have to face, but Liverpool may not need to be afraid, because they have the best player in the new Premier League, Van Dijk, who is capable of locking Messi.
According to opta's statistics, in the 36 league games in the Premier League so far this season, no one has ever successfully defeated Van Dijk in a game!
In fact, this record can continue until March last year, that is to say, in the 3 Premier League games in the past 13 months, no one has ever been able to pass Van Dijk one-on-one. This is the best strength of the Premier League .
Liverpool's striker is sitting on the trident of Mane, Firmino and Salah, and its offensive firepower is not inferior to that of Barcelona.
On the defensive end, Van Dijk will become the most solid iron gate to guard the team's defense. With Van Dijk, Klopp may not need to be afraid of Messi at all.
On May 5, the semi-finals of the Champions League will continue. Barcelona will host the Red Army Liverpool at home.
Before the game, Liverpool coach Klopp accepted an interview with the media. He said that the Red Army will not be afraid of Barcelona, and the Nou Camp is just a stadium, not a temple of football.
The Catalan giants have won four of their five games at the Nou Camp in this year's Champions League, with the remaining one coming in a group stage draw with Tottenham.
In the subsequent knockout stage, Barcelona eliminated the Ligue 5 powerhouse Lyon and the Premier League giants Manchester United with a disparity of 1-3 and 0-[-] respectively.
However, the Red Army also went to Bayern's Allianz Arena to eliminate their opponents in the Champions League round of 16, so Klopp does not think that playing at the Nou Camp will have any negative impact on his team:
"Camp Nou is just a stadium, it's big, but it's not the temple of football."
"You can see that there are a lot of teams that have played badly here, and now we will have that experience. Of course, I hope we can play well."
"If your team is going to face Barcelona, you're definitely not going to be the favourites."
"It's going to be a great game for all the fans."
Klopp's ambiguous declaration heralded some trepidation before the game, but the Red Army's fighting spirit remained high.
In addition to Liverpool reaching the semi-finals in the Champions League, their championship battle with Manchester City in the league has also entered the final juncture. Currently in the Premier League standings, Liverpool leads Manchester City by 3 points.
Liverpool coach Klopp also said in the pre-match press conference that Messi is one of the best players he has ever seen, but Messi is not alone in Barcelona.
The Argentine superstar's declaration that he wants to bring the Champions League back to the Nou Camp sounds like a threat to everyone, because Liverpool also want to reach the final:
"Among the players I have seen, I would not say that Messi is No.1. My Zhang Mai is more talented. My father always said Pele, but I was too young to watch it at that time. Pele's match live. The game against Barcelona is not only about Messi, they have the highest level team and they are already champions of La Liga. Messi said before the season that he wants to bring this trophy (Big Ear Cup) back to the Noucan Pu, that sounds like a threat to all of us! But we also want to be in the final."
There is a point of view that the contest between Liverpool and Barcelona is the final of the UEFA Champions League this season, and Klopp is not cold about it:
"How can anyone disrespect Ajax after what they've done? If Barcelona get through, then maybe they're favorites for the final. If we make it, then we're one of the two teams in the final."
Talking about the chance to play against Barcelona, Klopp said he couldn't be more excited, and he hopes to pass this emotion on to his players:
"Tomorrow's game is not the final outcome. We still have Anfield and Zhang Mai in the second leg. A draw will not be the worst result in the world. A lot of teams come here against Barcelona and have their own game plan, and then They got hit right. We watched Barça play Real Sociedad, Real Sociedad played well, Levante played well, but Barça won."
……
Compared with all Liverpool members saying that they are not afraid and don't care, Barcelona may be trying to cool down the enthusiastic Spanish media. The coach and player representatives all talked about the threat of Liverpool.
Suarez is about to play against his old club Liverpool in the semi-finals of the Champions League. He accepted an official interview with Barcelona before the game, saying that playing against the Red Army will be a special game, and he also communicated with his former teammates before the game.
For the upcoming semi-finals of the Champions League, Suarez is very much looking forward to:
"There is a lot of anticipation around the semi-final of the Champions League because we haven't been involved in this stage for a while. We are also looking forward to the final stage of the season and we have clear goals."
At the same time, he also said that he should not be careless in the Champions League:
"In the Champions League you can't let up for a second, otherwise you might pay the price. We played badly for 5-10 minutes in the last game against Manchester United and almost paid the price. This is the Champions League. It happened in Rome last season. We have also learned from our experience. We have a lot of experience when we are in trouble. So we have to be clear about what level of competition we are playing. If we want to reach the final, every minute and every second of the two games is important. There can be no distractions. We have to play our best game of the season, even better than any game before, because we know how difficult it will be against Liverpool."
"It's true that we've been dropped halfway through the last three years and it gives you a feeling that this season we have to play at the level that this club deserves. At the moment we're on the right track, always united and there's no passion. subside."
"We treat the Champions League as something special and want to win it. When we beat Manchester United in a tough last game, we felt the fans wanted to see us lift the trophy."
Suarez and Coutinho will play against their former clubs, and on this, Suarez said:
"Me and Coutinho have the opportunity to face the old club, so it also creates some uncertainty on a personal level. But as a team we are very clear, it is to do the best for Barcelona, the club, the teammates, our duty That's it, and playing against my old club will bring extra motivation."
When it comes to the characteristics of the two teams' playing styles, Suarez believes that each has its own advantages:
"We have a different style to Liverpool, Liverpool surprise people with the way they play from the back, they play from the back, the midfielders are good, they can get the ball to the forwards, they play football similar to us, all in all Both teams are very strong."
"Obviously it will be exciting to be back at Anfield, the fans there take good care of me. I spoke to Henderson and he is also looking forward to playing me and Coutinho. It will be special, but right now we are going our separate ways. Give it your all. I remember the people there, with great affection. When I talk to my ex-teammates, they miss our time together too."
Yes, even though both Suarez and Coutinho came from Liverpool, Suarez is more of a former Red Army hero than Coutinho.
At Barcelona's pre-match press conference, Valverde also talked about Klopp's controversial remarks. He said that Klopp had no intention of offending Barcelona, and it was more for psychological warfare.
Klopp previously stated that the Nou Camp is not a football temple, it is just a stadium.
Barcelona responded by tweeting: "This is Camp Nou! Our home, our sanctuary, our fortress."
Speaking of the war of words between the two sides, Valverde gave his own opinion:
"The fans at the Nou Camp have been decisive in the last few weeks, with more than 9 people coming to the Nou Camp, you will notice the difference. We have noticed, and so have the opponents. I think tomorrow the fans will Pushing us forward. Klopp's words, it's just a coach's art of speaking, it's really a stadium, two goals, 22 players trying to score goals."
Valverde also had high praise for Liverpool, saying:
"They're a powerful team, they play fast-paced football and they're sharp in attack. They've only lost one game in the league and that says a lot. We're playing at home and we're aiming for To try to win but we also knew we were going to have to play two good games because Liverpool have a lot of explosiveness and they can overwhelm you in 15 minutes, sometimes it works."
Finally, Valverde talked about how to stop Liverpool's attack without Zhang Mai:
"Their game is usually three attacking players, they put the defense forward, they try to steal the ball in our half and then get the ball to the forwards as fast as they can. They are good in the air and we need to take on that challenge. You have to withstand their impact, how to overcome the suffocating pressure they bring."
"Zhang Mai is indeed the best player in the world after Melo. I also regret that he cannot come to Camp Nou for the time being, but this is not the reason why Barcelona must win!"
Unlike the implicit and gentle Barcelona soldiers, Barcelona fans swore to destroy Liverpool, and the club officials are also quietly adding fuel to the flames.
The first round will be held at the Camp Nou, and the Barcelona club will also maximize the advantage of the home court.
The Nou Camp can accommodate nearly 10 fans in total, and with its huge momentum, it will put a lot of pressure on the visiting team.
Barcelona's performance at home has always been excellent, which has nothing to do with their home atmosphere.
In addition, Barcelona officially announced that before the start of the game, mosaic patterns will be placed on all sides of the Camp Nou stands. In addition to the red and blue colors of Barcelona and the red and yellow stripes representing Catalan, they will also piece together the words "Ready to color". Europe (ready to paint Europe in our colors)" in giant letters.
When the Red Army soldiers step into the Nou Camp, they will be greeted with such a shocking scene and deafening fans.
This game will also be the last important home game of Barcelona this season. The tickets have already been sold out, and the fanatical fans will bring the greatest support to Barcelona.
……
Compared with the politeness and hesitation of both parties involved, the comments and statements of the outside world are much more straightforward. Basically, they are helping relatives and not being polite, and only Mourinho speaks out.
On April 4, Tottenham coach Pochettino accepted an interview with "Goal Net" and talked about the competitive situation in the Champions League. Pochettino believes that Barcelona is the favorite team to win the championship because they have Messi.
"If you see what happens in the Champions League quarter-finals, you know there are no favourites. But for me personally, the team with Messi is the favourite, and that's Barcelona. If that's not the case , the team that reaches the semi-finals has a 1% chance of winning the championship.”
"We're focused on the Premier League in this period, we have a game against West Ham on Saturday. We're now looking at Ajax, we know them very well. We're going to be under pressure because we don't have a whole week to prepare. The game, plus we played a derby, we don't know what form the players are going to be in."
"In the semi-final stage of the Champions League, I think all teams should have the same amount of preparation time. If you don't have that much preparation time, then the situation will be against you, but be careful, this is not my excuse, if the opponent Not enough time to prepare, and I would say the same."
"Sometimes we don't take into account that in England the clubs are at a disadvantage from the start because we don't have a Christmas break and we have an extra cup competition and the Premier League starts a month earlier than the rest of the league."
Tottenham, which is also going to participate in the semi-finals of the Champions League, should have shared the same hatred with all the Premier League teams, but don't forget that Pochettino is Argentine just like Messi.
And Wu Lei, who has successfully joined the Espanyol team, unequivocally supports Zhang Mai's Liverpool.
Recently, Wu Lei was interviewed on a program and expressed his hope that Liverpool will win the Champions League.
"Aspen" said that Spaniard fans will like Wu Lei's answer, because Liverpool will face Barcelona in the semi-finals. If Liverpool wins the championship, it means that they will eliminate Barcelona.
"I hope Liverpool win the Champions League because they proved themselves against Real Madrid last year," Wu Lei said.
It is worth mentioning that Wu Lei also said that Liverpool is not his favorite in the Premier League, and he supports Arsenal most in the Premier League.
Huaguo teenager Wu Lei has worked hard this time. For Zhang Mai, he is not afraid that he will be beaten by Barcelona and Real Madrid fans in the away game.
Mourinho, who is at home, also participated in this great event. He expressed that he is more optimistic about Barcelona and Messi.
Before the Champions League battle between Barcelona and Liverpool, Mourinho also commented on the game and predicted that Liverpool will lose completely at the Nou Camp.
Mourinho believes that as long as they have Messi, Barcelona is the favorite team to advance, and this principle also applies to Liverpool.
However, Liverpool was a guest at the Nou Camp in the first round, and Zhang Mai was not there to help, so Liverpool lost!
"I would say that if Barcelona didn't have Messi, then Liverpool would be favorites, but Messi... Messi is Messi."
"The same is true for Zhang Mina. Without Zhang Mai, Liverpool cannot beat Barcelona at the Nou Camp, because Zhang Mai...Zhang Mai is Zhang Mai!"
Although he has not directly coached Messi and Zhang Mai, Mourinho made no secret of his praise for the two:
"I'm not saying Messi's week is special, he's always special. He scored two goals against Manchester United, he's always breaking records, it never ceases to amaze."
At the same time, Mourinho also said that he likes Zhang Mai and Liverpool very much:
"I think they are playing better than last season, the team has improved. Their strength comes from Zhang Mai, and they have a very good central defender. The front three keep scoring, and if they don't score in any game strangeness."
(End of this chapter)