1151 The Moment of Life and Death
Liverpool and Barcelona returned to the locker room together.
Koeman walked into the locker room with a serious expression. He did not praise or motivate the team. After all, when it comes to this point, talking about dream goals and other things will appear flashy and the team needs to be realistic to improve the situation.
Koeman looked around the locker room with a serious expression, and then said in a deep voice: "Everyone knows that we are facing difficulties. Although we are ahead of the score, Barcelona did play unexpected strength today at Camp Nou, and now we are in an extremely passive state."
Koeman's words were nodded and agreed.
Everyone has a consensus on understanding reality is the basis for starting to improve reality.
"We cannot blindly look at the current score. 5:3. We lead Barcelona two goals. As long as we keep the score, we can eliminate the defending champion. This is indeed the case in theory, but if we just defend, can we do it? Not necessarily, it may not be. It is not that I have no confidence in our defense, but that Barcelona is indeed very strong, and we don't need to deceive ourselves!"
The Liverpool generals looked solemn, and everyone stared at Koeman, thinking about how to turn the dilemma around.
Koeman paused for a few seconds and said loudly: "We still have to pin our hopes on the offense! The reason is very simple. Now we have the same number of away goals as Barcelona, but if we score one more goal, our away goals will lead, then Barcelona will eliminate us more than just equalizing the score. They have to score one more goal! Overtake us in the total score!"
The players nodded together after hearing this. Koeman said something reasonable. Now Liverpool and Barcelona scored the same away goals, but as long as Liverpool scored another away goal, even if the total score was a draw, Barcelona would be eliminated!
Next, Koeman told him about the tactical adjustments he made and carefully explained the team's counterattack adjustment strategy to everyone.
The Red Army generals listened attentively. No one would take it lightly anymore when they came to this point. No one would be distracted at such a critical moment.
After the halftime break, the players of both teams returned to the Camp Nou Stadium.
Barcelona fans are now positive and optimistic.
As long as Barcelona scores two more goals, they can tie Liverpool in the total score.
Scoring goals is common for Barcelona. They are top teams with super offensive firepower that are as famous as strong teams such as Real Madrid and Liverpool.
Scoring goals is never a problem!
The two sides change sides and fight again.
Barcelona immediately launched a fierce attack in the second half.
Liverpool was once unable to withstand it.
In the 53rd minute of the game, Ibrahimovic played a fulcrum in the frontcourt and he gave Iniesta a diagonal pass. In the duel between Johnson and Iniesta, Johnson lost completely today!
However, Iniesta's shot from the left side into the penalty area was not as lethal as he was in the middle.
After Reina bravely saved Iniesta's shot diagonally against the goal, Yaya Toure's shot from the outside missed the goal.
Liverpool has not found a good opportunity to display the changes in the second half, but Barcelona has put Liverpool in unprecedented pressure.
In the 59th minute of the game, Xavi received a back pass from Messi on the outside and made a long shot. The football hit Scotter's arm who was defending in the penalty area. The referee decisively awarded a penalty, which made Liverpool players a little crazy.
Scotter rushed to the referee almost madly to protest and appeal.
"My hand was not stretched out, always close to my body, and did not expand the defense area. Why is it a penalty kick? Why! Why?"
Scotter, who could not control his emotions, was warned by the referee's yellow card, and Gerald and Alonso had to pull him away. Then Gerald went to protest with the referee, but at this time the referee couldn't listen to anything at all, and the penalty could not be changed.
"Oh no, Liverpool was awarded a penalty in the second half. This penalty is questionable. Although Scotter's arm was not close to his body tortoise, it was a little slightly opened, but his sideways did not actually expand the defense area. This is a fact. However, there is also a basis for the referee to award the penalty. The football did hit his hand and then dropped the force and landed on the ground and was cleared by Carragher. Now the game is at the most critical moment. Once Barcelona scored this penalty, the gap between the two teams will be only one goal. The game is still half an hour!"
The Liverpool players stared at Messi with a sense of fury and took the penalty kick.
Under the anticipation of 100,000 Barcelona fans at Camp Nou, Messi calmly shot the penalty into the lower left corner of the goal!
Although Reina predicted the right direction, his save speed was not as fast as Messi's shot, so he could only watch the football flew into the goal with regret.
Messi rushed into the goal again and held the ball in his arms and ran towards the backcourt.
"Messi hit a penalty! My God! Is the miracle really happening? 5:4, Liverpool only leads Barcelona one goal! As long as Barcelona scores another goal, the two teams will tie! Will there be overtime?"
The morale of the Barcelona generals was unprecedentedly inspired.
Guardiola kept applauding on the sidelines, praising the players for their performance, but also reminding them to stay calm.
Barcelona players set up their stance before the kickoff, and they exuded a powerful momentum. Every player knew what kind of work to do. The key player to curb Liverpool's counterattack was their kingly way to restrain Liverpool today!
The Liverpool players may have really started to panic. After re-telephone, Johnson directly returned the ball to Barcelona with an irresponsible pass.
This caused Qin Xiong, who was active in the midfield area, to roar at Johnson's victory.
"What a panic! Calm down and calm down!"
Johnson immediately raised his hand to apologize to his teammates, and then ran back to his defense zone to do defensive work.
Barcelona, who became more and more braver in the battle, saw that there was only one goal between the two teams, and their pursuit of offense became even more crazier.
In the 67th minute of the game, Xavi and Yaya Toure cooperated with one in the midfield and rushed over Gerald. Xavi plugged the ball into the gap in the left side. After Iniesta successfully responded from the bottom, he suddenly pulled the ball back against Johnson, and then shook it out of the gap and made a cross.
Ibrahimovic beat Carragher in the middle to head the ball.
This goal made all the Red Army soldiers and fans feel their hearts in their throats. If they entered, Liverpool would really ruin all the advantages established in the first round.
Fortunately, Ibrahimovic's header was a bit straight and was directly held in his arms by Reina.
While Barcelona fans were feeling sorry and Reds fans were relieved, Koeman roared with excitement on the sidelines.
Chapter completed!