Chapter 733: Tenacious Liverpool
Cancelo made a low pass and swept the ball towards the middle.
Harry Kane was trying to score in front of the goal, and Bruno also rushed to the front.
These two extremely threatening offensive players were like beacons in the dark night in Liverpool's penalty area, attracting the defensive attention of all defenders in Liverpool's penalty area.
Harry Kane was at the front point, and his sliding shot missed the ball. Bruno at the back point threw his body weight out, ready to grab the ball.
At this moment, a red figure flashed between Harry Kane and Bruno.
"This is - Rashford!"
Rashford suddenly appeared in the middle and fell to the ground and shot!
Manchester United fans were ready to cheer, but their cheers were strangled in their throats.
This was a world-class save by Alisson. He made the save almost at the same time as Rashford's shot. He turned sideways and fell to the ground, while trying his best to expand the defensive area of his arms and body.
"Great save! Alisson!"
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Rashford's shot from close range was sure to succeed, but at the critical moment, the ball was saved by Alisson!
"F**K!"
Mourinho held his head in his hands on the sidelines, watching in disbelief what had just happened in front of Liverpool's goal.
He didn't expect the team to have such a wonderful attack. Rashford's smart movement and sliding shot, such a close shot, were all saved by Alisson.
Then, the next second, Mourinho's eyes widened. He saw that after Alisson saved the ball, Matip in front of the goal quickly turned around to clear the ball, and the ball was kicked to the top of the penalty area by the Liverpool defender.
At the top of the penalty area, Luke Shaw won the header battle with Salah and passed the ball to Gundogan.
Gundogan stopped the ball with his chest, then slightly turned sideways to block Fabinho who was trying to press, and at the same time swung his right foot and volleyed the ball directly into the air.
After Gundogan kicked the ball, it was like a cannonball, drawing a beautiful arc and flying towards the goal at a very fast speed.
Faced with such a shot, Alisson, who had made two world-class saves in today's game, had no choice. He had just gotten up from the ground and had no time to make a save. He could only watch the football pass over his left side and into the net.
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"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!"
"Gundogan! Gundogan! Gundogan! Incredible world wave, Gundogan suddenly volleyed the ball from the top of the penalty area. The shot was too sudden and the goal was extremely wonderful. 1:0, Manchester United led Liverpool 1:0 not long after the game started!"
"Gundogan's goal helped Manchester United get off to a dream start. In a game like the Champions League final, such a wonderful start is exciting. This goal is bound to have a huge psychological impact on both sides of the game. Manchester United's pressure is naturally less, and they have the capital to maneuver. Liverpool's pressure has increased greatly, which means they started the game with a score of 0:1."
Gundogan was very excited after scoring the goal. He wanted to run to celebrate, but he was soon surrounded by his teammates, who knocked him to the ground and celebrated wildly.
What the commentator said was absolutely correct. This goal relieved some of the psychological pressure on Manchester United players. With a ball in hand, they had room to maneuver and were not so nervous.
In such an important game, this relative psychological and emotional relaxation is very helpful.
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Liverpool players stood there, feeling helpless.
The goal came too quickly and too early, which caught Liverpool players off guard.
Losing the ball just at the beginning of the game was indeed a very bad start.
Of course, it is unrealistic to say that this goal will cause too much of a blow to Liverpool. Liverpool is a veteran European football giant and a well-tested giant team. It has made it to the final of the Champions League. What storms have they not experienced?
Klopp shouted from the sidelines, signaling Liverpool players not to panic and to stay calm.
The game has just started, and losing a goal at this time is nothing. Liverpool has plenty of time to turn the tables.
In the stands of the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium, Manchester United fans were singing and dancing. The team scored a goal at the start of the game and took the lead in the score, which made Manchester United fans very excited. They seemed to see the team lifting the fifth Champions League trophy in the club's history.
Mourinho quickly calmed down from his excitement and he shouted on the sidelines, signaling the players to stay calm.
"Stay calm, the game has just begun," Mourinho said to team captain Blue.
"Liverpool players are tenacious, the game will be tough, be prepared." Mourinho patted Bruno on the shoulder and said.
To be honest, Mourinho would rather face Barcelona than Liverpool in the final.
It’s not that he looks down on Barcelona, but in comparison, Barcelona’s defensive problems are bigger than Liverpool’s.
Another point is that Liverpool is indeed more tenacious in general. After all, this is the team that created the Istanbul Miracle.
Moreover, as Manchester United's mortal enemy, Liverpool players are more eager to fight when facing Manchester United.
After all, this game is about the competition for who is the top club in England, and Liverpool will never give up.
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After the game restarted, the situation developed just as Mourinho expected. Liverpool players took a few minutes to get over the negative impact of 0:1.
This team is indeed strong enough!
Before the game, the media analyzed the strength comparison of the two teams. Most media believed that the two sides were evenly matched, while a small number of media believed that Manchester United was slightly stronger than Liverpool.
They believe that this is mainly reflected in the following aspects: in the goalkeeper position, De Gea is stronger than Alisson; in the midfield and frontcourt positions, the combination of Kante, Bruno and Gundogan is stronger than the combination of Henderson, Wijnaldum and Fabio, and Harry Kane is also obviously stronger than Firmino.
Of course, in the view of the media, Liverpool also has strengths: the two wingers, Mane and Salah, are stronger than the combination of Rashford and Mbappe.
As for the defense of both teams, their strength is about the same. The Manchester United defense of Luke Shaw, Van Dijk, Maguire and Cancelo seems to be more famous and more valuable. However, judging from the performance in the past season, it is the Liverpool defense of Arnold, Matip, Koulibaly and Robertson that conceded fewer goals and performed better.
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After Wijnaldum and Fabinho made a wall-to-wall pass, he suddenly turned towards Mane, but used his heel to knock the ball to Salah.
The Egyptian winger started quickly with the ball.
Mourinho stood up from his seat on the sidelines. Salah is definitely the most threatening player for Liverpool. He emphasized before the game that it is important to defend against the Egyptian winger.
Manchester United's defensive focus also tilted to the left.
Just when Manchester United's defense focused all its attention on this side, they did not notice that Mane was making a high-speed run on the other side.
Salah dribbled the ball and suddenly cut inside, and Luke Shaw who was defending him also cut inside.
Then, Salah made a gesture to take a long shot.
"Block his shot!" De Gea shouted nervously. Salah's inward curve ball is world-famous, almost comparable to Robben in his prime. He was very nervous.
Salah didn't shoot, but passed the ball.
This was passed to Wijnaldum.
Wijnaldum did not catch the ball but let it roll past.
Then people saw that on the other side, Mane got the ball unguarded.
Mane did not give Manchester United's defense a chance to redeploy. He just kicked the ball and it flew straight towards the goal in an arc.
Liverpool fans in the away stands of the Wanda Metropolitano were ready to cheer and celebrate the goal, and then everyone saw De Gea flying like a dolphin and lifting the ball over the crossbar with one hand.
"A world-class save! Oh my god, De Gea, he saved Mane's sure goal!"
"Great save, De Gea!"
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"We missed a man! We missed a man!" De Gea, who made this world-class save, jumped up from the ground and expressed his dissatisfaction to his teammates.
This time, Manchester United's defense actually missed the equally threatening Mane, allowing the Senegalese winger to directly get a half-solo opportunity. This was an unforgivable mistake!
Mane held his head in his hands. He couldn't believe his eyes. He couldn't believe that De Gea actually blocked the goal he was determined to score.
You know, he was deliberately looking for angles when shooting, but he didn't expect that it could still be blocked!
Manchester United fans in the stands applauded De Gea. If it weren't for the heroic performance of their Spanish goalkeeper, Manchester United would most likely have been tied by Liverpool very quickly.
Klopp stood up from his seat and applauded the Liverpool players on the field, expressing encouragement and appreciation for the team's faithful implementation of his tactical arrangements, and quickly returned the favor to Manchester United.
Although this almost certain goal-scoring opportunity did not result in a goal, Klopp was still very happy. This attack proved that he was right and his team was capable of a comeback.
However, Klopp's expression soon became serious.
Facing Liverpool's offensive, Manchester United gave a very strong response: they launched a counterattack against Liverpool.
This was what Klopp expected. He thought that after leading 1:0, Mourinho would be more conservative and would most likely launch a counterattack against Liverpool.
After all, everyone knows that Mourinho started out as a defensive player. In more games, after taking the lead, his team would adopt a solid defense, or even park the bus, to use defensive counterattacks to consume the opponent's physical strength.
This is also the origin of the Moulin Bus.
However, I didn't expect that in today's Champions League final, Mourinho would be so bold to fight against Liverpool.
