The strongest winger

Chapter 479 "Cutting Throat" ([-]rd watch)

Liverpool, who also used a substitute lineup to complete the weekend league, did not have the same result as Valencia, but the result of this game is not important to them when they lose the league title but can keep entering the Champions League next season.

However, the executives and fans of the Liverpool club hoped that while Valencia won the game with a substitute lineup, they would also win the game away from Portsmouth, but the result was unsatisfactory. They were scored twice by Portsmouth in the first half, but in the second half, central defender Hyypia scored a header.

Although Liverpool said that they did not pay much attention to the loss of this game, but through the hard work of the reporters, they still found some clues.

Bellamy, who was replaced in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final, complained many times about his teammates in this league, and did not return to Liverpool with the team after the game, but chose to drive away alone. For Benitez, who pays attention to the team as a whole, it is undoubtedly a slap in the face.

So when the team returned to Liverpool, the team gave Bellamy a moderate penalty-sit on the bench in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final.

Although Liverpool denied the news after the news broke out, the reporter clearly captured that Bellamy, who started the game last round, did not wear the yellow vest that symbolizes the main team. Instead, Crouch, who had recovered from his condition, put on the yellow vest.

This had to make the reporter with a peculiar way of thinking suspicious.

※※※

On April 4th, the second day after Valencia ended the league at home, I took a direct flight from Valencia to Liverpool at noon that day.

What's interesting is that when all Valencia players came out of Liverpool Lennon International Airport, apart from a few Valencia fans wearing white jerseys, there were also many Everton fans wearing blue jerseys holding signs supporting Valencia's victory over Liverpool.

This shows how much hatred between Everton and Liverpool...

There were a lot of reporters at the airport, so their eyes were very sharp. They did not see the captain Albelda among the team members, that is to say...he really missed the second round of the Champions League semi-final between Valencia and Liverpool due to injury.

This serendipitous discovery came as a pleasant surprise to most English journalists.

The role of Albelda in the Valencia team is quite obvious. In the past season, Albelda touched the ball the most at the beginning of each game, and what is rare and valuable is that his passing accuracy rate is as high as 91%, basically without any mistakes, and his performance throughout the season is very stable. For a veteran who is about to turn 3, this is really not an easy statistic.

What is more critical is the number of times he passes the threatening ball in each game, because Valencia's long-pass counterattack passes are basically completed by Albelda.

At the same time, he also made a lot of contributions in defense, averaging 3 successful interceptions per game, which is comparable to professional blue-collar game data.

Albelda's absence from the game will most likely directly affect the final outcome of the game.

In order to prevent the team from falling into panic, Flores mentioned the negative effects of Albelda's absence in an interview with reporters: "Player injuries are unavoidable for any team, and this time it is unfortunate that we became the unlucky ones, but this will not affect our plans at Anfield."

Aiello, who has failed to score in two consecutive UEFA Champions League matches, was also among the interviewers. Facing the reporter’s doubts, Aiello said forcefully: “For me, the number of personal goals is far less important than the team’s victory. If I can, I will exchange all my goals this season for the victory of the game. As for the problem of scoring shortage, I think... anyone with a little brain can figure it out. I believe that scoring a player’s performance is not only about scoring.”

Ai Luo's answer immediately made the reporter feel very speechless, but his words were not wrong. The role of a player in the team really cannot be measured by goals.

In the first round of the match between the two teams, it would not be impossible for Aiello to complete his own shot and score a goal, but he chose to cover his teammates to score, just like the first goal scored by Ballack. If it weren't for Ailuo's active running in the frontcourt and the key missed ball at the last moment, could Valencia have scored the first goal?

And the team's second goal was due to his direct assists, plus his defense in the second half of the last game also made a great contribution, beating Crouch and Dirk many times to clear the ball.

However, after the end of Liverpool's training that day, Mascherano, whose restriction on Aiello was nearly perfect in the last game, also accepted an interview with reporters, "For a striker, isn't the criterion for measuring him scored? Since he made such an excuse, then I will let him continue. I will definitely restrict him again in the second round of the Champions League semi-final at our home court the day after tomorrow. At that time... let us measure his role together!"

Mascherano didn't name him by name, but anyone with a discerning eye knew that he was referring to Aiello, because his task in the last round was to mark Ailuo.

Faced with Mascherano's provocation, Aiello did not give a positive answer, but conveyed a sentence from the mouth of the reporter at the hotel where he was staying: "We will wait and see!"

Of course, in the eyes of many Liverpool fans, Aiello is a dead duck with a hard mouth. In the last game, he was indeed defended by Mascherano. His assist to David Silva's score was still due to an active error by Mascherano. They don't think Mascherano will give Aiello such a chance at Anfield.

Although Mascherano has only been in Liverpool for half a season, his performance has completely conquered the fans at Anfield.

※※※

During the two days in Liverpool, the Valencia team basically stayed in the hotel for strength training to maintain their physical condition, except for two visits to Anfield to adapt to the venue.

It was not until the morning of the game that the team came to the training ground provided by Liverpool for a simple group confrontation.

It is worth mentioning that in the reports of the European mainstream media in the past two days, most of the media were too unfavorable to Valencia, because Liverpool reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League for the second time in the past 3 seasons.

除去1964-1965赛季初踏欧洲赛场在半决赛阶段被国际米兰淘汰外，随后6次只要晋级欧冠4强最终必进决赛的记录肯定会得以延续，这也使得欧洲冠军联赛的决赛将会出现连续3个赛季都有英格兰球会参加的情况。

So Liverpool supporters have enough theory to back them up.

Of course, a large part of the reason for this theory is that the entire Valencia team tried not to accept media interviews under the request of head coach Flores in the past two days, so there will be a lot of news that is not good for Valencia in these two days.

But Valencia's whole team doesn't care. They can use the media to let Liverpool relax their vigilance while keeping the team's attention.

As the game approached, Liverpool star Kenny Dalglish also accepted an interview with reporters, because he will serve as a commentator for Liverpool TV in this crucial game related to Liverpool's promotion to the final.

"There is no doubt that Liverpool will win this game, and it will be a big victory! Don't forget, this is Anfield, and any team coming here must bow their heads!"

※※※

In the second round of the UEFA Champions League semi-final match at Anfield Stadium, the stands were full. The most eye-catching thing was the south stand of the stadium. It was a piece of red, and there was a huge Liverpool team logo on the top of the stand. Fans who are familiar with Liverpool know that this is the holy place of Anfield - the KOP stand.

The KOP stand is where Liverpool's most loyal fans gather, just like the sacred north stand of the Mestalla Stadium, it is also a stand with the best atmosphere in the entire stadium.

When the home team Liverpool came out of the player tunnel and came to the stadium, there was a tsunami of cheers at Anfield Stadium, among which the cheers from the KOP stand were the loudest.

But when the players of the visiting team Valencia came out to warm up, the treatment was completely different. They were greeted with overwhelming boos, which spread from the KOP stand to the entire stadium.

Due to the high importance of this game, there are also a lot of security personnel arranged by Liverpool City for this game, especially the most police officers connected to the Anfield Road Stand, the Main Stand and the Centennial Stand.

England's football hooligans are world-renowned. In this crucial second round of the Champions League semi-final match, no one can guarantee that the fans on both sides of the game will not have disputes or physical contact because of the different teams they support.

Even group fights are not out of the question.

Hearing the boos pouring into his ears from all directions, Ai Luo spit out a mouthful of saliva on the turf. Unfortunately, this scene happened to be captured by the director of the Anfield Stadium. I don’t know if the fans in the stands felt that Ai Luo’s behavior was tarnishing their sacred Anfield. The overwhelming boos were even louder than the previous few seconds.

There were even fans holding up a huge banner of "Welcome to Hell" in the main stand, and the bright red writing was particularly eye-catching.

But Ai Luo glanced at the huge banner in the main stand, and Ai Luo grinned.

The director of the stadium also knew that Ai Luo was one of the key players in the game, so many camera positions followed Ai Luo. At this moment, he made a movement towards the fans in the stands, raised his right hand to his throat with a smile, and then moved everything horizontally, a standard "throat cut" movement.

Now that the boos are already so loud, ask for a louder number?
This is your sanctuary, but... this is just one of the stages on which I perform.

PS: Ask for tickets at the third watch! !
(End of this chapter)