After Ronaldo played as a center forward for a few games, Toni's return from injury made other Crystal Palace players a little uncomfortable for a while.

Compared to Cristiano Ronaldo's new flexible center style of play, Liverpool's defenders obviously prefer traditional centers like Toni.

Because they don't have to chase Tony around, and they won't be thrown away by their opponents if they don't pay attention.

On the Crystal Palace side, whether it is Cristiano Ronaldo on the left or Franck Ribery on the right, their main focus is again on delivering accurate crosses to Toni after breaking through from the wing.

Benitez specially arranged for Hyypia to press Toni closely, while Carragher protected him from the side.

Under the tight defense of the two, even if Ronaldo and Ribery sent crosses into the Liverpool penalty area, they failed to pose any threat to the goal guarded by Reina.

Seeing this situation, Chen Ran turned around and called Guardiola to his side.

"Josep, tell Ronaldo and Ribery that the Liverpool defenders are very tight on Toni now, so stop making crosses from the bottom and let them increase their inward shots."

"Okay, boss."

Soon, Guardiola passed Chen Ran's order to the field.

After receiving the latest instruction, Ronaldo immediately changed his strategy. When he once again dribbled the ball along the left sideline at high speed, facing Arbeloa's interception, he directly used his famous heel to knock the ball past.

While passing Arbeloa, he also successfully cut the ball inside.

After taking a step along the line of Liverpool's penalty area, Ronaldo began to look up and observe the position of Liverpool goalkeeper Reina.

Seeing Ronaldo's move, Xavi Alonso, who immediately realized that he might hit the goal, rushed over and stood between Ronaldo and the goal.

Realizing that Xavi Alonso had seen through his intentions, Ronaldo had no choice but to cancel his plan to hit the goal, and continued to take a step laterally with the ball, intending to get past Xavi Alonso before taking a shot.

Just when Ronaldo had just passed Xabi Alonso and got out of the shooting angle, Liverpool center back Carragher also stepped up from the penalty area and once again blocked Ronaldo's shooting angle.

In desperation, Ronaldo had no choice but to continue dribbling the ball laterally, preparing to get past Carragher and then hit the goal.

At this time, Liverpool's other defensive midfielder Gerrard also rushed over from the midfield and directly tried to steal the ball from Ronaldo's feet.

Although Ronaldo used a fried meatball trick to dodge Gerrard, when he tried to hit the goal again, he had no angle at all.

At this time, Ribery on the right began to make a diagonal pass into Liverpool's penalty area from the sideline. Liverpool's left back Aurelio had just been completely distracted by Ronaldo's actions.

Attracted to him, when he found out that Ribery started, his reaction was half a beat too slow, and he could only follow behind and chase after him desperately.

Seeing Ribery's movement, Ronaldo understood it and no longer pursued the shot. Instead, he flicked his right ankle and passed the ball directly into Liverpool's penalty area.

The ball was passed with just enough weight, the ball went over Gerrard's head and landed right on Ribery's forward path.

After receiving the ball, Ribery continued to move towards Liverpool's goal while looking up at Toni's position in the middle of the penalty area and pretending to be ready to pass the ball to Toni.

Because Ribery only glanced at Toni's position, but did not observe the position of Liverpool goalkeeper Reina at all.

It was this glance that gave Liverpool's defenders the illusion that Ribery was definitely passing Toni to create a shooting opportunity.

Both center back Hyypia and goalkeeper Reina were subconsciously preparing to destroy Ribery's passing route.

However, this is the moment Ribery has been waiting for.

After watching Tony, he directly kicked the ball hard, and the ball flew towards the near corner of Liverpool's goal like a shell.

Because he wanted to intercept Ribery's pass to Toni, Reina's position was slightly in the middle and did not block the near corner of the goal.

When he saw Ribery's shot, he tried to intercept it, but it was already too late.

When Reina reached halfway, the ball had already flown into Liverpool's goal.

"GOAL!"

Thanks to Franck Ribery's furious shot, Crystal Palace led Liverpool 1:0 at home.

Seeing another goal scored first by Crystal Palace, Benitez on the sidelines had no excited reaction other than shaking his head helplessly.

The record of meetings between Liverpool and Crystal Palace in recent years has made Benitez accustomed to falling behind.

Therefore, Benitez did not make any more adjustments to the team except for reminding the players to concentrate and closely guard the inward shots of Cristiano Ronaldo and Franck Ribery.

After several years of training, Benitez has completely controlled Liverpool. As soon as his order was given, the players on the field immediately made corresponding adjustments.

If Cristiano Ronaldo and Franck Ribery want to cut in and shoot, they will find that there will always be Liverpool players around them who will interfere in time.

Until the referee blew the whistle to end the first half, the score on the field did not change.

During the halftime break, although the situation on the court was in a stalemate, because Crystal Palace was currently leading the score, Chen Ran did not make any more substitutions.

On Liverpool's side, Benitez changed two people at once.

First, Babel was replaced with Riise, and then Kuyint was replaced with Crouch.

Torres and Crouch partnered as a double forward, with Riise as the left midfielder, and Xabi Alonso and Gerrard moved from the defensive midfielder position to the central midfielder position. Liverpool's formation also changed from 4231 to 442.

At the beginning of the second half, seeing Benitez's substitutions, Chen Ran knew that Benitez was going to launch a general attack, and he immediately called Guardiola to his side.

"Josep, you immediately tell Mascherano to warm up and replace Modric with him later."

"Okay, boss."

After explaining Guardiola's substitutions, Chen Ran himself immediately walked to the sidelines and took advantage of the dead ball to call the captain Vieira who was closest to him.

"Patrick, tell Vidic and Thiago Silva that Vidic will be responsible for marking Crouch, and Thiago Silva will mark Torres. Do you understand?"

"I understand, boss."

After making all his adjustments, Chen Ran did not return to the bench and sit down this time.

The main reason is that Torres's performance this season is really scary. He has just landed in the Premier League and has a terrifying goal rate of over 70%, which makes Chen Ran feel a little scared.

Vidic will definitely have no problem guarding Crouch. The key depends on whether Thiago Silva can guard Torres by himself.

In the first half of the game, with the tacit cooperation of Vidic and Thiago Silva, Torres was successfully frozen.

Now Benitez sends Crouch, the purpose is obviously to share the defensive pressure of Torres.

Although Crouch is not a top striker, he is still an England international and has some strength. It is impossible for Chen Ran not to send someone to defend him.

For this reason, Chen Ran, who was a little worried about whether Thiago Silva could guard Torres by himself, specially replaced Mascherano.

Before Mascherano came on the field, Chen Ran called him to his side alone.

"Javier, after you come on the field, you must pay attention to strengthening the protection of the back line. Especially for Liverpool's Torres. If Thiago Silva makes any mistakes, you must help him cover the defense in time. Do you understand?"

"I understand, boss."

Crouch's appearance had an immediate effect.

Just as Chen Ran worried, Torres, who was not double-teamed, immediately became active.

Although Thiago Silva tried his best, he still left many shooting opportunities for Torres, which immediately made Cech a little confused.

And, that's not the worst thing.

Just when Torres got another chance to shoot, Thiago Silva flew to block the hole of the gun. Although he blocked Torres' shot, he accidentally strained his thigh muscle.

Seeing the team doctor making a substitution gesture towards him, Chen Ran's face suddenly darkened.

Damn it, it seems that Crystal Palace will not be able to escape the troubles of injuries this season.

"Josep, let Pepe go warm up immediately and replace Thiago Silva later."

"Okay, boss."

Although he is not sure whether Pepe can guard Torres, as the only center back substitute on the Crystal Palace bench, Chen Ran can only replace Pepe.

Soon, after a brief warm-up, Pepe replaced Thiago Silva, who was carried off the field on a stretcher.

Seeing that Crystal Palace's defense general Thiago Silva was injured and went off the field, how could you miss such a good opportunity?

Benitez immediately walked to the sidelines and loudly ordered the Liverpool players to attack with full force.

Suddenly, there was a rumble in front of the Crystal Palace.

However, what is supposed to come will still come.

Although Chen Ran kept reminding the Crystal Palace players on the sidelines to pay attention to assisting in defense, the opportunity was eventually seized by the Liverpool players.

Gerrard hit the goal with a heavy kick from outside the penalty area, causing Cech to save the ball.

Torres, who has a keen sense of smell in front of the goal, rushed the ball towards the Crystal Palace goal before Pepe could reach out to make a clearance.

Cech, who had just made the save, had no time to react and could only watch the ball roll into the net he was guarding.

With Torres' supplementary shot, the score was tied at 1:1 by Liverpool.

Just as Liverpool's players and coaches were cheering, Guardiola approached Chen Ran again.

"Boss, Pepe alone can't guard Torres. How about we switch to Vidic to guard Torres?"

"Vidic? Have you forgotten that the last time we played against Liverpool, Vidic scored after being passed by Torres?"

"Uh... I really forgot. Boss, what should I do now?"

Hearing Chen Ran's reminder, Guardiola slapped his forehead in annoyance, and then habitually put all his hopes on Chen Ran.

"Josep, you let Mascherano and Pepe switch positions, let Mascherano play as a central defender to mark Torres, and then let Pepe partner with Vieira in the midfielder."

"Mascherano? He's so short. I'm afraid he's not suitable to play as a central defender, right?"

"There are Vidic and Chiellini competing for headers. What I like is Mascherano's mobility and defensive awareness. Only he can keep up with Torres. Do you understand?"

"That's it, I understand."

After figuring out Chen Ran's thoughts, Guardiola immediately conveyed Chen Ran's orders to the court.

Fortunately, Chen Ran's prestige in the Crystal Palace team was unmatched, so even though they did not understand Chen Ran's decision, the players on the field still resolutely carried out Chen Ran's order.

Soon, Chen Ran's adjustments bore fruit.

When Torres got another chance to shoot, Mascherano took the lead and destroyed it.

After the same scene occurred several times, Guardiola, Southgate and Simeone were once again in awe of each other.

"What is the owner's brain? Why does he dare to use Mascherano to play as a central defender, or to mark the opponent's most threatening Torres?"

"Yes. Mascherano is usually a substitute for the defensive midfielder position. The boss is really courageous to send him to play an unfamiliar position in such an important game."

"The boss sometimes makes on-the-spot decisions that make people confused, but afterwards his decision is often proven to be right. Alas, this may be the difference between a famous coach and an ordinary coach."

"The boss is the boss, so you can't accept it."

...

After Chen Ran's timely adjustments, Crystal Palace finally stabilized its position and did not collapse due to Thiago Silva's injury. However, Liverpool took the opportunity to equalize the score.

After seeing that the defense had returned to stability, Chen Ran turned his attention to Crystal Palace's midfield and frontcourt. Now he only has the last substitution left, and good steel must be used on the blade.

"Tony's traditional center-forward style of play is very familiar to Liverpool's two centre-backs Hyypia and Carragher. There is not much pressure to defend. It seems that we must give them something new to stimulate them."

Chen Ran muttered secretly, then turned around and called Guardiola to his side.

"Josep, tell Messi to warm up and replace Toni with him later. Then let Ronaldo play center, Ribery play on the left, and Messi on the right. Tell them to break through more and shoot more."

"Okay, boss."

Soon, Benitez saw Crystal Palace replace Toni with Messi, and then Ronaldo appeared at the center position again.

Crystal Palace is now like a beacon, in the center of everyone's attention. Whenever they make new changes, all coaches will study them carefully.

After practical testing in the previous games, everyone now knows that playing Ronaldo as a center is Chen Ranxin's trump card, and the effect is extremely good.

Therefore, after seeing Crystal Palace put Ronaldo in the center position, Benitez's face, which was quite proud of equalizing the score, immediately turned serious.
Chapter completed!