After conceding the second goal, Porto coach Conceição seemed very irritable. He stood in the coaching area and kept shouting at the players on the field, looking very nervous.
Conceição is indeed very nervous because the team must not concede any more goals. He just wants the first half to end quickly.
Under Conceicao's roar, Porto's players finally held on to the score and entered the halftime break without conceding any more goals.
"Now it's time to test Conceicao's ability to adjust before battle!"
"If he goes on the defensive, Liverpool will probably face a very difficult positional battle in the second half."
"And if he chooses to give it a try, with the offensive capabilities Porto showed in the group stage, it is not impossible to equalize!"
"Porto is different from Sporting CP and Benfica. Their playing style is considered delicate in the Portuguese Super League. They are definitely not the kind of team with rough skills and strong physical confrontation. They can control the ball and play beautiful attacks.
team."
"And judging from the midfield confrontation with Liverpool in the 20 minutes of the first half, they were actually not at an absolute disadvantage."
"Of course, if you choose to give it a try, Porto may be defeated directly. Once Liverpool expands the away goals to three, then even if there is a second round, Porto's hope of advancing will not be too great!
"
"Yes!" After listening to Zhang Lu's analysis, Zhan Jun nodded, "Now it depends on Conceiçao's midfield adjustments, we will wait and see!"
The fifteen-minute intermission passed quickly, and the players from both sides returned to the court to change sides and fight again.
At the beginning of the game, Klopp was amused and had a magical expression on his face.
Because he found that Porto actually resumed the same style of play as they did in the first twenty minutes of the first half, as if they wanted to continue attacking.
At this moment Klopp captured the hope of directly killing the suspense of promotion in this game.
What Liverpool is not afraid of the most is an offensive battle; what they are afraid of is a war of attrition and a tough battle.
The fans at the scene saw that their team had changed their playing style again, and many fans were speechless at Conceicao's wavering.
If I had known I was going to switch back, why did you suddenly change your style of play in the last twenty minutes of the first half? Otherwise, you might have scored.
Klopp stood on the sidelines and continued to observe. He found that Conceicao's tactical adjustment was not a simple restoration of the style of play in the first 20 minutes of the first half, but many subtle changes.
For example, when defending, the players still collectively retreat to the center line for intensive defense. The protection of the two ribs and the restrictions on Mane and Salah are also retained.
Once Liverpool crosses the center line, they will encounter high-intensity collective pressure in the midfield area.
Especially for players holding the ball, no matter where they are, a Porto player will immediately rush over to press them.
During the transition between offense and defense, they competed more fiercely in the midfield than in the first half, and they also did a very good job of filling each other's positions.
As long as the midfielder steals the ball, he will immediately start the attack through tacit passing.
"Yang, control the ball!"
"Keep the ball!"
"Don't give them a chance to fight back!!"
After a while, when he saw Mo Yang running to the wing to serve, Klopp shouted directly to Mo Yang, with two away goals in hand, victory was already guaranteed. The key now is not to concede the ball and to maintain the advantage.
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In the next game, Mo Yang did control the ball, but he did not play exactly according to Klopp's instructions.
From time to time, a long pass will come from the center circle, directly looking for Mane, Salah and Firmino.
Or he suddenly dribbles the ball in to make a breakthrough, attracts the defensive player to his side, and then quickly releases the ball.
After Klopp saw it, he didn't blame Mo Yang for not following his instructions to play, but he actually appreciated it.
Klopp knows that this is the preciousness of Mo Yang. He has his own ideas, and these ideas are often correct.
This has been proven countless times in past games, otherwise Klopp would never tolerate it, that is, Mo Yang, if you want to change to an ordinary player, try it.
In the 51st minute of the game, Van Dijk got a back pass near the center circle. He stopped the ball and looked upfield. Porto's formation was very dense and they retreated relatively deep, giving Liverpool no deep space to attack.
Just when he was about to distribute the ball to the wing to see if he could draw Porto out of the backcourt, he saw Mo Yang reaching for the ball towards him.
If the team dad asks for it, don’t hesitate, just give it!
Mo Yang got the ball, turned around and rushed diagonally towards the top of the arc from the left half.
Mo Yang's sudden advance was like a handful of water falling into a boiling pot of oil. It immediately caused the defensive players in Porto's midfield and backcourt to collectively boil, causing panic and minor confusion.
This time, Mo Yang did not use any fancy moves to break through. He just used simple moves such as pulling the ball, pushing the ball, and circling. The result was surprisingly good. After stumbling, he even rushed out of the encirclement of Porto.
When Mo Yang came to the top of the arc, he unknowingly attracted the attention of six Porto players.
Three behind you, three in front of you!
But at this time, the Porto fans at the scene saw an extremely horrifying scene.
Because of Mo Yang, both sides of Porto's penalty area became empty again, and there was no one around Mane and Salah.
Among the six, Pereira was the quickest to react. He found the gaps on both sides.
So he took a step forward, trying to get stuck in the passing line between Mo Yang and Mane facing him.
But the moment he took a step, Mo Yang, who was sandwiched between the midfielders Herrera and Oliveira, started to take off covertly and abruptly.
I saw Mo Yang staggering down. The ball that was originally in front of his right foot was suddenly rubbed to the left by the inside of his toe. Then, while stepping forward with his left foot, he actually rubbed the ball away with the outside of his foot.
There was no warning in the whole process and it was extremely unexpected.
The ball took a small arc from where Pereira left and reached the left penalty area, right in the direction of Mane's progress.
Faced with this well-timed through ball, Mane's feet suddenly exploded, he stepped forward to meet the ball, and directly hit the ground with a powerful shot.
The ball was like a cannonball, clinging to the turf and rushing towards Josesa in front of the goal.
In front of the goal, Josésa looked like he had seen a ghost. He never expected that Mo Yang, who was trapped in such a double-team, could pass the ball.
In panic, Josesa quickly fell to the ground and threw himself on his side.
The ball was restricted by the angle, and Mane's shot was not very tricky, allowing him to pounce.
But the moment his hands touched the ball, José Sa felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave, and his whole body was chilled from top to bottom.
He let go! He fell to the ground too slowly!
The ball passed directly under him, slowly crossed the goal line, and rolled into Porto's goal for the third time.
In the stands on all sides of the scene, the cheers of Porto fans who had just started to celebrate Josésa's save suddenly stopped. They all stared wide-eyed and couldn't believe what they were seeing.
"roar!"
On the sidelines, Klopp punched and rushed to the coaching area.
This game is over!
And Conceição next to him looked ashen!
"The ball is in!!!"
"Mo Yang and Mane teamed up to kill the game!!"
"They have already entered the Champions League quarter-finals with one foot!"
"Three away goals completely eliminated Porto's hope of promotion!"
Dressed up in a festive LeTV live broadcast room, Zhan Jun was smiling and extremely excited, and his commentary was sonorous and powerful.
Zhang Lu was also amazed. Watching Mo Yang’s games always surprises people.
"Although it was Mane who scored the goal, the key role lies with Mo Yang. His breakthrough attracted all the Porto defensive players to the top of the arc, forcing a bloody path, and in the densely packed area
He can actually deliver the ball accurately to Mane's feet while being sandwiched, this is the ability of a world-class midfielder!"
"This is the role of a midfielder with superb dribbling ability."
"Porto didn't give Liverpool the deep space to attack, so Mo Yang created it himself. This time, the horizontal space on both sides was highlighted by Mo Yang with his own personal ability!"
"And Mane's shot didn't have many angles to choose from. He hit it very squarely! But he was very smart and asked for a ground ball!"
"Josésa fell to the ground too slowly!"
"Moreover, it started drizzling again at the scene before he knew it, which made the ball and the field become slippery again, which led to him letting go!"