The first leg of the Champions League semi-finals between Liverpool and Manchester United at Anfield was not as shocking as they imagined.

On the contrary, it was a dull tug-of-war with Liverpool being the dominant, but it was difficult to create excellent opportunities.

In the 8th minute of the game, Merreles and Alonso cooperated with the pass in the midfield and sent the ball to Qin Xiong who was pulling the ball in the frontcourt.

Qin Xiong had just stopped the ball, and he observed the situation around him.

Fabio approached the penalty area and obviously intended to block the line he cut inside.

Carrick guarded the middle and did not assist in defense, but Park Ji-sung and Rooney rushed towards him. Park Ji-sung took the lead, and Rooney planned to act according to the opportunity from another angle in the middle.

After Park Ji-sung rushed over, Qin Xiong suddenly started to cut across the middle. He dribbled the ball from the narrow gap between Park Ji-sung and Fabio, which surprised the two Red Devils players. Qin Xiong's explosive ability was rarely used, which may be related to the different situations of the battle in the past.

In the past, Manchester United played against Liverpool, and both teams were in a big way of opening and closing style. They fought fiercely and fought for an inch of land. In such a game, Qin Xiong mostly broke through directly in the dynamics, and rarely waited for the ball to start and explode again.

Today's game, Manchester United showed that they were weak and mainly defended, which led to a very difficult battle for Liverpool. Qin Xiong had no choice but to control the ball on the spot and then seek the possibility of a breakthrough.

Just after he broke through Fabio and Park Ji-sung, and Carrick moved towards him, Rooney took the lead in breaking out.

Qin Xiong and Rooney were unstable in the physical confrontation, and Rooney poked the ball away. In the chaos, Raul failed to gain advantage from Ferdinand.

Manchester United defended successfully.

Ferdinand quickly passed the ball diagonally to the left, and the ball rolled to Evra's feet, and Evra immediately passed the ball straight ahead.

Giggs pushed forward the offensive from the wing strip near the center line.

Liverpool's defense in the middle and backcourt is ready.

I have to say that Liverpool also pays special attention to defense today, at least more than in all games in the past this season.

Giggs was like a lone hero rushing forward on the sidelines.

He knew that even if there was only a slight chance, he would race against time to attack the attack to the forefront.

Because Manchester United's offensive today will not be under heavy pressure.

Since Rooney was participating in the defense just now, he couldn't just rush to the front line.

On Manchester United's attacking line, only Pea Hernandez responded in the middle.

Giggs decisively crossed before encountering Johnson on the wing.

His cross kicked the ball behind Liverpool defenders and bypassed the back line. He tried to get Hernandez to get a shot from the forward-pull attack.

Hernandez flew himself forward from Ag with a flying shovel.

He kicked the sole of the football, but because he could not control his footwork well, the football deviated about two meters from the goal and flew out of the bottom line!

Reiner had a false alarm in front of the goal line.

Manchester United is still mainly attacking from the wing today, and Liverpool is the top priority to curb the opponent's counterattack.

The Red Devils are not Donetsk miners. Once Manchester United scored first, Ferguson's on-the-spot dispatch and reaction may make Liverpool even more difficult to face the game.

Five minutes later, Liverpool tried to tear Manchester United's defense by constantly shifting the ball sideways.

But there are always two messing players in the midfield!

Rooney and Park Ji-sung!

They made Liverpool's attack in the middle, fearing to lose the ball on the one hand. On the other hand, they were worried that once they inserted backwards, Park Ji-sung and Rooney's forward in the middle might trigger the sublimation of the power of the Red Devils' counterattack!

So in the end, Liverpool could only rely on tough battles to break through the three tricks of intensive defense.

Long shots, set balls, personal breakthroughs!

In the 16th minute of the game, Merelles flew into the stands from the left position of the frontcourt with a long shot of 38 yards from the goal.

The Reds fans at Anfield Stadium were puzzled by the team's performance.

It seems that Manchester United is much harder to deal with than imagined!

Ferguson said nothing wrong. Manchester United lost at the starting line in the league, which made Manchester United very passive throughout the season.

But the Champions League is different.

Manchester United will not be led by Liverpool, and their tactical styles will not be easily understood by Liverpool.

Koeman looked serious on the sidelines.

Manchester United's defense today is quiet in movement and there is movement in silence, and the combination of movement and stillness is quite effective.

The most important thing is that the two Red Devils who cannot run have an offensive obstacle to Liverpool.

Except for other Park Ji-sung and Rooney, the defenses of other players in the midfield and backcourt are very stable!

In this way, Liverpool's individual raids will also be restricted.

In the 24th minute of the game, Qin Xiong knew that he would encounter huge resistance to breaking through or cutting in the middle. He pulled the side and dribbled the ball towards the bottom line, then pretended to be a cross in front of Fabio, and then kicked the ball back and crossed 45 degrees.

Raul lost to Vidic in front of the goal, and Manchester United's two centre-backs, Vidic and Ferdinand, almost made Liverpool's cross-ball offensive efficiency zero!

Manchester United will also fight back once they have the chance.

However, their offensive progress was not ideal. In the 30th minute of the game, Valencia dribbled forward from the right, and after encountering Merlez and Baines' defense, he directly passed the cross from the side and turned around and ran towards the backcourt.

It seemed as if he didn't care about the quality of his cross.

It can be seen that Manchester United pays more attention to defense and puts defense first.

The situation became even more stalemate.

Both teams made a lot of mistakes in the midfield because of the fierce battle. The defense did not have any outdated moves, but tactical fouls were an indispensable means for both teams to restrict each other.

In the 36th minute of the game, Qin Xiong took the ball from the front midfielder. He attracted Valencia, Fabio, Park Ji-sung and Rooney under the siege and passed the ball shortly to Gerald who approached him.

Gerald faced Carrick's defense head-on, Evra on the front right was also moving towards him, and Rooney had turned around and ran towards him.

Gerald pushed the ball horizontally, then passed the ball diagonally in front of the penalty area and handed it to Raul in front of the penalty area.

Raul observed his teammates' running position before touching the ball. Gerald was blocked by Carrick and Qin Xiong was also in the forward pass, but he was surrounded by too many people. Park Ji-sung always cleverly blocked the line between Raul and Qin Xiong.

In the flash, Raul decided to try it himself. He pushed the ball across and planned to throw Vidic behind him away. Then he pushed the ball diagonally behind Vidic, and bypassed Vidic and rushed into the penalty area. This was a very clever breakthrough idea. The breakthrough line was a countertangent line on Raul's activity trajectory!
Chapter completed!