I'm 198cm tall. Are you giving me a Maradona template?

Chapter 280: Long-lost Arena

Liverpool's first game will be against Lyon in France.

Regarding the opponent Lyon.

The sun is no stranger.

But compared to his time in Lyon in Ligue 1.

Lyon is no longer the same now.

Their top striker Lacazette has already moved to Arsenal.

Lyon's current striker is Dutch international Depay.

Depay has not performed well at Manchester United.

But after coming to Lyon, perhaps the change in the league environment allowed Depay to find his feeling again.

Last season, Depay scored 19 goals in Ligue .

Same number of goals as Neymar.

Second only to Cavani and Mbappe.

If we exclude the three Paris forwards Neymar, Mbappe and Cavani.

Depay is even the striker with the most goals in the entire French Ligue 1.

This is the Champions League group stage match.

The Dutch international said confidently at the pre-match press conference: "We are well aware of Liverpool's strength, but this is Lyon's home ground and no team can easily beat us here."

And for the coaching staff of Lyon.

They know it very well.

In terms of book strength.

The gap between Lyon and Liverpool is really too big.

therefore.

In this game.

They can only adopt a more conservative strategy.

This can also be seen from Lyon's starting lineup.

When players from both teams enter the field.

CCTV commentator He Wei was busy announcing the starting lineups of both teams to TV viewers.

"Lyon played a five-defender formation today. They arranged five defenders, three midfielders and two forwards. Lopez was the goalkeeper, the three central defenders were Denayer, Marcelo Antoni and Marcal, the full-backs were Rafael and Mendy, Ndombele and Aouar played as double defensive midfielders in the midfield, Fekir played as attacking midfielder, and Depay and Cornet played as double forwards in the frontcourt. This was obviously a formation that strengthened defense and counterattack, with Fekir's passing, Depay's personal ability and Cornet's speed and impact."

Just now.

The camera turned to Lyon's head coach Genesio who was standing on the sidelines.

Genesio's expression looks quite serious. In this group, Liverpool is obviously Lyon's strongest opponent.

For Genesio, he naturally has the ambition to qualify in the Champions League. If possible, he even wants to rank ahead of Liverpool and qualify as the first in the group.

But it's not easy to do this.

Genesio feels that in order to achieve this, first of all, he must not lose points when facing Liverpool and must not let Liverpool directly get three points from him.

Simply put, even if you can't win, don't lose.

If we can draw with Liverpool in two rounds.

There, England will have the opportunity to score points against other opponents and surpass Liverpool.

Genesio's plan was quite shrewd.

I can't beat you, but what if I'm not here to win?
I want to secure a draw, is that okay?

Genesio sat in the coaching seat.

It's not hard to guess what he's thinking.

Many commentators could see that Lyon's lineup was very conservative.

"Okay, we saw Yang on French TV again, but this time, he came to the stadium as an opponent of the French Ligue 1 team."

In the commentary box.

French ace commentator Omar said with emotion.

"Let's take a look at Lyon's starting lineup. Once this lineup is revealed, I think everyone has the answer. Genesio will defend at home, but the problem is...more than a season has passed. Has Genesio forgotten that a team with sunshine is the least afraid of defending?"

Omar raised the question.

It is indeed very difficult to limit the sunlight by guarding it rigidly.

about this point.

The fans of Lyon were deeply touched.

So in the stands.

Many Lyon fans are worried.

Of course.

The game has just begun.

Lyon fans will not speak out their true feelings now.

They were still cheering in the stands, jumping, waving their scarves and booing when Sunshine touched the ball, just like they had more than a season ago.

"This was Yang's first touch on the ball in France in more than a season."

Omar, the narrator, said.

then.

His voice was drowned out by the extremely sharp boos.

Omar smiled.

"I think the Lyon fans will be impressed by you."

Yangguang caught the ball, knocked it out, and then looked at the stands of the Lyon Stadium.

Tsk.

Long time no see, my former defeated opponents.

Klopp stood on the sidelines, observing the opponent's tactics.

The opponent didn't have any complicated tactics.

The first is to shrink the defense and form a dense defensive system in the backcourt.

The second is to cover the flanks through the movement of the full-backs and wide midfielders to limit Liverpool's flank breakthroughs and crosses.

The purpose of doing this.

Obviously it was to prevent Yang Guang's header.

This is also the idea of many teams when defending Liverpool.

nothing special.

Klopp turned around and sat back in the coaching seat.

He thought there was something new.

The result is just like this
But think about it carefully, if there is a sunshine in your opponent's team.

He is tall and strong, has good stamina, good coverage, and his footwork is comparable to Maradona.

How desperate would that be?

Klopp shook his head.

Can't think.

Thinking about it too much can break one's heart.

Because there is no way to limit it.

Now it seems that Lyon has temporarily withstood Liverpool's attack.

But the problem is.
What's the cost?

Look at the range and movement of their wide players.

Keep moving, turning back, and sprinting.

How long can their physical strength last?

Genesio naturally knew this.

So he told Lyon's players before the game.

In the second half, he would make a substitution, replacing two full-backs.

So don't worry about using up your energy in the first half.

We must win this game if we can. If there are counterattack opportunities, give them to Depay and Cornet. If there are shooting opportunities, shoot decisively. If there are no shooting opportunities, push the line forward and let the ball stay in the opponent's backcourt more.

That's it anyway.

Can't win.

Don't lose either.

But this approach may not work.

Genesio himself was a little unsure.

So, Lyon still needs a little bit of luck.

Standing on the sidelines, Genesio rubbed his hands from time to time, showing the head coach's inner uneasiness.

Seventh minute of the game.

Liverpool had the first shot of the game.

Emre Can's long shot from outside went over the crossbar.

Genesio has reason to be happy for his team.

Because it was a good result that Liverpool only had a shot in the seventh minute of the game.

Keep going at this pace.

Lyon may really be able to achieve this goal.

But the rhythm of a football game is not static.

Liverpool has more than one offensive tactic.

In the tenth minute of the game, Yang Guang retreated to a deep position to receive the ball.

This made Genesio on the sidelines suddenly nervous.

Because from the start of the game to now.

The sun has never retreated to this position.

What does this represent?
Liverpool's attack is about to change its rhythm.

What approach will they take?
How to complete the attack?
Genesio's mind was filled with Liverpool's dazzling offensive tactics.

His heart was in his throat.

Be the head coach.

It's really impossible without a big heart.

"Yang retreated and received the ball, Ndombele came up to defend, oh wow, Ndombele, you must have never played against Yang before, you actually tried to knock Yang down directly"

In the commentary box.

Omar exclaimed.

Under his gaze.

Lyon midfielder Ndombele rushed towards Yangguang's back, resulting in a physical confrontation between the two sides.

The sun turns easily.

Ndombele fell on his back.

"foul!!"

In the stands.

Lyon fans cheered.

"No foul! The game continues!!"

on the field.

The referee raised his arms.

Offense is favorable.

The game continues.

In fact, the referee wanted to call a free kick.

But it was not Sunshine who was called for a foul, but Ndombele who was called for a foul.

Ndombele was obviously trying to commit a foul. He probably thought that since he was near the center circle, it was just a foul and it was no big deal. Instead, he could use the foul to give Sunshine a warning.

These are all conventional defensive ideas.

If it were the Premier League or the French Ligue 1, those defensive players who had played against Sunshine before.

They won't do that.
Ndombele is a midfielder who has become famous in the past one or two seasons and is said to have attracted the attention of many big teams.

He himself was in high spirits at that time.

It is understandable that you want to compete with the sun in terms of academic performance.

But it was obvious that he paid the tuition this time.

A confident back-bump.

The result was like hitting a mountain, and I was bounced back instead - basic knowledge of junior high school physics: the action force is equal to the reaction force.

The greater the force of Ndombele's impact, the greater the reaction force he will bear.

So Ndombele fell directly to the ground.

But his collision did not cause any trouble to Yangguang, but instead gave him the opportunity to turn around and enter from his defense zone.

at this point.

Lyon's defense was suddenly thrown into panic.

They all retreated to the middle, and several defensive players rushed towards the sunlight.

The sunlight at this time was like a magnet, attracting almost all the defense.

He just faked a long shot.

Let Lyon's entire defense line fall into chaos and collapse.

Then, when he passed the ball straight over.

Mane faced goalkeeper Lopez directly.

Fortunately.

Lyon's veteran goalkeeper Lopez is still very experienced. He attacked in advance, blocked the angle, and saved Mane's one-on-one shot.

"Yang passes the ball! Mane, oh. Great save from Lopez."

"Lyon's defense was penetrated, but luckily... goalkeeper Lopez reacted quickly enough, otherwise Lyon would have lost the ball within ten minutes of the start of the game."

The commentators in the commentary booth exclaimed.

The fans at the Lyon Stadium also exclaimed.

Many Lyon fans even closed their eyes and dared not watch when Yangguang raised his foot and seemed to be about to shoot.

They were reminded of the time more than a season ago when sunshine dominated the French Ligue 1.

They didn't breathe a sigh of relief until they saw the ball was passed.

It’s good to spread it out.

As long as the sun doesn't shine.

If Lyon holds on, there is still hope.

Lyon fans began to cheer for Lopez.

But this attack was just an appetizer.

Next.

Liverpool clearly increased the pace of passing the ball.

Before that, Liverpool tried to pass the ball from the wing, but they didn't find any chances because Lyon's wing defenders interfered with the ball through active running and pressing.

Now Liverpool began to try to explode through the middle.

It is to break through Lyon's dense defense by passing the ball on the ground and penetrating the middle.

This is very difficult and requires extremely high passing and control.

But now Liverpool revolves around the sun, even though there are a lot of players in the middle.

But Yangguang was strong and could stand.

He protects the ball like an emperor.

The pass is like Zidane.

He also has the ability to turn and shoot to threaten the goal at any time.

Therefore, Liverpool seemed to be able to handle such dense defense with ease.

The thirteenth minute of the game.

Keita dribbled the ball across half court.

The Sunshine retreated and created space. Keita took the opportunity to pass the ball to the Sunshine and then pressed forward himself.

After receiving the ball, Yangguang pushed away the defensive player behind him, then passed it horizontally to Salah who came over to receive the ball, then turned around and attacked the ribs.

This time, Yangguang's running made the Lyon players on the wing shrink back and fill the space on the flank with the players in the middle to prevent Yangguang from getting the ball in this area.

But this way.

The wing is empty again.

The full-back Ashraf quickly stepped forward and followed the full-back's path.

Following the space created by Lyon's own shrinking defense, he received the pass from Salah.

This is the embarrassment of most teams when defending Sunshine. When Sunshine runs, he can always create space, allowing Liverpool players to get the ball, run and pass.

Even.

Yangguang doesn't catch the ball himself, he does it by running.

Can make a team's performance to a higher level.

This is the deterrent power brought by the strongest center of this era.

As Ashraf got the ball on the wing.

It is also impossible for Lyon's players to just ignore the opponent's open spaces.

They could only take money from one pocket to pay for another, and Fekir was pulled back to defend in the midfield.

But this way.

Another Liverpool player is available.

Wijnaldum came up with his butt sticking out and looking around to meet the challenge.

Ashraf decisively passed the ball diagonally back to Wijnaldum.

Wijnaldum's look around before receiving the ball was not for show.

But for observation.

In fact, it’s mainly about watching Yangguang’s running position.

When seeing the sun rushing towards the middle, Wijnaldum acted decisively and passed the ball directly without stopping.

The football slipped past Ndombele's feet.

It was accurately placed next to Yangguang's right foot.

at this time.

The sun has raised its foot.

At this moment, Lyon's three central defenders completely lost their composure and collectively rushed towards the sun.

Almost did the same action: fall to the ground, stretch legs, block.

As a result, three central defenders fell to the ground.

The goal in the middle of the Ang team was wide open.

Next.

Sunshine lightly flicked the ball, and it flew over the center back Marcelo Anthony and landed at the back post. Mane did not waste Sunshine's pass this time, and he lifted his foot at the back post and cushioned the ball into the goal.
(End of this chapter)