Chapter 733: Tenacious Liverpool

Cancelo made a low pass and swept the ball to the middle.

Harry Kane was trying to score in front of the goal, and Bruno also rushed to the front.

These two extremely threatening offensive players were like beacons in the dark night in Liverpool's penalty area, attracting the defensive attention of all defenders in Liverpool's penalty area.

Harry Kane was at the front point, and his shovel shot did not touch the ball. Bruno at the back point threw his body center of gravity out and prepared to score.

At this moment, a red figure flashed between Harry Kane and Bruno.

"This is-Rashford!"

Rashford suddenly appeared in the middle and fell to the ground to shovel!

Manchester United fans were ready to cheer, but their cheers were strangled in their throats.

This was a world-class save made by Alisson. He made a save almost at the same time as Rashford's shovel shot. He turned sideways and fell to the ground, while trying his best to expand the defensive area of ​​his arms and body.

"Great save! Alisson!"

………………

Rashford's close shot was a sure win, but at the critical moment, the ball was saved by Alisson!

"F**K!"

Mourinho held his head in his hands on the sidelines, looking at the scene that just happened in front of Liverpool's goal in disbelief.

He didn't expect that the team had such a wonderful attack, Rashford's smart running and shovel shot, and such a close shot were all saved by Alisson.

Then, the next second, Mourinho's eyes widened. He saw that after the ball was saved by Alisson, Matip in front of the goal quickly turned around to clear the ball, and the ball was kicked to the top of the penalty area by the Liverpool defender.

In the top of the penalty area, Luke Shaw and Salah won the header, and he passed the ball to Gundogan.

Gundogan stopped the ball on his chest, then slightly turned sideways to block Fabinho who was about to press, and at the same time swung his right foot and volleyed directly.

After Gundogan hit the ball, it was like a cannonball, drawing a beautiful arc and quickly swept towards the goal.

Facing such a shot, Alisson, who made two world-class saves in a row in today's game, had no choice. He had just gotten up from the ground and had no time to make a save. He could only watch the ball pass over his left side and into the net.

………………

“GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“Gundogan! Gundogan! Gundogan! Incredible world wave, Gundogan suddenly volleyed from the top of the penalty area. This shot was too sudden, and the goal was extremely wonderful. 1:0, Manchester United led Liverpool 1:0 not long after the game started!”

“Gundogan’s goal helped Manchester United get a dream start. In a game like the Champions League final, such a wonderful start is exciting. This goal is bound to have a great psychological impact on both sides of the game. Manchester United’s side is naturally less pressured and has the capital to maneuver. Liverpool’s side is under great pressure, which means that they started the game with a score of 0:1.”

Gundogan, who scored the goal, was very excited. He wanted to run to celebrate, but he was soon surrounded by his teammates, who threw him to the ground and celebrated wildly.

The commentator was right. This goal relieved the psychological pressure on Manchester United’s players. With a ball in hand, they had room to maneuver and were not so nervous.

In such an important game, this kind of relative psychological and emotional relaxation is very helpful.

………………

Liverpool players stood there, somewhat helpless.

The goal came too fast and too early, which caught Liverpool players off guard.

Losing the ball at the beginning of the game is indeed an extremely bad start.

Of course, it is unrealistic to say that this goal will cause too much damage to Liverpool. Liverpool is a veteran giant in European football and a well-tested giant team. It has made it to the final of the Champions League. What storms have they not experienced?

Klopp shouted on the sidelines, signaling Liverpool players not to panic and to stay calm.

The game has just started. Losing a ball at this time is nothing. Liverpool has plenty of time to turn the tables.

In the stands of the Wanda Metropolitan Stadium, Manchester United fans sang and danced. The opening goal took the lead in the score, which made Manchester United fans very excited. They seemed to see the team holding the fifth Champions League trophy in the club's history.

Mourinho quickly calmed down from the excitement and excitement. He shouted on the sidelines, signaling the players to calm down.

"Be calm, the game has just started." Mourinho said to the team captain Bruno.

"Liverpool people are very tenacious, the game will be difficult, be prepared." Mourinho patted Bruno on the shoulder and said.

To be honest, Mourinho would rather face Barcelona in the final than Liverpool.

It's not that he looks down on Barcelona, ​​but in comparison, Barcelona's defensive problems are bigger than Liverpool's.

Another point is that Liverpool is indeed more tenacious in general. After all, this is the team that created the Istanbul miracle.

Moreover, as Manchester United's mortal enemy, Liverpool people are more eager to fight when facing Manchester United.

After all, this game is related to the competition of who is the most powerful club in England, and the Liverpool people will never give up.

………………

After the game restarted, the situation developed as Mourinho expected. It took Liverpool's players a few minutes to get over the negative impact of 0:1.

This team is indeed strong enough!

Before the game, the media analyzed the strength comparison of the two teams. Most media believed that both sides were evenly matched, while a small number of media believed that Manchester United was slightly stronger than Liverpool.

They believe this is mainly reflected in the following aspects: in the goalkeeper position, De Gea is better than Alisson; in the midfield position, the combination of Kanter, Bruno and Gundogan is stronger than Henderson and Wijnaldum. With the combination of Mu and Fabio, Harry Kane is also obviously better than Firmino.

Of course, in the eyes of the media, Liverpool also has strengths: Mane and Salah, the two wingers, are stronger than the combination of Rashford and Mbappe.

As for the defenses of both sides, they are evenly matched in strength. The Manchester United defense line of Luke Shaw, Van Dijk, Maguire and Cancelo seems to be more famous and worth more. But judging from the performance of the past season, it was the Liverpool defense line of Arnold, Matip, Koulibaly and Robertson that conceded fewer goals and performed better.

………………

After Wijnaldum and Fabinho cooperated like hitting the wall, they suddenly turned towards Mane's side, but knocked the football to Salah with his heel.

The Egyptian winger started quickly with the ball.

Mourinho stood up from his seat on the sidelines. Salah is definitely Liverpool's most threatening player. He emphasized before the game that he should pay attention to the defense of the Egyptian wingers.

Manchester United's defensive focus also tilted to the left.

Just when Manchester United's defensive focus and all attention was on this side, they failed to notice that on the other side, Mane was cutting in at high speed.

Salah dribbled the ball and suddenly cut inside, and Luke Shaw, who was guarding him, also cut inside.

Then, Salah made a gesture to take a long shot.

"Block him from shooting!" De Gea shouted nervously. Salah's inward curve ball is world-famous, almost comparable to Robben in his peak period. He was very nervous.

Salah didn't shoot, but passed the ball.

This was passed to Wijnaldum.

Wijnaldum did not receive the ball, but let the football roll past.

Then one sees Mane getting the ball unmarked on the other side.

Mane didn't give Manchester United's defense a chance to re-defense. He directly kicked off and shot, and the football flew straight towards the goal in an arc.

The Liverpool fans in the visiting team stands at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium were ready to cheer and celebrate the goal. Then everyone saw De Gea flying like a dolphin and lifting the football over the crossbar with one hand.

"World-class save! Oh my God, De Gea, he saved Mane's must-goal!"

"Great save, De Gea!"

………………

"Missed! Missed!" De Gea, who completed this world-class save, jumped up from the ground and expressed his dissatisfaction to his teammates.

In this defense, Manchester United's defense missed the equally threatening Mane, allowing the Senegalese winger to directly get a chance to score a semi-single ball. This is an unforgivable mistake!

Mane held his head in his hands. He couldn't believe his eyes. He couldn't believe that De Gea blocked the goal he was determined to win.

You know, he was already deliberately pursuing the angle when he shot, but he didn't expect that he could be saved like this!

Manchester United fans gave De Gea applause from the stands. If it weren't for the heroic performance of their Spanish goalkeeper, Manchester United would probably have been tied by Liverpool soon.

Klopp stood up from his seat, applauded the Liverpool players on the field, and quickly returned the favor to Manchester United to express encouragement and appreciation for the team's faithful implementation of his tactical arrangements.

Although this almost inevitable goal opportunity failed to score, Klopp was still very happy. This attack proved that he was right and his team was capable of a comeback.

However, Klopp's expression soon became serious.

Facing Liverpool's offensive, Manchester United gave an extremely powerful response: they fought against Liverpool.

This was expected by Klopp. He thought that after leading 1:0, Mourinho would be more conservative, most likely to fight Liverpool's counterattack there.

After all, everyone knows that Mourinho started out as a defender. In more games, after his team takes the lead, he will adopt a solid defense or even set up a bus to use defensive counterattacks to consume the opponent's energy.

This is also the origin of Mushi Bus.

But I didn't expect that Mourinho would be so courageous to fight Liverpool in today's Champions League final.