Chapter 564

Melwood training base, Liverpool, UK.

In the dim light of the head coach's office, Benitez and his assistants watched the video of the two leg match between inter and Manchester United. Everyone's face was covered with two words, dignified.

"Inter's home and away tactics are very targeted, alpine is still Alpine." Benitez was full of praise.

At the beginning, when he was coaching in La Liga, he had a lot to do with Gao Han, and they had some friendship, so he knew Gao Han better and knew how much strength the Chinese had.

"Strong attack at home, counter attack away, Inter's tactical flexibility is very large Assistant coach Paco yesterdan said.

He is Benitez's chief assistant coach and old partner. He has worked together since Benitez was in charge of trineffe. Later, he came to Valencia and then came to Liverpool. They are close friends who have been fighting side by side for many years.

"This is also the most difficult part of the Serie A team. If you look at Juve, AC Milan and now Inter Milan, they are both offensive and defensive teams. It's a headache Benitez is also feeling.

Many fans are fond of the fact that he beat AC Milan in the Champions League final, but only he knows how dangerous that game was. To some extent, it was luck that made him win.

Long term coach of La Liga team, he knows more than anyone the difficulties of Serie A team.

No, just in the last eight knockout match of the Champions League, Liverpool lost 2-1 away to Roma in the first leg. After returning home, it took a lot of hard work for crouch to win and finally eliminated the red wolves 1-0.

The total score was 2-2, but Liverpool made it to the semi-finals with the advantage of the number of goals they scored away from home.

Benitez really feels that he is unlucky, especially in the cold.

Of course, he's different from everyone.

Many people think that alpine is invincible, but as an old opponent, Benitez knows better than anyone that alpine has almost lost many games, but in the end he just survived by the on-the-spot command.

He is not invincible, but not easy to overcome.

As a professional football manager, Benitez is happy to challenge such difficulties.

"Gao Han is the most detail oriented coach I've ever seen. If you want to beat him, you can't tolerate any fancy. You have to have solid strength as the foundation, and you have to work hard on the details."

Benitez's words have been unanimously agreed by the assistants around him.

This is also the evaluation of the outside world.

"Although it's a home game, we can be ugly on the scene. It doesn't matter. As everyone knows, inter win more than us. Even we can play in chaos and destroy the rhythm and control of the opponents."

Facing Inter Milan, Liverpool are at an absolute disadvantage in rhythm control and pass control. Therefore, Benitez simply doesn't do two things at once and directly disturbs the rhythm and pass control.

It's barbaric, but it's his best tactic.

"To play snake, we need to play seven inches. When we play Inter at home, we have to strive for the goal first, but our attack ability..."

Benitez didn't finish, but the meaning was clear.

Liverpool's attack this season is really a problem, or it should be said that since Owen left Liverpool and moved to Real Madrid, there has been no trustworthy scorer in the front line of Liverpool.

At present, Benitez relies on high center Peter Crouch, but this England high man is obviously not a good scorer.

Whether in the Champions League or in the Premier League, Liverpool's attacking weakness has long been criticized.

"So the only thing we can rely on is set pieces

Benitez said here, looking around a circle of assistants, "there are still two weeks to go before the first leg of the semi-final. Next, we will focus on defense and set pieces in these two weeks."

"I understand." The assistants agreed in unison.

Everyone can see that Benitez's mind is to put the set piece in the key position to decide the outcome.

To beat inter depends on whether their set pieces work.

"Defending, Inter's trident will be difficult

Rafael Benitez pointed to the TV set that had just finished broadcasting the game video. "As you can see, Ferdinand can't stop Inter's trident alone. Manchester United's defence is falling apart in front of them."

"Among the three players, Ibrahimovic is the most difficult to defend

The difficulty of Swedish center is well known in European football. He has the body and strength of a traditional high center, but he also has very delicate foot skills. What's more, this guy is Taekwondo born, and his body is full of flexibility.

It can be said that Ibrahimovic is the most difficult flower of the Champions League in the past few years.

Of course, there is no doubt about his strength and his dominance in the penalty area.

I believe every team facing Inter will have a headache about how to defend Ibrahimovic.

"We need someone to freeze Ibrahimovic." Paco yesterdan said.

The other assistants around all looked embarrassed.

If Ibrahimovic was so defensive, he would not be a headache for all the top teams in Europe.

"What about hapia? He did well last night Tactical analyst Duff mcdonoff suggested.

Paco yesterdan looked at Benitez, a little worried, "can he bear it?"

Benitez shook his head and said: "it takes 90 minutes to defend Ibrahimovic. Hyypia is 33 years old. I'm afraid he will not be able to hold on to the end."

Compared with an opponent like Ibrahimovic, it's a matter of minutes. Hyypia has strength, but he's too old to keep his focus in 90 minutes.

"You mean..." Paco yesterdan guessed Benitez's intention.

"Daniel Agger."

Yesterdan hissed and took a breath of cold air, "but he didn't perform well in the first leg of the final eight elimination. In the away game against Rome, two goals were inseparable from him."

It was because Agger had a bad performance in the first leg that he sent Shanghai PIA in the second leg. As a result, haipia performed well, but he still had to win haipia and continue to trust Agger?

If Agger is qualified at last, it's OK to say, but if he behaves badly again, Benitez will certainly take the blame and even be scolded by the fans.

"I know Agger very well. He is not easily knocked down. He has a strong will and knows how to reflect on himself. I believe he will not be easily knocked down because of one match."

Speaking of this, Benitez's eyes flashed a bit fierce.

He had no choice but to trust Agger.

"In this way, the next two weeks of defensive tactics and set pieces around Agger to start, I believe he will not disappoint me

Yesterdan and others looked at each other and felt that Benitez was making a big bet.

Choosing Daniel Agger to start instead of Hyypia, who is in better form, is doomed to be an unbearable game.

If you lose at Anfield, Benitez will be held responsible.

Even if the opponent is famous alpine.

"By the way, this game also arranges Cen Deng to start

"Cendeng?" This time, jesterdan lost his voice.

Dutchman Zenden joined Liverpool on a free transfer in the summer of 2005, but after he came to the team, he did not show convincing strength. He was more of a substitute for the team, belonging to the marginal role.

But such a player, Benitez has to arrange him to start in such an important game?

Are you crazy?

Benitez obviously knows that his choice makes opponents confused, but he also chooses some things according to his feelings.

Zenden is no longer at the top of his game. He even plays a marginal role in Liverpool, but he also has his own advantages. At the beginning, Benitez saw him because he played very hard and had strong willpower.

And he has played in Barcelona, more stable in the big game, more calm in this kind of key games.

But the most important thing is that Zenden's passing and running are the best in the Liverpool team.

"He... Can he do it?" Yesterdan had some doubts.

He didn't doubt cendeng's strength, but worried about his state.

This is the first leg of the Champions League semi-final. Is it OK to start with such a marginal role?

But Benitez's attitude is very firm, must arrange cendeng to start, and said cendeng has the ability to change the game.

"Sometimes we need a surprising force to beat our opponents."

Yesterdan and others obviously understand Benitez's temper and know that once the Spaniard makes a decision, it is difficult for others to change.

"By the way, Jose." Benitez looked at the goalkeeper coach, Jos é o'chuto Reina. "In the next two weeks of goalkeeper training, pay attention to the penalty kick training."

"Penalty training?"

"It's just a little bit of practice. It might be useful." Benitez said.

But everyone knows that, which should be one of his plans.

Even if he can't beat Inter in the whole game, he will drag the two rounds into the penalty shoot out.

Benitez's idea is very simple. Set up a game at Anfield. Inter, who are trapped in the cold, have to fight for a goal, which will be the key goal in the two leg match.

Therefore, he should not only select his starting lineup carefully, but also carefully prepare his tactics.

Isn't that what Alpine is good at is details?

Then I will use the most exquisite details to kill the cold at Anfield!

…………

…………

April 24, 2007.

Liverpool Anfield.

In the 62nd minute of the game, in a counterattack by Liverpool, cendeng caught the ball in the neutral position and then turned to drive forward with the ball. Evra accidentally tripped him when defending, and the referee blew a foul decisively.

Liverpool's free kick in the front court.

Gerrard took the penalty in person, while crouch, Carragher, Agger and other high points all came down to the front of Inter.

When the referee's whistle sounded, Gerrard rushed forward quickly and there was a chaos in the penalty area. Crouch and Carragher rushed into the penalty area at the same time, creating the illusion of rushing into the area to fight for the high point, which deceived Inter's defenders to follow suit.

But as a result, Gerrard suddenly crossed to the front of the penalty area. After Agger received the ball, he passed Cambiasso, who was caught off guard. With a right foot push, he sent the ball into the goal guarded by Cesar.