Football’s First Defender

Chelsea's winning streak ended in the hands of the relegation team Wigan Athletic, which indeed made many people feel incredible.

Although it is said that Chelsea's rout in the away game is largely due to the red dot package Cech received at the beginning of the second half, which made it impossible for Chelsea to complete an effective counterattack at the end when Chelsea played one less player.

After the game, Ancelotti protested directly at the press conference. In a penalty area, the goalkeeper's "ordinary" foul was directly sentenced to death and given a red dot package. big influence.

The grievances about Cech's red card are still going on, and Chelsea only have one day off after the game, and they fly to Cyprus non-stop for the second game of the Champions League group stage.

For the local fans in Cyprus, it is an extremely happy thing to see the top European giants challenge their home team at their doorstep.

After all, for a team like Cyprus, which is too small in European football, even for the league overlord Athletic, it is not easy to enter the Champions League through the qualifying round.

However, for many local Cyprus fans who come to chase stars, they are doomed to be disappointed in this game.

Chelsea, who had just experienced a league defeat, in the second Champions League group match, Ancelotti finally started to rotate.

Lampard, Terry, Drogba, Essien, the four generals all sat on the bench.

In this game, Zhirkov won a rare starting opportunity, and Malouda was transferred to the right side by Carlo Ancelotti to play the position of right forward, and the left side was handed over to Zhirkov, and Zhirkov himself This game directly became the main point of attack for Chelsea, which lacks offensive creativity on the offensive end. Ancelotti also knows that if the main players are used indiscriminately, more players may soon suffer injuries and exhaustion.

And compared to APOEL, a small club, Chelsea's opponent in the weekend league, Liverpool, deserves Chelsea to cheer up and make complete preparations.

Chelsea, who played as a semi-substitute, finally relied on their hard power to beat APOEL 2-0 as a guest. They led the group with 2 consecutive victories in the Champions League group stage.

During the game, Yang Feng took advantage of a corner kick to overwhelm his defending home team player, completed a header and scored the second goal for Chelsea, expanding the lead. The first goal in the Champions League game of the new season.

After playing this Champions League group match, Chelsea rushed back to London in a hurry. They have to prepare for this weekend's home game against Liverpool.

The focus of the eighth round of the Premier League is the direct confrontation between the two big four teams, the red and blue battle, which is also scheduled to be held separately in prime time on Sunday.

The bad news for Chelsea before the game is that Cech's appeal for a red card in the last league game was rejected. This also means that Cech will only be able to watch from the stands in this game.

The substitute goalkeeper Portuguese Hilario will get a rare chance to play.

However, there is also a surprise news, that is, Ballack will come back from the line of fire before the game against Liverpool, and Ballack's ability to play will greatly strengthen the options that Ancelotti can make on the offensive end.

This red-blue battle will determine who can continue to stay in the first group without falling behind.

After the first 7 rounds of the league, Manchester United came out on top with 18 points.

The second place in the league is that there are as many as 4 teams competing for the second place with 15 points.

Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham, and Manchester City, who have spent money like water, have finally seen results this season.

Among them, Chelsea and Manchester City, followed by Arsenal, who ranked sixth and had 12 points, all lost one round due to the schedule.

However, in the standings, this game is a game that both the red and the blue can't afford to lose. Maintaining the point pressure on the leaders within one game is what the two teams want to fight for, not at the beginning of the season Just fall behind and be the image of the chaser.

This battle between red and blue is destined to be a game with a lot of topics.

The league match between the two teams last season was not mentioned too much. After all, Chelsea under Scolari at the time had a feeling of collapse. Therefore, in the league last season, Liverpool's double-beating Chelsea did not have much reference value.

But in the Champions League knockout round at the end of last season, the two teams worked together to contribute two wonderful games.

Especially in the second round of the UEFA Champions League knockout round, also at Stamford Bridge, the two teams worked together to dedicate an ups and downs goal battle, a 4-4 big score draw, and the game format with great suspense of promotion on the scene. That game can be listed as a classic battle in the Champions League.

But now, when the two sides meet again in the league in the new season.

Liverpool has already tasted the loss of two games in the league, and Chelsea, who is already the Champions League champion, has just tasted the defeat in the last league game after a winning streak. , Both teams have the intention of winning, hoping to win a strong matchup and maintain the pressure on the top team Manchester United.

Liverpool still continue their usual starting lineup this season.

The starting lineup is still the Spanish national goalkeeper Reina, who has always been Benitez's most trusted goalkeeper when there is no injury.

On the defensive line, if there is no injury, Liverpool will always be a fixed team.

Army iron guard Skrtel's partner team deputy Carragher guards the central defense line, right back Glenn Johnson, and left back is Argentine Insua.

In terms of midfield, Liverpool's midfielder is still the absolute defensive core Mascherano, the left midfielder is Riera, the right midfielder is Lucas, and Gerrard organizes the attack in the middle.

The double striker is the Spanish golden boy Torres partnering with Dirk!

The starting players are almost all players who have played for Liverpool for many years. This is the same as Chelsea. The players have not changed much, which ensures the stability of the team's tactics. There is also a tacit understanding between the players, which can guarantee that the team's performance is basically above the standard line.

In this game, Benitez focused on defending against Chelsea's wing attack. After all, it is well known that Chelsea rely on Malouda to dominate the world on the wing. Liverpool's tactical arrangement before the game , there are many key defenses against Malouda to ensure that Liverpool can play a stable and effective counterattack opportunity while ensuring the success of the defense.

However, in this game, Ancelotti made a very bold change in the selection of personnel before the game. The master duel and the final victory conditions depend on suddenness and uncertainty.

The experienced Ancelotti guessed that Benitez would make a fuss about his side. In this game, he directly resorted to the four midfield tactics that An Pang used in AC Milan.

In this game, Ancelotti gave up the two full-backs and gave up the team's attack on the wing. In other words, the attack on the wing will rely entirely on the two full-backs to test their chances. The main offensive direction of the team is concentrated in the middle, relying on the conduction of the players in the middle to pass the ball effectively to the double forwards, Anelka and Drogba.

In order to ensure the impact on the right side, Bosingwa, who has been fighting for many consecutive games, was put on the bench in this game, and Ivanovic, because of his physical strength and his advantage in high-altitude ball competition, once again got the chance to start.

The four midfielders are Essien, Deco, Lampard, and Ballack standing from back to front, using the inverted triangle team composed of three midfielders except Essien to provide support for the front two forwards. .

Drogba and Anelka, who are double forwards, have performed extremely well this season, especially Drogba, who averaged nearly one goal per game, proving that he is still the one that scares all defenders "Warcraft".

The battle is imminent, and both teams are preparing to achieve a good result in the new season, the first "civil war" of the four giants.

The Stamford Bridge stadium is once again full on this day. For many season ticket holders, some "abuse games" can be ignored. This kind of strong dialogue must be to avoid everything and watch the game on the spot. of.

When Benitez saw Chelsea's starting roster, he knew he had been deceived, but for the tactical arrangement, it was not easy to completely overthrow the tactics on the spot.

Temporary changes in tactics will affect the positioning of all players, as well as the performance of both offensive and defensive ends, and once a player has an inertial positioning, it will cause huge uncertainty to the team's overall offense and defense.

At this time, Benitez can only make the players pay attention to the way of defense in the middle, and require the players to retract from the wing to the middle position appropriately, mainly restricting the two Chelsea strikers from receiving the ball in their own penalty area.

"In the 2009/10 season, the focus of the 8th round of the Premier League, the Blues Chelsea played at home against the 'Reds' Liverpool. Let us wait and see about our recent winning streak..."

With the whistle of the referee, this powerful duel that has attracted the attention of a large number of fans from all over the world has officially begun.

Chelsea took the lead.

For Chelsea, which has four midfielders, the team has to control the ball from the beginning, and through the control of the ball, it will change to weaken Liverpool's offensive times.

Chelsea's pass may not be too threatening, but the pass is definitely stable enough to ensure that Liverpool's players do not have much chance to complete the steal and directly counterattack.

After resting for many games, Deco had enough physical strength this time, and he directly gained the full trust of Ancelotti, acting as the metronome of the Chelsea team's midfield.

For Deco, who is at the end of his career, it is absolutely unexpected that he can still take on such a strong duel at this time. From this point of view, accepting Ancelotti's suggestion and staying at Chelsea is indeed a A very good choice.

After receiving the ball, Deco did not choose a too dangerous pass, but mainly gave Ballack and Lampard the receiving point for pass transfer.

The penetrating attack in the middle should not be rushed, but to wear down the opponent's defense little by little, advance little by little, look for the right time, and then complete the fatal blow.

Therefore, although Chelsea has an advantage in ball possession, it is different from those weak teams in the past. In this game, Chelsea almost did not take long-range shots from the outside. Instead, they tried again and again, hoping to find Liverpool's defensive loopholes.

"It's Deco with the ball around the center circle again."

"Deco, who is about to be 33 years old, has obviously felt his physical fitness decline in the past two years, but his rich experience and the tempering of many competitions in the past have also ensured that Deco will rarely be in this kind of strong confrontation. There will be mistakes."

"Deco, with a sudden diagonal through pass, after Liverpool's defense began to shrink in the middle, Chelsea's wing attack finally started in due course."

Ivanovic, on the right, ran forward quickly this time, interspersed with the left back of Liverpool, and the space left by Insua's contraction of the center.

Deco's pass is very penetrating. Although Insua retreats a little to the middle, he still maintains enough defensive vigilance for his own defense zone.

But Deco's through ball, relying directly on the speed of the ball, completed a fast roll and slipped past Insua's side, but Insua's interception was unsuccessful.

Ivanovic successfully caught up with the football before the ball went out of the sideline, and then naturally inserted diagonally into the penalty area.

"Insua! Chasing back at full speed, there is a chance to intercept Ivanovic's breakthrough route."

Although Insua did not intercept successfully at the first time, after all, Insua is closer to the side of the penalty area, and it will take some time for Ivanovic to attack from the side to the penalty area. During this time, for Insua For Ya, it was enough for him to catch up to Ivanovic near the penalty area line.

However, this time, Ivanovic did not choose to go too deep into the penalty area. Before Insua completed the chase, Ivanovic kicked a pass directly.

This pass is extremely powerful. After all, Liverpool is inside the penalty area and there are still most of the defenders. Ivanovic can only choose to draw a half-high ball. Individuals can touch the football, change the route directly, and then they can complete a threatening kick.

"Anelka!"

"Jumped up, stretched out his right leg, tipped his toes forward, and met Ivanovic's pass!"

"Anelka's kick!"

"The ball flew to the goal!"

After Deco completed the precise pass, Reina focused all his attention on his left hand side, and his eyes were fixed on the direction of the football.

At the moment Ivanovic completed the pass, Reina judged that the ball could not be completed by himself and successfully won the football.

He had no choice but to choose to stick to the goal line.

Anelka raised his leg and barely touched the football, and Reina also instantly predicted the direction of the kick based on the direction of Anelka's toe.

"Reina! Throw to the left!"

"Got it! Anelka's shot was rejected by Reina!"

"Chelsea's first very threatening attack of the game, and it came back without success!"

And the battle between the two sides has just begun at this time!