At 20:50 on the evening of October 3, San Paolo Stadium in Naples, Italy.
At this time, the venue was buzzing with people. Not only were all 54,726 seats in the venue filled, but the platforms at the top of the stands were also packed with Naples fans. To say it was a huge crowd would not be an exaggeration.
Five years have passed since the infinitely regrettable season of 2013-2014, and Naples fans have finally waited for the happy moment when the team returns to the embrace of the Champions League.
So today, the nearly 50,000 home fans at St. Paul Stadium are particularly enthusiastic.
The organized collective shouts, surging and passionate, turned the originally cold and damp Sao Paulo Stadium into a huge furnace after dark, allowing every fan who walked in to feel the burning sensation for the first time.
The heat wave hit my face.
"Fans, welcome to watch the 2018-19 season brought to you by PP Sports, the second round of the Champions League Group C match, Naples will face last season's Champions League winner Red Army Liverpool at home!"
"I'm Zhan Jun, and today my partner is Zhang Luzhang, my guide!"
After Zhan Jun's opening remarks, the players on both sides of the field have also completed a series of pre-match procedures such as exchanging team flags and choosing sides. The players all stood in their respective positions and waited for the second hand on the large screen to turn to 21 o'clock.
"Okay, let's take a look at the starting lineups of both sides first!"
Naples:(443)
Goalkeeper: Ospina
Defenders: Maksimovic, Albiol, Koulibaly, Lu Yin
Midfielder: Alan, Hamsik, Ruins
Forwards: Callejon, Milik, Insigne
"Naples did not score against Red Star Belgrade in the first round of the group match. Their ball possession rate reached 73.2% and they fired more than 20 shots. In the end, they had no choice but to be tied by Red Star and missed the three-pointer.
, so this game is extremely crucial for Naples!"
"Yes, if they lose to Liverpool in this game, their qualifying situation will become very passive!" Zhang Lu continued.
"It is said that Liverpool and Manchester City are unlucky this year and have entered the death group one after another, but I personally think Naples is even more unlucky. In 2013, Naples fell into the death group. However, they played quite well in the group stage and scored 12 points, but ended up with a net result.
Disadvantage to win the ball and get out with a high score!”
"I finally made it back to the Champions League this year, but I ended up being drawn into the group of death again. This time it was even more extreme, and I bumped into Paris Saint-Germain and the rising Liverpool!" Zhang Lu said cheerfully.
Liverpool:(433)
Forwards: Mane, Yinbu, Salah
Midfielder: Milner, Fabinho, Mo Yang
Defenders: Robertson, Van Dijk, Gomez, Alexander-Arnold
Goalkeeper: Alisson
"On Liverpool's side, Klopp is still at an unbeatable 433. Compared with the last game, the lineup has some minor changes."
"Fabinho replaced captain Henderson, Yinbu replaced Firmino, and the positions of the others have not changed."
"Liverpool has recently encountered a devilish schedule and has encountered strong opponents continuously. Today's game is still a long-distance march, so it is hard to say how well Liverpool can perform in the away game!"
"When it comes to Liverpool, I believe many fans will think of the Miracle Night in Instanbul, but some fans may not know the other protagonist of that night, the head coach of AC Milan, who is the head coach of Naples today."
"Ancelotti, you're the second oldest guy with thousands of years of experience! Everyone knows it!" Zhang Lu chuckled and suddenly joked.
"Ha ha!"
Zhan Jun burst into laughter and couldn't speak anymore. He waited for a while before continuing: "It can't be said that. Ancelotti's AC Milan was miraculously reversed and won the UEFA Champions League runner-up in the 2004-05 season. But
A year later, Ancelotti successfully completed his revenge against Liverpool and won the Champions League in the 2006-07 season!"
After Zhan Jun finished speaking, Zhang Lu nodded and said with a smile: "But I'm afraid that magical 3-3 in Instanbul that year will be Ancelotti's eternal pain!"
On the field, with the sharp whistle of the referee, the game officially started. Liverpool attacked from right to left, and Naples attacked from left to right.
On the sidelines, Klopp stood in the coaching area with his chest crossed, under the long brim of his peaked cap, his expression was not relaxed.
Although Naples has not been seen in the Champions League in recent years, this southern Italian team is very strong.
According to the information collected before the game, Naples has scored a total of 42 goals in all past Champions League matches, including the qualifying rounds.
This can be called a terrifying number of goals, which is enough to illustrate the offensive strength of this Serie A team.
Next to Klopp is Carlo Ancelotti, the 10,000-year-old second-choice player whom Zhang Lu teased as having nine thousand years more experience than Klopp.
Among all the head coaches in world football, Ancelotti is a wise coach.
He has many shortcomings, he is elegant but weak, strategic but not strong enough, tactically calm but often lost in his own calmness, etc. These are the evaluations of Ancelotti by the media and countless fans.
Perhaps his on-the-spot command is not as passionate as Simeone and Klopp, nor is he as domineering and cunning as Lippi, nor as decisive as Capello, but he also has advantages that other coaches do not have.
For example, his superb emotional intelligence, his good-natured dealing style, his strong coordination ability, and the harmony and unity in the locker room he has controlled during his coaching career. Whether they are big-name stars or substitute players, they all obey him. From this,
This shows Ancelotti’s coaching ability.
In 1992, Ancelotti retired and became an assistant coach of the Italian national team and Sacchi's assistant. He led Italy to the World Cup and won the runner-up.
In the 1996-97 season, he led Parma to Serie A and finished second.
From the beginning of the 1998-99 season to the 00-01 season, in the three years of the league, Ancelotti led Juventus to two runner-up finishes.
In the past ten years, he has been rejected by the top league champions time and time again, making Ancelotti's nickname for Wannianlao Er.
But after entering the 21st century, Ancelotti, who had accumulated a lot of experience, ushered in his peak period. He bounced around in the four major leagues of Serie A, Premier League, Ligue 1, and Bundesliga. The league and the Champions League were in full bloom, and he won consecutive championships. Only then was he able to
I took off the nickname of "Second Son of Ten Thousand Years Old".
So Klopp, the thousand-year-old second-in-command, is actually much younger than Ancelotti.
After the game started, Ancelotti, who was chewing gum, watched the scene for a few minutes and then squatted on the sidelines.
But Ancelotti's eyes always moved on the area where Mo Yang was.
After observing silently for a few minutes, Ancelotti smiled. He found that Liverpool's No. 8 super core seemed to be a little out of shape.
As for Klopp, he just wanted to cry.
On the field, Liverpool looked like an eggplant beaten by frost after the start of the game. They did not have the domineering momentum that they had in previous games when they came up and robbed their opponents to the point where they could no longer take care of themselves.
This made the more than 2,000 Red Army fans who accompanied the team to watch the game at St. Paul's Stadium secretly worried.
But they can also understand that when they think of the devilish schedule that Liverpool has encountered at home, countless Red Army fans have cursed the Football Association.
To break it down, since the start of the new season, Liverpool has encountered strong opponents continuously.
Last week it was even more extreme, as we played two high-intensity games against Chelsea in a row.
Now that they are flying to Italy after a tiring journey, how can the players maintain their best physical fitness and condition?
On the field, Mo Yang also noticed something was wrong with the team's condition.
But he was helpless, because he himself could feel the exhaustion coming from the bone marrow in his body.
He himself is okay. There is a system to help him adjust his sleep. Once he closes his eyes and enters the system space, even if the sky falls, it cannot wake him up.
The other Liverpool players are in dire straits!
Last night they suffered a brutal defeat from the Naples fans. Many players were tortured by the noise made by the Naples fans and did not sleep for a few hours. Even if they got up in the morning to catch up on their sleep, they were still affected after all.