"To all the fans watching this Champions League semifinal second leg, Liverpool's away clash against a powerful opponent is about to begin!"
"The starting lineups are out. First, for Barcelona, Lenglet remains in the starting eleven, while Roberto replaces Semedo from the first leg at right-back."
"That might be good news for Barcelona fans, but the midfield combination is still Coutinho and Ousmane Dembélé."
"Coutinho's league form has been improving recently. In the previous round against Villarreal, he even scored a beautiful goal."
"So, fans, can Barcelona produce the greatest comeback in Champions League history? If they can do it, then this will probably go beyond the power of the Champions League itself. It would turn countless Barcelona fans into lifelong followers of this team."
"But once you look at Liverpool's starting lineup, you'll understand just how slim Barcelona's hopes really are."
"Leo Lin leads the team, with Wijnaldum and Rodri both starting. It seems Rodri has now become a fixed starter in Liverpool's midfield."
"In defense, Van Dijk partners Lovren, with Joe Gomez and Matip also included. To be honest, I don't understand this lineup."
"Is Klopp planning to have Gomez play left-back and Matip fill in at right-back? But Arnold is clearly on the bench."
"The front three remain unchanged, and Alisson is still in goal. The match is about to begin."
What confused Barcelona most was Liverpool's arrangement of four defenders. They had sent out three center-backs in total. Joe Gomez could fill in at fullback, but he could not possibly cover both the left and the right, so one of the center-backs would have to move out wide.
At least, that was what Valverde thought. But once the match began, Liverpool had no fullbacks on the pitch at all.
Joe Gomez was not playing fullback, nor was he playing center-back. He was playing as a wide midfielder.
Matip, Lovren, and Van Dijk formed a back three. Wijnaldum, who started this match, was the right wide midfielder. Leo Lin and Rodri were responsible for central midfield. Add the front three, and Liverpool were playing a 3-4-3, a formation Klopp had never used before.
"Against Barcelona, should he really use a formation he's never used before?"
"Isn't that a bit risky? Or did Klopp get brainwashed by Guardiola before the match?"
"We need to see exactly how Liverpool plan to use this tactic to limit Barcelona."
Scholes believed Klopp had chosen this formation to contain Barcelona. But only a few minutes into the match, it was Liverpool who created the first good chance.
The 8th minute of the match.
Wijnaldum first stayed in midfield, then suddenly moved out to the right wide midfielder position, settling between Roberto and Ousmane Dembélé.
Alisson sent a long pass to Wijnaldum. Wijnaldum controlled the ball, and Ousmane Dembélé and Roberto charged toward him almost at the same time.
The two of them seemed to have no understanding, yet also seemed to be trying to carry out a synchronized defensive tactic.
Wijnaldum waited one second, then passed into midfield. Leo Lin received it and immediately played a direct pass.
Wijnaldum turned and went past Ousmane Dembélé. Roberto's chase was also slightly slowed by Dembélé's sprint, allowing Wijnaldum to face Piqué alone.
At that moment, Piqué only wanted to figure out how Liverpool would attack next. Wijnaldum's fine technique allowed him to stay calm in front of Piqué. Then came a sudden layoff, and Rodri, who had just been waiting deeper to offer support, suddenly appeared.
A powerful long shot.
Barcelona actually had no one protecting the defense.
Rodri's long shot flew toward goal with very high quality. Ter Stegen produced another superb save, blocking the ball with an excellent stop.
"Rodri's long shot didn't go in!"
"Ter Stegen's shot-stopping is still ridiculous."
"But why did Barcelona allow Rodri to shoot so easily from that position?"
"Where's their defensive midfielder? Where did Busquets go?"
"And Rakitic. What are they doing?"
"In all these league matches, I've never seen Rakitic ignore this area before."
Before this, Rakitic had indeed never let an opposing midfielder slip by, but he clearly had not noticed Rodri's run.
"How did Liverpool dare let Rodri run all the way there?"
"In a 3-4-3, apart from the two wide midfielders, there are only two central midfielders, Rodri and Leo Lin."
"After Leo Lin pushed forward, Rodri pushed forward too. That means Liverpool's midfield was basically empty."
"If Barcelona had counterattacked, wouldn't that have been the same as handing the goal straight to them?"
The Barcelona players on the pitch still had not noticed the changes in Liverpool's attack, but Gullit saw them clearly.
Because when Rodri took that long shot, Gullit did not even watch whether the ball would go in. Instead, he looked toward Liverpool's midfield and back line. His focus was the same as Rakitic's.
Then he saw something remarkable. Joe Gomez and Wijnaldum, who were supposed to be playing as wide midfielders, had moved into midfield as central midfielders after Rodri and Leo Lin joined the attack.
Rakitic had not noticed. He even thought this was an opportunity he could exploit.
Liverpool's attacking shape on the corner was still a 3-4-3.
The corner sent into the middle was cleared by Busquets. When Rakitic received the ball, he did not even look up. He simply believed Liverpool had no one protecting midfield, so he tried to find Suárez directly.
But Wijnaldum appeared right on time.
Klopp felt reassured. It seemed his tactics were still working.
But in the next second, Suárez made a brilliant tackle from behind.
Wijnaldum lost the ball, and Messi's run allowed him to receive Suárez's pass.
A one-on-one was about to form, so Joe Gomez had no choice but to foul him. At that moment, he was the only player who could commit the foul, because if he fouled, he would only get a yellow card.
If Van Dijk or Matip had fouled, it would definitely have been a red card. Alisson could not foul either, so Joe Gomez chose to take the yellow card for the team.
The exact location of the foul, however, was open to debate. It was hard to judge the precise spot. The referee first blew for the foul and showed Gomez a yellow card, then immediately pointed to the penalty spot. He believed it was a penalty.
"Referee, did you really see that clearly?"
"If it really happened inside the box, then it's a penalty. But if it wasn't in the box, you'll be questioned by a lot of people after the match."
Leo Lin immediately tried to change the referee's decision with words, but the referee still awarded Barcelona the penalty.
"Penalty. Barcelona have a chance to pull one back first."
"At least it's a good start. If this goes in, Messi is taking the penalty."
Messi prepared to take it. Leo Lin suddenly felt as if he knew which side Messi wanted to shoot toward. It was probably the goalkeeper's left.
So Leo Lin raised his hand and secretly signaled to Alisson from behind, pointing to Messi's left.
Alisson saw it, and he decided to trust Leo Lin.
But only when Messi began his run-up did Leo Lin suddenly remember that he had pointed to Messi's left, not Alisson's. That meant Alisson would dive to his right.
He had pointed in the wrong direction.
He hurriedly waved his hand, trying to change the direction, but Alisson dived the right way and saved the ball.
Barcelona failed to take their penalty chance.
Leo Lin burst out laughing.
Alisson had already rushed toward him.
"That's right, Alisson. That's exactly the direction I meant!"
...
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