Falling 2 goals away from home, not only were Liverpool fans and the coach disappointed, but even the players on the field were disappointed.
But the Liverpool fans who came from afar still sang the team song "You'll Never Walk Alone" to support their team and show their loyalty.
Lily, Gerard's eldest daughter, who was sitting next to him, also started humming along. This was one of the songs she was most familiar with since she was a child.
But the most unforgettable time was at her father's retirement ceremony, when she witnessed with her own eyes all the fans in the packed Anfield singing this song in unison for their team soul Gerrard.
When it comes to loyalty and perseverance, there are really few clubs, especially fans of top clubs, who dare to be compared with the diehard fans of the Red Army.
Since winning the English top league championship, which was then the League One, in the 1989-90 season, Liverpool has been living in the shadow of another red team for more than 20 years. Until the 2019-20 season, after 30 years, it once again won the domestic top league championship, which was also the team's first Premier League championship.
In 30 years, the children’s children will be able to help themselves to cooking.
Leading the team back to the top, many people regard Klopp as Liverpool's Sir Alex Ferguson, hoping that he can continue to lead Liverpool to its top level.
Therefore, although they are disappointed with the current lag, they still firmly support the Germans' arrangements and plans for the team.
Liverpool players seemed to realize that if they didn't seize the opportunity, they would be humiliated on the road today, so they launched several waves of fierce attacks.
In the 35th minute, Liverpool moved back to the left from the repeatedly obstructed right side. Firmino advanced and took away Celik, creating space for Milner to cross the ball. The latter made a cross from outside the penalty area on the left side to the back post. Malaysia's header slightly touched the ball, and Elliot's shot missed and the ball flew out of the baseline.
Liverpool took a corner kick, Salah took the ball from the left, Van Dijk jumped high in the Roma penalty area, overpowered Smalling and completed a header, the ball hit the ground and bounced to the left side of the goal, but was saved by Patricio who remained focused.
During this attack, Cesco, who was returning to defense, also jumped to compete for the header near Van Dijk, but it seemed that he lost his balance due to touching Gomez in the air, so he did not step his left foot well when landing, and his ankle instantly turned outward. He suddenly fell to the ground due to the huge pain, covering his left foot in pain.
This type of ankle sprain is very common in sports. The referee Grande stopped the game, ran over to take a look, and asked his colleagues from the video referee team, confirming that there was no foul. Cesco could only blame himself for his bad luck.
Mourinho frowned slightly. The thing he didn't want to happen finally happened. At the beginning of the season, he was not afraid of conceding goals, but he was afraid of getting hurt.
Team doctor Manara sprayed a cooling spray on Cesco's ankle to help relieve the pain, then helped him hop off the court on one leg.
Fortunately, such injuries are not serious and usually improve within a week, which makes Mourinho feel a little relieved.
Abraham came on as an emergency substitute.
Two consecutive threatening attacks also injured the main center, so after Roma kicked off, Chen Xiaoliang took the initiative to retreat to receive the ball, and consciously directed his teammates to adjust the rhythm, began to control the ball in the backcourt, and slowed down the pace of the game.
Lily couldn't help wondering in the stands, and asked Gerard beside her: "Dad, why did Roma stop attacking all of a sudden?"
Gerrard patiently explained to his daughter: "On the one hand, he didn't want Liverpool to regain possession of the ball in a short period of time and launch a continuous attack. Such continuous attacks would gradually boost the morale, state and confidence of Liverpool players. On the other hand, it was also at this point in time that the Roma players, who had been running for almost the entire first half, could take a breath."
"Plus, the new forward didn't warm up beforehand, and it seems that he is not used to being the fulcrum of the front court, so your brother Chen also wants him to get a feel for it on the court before launching the attack."
Reese couldn't help but nod and praise: "This guy is so young, but he has a great demeanor. Fortunately, he is only 18 years old. When he retires at the age of 38, I will be 62 years old and retire at the right time."
Gerrard turned his head and glanced at Riise. "You are such a lucky guy. When I introduced him to you, I thought he was just a potential player. I thought he would be great when he was 24 or 25 years old. I didn't expect that he would become famous in Serie A at the age of 17 and won the Serie A MVP at the age of 18."
Reese's face was full of joy, and he felt very happy in his heart: "I will send you those bottles of top-grade whiskey that I bought in Japan last time tomorrow, hehe."
On the court, Chen Xiaoliang was still retreating and passing the ball safely.
There are three lines on the field. The midfielder is responsible for controlling the team's offensive rhythm while taking on the responsibilities of ball control, transfer and organization.
They have the best vision and are usually in the most open areas.
The direction in which an excellent midfielder passes the ball is equivalent to sending a signal to his teammates that he thinks that direction is worth attacking.
Young players can easily fall into a state of enthusiasm where they rush and fight. While they run and move on the court at all costs, it is difficult for them to adjust the rhythm of the game to a level that suits them.
Roma's opponent Liverpool is just in poor form recently, but that doesn't mean their players are incompetent.
When it comes to bus counterattacks, Roma is naturally more familiar with it, but in the final analysis, the overall ability of both sides is still better than Liverpool, and in terms of physical strength, except for a few veterans like Milner, the physical fitness level of Liverpool players is no worse than that of Roma players.
With about 10 minutes left in the first half, it was time to fight a positional battle to wear down the confidence Liverpool was trying to rebuild, and also to prevent their players from blindly rushing back and counterattacking, which would reduce their physical strength and result in them being able to rush forward but not be able to pull back.
The key points of the positional battle were also very clear. After Chen Xiaoliang made several passes with Matic and Smalling, he accelerated forward, used a freehand Marseille turn in the center circle to get rid of Milner's entanglement and passed the ball to Kvaratskhelia on the left.
Among the 11 starting players on the field, Kva is the one who has played the least, started the least this season, and has the most physical reserves.
Coupled with his ball control and dribbling abilities, he is perfect as a propeller on the wing in positional warfare.
In the first ten minutes, Salah took on too many tasks of initiating attacks from the wing. Although he could no longer run in the frontcourt to press high, he still followed behind Kva and participated in the wing defense.
However, there is an Elliot in front of him, but Elliot's defensive ability does not pose any trouble to Kwa.
Kva has only one target, and that is Liverpool's No. 66 right back Arnold.
If the opponent provides assisting defense, teammates will naturally need to provide support.
Chen Xiaoliang moved slightly to the left front, and Enzo behind him also moved forward appropriately. The two of them formed a triangle with Kva, one in front and one behind. Whether it was a back pass after a blocked breakthrough or a forward two-on-one cooperation or transfer, the left winger could have two points to pass the ball and cooperate at the same time.
But Kva chose to do it himself, he had waited too long for this opportunity. He was new to the team and was usually quiet and silent, so he seldom asked for the ball on the court. He always passed the ball and scored according to the needs of the team, never rushing forward to gain credit. But now the team was leading 2-0 and Liverpool was about to be defeated. Arnold, who had made several forward runs to participate in the attack, had also consumed a lot of energy. He did not want to miss this opportunity again.
Kva dribbled the ball forward at a low speed, gradually approaching Arnold's defense area. The England full-back kept retreating, trying to force Kva to a place close to the sideline to reduce his space. In this way, even if he could not intercept the ball, there was a great possibility that the ball would go out of bounds, thus interrupting the continuity of the attack.
Suddenly, Kva pushed the ball in front of Arnold while jogging, and then ran behind Arnold at full speed!
Lou Yichen shouted excitedly: "The ball passed the ball! Beautiful!"
Arnold, who was passed in an instant, seemed not to understand what was going on, but when he turned around and looked at Kva who was far ahead, he actually chose to slowly run towards the penalty area instead of trying hard to catch up and make a second defense.
Instead, Salah, who was following not far behind, noticed that something was wrong, so when Kvarner passed the ball to him, he rushed straight into the penalty area, blocking Kvarner's path to the goal after he received the ball.
After Kva regained control of the ball, he turned around and the ball was blocked by Salah's left leg and bounced slightly. Kva took advantage of the fact that the opponent was already in the penalty area and two penalties had been awarded and did not dare to make any big moves. He held off Salah and regained control of the ball with his right foot.
Lou Yichen: "Beautiful! Another one passed!"
Seeing that Salah was unable to stop Kva, Fabinho also rushed over, but Kva was on the left bottom line near the small penalty area, and there was no one in front of him, so he would not give Fabinho the chance to defend himself.
Kva pushed the ball with his left foot, and the ball had a slight arc. The distance was too close and Alisson had no time to get down to save it. Abraham, who had been waiting in front of the goal for a long time, stepped forward and gently pushed it, 3-0!
After scoring the goal, Abraham opened his arms and ran out of the field! Kwa turned around and raised his hands high towards the stands!
Lou Yichen: "Abraham, who had just been on the pitch for a little over two minutes, didn't even have time to warm up, and replaced the injured Cesco. Unexpectedly, he scored his first goal of the season with his first touch of the ball, and it was in the Champions League!"
Liu Yue: "Sometimes, a striker's luck is more important than his skills. When he is unlucky, no matter how good his skills are, he will still miss many shots. It is like drinking cold water and getting stuck in your teeth."
Lou Yichen: "99% of the credit for that goal should be attributed to Georgian winger Kvaratskhelia. He first accelerated and passed the ball to Arnold, then dribbled in a small area at the bottom line of the penalty area and squeezed out Salah who dared not move, and finally passed the ball to the front of the goal."
"Abraham's goal is definitely one of those goals that netizens often say could make it to the "my grandma's" category."
Liu Yue: "At the beginning of the season, many fans questioned why Mourinho spent 10 million euros to buy a little-known player instead of Belotti, who could sign for free. Especially after he did not get a chance to play in the first few league games, they thought Mourinho himself had discovered that he had bought a fake. I believe that in today's game, his performance of one goal and one assist, especially his beautiful performance of passing two players and providing an assist, is enough to shatter all doubts from the outside world."
Lou Yichen: "With 10 million euros, only Eastern European countries like Georgia, Slovenia and Greece, where the level of their domestic leagues is second- or third-rate in Europe or even lower, can possibly find such a cost-effective player."
"In England, just based on Kvaratskhelia's performance just now and his age of 21, his starting price would be at least 50 million pounds."
Liu Yue: “More than that.”
After conceding the goal, Liverpool players were inevitably dejected. They didn't want to watch the Roma players celebrate or listen to the Roma fans cheering.
Salah walked towards Arnold angrily, gesturing at him and muttering something.
It was obvious that he was blaming himself for rushing back to the penalty area to defend as a winger, while Arnold, as a full-back, just strolled there after being passed.
After celebrating, Kwara jogged back to his own half, feeling excited but also a little disappointed.
It’s so easy. Why is it so easy to pass Arnold?
It was completely different from the fierce confrontation he expected before the game. It seemed... that Arnold's mind was not on defense.
But Kva doesn't care about so many things. The goals, assists and the team's lead are all real. The opponent's attitude towards the game is their own business, and what he can control is his own efforts and investment.
Soon, the first half ended and players from both teams walked into the player tunnel with completely different expressions.
After everyone entered the room and sat down, Mourinho began his speech.
"Excellent! Excellent!"
"This is the best game I've seen you play on the court since I came to this city!"
"You dominated this court and dominated your opponents!"
"But I hope you don't forget how badly you were beaten by Udinese last week because you underestimated the opponent!"
"We proved that we can beat Liverpool if we put our heart and soul into it, but 3-0 is not enough!"
"You have also experienced a situation where you were 3 goals behind at halftime, and then your opponents celebrated early, but we eventually reversed the situation!"
“So, don’t relax in the second half, do a good job of defense, and then seize every opportunity to attack. We still need to score goals, we can’t stop!”
Mourinho then focused on the defensive response to Liverpool's offensive tactics.
In the other dressing room, Klopp was also shouting:
"Very bad! Very bad!"
"This is the most disorganized game I have ever seen you play on the pitch since I started coaching Liverpool!"
"You handed the field to your opponents! There was no effective blocking and no serious defense!"
"With a performance like today, we won't even qualify for the group stage, let alone win the Champions League again for revenge for last season!"
"We have to be serious in the second half and do a good job of defense!"
"Then we must patiently look for opportunities. The three goals we conceded are not to the point where we cannot make up for them!"
Salah and Van Dijk looked at each other, looked up at Klopp, but finally stopped talking.
They still have great trust in this meritorious coach in their hearts, but the problems exposed in the team this season are actually visible to the naked eye.
They hope to replace the midfield with more dynamic and resilient players, and hope to replace the defenders with more attitude and greater fighting spirit.
But their performances so far this season have not been good, not to mention that Klopp is a person who is very obsessed with tactical requirements. For this reason, after coming to Liverpool, he even fell out with his assistant coach Buvac, whom he called "the brain", with whom he had worked for 18 years, and let the latter leave the team on his own initiative.
It may not be possible in private, but questioning Klopp's use of players in public like this is even more "life-threatening".
Therefore, the two finally chose to remain silent, but the worries in their hearts were lingering.
However, Klopp finally made an adjustment. He replaced Gomez, who was sleepwalking tonight, with 31-year-old Cameroon international Matip.
The aging Milner is still on the field, not because he won't be replaced, but because he hopes to bring in new players later to break through Roma's defense.
As for Roma, Mourinho did not make any substitutions, but instead asked Abraham, who had just played for less than 5 minutes before the half-time break, to return to the field early to do some ball training and warm up his body.
As both sides returned to the court, they changed sides and the second half began.
Matip, who came on as a new substitute, was full of energy.
In the 46th minute, after Milner's long shot was blocked by Chen Xiaoliang and went out of the baseline, Matip headed the ball after receiving Salah's corner kick, but it was too straight and was confiscated by Patricio.
However, Patricio stood up without any hesitation and threw the ball to Chen Xiaoliang who had rushed out of the penalty area and moved to the left side.
Compared with Kva's beautiful pass between the man and the ball in the first half, Chen Xiaoliang's way of dribbling the ball was much simpler and rougher.
Facing the pressure from Salah rushing towards him, and Arnold who was looking back at him and retreating continuously, Chen Xiaoliang pushed the ball far forward, and then, like a racing car running at 60 km/h suddenly stepping on the accelerator to the bottom, he burst out at full speed from a medium-speed run.
At this time, Matip and Van Dijk were both in Roma's penalty area and had just participated in a header.
Left behind to defend were Robertson, Milner and Arnold, plus Fabinho who was able to adapt to the situation at the top of the penalty area.
But among these people, Robertson is the fastest, but as a left back he is on the other half of the field. Milner is in the middle but is the slowest. Only Arnold can defend Chen Xiaoliang.
After Chen Xiaoliang sped up, he shook off Salah and then swung his legs to chase the ball he kicked.
Arnold had already been scolded in the midfield, so he didn't dare to be careless at this time. However, he should never, ever choose to stick to Chen Xiaoliang horizontally, trying to use physical confrontation to squeeze the Roma captain behind him.
But this is also in line with common sense. A 24-year-old England international facing an 18-year-old player is like a third-year junior high school student seeing a fifth-grade elementary school kid. His first reaction will always be to rely on his body to beat him.
This was exactly what Chen Xiaoliang wanted.
Arnold had no idea that the kid in his eyes could run so fast that he couldn't even catch up with the dust. He originally had the advantage of two people in front, but because of his lateral movement, he was left behind by Chen Xiaoliang, and inexplicably blocked his teammate Salah who was chasing him relentlessly.
Salah cursed all of Arnold's relatives in his heart, and then he still chased after Chen Xiaoliang with all his might.
If Chen Xiaoliang took three steps at a time, he should have been able to catch up with Salah, given his speed which is considered the best in the Premier League. However, this kid had no martial ethics. Facing the flat frontcourt, he took three steps at a time and carried out more than ten meters at a time. He ran several steps to catch up and took another three steps and carried the ball out of the penalty area without slowing down at all.
At this time, in the Brighton and Hove administrative district of the United Kingdom, a Japanese player named Kaoru Mitoma was also watching the game seriously in front of TV.
The scene of Kvarner passing the ball and breaking through Arnold in the first half had already surprised him, and the scene of Chen Xiaoliang breaking through and getting rid of Arnold at this moment made him even more amazed.
"Yoshi... swoosh... so this is how it should be done!"
Kaoru Mitoma, who is currently playing for Brighton in the Premier League and plays as a left winger like Kwa, took note of this and thought to himself that if he plays when he meets Liverpool later this season, he will have to try this too!
In a blink of an eye, Chen Xiaoliang had dribbled the ball from the left to the center of the penalty area. The only defensive player in front of him was Milner, who was working diligently but was obviously out of breath.
Chen Xiaoliang gently pushed the ball to the right and passed it to Abraham.
All the Roma fans in the stadium are cheering! This is definitely a super one-on-one shot!
Goal is within reach!
But I don’t know if it was because he didn’t warm up enough, was too excited about the goal, or was he not well prepared, but Abraham actually missed the first shot!
"Oh my god!"
In this game, I chose to hand over the commentary to my colleague, and Zhan Jun, who was watching the game at home, shouted.
He wanted to shout, "Traditional virtues, Abraham! Why not just give it a push earlier?"
But then I thought, no, I am a veteran Liverpool fan and I am already watching the game at home, so I can express my fan stance to my heart’s content.
However, accompanied by the regretful shouts of "Ah!" from the Roma fans at the scene, Abraham knew that he had made a fool of himself. He quickly stretched out his second foot to control the ball, but at this time Alisson and Milner had already pounced on him.
If the ball was passed to him by someone else, he would definitely force a shot. We’ll see whether it goes in or not. It’s up to me whether to shoot or not.
But the person who passed the ball was Chen Xiaoliang, the captain... He rushed all the way from the backcourt to bring the ball here. If I didn't shoot and let myself run in a better position, I would be scolded after the game if I missed the shot...
Although his motives were impure, Abraham made a very correct decision when he thought of this. He gently pushed the ball back to Chen Xiaoliang.
In this way, the two players went in and out randomly, and without any communication, it seemed as if they had teamed up to pass the ball back and forth to trick Liverpool's last two defenders.
After receiving the ball, Chen Xiaoliang immediately pushed the ball towards the goal. Alisson, as expected of being the third most valuable goalkeeper in the world, rushed back from the near post and blocked Chen Xiaoliang's shot!
"Oh!" Roma fans screamed again!
However, Chen Xiaoliang immediately stepped forward and gently picked up the ball that bounced back. This time, Alisson was unable to save the ball and it went steadily into the net.
4 to 0!
Now, it was Chen Xiaoliang who turned around and apologized to Abraham. After all, his first shot failed and ruined his teammate's assist.
In this game, there were no fewer Liverpool fans in the broadcast room than Roma fans. Even in Chen Xiaoliang's home country, 40% of the fans in the broadcast room supported Liverpool to win, not to mention the European online broadcast rooms.
Barrage:
[Strongly request UEFA to thoroughly investigate the urine sample of this red countryman! No one would believe that he didn’t drink stimulants! ]
A comment appeared under the Sky Sports live broadcast room, and soon many European Liverpool fans and even fans of Serie A teams went over to like, leave messages and show their support.
The news then spread to the Roma fan circle, as well as the Red Country fan circle.
Although they have different stances on supporting the team, when it comes to protecting their own players, the Red Country fans are surprisingly unanimous. Not long after, several more comments appeared under this one.
[Strongly request the EU to thoroughly investigate the bones of this red countryman! No one would believe that this wasn't made of vibranium! ]
[Strongly request the United Nations to thoroughly investigate the heart of this Red Countryman! Only the devil would believe that this is not nuclear power! ]
[Strongly request the Galactic Federation to thoroughly investigate the football membership of this red countryman! Only the devil would believe that this person is not from Krypton! ]
Therefore, the title of "nuclear-powered midfielder" was given to Chen Xiaoliang again.
After scoring the goal, Chen Xiaoliang celebrated briefly with his teammates, ran to the stands on the coach's side, repeatedly extended his index finger to a person in the stands, and then patted his chest where his heart was with his right hand.
How could the on-site director miss such a scene? He immediately followed the direction pointed by Chen Xiaoliang and focused the camera on Gerrard, who was in a dilemma.
If you say applaud, Liverpool fans will probably criticize him to death when they go home;
If you say ignore it, any neutral fan will think that this is too deliberate.
Before he could hesitate, Lily beside him and the surrounding Roma fans applauded first. They were naturally well aware of their star player's experience in Glasgow. The rumor that Chen Xiaoliang's long-range shot was taught by Gerrard already had version 2.0, and Chen Xiaoliang's long pass was also taught by Gerrard himself.
Moreover, the score of 4-0 had already made Roma fans no longer have any worries about the game. Now was the time to show sportsmanship and thank their old mentor together with the core players of the team , which naturally became a touching scene on the court.
Later, Liverpool fans joined in.
There was nothing much to say since we were 4 goals behind. It would be embarrassing if we continued to argue and make a scene.
On the one hand, applause is a respect for the old team soul, and on the other hand, it is also a response to the friendly applause of Roma fans.
After all, the men of our Ying Empire always appear to be gentlemen when they are not drinking or watching football.
Seeing this move by Liverpool fans, Gerrard no longer had any worries. He stood up and pointed at Chen Xiaoliang to express his gratitude.
Forti on the sidelines was also happy about this scene, but he subconsciously looked at Mourinho's reaction.
I saw him talking to Abraham, saying all this nonsense like "run more" and "coordinate more". It was obvious that he was making up things to say.
Fudi smiled secretly in his heart:
Huh? Why do I smell something sour? There's no vinegar here...haha