Football’s First Defender

After four consecutive victories, Liverpool has scored 48 points in the league, the same points as the fourth-ranked Tottenham, and only 1 point behind the third-ranked Chelsea.

In the 27th round of the league, even if he faced the knockout round of the Champions League in the middle of the week, Rogers still sent all the main players to play at the critical moment of the league's fourth round.

Liverpool, who played at home, continued to continue their recent excellent game state. Facing the visit of Swansea, this time Liverpool played their own game style at home.

Relying on Sturridge's goal at halftime and Suarez's brace to seal the victory, Rogers had the opportunity to rest Gerrard and Suarez's absolute main force in the second half.

The final result of the game was 4 to 1. In the second half, Liverpool obviously saved some energy for the Champions League game, but weakened their defensive strength more normally, causing their own goals to be conceded.

This round benefited from the strong duel between Manchester City and Chelsea. Manchester City defeated the visiting Chelsea 2-0 at home, while Liverpool and Tottenham both won. There have been huge changes in the Premier League standings.

Tottenham and Liverpool share 51 points, ranking 3rd and 4th in the standings, while Chelsea, which has been ranked third before, is only ranked 5th with 49 points due to continuous loss of points.

After this round of defeat, according to rumors, Chelsea's big boss Abramovich has moved his mind to change coaches.

Of course, all of this has nothing to do with Liverpool. Liverpool's next focus is their own Champions League knockout.

The excellent record in the second half of last season allowed Liverpool, a traditional giant in the Champions League, to once again stand on the highest stage in Europe.

It's just that this season has been affected by the intensity of the Premier League competition. In this year's Champions League group stage, although Liverpool successfully qualified for the group, but the second record in the group was directly drawn to the strongest group in the draw. Bayern Munich!

Bayern, which has the strongest firepower in the group stage, not only has the top strength in Europe, but also has the desire for the Champions League. The strength of the dominant level of the Bundesliga this season is also for Bayern. Chance.

This season, Bayern, which has already led the second-placed Dortmund by as much as 15 points, can win five consecutive league victories away in the weekend league even with its own rotation.

Unlike Liverpool who have to be distracted in the league to ensure their results and compete for Champions League qualifications, Bayern has sufficient physical fitness to face Liverpool's challenge.

First home and then away, winning the home game at Anfield is the most important step for Liverpool to take down the Bundesliga class bully.

Although it has been unable to win the Premier League for more than 20 years, for Liverpool, as long as they can enter the Champions League in these years, they will definitely not be underdogs.

In the Champions League, Liverpool has been a frequent visitor to the Champions League knockout rounds in the past few years. It also won the Champions League during the Miracle in Istanbul, becoming the third-most giants in the history of the Champions League.

Although he won the UEFA Champions League runner-up last season, this season he is aiming to hit the Bundesliga, the Champions League and the German Cup Triple Crown Bayern Munich, but Rodgers also wants to try whether the style of play he has just established in the Premier League can adapt to the European giants the match of.

In the first round at Anfield Stadium, both teams played with all their main players, fighting for the quarter-finals in the first game.

For Liverpool, the regular formation that has recently won consecutive victories remains unchanged, but Rodgers still made some fine-tuning during the game.

In this game, Sterling started on the right side instead of the somewhat tired Downing, so as to ensure Liverpool's speed advantage on the right side.

And Jose Enrique started at the left back position to replace the young teenager Wisdom, further strengthening the team's strength on both ends of the offense and defense.

At the same time, Bayern also sent the strongest lineup except for injuries.

Due to some minor injuries, Robben did not start this game. Sitting on the bench, Robbery's combination could not be formed. This is definitely a boon for Liverpool's side defense.

However, purely in terms of the current lineup, Bayern's Bundesliga dominance is still evident. Even with the impact of injuries, Bayern still has a certain lineup strength advantage in terms of the paper strength it has dispatched.

Bayern under Heynckes played very openly on the offensive end this year. The team's offensive strength is definitely at the top level among European giants.

Goalkeeper Neuer, the German national goalkeeper, is already at the top level in the world in terms of goalkeeping ability alone. What's more, Neuer's defensive range is extremely large. But nowadays, a goalkeeper with a huge attack range is a huge supplement to Bayern's already secure defense.

On the back line, the left back "Liu Xing", oh no, Alaba, as the future leader of Austria, with his excellent forward attack power and maturity on the defensive end, has won himself a solid starting position in Bayern Location.

Central defender Van Buyten partnered with Dante. Although the technical styles of the two are not that complementary, but due to injuries, Heynckes can only field such a lineup.

However, Van Buyten's height of 196cm, for Heynckes, is an absolute guarantee for the team's air defense. Even if Liverpool occasionally switch to the traditional British style of play, for Bayern, it will not give them too much central space Chances for a header.

At the right back position is Bayern captain Lahm, who may not be tall, but he is definitely the source of strength of the Bayern team and the leader of Bayern on the field.

In the midfield, Schweinsteiger and Harvey Martinez partnered with double defensive midfielders, which not only ensured the defense of the midfield, but also used their offensive capabilities to advance and organize offenses.

Franck Ribery is still on the left, a world-class left midfielder, while Robben is on the sidelines in this game on the right, so Thomas Muller can start and is active on the right.

The lone striker is Mandzukic, who has been starting this season, and the midfielder is Heynckes' most trusted player brought back from Leverkusen, the young but extremely mature Toni Kroos.

Bayern Munich's offensive tactical system this season is extremely good for the use of the two wings, and the players in the center can act as a point of departure and have a considerable finishing ability. The overall offense plays extremely smoothly.

For Liverpool's two wings, this game, even without the impact of the Robery combination, is destined to bear huge defensive pressure.

Liverpool, who played at home in the first round, dare not say that the current defense can withstand Bayern and attack on both sides in turn. However, in order to establish an advantage in the first round, Liverpool is trying its best to do its own side defense. , the main goal is to attack, or to use continuous offense to strive for a certain advantage in home games.

If Anfield, amidst the cheers of tens of thousands of fans, can't win the game, then Liverpool's chances of going to the Allianz Arena in the second round will definitely be even smaller.

"Game start!"

"Judging from the position on the field, Liverpool is very strict with the defensive requirements of the two full-backs today!"

"The positions of Sturridge and Sterling, compared with the previous Premier League games, put a lot of emphasis on the protection and defense of the wing."

"This is also inevitable. Although Liverpool, which sits at home, needs to rely on offense to gain an advantage in this game, but facing Bayern, the two top wing attack lines in Europe, Liverpool must not slack off in protecting the wings."

Rodgers does want to rely on offense to take the initiative of the game as much as possible in the game, but wanting to attack does not mean that Liverpool must completely give up their defense.

Appropriately withdrawing the positions of Sturridge and Sterling only increased their attack distance, but in the case where the main center of the game is responsible for advancing, although Sturridge and Sterling are on the offensive end, It will consume too much physical energy. However, Rogers believes that the physical strength of the two young people can try to achieve a certain degree of offensive and defensive balance. Choosing the most cost-effective position is also the change Rogers made to the team for this game. .

Entering February, even in the warm British Isles, this kind of evening game is relatively cold.

Many players on both sides of the host and guest wore gloves to keep warm. From the footage of the TV broadcast, it could even be seen that the players exhaled while running. It's just a pity that Robben is on standby on the bench today. Robben and his iconic long johns may not appear until the second half.

From the first minute of the game, the two sides directly launched a fierce confrontation. Without too many temptations, the two teams mainly played their own offensive power and launched a fierce midfield competition.

"Bayern formed a wonderful frontcourt cooperation in just half a minute of the opening."

"After midfielder Schweinsteiger intercepted the ball, Bayern counterattacked on the spot. After receiving a pass from Schweinsteiger, Ribery made a wonderful collision with Kroos who came to meet him. "

"Just after a series of wonderful passes, Kroos received a pass from Ribery, and when he wanted to send Ribery the last through ball, he was blocked by Yang Feng's excellent grab. .”

In Bayern's strong breakthrough from the wing, combined with the delicate ability to play the ball in the center, it is different from previous teams. The advantage of the winger is simply to find a high point with a pass, but can use a more systematic ground attack to create Opportunity is the reason why Bayern has been so strong in the past two seasons.

In this game, the test for Yang Feng's defense is not small. First, when attacking in the position, be careful of the ghostly running positions of Mandzukic and Thomas Muller. Easy to grab the chance to hit the goal.

Secondly, we must also pay attention to the various through balls and diagonal passes that Bayern may send in the midfield and the wing. Don't let the opponent use the pass to tear apart Liverpool's defense. Make up defense.

Bayern's rough attack from the side, but without losing the delicate style of play, is a huge test for Liverpool's defense at all times.

"Bayern, who are playing away games, are very confident in their own strength."

"As a guest at Anfield, Bayern did not choose to be conservative at the beginning, and prepared to bring the game back to the Allianz Arena for the second round."

"We can see that Bayern's position is very aggressive. Even in the stage when Liverpool is trying to organize an attack with the ball, Bayern has a full 4 players to grab Liverpool's half and put pressure on Liverpool. In the midfield area There are three players who are pressing and defending, which does not give Liverpool an easy chance to attack."

"If Liverpool also intends to take the initiative to attack, then it is obvious that an offensive battle between the two teams may be inevitable. For the fans watching the game, it is definitely a great thing to appreciate a high-level giants. Good thing!"

Bayern's restrictions and obstacles to Liverpool's midfield attack are very obvious. Even if the full-backs receive the ball and advance, they will be pressed by Bayern's frontcourt. Those who can easily play the ball are Liverpool's two central defenders.

Fortunately, Yang Feng's own ability to play the ball is very good. When Bayern puts defensive pressure on other Liverpool players, Yang Feng can also use precise passes to find his teammates directly without passing the ball wrong, and let Bayern continue to play. Chance to fight back.

Yang Feng passed the ball straight and found Glenn Johnson who had advanced to the right sideline.

Facing Ribery's press, Glenn Johnson stopped the football with his back against Ribery, and then crossed to Henderson who came over.

After receiving the ball, Henderson made an emergency stop and changed direction. He swayed away from Kroos who was defending him, moved laterally, and sent a through pass in the midfield to find Gerrard in the middle of the front.

Bayern's defense obviously focused on Gerrard's offensive threat in the middle, and came over to form a siege. Gerrard directly chose to split the ball, an oblique pass, and pass the ball back to the right.

Glenn Johnson, who Alaba was plugged in before, attracted the defensive attention, but he did not expect that Sterling, who was cruising in the middle, suddenly took advantage of his speed and returned to the right. Passed the ball with his foot, and the entire right-hand area was completely empty.

"Sterling, after chasing Gerrard's through ball to the deep right, before Alaba catches up, on the right side of the penalty area, sweep the ball directly to the middle!"

"Suarez's follow-up!"

"Own goals?"

"Neuil!"

"Complete the save on the ground! Hold the ball in your arms."

Suarez's follow-up relied on his speed to get rid of Van Buyten, who was following the defense, and gained a positional advantage. Seeing that he easily pushed and hit the goal, it was only between Suarez and Sterling. There is also a Harvey Martinez who returns to the defense in time.

Facing Sterling's pass, Martinez slid directly to block it. Although he blocked the ball from close range to his own goal and almost caused an own goal, it must be said that Neuer reacted very quickly in the previous point and knelt down directly. Block the ball and hold the ball in your arms.

"Neuer's form in this game is very good."

"You must know that in the previous Bundesliga, Neuer's finger was contused during the save, but in such a critical Champions League game, Neuer was slightly injured and could not leave the line of fire."

"In this game, Neuer fixed his fingers together to avoid another injury, and then wore customized gloves to complete today's game."

"This is enough to show that Bayern attaches great importance to Liverpool, and to this away game!"