Yang Yang went to Paris, France, to receive the 2008 European Ballon d'Or, which once again aroused the attention and heated discussions of the media and fans around the world, and when he returned to Liverpool the next day, he was greeted by Liverpool fans all over the city.

This was another great event for the Red Army that deserves to be celebrated.

But the game is still in full swing.

Two days after Yang Yang won the Ballon d'Or, in the final game of the Champions League group stage, Liverpool challenged PSV Eindhoven away.

Since the Reds have already qualified from the group ahead of schedule, the outcome of this game is irrelevant.

Liverpool played with an all-substitute line-up and beat PSV Eindhoven 3-1 away.

Lucas Rewa was brilliant in this game, providing two assists for Liverpool's comeback from PSV Eindhoven.

However, as soon as the team returned to the Premier League, the seventeenth round of matches was ushered in.

Liverpool's defence made mistakes in the first half, scoring twice in a row at the hands of Hull.

The first was a mistake in Arbeloa's defense on the right, and the second was when Reyna failed to make a mistake and Carragher made an own goal.

The situation is very similar to the previous game against Manchester City, and everyone is waiting for Liverpool to turn things around.

It took only two minutes for Yang Yang to receive a cross from the right from Kuyt on the left, forced a break through the opponent's two defenders, and assisted the unguarded Gerrard to score a low shot and pull a goal back.

Eight minutes later, it was Kuyt's cross from the right again, Crouch's header was ferried, Yang Yang made a wonderful volley with his back, and it was Gerrard who rushed into the penalty area and pushed the goal without defense to equalize the score.

Two to two!

Subsequently, Liverpool launched a fierce offensive, Yang Yang also showed great initiative, but it rained, the field was very slippery, Liverpool really lacked some luck, and finally drew 2-2 away to Hull City.

……

Liverpool's unfortunate draw away to Hull City is not an exception to this round of the Premier League, and the other top three have also underperformed.

Arsenal drew 1-1 away at Middlesbrough.

Chelsea drew 1-1 at home to West Ham United.

Manchester United drew 0-0 away at Tottenham Hotspur, with Cristiano Ronaldo playing the full game but showing nothing.

The semi-finals drew at the same time, although they did not lose, but it is also a strange phenomenon in the Premier League.

Sky Sports made an analysis after the game, believing that there are subjective and objective factors for the top four to draw at the same time.

The so-called objectivity is that the competition in the Premier League this season is unprecedentedly fierce.

After seventeen rounds, the bottom of the table is West Bromwich Albion, and the second from the bottom is Blackburn, who ranked seventh last season, which no one expected before the season, Blackburn will be deep in the relegation zone?

And what's even more terrifying is that Violence Ben is five points behind third-to-last Sunderland.

Promoted Mahur City are currently in sixth place and Stoke City are in thirteenth.

Who is the team with the same 18 points as Sunderland?

It turned out to be Manchester City, which has invested the most in the European transfer market this summer!

Everton, who are currently seventh in the table, only have 25 points, which means that the 12 teams from seventh to 18th are only seven points apart.

And even a team like Sunderland has been very good this season, with no shortage of records like Arsenal being drawn.

If the fierce competition in the league is an external cause, then the problems between the clubs are internal.

United relied heavily on Cristiano Ronaldo's goals last season, but the Portuguese's lack of prowess this season has led to a sharp drop in United goals, with Ferguson's side receiving reinforcements like Berbatov's side, but the Bulgarian centre-forward clearly failing to integrate into the Reds.

Not to mention Arsenal, whose overall strength has fallen sharply, and their control is not as good as before.

As for Chelsea, Didier Drogba's injury for too long has affected the Blues' attacking prowess, with a lack of effective means to break down dense defences, resulting in the team conceiving points in strong conversations and encounters with teams that defend well.

"Judging from the performance of the previous 17 rounds, the most champion is Liverpool!"

"Although Benitez's side drew this round, they have played an impressive record of 15 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss in 17 games so far, and have 46 points, which is as many as nine points ahead of second-placed Chelsea and as many as 11 points ahead of third-place Manchester United.

Sky Sports believes that Liverpool's strength mainly comes from Yang Yang's outburst.

"Benitez's side have always been known for their balance of attack and defence, but with the addition of Yang Yang, the team's attack has improved dramatically, and so far this season, Yang Yang has scored 19 goals and provided 13 assists in 17 league games, and he alone has scored 32 goals for the team."

"Relying too much on Yang Yang will also be a problem for Liverpool, especially considering that Yang Yang has been in a slump every December in the past two years, and Liverpool is bound to be greatly affected by that time, which is an opportunity for Benitez to be vigilant and also become an opportunity for other teams."

However, regarding the concerns of Sky Sports and other media, Benitez said in an interview with the media that he is not worried at all.

"I believe that Yang Yang is ready."

Yang Yang himself also said in an interview with the media that he is confident that he will fight this battle during the Christmas and winter breaks.

"It starts with Arsenal!" Yang Yang said confidently.

In the eighteenth round of the Premier League, Liverpool challenged Arsenal away.

Unexpectedly, before the game, Liverpool suddenly suffered the impact of injury.

…………

…………

Mascherano has a cold!

However, the Argentine midfielder still came to Melwood, but he wore a mask and did not follow the team to training.

But the team's head coach, Rafael Benitez, missed a full day of training.

Paco Jesterdam explained to the players in the morning that Benitez had taken a temporary leave of absence and could not lead the team to training.

Everyone thinks it's normal for this to happen, after all, who doesn't have something going on at home?

But in the afternoon, after the team's training, Yesterdam did not let the players disband, but announced to everyone with a solemn face that he was in charge of the team's training for the next few days, and he would also direct the game.

"I regret to tell you that Rafael will be away from us for a while, a conservative estimate of half a month."

When everyone heard the news, they were very surprised, and there was a lot of discussion.

"Paco, what the hell is going on?" Captain Gerrard asked with concern.

Jesterdam motioned to everyone not to discuss it and not to rush.

"Raphael has been feeling a little unwell for some time, and he finds that his kidneys are getting more and more painful."

Kidney pain?

Yang Yang smiled a little wryly.

"So, this morning, his wife Montset specially accompanied him to the hospital for an examination, and it was confirmed that it was a kidney stone, so he had lithotripsy surgery, originally thought it was a small problem, but he didn't expect it to be worse after returning home, so he went back to the follow-up examination, and found that the lithotripsy left a hole in the kidney."

Everyone looked at each other when they heard this, isn't this too unlucky?

"The operation was very successful, but it is estimated that he will have to rest for at least ten days, so in the next period of time, he will not be able to lead the team and direct the game, I hope everyone can be in the same boat and get through this difficulty together."

After appeasing the players, Yesterdam disbanded the team, but at the same time kept Gerrard, Carragher, Yang Yang and Xavi Alonso, who were the mainstays of the team.

Yesterdam's meaning is also clear, Benitez is no longer able to command the team, but the next is the most troublesome Christmas devil's schedule, especially against Arsenal, which is very difficult.

"Mascherano is injured and I'm thinking about getting Gareth Barry on, what do you think?" Jesterdam asked the crowd for their opinions.

Everyone also nodded, this is a normal operation.

Mascherano has contributed a lot to Liverpool's midfield, especially in midfield defense and interceptions, and Gareth Barry has also performed quite well since he joined the team, although the defensive end is not as good as Mascherano, but he is still competent to fill the vacancy of the Argentine.

"Playing Arsenal away, the opponent must still be based on passing and controlling, and I plan to focus on pressing and pressing, and at the same time do a good job of defense, after all, we are away, and we will shoot when we see the situation." Jesterdam is cautious by nature and is still apprehensive about playing Arsenal away.

The two teams know each other well, there is no so-called surprise soldier or anything, it depends on who plays better on the spot and the tactics are more targeted.

Benitez is a master tactician, he can always guess the opponent's tactical intentions and give targeted restraint tactics, so before every game in the past, everyone was used to listening to Benitez's opinion, but now, suddenly losing him, everyone is really a little blind.

Should it be mainly robbed? Or is it still going to be steady?

It stands to reason that Arsenal's current overall strength is definitely inferior to Liverpool's, if the team really fights the Gunners, both teams press out to play, Yang Yang is confident that he can break Arsenal's weak defense.

But the problem is that Liverpool's own defense is not solid, and Carragher's recent form is not particularly good.

Therefore, after consulting for a long time, whether it is Yang Yang or Gerrard, they all feel that although Yesterdam's words are more cautious, they are indeed more reasonable, at least the most important thing is to make themselves invincible first.

Yesterdam is an assistant coach and a good guy on weekdays, and during Benitez's absence, managing the team naturally needs locker room bigwigs like Gerrard and Yang Yang to help talk and do something.

After Yang Yang won the European Golden Ball Award, he gave every teammate in the locker room a new and highest-equipped Apple iPhone in advance, although it was not worth much, but everyone took his benefits, plus his prestige in the team on weekdays, there are still people who listen to what he says.

It's just that, without a manager, can Arsenal play Arsene Wenger go well?