Chapter 737: The Three Red Arrows
While Manchester United were still celebrating, Klopp called the team captain Henderson to the sidelines.
"Jordan, the game has reached the most critical moment." Klopp said directly.
Henderson nodded, he understood what the coach meant. At this point in the game, both sides were already fighting fiercely. At this moment, Manchester United's goal was undoubtedly too crucial. Liverpool equalized twice, and it depended on whether they could equalize the score the third time.
If Liverpool can equalize the score for the third time, then it will be Manchester United who will suffer emotionally and psychologically. On the contrary, if Liverpool cannot equalize the score, then they will naturally lose the score.
"We must try to equalize the score within fifteen minutes!" Klopp said.
Fifteen minutes later, it will be the eighty minutes of the game.
If Liverpool can equalize the score before 80 minutes of the game, their morale will be boosted, but if they fail to equalize the score after more than 80 minutes, the situation will only get worse.
As time goes by, Liverpool's players will become more and more impatient, and by then the game will be over.
"Let Roberto (Firmino) retreat a little, he can help with defense! Let Sadio (Mane), Mohamed (Salah) and Jorginho (Wijnaldum) stay in front and attack with all their strength!" Klopp's decision was quite bold.
This is equivalent to asking the three players to not worry about defense but to focus on attacking. This will create hidden dangers on the defensive end. Once Manchester United seizes the loophole and scores another goal, Liverpool will be in great danger.
But the situation has come to this point, Liverpool must give it a try.
Liverpool has reached the European finals three times in four years. If they still cannot win a championship and stand at the top of Europe under such circumstances, it is unacceptable to Klopp, Liverpool's players, the entire club and Liverpool fans.
To put it bluntly, it’s our Red Army’s turn now!
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On the other side, Manchester United coach Mourinho also pulled the team captain Bruno to the sidelines to give him instructions and reminded Bruno to be careful of Liverpool's counterattack.
Mourinho's original words were: Liverpool must fight hard and must hold on!
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The game became more exciting after the kick-off from the center circle again!
Liverpool is attacking, almost desperately and desperately.
As for Manchester United, their defense was not a defensive one. Manchester United's counterattack was also very effective, which made Liverpool fans sweat.
The current situation is: either Liverpool scores a goal and equalizes the score, boosting morale and perhaps even taking advantage of the momentum to make a comeback; or if Manchester United succeeds in a surprise attack, Liverpool will be predictably doomed.
"This is definitely one of the most beautiful games in the Champions League finals in recent years. It can be compared with the amazing battle between Manchester United and Real Madrid last season! Both Manchester United and Liverpool played conservatively!"
The game that made the commentators and fans, especially the neutral fans, applaud was not a one-sided game.
It was this kind of game where both sides were evenly matched and the play was not conservative but rather full of sparks.
In the 71st minute of the game, Salah dribbled the ball and was surrounded by Van Dijk and Luke Shaw, but he beautifully poked the ball out with his toes.
When Wijnaldum received the ball, he pulled it along and avoided Kante's first attempt.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Gundogan, who was not far away, made a decisive tactical foul and pulled down Wijnaldum.
The referee blew the whistle, penalizing Manchester United for a foul and showing a yellow card to Gundogan.
Kante came over and hugged Gundogan, who was just blocking Kante's shot.
Kante had a yellow card and he didn't dare to commit a tactical foul. Gundogan stepped up at the critical moment.
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Liverpool's set piece in the frontcourt.
Salah walked to the penalty spot, ready to take the free kick.
The referee Skomina blew the whistle, Salah took a run-up, rubbed the ball with his left foot, and the ball flew off the ground and into the penalty area.
The tall and strong Matip came up to participate in the corner attack and he jumped up to compete for the header.
Matip and Van Dijk went to head the ball at the same time. Matip's forehead hit the ball, which then hit the back of Van Dijk's head. The ball bounced and flew towards the upper corner of the goal in a strange arc.
Manchester United goalkeeper De Gea made a world-class save, he almost hit the ball with his fingertips. However, the ball did not leave the danger zone and continued to be above the penalty area, which in turn caused chaos in Manchester United's penalty area!
In the chaos, Mane leaned on Luke Shaw, he raised his foot to shoot, Luke Shaw stretched out his legs to block, the football was touched by two people at the same time, bounced in front of the goal and flew towards the goal.
It was already very difficult for De Gea to save the first shot. At this time, it was too late for him to save the ball again. He could only watch the football bounce in front of the goal and roll into the net behind him.
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"GOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!"
"Mane! Mane! 3:3! Sadio Mane! He equalized the score for Liverpool for the third time!"
"It's incredible. Liverpool used a set-piece opportunity to launch continuous attacks, and Sadio Mane finally scored a goal! So far, the famous Red Arrows have all scored in this world-renowned Champions League final! They are truly the most powerful striker combination this season!"
"3:3, Liverpool fell behind three times and equalized the score three times. They are so tenacious!"
"What a wonderful game! A wonderful game, Manchester United played brilliantly, Liverpool was not inferior at all, 3:3, a game that made everyone's blood boil."
"Hail! Mane!"
"Liverpool! You'll Never Walk Alone!"
In the stands of the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium, Liverpool fans burst into thunderous cheers, which eventually merged into their world-famous team anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone".
The Liverpool players on the field were celebrating the goal crazily. Mane wanted to run to celebrate, but he didn't run far at all. He was hugged by Firmino. The Brazilian pushed him to the ground and pounced on him with a roar.
More Liverpool players rushed over. At first, Mane could be seen kicking his legs in resistance, but in the end, he was overwhelmed by seven or eight big men.
On the Liverpool coaching bench, Klopp rushed out of the coaching bench, excitedly waved his fists, roared to the sky, and celebrated wildly.
This goal was so crucial that he was almost going crazy.
At this moment, he remembered the famous quote that Manchester United uttered after defeating Bayern Munich in extra time at Camp Nou 20 years ago: Damn football!
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Mom sells batches!
On the Manchester United side, Bruno, who was wearing the captain's armband, was extremely angry and subconsciously started reciting Chinese traditional culture.
Liverpool's offensive warfare was loud but ineffective, and they did not have any lethal weapons to deal with Manchester United's tight defense. However, Liverpool seized the opportunity of a set-piece.
Falling behind three times and equalizing the score three times, it is obvious that this goal will definitely boost Liverpool's morale.
No, we can’t boost the morale of Liverpool players!
Morale is a very mysterious thing, and it increases and decreases as one thing increases while another decreases.
Taking advantage of the Liverpool players' celebration, Bruno called the Manchester United players together and asked the whole team to launch a fierce attack as soon as the game started. Even if they didn't score, they had to suppress Liverpool's momentum.
Of course, it would be best if we could score another goal and take the lead for the fourth time in this game.
He shouted to his teammates: "Don't think about playing overtime, everyone must play with momentum and put pressure on Liverpool's defense!"
Bruno's meaning was very clear, he wanted to attack instead of defend.
Facing a crazy team like Liverpool, even gods can't stop them from going crazy. AC Milan's experience in Istanbul 14 years ago has already become the best negative example. Bruno doesn't want himself and his teammates to become such an example in the future.
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At the same time, Mourinho also made a substitution. He let the young player Greenwood, who had gotten up and warmed up ten minutes ago, come on as a substitute, replacing Mbappe.
At this moment, Mourinho had similar ideas to Bruno and planned to increase the speed and impact of Manchester United's flanks.
Use Greenwood's speed to attack Liverpool's defense, which is relatively tired after playing for seventy or eighty minutes.
Even if they can't score a goal, they have to scare Liverpool and make the opponent feel the pressure, so that they won't dare to press forward recklessly.
Doing so will also reduce the pressure on Manchester United's defense.
"Manchester United made a substitution, Mourinho replaced Mbappe with Greenwood. I wonder if Klopp will make adjustments on the Liverpool side." He Wei said.
"No substitutions will be made before 80 minutes," Zhang Lu said. "Liverpool just equalized the score, morale on the field was boosted, and Liverpool's players performed well overall. Klopp is not the kind of coach who likes to adjust and control the game through substitutions. Unless a player is injured or forced to make a substitution due to a yellow card, he will choose to trust the players on the field to the greatest extent. Of course, this does not mean that Klopp's ability to adjust on the spot is poor. In fact, Klopp has also made many classic comebacks through on-the-spot adjustments."
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Mourinho arranged for Manchester United to press forward and attack, trying to suppress Liverpool's momentum from equalizing the score.
However, Mourinho miscalculated, and Klopp did not seem to consider playing overtime. He asked Liverpool to continue attacking.
Faced with Liverpool's pursuit, Manchester United's defense was in a rather embarrassing situation for a while.
"Salah! Shoot! Save it!"
"De Gea! He saved Salah's shot. Liverpool got a corner kick opportunity. Manchester United should be careful. The goal they just lost was caused by the defense of the set-piece."
Liverpool took a corner kick, Maguire headed the ball out of the penalty area, Kante wanted to kick the ball forward, but was pushed from the side by Henderson and fell to the ground. Henderson took the opportunity to intercept the ball and launched a second attack.
