Football’s First Defender

Liverpool's Champions League fixtures are over.

In the away game, after 120 minutes of fierce fighting and 8 rounds of penalty shootouts, Liverpool finally died standing at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid.

The team lost the possibility of going further in the Champions League. This season, it is doomed that there will still be no team that can break the curse of being unable to defend the champion after the restructuring of the Champions League.

Of course, for Liverpool, the season is far from over. After losing the opportunity to compete for the highest honor in the Champions League, for Liverpool, it can be regarded as devoting all their energy to the competition for the league title. It is convenient for Liverpool to exert their strength in the final stage of the league to increase their investment in the league and compete with Leicester City for the championship honor.

However, for Liverpool, in the middle of the week, they had just fought 120 minutes with Atletico Madrid, and the physical fitness of the players had actually reached their limit.

120 minutes of ultra-long game time, and was eliminated in the penalty shootout, and suffered a lot of psychological trauma, returned to England, and the weekend league was still an away game. Various unfavorable factors were entangled, making this In the first round of the league, in Liverpool's away game against Southampton, there is actually not much advantage, and Liverpool may even be at a disadvantage.

Southampton, although in recent years, has been called the reserve team of the Red Army and has delivered a lot of talents to Liverpool.

For example, Lallana and Klein, the two main players under Klopp, are all from Southampton.

Thanks to his excellent scouting system and the retention of the team's own good main frame, many new aids who have just arrived in Southampton can immediately play a role. Not bad, and the new aid can also quickly play an impressive performance, so that after each season, Southampton can find a revenue-generating point.

For example, Mane in Southampton's lineup today, although he has not been in Southampton for a long time, has already attracted Liverpool coach Klopp's interest.

Klopp just needs a player like Mane, who is active in running, fast enough, and has a certain ability to penetrate and shoot.

In Klopp's view, if Mane can join in the summer, it will be of great help to Liverpool's wing.

Everyone lacks good players, and for Liverpool, there is no need to worry about Mane being intercepted.

With this "strategic relationship" between Liverpool and Southampton, as long as the transfer price is right, Southampton will still release people and give priority to "joining the army".

And Liverpool, which has flourished in recent years, is also hugely attractive to talents.

Klopp only needs to wait until this summer's transfer window before he can do a big job and further adjust Liverpool according to his own wishes.

Although the relationship between the two teams is very good off the field, and they are very good partners, but on the field, Southampton, who is playing at home, will still show the best performance to show the strength of its players .

If you don't hurt the giants, how can you show your strength? How was it bought?

Southampton's ranking in the middle and upper reaches of the Premier League this season, as a team that can rely on selling main players every summer transfer window and earn a lot of money, can also be re-signed, the players The team continues to maintain good results in the highly competitive Premier League.

It can only be said that the team's transfer department has an accurate vision of people, and the head coach also has two brushes, which can bring out the strength of the players and form a good team.

Liverpool, who played away, was greatly affected after the Champions League game.

After all, after a 120-minute high-intensity game, the players' bodies will inevitably become exhausted. This time is also the stage when players are most likely to be injured.

Firmino, Lucas, and Milner were all exempt from the game due to muscle injuries.

The core midfielder Henderson also suffered from some muscle discomfort. Although he was still able to play in this game, he was put on the bench by Klopp just to be on the safe side.

Not to mention the loss of three starting generals, Firmino, the core fulcrum of the frontcourt, cannot play, which is a great damage to Liverpool's current offensive rhythm.

In this game, Klopp had no choice but to make changes.

Sturridge, who has recovered from another injury, started the game, and his partner was the teenager Divock Origi.

Benteke didn't get a chance to play in the Champions League. When he returned to the league, when Liverpool was short of major generals, he still couldn't get a starting opportunity. It also showed Klopp's determination to clean up Benteke, unless he was really willing He was paid, but he was only a blue-collar job as a substitute.

In the midfield, Klopp, who is severely understaffed, also sent Joe Allen, a direct descendant of the former coach Rodgers, to play. This season, Joe Allen did not have many opportunities to play. This game will be played again, which is also to prove himself Great opportunity for offensive capability.

Coutinho, Lallana, Joe Allen and Emre Can.

Affected by player injuries today, Liverpool's defense in the midfield dropped to a notch in an instant, which also put more pressure on the backcourt players.

Moreno, like Henderson, was also limited by a little muscle discomfort, and he sat on the bench for this game.

Flanagan, who had just recovered from a serious injury, appeared in the starting left back position, which actually brought some uncertainty to the defense.

Fortunately, Flanagan was at least obedient, and obeyed the orders of the big brother Yang Feng, so there shouldn't be any major problems.

Southampton, which is playing at home, also has a 442 lineup, but Mane did not start the game. Mane, who is sitting on the bench, may be recharging his energy and giving Liverpool a fatal blow in the second half.

Perhaps because of concerns about Yang Feng's ability to defend the opponent's counterattack, Southampton first sent Pellet and Sean Lang's forward line to deal with Yang Feng and consume Yang Feng's physical energy. At the last moment, they sent Mane to take advantage of the speed , Impacting Liverpool's defense.

Southampton's record is already very good, and now it ranks 9th in the Premier League. The early success of relegation can show the strength of the team.

In addition, Liverpool has been consumed by the previous Champions League matches. Not only are the players attrition, but even in the current starting lineup, many players are competing with fatigue.

So for Liverpool, when this game is going on, they are definitely in their worst state. The home team Southampton has every chance to make an upset in this game.

Judging from the state at the beginning of the game, Southampton does have a strong desire to win the game at home.

The game fell into a stalemate from the beginning.

Southampton, who played at home, played quite aggressively against Liverpool's remnant team. The team was fighting for possession of the ball with Liverpool from the beginning of the game, and came to test each other's offense with Liverpool.

You attack once, I hit once.

The two teams formed an evenly matched posture on the scene.

This can be seen from the close ball possession rate of the two sides and the simultaneous increase in the number of shots.

Less than 5 minutes into the game, Liverpool created a threat in the frontcourt.

Lallana's breakthrough with the ball further compressed Southampton's defense, and Lallana's return pass after an emergency stop just found Coutinho, who followed up with the defense.

Coutinho was on the outside of the penalty area, facing Lallana's return pass, bowed his bow and took an arrow to complete a long-range shot directly.

The football made an excellent arc and quickly flew into the goal, but in the end it was slightly higher than the crossbar, a little short of the goal.

But Coutinho was not discouraged, it was just a long shot, and it was just looking for a long shot.

Just remember the feeling of hitting the goal just now, and then there will be long-range shots in this area. As long as you can fully cover the ball and complete the force, you can adjust to an excellent shooting angle. Coutinho is confident , In the next long-range shot opportunity, he can hit a more threatening shot.

On the other hand, Liverpool played an offensive threat, and Southampton's offense on the other side was also good.

Taking advantage of a pass error by Liverpool midfielder Joe Allen, Southampton counterattacked extremely quickly.

After Romeu got the ball, he sent a penetrating through ball directly in the midfield area, avoiding the defensive range controlled by Yang Feng, and passed the ball directly to the depth of the left side.

Yang Feng was unable to form an interception at the first time, and then he could only compete with Xiao Enlang for speed.

But as a striker, Sean Lang's acceleration ability is definitely better than Yang Feng's.

When he couldn't block Xiao Enlang with his body at the first time, and was chased by him at the speed of the football, Yang Feng could only give up defending before the ball was obtained. Instead, he gave up chasing and defending Xiao Enlang with all his strength. Run in a straight line and return to the penalty area first.

After receiving the football from the outside, Sean Lang was quite decisive when handling the ball. He didn't waste any time. He strode the ball directly into Liverpool's penalty area, and once again took the initiative to find Yang Feng's defense.

Sean Lang's speed is really too fast.

It's almost time to even walk a longer distance after receiving the ball from the wing, and when he inserts obliquely into the Liverpool penalty area, he still has the opportunity to run to the front of Yang Feng with the ball.

Yang Feng tried his best to catch up to the defensive position in the game.

But the speed disadvantage is irreparable.

Xiao Enlang, still dribbling the ball sideways, took the lead to get half a body more than Yang Feng, and entered the penalty area.

"No way, I can only gamble!"

It was impossible for Yang Feng to let Xiao Enlang run in front of him and get a single shot.

At this time, because Xiao Enlang has a wide enough front and the angle of the goal is extremely high, it is difficult for Yang Feng to make an effective defensive interception, so he can only find a way to put pressure on Xiao Enlang.

Yang Feng didn't slow down at all, he raised his arms high, and his body was straight, but he directly exerted force from behind, giving Xiao Enlang a collision.

"Fall down!"

"Xiao Enlang was directly knocked to the ground by Yang Feng's physical confrontation behind him."

"However, the referee..."

"No penalty was made, the gesture was given to continue the game."

This may be the reason why the Premier League advocates physical confrontation. Yang Feng's collision this time was within the allowable range of the referee.

It may also be due to Liverpool's strong team and the addition of Yang Feng's star halo. In the absence of obvious fouls, the referee McDean also chose to let the net go.

As the saying goes, if you survive a catastrophe, you will have a future blessing.

After suffering a very threatening counterattack from Southampton before, Liverpool turned around and played the desired offensive effect on the offensive end.

In the 17th minute of the game, Liverpool successfully pressed the frontcourt and threatened to counterattack.

Coutinho receives the ball from Joe Allen on the left.

When both Sturridge and Origi quickly penetrated into the Southampton penalty area and put a lot of pressure on Southampton's defense, when the Southampton defense line was directly compressed into the penalty area However, Coutinho did not choose to send a pass from the wing to the middle.

Instead, he dribbled the ball himself, like a stroll in the frontcourt, constantly dribbling the ball forward, and directly entered his long-range shooting area.

Southampton's defensive players, in the case of insufficient defensive numbers due to the previous attack, Antić stood alone on the line of the penalty area, ready to defend Coutinho's breakthrough and block Coutinho has a certain long-range angle.

It's just that Antić's choice of defensive positions obviously underestimated Coutinho's long-range shooting range.

With 5 meters away from the penalty area, Coutinho bent his bow and set an arrow, and suddenly completed a long shot on the way to hit the goal.

This half-high ball shot from a long distance hit the goal, and there was a rebound in the penalty area. After the bounce, it still kept flying towards the goal.

This also gave the Southampton goalkeeper a lot of defensive interference.

The ball was extremely fast, and it was still a bouncing ball. Although the goalkeeper of the home team made a save, the ball still flew into the goal.

1 to 0, Coutinho relied on his personal performance and successfully helped the visiting team Liverpool open the scoring.

And 5 minutes later, Liverpool's offense made a comeback.

When Southampton thought they were behind and had to attack, it was time for Liverpool's defensive counterattack to work.

After Yang Feng successfully intercepted an opponent's through ball, he went straight to the striker duo who had rushed to the frontcourt.

Yang Feng chose to pass the ball to the faster teenager Origi.

With a long pass to the left, he successfully avoided the defensive area of ​​Southampton defender Van Dijk, allowing Origi to burst out of himself without defensive pressure as soon as possible after receiving the ball from the wing speed, launched a counter-attack advance.

And Origi dribbled the ball from the wing into Southampton's penalty area. Before entering the penalty area, he suffered from two Southampton players. For his encirclement, Origi directly attracted enough defensive vitality. Afterwards, the ball was quickly completed, and the ball was distributed to the feet of Sturridge not far from the right side of the penalty area.

Sturridge, in the penalty area after receiving the ball, faced Fangte who was defending him.

The continuous fake moves on the spot and shaking completely knocked Fangte out.

After that, he unexpectedly swung his left foot on the spot with a small kick, pushed and hit the goal, and hit the lower left corner of the goal directly.

The goalkeeper of the home team couldn't react in time to the slow push to the dead corner, so he could only watch the football roll into the net in the air.

2-0, with two goals within 5 minutes, Liverpool also took a 2-0 lead away from home.

After the goal, Sturridge, in the opponent's penalty area, and Origi, who assisted him, performed a mechanical dance, and the audience was hilarious.

Judging from the current progress of the game, Liverpool, who performed well on both offensive and defensive ends, it seems that a big victory in the away game is inevitable...