Reborn Liverpool

Chapter 426 Champions League Elimination of Bayern
Liverpool had a heavy game in the first half of March, and it was only in the national team match week in the second half of March that they could breathe a sigh of relief.

3月14日4时，欧冠1/8决赛次回合又赛2场，利物浦奔赴客场挑战德甲巨人—拜仁。

In view of the 0-0 draw between the two sides at Anfield Stadium in the first leg, Liverpool must win away or draw with goals to advance to the Champions League quarter-finals.

利物浦与拜仁近8场欧战仅1负（2胜5平），拜仁上次无缘欧冠8强要追溯到2010-11赛季（被国际米兰淘汰）。

The Allianz Arena in Munich is crowded with people. The Germans are bound to win at home and advance. The home team held a light show before the game, and Joachim Loew and Bierhoff also came to watch the game in person.

The starting lineups for both sides are as follows:
Bayern (4-1-4-1):

1- Neuer (captain);
13-Rafinha, 4-Jule, 5-Hummels, 27-Alaba;
8- Harvey Martinez;

22-Gnabry, 6-Thiago, 10-James-Rodriguez, 7-Ribery;
9- Lewandowski.

Liverpool (4-3-3):

13- Alisson;
66-Alexander-Arnold, 3-Maguire, 4-Van Dijk, 26-Robertson;
5- Wijnaldum, 10- Zhang Mai, 14- Henderson (captain);
11-Salah, 9-Firmino, 10-Mane.

Bayern's Kimmich and Muller were suspended, Rafinha played right back, and Ribery replaced Koeman, who had not fully recovered.

Liverpool Van Dijk returned from the suspension, Milner temporarily sat on the bench after recovering from a muscle injury, Klopp still trusted the Trident at critical moments.

The game officially started, and the two sides fought with real knives and guns at the beginning of the game. The leader of Yingde and Germany refused to admit defeat.

In the 6th minute of the opening game, Henderson was suspected of being injured and fell to the ground on the lawn when he was fighting with Ronaldo. He then went off to receive treatment from the team doctor.

Three minutes later, Liverpool made a mistake in the backcourt pass, and Thiago's arc ball from the top of the penalty area was higher than the crossbar.

In the 12th minute, Harvey Martinez picked a pass into the penalty area. Lewandowski fell to the ground after having physical contact with Van Dijk in the penalty area. The Italian referee Orsato ignored it.

In the 13th minute, Henderson couldn't hold on to the game and was replaced by Milner. In slow motion playback, Henderson sprained his ankle after being bumped by Ronaldo during the fight.

Bayern had more than 20% of the ball in the first 7 minutes, and Liverpool didn't even have a decent shot.

It wasn't until the 25th minute that Liverpool began to really threaten the home team. Salah made a volley pass with his back, and Firmino volleyed from the front of the penalty area on the right side and missed the near post.

Then the surprise of the Red Army came, and Liverpool scored the first goal in the 26th minute!
Van Dijk made a 50-meter long pass from the backcourt. Mane stopped the ball on the left side of the penalty area and turned around to avoid the attacking Neuer. He lobbed his left foot into the far corner from a small angle 14 meters in front of the goal, 1-0.

这是马内在欧冠打进12球，仅仅才用了19场，快过当年C罗（47场）、梅西（25场）、内马尔（21场）。

The game continued, and the seasoned Bundesliga overlord did not panic, but still pressed Liverpool according to the original rhythm.

In the 30th minute, Martinez intercepted the ball in midfield and went straight. Lewandowski shot 20 meters in front of the goal and Alisson got it.

In the 35th minute, Liverpool counterattacked and shifted to the left. Mane went straight into the penalty area. Robertson shot from a small angle with his left foot 9 meters in front of the goal, but Neuer held it out of the near corner with one hand.

Bayern tied the score in the 39th minute! Ronaldo took a free kick in the middle circle, Jule made a long pass to the right side of the penalty area, Gnabry made a half-volley and crossed the middle, Maguire stabbed into his own gate with his left foot 3 meters in front of the goal, 1-1.

Maguire became the fourth Liverpool player to score an own goal in the Champions League after Hyypia, Riise and Milner.

Liverpool have conceded goals in 7 consecutive away games in the Champions League, and they are also the only Premier League team that has never had a clean sheet in an away game in the Champions League this season.

The reason is that there is a large gap left after the assists of Liverpool's strong attacking and weak wing backs, which will naturally be used by Bayern.

Zhang Mai deliberately helped both sides in the subsequent game, and the situation on the field became calm.

In the 44th minute, Alaba's left-footed free kick 30 meters from the right side of the goal was confiscated by Alisson.

In the 45th minute, Gnabry went straight from the right rib, Lewandowski faced Alisson who was attacking, and shot 14 meters in front of the goal and missed the left post, but was offside first.

After the first half, the two teams temporarily drew 1-1, but the situation is obviously unfavorable to the home team. According to this score to end the game, Bayern will bid farewell to the Champions League.

The two teams each had 2 shots on target in the first half. Liverpool's ball possession rate was only 37%, and the pass success rate was as low as 68%.

Only Mane, who scored a goal, succeeded in all 4 dribbles, 2 times more than the Bayern team, and Zhang Mai's 5 successful interceptions also topped the audience.

After the start of the game in the second half, Bayern significantly accelerated their offensive rhythm, and Liverpool's defensive pressure increased greatly.

In the 50th minute, Mane broke through the middle circle and was tackled by Rafinha. Salah got the ball and volleyed his left foot to the front of the penalty area and was blocked by Neuer.

In the 61st minute, Ribery picked a pass from the right side of the front court, and Robertson missed the defense again. Gnabry swept across the goal from the right side of the front court. , missed the opportunity to break the door.

Bayern then replaced Ribery with Coman, hoping to strengthen the impact of the frontcourt.

In the 68th minute, Liverpool launched an offensive on the left side of the front court. Mane's pass seemed to shoot to the back point. Neuer held the ball out of the crossbar with a single palm.

Today's luck was indeed on the side of the visiting Red Army. In the 69th minute, Liverpool overtook again!Milner took a corner kick from the right, Zhang Mai beat Hummels 6 meters in front of the goal and headed into the lower left corner, 2-1.

This is Zhang Mai's 19st goal in 31 UEFA Champions League games. On behalf of Liverpool, he broke various records for scoring goals in the knockout rounds of the UEFA Champions League.

In the 73rd minute, Bayern, who was behind in the score, made adjustments again. Goretzka and Sanches appeared one after another, replacing Martinez and Ronaldo.

Two minutes later, Salah broke into the penalty area and got rid of Rafinha's defense. Under the interference of Sule's body, Salah pushed with his left foot. The ball was not strong, and Neuer cleared the ball.

Bayern's substitutions did not have the expected effect. The home team had a lot of possession, but it was difficult to play a threatening attack. On the contrary, Liverpool's quick counterattack was more powerful.

In the 80th minute, Wijnaldum made a diagonal pass from the right. Firmino volleyed 23 meters in front of the goal and was caught by Neuer. He was then replaced by Origi.

In the 83rd minute, Liverpool sealed the victory. Origi, who had just appeared on the field, cut the ball from the left. Salah picked a pass from the right rib and left foot over Hummels' head. Zhang Mai rushed into the lower left corner 4 meters in front of the goal. 3 than 1.

This is Zhang Mai's 2th UEFA Champions League knockout goal in the past two seasons, far surpassing Ronaldo (20 goals), setting a record for Liverpool's away goals in the Champions League.

In the 87th minute, Robertson tripped Goretzka, was warned by a yellow card, and missed the Champions League.

The referee added 6 minutes, but Bayern's offense still did not improve much. In the end, Liverpool eliminated Bayern Munich 3-1 away.

Throughout the game, Bayern Munich dominated the ball, with 63% of the ball possession rate, and Liverpool's ball possession rate was only 37%, but Liverpool's counterattack was extremely sharp.

拜仁慕尼黑全场7次射门2脚射正取得1粒进球，利物浦全场10次射门6脚射正获得1次绝佳进球机会取得3粒进球。

Zhang Mai scored twice with a head kick to help Liverpool win the away game and advance to a game-high 9.0 points, Van Dijk scored 8.4 points;
For Bayern Munich, Martinez and Hummels scored a team-high 6.9 points.

As Liverpool defeated Bayern Munich 3-1 at the Allianz Arena, they eliminated their opponents 3-1 and advanced to the quarter-finals of the Champions League. So far, all the quarter-finals of the Champions League have been produced this season, and the Premier League has 8 seats. With one team each, the entire Bundesliga was wiped out.

利物浦的欧冠1/4决赛对手是葡甲霸主波尔图，双方的两回合比赛将在4月10日和4月18日进行，利物浦先主后客。

……

Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski criticized his team's conservative tactics after the defeat to Liverpool:
"I always face two or three people alone, what else do I play."

In an interview after the game, Lewandowski was a little downcast:

"We knew the game was difficult, but both games we played too conservatively, we didn't try to create chances going forward, whether it was the first leg or today's game, we were too deep and didn't take any risks, I don't understand that. Why."

The Polish striker has been fighting alone for a long time in this game. Regarding this, Lewandowski said:
"We also want to put pressure on Liverpool, but sometimes it often happens that there are two players facing each other and four players. That's why we can't put too much pressure on them. I got into a lot of confrontations today. The game is too difficult. Because it’s just me, if you’re alone against two or three good players, it’s going to be too difficult to play.”

Regarding the question of whether he feels uncomfortable with the tactics, Lewandowski expressed his reluctance to talk more:
"It's a Champions League game and you have to take risks at the right time, but we did too little in both legs and now we're out."

...

On the contrary, the winning visiting team coach Klopp defended Bayern Munich's tactics after the game: because no one can completely suppress Liverpool with offense!

Jurgen Klopp has defended Bayern Munich's poor performances and methods, saying Liverpool have made it difficult for opponents' attacks to work.

Bayern had only two shots on target in a 1-3 loss at the Allianz Arena, conceding only an own goal from Maguire, and striker Robert Lewandowski believes Bayern went too far in the game. keep.

Klopp believes it will be difficult for opponents to strike a balance between attack and defense against Liverpool as his side's half-time adjustments worked so well.

Asked if Liverpool were forcing Bayern to play more passively, Klopp said:

"That's what I thought after the first leg. We had to do a lot of preparation and we had to execute well. We were really good at counter-attacking, everyone knew that, so no one was going to attack us completely, Because they know how well we counter-attack. So it's also difficult for other opponents. We didn't expect it to happen, but we knew we could deal with it. We are very good at counter-attacking, we know that, but against Bayern It’s a very difficult situation.”

"We tried to keep the game open from the start, and almost all Bayern players were in the 30-metre zone."

"So we're trying to get them to drop back, we're going to be active, but also be creative."

"We didn't do that in the first half, we wanted to be more creative and despite the goals in the first half, we did better in the second half, so it was more difficult for Bayern in the second half."

Whether it's Lewandowski's complaint or Klopp's justification for the opponent, judging from Bayern Liverpool's game, it can be said bluntly that Liverpool won without dispute.

Expanding to the Premier League and the Bundesliga, it has to be said that the current Premier League is strong and has surpassed the Bundesliga in an all-round way.

Liverpool eliminated Bayern 3-1 to advance. To be honest, it is hard to imagine Bayern playing like this at home. There is no decent offense and the defense is relatively loose. Get off your horse.

Bayern, who claim to be dug by Bundesliga players casually, failed to keep the last glory of the Bundesliga in this game, and fell under the iron heel of the Premier League team.

The current UEFA Champions League Bundesliga team was wiped out by the Premier League, and the decline of the Bundesliga fell in front of the thriving Premier League, and they could not escape the end of being slaughtered.

As far as Bayern is concerned, its biggest problem is that the core players are too young.

While other giants in Europe are constantly introducing strong support and creating new skills and tactics, Bayern is still relying on the team left by Guardiola to support them.

Facing Liverpool, which is running at high speed on the field, Bayern players obviously cannot adapt to this fast rhythm:

Bayern, who only has Lewandowski as a positive striker on the front line, faced the Red Army's defense led by Van Dijk. The audience did not create a few good chances to score goals, and the old Lewandowski obviously couldn't keep up with the speed of the opponent's defensive players. , it can be said that the defeat at the Allianz Arena is also a reasonable thing.

In this game, the Liverpool scene, where the opponent bombarded the flow, was very open, and no one could hold back when running at critical moments.

Klopp will definitely be proud of the process and result of this game, not only because he completely restrained his former rival tactically (Klopp was once the coach of Dortmund), but also because his players Execution of tactics is simply perfect.

During the implementation of Klopp's tactics, the execution ability of Liverpool players was impressive:

The Egyptian played the role of a frontcourt linker in the first half, but in the second half he turned into a hot spot on the side. His positioning change was due to Klopp's request.The lineman turned assist, and the Pharaoh did well.

Salah is just a microcosm of Liverpool's overall performance in this campaign. Others such as Firmino, Milner, and Wijnaldum are also radishes and pits, doing what they should do conscientiously.

Zhang Mai, who has the highest degree of personal tactical freedom on the Red Army field, also changed from a midfield iron gate in the first half to an assassin in the second half, crushing his opponent with two heavy punches.

It was the concerted efforts of everyone that led to the victory of the Red Army. As a giant in the Bundesliga, Bayern will naturally lose miserably.

In fact, almost no one thought that Bayern would lose at home in the Champions League before the game. On the contrary, Liverpool, which was tied at home in the first round, was even more vulnerable.

No team has visited the Allianz Arena to win in the Champions League since Real Madrid in December 2013.

So when Liverpool were tied 0-0 at home by Bayern in the first leg, people thought they were already at a disadvantage, because the statistics over the years showed that it was difficult for them to beat Bayern at the Allianz Arena.

If it was the previous Liverpool team, they might be easily influenced by those outside voices, but now they will not.

As early as before the game, Gary Neville advised Liverpool to give up the Champions League, and Sam Allardyce also criticized Liverpool's so-called "fear" of away games in the Champions League.

But in fact?Klopp did not appear to "panic" until the end of the game, which made their pre-prepared taunt lines useless.

Klopp has repeatedly expressed his disdain for those "experts", and he once said that his disregard for social media was "the wisest decision of my life".

The facts now prove that Liverpool's mental strength is as strong as their strength. They ignore the advantage brought by away goals. The important thing is that they want to win!

(End of this chapter)