As a player, if you just train normally every day, you still have a lot of free time. Li Tiancheng has the leisure to see Liu Yifei off.
As a team, Liverpool didn't have a moment to spare. There was only four days between the league and the Champions League group stage, and there was still time for travel. They couldn't even complete a basic training cycle and had no time to adjust.
Spain, Galicia Autonomous Region, Deportivo Riazor Stadium.
In the UEFA Champions League of the 0405 season, in the fourth round of Group A, Liverpool's away game against Deportivo La Coruna officially started.
This is Benitez's first return visit to Spain since taking over as Liverpool coach.
It was also the first time for several Spaniards in the team and Li Tiancheng to return to Spain.
It's much more comfortable here.
Although it has already entered November, the sun is still shining brightly in Spain, which is a world away from the cold and humid Liverpool.
The warm sunshine is shining on my body and I am enjoying watching the game drunkenly.
It's just that although the environment is good, if the main dish is raw, it won't be a good dish anyway.
Benitez plans to cook a pot of uncooked rice for this game.
News came before the game that with Rivaldo's goal, Olympiacos defeated Monaco at home.
Rivaldo is indeed worthy of the title of Tile Blade, single-handedly completely confusing the situation in Group A.
As a result, Monaco ranks first with six points, Liverpool and Olympiacos have five points, and Deportivo has two points.
This is a great opportunity for both Liverpool and Deportivo.
Deportivo La Coruna was just not cool yet, but now it actually has a glimmer of hope. As long as they win, their skills will accumulate five points, and their hope of qualifying will greatly increase.
No one can resist this temptation, and they must fight tooth and nail to atone for their previous downfall.
Liverpool's situation is much better. A win is best, but a draw is fine. As long as one point is needed, they can regain the top spot in Group A with a goal difference. As long as they don't lose, that's fine.
So Benitez's arrangement made Li Tiancheng murmur.
Cisse broke his leg and it was not unexpected for Baros to be the lone striker.
Cowell ambushed behind Baros, with Reese and Garcia on the left and right.
It doesn't matter that Riise was forced to be a left-back and Garcia was forced to be an all-round talent on the left, center and right.
The central defender combination of Hyypia and Carragher is considered the most stable, with Traore and Josemi on the left and right.
The goalkeeper is young goalkeeper Kirkland. Although Dudek is more experienced, he always makes rash attacks. This arrangement is also easy to understand.
But take away Alonso and arrange two defensive midfielders, Hamann and Biscayne, to start together.
This makes people frown.
If the two defensive midfielders can choke Depor's core player Belleron, half of their offense will be paralyzed. This arrangement seems to make sense.
The problem is that without Alonso, Liverpool's offensive organization has been weakened by more than half. Is it really possible?
Does the offense rely solely on the few daggers in the frontcourt?
Are you planning to stick to a draw from the beginning?
Depor's offense is really not very good this season. They only scored one goal in the Champions League, but it was Liverpool's goal that was broken!
Moreover, they have recovered recently and have been unbeaten for 6 consecutive games. Midfielder Sergio also returned from suspension.
Their biggest adjustment was to replace Tristan with Pandiani as the starting center.
In the last game, Liverpool was able to draw with them and keep Anfield from completely falling. Tristan was the biggest contributor.
Without this big brother on the court, can Liverpool really hold on to the draw?
This strategy made Li Tiancheng easily think of the Chinese Football Association, which made him feel even more disgusted.
Also, Uncle Mauro is injured and is out.
Li Tiancheng felt a little regretful. The toughness of this uncle was really extraordinary, and it was really enjoyable to fight against him.
The opening whistle interrupted Li Tiancheng's thoughts, forget it, the game strategy is the head coach's business, so don't worry about it.
Less than 30 seconds after the start of the game, Garcia's through ball almost made Baros a one-man goal, but his adjustment... stopped the ball directly to the goalkeeper, and Deportivo goalkeeper Molina decisively made a direct clearance!
Li Tiancheng banged his thigh, brother, we are in a trap in this game!
There can't be many opportunities!
Can you please restrain yourself?
The offense was as good as ever, but the defense didn't look very reliable either. Hamann and Biscayne worked together to barely keep Belleron in check.
At the beginning, the operation of Deportivo's offensive system was indeed a bit sluggish.
But this time someone stepped up to help Beleron take the pressure off.
Belleron attracted attention, Sergio took advantage of the gap and shot a long shot, and the football missed the left goal post!
This goal shocked Liverpool into a cold sweat.
Liverpool's good fortune doesn't end there.
After this goal, with helpers to share the pressure, Belleron was able to escape a little to organize the attack. Deportivo made consecutive shots and began to take the initiative.
Liverpool were beaten continuously and entered a squatting mode. Deportivo was a little too relaxed. After Haman stole the ball, he was not active in counterattacking.
After receiving the pass from Haman, Biscayne actually broke through Victor and Sergio in succession and calmly distributed the ball to the left side.
Zhang Fei actually did embroidery!
This caught the Depor players off guard and they rushed back to defend.
Riise dribbled the ball and made a low pass to the middle. Andrade planned to get ahead of the fast-moving Baros to make a clearance, but he did touch the ball in advance in the small penalty area in front of the goal.
Unfortunately, he failed to make a successful clearance and the ball went into his own goal!
Liverpool leads 1:0.
Most areas of the Riazor Stadium fell into silence. They were enjoying happiness but suddenly entered death. This situation made Depor fans a little confused.
Andrade was lying on the ground unwilling to get up, but Li Tiancheng patted his chest and felt relieved again. Okay, no matter what you say, Benitez's calculation is half done. Next, it depends on whether he has
No chance to appear.
"It's the 14th minute of the first half. Liverpool broke the deadlock with a concise and efficient counterattack. The game will be much easier from now on, right, Ian?" Lineker smiled a little weirdly.
"Really?" Ian Rush hesitated: "Liverpool's counterattack was really sudden this time. Biscayne doesn't often break through with the ball, but he did it this time."
"The passing quality of Riise is very good, and Baros' response is also in place. Andrade is a little unlucky, but if he doesn't take the lead, Baros can also score."
Lineker nodded frequently: "No one expected Biscayne's sudden strength. It was more like luck. No one expected Victor and Sergio to be broken through by Biscayne."
"Let's not mention the luck factor that led to Liverpool's lead, but as we just said, Benitez sent this field lineup that is obviously defensive, and most likely wants to get a draw in the away game. Now that Liverpool has taken the lead,
There is more room for maneuver, so we can defend with peace of mind.”
I don’t know if his teammates on the court are at ease or not, but Li Tiancheng himself is not at all at ease.
After conceding the goal, Deportivo's attack became even more fierce, with wave after wave of attacks. Liverpool was unable to fight back, and the daggers were all retracted to block.