In training, Rodri loved playing those kinds of through balls to Salah. Paired with Salah's explosiveness, and the brilliant Wing Breakthroughs he often produced after receiving the ball out wide, those passes frequently helped Liverpool tear through opposing defenses.
This time, Rodri fulfilled his role once again, while Salah chose to set up Leo Lin, allowing Liverpool to stretch the scoreline completely.
As the first half neared its end, Liverpool were already leading Barcelona 2-0. Not a single Barcelona fan had a smile on their face, unless they were Liverpool fans pretending to wear Barcelona shirts.
"The gap is obvious, so I can accept this result. I just hope we can keep fighting in the second half."
"At the very least, we have to score one. We can't come to Anfield and leave with absolutely nothing!"
"Just look at Liverpool's attack. How long has it been since we played anything like that? We haven't put together a decent attacking move in ages!"
"We've relied too much on Messi and Suárez for far too long. Once Liverpool shut those two down so well, our attack disappeared completely, and our control of the game gradually faded too!"
Barcelona were in the middle of a generational transition, so they inevitably ran into the same problems every team had to face.
The match reached halftime, and the players returned to the dressing rooms.
Gullit and Scholes suddenly received a viewer call-in request. When they opened it, they saw it was from Ashley Cole, who had even shamelessly used his moderator privileges to move his request to the top of the list.
This was supposed to be the halftime fan interaction segment, but faced with Ashley Cole's brazen little stunt, Gullit chose to reject him and then kicked him out of the livestream.
"Fans, we're now entering our very popular audience call-in segment. Is there anything you'd like to say about Barcelona's first-half performance? Come on the mic and share your thoughts!"
"Let's welcome our first fan. His name is Forever King of the Bernabéu, so he should be a Real Madrid fan. Let me remind you, please choose your words carefully. Don't say anything too extreme and get the livestream taken down. Thank you!"
The moment Gullit saw the fan's name, he could already guess that he was probably a Real Madrid fan, and very likely a Cristiano Ronaldo fan.
Sure enough, after coming online, the fan did not comment on Barcelona. Instead, he evaluated Liverpool's performance.
"Besides being a Real Madrid fan, I also really like Liverpool. I think our attacking patterns are similar in certain moments. Even though Real Madrid have already been knocked out this season, I believe Liverpool will defend their Champions League title!"
Real Madrid had been beaten in the quarterfinals and failed to advance to the next round, which also meant Leo Lin's chances of winning a second Ballon d'Or were growing stronger.
As long as Leo Lin could help Liverpool win the Champions League, he would claim the second Ballon d'Or of his career.
The next person to come on the mic was a Liverpool fan, and he sounded extremely excited from his voice alone.
"You bastard, Gullit!"
"How dare you kick me out of the livestream!"
"I'm Ashley Cole. I'm a commentator here, and I have the right to share my views in this livestream!"
Ashley Cole had actually made an alternate account, pretended to be a Liverpool fan, entered the livestream to request a call-in, and had somehow been lucky enough to get picked by Gullit.
Hearing that familiar voice, Gullit immediately kicked Ashley Cole out of the livestream again. He was worried Ashley Cole's cold might spread to him through the internet.
"Everyone in the livestream, be careful and take precautions. Drink plenty of hot water. Ashley Cole has a cold, so watch out in case he spreads the virus to all of you through this call-in!"
"Now, let's invite our third fan to share their thoughts!"
Another lucky fan was chosen. This one was a neutral fan who supported neither Liverpool nor Barcelona.
"I'm an Ajax fan. I watched Liverpool knock out the team I love with my own eyes, so I hope Liverpool can carry Ajax's efforts with them and keep pushing forward!"
"At the same time, I want to take this chance to express my respect for Lin. I think Lin has been the best-performing player in the Champions League so far."
"He'll be a strong contender for Champions League Player of the Tournament, and he'll also be a strong contender for European Player of the Season!"
Since the fan mentioned Leo Lin, Gullit took the opportunity to praise Leo Lin, who had scored twice in the first half.
"The two goals in the first half weren't actually that difficult, but the difficult part is that Lin can keep scoring chances like that with such consistency. That's another way of showing his efficiency in front of goal."
"Not every professional player can take every good chance. In today's game, there are quite a few players who often miss excellent opportunities, so for Leo Lin to truly turn these chances into goals is no easy thing!"
The fans watching from all over the world were relaxed, but the players on both sides could not afford to relax. Zubizarreta was laying out further defensive instructions.
"Remember, once the second half starts, we fight to keep every ball in play!"
"Whether the ball is about to go out for a throw-in, or you feel it's beyond your reach, even if the chance of saving it is tiny, as long as keeping it in play gives us possession, you fight with everything you have until the very last second!"
Zubizarreta had noticed that many balls had gone out of play during the first half against Barcelona. In order to slow the tempo, Liverpool's players had not dealt properly with some balls they could have fought to keep in, instead letting them roll out. To a certain extent, that had actually disrupted the rhythm of Liverpool's own attack.
On the other side, Barcelona also changed their formation. Vidal came off the bench to replace Ousmane Dembélé, taking off a striker and adding a midfielder. Coutinho began playing as the left winger, and Barcelona returned to their preferred 4-3-3 Formation.
The second half of the Champions League semifinal resumed. After changing formation, Barcelona did begin attacking more proactively, but they still struggled to produce smooth combinations.
Liverpool's Pressing grew more and more intense, which led to more and more duels for possession between Barcelona and Liverpool.
In the 52nd minute!
Coutinho had only just controlled the ball when Joe Gomez charged forward, won it with a forceful tackle, and played it out wide to Salah.
Salah turned beautifully and dribbled past Alba, then sent a sweeping curved pass toward Mané.
It was a powerful outside-of-the-foot curved ball.
Mané sprinted with everything he had toward the far post. Just as Zubizarreta had said at halftime, he felt he might not reach it, but he still chased after the ball.
Then Mané threw himself forward and swung his leg, instantly knocking the ball, already pressing against the white line, back toward the middle.
Firmino met it with a header at the near post.
But luck was not on his side. The ball smashed against the Goalpost.
Just as Firmino was about to lament the miss, Leo Lin appeared.
...
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