Nine Hundred and Fiftieth Seventh Each Go Their Own Way
At Anfield Stadium, the starters of Liverpool and Juventus have already had a pre-match kick-off ceremony on the pitch, and the two teams have a formulaic pre-match handshake.
Although this is the etiquette of competitive sports, Liverpool and Juventus players absolutely want to kill each other!
So there's no favors at all.
"Dear audience friends, good evening everyone, welcome to follow the camera to the Anfield Stadium in Liverpool, England. In this great stadium, the second round of the Champions League semi-final will be staged. The defending champion Liverpool will face Juventus at home!
In the first round of the contest a week ago, Juventus drew 2:2 with Liverpool. It can be said that the defending champion still has a certain advantage.
When Liverpool was full of wounded soldiers, they were able to get out of the Juventus Arena and they were indeed generally appreciated by the European media.
If Juventus want to advance to the Champions League final, they must win a victory at Anfield today, or at least a 3:3 or more draw to be able to eliminate Liverpool!
Liverpool's goal is relatively simple, winning at home will definitely advance to the Champions League final!
Both teams are still leaders in the Premier League and Serie A in the league. Liverpool's lead is only 2 points, but there are only 2 rounds left in the league.
Juventus leads Roma by 7 points, but in the coming weekend, they will have a direct dialogue with Roma, but Juventus will definitely not think so much now, they will concentrate on this Champions League semi-final!
Well, let's take a look at the starting lineups of the two teams today.
Liverpool, who sit at home, start 433.
Goalkeeper: Ter Stegen.
Defenders: Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk, Benatia, Robertson.
Midfield: Henderson, Eriksen, Casemiro.
Forwards: Mbappe, Vardy, Gareth Bale.
Liverpool's starting XI is unchanged from a week ago.
Juventus started today with 352.
Goalkeeper: Buffon.
Defenders: Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini.
Midfield: Alves, Pjanic, Dybala, Marchisio, Sandro.
Forwards: Higuain, Mandzukic.
Juventus' starting XI is also unchanged from a week ago.
It can be seen that the two teams have put out their strongest lineups as much as possible to play the two rounds of the Champions League semi-finals!
Who will win, let us wait and see! "
Situ Yunbing and Allegri stood in the coach command area on the sidelines, and the two were fully focused on waiting for the start of the game. This confrontation was a contest between the two as coaches on the highest stage, and it could be called a peak duel.
Amidst the loud cheers at Anfield, Liverpool kicked off first.
After the kick-off, Liverpool launched an offensive immediately. Robertson on the left quickly ran to the left side of the front field. After receiving the pass from Casemiro, he immediately cooperated with Gareth Bale to hit the wall to penetrate Alves' defense zone, and then sent the ball with a cross.
Vardy outflanked and responded in the penalty area, and Bonucci defended in place to clear the siege first.
After the football cleared, Pjanic was seized by Eriksson and took the lead to steal the ball. Eriksson took possession of the ball and knocked the ball back to Henderson, who sent a diagonal pass close to the ground.
The football rolled to the right in front of the penalty area. After Mbappe took the ball, he faked Cruyff and turned around to make Sandro go up to grab the air. However, when he turned and broke through Chiellini, he waded too far, resulting in a narrow shot angle when he caught up with the football. He barely shot the football straight to the near corner of the goal.
The Reds fans applauded.
"Liverpool played a very strong attack from the start!
Compared with the Juventus Arena a week ago, Liverpool's offense on the left is obviously much more active. Robertson's active participation in the frontcourt offense can help Liverpool play more changes on the front line. "
When it was Juventus' turn to attack, they did not drag their feet. Even in an away game, Juventus showed almost the same positive attitude and strong state as a week ago.
When Marchisio made a diagonal pass from the backcourt to the left side of the frontcourt, Situ Yunbing looked dignified on the sidelines.
Because he saw Dybala come to the left to respond, and at the same time Sandro quickly advanced, and Pjanic approached this side, Juventus showed a tactical suppression of attacking the left from the beginning!
Allegri doesn't want Juventus to lose the final tickets in an away game, so no matter what Liverpool play today, Juventus will go all the way to the black today, trying to break Liverpool's right defense!
Even though Henderson helped defend the area in front of Arnold, with the cooperation of Dybala, Pjanic, and Sandro's fast triangle pass, Arnold still failed to block Sandro.
It can be seen that Juventus obviously invested a lot of troops in the left attack.
Higuain and Mandzukic went into the penalty area to respond to Sandro's cross.
This makes Van Dijk and Benatia must win in defense!
Otherwise, Liverpool's goal can basically stop the opponent's attack!
Fortunately, Sandro's pass was not high enough, and he was successfully cleared by Van Dijk directly in front of the penalty area!
Juventus all retreated to defend!
When Situ Yunbing saw this scene, a smile rose from the corner of his mouth, and it disappeared in a flash.
It seems that Allegri is not considering the top battle with Rome at the weekend!
That's right!
This is the consciousness of a decisive battle!
Put aside all worries, just for the fierce battle in front of you!
The football that Van Dijk cleared was controlled by Mbappe on the right side of the midfield. Marchisio rushed towards him quickly. Mbappe calmly knocked the ball back diagonally to Henderson.
Gareth Bell rushed to the left side of the frontcourt and stopped the ball when the football went out of the sideline. Alves rushed up and was about to press, and Gareth Bell immediately knocked the ball back.
Robertson was about to kill halftime at almost the same time!
Juventus bombarded Liverpool on the right today, and Liverpool also unremittingly attacked Juventus' right defense!
Situ Yunbing and Allegri thought of going together!
Now let's see which of the two teams can take the lead in tearing apart the opponent's defense!
Robertson stopped and changed direction and went inside to disrupt Juventus' defensive deployment. Marchisio quickly returned to the center and Mbappe quickly followed up from the right.
Alves earns in the middle and plans to intercept Robertson as soon as possible!
Because Pjanic did not return to the defense so quickly, and Marchisio seemed to be beyond his reach, Alves naturally had to buy time for Marchisio to retreat to the back line.
Robertson passed the ball diagonally to the outside of the penalty area when Alves hit two meters ahead.
Gareth Bale cuts in evenly and Barzagli is also ready to intercept him.
But what was unexpected was that Gareth Bell suddenly accelerated the moment he touched the ball!
He dribbled the ball and forcibly overtook and broke through in front of Barzagli!
Barzagli really didn't even have time to turn around, and he didn't even have a chance for fouling!
Just when Gareth Bell came to the bottom line of the penalty area, Bonucci ran to block the line he continued to cross, and Chiellini came to the middle of the goal to mark Vardy.
Gareth Bell sent an inverted triangle pass without any hesitation!
Mbappe rushed into the middle of the penalty area at a high speed, waving the ball out of the angle with one step, and kicking the counter-cutting line!
The football flew to the far corner of the goal, and when everyone thought the goal was sure to be scored, Buffon flew to save the ball like a god, and saved the ball out of the bottom line with a single palm!
Seeing this, Mbappe looked up to the sky and let out a long breath.
After all, he is facing Buffon, and he needs a more tricky shot!
"Buffon! Buffon blocks Mbappe's shot!
This ball Liverpool has played exquisite cooperation, the fast break is very fast, Robertson is also very firm in the assist, Gareth Bell broke through Barzagli, let us see Gareth Bell's lightning-fast explosive power at the peak!
Then Gareth Bale's pass was also just right, and Mbappé's shot after taking advantage of the trend and adjusting a step was also very threatening, but it was Buffon who saved Juventus at the critical moment!
But what about next time?
Can you still rely on Buffon? "
Liverpool took a tactical corner kick, and Henderson tried a long shot from the outside, but it missed!
After Juventus took the goal kick, they quickly pushed forward.
Pjanic suddenly made a long pass just past the midfield.
The football flew to the left outside the Liverpool penalty area.
Mandzukic moved to the side and used his physical advantage to block Arnold behind him, and then ferried the header to Dybala who took the initiative to respond. After stopping the ball, the Argentine star turned the ball and swayed past Henderson's counter interception, and then sent a through kick to the left rib outside the penalty area.
Mandzukic turned around and cut in after the header was ferried. Due to the advantage of physical confrontation, Arnold had nothing to do with him.
Situ Yunbing looked solemn. Although Juventus was attacking the left side, they were not rigidly attacking this point. In terms of coordination and changes, there were more changes than in the first round of confrontation.
In addition to Sandro's assist threat, Mandzukic's initiative to pull the side can definitely play a local advantage!
It's just that when Mandzukic cut the ball inside, his defense against Van Dijk seemed to lack enough flexibility and breakthrough skills to allow him to continue his offensive.
In the end, Van Dijk poked the ball away when he wanted to adjust the ball!
Dybala was the first to touch the ball outside the penalty area and then blasted a long shot!
The football flew straight towards the far corner of the goal. This ball definitely made the Red Army fans nervous. Ter Stegen moved quickly and flew to save. After watching the football rubbing against the outside of the far post and flying out of the baseline, all the Red Army players and fans were relieved!
Dybala grinned with regret.
"Dybala's sudden long-range shot almost scored for Juventus!
It's a hair's breadth away!
If you can close a little more toward the goal, the ball will be there!
Juventus' offensive threat is not bad either. The two teams are inseparable. It depends on who can score first! "