On October 18, in the third round of the UEFA Champions League, Liverpool went to Maribor, Slovenia, to face Maribor away from home at Lyudski Stadium.
This team is one of the three teams that has never been relegated since the establishment of the Slovenian First Division and has always been considered the representative of Slovenian football.
This game was recognized by the European media as the battle between the strongest and weakest players in Group E.
Although Maribor has achieved a brilliant record of six crowns in the domestic league in the past seven years, it still cannot compare with the strong teams in Europe at the European level.
Maribor lost 3-0 to Sevilla in the first two rounds and then drew with Spartak Moscow at home.
Maribor currently has 1 point in the group with Spartak Moscow, but is ranked at the bottom of the group with a goal difference of -3.
So if they want to qualify, they must seize the opportunity at home and win against Liverpool.
But is this possible?
The European media felt that it was impossible. The apparent strength of both sides was completely different.
But Klopp thinks it’s still possible!
He suffered enough from underestimating his opponents last season and will never make the same mistake again.
Although Maribor is the weakest team in this year's Champions League, Klopp knows that this team has rich experience in European competitions, so he never dares to be careless and underestimate the enemy.
They say there are no underdogs in the Premier League, but in fact the same is true in the Champions League.
There have been many upsets in the Champions League over the years, and it is not unusual for the ants to overturn the elephants in a huge upset.
At 5:45 pm local time, the game officially started.
Although Klopp attaches great importance to this game, he will not send all the main players on the field as if he is facing a formidable enemy.
After all, other players in the team also need opportunities in some Champions League matches to accumulate experience in European competitions.
Therefore, some players who had just fought against Manchester United were rotated in this game, and Mo Yang also appeared on the Liverpool bench.
Today's midfield partners are Emre Can, Wijnaldum and midfielder Reva.
The striker is Jota and Salah, the center is the unlucky Firmino, and the goalkeeper is Alisson.
Regarding Liverpool's practice of frequently changing goalkeepers in European games and league games, many European media actually believe that there are hidden dangers.
But in order to give players opportunities, Klopp usually plays in the league and in the Champions League, taking turns, leaving no one with anything to say.
So far, apart from Karius' frequent own goals, I really don't see any huge hidden dangers.
In the third minute of the opening, Liverpool showed their top-notch combination of wing and center. Salah relied on his assault ability to get past Maribor's left back Vera on the wing, entered the penalty area and swept the ball to the goal.
In the middle of the goal, the ball came to the player. Firmino stepped sideways to meet the ball, raised his right foot and pushed lightly, breaking Maribor's goal.
When Klopp saw the goal coming from the sidelines, the guy was stunned for a moment, as if he couldn't believe that the goal would come so soon.
Although Liverpool's offense has been fully revived recently, in fact, many games have been dominated by scores. He never expected that the goals would come so quickly, and that Salah and Firmino would enter the game so quickly.
After the goal, Klopp returned to the bench and sat next to Mo Yang.
After watching the game from the sidelines for nearly ten minutes, Klopp felt that winning this game should not be a big problem.
Because the players on the field have almost eaten up Maribor's defense, the gap in strength between the two sides is too obvious.
And he also roughly saw Maribor's tactical ideas for this game.
Although it is home court, Maribor obviously plays very conservatively and invests very few troops in offense. There are only a few people and there is not much threat. Not every team has a Mourinho, and he can score on counterattacks.
beat.
In the 12th minute of the game, Maribor launched a sneak attack from the right.
But when he came outside the Liverpool penalty area, Moreno and others surrounded him from the wing and lost the ball in the blink of an eye.
After Moreno got the ball, he quickly dribbled the ball in, broke through the first counter-attack line on the Maribor wing, and quickly played the ball into the frontcourt.
Firmino pulled to the side, retreated to the center line to receive the ball, and then quickly transferred the ball to the center.
Wijnaldum received the ball, turned around without a moment's delay, and passed straight to Salah on the right.
Salah took the ball and cut it towards the ribs, and then suddenly split the ball wide.
At the same time, Firmino started from the top of the arc, ran diagonally to the right side of the penalty area, and directly took away the two players in the middle of Maribor.
When the ball came to the player, Firmino received a pass from Salah on the sideline of the penalty area, then turned around and kicked the ball in front of the penalty spot.
Jota rushed in and without stopping the ball, he volleyed the left post.
Suddenly the ball was like a cannonball, drilling into the Maribor goal against the inside of the post.
2-0!
Seeing another goal, Klopp stood up and applauded, then sat back down after a while.
He couldn't get excited. Judging from the more than ten minutes of the scene, it was just a complete act of abuse and there was no sense of accomplishment.
Mo Yang on the bench was also a little tired, and from time to time he would cover his mouth and yawn secretly.
He had the same judgment as Klopp in this game, and there was no problem winning.
In Mo Yang's eyes, Maribor's defense, which kept making mistakes, was like a sieve, full of loopholes.
And Mo Yang could also see that Salah and others played very relaxedly after the second goal.
Sure enough, in the 20th minute of the game, Firmino retreated to the top of the arc to receive the ball, and then suddenly made a through ball.
Salah broke into the penalty area from the right rib and shot directly, changing the score again.
In less than twenty minutes, Liverpool could say that the game was over.
But it’s not over yet. The game is coming to an end. Milner attacks from the wing and sweeps in front of the goal. Firmino and Salah hit the goal. In the end, Firmino gave up to Salah to tie the score.
expanded to 4-0.
After this goal, neither side scored again until the 70th minute of the second half.
The morale gap between the two sides in the game is extremely obvious.
On Liverpool's side, the offensive was overwhelming. Maribor had completely fallen unknowingly, and the defense was struggling to cope with Liverpool's attack.
In the 80th minute of the game, Klopp made three substitutions at once, and Moyang was among them. Klopp asked him to come on and find a feeling.
After Mo Yang came on the field, the players in Maribor knew what a disaster was.
That kind of through ball that was hard to guard against and extremely penetrating made them lose their temper.
Mo Yang scored 3 goals in the 82nd, 86th, and 93rd minutes of the game respectively. He received an assist hat trick in ten minutes and also helped Salah achieve his first Champions League hat trick. Firmino also scored twice.
.
Seeing their team being slaughtered by Liverpool at home, with no way to fight back, the more than 10,000 Maribor players present looked sad.
In fact, some players already left the field in the 80th minute of the game, and I couldn’t bear to watch any more.
Many young fans even burst into tears, which was touching.
But this is football, very cruel and very realistic. This is the only result of the two sides not being on the same level at all.
In the end, Liverpool, playing away from home, slaughtered Maribor with a score of 7-0.
Counting the previous two games, Liverpool already has 9 points and has almost booked a place in one of the groups.
After the game, the game was reported by the European media as 'The Crying Lyudsky Stadium, a horrific massacre!'