Next is the double red meeting in the Europa League 1/8 finals, which is also the first English national derby in the history of the European war.
Liverpool currently ranks second in the standings and has basically no problem qualifying for the Champions League. But Manchester United is currently ranked 7th in the standings. Not to mention the Champions League, qualification for the Europa League is in danger.
The Europa League champion can directly qualify for the Champions League group stage next season, so Manchester United must fight for the Europa League.
Of course, for Liverpool, which has lacked championship honors in recent years, the Europa League championship is also worth fighting for. What's more, even if you can't win the final championship, you must win the 1/8 finals. Because the opponent is the mortal enemy Manchester United.
Since Ferguson took over Manchester United, he has gradually caught up with the number of English top league titles and even surpassed Liverpool before his retirement. Liverpool, on the other hand, can only maintain its glory as a giant by relying on the top league championship before the establishment of the Premier League. But after the establishment of the Premier League, Liverpool has not won even a Premier League championship, which is too shameful.
Therefore, when there is an opportunity for direct dialogue, Liverpool must fight Manchester United to the death. No matter whether they can win the final championship or not, they must fight their mortal enemy.
For the media and fans, the double red match between Liverpool and Manchester United is also the most interesting game in the Europa League. The topic conflicts and technical and tactical content may even be higher than the final.
Media and fans from all over the world are also very interested, and nearly 200 countries and regions are broadcasting live broadcasts of this 1/8 finals.
However, the weather was bad on the match day and it rained heavily, but the match had to go on. The Anfield Stadium was definitely full of seats, but there were still more than 40,000 die-hard fans watching the game in the rain, which was pretty good. After all, it was a game against the archrival Manchester United.
At 21:00 on the evening of March 10, with the whistle of Spanish referee Carlos Velasco, the first leg of the 2015/2016 Europa League 1/8 finals between Liverpool and Manchester United started at Anfield Stadium. The battle officially started in heavy rain.
In this season's Premier League, Manchester United won in the first half of the season and Liverpool won in the second half, with each side winning one game. This Europa League match is the third time the two sides have met this season, so naturally everyone wants to win.
What's more, the sworn enemy relationship between the two sides means that this game will not be peaceful. Coupled with the bad weather and slippery ground, the competition for air balls will inevitably increase significantly, and there will definitely be no shortage of collisions between the two sides.
Sure enough, after a few minutes of testing, the two sides began to fight hand to hand.
Only 7 minutes into the game, Reds captain Henderson knocked over Manchester United's No. 7 winger Depay during a fight for an aerial ball and received a yellow card.
But Depay also felt uncomfortable. He was knocked to the ground and took a while to get up, which almost triggered a group fight between players from both sides.
Henderson's violent collision seemed to be a bad start. Players from both sides got a little carried away and started fierce fighting, fouls and collisions.
In the 16th minute, Depay saw the opportunity when Henderson was about to receive a pass from Velarde, and made a dangerous flying tackle, which pushed Henderson out of the boundary with the ball.
Obviously, this was a retaliatory flagrant foul. Therefore, Depay also received a yellow card. Fortunately, Henderson stopped and dialed the ball out and jumped up in time. He was not tackled or injured.
Although referee Carlos Velasco warned both sides, the number of flip-flops began to increase.
As for Willard, he was naturally not afraid of this kind of confrontation, and instead wanted to take advantage of it.
In the 23rd minute, after receiving a cross pass from Firmino at the front of the penalty area, Willard did not pass the ball out. Instead, he first passed the Manchester United midfielder Schneiderlin in front of him with a Marseille spin, and then another The fried balls broke through the center defender Smalling, and then prepared to use a spike to shake away the last defender Blind and then took a shot.
At this time, Schneiderlin, the first defensive midfielder from Marseille to be broken through by Velarde, rushed back into the penalty area. Seeing Velarde passing three people in a row and about to take a shot, he was so excited by the fierce fight between the two sides that his head was filled with blood. Without thinking about it, Schneiderlin made a sliding tackle from behind, trying to remove Willard's ball for a clearance.
But he overestimated his actions. Not only did he fail to touch the ball, but he tackled Velarde, who was about to shoot, in the penalty area.
"beep……"
Referee Carlos Velasco's whistle sounded. Schneiderlin fouled someone in the penalty area, received another yellow card, and awarded Liverpool a penalty kick.
The commentator on Liverpool City TV suddenly shouted excitedly:
"Penalty kick!"
"Schneiderlin tackled Velarde in the penalty area and was shown a yellow card by the referee and gave Liverpool a penalty kick."
"It's a great opportunity to open the scoring."
In the penalty area, Velarde, who was pulled up by his teammates, was also hugging and celebrating with his teammates. Even though no penalty was awarded, the chance to get a penalty was worthy of celebration in itself.
Schneiderlin and the Manchester United players tried to plead with the referee, but it was obviously in vain.
This foul action of shoveling someone from behind in the penalty area and destroying Willard's shooting opportunity was so obvious that there was no doubt about it, and it was even less likely that the referee would change the decision.
Both players were ejected from the penalty area, leaving Willard to take the penalty kick alone.
Velarde is now the top shooter in the team and has the best shooting skills. He made this penalty kick himself. It is natural that he will take the penalty kick himself, and no one else will compete with him for the penalty kick opportunity.
Players from both sides exited the penalty area. After the referee indicated that Velard could take a free throw, Velard looked at the blind spot in the upper right corner of the goal and kicked the ball out with a blast.
De Gea was naturally helpless against this kind of penalty kick that went straight to the top corner. Even if he accurately predicted and made an early shift save, he was still out of reach.
But Willard's penalty did not go in directly, but hit the lower edge of the crossbar and then bounced into the net. After all, Willard's shooting skills are not 100%, there are still some errors, and the weather and venue conditions also have an impact on his performance.
Fortunately, he finally scored. Velarde and his teammates ran to the sidelines and celebrated by interacting with the home fans who were cheering for the Red Army in the rain in the stands.
The commentators also said loudly:
"The ball is in!"
"It was a bit of a scare, hitting the lower edge of the crossbar, but it eventually bounced into the net."
"Villade's penalty shot helped Liverpool open the scoring and lead their arch-rival Manchester United 1-0, taking the advantage."
"However, Liverpool are at the disadvantage of playing home first and then away in their schedule, so a one-goal lead is not enough to reassure them."
"The Red Army must continue to attack and get a big victory in the first round."
