The first game of 2009 was the FA Cup.

Liverpool's opponents are Preston North End in the Championship, and this is Benitez's first game back in the team after a surgical break.

The Reds travelled away with an all-substitute line-up and got 2-0 away to 2-0 thanks to goals from Gareth Bale and Benayoun to get 2009 off to a flying start.

Three days later, Liverpool hosted Burnley.

It was the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-finals, with Liverpool home and away.

The Reds didn't hold back at home, beating their opponents 4-0 neatly and sending Burnley out of the Carabao Cup.

However, in the other matchup, Manchester United were upset by Derby County 0-1 away from home.

I have to say, this is really scary.

But everyone is convinced that with the quality of the Red Devils Manchester United, it will be difficult for Derby County to have a chance after returning to Old Trafford.

……

In the 21st round of the Premier League, Liverpool challenged Stoke City away.

Stoke City's home game is not easy to play, and this is the consensus in the Premier League this season.

Don't look at it as a promoted team, but Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur have fallen here, Manchester United have come close to capsizing in the gutter here, and Chelsea have played thrilling here.

From before the game, Benitez repeatedly warned Liverpool's players that they must be cautious when playing Stoke City away.

After entering January, Yang Yang re-conducted a period of physical training according to the arrangement of the coaching staff, in order to adjust his physical condition and cope with the second half of the event in the next few months.

He doesn't need to play in the FA Cup or League Cup, even if the league has reached the semi-finals.

In Benitez's words, if you want to let Yang Yang go to Burnley, it will be an insult to the rest of Liverpool's players.

In this game against Stoke City, Yang Yang did not get a start due to a week-long physical training, but sat on the bench, and even Benitez clearly told him that if the game went well, he would not be arranged.

But the game was very difficult.

Stoke City have played extremely tenaciously and well at home this season, and if you look at home results alone, this team can be sixth in the Premier League, but they have played very poorly on the road, and on the road alone, this team is at the bottom of the table, worse than vice-captain West Bromwich Albion.

In the face of such a typical home and away team, Liverpool could not come up with effective offensive means in the absence of Yang Yang, and played lackluster in the first half.

Benitez didn't even wait for the end of the first half to end before returning to the dressing room early to prepare for the second half.

However, the second half started similarly poorly, with Reyna coming close to opening the scoring for Stoke City with a clearance in the 50th minute, but Kitson couldn't find the empty net when he shook off Reina from a tight angle, but instead hit the side-netting.

This made Benitez on the sidelines extremely unhappy.

So, in the 61st minute, Yang Yang replaced Gareth Bale, who had a sluggish performance throughout the game.

Playing Newcastle's shining Welsh wingers, this game against Stoke City was like sleepwalking, but everyone was more tolerant of him, after all, he was still relatively young.

After Yang Yang came on the field, he was also closely guarded by the Stoke City team, but with his god of war in front of him, the Stoke City team's defense also loosened, and Liverpool's attack began to threaten, but it never took the opportunity.

It wasn't until the 84th minute that Stoke City's full-back Wilkinson was yellow carded for a foul on Yang Yang, and Liverpool got a free kick opportunity on the left side of the penalty area, which Yang Yang personally penalized.

A skilful ball of fallen leaves drilled into the top right corner of the goal, but goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen could not do anything about it.

1 to 0!

After breaking the deadlock, the next step is much better.

In the 91st minute, Yang Yang received Xavi Alonso's diagonal pass, crossed the header in front of the bottom line, pushed the ball back into the penalty area, Gerrard inserted a follow-up tackle and hit, and even the whole person slid into the goal with the ball.

Two to zero!

The score was maintained until the end of the game.

……

While Liverpool narrowly beat Stoke City 2-0 away, Manchester United beat Chelsea 3-0 at Old Trafford in Manchester.

Although John Terry returned to the starting line-up after a two-game ban to partner Carvalho, and despite the likes of Deco, Ballack and Petr Cech all in the starting line-up, the Blues lost to Manchester United in the end.

The defeat put the already demoralised Chelsea into a quagmire again, and the Blues were still unable to resolve the embarrassment of not being able to win, only to abuse the vegetables, and there was not even a single shot on goal that threatened Van der Sar.

At the same time, after Manchester United's 3-0 win over Chelsea, they have basically announced that this season's Premier League title will only be born in two teams, Liverpool and Manchester United, with the Reds being the top favourites.

It is worth mentioning that Manchester United won this game, but Cristiano Ronaldo was still in a slump, and the Portuguese did not take advantage of Bosingva in the slightest.

This has also sparked heated discussions among the media and fans around the world.

The FIFA Awards Conference is just around the corner, but Cristiano Ronaldo's form for more than a month can be described as sluggish, not only is there a goal drought, but his performance on the pitch has not shown any signs of recovery.

In such a crucial conversation, Manchester United completely crushed Chelsea, and it stands to reason that Ronaldo should have to perform, but he is still very sluggish, which makes various media outlets express regret after the game.

The British Daily Mail directly broke the news the next day, and there was no suspense about the World Footballer.

"Yang Yang will be elected ironclad!"

The Daily Mail listed the performance and data comparison between the two superstars Yang Yang and Xiao Xiao Luo last season and this season, and believes that apart from a Champions League and the Club World Cup, Manchester United stars have no outstanding results that can overpower Yang Yang.

Even in the Club World Cup, Ronaldo was not United's best performer.

"If there is hope for the Manchester United star before November, then in December, with the malaise in form, he has personally handed over the World Footballer of the Year trophy to Yang Yang."

"In contrast, Yang Yang's performance is more consistent and better."

The Daily Mail highlighted the performances of the two superstars during the slump, which intercepted Yang Yang's performance in December and January last year, compared with Xiao Xiaoluo's performance in December and January, and came to the conclusion that even when the state was in a slump, Yang Yang still had assists and goals from time to time.

"But not only did the Manchester United star not score goals and assists, but his performance on the pitch was also very sluggish, and he was often questioned because he couldn't control his temper."

But in response, the Portuguese chose to do it head-on.

Ronaldo says he is unlikely to be at last season's level, but he vows to get back to his best.

'You can't play at the top level for long, two, three or even four seasons, you can't find any player like that.

The Portuguese believes he hasn't been bad this season.

'I did a great job last season but it's not bad this season, I've scored 10 goals so far and people always expect me to be better and better, but it's not easy, I think I'm in good form and it's going to get better and better.'

"If this season is average, then you will wait and see, I will find my best form again next season!"

The response given by the Portuguese people in a hurry immediately made the British media carnival and followed up one after another, some supporting and some bombarding, which quickly caused an uproar.

For example, the Liverpool Echo directly counterattacked, saying that Liverpool has a player who can maintain peak form for a long time.

"That's Yang Yang!"

I don't know if it was affected by this, Xiao Xiaoluo had a car accident after playing Chelsea, and crashed his Ferrari sports car worth 200,000 pounds, but fortunately he was fine.

It's really a house leak that happened to rain overnight.

This naturally sparked heated discussions among the media and fans again.

…………

…………

January 12, morning.

Yang Yang, accompanied by Su Ye, Raiola and Gerald, flew from Liverpool to Zurich by private jet.

At Zurich Airport, he was greeted by a large number of fans and journalists from all over the world.

Although FIFA has not yet made a final announcement, everyone has already given an answer in their hearts, that is, this year's World Footballer of the Year must belong to Yang Yang, which is a sure thing.

Although it is a big year, Yang Yang does not have the Champions League, nor does he have the honor of other national teams, but with his outstanding performance in the past year, he is definitely worthy of this honor, and it is difficult for others to shake his status.

Cristiano Ronaldo's performance this season is sluggish, although Messi ushered in an outbreak, but in the end there is still a lack of heat, Kaka's state has also declined significantly, as for Torres, who performed well in La Liga and helped Spain win the European Cup, he still lacks a level if he wants to challenge Yang Yang.

In this case, anyone other than Yang Yang will win the award will cause huge controversy.

Raiola is undoubtedly the most relaxed, because he has always felt that signing Yang Yang is the wisest choice he has made over the years, and in the past few years, with the outbreak of Yang Yang, his career in European football has also been thriving.

Yang Yang was a little apprehensive, but Su Ye and Gerrard kept persuading him, they were full of confidence in Yang Yang's award, not only them, but also the outside media and fans said so.

On the contrary, he himself is not so optimistic, because the results have not yet been revealed, and God knows what FIFA will do?

However, this year's Yang Yang's outfit is much more expensive than last year, and there are several more sponsors, including watches and leather shoes, all of which have signed new sponsorships.

It can be said that from the beginning to the end, from the hair to the glasses to the beard to the clothes to the shoes, it is all money.

If it weren't for Yang Yang's insistence, Raiola would probably have to sell even the underwear at a clear price.