Emery's side once felt that it would pull Liverpool off the horse, but in the second half, Liverpool woke up like a dream, directly took the game away and successfully advanced to the Champions League final.
A wonderful Champions League night. A champions league night that changed history. Liverpool defeated Villarreal 3-2 away and reached the Champions League final for the 10th time. In the history of the tournament, Real Madrid, Bayern and Milan still rank ahead of the team. In the same season, Liverpool reached the League Cup, FA Cup and Champions League finals, the first in the history of English football. Klopp surpassed his predecessor Paisley to tie Lippi, Ancelotti and Ferguson, leading the team to the highest honours in European club-level competitions for the fourth time. The score seems easy, but the process is full of twists and turns. Huang Qian and the Reds each played a good half-time goal, stronger, played better, and the side with better soldiers laughed to the end. Villarreal failed to hold out the upset and fell back in the final four again 16 years later. But the exit did not damage Emery's reputation - from winning manchester United for Champions League tickets in the Europa League final last season, to this season's Champions League, eliminating Atalanta, eliminating Juventus, eliminating Bayern, showing the level and cultivation of a top coach.
This is called defeat.
When was the last time Liverpool won the Champions League semi-finals away? Older Liverpool fans also have to think hard. That was 37 years ago for Panathinaikos. Liverpool won 1-0, with the winning goal scored by centre-back Laurensen. Double-kill opponent twice, with similar backgrounds. Both Liverpool had a clear advantage in the first leg, and the first leg in 1985 was even more excessive, and the 4-0 home game made the second leg lose its practical significance. However, the load of the game 37 years ago is not as heavy as it is now. Liverpool were eliminated by Tottenham Hotspur in the third round of the League Cup and were eliminated by Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-final rematch. No wonder the British media agreed that this Liverpool team is not only the strongest in the history of the team, but also the strongest in the history of England. Strong enough to lead the opponent by two goals at home, it still can't withstand the Reds counter-charge. Conceded three goals in 12 minutes and surrendered. Huang Qian was horrified by his feat - the Champions League knockout rounds, they have not yet tried to score two goals at home. Emery took pains to save strength and fight the Reds in La Liga. They were mentally prepared for a hard battle, but they did not expect to easily lead Yi Bian by two goals.
Rather than expecting Liverpool to fight back, Huang Qian said they were waiting for Liverpool to make a big kill. Just like a small and a big fight, the small one takes advantage of the other party's light enemy to give two punches first, but knows that the other party launches a fierce attack, and must punch himself more fiercely. As long as the big one hits one punch, more punches will fall on the small one's vital point until he falls to the ground. This kind of obscenity produces a deterrent that the Premier League did not have in the european games in Europe. Changing bayern is not much better. Two years earlier, Liverpool pounded Bayern three at Allianz. Huang Qian's small child, how about Barcelona? Leading by three goals in the first leg, the away team was still stretched. Lost in the 7th minute and conceded three more in 15 minutes in the second half, the first in history, with a two-goal advantage at home in the first leg of the semifinals, was still eliminated. Is it Lully's fault alone? Yes and no. His strings were too tight, and he was seen by his opponents as weak and panicked. Fabinho's foot shot furiously, and before he got up to cross, Lully was seduced by his eyes, moving to block, but the ball went straight to the crotch, caught off guard. It was Fabinho's first Champions League goal for Liverpool, and it came sooner rather than later.
This goal was preceded by a volley by Díaz. The ball is high and the posture is graceful. At this juncture, he dared to act like this, immersed in the scene, Huang Qian knew that "life is not long.". Once again, Klopp's substitution was immediate. Merseyside derby replaced Origi, and two minutes later Robertson scored to take the lead. The Champions League began with Luis Díaz in the second half, and 17 minutes later Fabinho scored through The Rulli goal. Huang Qian immediately looked like a deflated ball, and 5 minutes later, he was smashed through Lully's goal again by Díaz's head hammer. Lully collapsed, as the english proverb often says, like a "decapitated rooster fluttering blindly", and recklessly abandoned the door to attack, and was hit by Mane. The goal was Liverpool's 139th goal in all competitions this season, a team record, and the Reds' 150th European goal under Klopp.
Changing the situation is a compulsory course for professional coaches, and the only way to save themselves is the only way. Even if it is to save physical strength, avoid injury, or let the new signing feel the atmosphere, it must be changed. A certain road fairy dragged on without changing, sent Emery the Europa League champion, and the back door went straight into the Champions League main game; the real god said to change it, so that Emery stopped in the final four. All are snatched from the hands of Tottenham, a certain way of immortals to enter the locker room of the player abduction, champions league semi-final home or can not escape 1-3 by Atletico eliminated; the real god does not wait for the player's physical examination to grab the kiss, "caught" Zhuang Ding should be able to score a goal, Villarreal responded to the dream. Look at Díaz's half-time stats: 4 successful dribbles; 4 touches in the penalty area, 4 feet, 4 snatches back the ball, scoring a goal. This reserve is so pretty. Three torpedoes sink the yellow dive, not only the ability and perseverance, but also the psychology. Klopp praised his subordinates as "mentality monsters" in place.
There is no wilting in the first half, and it does not reflect the miracle effect of Klopp's substitution. It's been a long time since Liverpool were so sluggish in the first 45 minutes. Emery's focus on Liverpool's two-gate attack can be described as an expert shot, to the point. Cap grabbed Robertson in front of him to receive a cross from Estupinián, the intention may have been a direct bow shot, but the ball was not accurate, hit the ankle, accidentally turned the shot into a cross, deceived Alisson, Blithea volted under the door, waiting for a straight. At this point, the game was played with only 2 minutes and 51 seconds, less than a minute after the goal conceded in the second leg against Manchester City in the quarter-finals four years ago. After Jesus scored, City missed several opportunities to rewrite the score in a row, including one in the Raheem Raheem penalty area and the referee refused to award a penalty. This time, Alisson was almost sentenced to capital punishment. Twice, not knowing what the gods blessed, the referee firmly rejected the opponent's appeal. Lampard may have been punished by the FA for saying, "If [Gordon] falls to the ground in the penalty area and replaces it with Salah, he will have to take a penalty.". Maybe this is the aura of a strong team.
City were unable to lead by two goals, and in the second half Liverpool counter-attacked and advanced to the next two cities. Huang Qian did it and equalized on aggregate. The second goal was conceded, and the scene of the accident was replaced by Liverpool's right gate. It was Karp's cross again, and Alexander-Arnold failed to jump in time to compete for the top and was scored by a Cockland head hammer. Let one? Clearance! Let two? Or pass! That's the quality of a strong team – there's always a way to solve a problem. Don't look at Liverpool's listlessness in the first half, the midfield was snatched by the home team, and the front line coordination has not been able to step on the point, especially Jota, which is rarely silent. The two gates were blasted, not the first time at Liverpool. The same is true of the two legs of the Premier League and Manchester City. If this scene happens in the final, whether it is against Manchester City or Real Madrid, will Klopp still have a backhand? Does the wonderful substitution mean that the preferred scheme is not accurate? Is the use of Thiago and Keita paired with Fabinho the reason for the loss of control in midfield? In the League Cup final, Liverpool's midfielders were Fabinho, Keita and Henderson, and did not have a clear advantage. At Wembley, Klopp started to change three people in a row, Elliott, Milner and Jota replaced Keita, Mane and Henderson, and finally sacrificed Origi's "koi", but it was still impossible to avoid penalty shootouts.
The master moves, look at each other's calculations, you find the opponent's shortcomings, the opponent also sees your death hole. The difference is whether the player can be in a hurry, the details are inspired, the point of substitution is accurate, and whether it can be fatal at the most vulnerable moment of the opponent. Paris was the third Champions League in Liverpool's history when left-back Alain Kennedy burst into the box with a blast. Whether it is Manchester City or Real Madrid, this season's final will become another great prize in the history of the Champions League. If it's Real Madrid, it's better. It's Salah who will be slightly disappointed: Where is Ramos? The Red Army has invaded Paris, can it take Paris? Yes!
Huang Qian was reversed although Lully had but no pot
The good dream woke up in the middle of the night, and the "miracle" lasted only 45 minutes. Villarreal's two torpedoes came out of the chamber, which at one point frightened the determined Liverpool. But as the "Red Army" woke up from sleepwalking, everything went back to normal. If it is "normal play" to lead a strong team like Liverpool in the semi-finals of the Champions League, then such a "normal" game is better to have a little more. A "normal" coach like Emery, a "normal" player like Karp, also comes a little more.
Receiving a 2-0 defeat at Anfield is not too bad compared to the extremely passive scenes and statistics. Emery confessed that he wanted to play a "different game" at home. How different can it be? Come up and play with your life. The core attacking player, Herard Moreno, started injured, but the shooter Danjuma did not catch up and had to watch from the sidelines. However, Bray Dia seized the rare starting opportunity and started the next city in the first three minutes. In those few goals before this season, Dia scored against weak teams. This time, he finally broke through the goal of the world's top team in the big scene.
If you say that the focus of this scene is none other than Cap. He was theoretically supposed to partner Kirkland as a midfield defender, but was actually pulled to the right to act as a "false winger". Villarreal scored two goals as he fed Robertson from the right and delivered a deadly cross from the bottom line. Whether it is the earliest achievements in Almeria, Valencia or Sevilla, letting players from different positions "reverse string" on the wing has always been Emery's magic weapon to win at key moments. In addition to using the back waist to cover the edges, he has also used the center to pull the edge, the full-back to the wingback, the wingback and other strange formations, each time can scare the opponent, using the time and space difference to determine the situation.
Villarreal was able to suppress Liverpool in the first half, and more importantly, the success rate of the robbery in midfield was significantly improved. On the one hand, Lo Celso landed in place to catch the ball, while Voyt, Cap and Kirkland formed a net to cover Liverpool's left side of the front, allowing you to go deep on the right side, ensuring that no one on the other side of the danger zone could cover it. Liverpool were anxious to score early to settle the battle, and the space behind them was getting bigger and bigger. Before Cap sent another cross to assist Kirkland's header, Lo Celso found a one-handed chance and was saved by Alisson. The referee saw it clearly and thought it was not enough to award a penalty. Although it cannot be said that this judgment affects the overall situation, at least there are different interpretations in the adjudication circle.
Villarreal returned to the dressing room amid cheers from fans. People had a vision of the game, but they didn't expect it to be so beautiful. However, the situation in the first half also exposed several problems. First of all, how long can The Pressure, Siege and Physical Confrontation of Villarreal's intensity last? Moreno's thigh muscle problems were clearly not eliminated and were completely gritted in the face of the game. Secondly, since the total score is equalized, should we take a defensive position or continue to attack in the second half? Third, the overall performance of the team is very good, but the core of the attack and defense Parejo is in a very general state, many key passes are not in place, and always concede goals in midfield. In hindsight, once Liverpool stepped up the midfield battle, Parejo was indeed taken care of, and after conceding the ball, he was counter-attacked and then completely lost.
The Spanish and Argentine media are complaining about goalkeeper Lully, believing that he has made another "nerve knife" at a critical moment and will eventually be embarrassed. He did have to be responsible for 2 of the 3 goals conceded, being pierced by Fabinho through the "small goal", and the attack was empty and the opponent was hit empty. The second goal conceded, strictly speaking, Lully, who is not good at attacking, did not come out in time to pick up the ball, and it may be different to change a more flamboyant goalkeeper. But it's clearly unfair to blame Lully for flipping the game. Villarreal clearly wanted to stabilize his position after the tie and then wait for the opportunity, and the scene immediately turned to the Anfield game. It turns out that "Huang Qian" wants to defend itself by relying only on this line of defense and the goalkeeper to play at a super level, it takes a little luck. Being single-handedly attacked by a world-class striker at halftime, no goalkeeper is very sure of successfully defusing the danger.
Whether it's Rulli's mistakes, Karp's two assists and a red card, or Emery's calculations and missteps, all reflect a team whose budget and squad strength are significantly different from their opponents, but who ultimately play in style and normal level. If the two-legged semi-final is split into four halves, Villarreal can win 1 half of them and tie 1 half of it, which is already a good performance, although the result of the defeat is disappointing, but the miracle is a miracle because it is a small probability event.
Emery humbly accepted the loss after the match, while thanking the fans for their strong support: "We are determined to advance to the final, but in the absence of Danjuma and Moreno, the team's strength is indeed damaged. In the second half we lost in all respects. I don't want to overemphasize the team's achievements in the first half, we only won 1 of the 4 halves. We also want to do better, although the performance is perfect, but unfortunately it did not last 90 minutes. It's great for the fans to enjoy the moment. With the support of the fans, the team can create moments like this. ”
Wen | Lin Liangfeng Wu Yifan
Edit | ball lightning