Because Qiu Ze had just finished playing for the Portuguese national team, Qiu Ze did not appear in the starting lineup for the match between Liverpool and Manchester City after his return. Instead, he sat on the bench in case of emergency.
After the game started, Liverpool performed very well. At the end of the first half, Liverpool was already leading 2-0. It seems that there is no need for Qiu Ze to play in this game, and it is time for Qiu Ze to rest.
rest.
After the start of the second half, Liverpool still had the advantage, and soon Liverpool scored again. Liverpool really won this game, and Qiu Ze really didn't have to play. Everyone thought that Liverpool would win without a fight.
Went to the Manchester City team, but at this time, an accident happened and Fernando Torres was injured.
This will cost Benitez his life. It is said that Fernando Torres will be injured for two months, which makes Benitez very distressed.
Now Liverpool's forward players are not particularly sufficient. Now that Fernando Torres is injured, there is only one Huntelaar available on the forward line.
After Huntelaar moved to Liverpool, his performance was still very good. This guy has completed his task as a rotating center. This guy has now scored six goals in the league and one goal in the Champions League.
There were three goals in the League Cup.
Now this guy has scored ten goals after joining Liverpool. Judging from his playing time, this guy has performed very well. This is another one that Benitez got in the transfer.
Damn, it's feasible for this guy to replace Fernando Torres.
However, now there is no one on Liverpool's front line except Huntelaar, and Huntelaar has no substitute. If something happens to Huntelaar at this time, Liverpool will really need him.
There are no forwards available.
At this time, Benitez was considering that he did not have enough forward players. It seemed necessary to introduce a forward, preferably a center, during the winter break.
However, it is obvious that now is not the time to take advantage of this. After Fernando Torres was accidentally injured, Manchester City suddenly rose up and performed very well in the following games, disrupting Liverpool's defense.
fallen.
In fifteen minutes, Manchester City's Carlos Tevez scored two goals in a row, changing the score to 2 to 3. Seeing that the team was about to be equalized, this was a very crisis. But at this time, Benitez
Qiu Ze is still not allowed to play, but he can't afford to be injured.
The current injuries in Liverpool's squad include Reina, Carragher, Gerrard, Ferdinand, and Fernando Torres.
Among them, Gerrard's groin is the one that logically needs surgery. However, Gerrard does not want to have surgery at this time. He has now chosen conservative treatment. He still hopes to continue to participate in the game and wait until the end of the season.
So the current situation is that Gerrard can play, but he cannot play for too long, nor can he play many games in a row. He must fight for a period of time and then rest for a period of time.
Reina's injury is not a big problem, but he has been unable to play in the recent games. The injuries of others are relatively minor. But even so, Liverpool cannot continue to be injured.
Therefore, at this time, Benitez still did not replace Qiu Ze. He also brought on two defensive players to strengthen the defense. He hoped that the players could maintain the team's advantage and win the game.
The Liverpool players naturally knew what Benitez was thinking, and they immediately strengthened their defense and defended to the end.
Under Liverpool's united defense, Manchester City failed to create a miracle. They defeated their opponents with a difficult score of 3-2 in the away game and advanced to the semi-finals of the League Cup.
The last four teams to enter the League Cup semi-finals were Blackburn, Aston Villa, Manchester United and Liverpool. After the semi-finals were formed, the semi-final matchups also took place, Blackburn versus Aston Villa,
Manchester United vs Liverpool.
The semi-finals of the League Cup are two-legged, home and away. This is the only home-and-away two-legged match in the League Cup. The final is determined by one game, and the final venue is a neutral stadium.
After Liverpool defeated Manchester City with difficulty, they immediately met Liverpool. They had to prepare for two days, and then went away to participate in the weekend league. In the league, they will play against Blackburn Rovers away from home. Continuous away games are really tiring.
ah.
And in the next week, Liverpool will still have a double match. And the opponents in the double match next week are very powerful, and the meaning of this game is also very important.
In the middle of next week, Liverpool will face Fiorentina at their home court. This is related to whether Liverpool can advance to the top 16 of the UEFA Champions League this season. In this game, Liverpool must win more than 2-0.
Only by beating Fiorentina by score can they advance.
Therefore, in this game, the Liverpool team will definitely have to fight with their opponents. They must win this game.
Next weekend, after playing against Fiorentina, Liverpool will face Arsenal led by Wenger on the weekend. This game is also very important for Liverpool. Now in the league, Liverpool can no longer afford to lose.
Already.
If Liverpool does not win in the league, they will definitely be widened by Chelsea. This is a very fatal thing. Therefore, in the game against Arsenal next weekend, Liverpool will also have to fight against their opponents.
.
This can tell how heavy the Liverpool team's tasks will be next week. At this time, the Liverpool team's players are exhausted, and there are many injured players. This is really a very difficult period for the Liverpool team.
If Liverpool cannot withstand this very difficult thing, then Liverpool may not have much chance this season. This will definitely be a failed season. Therefore, at this time, the pressure on Benitez is very high.
Especially now that Liverpool has lost Fernando Torres and only Huntelaar is left on the front line, Benitez is even more nervous.
According to a report in England's "The Times", Benitez is interested in Real Madrid's Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy. After the introduction of Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo this year, Real Madrid has an overabundance of forward personnel.
The 33-year-old Dutch forward can no longer meet Real Madrid's needs.
"The Times" believes that Real Madrid has already thought about sending away Van Nistelrooy at this time, and Benitez is currently lacking a striker. Van Nistelrooy has proven himself as a striker in the Premier League.
He will definitely be able to score goals, but the only problem is that the Dutchman is a bit old.
According to the "Times" report, Real Madrid wants to send away Ruud van Nistelrooy, and they want a transfer fee of 4 million euros. However, Benitez is afraid that Ruud van Nistelrooy is too old.
The status cannot be guaranteed, so I am not happy to pay 4 million euros.
However, according to the "Times" report, it is not just Liverpool that is interested in Ruud van Nistelrooy. There are three teams in Germany that are interested in the Dutchman. They are Hamburg and Schalke 04.
and Wolfsburg.
It is said that the Hamburg team is very eager to get the Dutch forward. In their opinion, although the Dutch forward is very old, his condition can be maintained for at least two seasons. They think it is very worthwhile to introduce the Dutchman.
The Bundesliga Shakhtar and Wolfsburg have the same concerns as Benitez. They also believe that Van Nistelrooy is a bit old and his status cannot be guaranteed.
In addition to the three teams in the Bundesliga, there are also several teams in Spain that are very eager to introduce Dutch forwards. They are in the same league as Real Madrid. They have seen the performance of the Dutch and they also think that the Dutch are
He can still maintain his condition for at least two seasons, so it is very cost-effective to introduce the Dutchman at this time.
These two La Liga teams are Getafe and Valencia. Valencia's current situation is very bad. David Silva, David Villa and others are clamoring to leave. They
There is no way to keep these people, so they have to prepare.
In addition to these teams from the five major European leagues, there are also several teams in Van Nistelrooy's hometown, the Netherlands, who hope to introduce him, including two teams, PSV and Ajax.
In other words, Benitez is facing a lot of competitors now. If he continues to hesitate, he may not have the chance to acquire the Dutch striker.
At this time, the Liverpool team began to prepare for the weekend's league game. At the weekend, they were going to challenge Blackburn Rovers away from home.
Blackburn attaches great importance to this game. They hope to score points at home. For these teams ranked in the middle and lower reaches of the Premier League, home court is the best place for them to score points. Therefore, even if they face Liverpool
For a team like this, they also hope to score points.
Now that the Liverpool team is depleted and full of injured players, this is an opportunity given to them by Blackburn, and of course they are not willing to give up just like that.
For this game, Benitez has his own considerations. He did not exclude Qiu Ze, Gerrard and others. They have to prepare for the game in the middle of next week, which is three days later. Therefore, this game
Liverpool played semi-mainly in the game.
Qiu Ze and others did not play, which affected Liverpool's offense, and Blackburn was defensive. Therefore, at the end of the first half, the score on the pitch did not change at all, zero to zero.
At this time, Benitez still did not make any substitutions. He believed in his players. However, more than 20 minutes later, Liverpool still did not score a goal, and there were very few chances to shoot. At this time, he still stepped forward.
Qiu Ze et al.
However, Qiu Ze is really tired. These days, he flies first to Portugal, then to Bosnia and Herzegovina, then to Liverpool, and then to Liverpool, Manchester and Blackburn. He is really tired, so
After he came on the field, although he created some opportunities, he still failed to help the team take the lead. In the end, Liverpool drew 0-0 with Blackburn Rovers away from home.
The result of this game made Benitez very dissatisfied. At this time, they could not afford to lose at all, but at this time, they still only got a draw, which made Benitez
Feeling very bad.
However, there is good news at this time. Chelsea did not win in this round, and they also lost the game. They lost to Manchester City one to two away from home. Manchester City contained Chelsea.
The team continues to move forward.
But the bad news is that Manchester United defeated West Ham United 4-0 in this game. Manchester United's points suddenly reached 34 points, so Manchester United exceeded 32 points.
Liverpool, ranked second.
Chelsea continues to rank first with 36 points, Manchester United ranks second with 34 points, while Liverpool ranks third with 32 points, and Arsenal ranks fourth in the league with 31 points.
How could Benitez be satisfied at this time? Not only did they fail to seize this golden opportunity to win Blackburn and narrow the gap with Chelsea, they were even surpassed by Manchester United. This made Benitez
Of course I was very angry.
Yes, very angry. Benitez never thought that they would not be able to win against Blackburn Rovers. Now Liverpool's situation is even worse, which puts even more pressure on Benitez.