Chapter 752: Escaped

Under the dark night sky, in the splendid night view of Rome, the Olympic Stadium, as bright as day, seems like a dormant giant beast, which is daunting.

Although it was far from the time for the start of the game, the Olympic Stadium was already full of people and seats.

The stadium stands, which can accommodate more than 62,000 fans in total, were occupied by fans from Liverpool and Barcelona. As the home team tonight, Liverpool fans all wore red jerseys representing Liverpool's tradition.

Barcelona and their fans eschewed Liverpool's red and put on their own yellow away jersey.

Fans of the two teams were divided in the stands, but both were doing their best to cheer for the team they supported.

This is a world-renowned matchup that will attract the attention of all media and fans around the world.

Especially as the game time is approaching, guests from all walks of life gather in the stands.

UEFA President Platini, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Spanish King Juan Carlos, Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero, British Royal Family Representative Prince William, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown...

This is not only a football feast, but also an annual event for European political and business circles.

Before the start of the game, a brief but grand performance was held on the spot. The protagonist was Jupiter, the king of ancient Roman gods dressed in lightning, which fully demonstrated the long tradition and history of Rome.

Accompanied by the theme song of "Gladiator" sung by Italian blind tenor Bocelli, the model in golden clothes walked into the stadium holding the St. Bury's Cup. At this time, Bocelli began to sing the Champions League champion again. The theme song of the league pushed the atmosphere of the game to the extreme.

...

"The pre-game opening show is over and the fans seem to be in high spirits."

"The live camera switched to the player tunnel. We can see that the players of both teams are already lined up at the tunnel entrance, ready to play at any time, and the camera is aimed at the referee tonight, Busacca from Switzerland."

"We can also see the starting lineup of the two teams tonight."

"First of all Liverpool, we saw Reina in goalkeeper, Aurelio, Skrtel, Carragher and Abeloa in defence, Gareth Barry, Mascherano, Ha Vy Alonso and Gerrard, Yang Yang and Kuyt in the front."

"At the moment we can't know Liverpool's formation, whether it is 433, 442, or 4312. Benitez's formation has always been a surprise victory, often very impressive. Accident."

"Whether it's Yang Yang, Gerrard, or Gareth Barry, these three players can play multiple positions at the same time, which brings more space to Benitez's formation. It can be seen clearly after the arrangement is made in the game.”

"It's the same here in Barcelona."

"We saw the goalkeeper Valdes, Abidal, Pique, Puyol and Daniel Alves in the back, Iniesta, Busquets and Xavi in ​​the midfield, and Xavi in ​​the front. The combination of Henry, Eto'o and Messi."

"Some media broke the news before that Guardiola is likely to put Messi in the middle and let Henry and Etoola side, but whether this is the arrangement, we have to wait until the game to see clearly."

...

Yang Yang stood in the Liverpool queue, chatting with Messi, Iniesta and others in the Barcelona team.

Although they were going to turn their backs in the game after a while, but off the court, they were still in harmony with each other.

Don't look at Messi's fierce shouting before the game, as if he wanted to swallow Yang Yang and Liverpool in one bite, but when we met, the Argentine was quite shy, and was extremely polite to Yang Yang.

During the chat, with a greeting from the referee Busaka, Yang Yang and Messi and others exchanged good luck, and then slowly walked out of the player tunnel with the queue.

The players of the two teams were greeted by a tsunami from the more than 60,000 fans in the stands. Everyone was in the stadium, and it was impossible to tell what they were shouting.

Some people were shouting for the team, some were calling for the players, and some were shouting for cheers.

Gerrard is still quite superstitious. Before walking out of the player tunnel, he repeatedly told Liverpool's players that they should not touch the St. Bernard Cup at the entrance of the tunnel anyway. It is said that if they touch it, they will miss the trophy.

Although I don't know where Gerrard heard the news, no one in Liverpool really touched it.

Not only Liverpool but also Barcelona players.

Twenty-two players from the two teams were divided into two rows. Players walked in from the left and right of the St. Berard Cup. From beginning to end, no one touched the Champions League trophy within reach, which obviously looked so attractive. .

...

Taking off the training jacket, revealing the match shirt inside, Liverpool began to take up their positions.

Barcelona beat Liverpool in guessing, so Puyol won the kick-off.

At this time, the two teams set up their positions and their positions were basically clear, and Yang Yang admired Benitez even more from the bottom of his heart.

At least in the pre-match preparations, Benitez really did a good job.

Because Guardiola really put Messi in the middle position, Eto'o played on the right and Henry played on the left.

If Liverpool really adopts a double-backed midfielder, it is estimated that the first half of this game will be very passive, and even a careless may lose the opportunity.

But what Yang Yang didn't know was that while he was surprised by Guardiola's tricks and Benitez's precautions, the Barcelona players on the opposite side, including Messi, were also surprised by Benitez's changes on the spot, and Guardiola's magic trick.

Because Yang Yang and Kuyt are standing on the outer sides of the center circle, this means that Liverpool have adopted a double-forward play.

Guardiola rarely took the initiative to provoke Liverpool before the game, hoping that the Red Army would take the initiative and fight against Barcelona, ​​but in fact he knew very well that Liverpool could not do this at all.

Sometimes football matches are like this, unreal and unpredictable.

…………

…………

When the referee Busaka blew the whistle for the start of the game, Messi quickly kicked the ball to Eto'o, who quickly returned to the midfielder to Busquets, and then returned to the back line.

Yang Yang and Kuyt sprinted forward at the same time to take Barcelona's back line.

One aimed at Puyol, the other aimed at Pique, and the two pressed at the same time, coupled with the forward pressure of Gareth Barry and Gerrard on the left, Liverpool formed an aggressive momentum after the opening.

This is Liverpool's opening strategy, hoping to frustrate Barcelona from the start and disrupt the rhythm of the opponent.

Barcelona's players looked a little nervous at the beginning. After all, many of them are playing the Champions League final for the first time. Unlike Liverpool, they have already played one game two years ago, and many have even played three Champions League finals.

In experience, Liverpool is better.

Pique made a long pass and tried to reach the frontcourt, but Skrtel headed it down.

Liverpool instigated a counterattack from the left, Aurelio threw the ball through the ball, gave it to the center line, and Gareth Barry received the ball.

Yang Yang retreated from the front and raised his hand for the ball.

Stopping the ball and turning around, Yang dribbled the ball from the left and rushed towards the penalty area diagonally.

But as soon as he started, Busquets made a decisive move and did not break the ball, but tripped Yang Yang.

The referee Busaka blew the whistle decisively and gave Liverpool a set-piece opportunity in the frontcourt, but did not draw the card.

The Liverpool fans at the scene were booed.

...

This position happened to be at the most comfortable angle for Yang Yang, 32 meters away, a bit far.

After Yang Yang placed the ball, he slowly pushed it back.

Barcelona is also on the verge of an enemy, and Guardiola even rushed to the sidelines and commanded the players to deploy.

Everyone was very nervous, obviously worried about Yang Yang's direct free kick.

In the past two or three years, Yang Yang's direct free kicks have been very good.

"I don't know how Yang Yang's footwork is tonight?" The on-site commentator expressed the voice of all the fans in the stadium and in front of the TV.

Hearing only a whistle from Busaka, Yang Yang took a deep breath and rushed forward quickly. After standing with his left foot, he directly hit a curved ball with his right foot.

An obvious muffled sound was heard at the scene, and the ball was shot quickly, almost over the top of the human wall inside the penalty area line, falling rapidly, with a strong rotation, and flew to the left side of the goal.

Valdés responded very quickly, flying to make a save, and extending his right hand as much as possible.

But when he felt the ball approaching, he found that the ball path in mid-air had a clear drop, which immediately made him pale, and the evaluation of Yang Yang's free kick from the outside world appeared in his mind.

Deadly arc, unpredictable!

Valdez thought he had been defeated, but unexpectedly, there was another muffled sound beside his ear.

With a bang, the ball hit the left post of the goal hard and bounced back into the penalty area.

In an instant, there was an exclamation of relief at the scene.

The Liverpool players who were ambushed in the penalty area also rushed forward. Gerrard and Kuyt both rushed for the ball. In the end, Kuyt took the lead and hit the goal, but Pique was faster and used his feet to knock Kuyt's goal Shot off the bottom line.

Corner!

"My God, almost!"

"Barcelona escaped, Yang Yang's direct free kick was very erratic, and Valdes couldn't even stop it. In the end, the goal saved Barcelona."

"Liverpool's attack at the beginning was very threatening, especially Yang Yang. He showed his good skills at the beginning. With a threatening free-kick, he almost broke Barcelona's goal."

The Liverpool fans at the scene responded with warm applause, obviously affirming Yang Yang's opening kick, but Yang Yang himself was not satisfied, because his kick just now was not well controlled.

The game has just started, and he hasn't really gotten into shape yet.

If this free kick was delayed a little bit later, and when he warmed up and used his footwork more skillfully, then the ball would have been real. What a pity it was an excellent scoring opportunity!

But he believes that this free kick is enough to deter Barcelona.