With referee Cantalejo's whistle, Liverpool and Fiorentina's Champions League quarter-finals kicked off.

The first one to kick off was Liverpool who played away.

The Liverpool's starting strikers are Chen Yu and Crouch, one high and one fast, and Benitez is trying to have an absolute advantage in both altitude and speed.

In the midfield, Benitez shipped the combination of Gerald, Alonso, Mascherano and Riser. This combination may lack a little creativity, but it is very balanced on both offense and defense and is very impactful. When playing away, such a midfielder should be the most stable. With Benitez's personality, it is impossible for Pennant and Garcia to appear in such an important game together.

The defense line and goalkeeper position are the least suspense. Ag and Carragher serve as central defenders, Finnan and Aurerio are separated, and Reina guards the gantry.

After the whistle, Crouch and Chen Yu rushed to the penalty area of ​​Fiorentina as fast as possible. The midfield and backcourt behind moved forward at medium speed, and the three lines maintained a distance that could be connected to each other.

Facing a giant like Liverpool, Fiorentina's starting lineup today is also stable. The forward line is undoubtedly a combination of Tony and Mutu. The midfielders are Pachenza, Montolivo, Liverani and Donadale. However, in terms of position, Liverani is behind two forwards and serves as the front midfielder. In the back line, Uyfalusi, Gambelini, Dainelli and Pasquire are lined up, and goalkeeper Frey is guarding the last line of defense.

The Florentines are not very clear about how powerful Crouch is, but every Florentine is so clear that it is no longer clear about how powerful Chen Yu is.

As soon as Chen Yu rushed to Florence's half, Montolivo followed Chen Yu.

Montolivo is one of Chen Yu's best friends in Fiorentina. The young player learned a lot from Chen Yu at that time. After working hard this season, he became more mature and has gradually become one of the main players of Fiorentina's midfielders.

Seeing Montolivo following so tightly, Chen Yu couldn't help but turn around and said, "It's been improved, Montolivo, but relax, this will reduce physical energy consumption.

Montolivo was not as familiar as Chen Yu in such an important game. He looked nervous and spoke hard.

"I don't dare to talk to you. If I lose my position, the coach will scold me to death."

Chen Yu couldn't help laughing. At this time, he remembered that Montolivo was just over the age of 2018 and had only gained some time in the Champions League last season. It is impossible to relax him now.

"... Chen Yu rushed to Fiorentina's position and he will charge against the team he had played for. Let's see if he can break through the only goal he hasn't broken in Serie A..."

The commentator on the scene was interestingly funny at this time.

Chen Yu and Crouch are one of Liverpool's tactics. Benitez wants to give Fiorentina some excellence when he wants to start. As long as he can score the first goal, the subsequent game will be much easier.

Crouch and Chen Yu had just arrived in the 30-meter area of ​​Fiorentina. Alonso in the backcourt made a long pass and found Crouch, asking Crouch to choose the attack method.

The role of Crouch Bridgehead is still very obvious.

Mi, once regarded as the height limit of football players. When Mi Zen's Crouch first appeared in front of people, most of the skeptical eyes awaited him. In the impression of most fans, such tall players are usually only associated with words such as "clutty" and "slow". Especially Crouch, who weighs only 70 kilograms, has won a nickname like "big bamboo pole" that is somewhat ridiculous.

But Crouch completely subverted people's traditional concepts. In the game, he not only used his height advantages to head the ball, but also showed a lot of aura.

Today, Crouch made the Fiorentines look at him with admiration. Facing Alonso, a high-altitude ball that came from 30 meters away, he firmly leaned on Pachenzha and stuck his position, headed the ball to Chen Yu, turned around flexibly, wiped Pachenzha, and ran to Florence's penalty area.

Crouch's ferry is normal. As the highest altitude of the stadium, it would be strange if he could not compete for Paqinza in header. However, this turning position showed his flexibility and agility, because Chen Yu has been followed by Fiorentina players and may not be able to get the ball. If there is no passing point, it is easy to be double-teamed and intercepted. Crouch ran out of the position to share Chen Yu's worries.

Sure enough, Chen Yu did not dare to stop the ball under Montolivo's defense. He headed the ball and passed it directly to Crouch. He quickly ran and then went to pick up Crouch.

This header relay was done very cleverly, and defensive players followed him when they were completed, but because Crouch and Chen Yu were moving very quickly, the defensive players did not have time to react.

The Fiorentine fans at the scene all had the urge to cheer, but they did not lose their minds after all and tried hard to keep silent.

Montolivo allowed Chen Yu to complete a header relay, and he was very regretful. This time he didn't dare to let Chen Yu take the ball easily again. When he came into the 30-meter area, Chen Yu could shoot directly if he touched the ball again.

Montolivo is the second most creative Fiorentine midfielder to Levirani. He defends Chen Yu, but his eyes are watching how Crouch handles the ball in order to make a judgment in advance.

Crouch still didn't get the ball himself. In this case, he would definitely give priority to passing it to Chen Yu.

Crouch headed the ball again and quickly inserted into Fiorentina's penalty area. If Chen Yu could pass the ball this time, he would be able to shoot directly.

However, Montolivo judged the purpose and direction of Crouch's pass in advance. He boldly gave up Chen Yu and destroyed a header while flying the ball.

Chen Yu was quite surprised at Montolivo's successful defense. When he rushed over to press the full-back Pasquiel who had the most chance to get the ball, he even gave Montolivo a thumbs up.

The Fiorentine fans at the scene burst into applause. Montolivo's performance is definitely commendable for being able to complete such a pre-snatch damage while keeping Chen Yu.

The commentator He Shiren couldn't help but praise: "Montolivo performed well. If you change to ordinary people, you really dare not give up Chen Yu to destroy this pass. That is, he is too familiar with Chen Yu. In today's game, Chen Yu is really hard to play. At least 9 of the opponent's players are familiar with him."

Plandelli on the sidelines also breathed a sigh of relief. He did not use the most experienced Donadale to mark Chen Yu, but used Montolivo, the youngest and most familiar with Chen Yu, who was thinking that Montolivo was smart enough. Now it seems that in such a major game, Montolivo performed well and did not make any mistakes.

Pasquiel is one of the starting points of Fiorentina's offense. The ball that Montolivo just destroyed was just taken by him near the sideline. As an attacking full-back, Pasquiel immediately dribbled the ball forward and launched an offensive from the sideline.

However, Pasquier had just controlled the ball, and Chen Yu rushed over at the speed of a leopard.

Pasquiel knew Chen Yu's speed, so he didn't dare to be careless. Before Chen Yu could run, he immediately passed the ball to central defender Dainelli, and quickly moved forward, preparing to play an easy two-pass and one-on-one cooperation with Dainelli.

Chen Yu's purpose was not to steal the ball. His purpose was to delay Fiorentina's offensive speed. Pasquiel passed by, but he ignored him and continued to pursue Pasquiel, not giving them a chance to play two and one.

Dainelli saw that Pasquiel could not get rid of Chen Yu's press, but he did not dare to stop the ball and then choose another shot point because Crouch was pressing him.

Dainelli chose to open his feet steadily, and the ball flew across the sky to Liverpool's backcourt.

At the end of the first round of offense and defense, Liverpool and Fiorentina each showed their offense and defense strength, which was considered a draw. Chen Yu's positive attitude reassured Liverpool fans and coaches. They were originally worried that Chen Yu would be affected by off-court factors today. Now it seems that Chen Yu is professional enough and shows a strong desire to win at the beginning of today.

Dainelli's long pass was looking for Tony, but because Crouch's pressing time was not enough, his pass-through style of the centre-back was incomparable to a midfielder like Alonso. This ball almost allowed Tony to go to the Knife Mountain because he had to compete with Carragher for the header.

The two of them compete for headers like this, and their heads are easily met. But Tony is determined to compete with Chen Yu, and he will not let go of such an opportunity. Relying on his height advantage, Tony jumped high and prepared to ferry for his teammates Mutu or Levilani.

Today, Florence is equipped with a combination of one high and one fast, but it is equivalent to the weakened version of Liverpool. Tony is 10 cm shorter than Crouch, and Mutu is not as fast as Chen Yu, but even if it is not as high and fast as Chen Yu and Crouch, their deterrence to Florence cannot be underestimated.

Carragher would never dare to let Tony cooperate easily with his teammates. They are tall and large defenders, and they are very afraid of forwards like the Viper Mutu with quick and dexterous footwork. If Mutu gets them, they will definitely be very passive, so Carragher will not let Tony easily hit the header even if he fights his life.

Bang

Tony grabbed the landing point, but almost as Tony pushed the ball, Carragher's head behind him also pressed on Tony's head. The ball was too strong and did not hit Mutu's face, but flew into the middle circle.

Tony was dizzy when he was hit by Carragher, but he forced himself to not let him fall down, while Carragher, who hit him, squatted down with his head covering his head.
Chapter completed!