It's been half a year since he joined Liverpool, but sometimes, Gareth Barry still feels like a dream.

For example, now.

March 1, 2009, 3 p.m., Wembley Stadium, London.

League Cup Final!

It was the first final of Gareth Barry's career, and although it was only a Carabao Cup final, it was still the most important game of his career so far.

The Carabao Cup is a chicken rib, but that is relative to the big teams, and for Gareth Barry, who has played for Aston Villa for a long time in his career, the League Cup is not a chicken rib, but a respected honor.

And to Gareth Barry's even more gratification, he qualified to start.

……

A week ago, in a 4-0 win away to Real Madrid, Gareth Barry started the game at left-back and was solid.

After beating Middlesbrough 2-0 three days earlier, Gareth Barry was rotated by the manager without getting any chance to play in order to start tonight's Carabao Cup final.

Also hidden are Yang Yang, the core main player who broke Real Madrid, and Mascherano in the midfield.

Steven Gerrard and Xavi Alonso, who returned from injury, directed the 2-0 win at Middlesbrough with the help of Lucas Reva, with both players on the bench.

In the face of Manchester United, Liverpool manager Benitez changed the formation and adopted a four-four-two formation, with Yang Yang and Crouch, who returned from injury, partnering with two strikers, Gareth Bale playing on the wings with Benayoun, and Gareth Barry and Mascherano partnering with two midfielders.

The manager's strategy is obvious, which is to fight Manchester United to the end.

……

Ferguson was also not idle.

Manchester United are currently quite behind Liverpool in the Premier League table, and as the clock enters March, the possibility of a comeback is becoming less and less likely, and the time left for Manchester United is getting shorter and shorter, so Ferguson is very serious about the cup competition.

The godfather of the Red Devils knows very well that United must hold on to the cup first and avoid being empty-handed at the end of the season.

So, after a 0-0 draw away to Inter Milan in midweek, Ferguson returned to the Premier League with a 2-0 home win over Portsmouth, with all the main players remaining until the Carabao Cup final.

Wayne Rooney, Tevez, Cristiano Ronaldo, Scholes, Carrick, Anderson, Nemanjac Vidic, Ferdinand...... In this game, Manchester United played the main team, and the goal was also very clear, that is, to take out the rotation of Liverpool.

……

After joining Liverpool for half a year, Gareth Barry has become an important rotation role in the team.

He is basically satisfied with the treatment he has received, but he is also bent on going further and proving his strength and value, so every time he plays, he does his best to show his best form.

Unlike Aston Villa, Liverpool are giants with a group of top stars.

For example, captain Steven Gerrard, vice-captain Carragher, as well as midfielders Xavi Alonso and Mascherano are all top stars in the world, and even center Crouch and striker Kuyt are very characteristic and advantageous European stars.

But what amazed Gareth Barry the most was the team's number one star, Yang Yang.

All professional players are no strangers to Yang Yang.

Gareth Barry was already familiar with this player as early as when he played for Aston Villa, and even played against Yang Yang a few times as an opponent, but after being a teammate, he really felt why Yang Yang was able to get to where he is today.

Work hard! Be self-disciplined! Fight hard! Never give up!

Outside media reporters and fans often only see the surface, see what Yang Yang presents, and show them what they see, but only as a teammate, as the closest comrade on the field, Gareth Barry can really feel Yang Yang's heart.

He's Melwood's most popular player!

Not only that, but for the two sides to play side by side on the court, Gareth Barry needs to know Yang Yang better than anyone else.

For example, he needs to know how fast Yang Yang's extreme sprint speed is, he needs to know how to pass Yang Yang more comfortably, and he also needs to calculate how much advance to give Yang Yang's threat ......

Growing up, everyone said that Gareth Barry was a very smart player who was good at thinking with his brain.

But after arriving in Liverpool, he found that when facing Yang Yang, his brain always seemed to be insufficient.

It's like tonight.

……

After the opening, Manchester United attacked in a hurry.

Attacking in the opening game and taking the lead is Ferguson's forte, and it is also Manchester United's usual trick.

The Red Devils Manchester United is domineering in the Premier League, this is the hegemonic temperament accumulated from the long-term domination of the Premier League, even if there has been some decline in recent years, but Manchester United is still Manchester United, and Ferguson is still Ferguson.

Gareth Barry is at the heart of Liverpool's midfield, and as a left-footed player, he appears in the area of the left side of the back.

Faced with the pressing and strangulation tactics of Manchester United's midfield, Gareth Barry struggled to create chances.

Liverpool's situation was the same as that of Gareth Barry, who was suppressed by Manchester United at the opening time.

In the first 17 minutes, United created six good attacking threats, but Liverpool failed to make even a single attack.

Yang Yang and Crouch were isolated in front of them, and it was difficult to pass the ball.

Ferguson is not Juan de Ramos, the United boss is one of Europe's top tacticians, and against Benitez, who is also very tactical, Ferguson is not lagging behind in the formation of his line-up.

Of course, although Liverpool missed the opportunity, they also did not give Manchester United's chance to attack.

It was a fierce battle, with Liverpool not creating a chance until the 18th minute through Benayoun on the right, but Rio Ferdinand cleared the ball before Yang Yang.

Nine minutes later, it was another cross from Benayoun from the right, Yang Yang got a chance to kick on the left side of the box, but his body was forced to be suppressed by Ferdinand, the shot failed to hit the target, and the ball was easily confiscated by goalkeeper Van der Sar.

Obviously, Ferguson specially arranged for Ferdinand to focus on Yang Yang tonight.

Even if Benitez doesn't change Yang Yang's position, on the right side of Manchester United, there is O'Shea.

The old Scottish man has learned the lessons of Juande Ramos, fearing that he will repeat the mistakes of Real Madrid, so he is also more cautious in his targeted defense.

After the opening, he didn't get a chance for a long time, and then created two chances in a row, but he was suppressed by the opponent's central defender, if it was replaced by other players, there would definitely be some emotions, but Yang Yang seemed to be doing everything as usual.

When he walked back, he didn't forget to applaud his teammates from afar, shook his head with a wry smile, looked a little lost, but there was not much anxiety or panic.

And when he walked back to near the halfway line, he suddenly walked towards Gareth Barry and whispered, "Take the right side more and pass the ball to the left side." ”

Gareth Barry is a little skeptical about this, because Manchester United have a heavy presence on this side, O'Shea and Ferdinand are on this side, but on the right, Patrice likes to cut in and attack, so the right side gets more chances.

That's why both of Liverpool's attacks were orchestrated by Benayoun on the right.

Although he was a little puzzled in his heart, Gareth Barry still nodded in agreement, because he knew that Yang Yang was the number one star in the team and the offensive leader on the court, not to mention him, even if Gerrard was present, he had to listen to his advice and attack around him many times.

……

Soon, the game resumed.

Liverpool still tried to attack from the right, but because of the tacit understanding that had been formed before, this time, Crouch received Benayoun's pass on the right and immediately passed back to Mascherano and then to Gareth Barry.

At this time, Gareth Barry happened to face the left touchline of Manchester United's penalty area, stopped the ball, looked up, and saw that the situation in front of him had changed.

Vidic was pulled away by Crouch, Yang Yang appeared in the middle, Ferdinand and O'Shea sandwiched him between left and right, but Yang Yang was glaring at him and signaling him to pass behind.

Gareth Barry is not a, on the contrary, he is smart and realizes the problem at once.

Once United's defence is pressing, Yang Yang's pace will allow him to get a chance between the two players.

Just hesitated, Gareth Barry struck a through ball with his left foot.

Carrick was about to come up and press, but he was a step too late.

The ball slid past Carrick, past O'Shea and into the left side of the box.

Yang Yang turned around as fast as he could, and slashed diagonally behind O'Shea.

Manchester United's right wing-back reacted passively, and as soon as he turned around, Yang Yang was thrown away.

Only Ferdinand, who had been keeping an eye on Yang Yang, chased Yang Yang all the way, but O'Shea ran to the middle instead, ready to help defend behind Ferdinand.

And at this moment, Gareth Barry suddenly felt a burst of regret, because he hesitated, let the experienced Ferdinand see the clue, if he believed Yang Yang's words, the first time he received the ball, it would definitely be a wonderful one-on-one goal.

But now, Yang Yang is entangled by Ferdinand again.

The quality of England's centre-back, Gareth Barry, as a team-mate of the national team, is very clear, and Rio Ferdinand wore the captain's armband of Manchester United in this game, and he was extremely excited.

In the first two one-on-ones, Yang Yang failed to take advantage of Ferdinand, and this time he was entangled again, which is estimated to be enough.

And in the final analysis, if this attack is not effective, it will be him who has dragged Yang Yang down.

……

Yang Yang didn't think too much about it in his heart, and when he saw Gareth Barry's pass, he immediately slashed behind O'Shea.

Ferdinand reacted quickly, was not slow, chased closely, and even secretly pulled Yang Yang's jersey behind him, which caused Yang Yang to slow down.

But in the end, Yang Yang took the lead to catch up with the ball, and with a light trip forward, the ball was controlled by him, and the person also rushed into the penalty area.

It's just that Ferdinand has been on his inside, pressing his shoulders with his hands while squeezing him with his body.

An experienced world-class centre-back, the United captain knows exactly how to contain his opponents.

But Yang Yang is not a fuel-efficient lamp!