I'm 198cm tall. Are you giving me a Maradona template?

Chapter 195 The sky is his territory!
Compared to Liverpool.

Hoffenheim is a real small team - in fact, Hoffenheim is just a small village.

Since winning the most important championship trophy in team history in the 2007-2008 season - the German Football League Championship Trophy, and being promoted to the Bundesliga.

The most fond memory of Hoffenheim fans should be the 2008-09 season, when Hoffenheim, which had just been promoted to the Bundesliga, beat Bayern Munich in the first half and won the half-time championship.

But unfortunately, the team failed to maintain its strong performance in the second half and finally finished 7th.

In the 2016-2017 season, Hoffenheim finished fourth in the Bundesliga.

This is Hoffenheim's highest ranking in the top league in its history.

This ranking allowed them to enter the European competition for the first time in history - yes, in Hoffenheim's team history, they have never participated in European competitions, including the Champions League and the Europa League, and the past Toto Cup, Cup Winners' Cup and other European competitions have never had the presence of Hoffenheim club.

This is a Champions League qualifying match.

This is the first time in the history of this team that it has participated in a European competition!
This is of great significance to the Hoffenheim team.

From the beginning of the game.

The atmosphere at the Rhein-Neckar Arena was extremely lively.

“Our whole village came to watch the game!”

In a stand.

A huge banner was unfurled.

This is Hoffenheim's pride.

They are a "village team" that made it to the Bundesliga.

There are only more than 3,000 residents in the whole village, and this section of the stands belongs exclusively to the residents of Huo Village, who are the "most original" supporters of this team.

This is a game of great significance.

Naturally, the Hoffenheim team would not relax at all. After the start of the game, Hoffenheim took advantage of its home advantage and launched a crazy attack.

So, when they score.

No one was surprised.

Hoffenheim's main striker Wagner got the ball on the penalty area line and scored the first goal with a clean low shot!

The German striker was favored by Bayern Munich in the summer window, and there are even rumors that the German national team is already observing his performance.

"Wagner! Beautiful! Hoffenheim scored!"

"Hoffenheim scored the first goal at home and they took the lead!"

"This may be the game that Hoffenheim fans are most looking forward to. Facing Liverpool in the Champions League qualifiers is a huge test for Hoffenheim, but as long as they beat Liverpool and eliminate Liverpool, Hoffenheim will create a new record in team history and they will officially enter the Champions League!"

"Hoffenheim is writing its own history!"

There was a huge cheer at the Rhein-Neckar Arena.

The Germans are celebrating their goal and Hoffenheim fans are looking forward to the team making history.

But it's a pity.

Their opponents won't buy into their dreams.

Ten minutes later.

Liverpool equalized the score.

"Mané! Sadio Mané! Beautiful!! Beautiful!! Sunshine shot from outside the penalty area, goalkeeper Baumann missed the save, Mané rushed into the penalty area and scored with the follow-up shot!!"

This was a counterattack launched by Liverpool's trident.

Salah dribbled the ball straight into the penalty area, attracted the defense and then made a triangle pass to Sunshine, who shot without stopping. The powerful shot caused the Hoffenheim goalkeeper to make a mistake in saving the ball. The ball was blocked by him and bounced back into the penalty area. Mane made a follow-up shot and kicked the ball into the goal before everyone could react.

In the coaching booth, Klopp celebrated the goal with his assistants.

Judging from this counterattack.

Liverpool's trident has become more skilled in positioning, passing and cutting.

They have more tacit understanding.

In fact, Klopp's tactics are very simple.

Compared to the complex passing and cutting of Guardiola's football.

Klopp's football is simple and direct.

What matters is the word "speed".

Quick passing, quick movement, quick pressing.

They disrupt their opponents through their suffocating pace.

Continuously launch attacks by passing the ball forward with great precision.

And in terms of the specific attacking methods.

Salah and Mane are two fast horses revolving around the sunshine.

This way, no matter how fast the tempo is.

Liverpool's attack always has a direction.

What if the other party is staring at Yangguang?
It's ok.

Salah is also very good at scoring.

Salah's left-foot shot is extremely threatening.

Mane can actually also cut inside and shoot.

As the axis of the team's offense, there is no need to doubt Yangguang's ability.

It's easy to stare at someone to death.

But I want to kill three people.

It's hard.

Although Klopp feels that the team still needs some improvement.

But relying on this powerful attack.

He believes that Liverpool can defeat any opponent this season with the firepower of its offensive line.

Lost the ball?

It doesn't matter.

We just need to score more goals.

Liverpool were in high spirits after equalizing the score.

Hoffenheim, playing at home, was suppressed by them.

Hoffenheim could only tighten their defense and struggle hard in their home court.

They did manage to hold on in the first half.

But the second half began.

Liverpool's attack became more fierce - their two full-backs, Arnold and Moreno both actively assisted.

Thus.

Hoffenheim's defense is under even greater pressure.

The 63rd minute of the game.

Liverpool take the lead.
Sunshine headed the ball into the goal from inside the penalty area.
He completed a signature move in which the center forward headed the ball into the goal following a cross from the wing.

The ball was passed by full-back Arnold.

The quality of the cross was very high.

The football bypassed the defense and accurately found the position of Yangguang.

See this cross.

Klopp also felt that Arnold's poor defending was slightly more tolerable.
He sat back in the coaching booth.

Anyway, the team is going to play offensive football, so it doesn't matter if the full-back's defensive ability is a little bit lacking.

Klopp comforted himself.

The final result of the game was 1:2.

Liverpool brought back a victory away from home.

This means that there is basically not much suspense in the second round of the game at their home ground.

Let’s put the Champions League qualifiers aside for now.

Three days later.

It’s the second round of the Premier League.

This is Liverpool's first game at home this season.

They will face Crystal Palace at home.

Sunshine is excited about this game.

He feels good about the Liverpool fans.

He had just joined the team.

Liverpool fans set up a fan club just for him.

Although there were not many people at the beginning, it was already a very good start.

In the previous two games, although they were played away from home, Liverpool fans still created a great atmosphere away from home.

When the voices of the home fans died down for a moment, their voices broke out, letting the Liverpool players on the pitch know that they were not alone.

Back to his home ground.

Klopp still maintained the starting lineup from midweek. Liverpool's front three started the game.

This is the strongest lineup Liverpool can currently put out.

This is a determination to win a victory at home.

"We just played a game in the middle of the week and now we still have this lineup. It seems that Klopp is determined to win this game."

"Nonsense, this is the first home game of the season."

"Yang has helped the team score three goals. What kind of performance can he offer in this game?"

In the media gallery, reporters were talking a lot.

Under the song "You'll Never Walk Alone".

Players from both teams lined up to appear on the field.

The on-site broadcast began to loudly broadcast the starting lineups of both teams.

When reporting the name of the sun.

There was a sudden surge of cheers at Anfield.

This is Sunshine's first home game.

Of course, the fans at the scene welcomed him with the most enthusiastic cheers.

The love from England fans is intense.

They gave without reservation.

so.
When you hurt their hearts, their hatred is also very intense.
In the kop stands.

A flag was hung between the two tiers of stands.

The camera locked onto the flag.

"This is the symbol of sunshine, the flag of the new Liverpool fans' club, the Iron Eaters!"

Sky Sports commentator Kolo had obviously done his homework.

"This is the Iron Eater Fan Club, a fan club dedicated to Sunshine!"

Zhang Jun was also very excited.

It’s exciting just to think that a Chinese player has his own fan club abroad.

Judging from the number of people in the stands on this flag.

The number of members in the Iron-eating Beast fan club has grown significantly.

Liverpool, playing at home, took the advantage right after the start of the game.

First minute of the game.

Yang Guang shot in the penalty area.

The ball was saved by Crystal Palace goalkeeper Hennessey with one hand.

The Liverpool fans in the stands let out a sigh of regret, and then immediately burst into a huge cheer.

"YANG!"

"YANG!"

"YAGN!"

Led by the fans of the Iron Eater Fan Club.

Soon, the entire Anfield fans were chanting Sunshine's name.

Yangguang stood in the penalty area with his arms raised continuously, making the fans' cheers even louder.

Arnold went for a corner kick.

Van Dijk and Matip both came up.

In the penalty area, Liverpool has three high points: Sunshine, Van Dijk and Matip.

This made the Crystal Palace players nervous.

Before the game.

Crystal Palace head coach Frank de Boer particularly emphasized the defense against Sunshine in corner kick defense.

Crystal Palace was originally a very typical English team.

Before this, Crystal Palace had never had a foreign head coach.

De Boer is Crystal Palace's first foreign coach.
The first thing the Italian did when he arrived at Crystal Palace.
It changed the 442 system that has been used for thousands of years for English teams like Crystal Palace.

De Boer arranged a three-center-back system at Crystal Palace.

The three central defenders are Dann, Tomkins, and young player Fusu Mensah who was loaned from Manchester United.

Now, Dann and Tomkins, who are both over 1.9 meters tall, are beside Yangguang, waiting for an opportunity to move. Fusu Mensa is also beside Yangguang.

All three central defenders went to defend Sunshine.

Wouldn't it mean that the two high points of Van Dijk and Matip were left out?

If the ball is passed over their heads, it can be very threatening.

However, Arnold still raised his hands before kicking the ball.

The meaning of this action is: the ball will be passed directly to Yangguang, who will ambush at the back point.

Arnold would kick a curve ball to bypass the dense defense in the front and middle.

Yangguang saw Arnold's gesture and walked to the back point.

See his position change.

Several defenders planned to follow.

But right now.

Van Dijk and Matip both came to the middle.

This made the Crystal Palace defenders hesitate.

Matip scored a header in the last round of the league.

The Dutchman Van Dijk is also an air master.

They are both in the middle.

Is this ball meant to be kicked to the middle?
Should we keep an eye on Matip and Van Dijk, or continue to focus on Sunshine?
Sunshine’s headers are very powerful, but Van Dijk and Matip, two tall players, are also very strong in headers.

They all reached the middle, so we had to defend them.

So Dann went to the middle, leaving Tomkins and Fusu Mensah staring at the sun at the back post.

Now there are only two people left by Yangguang's side.

They stood by him, trying to keep him out of the door.

Yangguang didn't move for the time being, he just looked into the distance.

Arnold kicked the ball over.

The football flew high over the front point and the center, and fell at the back point.

Crystal Palace goalkeeper Hennessey was originally in the middle, but when the ball flew to the back point, he quickly followed the ball and retreated.

When the football was out of his sight, he turned around suddenly and prepared to catch the ball.

at the same time.

The sun leaped high.

Tomkins and Fusu-Mensah also jumped at the same time.

But the sunlight did not jump from the spot, but jumped forward.

This prevented Fusu Mensah from playing any defensive role.

The only one who could stop him was Tomkins.

Oh, there is also Benteke who is just a supporting role - as a center forward, Benteke also has to come back when it is necessary to defend corner kicks.

Yangguang ignored the two of them and headed straight for the football.

His two shoulders collided with Benteke and Tomkins at the same time.

As a result, both Benteke and Tomkins were knocked away.

The sun shone between the two of them and headed the ball towards the goal before Hennessey's hands could reach it.

"Header to the top!!"

boom!
The football was headed out by Yangguang, and then he turned around and tilted his head to prevent goalkeeper Hennessey's palm from hitting his face - after all, it would be very painful to be hit in the face like that.

Hennessey clapped his hand on Sunshine's shoulder.

When I turned my head, I saw the football had hit the net.

Sunshine fell to the ground along with three Crystal Palace players.

Then he jumped up, opened his arms, and rushed to the corner flag area.

"YANG!!!!"

This time.

The decibels of cheers from the entire stadium completely shook Anfield!
"Yang! Sunshine helps Liverpool score the first goal!"

"That's the third goal of the season!"

"A signature header! Despite being defended by several players, he still headed the ball into the goal!"

"The air! That's his territory!"

(End of this chapter)