The strongest winger

Chapter 581 Half-volley shot (three more)

In the routine press conference before the game, the head coach of the visiting team is always the first to be interviewed, and then it is the head coach of the home team. Therefore, Benitez, who was 'sprayed', has no way to get back to the field in the first place.

But he found an opportunity when the team went to Stamford Bridge: "Mourinho always likes to comment on others, like he has to have a verbal battle with the opposing coach every time before the game, but I can only tell him that doing so is completely useless. The outcome of the game is kicked with both feet, not spoken..."

But it is a pity that the war of words between the coaches of the two sides stopped here, because the game is about to start, they have to return their attention to the Premier League.

Chelsea are currently only five points ahead of Manchester United in second place in the league, which is not a safe points gap.

Manchester United's opponent in the same round of the league at the same time is Manchester City, they are playing at home, and the opponent of Arsenal, who is third in the league, is not strong. It is Blackburn, and it is not a problem to win their respective opponents.

So for Chelsea, this league is absolutely not to be missed.

The focus of this blue-red battle was held at the Stamford Bridge Stadium. Like the usual Premier League, there were no seats.

From another point of view, this game has attracted a lot of attention.

Ten days later, the two teams will start their own Champions League knockout matches. At that time, they will definitely focus more on the UEFA Champions League. The league will probably give up selectively. Therefore, before the Champions League knockouts come, it is extremely important to win as many games as possible.

Both sides of the game offered the strongest lineup.

Chelsea's lineup for the home game is still the most commonly used 'four-three-three' this season. It is quite similar to the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 seasons when the Premier League champions flew together. However, the two wings are not balanced, because Aiello flies higher, faster and more deadly in whichever way.

Therefore, it also makes it more difficult for the opponent to defend.

Liverpool had no wins in the first two games against Chelsea this season, and they scored one goal and conceded five goals. So this time in the league at Stamford Bridge, Benitez's formation is a bit conservative, with five midfielders in the midfield and only one Torres in front.

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After the game started, the local commentator in London began to laugh at Liverpool: "Oh my God! Is this what Benitez said before the game? God... Forgive me for being a frog in the bottom of the well. It is really difficult for me to understand this Liverpool team. The three midfielders of Mascherano, Lucas and Xavi Alonso, Gerrard, Babel and Torres in the frontcourt... want to rely on the combination of these three to beat Chelsea's solid defense? How naive!"

Indeed, Liverpool is indeed a bit too naive.

However, Benitez also has his reasons for playing three defensive midfielders in front of the central defender. It is to use the abundant physical fitness of Mascherano and Lucas to ensure the safety of the space in front of the central defender.

Solid defense, waiting for an opportunity to attack!
In order to ensure the reorganization of strength, drawing on the previous defeats, Benitez did not use man-to-man defense, but a very popular zone defense.

This is a reasonable tactical play chosen by many away teams.

But then again, it is not shameful for Liverpool to play a defensive counterattack at Stamford Bridge, because Chelsea's home performance this season is too good, basically averaging 3+ goals per game, which makes the entire Premier League team feel scared.

So Liverpool quickly tasted the sweetness of Benitez's tactics. The game lasted until 10 minutes. There was no room for Aiello to attack in the two ribs of the penalty area. He could only choose long-range shots.

It's just that the hit rate of this long shot is a bit low.

Moreover, Ai Luo's talented long-range shooter is only LV·1, and his hit rate has only increased by 10%. If he blindly chooses long-range shots, it will definitely discourage his teammates, which will affect the overall situation of the game.

In addition to Chelsea occupying the initiative on the field, the actual threat did not occur.

Mourinho, who was standing on the sidelines, was not in a hurry. In his pre-match thoughts, he had imagined Liverpool's counterattack at Stamford Bridge, but...he laughed!

Playing this trick in front of real anti-revolutionary experts, will you have the consciousness to play tricks?

When the game progressed to around the 25th minute, Mourinho waved his hand, indicating that the two wingers boldly pressed for assists, turning the offense into a more direct two-way kick.

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In the 29th minute, Aiello got the ball 30 meters away from the goal. The nearby Xavi Alonso and Lucas immediately followed Ailuo. As long as he had the idea of ​​breaking forward, he would close the goal and keep the ball.

Of course, Aiello did not have such an idea. The current Liverpool defense system is very tightly positioned, one link after another. It is undoubtedly a dream to break through to the penalty area and hit the goal in such a small space. Therefore, he passed the ball back to Lampard and continued to run forward.

In addition to Xavi Alonso pressing forward to Lampard who was holding the ball, Lucas continued to run forward with Aiello. At the same time, right back Finnan also focused on Aiello, contracted the defense, and had no choice but to leave the space on the side.

Lampard was waiting for this moment, Ashley Cole set up on the wing, Lampard passed the ball directly, a fast low pass over 20 meters.

Ashley Cole got the football, and Finnan, who had just returned to the corner of the penalty area, had no choice but to pull it out, because the quality of Ashley Cole's crosses has always been very good. If he is allowed to play in the field without pressure, then the quality will be...

Finnan turned to greet centre-back Carragher before stepping forward to block Ashley Cole's cross.

At this moment, Aiello, Anelka, and Malouda suddenly accelerated towards the penalty area, making Carragher and Agger's central defenders extremely tense. In the past two games of this season, they have fully seen how powerful Aiello is. If they pass at this time, then...

When Carragher turned to chase back, he also looked at Ashley Cole on the wing, and just passed a moderately high cross with his left foot.

Going around from the inside out, this ball... is not the front point!
But before Carragher was surprised, he found that Ai Luo, who he was staring at, suddenly came to an emergency stop!

He didn't expect this change, because under normal circumstances, the full-back crosses from the side, and Ai Luo, who is a winger, must be the front-runner. This is the so-called principle of proximity.

But... what does it mean to stop suddenly?
Although Carragher is not as tall and burly as Agger, his 80kg body makes it impossible for him to convert immediately. In addition, he reacts passively, and it takes more time to react than Ai Luo, who reacts actively.

Even if this happened between lightning and flint.

But don't forget... football games are often won or lost in a very short period of time.

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Agger's experience in the Premier League is not particularly rich. It is naturally a bit difficult to defend against the old fritter Anelka, but he also has his own defensive method, that is... small moves.

Anelka occupies a favorable position, but under the defensive action of central defender Agger, it is very unrealistic to directly attack the goal, so he can only find another way.

Seeing that the football has crossed the front point, that is to say, the football will soon reach the middle, so Anelka can only forcefully take off, and then head the goal.

But at this moment, Ai Luo's voice made him change his mind.

"Nicolas!!"

The first goal Anelka scored when he landed at Chelsea was assisted by Aiello, so he had a very good impression of Aiello. In addition, the small-scale cooperation between the two in training was also very in tune, which made the friendship between the two develop further. When it extended to the football field, it became difficult to cultivate... a tacit understanding!
Jumping in the air, Anelka saw the unmarked Aiello out of the corner of his eye. He was also thinking about the angle and strength of the header, but the football was close at hand, and Anelka could only subconsciously head the ball a little.

"Ashley...a cross!!! The football landed a little behind, and Ai didn't take off. This time it depends on Nicola in the middle!!!"

Andy Gray, Sky's Chelsea 'royalty' commentator, shouted.

"- Anelka!"

In the camera, Anelka is under Agger's interference, and his jumping force is not enough, so his forehead is under the football. The parabola of the football is very large, which is completely out of Ai Luo's control.

Anelka, who was in mid-air, was also regretting that he was too hasty. If he leaned back a little to increase the area of ​​contact with the ball, then Aiello would be very comfortable to face the ball and shoot directly.

But Ai Luo's next action made Anelka's eyes widen.

Carragher, who has just turned around and turned his body, has the same movement.

Coincidentally, Mascherano, who was chasing back, thought that the angle of Anelka's header was very moderate, and directly placed his body on the angle of Aiello's shot, but...

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In fact, when Anelka was heading the ball in mid-air, Ai Luo suddenly had a flash of light in his mind, and his intuition told him the approximate landing point of the football, so at the same time Anelka felt remorse, his body turned to the right by nearly [-] degrees, from half facing the goal direction to now fully facing the goal.

After turning around, Ai Luo, who raised his head, moved very quickly under his feet. Taking advantage of his height and long legs, he arrived at a suitable place to complete the shot in two steps.

Immediately afterwards, his right foot slammed into the turf, and he jumped up because of the reaction force transmitted from the ground. Carragher, who also had his back to the goal, didn't know what Ai Luo was thinking?He took a big step forward between lightning and flint, then jumped up and completed a 180-degree turn in mid-air, trying to use his back to intercept Ai Luo's shooting angle, no matter how bad it was, it could affect Ai Luo's shooting feeling.

But Ai Luo's attention is completely on the football that is getting closer, so there is no interference for him.

In mid-air, Ai Luo swings his left foot from back to front, and exerts force from his waist at the same time. This force drives his left leg to swing forward with more power!Then his left foot hit the middle and lower part of the football hard.

boom---
"This is...an extremely difficult half-volley shot!!" Andy Gray subconsciously shouted while looking at Ai Luo, who was in charge of the camera.

(End of this chapter)