Yang Cheng can be said to be the head coach who knows UEFA's mind the most in today's football, and perhaps even one of them can be crossed out.

All old fans who have watched the football for many years know that a large part of the reason why European events attract attention is because of the confrontation between the giants, so UEFA is happy to create a series of so-called grievances, such as the grievances between Yang Cheng and Barcelona, UEFA is not the initiator, but it is definitely the driving force behind the trouble.

Why?

In order to maximize profits, for gimmicks, in order to let more people devote themselves to this event.

In 2003, three Serie A teams monopolized the Champions League semi-finals, and the final became a Milan derby, which obviously did not meet UEFA's definition and the needs of marketing, after all, it became an Italian civil war, which would lose some fans.

Last year, the final became the leading role of second-rate teams such as Monaco and Porto, which caused the Champions League to encounter unprecedented cynicism and even suspicion, thinking that UEFA was deliberately targeting the G14 giants, but in reality, UEFA itself was also depressed, because they did not know how much money they had lost.

This season, from the Champions League group stage draw to the knockout stage draw, UEFA has really put a lot of effort into it, every team has been analyzed by them, and every group has to be carefully considered.

First, in order to ensure the ratings and eyeballs, a major event must be staged in each round, preferably a showdown between top giants; Second, to avoid dark horses like last season, we must avoid the early fight of the strong and weak teams; Third, in order to avoid a certain national team monopolizing most of the places, it is necessary to artificially create some difficulties.

Of course, the third point must be left last, such as drawing teams from the same country, but this will not be done until the last 8 knockout rounds.

So, when you take these elements into account, and add that the opponents in the round of 16 will not be from the same country and group, and they must be the first in the group and the second in the group, you will find that there are actually only a few teams against each other.

Before the whole lottery ceremony begins, it is already obvious who will meet whom.

"It seems that this year's Champions League round of 16 will be another showdown of giants!" Beckenbauer shook his head and laughed.

"Isn't it normal?" Yang Cheng sat beside him and asked rhetorically.

Beckenbauer nodded, in the group stage of this season, the giants have recovered, which makes UEFA work hard in the knockout round, creating some giants from the first round of knockout rounds, and first a climax to attract fans.

"I have a hunch that we're going to draw Arsenal!" Beckenbauer smiled wryly.

Although Arsenal has not won the championship for many years, the strength of this team should not be underestimated, of course, Bayern is also a bullish role, who wins and who loses is not certain, but this kind of duel between top teams is always terrifying.

Playing one more round and one less round is not only a nominal loss, but also a very large loss in money.

On the contrary, those weaker teams will be arranged by UEFA to avoid letting them encounter the giants too early, for fear of the upset, for fear of the upset again, as in the last season, resulting in the final becoming a second-rate matchup; Second, the showdown between the strong and the weak is not powerful enough.

The final draw also seemed to be going in the direction that everyone had guessed, and Liverpool once again "coincidentally" drew Barcelona, and God knows how this group of guys could have been so coincidental, every time.

"I'm a little tired of aesthetics!" Yang Cheng smiled bitterly.

"Who has made you so strong this season?" Beckenbauer laughed and scolded.

Barcelona in La Liga and Liverpool in the Premier League are arguably the four most popular teams this season, the other two being Chelsea in the Premier League and Inter Milan in Serie A.

By any measure, Liverpool's encounter with Barcelona is far more gimmicky than any matchup, and this game is sure to be UEFA's most watched matchup.

From the point of view of a tournament organiser, they don't need to focus on who wins and loses, they just have to be responsible for drawing these two teams together, which is fascinating enough in itself.

It's just that what makes people more unhappy is that UEFA has to flaunt how fair and open it is every time, and it is clear that there is no silver three hundred taels here, and it still has to pretend? , I don't believe it when I kill Yang Cheng, every time I draw Barcelona so coincidentally.

Ferguson also guessed correctly, Manchester United met AC Milan, just like the old Ferguson himself said, he has never met AC Milan, and he is very excited about it.

Inter Milan meets Porto, a duel between the old and new kings; Bayern Munich also ran into Arsenal, as Beckenbauer said; Real Madrid meets Juventus; Chelsea meet Bayer Leverkusen; Monaco meets PSV Eindhoven; Werder Bremen meets Lyon, almost always without too unexpected draws.

"I have a hunch!" Yang Cheng said with a smile after the draw.

"Huh?" Beckenbauer wondered.

"We and Barcelona, no matter which team qualifies, we will meet Chelsea in the quarter-finals!"

Beckenbauer was stunned, but the old fritter figured it out at once.

Jose Mourinho and Barcelona, this is also a gimmick in itself, if Liverpool qualifys, then the matchup can miss one less Premier League team to reach the semi-finals, which is also in UEFA's interest.

If it weren't for Inter Milan and Chelsea both topping the group, perhaps the two teams would have met in advance in the knockout round of 16, which is why so many strong teams are desperately trying to win the group stage.

"In that case, there is a good chance that we will meet the winner between Real Madrid and Juventus!" Beckenbauer also analyzed it and was familiar with UEFA's mode of operation, and the so-called draw could be guessed as good as ten.

"Cross Arsenal first!" Yang Cheng said with a smile.

But on the plane back to Liverpool, he looked at the Premier League schedule on his laptop and suddenly realized that if Liverpool did cross Barcelona and did run into Chelsea, they would be playing Chelsea three times in a row in April.

Two Champions League knockout games, one Premier League, it's just deadly!

But Yang Cheng didn't know that there was more to it than that.

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On the 26th, the 19th round of the league was played, and on the 27th, the team went to Nyon to participate in the draw, and on the 28th, the team won the Saints Southampton at home, and Liverpool played two games in a row in three days.

On January 1, New Year's Day, Liverpool drew 0-0 with Portsmouth away, and Yang Cheng's overall form was obviously affected by the busy schedule, and the performance was very weak, although they controlled the initiative of the game, but could not score goals.

On January 3, Liverpool visited Norwich City again.

In the 8th minute of the first half, the home team took advantage of a mistake by Vidic to go down first, and then began a conservative defensive counterattack tactic, even a dead defense.

Liverpool stubbornly organised waves of attacks, but were unable to find the back of the net for Norwich.

"It looks like Liverpool are in trouble." Andy Gray is a little worried for Liverpool.

With such a busy schedule, any team will face all sorts of problems, after all, not every team can afford to have a squad as strong enough to equip two or three Premier League teams as Chelsea.

'All Premier League managers know that the fixtures around Christmas are very dense and have a very big impact on the second half of the league, which is a threshold that you have to cross to be eligible for the league title.

"Last season, Liverpool performed well during this period, but last season's winter break schedule was not as dense as this season, after all, from December 26, 2004 to January 3, 2005, in just 9 days, the Premier League played a total of 4 league rounds, such a dense schedule, even the iron man can't hold on."

"At the moment, the most momentum is still Chelsea, the Blues with a strong bench depth, with a proud record of four wins in the Christmas schedule to continue to lead the league table, Liverpool are currently two wins and one draw, but there is a good chance of an upset on Norwich, if Yang Cheng does not find a solution to the problem soon, maybe Liverpool will suffer a second defeat of the season."

Andy Gray's opinion also represents the thinking of many people, because Liverpool were sluggish throughout the game.

4 rounds were played in 9 days, each of which was a hard-fought Premier League match, even if Liverpool rotated, but it still couldn't bear such a schedule, and the rotation also had to take certain risks, such as Vidic's mistake, if it was replaced by Hyypia, this mistake would not have happened. When the game jumped into the 60th minute, just when everyone felt that Liverpool should make adjustments, Yang Cheng did make adjustments, he replaced Drogba, who performed averagely, and inserted Xiao Xiao Luo on the left side of the team, Ribery was replaced by him on the right side, and Arshavin played in the middle.

"With Didier Drogba removed, are Liverpool going to give up attacking?"

Everyone thinks that this substitution is very incomprehensible, Drogba's state is indeed average, but he can't ignore his contribution to the team, you know, he has always been the fulcrum of the front court that Yang Cheng relies on very much.

But did Yang Cheng really give up?

…………

…………

"Look for gaps in the opposition defence and in midfield! Be calm and patient! ”

This was the task given to him by Yang Cheng when Xiao Xiaoluo came on the field, but he couldn't tell him what to do.

The Portuguese had a couple of chances to get a pass down the left flank and attack the opposition defence, but it was clear that it didn't work well as the opposition defence dropped deep and didn't leave much space for him to play to his speed and technical advantages.

In just 10 minutes, he had three breakthroughs with the ball to no avail, and Liverpool's attack still looked chaotic.

"It seems that Cristiano Ronaldo didn't make much difference to the game after he came on the pitch." Andy Gray is a little puzzled, why did Yang Cheng choose to replace Drogba with Xiao Xiaoluo?

"Wouldn't it be too risky?" Benitez doesn't like to take risks, he likes to count everything.

Yang Cheng nodded, "Of course, but I can't help it, don't I?" ”

Played 4 games in 9 days, Robben, Gerrard, Davies, and Hyypia are all injured, and there are not many changes that this Liverpool team can bring to Yang Cheng today.

"He's a smart guy, he'll understand!" Speaking of this, Yang Cheng walked to the sidelines again and waved his hand at Xiao Xiaoluo, signaling him to calm down, observe with his eyes, and don't worry.

The biggest problem with this kid is that he is easily anxious, and he becomes easily agitated, so that he can't see some things clearly.

Xiao Xiao Luo saw Yang Cheng's gesture, after a season and a half of getting along, coupled with the progress that he could feel himself, he believed in Yang Cheng, and he respected the head coach who was still urging him.

Taking a deep breath, he stood on the left side and looked to the right, and the opposing sides on the pitch were clearly in his eyes, from the opponent's backline standing at the edge of the penalty area to the midfield that pressed Liverpool.

After Arshavin returned to the middle, Liverpool's midfield began to have the ball, Murphy, Essien and Arau Diarra were more behind Arshavin, and the opposing midfielder pressed a little higher in the midfield in order to freeze Arshavin.

When Xiao Xiaoluo saw this scene, he couldn't help but have a vague outline in his mind.

Is this the gap that the boss is talking about?

At this time, he saw Arshavin get the ball, he was disturbed and had to knock the ball back, but the opponent's defensive midfielder was not in place, so he simply ran directly from the left to the middle, and the area of activity happened to be in the middle of the opponent's midfield and defense.

As soon as Riser on the left saw Rooneche Jr., he immediately ran forward to attract the attention of the opposing wide defender.

The ball returned to the feet of Arshavin again, and a defender on the other side immediately pressed up, but Arshavin passed the ball directly and came directly to the feet of Xiao Xiaoluo, and the Portuguese was unguarded and turned calmly, which immediately caused confusion in the opponent's defense.

The opposing centre-backs realized the threat of the ball in this area and immediately stepped up, but Ribery also chose to move closer to the middle at this time.

The Portuguese scrambled the ball to Ribery who cut inside on the right before the opposition centre-back got close, and the Frenchman immediately knocked back and crossed diagonally behind the opponent's centre-back, and the two immediately formed a one-two collision with the wall.

"Norwich is dangerous!" Andy Gray exclaimed.

"LIVERPOOL HAS A BEAUTIFUL ONE-TWO, LITTLE LUO TAKES THE BALL, GOALLLLLLLLLLLL !!!!!"

"The ball is in!" Andy Gray couldn't help but shout, "Cristiano Ronaldo made a beautiful low shot from inside the box to break through Norwich's goal and equalize for Liverpool!" "It's so beautiful! The opposition centre-backs were aware of the danger, but the Portuguese's short sprint was too fast, and it was to blame for the reckless departure of their area, leaving a large gap behind them. ”

"But there's no way, don't grab it, such a close distance, once Xiao Xiaoluo sprints up, it's hard to guarantee that he won't be directly penetrated, and his long-range shot is also very threatening, plus Ribery cut inside to dilute some defensive pressure for him!"

'It was a tugging run in and out of tight areas, and Norwich's solid backline fell apart with three Liverpool players working together!'

The Liverpool fans who had followed the team to the away side stood out of their seats after the team had scored, and there was a thunderous cheer from the stands, shouting the name of the scorer Cristiano Ronaldo.

After Xiao Xiaoluo broke through Norwich's goal, he was the first to react, rushed to the sideline excitedly, and made a kneeling and roaring celebration, while players such as Ribery and Arshavin behind him rushed over.

Yang Cheng pulled these players over for the first time, "Keep playing like this, remember, pull more, run more gaps, pass more, cooperate more, be patient, understand?" ”

The players nodded in unison, "Understood!" ”

"Go ahead, kill them!" Yang Cheng patted them on the shoulders vigorously and sent them to the court.

It is naturally impossible for the live TV camera to miss this scene, and everyone also saw Yang Cheng's on-the-spot command from this attack.

Yes, maybe Norwich's defense is a bucket of iron, but even if you are reinforced concrete, I will carve a hole in you!

The game restarted, Liverpool was still actively looking for opportunities to attack, especially Xiao Xiaoluo, after tasting the sweetness, he also began to observe the game around him more actively, and he began to consciously move against the holes in the opponent's defense, which made every run of his more targeted.

He and Ribery are active between the opposing defence and the midfield, Norwich can guard them and stand in their position, but they can choose to shoot from distance, they can choose to break through with the ball, they can choose to cooperate, Norwich can become very passive.

But once they get on the grab, they will actively play the gap left after the grab, especially Xiao Xiao Luo and Ribery, both players are very fast in the short sprint, just now under your nose, but in the blink of an eye, they slip away, can't catch up, and don't even give the opportunity to foul.

In this situation, Liverpool seem to have no strikers, but in fact, the two wingers have been given more space to run and pull, and Norwich's entire backline has to follow them, and they can't defend at all.

In the 86th minute, after Xiao Xiao Luo took the ball to attract two defenders, he passed the ball to Arshavin, and the Russian passed the ball into the penalty area with a penetrating direct pass, and Ribery shot directly into the penalty area, breaking through Norwich's goal again and reversing the score for Liverpool!

1：2！

The score was maintained until the end, and Liverpool once again got their wish to get the three points.

"Liverpool's state in this game is indeed very average, and it can even be said that it is bad, but they still won in the end, and they won because of Yang Cheng's excellent on-the-spot command, and he replaced Drogba with Xiao Xiaoluo, which was indeed a very wonderful move, completely revitalizing Liverpool's front-court attack."

In the post-game summary, Andy Gray couldn't help but praise Yang Cheng's substitution.

His on-the-spot command allowed Liverpool to continue to maintain pressure on Chelsea, although the team is currently five points behind Chelsea, but just over the halfway point of the league, who says Liverpool must have no chance?

But one thing is for sure, Liverpool's schedule is tougher than Chelsea's! This text is provided by [Set Sail].