Grass roots glory

Chapter 160 Kicked to the Edge of a Cliff
Of course, not all media are pessimistic about the second round, and the media in Gelsenkirchen are very optimistic.

The advantage is not big, it is a fact.But the expedition to Anfield in the group stage was also overwhelmingly unfavorable to Schalke, so what happened?

Even if this is a knockout match, Schalke's loyal fans firmly believe that in the worst result of an away game, a draw can be won... In other words, there is no difficulty for Schalke to advance to the semi-finals.

Of course, there is no fundamental opposition between the two views.Everyone is considering from the standpoint of advancing for Schalke.It's just that the attitude is different.Marcel Leff's words are harsh, pointing out the problems that can be adjusted and solved in a short period of time.The local media in Gelsenkirchen encouraged Schalke from the front.

On the other hand, the British media did not look forward to the second leg as much as the German media, and most of their attention was focused on another quarter-final between Manchester United and Chelsea.

From the perspective of British fans and the media, this game is far more attractive than Liverpool and Schalke.Manchester United, which ranks first in the Premier League, is aiming for the double crown for the second consecutive season, and Chelsea has turned to the Champions League as the most important championship of the season...

The two sides meet again, destined to be more attractive than last season's Champions League final meeting.

In fact, Slomka also paid close attention to the contest between the two teams.If Schalke gets past this hurdle, their opponent is the winner of Manchester United and Chelsea.

In a battle where sparks hit the earth, Manchester United drew Chelsea tenaciously 2:2 in the away game.Drogba and Rooney scored a goal for their respective teams in the first half, and Shevchenko broke through Van der Sar's gate with his speed in the second half.The wind-like sprint that made Manchester United's defense unmatched, as if people saw the Ukrainian "nuclear warhead" who killed the whole of Europe in AC Milan in his peak period, that Sheva who walked like the wind.Although he is 33 years old, he is still going strong.

However, Shevchenko's outburst failed to help Chelsea take away a victory. Ronaldo volleyed in the penalty area with three consecutive players in No. 704 minutes and finally sealed the conclusion of this ups and downs.

With two away goals in hand, the Red Devils have taken the absolute initiative to advance.
In addition to the two games directly and indirectly related to Schalke, the other two quarter-finals were not calm.

Arsenal were tied 1:1 by Villarreal at home, casting a shadow over the road to promotion, and Wenger's team is likely to fail for five consecutive seasons.

In the last round, Bayern, who had just advanced 12:1, met Barcelona and were completely beaten at home.Messi, Henry and Eto'o went all out, and finally let Bayern swallow four bullets, almost declaring Bayern's death sentence.

Bayern executives looked gloomy in the home stands. News came out immediately after the game: general manager Hoeness has lost patience with Klinsmann. Currently there is only one championship title in the German Cup. Bayern decided to make up for it and avoid After the end of the season, there was the big news that "the top four giants in the Bundesliga are all empty".

A few days after Bayern's disastrous defeat, "Bild" and "Süddeutsche Zeitung" simultaneously broke the news that Bayern's high-level officials secretly contacted Heynckes, who has rich coaching experience in La Liga and Bundesliga.Due to the authority of the two media, Heynckes becoming Bayern's new coach became an open secret in a very short period of time.

The news of Bayern's coaching change has become mainstream news in German football.But Schalke still maintained its own rhythm.

No.20 eight rounds of the league, Schalke beat Cottbus 4:0 at home. Sunday did not score in this field, but sent the first assist hat-trick of Bundesliga career.In the second Chinese Derby of the season, Shao Jiayi did nothing, it was Zhou Tiancheng's one-man show.

However, there was no smell of gunpowder between the two. At the end of the game, Shao Jiayi took the initiative to come over and hug Zhou Tiancheng, and encouraged him in a low voice: "Come on, try to bring back the Champions League champion, and give us Chinese people a sigh of relief. I am optimistic about you!"

Zhou Tiancheng replied jokingly: "Brother Jiayi, you still put pressure on me. I am already under a lot of pressure now. Can you be considerate of someone like me who is always being watched by the media?"

"Hehe, I'll give you [-] points for pretending so hard, I'm not afraid of your pride. But... As your fan, can't you raise your expectations?"

"Uh... I'll try my best." Shao Jiayi said so, Zhou Tiancheng could only bite the bullet and express his position like this.

Who doesn't want the Champions League?But Zhou Tiancheng can only do his best.The Schalke team is still far from the top level in Europe.

……

After defeating Schalke 04 at home, the whole team immediately took a flight to Liverpool to prepare for the second leg of the Champions League next week.

The Anfield stadium was once again full of seats, and there was a wave of red everywhere.Liverpool fans made a huge sound wave, the extremely impactful red and the shouts filled the ears, and Anfield instantly became the devil's home court.

Of course, this did not cause much disturbance to the Schalke players.The whole team had already thought of this.And the second time I came here, everyone felt that Liverpool fans were nothing new except for their loud voices and strong lung capacity.

In this game, Benitez's starting lineup was not as extreme as the previous game, and he rearranged the familiar 4-4-2 formation.Goalkeeper Reina, two central defenders Hyypia and Carragher, left back Aurelio, right back Arbeloa, midfielder Gerrard and Alonso, Israeli internationals Benayoun and Dirk. Acting as two wings, Torres and Babel are double strikers.

It is clear that Benitez wants to actively seek changes and has made several changes to the starting lineup.Mascherano was removed from the starting lineup and the Spanish full-back Arbeloa's starting lineup is the biggest attraction.However, many commentators believe that Liverpool's biggest X factor may be Benayoun.

Sky Sports commentator Bob Clem believes that Benayoun's characteristics may be destined to become a surprise player: "Although Benitez can't play the main force, today Benayoun played against Schalke in the left forward position. Right back Rafinha, may be able to activate the wing attack. Rafinha caused a lot of trouble in the last game. And Benayoun's breakthrough is also first-class. If he can suppress Rafinha's back penetration With an assist, maybe Liverpool can find a breakthrough."

Back at home, Liverpool's players were in a completely different state. Amidst the loud cheers at home, Liverpool launched a wave of extremely threatening attacks in the first 2 minutes. After passing Schalke left-back Marcelo Bordon, Dirk Driven dribbled the ball directly into the penalty area and made an inverted triangle push pass to the center near the baseline. Torres had already raised his leg in the center. Fortunately, Westerman Experienced, stretched out a kick early to sweep the ball out of the baseline.

"My God, what a shock! If it weren't for Westerman's rich experience, he would definitely be in big trouble." The CCTV commentator Duan Xuan was still in shock.

This game is about whether Zhou Tiancheng can represent Chinese players and enter the semi-finals of the Champions League in history, so he is also quite nervous.

Before that, Sun Xiang represented Eindhoven in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. It was two seasons ago when Eindhoven eliminated Arsenal in two rounds, but they were defeated by Liverpool and failed to make further progress.

But what can reassure Schalke fans is that today's defense has entered the state very quickly.For Schalke, this is a game of defense and willpower. The goals are always second. The first is to do a good job of defense.

But what is interesting is that the high-intensity siege against Zhou Tiancheng in the previous game was not effective. Benitez simply gave up the idea of ​​​​restricting Zhou Tiancheng. When Schalke controlled the ball, Gerrard and Alonso returned at the same time. Withdrew in front of the centre-back.Leave the possession of the midfield to Schalke, but it is very difficult to push a step into the core hinterland of the penalty area.

Benitez was more or less inspired by Schalke's method of dealing with Liverpool's pass control and advancement in the last game, and used his own way to deal with him.

Zhou Tiancheng naturally knew that the attack in the middle would not work, so he tried to hand it over to the side to break through - if it wasn't in an extremely difficult situation, he would not choose to do it alone with the ball.

But Asamoah got into trouble when facing Alberoa.Arbeloa is very active in wing defense, and his physical fitness is stronger than the average full-back. Asamoah wanted to rely on the iconic wing to cut past him, but was blocked by Arbeloa. Cut the key line.

Liverpool's ability to switch between offense and defense is extremely strong. After Arbeloa made the steal, he passed a long pass directly to the striker. Torres took the lead in getting stuck, leaning on Westerman, and then passed back to Alonso diagonally.Originally, Gerrard, who was on the front of the goal, was a better pass target, but Torres consciously avoided Zhou Tiancheng.

Alonso received the ball in the corner of the penalty area and glanced at Schalke 04's goal. No one expected that he would choose to kick and eject directly from that position.

"Huh? Alonso shot from a 45-degree angle in the penalty area. This time the choice was unreasonable..."

Duan Xuan subconsciously said.

But no one expected that Alonso's ball seemed to be harmless, but it actually fell rapidly in front of the goal.Neuer, who is known for his reaction speed, didn't make any moves. Watching the ball fall into the dead corner of the goal, his face was full of horror.

"GOOOOOOAL!!!!"

With the cries of Bob Clem, Anfield fell into a complete carnival.

And Duan Xuan had a hellish expression on his face. Although he was shocked in his heart, he still reacted on the surface, and said regretfully: "Alonso scored a goal. It is very... a beautiful world wave. Now Schalke 04 is going to strengthen the attack. Liverpool Now we have the advantage with away goals."

And Marcel Leff spread his hands with a helpless expression. "Now Schalke is passive. In the final analysis, this is self-inflicted. If they can focus on the defense in the final stage of the last game..."

However, football has no ifs.

Alonso kicked Schalke directly to the edge of the cliff.

PS: First update a chapter of [-] words, and then a chapter of [-] words in the afternoon, around four o'clock.

Some chapters with 1 words are really difficult to write, and I don’t want to limit the number of words, so I just arrange it like this. If Chapter 2 is less than [-] words, Chapter [-] will definitely be updated.

(End of this chapter)