For Ronaldo, a hexagonal fighter with almost no shortcomings, Benitez, who had played against Crystal Palace many times, could only come up with a stupid way of defending with multiple double-teams.

Originally, when Ronaldo was on the wing, the threat was not that great because he was far away from the goal.

But I didn't expect that Ronaldo not only has strong technical ability, but also has excellent adaptability to different positions.

Ever since Chen Ran put him in the center position, Ronaldo didn't have any uncomfortable reaction, and his threat to the opponent's goal immediately soared significantly.

Benitez is very familiar with Liverpool's two central defenders currently on the field. Hyypia is tall, good at heading the ball, and has strong frontal defensive ability. His type is similar to Vidic.

And because Hyypia is 34 years old this year, his speed is even slower than Vidic. He can defend the traditional high center Toni, but asking him to mark Ronaldo is simply asking for abuse.

Although the other central defender, Carragher, is a full-back, he is not known for his speed. It is probably too difficult to use him to defend Ronaldo.

However, since Liverpool's other central defender Agger is absent due to injury, Benitez no longer has an available central defender.

After thinking over and over, he could only choose the taller one from the shortest, assigning Carragher to guard Ronaldo, and then Hyypia provided protection beside him.

Unfortunately, Benitez's move is useless against Ronaldo's new center style of play, because Ronaldo doesn't stay in Liverpool's penalty area at all.

As soon as Ronaldo came to the center position, he began to continuously run out of the Liverpool penalty area to cooperate with Kaká, Ribery and Messi, and then turned back to look for shooting opportunities.

This time, Carragher, who was responsible for guarding Ronaldo, was exhausted. This was equivalent to constantly running back and forth plus high-intensity sprinting.

Carragher was not as fast as Ronaldo, and he was almost 30 years old and had played for most of the game. In less than ten minutes, Carragher began to put his hands on his hips and gasp for air, showing that

Fatigue.

When the game reached the 71st minute, Ronaldo once again ran out of the Liverpool penalty area.

While blocking Carragher who followed him out of the penalty area, he played a two-on-one with Ribery and immediately helped Ribery get past Liverpool's right back Arbeloa.

After getting rid of Arbeloa, Ribery took the ball and rushed directly into Liverpool's penalty area.

Seeing a big gap in his right defense, Carragher made a quick decision and immediately dropped Ronaldo and rushed towards Ribery's path.

At this time, seeing Carragher coming to intercept him, Ribery did not hesitate. He flicked the ball with his left foot and passed the ball back to Ronaldo.

At this time, Ronaldo's position is a little inside the upper right corner of Liverpool's penalty area.

This location is already within Ronaldo's shooting range.

After receiving the ball, Cristiano Ronaldo immediately drew his bow and arrow, preparing to shoot with a curve ball.

At this critical moment, Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso rushed back in time.

He fell to the ground and made a flying tackle, putting his body in front of Ronaldo in an attempt to block his shot.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who was on guard for a long time, faked a shot and dunked, and then saw Xabi Alonso sliding past him.

Just as Ronaldo was about to take another shot, another Liverpool center back, Hyypia, stepped forward to block Ronaldo's shot.

After Xabi Alonso and Hyypia's continuous obstruction, Liverpool goalkeeper Reina was already on guard against Ronaldo's shooting intention.

Seeing that there was no way to catch Reina off guard, Ronaldo no longer forced the goal, but pushed the ball to Kaká in the middle.

In terms of shooting position, Kaka's side is much better than Ronaldo's side.

Seeing Ronaldo passing the ball, Kaka opened his stance and prepared to shoot the ball.

At this time, Liverpool's other central midfielder Gerrard also rushed back from the frontcourt in time.

Although Gerrard failed to intercept the ball, Kaká's plan to hit the goal directly was terminated.

However, at this time, Messi on the right had already begun to make a high-speed diagonal pass into Liverpool's penalty area. Liverpool's left-back Aurelio was half a beat too slow to react and could only follow Messi's butt and chase after him desperately.

After discovering Messi's action, Kaká directly made a fake shot and passed the ball directly to Messi from between Gerrard's legs.

At this time, because they had just blocked Cristiano Ronaldo's shot, Liverpool's two central defenders were positioned to the right. Now there is a large gap in front of Messi.

Of course, Messi would not be polite with such a good opportunity. He took the ball and rushed towards Liverpool goalkeeper Reina.

Finding that his defender was unable to defend in time, Reina had no choice but to abandon the goal and attack Messi.

Faced with Reina's attack like a hungry tiger, Messi did not panic at all. With a slight shake of his right ankle, he shot a lob, and the ball flew from above Reina's shining head towards the Liverpool goal.

Seeing that the ball was about to fly into Liverpool's net, at this critical moment, Carragher rushed over, flew up, and tried to hook the ball away from the goal line with his feet.

At the same time, Ronaldo also arrived in time. In order to ensure that the ball would not be cleared by Carragher, he jumped high and tried to smash the ball into Liverpool's net.

"Bang!"

"ah!"

I saw Ronaldo, Carragher and the ball falling into the Liverpool net together.

However, Ronaldo remained motionless after falling to the ground. Instead, Carragher hurriedly got up to see Ronaldo's condition, and then shouted loudly to the referee.

Realizing that the situation was not good, the referee on duty immediately rushed over and immediately called the team doctor to the sidelines to enter the field.

It turned out that Ronaldo hit the ball first, but Carragher's foot hit Ronaldo's head, knocking him unconscious.

At this moment, the entire Crystal Palace home court suddenly exploded.

Everyone on the Crystal Palace bench rushed out of their seats, and the crowd was furious.

Seeing the scene just now, Chen Ran's mind suddenly buzzed and he became confused.

Damn it, Ronaldo must not let anything happen to him.

Chen Ran didn't need to explain, the Crystal Palace team doctor had already rushed into the field quickly.

Fortunately, it was Carragher's instep that was in contact with Ronaldo's head. It would have been terrible if it had been the toes or spikes.

Fortunately, after the team doctor's rescue, Ronaldo quickly regained consciousness. However, for the safety of the players, Ronaldo obviously could not continue to participate in the game. Accompanied by the team doctor, Ronaldo was carried into an ambulance and sent to the hospital for further treatment.

inspection.

Subsequently, the referee on duty ruled that Crystal Palace's goal was valid and showed Carragher a yellow card.

At this moment, all the Crystal Palace fans in the audience immediately stopped.

Cristiano Ronaldo almost got shot in the head, but the referee didn't even give him a red card?

Suddenly, boos filled the entire Highbury Stadium.

At this time, Chen Ran on the sidelines no longer had the mind to worry about what card Carragher should get. He just hoped that Ronaldo would be fine.

After all, in his previous life, Cech suffered a skull fracture due to a headshot. He spent more than half a year recuperating after the operation, and from then on he could only wear a headgear to participate in games.

Unexpectedly, the disaster that Cech escaped in this life would fall on Ronaldo.

If possible, Chen Ran would even be willing to use the victory in this game in exchange for Ronaldo to be fine.

However, the game is not over yet.

Although his heart was in a mess, Chen Ran could only cheer up and continue directing the game.

However, what is even more troublesome is that Crystal Palace has now exhausted its substitution quota.

Ronaldo's injury forced Crystal Palace to play ten against eleven.

Benitez would not give up this golden opportunity. He immediately replaced right midfielder Benayoun with Ukrainian striker Voronin, and then changed Liverpool's formation from 442 to 433. At the same time, he walked to the sidelines and shouted to the Liverpool players.

Fully attack.

Seeing Benitez's actions of taking advantage of others, Crystal Palace fans became even more angry, and the entire Highbury Stadium booed loudly.

In the injury time period of the game, Torres received Crouch's header and beat Mascherano to head the ball into the goal guarded by Cech.

In the end, with one player missing, Crystal Palace was tied 2:2 at home by Liverpool.

As soon as the game ended, Chen Ran immediately left the stadium and rushed to the hospital, leaving all the post-match press conference matters to Guardiola, leaving reporters who wanted to block Chen Ran in vain.

Fortunately, when Chen Ran rushed to the hospital, Ronaldo's preliminary test results also came out.

It was just a moderate concussion and no fractures.

Of course, the hospital will need to conduct further examinations on Ronaldo. He will definitely not be able to play in the game in a short time.

After receiving the news that Ronaldo was fine, Chen Ran finally felt relieved.

However, when he saw the results of other Premier League games this round, he couldn't help but frown again.

Chelsea defeated Aston Villa 4:3 at Stamford Bridge, Manchester United defeated Sunderland 4:0 away from home, and Arsenal was tied 0:0 by Portsmouth away from home.

Since Crystal Palace failed to defeat Liverpool in this round, their lead was suddenly reduced from four points to two points, and the pressure increased sharply.

For the media in England, this was a topic that could be hyped up.

Articles slandering Crystal Palace appeared all over the place, but it was as if Carragher's foul penalty was not seen.

"After failing to defeat Liverpool, Crystal Palace's lead has been reduced to two points and may be overtaken by Chelsea and Manchester United behind them at any time."

"After Toni and Jan Kohler, Thiago Silva and Cristiano Ronaldo have been injured one after another. Crystal Palace has suffered from injuries this season and its future is worrying."

"Cristiano Ronaldo and Thiago Silva are the absolute core players on both offense and defense of Crystal Palace. Their absence due to injuries will greatly affect Crystal Palace's performance in the second half of the season."

"According to the latest data from the betting company, after failing to win Liverpool and the injuries to Thiago Silva and Cristiano Ronaldo, the funds for Chelsea and Manchester United to win the Premier League championship this season have increased sharply."

"Judging from the current situation, the Chinese monopoly on the Premier League championship is very likely to be ended this season."

...

Not only the English media, but after the game between Crystal Palace and Liverpool, even Crystal Palace fans thousands of miles away were worried.

"Now we are in big trouble. No one can replace the role of Thiago Silva and Cristiano Ronaldo in Crystal Palace. If they are injured now, Crystal Palace will not be able to play in the next game."

"Who says it isn't? Especially Thiago Silva and Pepe, Crystal Palace's substitute centre-back, are really scary."

"It's okay for Thiago Silva. After all, his injuries are common. I'm worried about Ronaldo's situation now. If there is something wrong with his head, it will be fatal."

"Don't worry for those upstairs, there is the latest news. The Crystal Palace official website has just released an announcement, saying that Ronaldo's preliminary test results have come out. He only suffered a moderate concussion and no fractures were found."

"That's good, that's good. When I saw Ronaldo unconscious, I felt a thump in my heart. Fortunately, there was nothing serious wrong with him."

"Yeah. So many talented stars have been ruined by injuries. I hope our Ronaldo won't be like that Brazilian Ronaldo."

"Although Ronaldo is fine, he will definitely need to be observed for a while. At least he will not be able to play in the recent games. In this way, Crystal Palace will still lose a general on both offense and defense."

"Forget it, it's useless for us to speculate here. I still believe that guy Chen Ran will definitely be able to overcome this difficulty."

"Oh, that's all it can do."

"I hope that guy Chen Ran can surprise us again."

...

Games are happening one after another, and they will not be canceled or postponed just because a player is injured.

Just two days after the game against Liverpool, on December 29, the twentieth round of the Premier League will begin again. Crystal Palace will face Blackburn Rovers at home;

The injuries to Thiago Silva and Cristiano Ronaldo, coupled with the intensive schedule, have greatly restricted Chen Ran's options in terms of formation.

Crystal Palace, who played all substitutes, defeated Blackburn 3:2 at home with goals from Fabregas, Alves and Dzeko.

While scoring the key three-pointers, Chen Ran also got the "level one recovery card" he needs most from the system.

In other matches of this round of Premier League, Chelsea defeated Newcastle United 2:1 at Stamford Bridge, and Manchester United defeated West Ham United 1:0 away from home.

Arsenal beat Everton 4:1 away from home, while Liverpool was tied 0:0 by Manchester City away from home.

Neither Chelsea nor Manchester United were left behind, still chasing Crystal Palace with a two-point gap.
Chapter completed!