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

Chapter 234 Beautiful Spin Kick!

Since the two sides are each other's biggest competitors for the championship this season, they naturally know each other very well.

The game begins.

There is no need for either side to test each other.

At the beginning, both sides launched attacks.

Guardiola did not pin his hopes of winning Liverpool away from home on the assumption that Stones could really defend against the sun - in fact, Guardiola did give Stones a good PUA, which made him very motivated.

But he didn't really expect Stones to be able to defend against the Suns.

If Manchester City wants to win three points away from home, they still have to rely on their offense.

The lineup that Manchester City put out in this game was aimed at getting a very high ball possession rate.

Three technical midfielders David Silva, B Silva and De Bruyne started, behind them were two defensive midfielders Fabinho and Fernandinho with strong confrontation and defensive abilities. Aguero rushed forward, and Walker, Stones, Otamendi and Kinkchenko started on the back line, and Ederson was the goalkeeper.

Before the game, the broadcaster gave Manchester City's formation as a 4231 formation.

But in fact, the two Silvas are both wingers who can play in the midfield and as winger. When they press forward, Fabinho or Fernandinho, two Brazilians, can also play as the No. 8 position. When any one of them pushes forward, it will be a standard 433.

Plus, the positions of Manchester City's two full-backs are also very flexible.

Walker can play as a winger at any time, while the Ukrainian Khinchenko often plays in the defensive midfielder position - the tactic of the full-backs moving inward is a small innovation of Guardiola.

In short, Manchester City's formation is not fixed, and their players can adapt to very flexible position changes.

In addition, the players in the midfield and frontcourt have strong ball protection and passing abilities.

Manchester City's lineup is able to exert very high control.

Klopp knew the opponent's plan from the formation they used.

Liverpool's response is still the same as before.

Increase the intensity of the game and carry out high-intensity pressing.

In terms of ball possession, Liverpool may lag behind Manchester City, but what Liverpool seizes is the quick attack after completing the steal in the midfield and frontcourt!
The main tactical axis of both teams is offense, but their offensive methods are very different.

The game has just started.

Manchester City took advantage of the opportunity of kicking off first, and used several midfielders to pass the ball to each other, breaking Liverpool's frontcourt pressing and pushing Liverpool's formation back. After passing the ball on the outside for a minute or two, De Bruyne passed the ball to the left rib, and B Silva followed up with a shot from the rib, but the ball was blocked by the defender and went out of bounds.

The subsequent corner kick was taken by Karius. However, Karius did not launch a quick break, but waited until all the players left the penalty area before getting up from the ground and throwing the ball to central defender Van Dijk.

As soon as Van Dijk got the ball.

Other Liverpool players rushed forward.

Van Dijk took a look at the frontcourt and made a long pass directly to Yangguang's head.

Yang Guang kept retreating, and after reaching the landing point, he was ready to head the ball to his teammates.

But just as he was about to touch the ball.

Stones suddenly hit him from behind, causing him to head the ball off target.

"Nice defending by Stones!"

"Throw-in, possession returns to Manchester City"

Sunshine turned his head and glanced at Stones.

Before the game, he didn't take the Englishman seriously.

But this time it really surprised him.

The opponent chose the right time to confront him. He did not stick to him immediately like other defenders. Instead, he found the most appropriate time to make a pass. Although he failed to steal the ball, he obviously interfered with Yangguang's pass.

Sunshine glanced at Stones.

He felt that the Englishman was very different today.

The other person gritted his teeth and clenched his cheeks.

You can tell at first glance that he is holding back a lot of energy.

When he saw Yangguang looking at him, his expression became more serious.

Yangguang knew what that expression was—it seemed that this guy regarded himself as his only opponent.

Sunshine was right.

Stones's job in this game was indeed to freeze him out.

soon.

He had the chance to face Stones again.

He took the ball and turned around, intending to break through, but Stones suddenly tackled him and knocked the ball away.

Yang Guang originally intended to take advantage of Stones' physical confrontation ability, but the opponent did not fight with him physically. Instead, he waited for him to turn around and found the right opportunity to tackle the ball away.

His positioning and prediction are very accurate.

The tackle was clean and neat.

This caused applause from Manchester City fans in the away stands.

Yangguang stumbled over.

The ball stayed.

But he responded quickly.

See the ball is lost.

The first thing he did was not to hold his head in frustration, but to quickly fight back!
Stones stood up and tried to control the ball, then looked at his teammates before passing the ball.

As a result, he suddenly felt a gust of wind behind him.

In a hurry, he kicked the ball out.

The moment the football left his foot, Yangguang's foot suddenly tackled it.

If he was half a second slower, the ball would have been shoveled to Henderson in the midfield by Sunshine.

so close!

Stones was shocked.

That big guy is so flexible.

Stones took a deep breath.

Although the ball was cleared by him.

But these two successful defenses gave him confidence.

His defensive strategy seemed to be successful.

Although in physical confrontation, he is no match for Yangguang.

But he can complete the defense by relying on positioning, prediction, and seizing the best defensive opportunity.

Although this requires him to maintain a high level of concentration at all times.

But this is much better than putting yourself in a situation where you have to fight and physically confront your opponent.

Stones looked towards the sidelines.

Guardiola gave him a thumbs up.

Stones' mouth twitched.

But he didn't laugh.

Because the game is not over yet. Only when the game is over, if he can make Yangguang return empty-handed, it will be considered a real success.

"Stones made two successful defensive saves in a row! He was in great form today."

"Twice, Stones disrupted Suns' attack twice in a row!"

"As England's absolute main central defender, Stones showed the ability of an England main international in this game!"

"Stones, worth 80 million, is one of the most expensive central defenders in the world!"

The commentators were all amazed by the duel between Stones and Suns.

But the game is not just a bullfight between Stones and Suns.

Suns' fight with Stones in the middle objectively created space for other Liverpool players.

Twenty-first minute of the game.

Liverpool scored first.

Arnold made a 45-degree cross from the right and sent the ball to the back post.

Yangguang rushed to the front point and successfully attracted most of the defense, giving Mane at the back point an excellent opportunity. Mane headed the ball and headed it into the goal.

This goal made Guardiola on the sidelines hold his head in frustration.

He and Manchester City's players paid too much attention to Sunshine.

There was a neglect of other Liverpool players.

There was jubilation at Anfield after the first goal.

"One to zero! In this top battle, Liverpool scored the first goal!"

"Now the pressure is on Manchester City. They must find a way to equalize the score. If they lose this game, they will fall behind Liverpool by three points!"

The TV broadcast camera also swept across the faces of Manchester City players.

Stones was a little depressed.

Unexpectedly, he really didn't seem to give Yangguang any chance.

But his team still lost the ball.
The other Manchester City players quickly returned to their positions.

Aguero put the ball on the kick-off spot, waiting for the kick-off.

Manchester City must have been mentally prepared for the situation of conceding the first goal.

After falling behind, Manchester City immediately launched a fierce attack. Their passing speed became significantly faster, and the offensive threat increased sharply.

In order to withstand this wave of opponents' fierce attack, Liverpool's two wingers also returned to the backcourt to participate in the defense.

In the next ten minutes or so, Yang Guang got fewer shots, after all, the main focus of the game became Manchester City's fierce attack.

Although football now mostly takes place in Liverpool's half.

But the sun did not go back, but stayed in the front court.

He was the bridgehead for Liverpool's counterattack.

If he goes back.

Then Liverpool will just defend to the death - Klopp has no confidence that he can stop Manchester City's attack by defending to the death.

The significance of Sunshine staying in the frontcourt is that when there is a chance of counterattack, Liverpool has the sharpest spear in the frontcourt.

But that opportunity did not arise.

have to say.

Guardiola has indeed trained Manchester City well.

This team's ability to control the ball is too strong.

David Silva, B Silva and De Bruyne took turns switching positions and passing the ball continuously, making it difficult for Liverpool to snatch the ball.

Fifteen minutes after Liverpool scored.

Manchester City also scored
After dribbling the ball horizontally on the penalty area line, B席 made a fake move to pass the ball horizontally, then suddenly dribbled the ball through the ribs and broke into the penalty area, and shot with his left foot before the defensive player could react!
Karius made a save, but when he stretched out his hand to block the ball to the small penalty area on the left, it happened to fall at Aguero's feet. Facing Aguero's shot, Karius, who had already given up his center of gravity, was completely helpless.

Aguero easily shot into the empty goal to equalize the score.

After scoring the goal, Manchester City players were so excited that even goalkeeper Ederson rushed up to join in the celebration.

They knew the significance of this goal very well.

The points between the two sides are so close, and this championship race puts a lot of pressure on both sides.

In fact.

Whether it's Manchester City or Liverpool.

Their players must have more or less the mentality of "defeating the opponent directly and achieving success in one battle".

But after losing the ball.

There were some subtle changes in the hearts of Manchester City players.

They will think we should at least equalise.

Even if we can't win.

Don't lose either!

After completing this goal.

That's why they are so excited.

As if the game had already been won.

In the first half of the game, both sides scored one goal and the game ended in a draw.

During the intermission.

Both head coaches emphasized offense.

But the Manchester City players who conceded the goal and then equalized had the mentality of "don't win, don't lose" in their hearts.

So after the second half of the game started.

Their attack was not as determined as Liverpool's.

Stones is under a lot of pressure now.

He certainly wouldn't want to see the sun enter the penalty area.

But as a center forward, when his own formation presses forward, it is natural for him to move in the penalty area.

The penalty area is the center’s territory!
Yangguang turned his back to the direction of attack and raised his hand to ask for the ball.

In the restricted area.

Stones dare not let Suns take the ball.

He could only come up and fight against the sunlight.

He chose a very suitable position so that the sun could not turn around easily.

At the same time, he was thinking about stretching his foot to hook the ball when it was passed.

But he soon found out why the sunlight was so terrifying after entering the restricted area.

The sun's back pressed back.

Stones felt a huge force coming.

In order to maintain his body balance, he had to keep both feet firmly on the ground. In this way, although Yang Guang could not turn around directly, Stones could not intercept the ball at this time.

Yangguang received a straight pass from the midfield. He stopped the ball to his right with his left foot, then quickly took a step forward, half turned around and shot.

The whole action was done very coherently.

There was no time for other Manchester City players in the penalty area to react.

Stones knew something was wrong when he felt the pressure suddenly eased.

He fell to the ground almost instinctively, turned his body sideways, and stretched out his legs.
The football hit his toes and refracted.

Stones looked at the goal in horror.

He breathed a sigh of relief after seeing the ball hit the post and bounce out of the baseline.

"The post! Oh oh Manchester City escaped!"

"The Yang who entered the restricted area is the biggest threat!"

"The restricted area is his territory!"

the commentators chanted.

Arnold happily went to take the corner kick.

Van Dijk and Matip also came up to participate in the corner kick attack.

See this posture.

Manchester City is also facing a formidable enemy.

Sunshine, Van Dijk and Matip, the three high points, stood in the penalty area.

This feeling of oppression made Manchester City fans feel their hearts were in their throats.

"Liverpool's corner kicks will put Manchester City's defense to the test. Liverpool is the team that scores the most from corner kicks this season. They have scored 12 goals from corner kicks this season. Van Dijk and Matip have scored two goals each, both of which were headers from corner kicks. Sunshine, needless to say, headers are his specialty."

While the narrator was talking.

Arnold took the corner kick.

Stones stood next to Yangguang very nervously.

When Stones kicked the ball out, he immediately judged that the ball was flying towards the middle. What he had to do was to block Yangguang's route to the middle. As long as he was stuck on the route, Yangguang would not be able to rush forward. If Yangguang directly knocked him away, it would definitely be a foul.
Just as Stones was thinking this.

Ederson attacks from the middle.

Suns did intend to rush to the middle, but Stones was like a sticky candy in front of him, blocking his route and preventing him from rushing to the middle in the first place.

But Liverpool have other players to attack this point.

Matip kept retreating from the front point, jumping high, preparing to head the ball.

Otamendi was beside him, jumping with him.

Ederson attacked, picked it up before Matip, and punched the football.

Matip and Otamendi collided.

Otamendi crashed into Ederson again.

Before Ederson's fist was about to hit the football, his body moved sideways slightly in the air, causing his punch to miss.

The football rubbed against the back of his hand, creating a strange sideline and flying towards Stones and Sunshine.

Sunshine and Stones started almost at the same time and rushed towards the flying football.

Stones is closer to the ball, but he knows very well that if he jumps after Sunshine, even if Sunshine is behind him, he will not be able to head the ball first, so.
Even if it's very reluctant.

Stones also jumped up quickly and headed the ball.

Stones made a slight misjudgment of the landing point due to his hasty jump. He originally wanted to head the ball out of the baseline, but because he jumped too hastily, he could only try to raise his head and try to head the ball towards the baseline.

The football rubbed his scalp, bounced slightly, and flew towards the baseline.

Yang Guang was originally rushing towards the football with Stones, but when Stones suddenly jumped, he stopped immediately. After the football changed direction slightly, he only had time to turn around. With his back to the goal, the football flew over his head and then began to fall towards the baseline.

At this moment.

Yangguang almost instinctively raised his right foot, with his body using his left foot as the axis, and kicked the football with his right heel!

“Spin Kick!!”

The commentators exclaimed! !
Manchester City players almost breathed a sigh of relief after seeing Stones point the ball towards the bottom line. Although this gave Liverpool another corner kick, at least the danger was temporarily lifted.

However, when Yangguang's body spun away, his long legs moved from top to bottom, and his heels slammed into the football like a hammer.
All of Manchester City's players were slightly choked.

Before they could react.

The football flew straight towards the ground from the air.

Aguero, standing at the back post, instinctively raised his foot and tried to kick the ball out.

But the football bounced off the ground in front of him and flew up.

His hasty kick missed.
Aguero's expression gradually became terrified. The kick made him lose his balance. Turning his head to look at the football flying towards the goal made the Argentine retreat like a drunkard and entangled with the net. The football had already hit the net and fell down, jumping in front of his eyes.
(End of this chapter)