King of the Zone

2011年3月9日晚上21:00，葡萄牙里斯本光明球场，在全场6万多球迷的欢呼声中，2010/2011赛季欧洲联盟杯八分之一决赛第一回合本菲卡VS多特蒙德的比赛正式开始。

Benfica, who played at home, broke out with extraordinary fighting power in the first half, suppressing Dortmund who came from afar.

Although Benfica is strong, Klopp has prepared for a difficult away game, and has carried out a lineup rotation in the last league game, but Dortmund played quite hard in the first half of this game, conceding two goals and not scoring a goal.

The reason is that in addition to Dortmund's away game and poor performance, there is also the reason why the Benfica players are in a state of chicken blood.

For Benfica, although their historical background may be higher than that of Dortmund, modern football has been reduced to gold dollar football after entering the 21st century.

The five major leagues stand out with stronger funds and media publicity, transfer fee expenditures, salary expenditures and overall technical and tactical atmosphere, making the Portuguese Super League a secondary league outside the five major leagues, and the attention of the media and fans has been greatly reduced.

Two players of the same strength, in Benfica and Dortmund who should have been similar, received completely different media attention and fan enthusiasm, and their worth and income were naturally different.

Therefore, in this UEFA Cup quarter-final against Dortmund, the top Bundesliga leader, Benfica's players are very energetic and desperate, with a strong hope of winning the opportunity of defeating their opponent Dortmund to attract the attention of the five major league giants.

For many young players or players who are in their prime, if they can successfully attract the attention of the giants of the five major leagues and transfer to the five major leagues, even if the salary is lower, it is still a good deal.

In addition, everyone also knows that about 60 minutes into the second half, the terrifying goal machine Cheng Hai will come off the bench.

At that time, Benfica's offensive opportunities will inevitably be greatly reduced, and Cheng Hai will be suppressed in the midfield and dare not boldly press up to participate in assists, so they must gain more advantages in the first half.

The comprehensive reasons of various aspects led to the result of Benfica leading 2-0 in the first half.

At halftime, Klopp replaced Owomoyela, who had performed poorly in the first half, and replaced him with Gotze, hoping to strengthen the attack.

As a result, Goetze's offense is stronger than defense, and Benfica just took advantage of it. Not long after the start of the second half, Benfica launched an attack from the left side where Goetze was located, and finally scored another goal with a pass from the bottom, expanding the score to 3-0.

The entire Stadium of Light became a sea of ​​cheers.

With a 3-0 lead, the Benfica players and fans finally had some peace of mind.

Now, even if Cheng Hai played, they were not afraid anymore.

On Klopp's side, he was still calm and calm when he fell behind 0-2, but when the score became 0-3 behind, he was also impatient.

Three goals behind, if not for Cheng Hai's trump card, I am afraid that Dortmund would have been eliminated by Benfica.

Even if this is only the first round of a two-round match.

Even so, Cheng Hai's average goal rate is only more than one, not two, let alone three.

And, averages can be deceiving!
There was a time when Cheng Hai didn't have a goal or an assist!

Therefore, seeing Benfica score again and become a three-goal lead, Klopp also became anxious. He immediately called Cheng Hai, who was warming up, and asked, "If you are allowed to play now, can you play until the end of the game?"

At this time, the time is only the 50th minute of the second half, including stoppage time, at least 43 minutes.

Even Cheng Hai has never played so long in the Bundesliga, let alone the UEFA Cup, which is faster than the Bundesliga.

But knowing that the current situation is extremely unfavorable to his side, Cheng Hai did not flinch, nodded fiercely and said: "Yes!"

Klopp patted Cheng Hai on the shoulder, and immediately made a decision to substitute Cheng Hai for Barrios, and partnered with Lewandowski as a double striker.

Following Dortmund's substitutions, Benfica also immediately made substitution adjustments, removing a striker and a full-back, and replacing them with a central defender and a defensive midfielder. The defensive strength instantly improved a lot.

Although Cheng Hai changed the situation instantly after playing, allowing Dortmund, who was under pressure and beaten by the opponent, to turn away from the guest and began to bombard Benfica indiscriminately in the half.

But Benfica, which has already led by three goals, has a huge psychological advantage, and has also made substitutions, which has greatly improved its defensive strength. Even with Cheng Hai's strength, it is quite difficult to break through Benfica's goal.

Benfica has conducted special research and pre-match training on Cheng Hai, and conducted special drills on how to defend Cheng Hai.

Although in a one-on-one situation, Cheng Hai can usually break through the past, but the opponent immediately has someone to fill his position, and more people are defending and siege, it is difficult for Cheng Hai to break through two or three people at the same time to siege.

In terms of running position, even with Cheng Hai's full value of running without the ball and grabbing points, it is difficult to run out of the gap in the penalty area full of people to get a chance to shoot.

What's more, even if you run out of the gap, you have to test your teammates' ability to perceive the gap and grasp passing opportunities, as well as the most critical passing skills.

These skills of teammates are not at full value.

Therefore, it is a test of luck.

But today, it was clear that Cheng Hai was out of luck.

Either running out of space and not being able to catch the ball from teammates, or a single player breaking through one or two players and then being destroyed by the opponent's follow-up defensive force.

Fortunately, in addition to scoring goals, Cheng Hai also has the ability to pass the ball.

Although he is not good at passing the ball on the ground and cannot take on the heavy responsibility of organizing the offense, Cheng Hai's speed and breakthrough skills can still be used on the wing where the opponent's defense is relatively weak, and he can give full play to his crossing and long-distance passing skills in the air.

But even so, teammates must be able to grab the cross.

Under the opponent's desperate defense, Cheng Hai did not succeed in breaking through and passing a good kick from the wing until the 88th minute before the end of the game, allowing the captain Sebastian Kyle who was inserted in the back row to rush into the penalty area with a powerful header and head the ball into Benfica's goal.

With Cheng Hai coming off the bench, Dortmund struggled to get back a point with a cross from the side. They tied the score to 1-3 and were only two goals behind. Finally, they retained a little chance of advancing in the second round.

After scoring this goal, the two sides did not score any more goals.

After 3 minutes of stoppage time, the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game. The two sides ended the first round with a score of 3-1. Benfica, who played at home, won a two-goal lead.

But after the game, no one from either side smiled.

Whether against Benfica or Dortmund, this score is unsatisfactory.

It is understandable that Dortmund, who lost two goals, was dissatisfied, but Benfica was also dissatisfied because they were not sure about the second round!
If the score is 3-0 and they get the second round, they will stick to it, and it is really possible to advance.

But now they are only leading by two goals, allowing Dortmund to score an away goal. Based on Dortmund's performance at the Westfalenstadion, the most terrifying home in Europe, and Cheng Hai's possible explosion after returning home, the probability of Benfica losing in the second round is not low.

Therefore, no one on both sides is satisfied with the score of this first leg.

Who will be eliminated in the end can only be known after the second round.