Reborn Liverpool

Chapter 303 1/4 Finals First Round

Amid the noise, it will soon be April 4, the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals. Liverpool will face their old rival Manchester City at Anfield.

这是两队首次在欧战交锋，也是欧战历史上第17次英伦德比。曼城此前曾在1971年欧洲优胜者杯中遭切尔西双杀出局。这也是利物浦第10次参加欧战英伦德比，此前9个主场仅2009年欧冠负于切尔西，其余8个主场取得5胜3平。

This is the 179th time the two teams have played against each other. Liverpool had the upper hand with 87 wins, 46 draws and 45 losses.

Manchester City drew 2-2 at home with Liverpool this season and lost 3-5 away. In the last 8 encounters between the two sides, Manchester City has no wins.

Manchester City has not won 16 draws and 5 losses at Anfield nearly 11 times. Since 1981, Manchester City has only won 30 game in 1 away games against Liverpool. For Guardiola and his Manchester City, Anfield Stadium is not a blessed place.

But even if the Red Army has a clear home court advantage over Blue Moon, Klopp also pays special attention to this game, which can be seen from the starting lineup.

Liverpool (4-3-3):

13 - Pickford;

66-Arnold, 3-Maguire, 4-Van Dijk, 26-Robertson;
7- Milner, 10- Zhang Mai, 21- Chamberlain;
11-Salah, 9-Firmino, 19-Mane.

Manchester City (4-2-3-1):

31 - Edson;
2- Walker, 4- Kompany, 30- Otamendi, 14- Laporte;

8-Gundoan, 25-Fernandinho;

21-Silva, 17-De Bruyne, 19-Sane;

33 - Jesus.

Liverpool rotates 2 players. Chamberlain and Pickford are in the starting lineup respectively. Uncle Zha's meaning is obvious. A solid defense and offense rely on the trident. Zhang Mai is the offensive and defensive metronome of the midfield.

Although Manchester City's injury climax has passed, Aguero has not yet played, Gundogan entered the starting lineup, and Guardiola's favorite Sterling sat on the bench.

"The nimble Jesus has less than the slightest advantage in front of the mighty Van Dijk and Maguire. Even if he pulls the side, he will be restrained by the fierce and quick Arnold and Robertson!"

Klopp on the sidelines has no worries about Jesus on the field.

"The next step is to rely on our midfielder to restrain Blue Moon's midfield triangle. De Bruyne is mine. You have to be optimistic about the other two."

Zhang Mai also explained to Henderson and Chamberlain on the court, but he still wanted to score more goals in his heart.

The game started quickly, Manchester City's fast passing was still smooth, and the ball possession time was twice as long as Liverpool's, but the Red Army started from the midfielder and the fence was tight.

In the 7th minute, Manchester City scored into the penalty area, Sane broke through and won a corner kick, and under Maguire's close marking, Kompany collided and missed in the melee.

In the 12th minute, Liverpool's first counterattack achieved results, indicating that the home team's game was smooth.

Salah counterattacked and sent a straight pass from the right. Firmino's shot in front of the small penalty area was barely blocked by Ederson, but the Manchester City defender failed to clear the siege in time.

Then the alert Firmino stabbed a pass, and Zhang Mai volleyed into the net in front of the small penalty area, 1-0!Anfield suddenly burst into cheers.

This is Zhang Mai's 23rd goal in the Champions League this season, more than Melo combined.

Manchester City, which was one goal behind, still had the advantage in possession time and quickly launched an offensive.

In the 17th minute, Silva passed the ball, and Sane broke through to the edge of the penalty area and shot wide with his left foot.

"A lot of thunder and a little rain" is the true portrayal of Manchester City at this time. De Bruyne was forced to hide himself by Zhang Mai.

Liverpool expanded the score in the 20th minute, Milner crossed, and Chamberlain volleyed from the upper left corner from 25 yards and scored neatly.

2-0!Chamberlain's nerve knife shot again, a world-shattering wave helped the Red Army expand the score.

After leading by two goals, the Red Army midfielder led by Zhang Mai devoted more energy to defense, overwhelming the Blue Army's midfield triangle.

In the 31st minute, the Red Army counterattacked successfully again. Salah made a diagonal pass from the right side of the penalty area. Mane scored with a header from the edge of the penalty area, 3-0!Anfield has become a sea of ​​joy.

The leading Liverpool fought back with ease, while Manchester City's offense was frequently blocked, and the smooth cooperation of the past disappeared without a trace.

The big "3-0" on the Anfield scoreboard made the Manchester City players on the field panic, and Guardiola on the sidelines had nothing to do.

"Nimma, is Anfield really a hell for Manchester City?"

Even the bald melon, who has always been determined, has a little faith in the ghosts and ghosts popular in the Premier League.

Liverpool's deliberate slowing down and Manchester City's bewilderment made things even for the remainder of the first half.

Both sides also got some chances. In the 41st minute, Salah passed the ball and Firmino shot high from the outside; Otamendi missed a long shot in half-time stoppage time.

Although no personnel adjustments were made, Guardiola apparently rearranged his tactics at halftime, and Manchester City launched a fierce offensive in the second half.

In the 48th minute, Otamendi missed a corner kick in the melee. After 2 minutes, Fernandinho passed the ball, and Sane volleyed from a small angle on the left side of the penalty area.

In the 57th minute, Salah, who retreated to the midfield defense, was injured and was replaced by Wijnaldum. Liverpool, with 3 goals in hand, tried its best to prevent the opponent from scoring away goals.

Manchester City's offensive is more fierce, but unfortunately they have not been able to break through Liverpool's gate.

In the 62nd minute, Gundogan's shot from the right side of the penalty area was blocked by Henderson.

Soon afterwards, Sterling replaced Gundogan, and Manchester City obviously wanted to change the situation of gaining momentum and not scoring by changing the future.

In the 69th minute, Silva took a corner kick and Otamendi's header went wide again.

In the 73rd minute, Liverpool made a counterattack. Solanke, who had just replaced Firmino, made a low pass from the right side of the penalty area. Mane stabbed a shot from 10 yards under the interference of the defense and was confiscated by Edson.

Three minutes later, Sterling made a cross, and Jesus' shot still missed, and then Fernandinho's two shots from the outside were blocked.

In the 84th minute, Silva made a direct pass. Sane, who was offside, made a cross from the left side of the penalty area and Jesus' goal was disallowed. Jesus stepped forward to ask the referee to argue, but was pushed away by Red Army captain Henderson. Henderson was booked and will miss the second leg.

In stoppage time, Salah and Firmino sat on the bench to watch the game with a smile on their faces. Manchester City still had nothing to do with Liverpool's goal.

At the end of the game, Liverpool beat Manchester City 3-0 at home. Salah assisted and retired from injury. Zhang Mai, Chamberlain and Mane scored goals.

The result of the first round was unexpected, and the excited Red Army fans made trouble after the game, which almost caused Liverpool to face heavy fines.

After the game on April 4, the Manchester City bus on the return trip was attacked. The Manchester City soldiers who lost the game hid in the bus and were treated to wine bottles and sundries by the red fans.

Uefa has called on Liverpool to take action against fans who smashed Manchester City's bus after this week's Champions League game.

This time even Zhang Mai was very confused. If he loses, you go to trouble with a hammer, isn't it adding trouble to your club?
According to the "Daily Mirror" report, senior UEFA officials have assured Manchester City that they will investigate the attack on the Manchester City bus.

UEFA have made it clear that they have spoken to both clubs to understand why there are thousands of fans gathered outside the stadium.

In 2016, Liverpool was fined twice by UEFA for small-scale riots, but Liverpool will face more severe penalties for attacking opponent players this time.

In future European competitions, Liverpool may face an empty field penalty, and the event will not be given a final penalty until May 5.

Because no personal injury was caused, the two clubs communicated well at the time and did not pass the knife to UEFA.

It is reported that they did not blame Liverpool for the attack on the Manchester City bus, but Manchester City believes that the Merseyside police are not doing enough to enforce the law.

A Manchester City official said: "We have made it very clear that we feel that if we allow fans to congregate in the route of the team bus, it is likely to cause trouble."

Finally, there was no danger. Both Klopp and Zhang Mai came forward afterwards, calling on fans to abide by the law and respect opponent club players.

At the same time, the results of the other three games in the first round of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals also came out:
皇马客场3比0完胜尤文图斯，C罗闪击+倒勾+助攻，终结尤文2013年4月以来连续27个欧战主场不败。

Bayern Munich beat Sevilla 2-1 on the field, Franck Ribery made Oolong Thiago lore, and the draw curse at the Pisjuan Stadium was invalid for the Bundesliga giants.

Barca's unsurprising 4-1 home win over Roma made the next leg of Rome look like a tour.

All four games have been won and lost, and it seems that the final Champions League semi-finals are about to emerge: Liverpool, Real Madrid, Bayern and Barcelona.

Will Hwang Saren be Liverpool's semi-final opponent?Everything depends on the final result of the second round!
(End of this chapter)