In the mid-week Champions League match, Liverpool was hosted first and then away, while Barcelona was hosted first and then away.

The schedule is more beneficial to Barcelona - it is a favorable schedule first and then home, everyone knows this.

Liverpool, who faces Dortmund at home, has sent the strongest lineup. The team's goal is not only to win, but also to strive for a big victory. Only by winning a few more goals in the home game can the away trip of the second leg be easier.

If you win stumblingly at your home court, then the away game will probably be even more mysterious.

So Martin O'Neal sent out the strongest lineup.

Gotze will also start in this game, this is his first time facing his old owner after leaving Dortmund.

As for Barcelona, ​​although it was away, Barcelona did not send out all the main players.

Eindhoven is really too weak. It is a complete luck for them to enter the quarterfinals, because their opponents in the semi-finals are even weaker than them.

Eindhoven eliminated Sofialevsky from Bulgaria.

And the reason why Sofialevsky was able to appear in the top 16 is a lucky draw...

In short, the two weakest teams in the quarterfinals were drawn together, with a little strength and richer experience. Eindhoven, who also has a bit of the background of a Dutch giant, eliminated Sofialevsky and appeared in the quarterfinals.

Look at the other seven teams, they are Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Dortmund, Manchester United, and Juventus. They are all famous giants. Eindhoven does have a bit of a "small" meaning in it.

Many people think that if Eindhoven is ashamed, they should commit suicide, and not wait until Barcelona comes to ruin their destruction.

Since the opponent is so weak, Barcelona naturally has no reason to do their best in such a team.

Guardiola sent many young players and substitutes, but he focused on the fight against Liverpool.

He has absolute confidence in his team, and it is no problem to eliminate Eindhoven. At the same time, he also believes that Liverpool will not capsize here again.

Then in the end, it must be the two teams that met together.

You have to prepare early. You can't wait until it's approaching before considering how to deal with Liverpool. It's too late. In addition, the team also needs targeted training, which takes time.

In fact, after the draw results came out, Guardiola began to add training content for Liverpool to the training, allowing the players to adapt little by little.

As for Eindhoven? He just watched the opponent's game video several times and understood the opponent's status and strength level, and he knew it in his heart.

It doesn't take much effort to eliminate this team. The less effort Barcelona needs to spend in the quarterfinals, the greater the advantage in the semifinals.

You should know that the schedule of Liverpool's quarterfinals is home first and then away, and this schedule is not good for them. They will definitely encounter big trouble in the last away game. Dortmund's home court, Westphalon Stadium, is a well-known home court in European football, and Dortmund's fans are known for their wildness and loyalty.

Guardiola believes that Liverpool will definitely be stubbornly blocked by Dortmund and fans at this home court.

My second round was at Camp Nou, and I was guaranteed without having to go on a stroll, and my physical strength was guaranteed. In addition, maybe Eindhoven was already done in the first round, so that the second round would become a formality?

In short, the situation is more beneficial to Barcelona.

Guardiola must make good use of this favorable situation.

※ ※ ※

The two quarterfinals in the upper half kicked off at the same time.

Liverpool welcomed last season's Bundesliga runner-up Dortmund at home, while Barcelona challenged the weak Eindhoven away.

"The warm-up match for the highly anticipated semi-finals has officially begun!"

Even the commentator said this, which shows where everyone's mind is.

Liverpool launched a fierce offensive against Dortmund, who was away from the beginning of the game. This also meets their tactical requirements.

Dortmund seemed to be prepared for such a fierce attack against Liverpool. They did not push out the attack at all, but retreated to the penalty area from the beginning of the game. They hugged their heads with their hands, squatted in the corner, looking like they were beaten.

They expect to rely on defending themselves to hold on to a good outcome for them.

Even if you lose the game in the end, you just need to lose two less goals.

For example, if they lose 0:1, they still have hope when they return to home.

There is only one step away from reaching the semi-finals, and no one wants to give up.

Leverkusen's performance against Barcelona before has made the Bundesliga a laughing stock in the entire European football world. Teams in the five major leagues are so humble to face Barcelona. In the Bundesliga, everyone is also disgusted with Leverkusen's performance.

If I had known that they were the ones, I might as well let us go!

——This is the voice of many teams.

So even if Dortmund faces Liverpool, he never wants to surrender early.

※ ※ ※

This is what Guardiola wants to see the most, the two teams fought to the death. Then he reaped the benefits of the fisherman.

At this time, he was sitting on the coach's seat of the visiting team at Philips Stadium in Eindhoven's home court, knocking his legs crossed, really like a fisherman waiting to make a profit.

As for the game in front of him...

It seems that it is not intense. Eindhoven did not show strong fighting spirit at home. Barcelona still seems a little awkward because they have sent too many young players.

But this doesn't matter. In Guardiola's opinion, after waiting for a while and after his players gradually adapt to the rhythm of the game, Eindhoven is dead.

He is only concerned about the outcome of another game now.

His assistant coach Biranova sat next to him. He had been the team's head coach for a short time before, but he didn't expect that Mourinho's Real Madrid would be so bad that he had no underwear. As a last resort, Cruyff personally came forward to invite Guardiola out. Biranova's positioning was accurate. When Guardiola came out, he took the initiative to abdicate and gave in and started to assist Guardiola again.

Biranova is now wearing headphones in her ears, connected to a pocket radio, and is listening to the live broadcast of another game.

Anything over there may have an impact on Barcelona's strategies and tactics.

So Guardiola asked if there was any change in the game over there. Bilanova must tell him as soon as possible.

※ ※ ※

Dortmund's defensive defense is very thorough, but in the past or two seasons, Liverpool's players have long seen many defensive teams. As Liverpool's reputation increases, most of their opponents choose to defend. For these teams, it is very good to be able to get a draw against Liverpool.

What's the point of winning... Don't even think about it!

Therefore, Liverpool has accumulated rich experience in dealing with these dead-defense tactics.

Especially since they have Chen Yingxiong, the world's most powerful siege weapon. Even if the other party closes the city gate and guards the death, they have a way to blow open the other party's strong city walls and city gates!

Just like now...

The game was only eleven minutes ago, and under the continuous bombardment of Liverpool, the walls and gates of the Dortmund castle were trembling, as if they could be twisted and collapsed at any time.

Huge psychological pressure lingers in everyone's heart, shocking them secretly.

This is their first time playing against Liverpool. I didn't expect that Liverpool's strength is so strong! It seems that the media's statements are not exaggerated gimmicks, but facts...

Faced with such a powerful Liverpool, some Dortmund players have begun to doubt whether they can complete the tasks assigned by the head coach before the game...

Finally, in the twelfth minute, Liverpool suddenly increased its strength after continuous attacks. An attack with all its strength!

Under Liverpool's offensive, Dortmund's wall collapsed!

A gap appeared!

Chen Yingxiong held up the red flag of Liverpool and appeared in the gap.

Football was sent by Gotze.

Facing his old club, Goce was merciless! This straight pass was accurate and concealed.

When Chen Yingxiong received the ball, Dortmund's players reacted!

But at this time, it was too late to stop him!

Chen Yingxiong easily entered the penalty area, then shot low with his left foot!

The football rushed past Dortmund's goalkeeper and rushed into the lower right corner of the goal!

ball!

Enter!!

※ ※ ※

Bilanova was listening to the radio attentively because there was a little noisy in the Philips Stadium at this time. The fans were very loud, so he had to lower his head, compare his eyes, and try to focus his attention on his ears. Listening to the enemy's movements is a task assigned to him by Guardiola. He also knows the importance of this task, so he dare not neglect it. It's just that even wearing headphones, the sound is not very clear. Because it's too noisy outside...

He frowned and muttered, "Damn it, why did it suddenly become so noisy!"

He buried his head lower...

But beside him, Guardiola was the opposite of him. He was lifting his head and lifting it up again, and even his body bounced forward, and his hands were clenched tighter and tighter without realizing it.

His whole body is now exerting force.

His eyes didn't dare to leave the stadium for even a second, so he didn't even blink.

The football has already flown to the front of the goal, and the situation looks very critical.

But the ball did not fly to Eindhoven's goal, but... it flew to Barcelona's goal!

Yes, Eindhoven's offense made Barcelona's goal in chaos!

Then, in this chaos.

I don’t know who touched football. Guardiola’s position is really bad. It’s not real. I don’t want to watch TV broadcasts, and there are also close-ups.

Anyway, this question is not important anymore. I don’t know who touched the football, and then... flew into Barcelona’s goal!

At that moment, Guardiola thought he had read it wrong. The football actually did not fly into the goal, but rubbed the post and the side net and flew out of the bottom line...

But the huge cheers at Philips Stadium shattered the luck in his heart.

Barcelona conceded the goal!

Meanwhile, Biranova, beside him, suddenly stood up from his seat, which scared him.

"Pep!" Biranova's voice was very anxious.

He raised his head to report the latest situation to Guardiola, but suddenly saw Guardiola's ashen face.

It was only then that he noticed something strange around him—the cheers in the stadium stands increased significantly, while the people around him were silent and seemed very depressed.

"Uh...what's wrong?" (To be continued)


Chapter completed!