"Oh no, what a failure. Only three substitutes were injured."
Dick was spitting "Puff, Puff" in his room. He had held back the advanced injury card until he used it today. He also hoped that Liverpool's core and important players such as Owen and Gerrard could be added.
If all the McCallisters were injured, then it would be extremely easy to win. However, it is very possible that God would not be able to tolerate Dick's shameless method and forcibly changed the three injured players.
Became three substitutes for Liverpool...
"Forget it, it's not ineffective." Dick held his chin and thought. Once these three people were injured, Liverpool's main lineup was basically revealed. Carragher would definitely be sent to the left back position, and in
In terms of midfield, Hamann and Gerrard's positions are very stable, and McCallister and Murphy on the wings are basically certain - the two of them are in good shape this season and are better than Barmby and others.
sè, it would be unusual not to use them, and the forward would only be a combination of Irving and Heskey.
This kind of help is actually not small. It not only makes the opponent's main force obvious, but also gives Houllier little room for adjustments during the game. No wonder Houllier seems very low-key before the game, because
Compared with the strong Atletico Madrid, although Liverpool's first team has as many as 29 people, the number of players they can use is really not that many...
Liverpool's current waste of players also seems very serious. For example, the transfer fees of Ziger, Diomede, Traore and others are not low, and their salaries are not low, but they do not play a big role. Redknapp and
Fowler, the two local stars, has declined significantly due to injuries and cannot play a big role. If McCallister's performance this season had not been unexpectedly good, then Liverpool would probably also be in trouble in the midfield.
Overstretched.
May 17th has finally arrived.
Looking at the energetic players, Dick laughed, and then he waved his hand: "Let's go!"
Their destination is the venue for this UEFA Cup final, Dortmund's home stadium Westfalen.
Playing in Germany is relatively fair for both sides. Although Liverpool has German players such as Babel, Ziger, and Hamann, the gap between the British and the Germans is not small, and Babel and Ziger also have Hamann.
Mann has played for Bayern before. For the local fans in Dortmund, they don't have much fondness for these three German players - you know that throughout the 1990s, they could cause trouble for Bayern and really get rid of them.
The one who stole the championship and honor was Dortmund. They won the Bundesliga championship and the Champions League, stealing the spotlight from Bayern.
Since the two sides are competitors, don't expect Dortmund fans to support Liverpool because there are three Germans in Liverpool. In fact, there were not many neutral spectators in this game. 20,000 Liverpool fans and 20,000 Atletico Madrid fans almost occupied the audience.
Throughout Westphalia, neutral fans only occupied two stands behind the goal, blocking the fans on both sides.
When the Atletico Madrid bus drove outside the stadium, the Atletico Madrid fans who were still lingering outside the stadium immediately cheered. They had great confidence because they firmly believed that this season must be the most glorious season under Hill.
One season was even more glorious than the double-championship year of 1995-96 - after all, the UEFA Cup is much more valuable than the Copa del Rey!
After Atletico Madrid players entered the stadium, Liverpool's bus arrived. After seeing this scene, Atletico Madrid fans cheered again. In their view, this was also a good sign for Atletico Madrid.
will gain an advantage on the field.
"About the tactics of the game... I have said a lot, and I don't want to talk about it now."
After the players finished their warm-up and returned to the locker room, Dick looked at the players with his chin in his hand, and then asked a question.
"Of all the people here...who has won the European Championship at the club?"
Cold scene.
After a while, Thuram raised his hand in embarrassment - in the 1998-99 season, he won the UEFA Cup with Parma, which was also his only European competition championship with the club.
"Although the UEFA Cup can only be regarded as a foil compared with the Champions League, except for Lilian, none of our people have won any honors in Europe... Neither have I. I really want to win this UEFA Cup."
champion, so that I can tell everyone that I am the European champion... No matter if it is the UEFA Cup or not, I am the European champion. I am a very face-saving and vain person, and I hope to add something to myself.
A European champion's jacket...what about you?"
"We think too, boss." Jardel replied. He now feels that joining Atletico Madrid is the right thing to do. Now that the league championship is in sight, he has proven himself in the top league. If he wins the UEFA Cup,
He will also make up for one of his regrets...
All Atletico Madrid players nodded at the same time. No professional player would refuse honors unless he is tired of honors - obviously, Atletico Madrid players are far from tired of honors.
"Then let's go and follow the tactics I arranged. We will definitely win... Remember, be careful when advancing. Don't give them a chance to steal the ball in the midfield when pressing forward. Have a quick counterattack.
When there is an opportunity, then increase the speed. In short, we don’t have enough people in the backcourt, so we have to be careful not to make mistakes in the offense. If we have enough manpower in the backcourt to defend, then use two or three people as a group to quickly attack. This is the game.
Do you understand the basic requirements?”
The players nodded one after another. Dick's tactical intention had been clearly reflected in the previous training, so Dick only needed to emphasize it. Then they walked out of the locker room under the leadership of Molina and walked toward them.
The most important game left this season.
When the players from both sides were preparing to play, they had no conversation in the tunnel. Atletico Madrid and Liverpool had no disputes, and there were no personnel exchanges between the two sides. There was almost no intersection between them, and naturally there would be no
What conversational situations arise.
Fans from both sides in the stands have already started shouting, warming up for the next game in advance - for them, the next game is also their battle!
"The players from both sides are about to play... There are no changes in this game. Both Atletico Madrid and Liverpool have adopted the main lineup they are most accustomed to. Atletico Madrid's is 451, goalkeeper Molina,
The defenders are Hector, Capdevila, Thuram and Marchena, who has recently become the main force. The midfielders are Makelele, Baraja and Belleron, Vicente and Camoranesi.
As a winger, Jader advanced alone. Liverpool sent out their accustomed 442 lineup. The goalkeeper was Dutch national goalkeeper Westerveld, the right back Babel, the left back Carragher, and the central partners were Hyypia and
Hunterz, in the midfield are Gerrard and Hamann, on the wings are Scottish veteran McCallister and local midfielder Danny Murphy, and the forward partners are Michael Owen and Heskey. As for the substitutes,
The seven substitutes brought by Atletico Madrid are goalkeeper Moura, defenders Aguilera, David, Gamarra, midfielder Paunovic, forwards Cruz and Jardel, while Liverpool brings goalkeeper Frenchman Afe
Sha, defenders Ziger and Biskan, midfielders Smicer, Barmby and Diomede, forward Litmanen, the substitutes of both sides have one characteristic, that is, they are more versatile, and Dick only brings
A midfielder, that’s because Atletico Madrid’s two full-backs can also play as wide midfielders. Anyone who is injured will have a substitute. The same is true for Liverpool. Smicer and Diomede are both players who can play midfielder and forward.
, Biscayne can play as a central defender and midfielder, and Barmby is a versatile player on the right. The choice of substitutes is also a test for both coaches. It seems that both Dick and Houllier have done a good job."
Amid the chatter of the commentators, the game was about to begin - many big figures appeared in the stands, including UEFA President Johansson, Liverpool legends such as Dalglish and Rush all appeared in the stands, and Atletico Madrid's
Old Hill also brought all the club's top executives to Westfalen to support the team. Compared with history, Atletico Madrid is naturally not as brilliant as the Red Army that once dominated Europe. However, who this championship belongs to still depends on the players of both sides.
Let your feet do the talking on the court.
When the players from both sides were scattered on the court, the referee looked at his watch and then blew the whistle to start the game!
Countless cheers poured from the stands into the stadium. Irving, who was standing in the center circle, kicked the ball to Heskey and then ran forward.
At the same time, Vicente and Camoranesi, who were standing on both sides, ran towards Liverpool's half, and Jardel was pressing forward in the middle - the game had begun!
After receiving the back pass from Heskey, Gerrard did not take too much. The future soul of the Red Army had just become the absolute main force in Liverpool. Facing the rushing Jardel, he passed the ball directly to the right.
McAllister.
As soon as the Scottish veteran stopped the ball at his feet, Vicente rushed towards him quickly. McCallister turned around, controlled the ball, and then passed the ball directly back.
Hyypia caught the ball, then he looked up at the frontcourt and suddenly made a long pass!
The ball flew directly towards Atletico Madrid's half, looking for Heskey's point.
Marchena and Heskey rushed to the ball's landing point at the same time, and then jumped up together with Heskey - then he was suppressed by the big black man. Facing the flying ball, Heskey headed the ball
With a quick swing, he pushed towards the edge of Atletico Madrid's penalty area - he still has great trust in Irving's speed.
Not only did he trust him, but the Liverpool fans also trusted him extremely. When they saw Heskey heading the ball towards the edge of Atletico Madrid's penalty area, they cheered in advance - this is a very simple tactic, but with cooperation
Coupled with Heskey's bouncing aerial challenge and Owen's speed shooting skills, Liverpool scored goals in this way not once or twice...
When Irving accelerated towards the landing point of the ball, a dark figure followed him closely. The speed was slightly slower but not much worse. When the ball was about to fly into the penalty area, he had already raised his foot.
The ball was cut off midway!
It was Thuram who stole the ball! He cut off the connection between Irving and the ball's flight path very well, preventing Liverpool's attack in advance - after he stole the ball, Irving tried to steal the ball from behind, but was blocked by Thuram.
Mu was blocked behind him, and then Thuram quickly passed the ball to Belleron in front, and Atletico Madrid turned from defense to offense.
"Beautiful defense! I have to say that the more than 20 million US dollars Atletico Madrid spent on Thuram is absolutely worth it! Although it is a new defender transfer record, Thuram made Atletico Madrid's defense outstanding.
It has improved a lot. If it weren't for an excellent defense, Atletico Madrid might not be able to achieve its current results!"
