Midfielder

As the third English derby in the Champions League and the first in the semi-finals, there are naturally many fans from both sides who come to watch the game. Not only that, many neutral fans also choose to come to the scene this time.

The scalpers outside the stadium made a fortune this time. In order to enter the stadium, many people paid for high-priced tickets.

This is probably because the Premier League teams have been relatively weak in the Champions League in recent years. Now that two teams have finally made it to the semi-finals, those fanatical English fans can't help but be excited.

Even Lineker and Shearer took the initiative to apply to be responsible for the commentary of this game. Although this game looks more like a Premier League civil war, it can't stop the enthusiasm of those English people to watch the game.

Sky TV conservatively predicted before the game that there will be at least three million English people watching this game. Although this number seems to be less than that of the two Milan giants, this is only the local fans of England.

If we include overseas fans, the number of viewers for this match may be several times higher than that of AC Milan and PSV Eindhoven. If this is the final day, the English will definitely be even crazier.

No matter who can enter Turkey this time, the police in Istanbul will definitely be busy.

After all, compared with the extreme fans in Turkey, it is obvious that these old hooligans from England are more difficult to deal with.

Whether Chelsea or Liverpool advances, there will definitely be a large number of English fans in Turkey.

But that is all in the future. Now the more than 60,000 people gathered in Anfield are already very crazy. Since the players entered the field, their roars and songs have never stopped. The sound is absolutely deafening.

However, it is estimated that the only ones who can support Liverpool may be their own diehard fans. After all, with their lineup and tactical arrangements, even an idiot can see how cowardly Benítez is at the moment.

Perhaps only the glorious century-old stands occupied by Liverpool diehard fans can continue to emit loud songs.

But their singing could not cover the shouts of Chelsea fans at the scene. Even many neutral fans were on Chelsea's side at the moment, and many neutral fans were female compatriots. They came here to watch the performance of the crazy Lin Yi. This special treatment was probably only enjoyed by Lin Yi.

Although this is called the English derby, there are players and coaches from 18 countries in both teams. There are very few genuine Englishmen. Only Gerrard and Lampard can be regarded as influential British guys.

The rest of the players are all good players from other countries. I don't know when the English Football Association saw this scene.

Is it also considering the plan to cultivate young people? I don't know when their long-planned mandatory policy of N+ will be truly implemented, but it seems that foreign players are still the real rulers of the Premier League.

The two head coaches who divided the European war honors a year ago met again, but Benitez was obviously not confident enough.

Maybe the three defeats against Mourinho have left this poor Spaniard with a psychological shadow, although he once shouted before the game that Liverpool would definitely show their strength at home.

But look at the formation he arranged. If he said he was not timid, no one would believe him. He was obviously really timid.

And when the two coaches shook hands before the game, the Spaniard did not even look at Mourinho. The two sides almost brushed shoulders. There was no more contact at all, let alone any eye contact.

There is no way. Many coaches who have played against Mourinho have said that the dead face of the Portuguese is awkward no matter how you look at it. That cold expression is like a person who controls your life and death and can kill you at any time.

This game is definitely not going to be exciting. This is the unanimous opinion of everyone after Benítez used the three-midfielder formation. Although Liverpool is indeed not as good as Chelsea in absolute strength, it is not so easy to conquer if it wants to defend.

Maybe some Red Army fans may not like the team's ugly style of play, but in order to keep Anfield from being conquered by the opponent, they have no choice but to cheer for Liverpool. After all, no one wants to see Chelsea win here.

You are the Premier League champion, so what? Don't go wild at Anfield! Liverpool is still the boss of the total number of top league championships so far, and those 18 championship trophies are not given for nothing! You Chelsea are not a big club! Don't think of roaring here!

Maybe it was inspired by the crazy shouting of their own fans. Anyway, after the referee's whistle sounded, Liverpool's pressing momentum in the middle and front court was very fierce, especially in the midfield snatch. Although the three midfielders focused more on defense, they also tried to press forward under the leadership of Gerrard.

Chelsea can be regarded as a team of elite players, but in the first few minutes after the start of the game, both sides played relatively cautiously. Liverpool's three-pronged attack at the beginning was also very impressive. A defensive lineup also got two shooting opportunities in the first five minutes.

However, this was not a hierarchical offensive organization, but Alonso's direct long pass attack in the backcourt. The Spaniard made full use of his accurate long passes. Both of his long passes accurately found Baros, and that guy headed the ball back before Terry.

This pure English style of play relies on the center forward's header in the frontcourt, and then the players in the back row solve the problem. Gerrard and Luis Garcia each found a chance to shoot a powerful long shot in front of the penalty area, but their shots did not escape Cech's hands.

But Liverpool's attack only lasted for five or six minutes. After Terry made two consecutive mistakes, Mourinho instructed Carvalho to start defending Baros on the sidelines. With the joint attack of these two guys, Baros disappeared immediately, and even the chance to compete for the header was gone.

Without the only fulcrum in the frontcourt, if you want to rely on Luis Garcia to open the situation, you really have to ask Makelele if he agrees. With the Spaniard's small physique, when Makelele showed his white teeth, his expression was absolutely ferocious, which made Luis Garcia psychologically frightened.

After Chelsea survived the opponent's three-pronged attack, they began to organize the attack step by step. However, just as Mourinho thought, Lin Yi did encounter a strong sniper in the middle. In the first five minutes, the boy was knocked down by Biscan and Hamann respectively.

This pure physical contact did not make the referee take out a card, but only verbally warned the two guys, especially Hamann knocked Lin Yi over. When the boy got up, he seemed to rub his ribs with his hands. It seems that the impact was not small.

"The wing, you must open a gap in the wing to distract their attention, otherwise it will be very difficult to go to the middle so hard." Mourinho whispered to Brito, but the Chelsea players on the field were already implementing his pre-match tactical adjustments.

Robben took the lead in starting the war on the wing. Although when he faced Traore, the guy was very strong, but in terms of technology and speed, Robben, who was thin, won. He used the changes in his rhythm when dribbling the ball to quickly overtake Traore with a fake move.

Going down the bottom and crossing the ball, Robben's attack was almost done in one go, leaving Traore no chance to make up for it. Although his cross went over Carragher's head, Hyypia's interference with Drogba prevented the African elephant from threatening the goal with a header.

But Chelsea's attack continued to exert force after that. Robben challenged Traore alone, and Duff suppressed Finnan. It can be said that Chelsea's two flanks were completely open. Although they could cut in directly without Lin Yi's pass, this frequent sprint was also very fierce.

Every time they completed a dribbling move or a cross, Liverpool fans would exclaim. After fifteen minutes, these two guys had sent at least six or seven crosses, but Drogba's header never broke through Dudek's ten fingers.

Heading again and again, interference again and again, including when Lampard made a supplementary shot, there would be Liverpool defenders around him stretching their legs to block the ball.

Moreover, the French referee who officiated this game was not the kind of guy who was strict to the bone. In the twelfth minute, Drogba received a long pass on the left side of the penalty area and fell directly to the ground in the confrontation with Hyypiä. The Ivorian applied for a penalty kick, but the referee Sarr ignored it.

Not only did he rarely whistle for such physical confrontations in the penalty area, but the Frenchman did not seem to be so strict about some collisions in the midfield and backcourt. He even rarely used his whistle to interrupt the game, which also made Liverpool's defense very fierce.

Home advantage? Maybe, but the Frenchman was not a black whistle, but he was obviously more tolerant of this kind of civil war in England than others. Maybe in his impression, the Premier League game should be such a scene of people falling down.

This tolerant scale gave Liverpool's midfield more opportunities. They could unscrupulously use their physical advantages to curb Lin Yi's ball organization in the midfield.

Although Liverpool's policy of defending to the end is ugly, they have compressed Chelsea's space to move freely in their own half to the maximum extent. What kind of clever cooperation do they want to make? Look at the several thighs in front of you, it can make you collapse.

When Lin Yi was knocked to the grass by Hamann's tackle again in the 25th minute, the French referee took out a yellow card for the first time, but at this time, Lin Yi also raised his hand to his team doctor for the first time.

The expression on his face at this moment did not look like there was no problem at all. He pressed his ribs with his hands, and his face was indeed a bit scary.

"Damn it!" This might be the first time Mourinho saw Lin Yi take the initiative to ask for medical treatment. I don't know if this collision will have any impact on the game.

Compared with Mourinho's anxiety, Benitez's eyes are shining at this moment, which may be the result he most hopes to see. . .

(The Grizzlies actually played well today, but in overtime, Durant was cheating. That three-pointer was like cheating. It was speechless. By the way, I would like to recommend a book. The title is: Chinese Point Guard. The book number is: 1894752. Friends who are interested can go and have a look. They are all basketball books. Please support them if you can.)