Green Dragon

Chapter 681

On April 4, after Liverpool defeated Tottenham 2-4 at home, Leicester City also defeated their opponents. The Blue Fox used the most affordable score of 1-1 to defeat the Saints Southampton.

The point difference between the two championship teams is still maintained at 3 points, and the third-ranked team has become Arsenal, but the Gunners are as much as 2 points away from the No.9 position, and it is obviously difficult to form a leading group threaten.

The calendar has flipped to April, which means Liverpool are entering a sentimental month.

In the club's administrative headquarters, training base, Anfield Stadium, and most of Liverpool City, flags have been hoisted to remember the 96 fans who died in the Hillsborough incident.

Sacrifice flowers, light candles, hang up elegiac couplets, collect joint signatures...

All kinds of mourning activities centered on Liverpool Club and slowly spread around.

And in the middle and late of this month, the English authorities will also hold the final hearing on the incident.
-
But outside of this big event, the Liverpool club has another small thing to deal with first:

They received a letter of indictment from UEFA officials.

In the previous Europa League double-red meeting, the Liverpool fans who were dazzled by the consecutive victories satirized Manchester United with various songs. At the same time, they also set off a lot of fireworks and smoke, which seriously affected the game and broadcast.

At that time, after that game, some Liverpool fans laughed at the occurrence of the "Munich tragedy" during the game, and some Manchester United fans could also be heard singing songs about mocking the "Hillsborough tragedy". Failure to stop the wrong behavior of the fans in time obviously has to bear certain responsibilities.

Players and coaches, including Long Shute, reminded the fans of this kind of thing through their personal media accounts and live broadcasts long before the game, but when the adrenaline was crazily secreted, even the fans' biological parents and wives , can't stop the swear words from their mouths...

A fine of 20000 euros is not worth mentioning for a team like Liverpool. It is not even enough for Long Shute's appearance fee for half a game.

Fortunately, UEFA still has a bit of humanity and did not order them to ban fans from entering the stadium in the next game, otherwise the club's loss would be more than a hundred times that of 2w...
-
After paying the fine, Liverpool organized coaches and players to visit the families of the victims.

During the visit, the players worked tirelessly, entered villages and households, had heart-to-heart talks with fans, communicated with each other in depth, remembered the glorious years, cared for each other and cried, sent ardent expectations, and encouraged everyone to get out of the predicament as soon as possible and move towards an infinitely bright future... …

Mourning is painful, but people's lives can't always be in mourning, otherwise neither the dead nor the living will be happy.

The Liverpool club cannot allow the mourning activities to take up all the team's time, because they still have their own jobs to do.
-
On April 4, Rogers led his disciples to Germany.

A day later they will take on their Europa League quarter-final opponents... Borussia Dortmund.

The Yellow and Black Legion is undoubtedly the most difficult bone in the quarterfinals. In recent years, under the leadership of Klopp, they ushered in a crazy peak period.

Two consecutive Bundesliga titles, Champions League runner-up, 12-13 beating of Real Madrid in the semi-finals of the 4-1 season, let people see the horror of this youth team...

Although the meritorious coach Klopp was severely fired last season due to a decline in performance, Dortmund has grown into a European powerhouse that cannot be underestimated!

"There is no doubt that Dortmund is the strongest opponent we have encountered in this Europa League. Their tactical play emphasizes high pressing and is extremely aggressive. If we don't show our best tomorrow, we may encounter A tough fight..."

In the pre-match press conference, Rodgers highly praised tomorrow's opponent.

This is not to show weakness, but that he really has some headaches for Dortmund.

The yellow-black storm that once raged in European football has a lot of restraint with Rodgers' tactics, especially Dortmund's frontcourt attack group with Royce, Aubameyang, and Mkhitaryan as the core , causing headaches for all opponents, and Liverpool's defense is mainly strong and brave. In terms of speed... I am afraid it will be difficult for them to prevent these players from breaking through and cooperating with passing and cutting.

He has also studied this issue with Long Shute, and hopes that Long Shute can share some of the heavy burden of defense, but Long Shute alone... Even if he has six legs, it is impossible to keep an eye on Dortmund's first-class offense in the frontcourt hand……

So they quickly clarified the guiding ideology of the game:

Anyway, there is no way to prevent it, so why waste Long Shute's powerful offensive point? -
Adhering to "offense is the greatest defense", when the night fell on April 4, Rogers sent a slightly surprising starting lineup.

"Brazilian striker Firmino, who has performed well recently, did not start. His replacement...is Benteke..."

Zhan Tianjun hesitated for a moment.

Zhang Lu explained for him:
"Rodgers must have noticed that Dortmund's starting central defender is Sven Bender as a temporary cameo. This may become a shortcoming in defense, so he sent a high center forward to focus on the attack."

"It seems that Benteke will get a lot of high balls today. I hope this tactical arrangement will work."

Zhan Tianjun nodded to express his understanding, and then moved his gaze back slightly:

"The captain of the Red Army has returned to the starting lineup. Long Shute seems to have moved forward in this campaign. Is Rogers going to give up the defense in the backcourt and fight Dortmund with all his strength?"
-
When Emre Can found himself placed in the midfielder position, he actually wanted to refuse in his heart.

But when he looked at the eager eyes of substitute players like Lucas and Joe Allen, he finally stepped on the court resolutely.

Anyway, it's better to be the starting player in a key competition than to be a substitute!
What's more... the person who robbed him of his position as an offensive midfielder was his thigh! -
"Snapped!"

The two captains, Long Shute and Hummels, clapped their hands hard, exchanged each other's team flags, and then started coin guessing in front of the referee team.

Although Liverpool and Dortmund rarely played against each other—mainly in the past few years of Dortmund's rise, Liverpool rarely had the chance to play in the Champions League—but Long Shute, who had played for Bayern for two seasons, knew this opponent well.

尤其是在2012-13赛季，拜仁和多特蒙德一共交手了五次（超级杯1次、联赛2次、德国杯1次、欧冠决赛1次），就连向来喜欢和强队较量的龙殊特……一看到大黄蜂的球衣，就莫名其妙产生一股厌烦欲呕的冲动！

Just like playing against Manchester United this season!
Perhaps because of the home game, Hummels, who was full of confidence, defeated Long Shute and got the right to kick off.

As soon as the whistle sounded, with Aubameyang as the arrow, Royce, Mkhitaryan and other players quickly inserted into Liverpool's defense.

Although the position is moved forward, when it is time to defend, Long Shute is absolutely unambiguous. He quickly sticks to Durm who is about to score the ball, making the temporary midfielder who was born as a full-back lose the rhythm of passing the ball , Long Shute's attack made him have to turn around and pass back, but he was in a mess, but he sent the ball directly to Lallana on the wing!
"Well, Dortmund's attack only lasted three seconds and then stopped abruptly, now it's Liverpool's counterattack!"

Zhan Tianjun's words also took three seconds. Fortunately, Liverpool's attack time is longer than three seconds.

Taking advantage of Dortmund's slightly disjointed midfield, Lallana unceremoniously dribbled the ball forward.

Schmelzer did not lose his position, but Durm's loss of the ball made him half a beat slower, so that Lallana took the lead and wiped it in from the inside!

Smearing in is a restricted area!

Hummels had to pounce.

He is the captain and the core of the defense. Although he knows that Lallana is likely to pass the ball to Benteke who outflanks the goal at the last moment, he must also do his own defensive work!
Fortunately, Sven Bender still had a little sense of positioning, and tried his best to stop Benteke, who was about to move, behind him, blocking Lallana's best line of crossing to the center.

But Lallana was unmoved at all. Facing Hummels' block, he just took the ball and pulled it to the right, posing for a kick to shoot, but when Hummels flew to block the cross Ankle flick!
The ball floated diagonally backwards!
"I knew it a long time ago!"

Hummels, who had already made a flying shovel, hit the turf with a punch.

That familiar yet unfamiliar red figure was like a raging fire, dyeing the black and white football with a golden brilliance!
Long Shute swung his legs in the penalty area!
volley!

Weidenfeller stood guard in the middle and stood ready!

But Long Shute didn't directly bombard the empty middle lane, instead he made a surprise move!
The football bypassed the entangled Benteke and Sven Bender, rubbed the far post and got into the net!
"At 9 seconds into the game, Liverpool made a lightning goal!"

Zhan Tianjun flipped through the information quickly, and then confirmed in a positive tone:

"This is the fastest goal in the history of the Europa League!"
-
Long Shute patted the flame on his chest, smiled and waved his fist.

Want to beat the quick attack?
Dortmund... Are you sure you can beat me?

(End of this chapter)