Football: The strongest post-2000s Chapter 076

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Chelsea players frantically celebrated their opening goal as visitors, and the Chelsea fans in the stands were especially excited because they knew from their phones that in another match that kicked off at the same time, Arsenal were 0- 2 down to the Hornets Watford at home.

Tottenham, ranked third, were still 0- 0 away to Sunderland. If the matches ended with the current scores, Chelsea’s lead would be twelve points. With fifteen rounds left in the league, unless they intentionally messed up, the league title this season was a sure thing!

Conte’s iconic celebration was displayed at Anfield, much to the displeasure of Liverpool fans who booed him. However, Conte was incredibly thick-skinned, and the louder the boos, the more excited he became.

Sitting on the bench, Li Qing couldn’t help but let out a cold snort in English: “That useless Conte.”

“Indeed, they are useless,” Mané nodded slightly, agreeing with Li Qing.

Liverpool, trailing in the score, strengthened their offense after the restart. Chelsea, who built their offense on defense, responded with ease. The three-man defense consisting of Azpilicueta, David Luiz, and Gary Cahill worked together seamlessly and complemented each other, giving no chances to the trident of Coutinho, Firmino, and Lallana.

The three-man midfield of Wijnaldum, Henderson, and Emre Can was inferior to the strong Kanté and Moses in terms of creativity and offensive/defensive solidity. Coupled with the tall and strong Matic and Marcos Alonso, Liverpool seemed to be completely suppressed in all aspects.

Chelsea’s center-forward Diego Costa was never an easy opponent. Lovren and Matip had to constantly outwit him and also control their emotions to avoid being provoked and losing control.

As the match entered the half-hour mark, Liverpool fans at Anfield sang “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” using this method to cheer on their team.

However, the Chelsea players performed exceptionally well in all aspects, perfectly completing the defensive tasks assigned by their head coach Conte, thus achieving an impenetrable defense.

The score remained unchanged until the end of the first half.

The Chelsea players shown on the broadcast were all smiles, in stark contrast to the Liverpool players, whose brows were furrowed, clearly thinking about the potential consequences of losing.

They were already ten points apart, and if they lost, the gap would widen to thirteen points. At that point, let alone competing for the title, even securing a Champions League spot would be a problem.

Head coach Klopp’s expression was particularly heavy, his brows tightly furrowed.

The Liverpool fans in the stands were also in a bad state. Affected by the situation on the field, the atmosphere they created dropped to its lowest point since the start of the match.

Li Qing and the substitute players gradually entered the field to warm up, preparing for the second half.

As a starting player, Mané warmed up with extra seriousness, clearly intending to enter the second half in good form.

The fifteen-minute halftime break passed quickly, and players from both sides gradually returned to the field. Perhaps both Klopp and Conte were satisfied with their first-half lineups, as no personnel adjustments were made before the start of the second half.

However, despite this, the live director provided a meaningful broadcast shot.

The camera first showed Coutinho and Lallana, who did not perform outstandingly in the first half, and then showed Mané, who had returned from the Africa Cup of Nations.

Le Sports commentator Zhan Jun said: “The sluggish performance of Coutinho and Lallana was the key to Liverpool’s lack of progress in the first half. If their performance doesn’t improve in the second half, bringing on Mané might be a good option.”

Klopp had already made corresponding tactical changes during halftime, but whether they would succeed still depended on the players’ performance on the field. However, Liverpool had not yet created enough threats, while Chelsea’s offense was a warning shot.

Moses’ long-range shot from the right side of the box after dribbling past Milner hit the goalpost, giving the Liverpool fans in the stands a cold sweat.

Perhaps dissatisfied with the players on the field, Klopp shouted to Mané on the bench: “Sadio, come back in ten minutes.”

The leading Chelsea decided to take it easy, leaving only Hazard as a defensive counter-attacking point. Facing Chelsea, who were almost entirely defending, Klopp’s Liverpool really had no solution.

In the sixtieth minute, Liverpool made their first substitution, replacing the still sluggish Coutinho with Mané.

Mané was fast enough, but his close control was not refined enough. Facing Chelsea’s double-teaming, he easily lost possession and even nearly caused a turnover.

Klopp turned to look at the bench, deep in thought. The team’s bench currently had technically skilled players other than Origi and Li Qing.

Origi was still a bit raw, and Li Qing’s close control was excellent, arguably the best in the team, but he was not yet sixteen years old. Asking a young player to bear the heavy responsibility of Liverpool equalizing the score was clearly unfair to him.

“What should I do?”

Time was ticking by, and the scoreboard still showed 0- 1.

Home team first, away team second.

Another five minutes passed, and Chelsea made their first adjustment of the match, replacing Willian with Fabregas to improve passing accuracy during counter-attacks.

Long periods of attack had not yielded results, and Klopp had to consider making personnel adjustments.

On the attacking end, only Origi and Li Qing remained. No matter who was brought on, it might not have an effect.

Could it be… a change in midfield?

Turning back to the bench, the only midfielder was the defensive midfielder Lucas…

Sitting on the bench, Li Qing noticed head coach Klopp looking over from the corner of his eye, and his heart immediately became excited, constantly shouting in his mind: “Call me! Call me! Call me!”

However, what he got was just a sigh. Klopp didn’t call anyone.

And so, the match time reached seventy-five minutes, with only fifteen minutes left until the end of the full match.

If the match ended with the current score, Liverpool would likely be overtaken by the Manchester clubs, who would play tomorrow evening, and thus fall into the Europa League qualification zone.

This possibility was definitely unacceptable to Klopp. After two minutes of discussion with his assistants Buvac and Krawietz, he finally decided to try a desperate measure.

Miracles don’t happen every time, but if you don’t try, how will a miracle happen?

Assistant coach Buvac shouted to Li Qing, who was watching the game: “Li, go warm up, time is limited, come back in five minutes!”

“Huh?”

Li Qing was stunned for a moment, not reacting.

“Don’t you want to play?”

Buvac rolled his eyes.

The next moment, Li Qing’s explosive power was perfectly demonstrated. By the time Buvac looked again, Li Qing had already gone to the warm-up area. _

Feilu reminds you: Three things to do when reading – collect, recommend