Chapter 587 I Believe Him!

The ups and downs of professional players all have certain rules.

Liverpool's tactic of rushing to the start of this season has been very effective. The six-game winning streak in the league and the victory over Sevilla in the European Super Cup are the best proofs, which allowed Liverpool to lead the Premier League standings from the beginning.

After six rounds, the Red Army topped the standings with 18 points.

Arsenal, behind Liverpool, only got 14 points, a full four points behind Liverpool.

Further down, Manchester City has 12 points, Manchester United has 11 points, and Chelsea only got 10 points.

The Blues' unsatisfactory start to the season has also led to rumors that Mourinho is likely to be sacked.

However, there are pros and cons to being out of state from the start.

The advantage is that the advantage is established first, but the disadvantage is that with the intensive schedule, especially the arrival of the national team and the Champions League, the state of the players will inevitably fluctuate and decline, especially when injuries strike.

After playing Portsmouth, Liverpool's fatigue was already very obvious. If it wasn't for Yang Yang's goal in the 83rd minute, this game might have been a zero-to-zero draw.

But even so, Liverpool still had to usher in injury and attrition after the game.

Xavi Alonso, Riise and Mohamed Sissoko are all set to miss the Champions League in midweek and even the seventh round at the weekend.

The absence of the three generals has a huge impact on Liverpool.

Benitez had to switch to a four-four-two formation against Porto in midweek.

In the frontcourt, Yang Yang and Kuyt's double striker combination was arranged, Pennant, Gerrard, Mascherano and Aurelio were paired in the midfield, and the back line was Finnan, Carragher, Haiti Pia and Abeloa, the goalkeeper is Reina.

As Portugal's top team, Porto not only has excellent technical ability, but also has a strong ability to pass and control, and even do a good job of pressing and pressing at their own home. Coach Ferreira has made special arrangements for Yang Yang.

From the start of the game, Porto attacked Liverpool fiercely and continued to create chances.

Especially in the eighth minute, Reina made another mistake in his attack. He was one step late and knocked down Porto striker Sektioi. As a result, he was sentenced to death by the Slovak referee.

Porto took the lead with a penalty kick in eight minutes.

In the first ten minutes, Liverpool did not even have a shot.

The defending champion of the Champions League was forced to be so embarrassed, the state of the Red Army can be said to be collectively in a slump.

Yang Yang still performed very hard on the court, because he only played for half an hour in the weekend league, and he was still physically fit and in good condition.

But in front of Porto, especially on the road, and Liverpool's overall downturn, it is difficult for Yang Yang to change the situation by himself, because it is impossible for him to change the state of his teammates.

Fortunately, the team's defense is still very well organized. Mascherano is as steady as ever and played a key role in the midfield. Although Liverpool is in a collective downturn, Porto has not been able to make the offensive end. threaten.

Yang Yang also began to patiently look for opportunities in front, and in the 37th minute of the first half, Aurelio sent a pass from the left, Yang Yang quickly plugged in, and got ahead of Bosingwa. The chest stopped the ball forward, and he rushed the ball into the penalty area by himself, forced a breakthrough, and passed the ball low with his left foot to the middle.

Kuyt caught up with the horse, calmly pushed the shot in front of the goal, and sent the ball into the goal, one-to-one!

But the good times didn't last long. Just three minutes into the second half, Pennant unnecessarily shoveled the opponent's defender from the side and rear during a frontcourt press, and was shown the second yellow card by the referee. Red card sent off.

This made Benitez extremely dissatisfied on the sidelines, and the Liverpool players on the pitch were also hit hard.

The second half has only just begun, so come out like this?

Soon, Benitez had to make a substitution, replacing Kuyt with Lucas Rewa, Gerrard was pulled to the right, Lucas Rewa and Mascherano partnered in the middle .

Yang Yang stood at the forefront alone.

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Watching a long pass from Liverpool sent to the frontcourt, Yang Yang was double-teamed by two Porto defenders, desperately trying to grab the landing spot, but he still failed to grab it, and returned without success, with a depressed face. When walking back, in front of the visiting team's coach, assistant coach Paco Yesterdam shook his head helplessly.

"He was never fit to be at the top."

After the start of the second half, Yang Yang felt very lonely on the court.

He is very hardworking, diligent, and has a very strong desire to win, but he has fallen into a situation where he is alone.

Because Liverpool really can't help him too much.

"It's all that damn red card!" Benitez said through gritted teeth.

The Spanish coach was really angry. When Pennant came off the court, he didn't even walk over to comfort him, didn't even look at him, and let him go back to the locker room.

Yesterdam nodded, he understood Benitez's situation and knew his helplessness.

Such an early red card was a huge blow to Liverpool.

Throughout the first half, Liverpool only had two shots on goal. Yang Yang's assist helped Kuyt to push the goal in front of the goal. It can be said that Liverpool performed very tenaciously.

Every team will usher in peaks and troughs. Liverpool is in a trough now. It is really quite good to have the kind of performance in the first half, but Benitez is still gearing up for the halftime break. Want to reverse the opponent in the second half.

But who would have thought that Pennant would get a red card in the first three minutes.

In this case, Benitez has few options and can only choose to keep.

But in this way, the team's offensive pressure is all on Yang Yang.

"I hope he can handle it," said Yesterdam worriedly.

Benitez grabbed a handful of beard-covered lips and chin, and nodded vigorously: "I believe him!"

His eyes on the court were full of determination.

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Porto had the upper hand, but in reality, they didn't have many real and threatening shots.

Quares was very active on the left flank in the first half, creating a lot of corner kicks for Porto, but suddenly switched to the right flank in the second half, which is Liverpool's left flank, and wanted to try to play Abeloa. side.

Abeloa is characterized by balance and stability. There are no obvious advantages, but there will not be too many omissions.

The two flanks are unable to play opportunities, the lack of a powerful center in the middle, coupled with Mascherano sitting at the front of the penalty area, Porto lacks effective mid-lane penetration, making it difficult for the Portuguese Super League giants to create threats.

In the past few years, Benitez's training at Liverpool, especially the building of the defensive system, has been quite successful.

One side is passive, and the other side cannot create opportunities. This stalemate has been maintained.

Time passed quickly, and before I knew it, seventy-five minutes passed.

Liverpool were still suppressed in the half, and even Yang Yang, who was at the forefront, had to retreat across the midline to respond. It was not difficult to guess how embarrassed the scene was.

Porto couldn't attack for a long time, and he was still somewhat impatient.

After all, this is their home court, and they have one more player than their opponents. Naturally, they want to win.

But Yang Yang is like a sharp-edged dagger, pointing at them from a distance, so that they dare not relax in the slightest, and coach Ferreira even asked the back line not to be careless.

God knows, when did Yang Yang get the chance and suddenly broke out?

When Yang Yang retreated, Porto's central defender did not follow, but handed over the task of marking Yang Yang to the midfielders Meireles and Assonsang, which probably also took into account the gap behind him.

If the central defender followed suit, at the speed of Yang Yang, Liverpool would pass behind him with a big foot, and Porto would disarm.

But in this way, when Yang Yang frequently runs back and forth between the central defender and the midfielder, looking for opportunities, when Porto players are handed over in defense, there will inevitably be a gap.

In the 78th minute, Yang Yang ran back from the front again and raised his hand high for the ball.

Meirelles paid attention to Yang Yang, but did not expect that Yang Yang retreated deeper this time.

Aurelio quickly passed the ball over.

The Portuguese midfielder quickly caught up from the side and rear, caught sight of Aurelio's pass, and made a sliding tackle, trying to steal before Yang Yang and destroy the ball.

But Yang Yang's reaction speed was also fast, knowing that if he stopped the ball, he would definitely be cut off, so he took the lead and picked the ball gently behind him, avoiding Meireles' sliding tackle.

The ball seemed to have heard Yang Yang's order, passed over Meireles' right foot and body, and fell to the area behind him, while Yang Yang quickly turned around, started quickly, and directly chased after him.

Porto realized the danger, and right center defender Bruno Alves wanted to pounce towards Yang Yang for the first time.

But unexpectedly, Yang Yang started faster and caught up with the ball one step ahead.

The Portuguese central defender is very experienced. When he judged that he could not catch up with Yang Yang, he quickly stuck to the inside of Yang Yang, rushed with him all the way to the penalty area, and tried his best to block all of Yang Yang's shooting angles.

Amid the exclamations of the fans, Yang Yang dribbled the ball all the way into the penalty area from the left, but Bruno Alves also has a lot of defensive experience. opened.

But today's Yang Yang is no longer the Yang Yang of the past.

With his current ability, facing defensive players, even if you don't leak, he will do everything possible to create loopholes.

So, Yang Yang deliberately dribbled the ball with his right foot, and at the moment of rushing into the penalty area, his left foot seemed to kick up.

This immediately tricked Bruno Alves into being fooled and kicked up to block, but Yang Yang moved the ball forward with his right foot.

Seeing that the opponent was tricked, and when Yang Yang was about to get rid of it, Bruno Alves shot very tenaciously and grabbed Yang Yang's right arm and shoulder abruptly.

This caused Yang Yang to take another step slower.

The two chased at the same time again, but Yang Yang's speed was still a little faster than Bruno Alves.

And his attention fell on Porto goalkeeper Nuno.