Under Willard's defense and command, Dortmund's offense failed to achieve any results.
When Liverpool, playing away games, gained a firm foothold and gradually entered the game and started attacking, the pressure on Dortmund's defense began to increase, and the support it could provide to the frontcourt also began to decrease.
Especially for Willard, his movement was too scattered and irregular. Dortmund was unable to conduct man-to-man defense and could only conduct zone defense, but one or two people could not guard Willard at all. And once there is a swarm, Willard will pass the ball again, which is really uncomfortable.
In the 19th minute, Willard dribbled the ball at the front of Dortmund's penalty area and broke through the interceptions of Royce and Weigel, attracting double-teams from Castro and Hummels.
As a result, Willard immediately passed the ball out, making the double-teaming of Castro and Hummels useless, and also gave Milner a gap to shoot unmarked on the right side of the penalty area.
It's a pity that Milner had bad luck in scoring. Although the ball hit the goal frame, it was blocked by Hornet goalkeeper Weidenfeller and was directly pressed into his arms. He didn't even have a chance to make a supplementary shot. Origi in the small penalty area.
In the 27th minute, Dortmund wanted to play a team attack, but Liverpool's high press made it difficult for them to pass the ball in the midfield and were forced to keep passing back. As a result, midfielder Weigel passed the ball to defender Hummels. A mistake was made and Milner intercepted the ball halfway. He touched the ball before Hummels and passed it to Coutinho.
Then Milner bypassed Hummels and rushed towards the Hornets' penalty area. Coutinho took the ball and was pressed by Piszczek. But he did not stop the ball. Like Milner, he took the ball and passed it behind Hummels.
Hummels reacted quickly and had already started to turn and retreat when Milner intercepted the ball. Therefore, Milner's forward attack did not form a single attack.
But Coutinho passed the ball well, and Hummels, who was stuck in his position, failed to touch the ball at the front point: he was out of reach. The ball rolled past Hummels, just in time for Milner who came in from behind to catch it. He volleyed the ball without stopping about 23 meters away from the goal, and successfully hit a powerful shot from a tricky angle. .
Hummels fell to the ground and made a diagonal tackle to destroy the ball, but he still couldn't get it and couldn't stop Milner's shot.
The ball flew towards the lower right corner of the goal like a sharp arrow. Goalkeeper Weidenfeller tried his best to save it, but was still beyond his reach. In the end, he could only watch helplessly as the ball passed diagonally under his palm and flew into the blind corner of the goal against the turf. .
"Goooooooooooooooooooooal..."
"The ball is in!"
"nice shot!"
"Under Liverpool's high pressure, Dortmund made a serious mistake in the backcourt. Milner intercepted the ball and passed it to Coutinho, and then he went around to attack."
"Coutinho also hit the wall and passed a good ball, just out of reach of Hummels who turned around and retreated. He watched the ball roll past him, and was shot hard by Milner behind him. , sent the ball into the lower right corner of the goal."
"Liverpool leads 1-0 away from home. Not only does it lead Dortmund on aggregate, it also scores an away goal."
"The situation for bumblebees is getting more serious."
Indeed, in the schedule, they were at a disadvantage first at home and then away, and they conceded the goal first. Not only did they fall behind in the total score, they also allowed their opponents to score an away goal. For Dortmund, the situation was indeed serious.
During the crazy celebrations of the Liverpool people, midfielder Weigl, who made a mistake in passing the ball, and Hummels, who failed to prevent the opponent from scoring, both slapped their foreheads in annoyance and felt very regretful.
But there is no point regretting it anymore. Milner's shot has already been scored and Liverpool is already leading 1-0. Dortmund can only attack aggressively and reversing the score is the only way out.
After the game restarted, Dortmund stepped up its offensive efforts, but Liverpool's high press and offensive strength prevented Dortmund's defense from being too aggressive to participate in the attack. Especially the two wingers, Schmelzer and Piszczek originally had very strong assist abilities, but under the suppression of Li Coutinho, Milner, Velarde and others, they did not dare to rush forward. Too far forward.
Once they rush forward to participate in assists, they can easily be beaten behind by Liverpool. After all, Liverpool has an all-around warrior with very good passing skills, Willard.
In the 34th minute, Schmelzer ventured in from the left to participate in the attack. However, the attack failed and the ball was intercepted by Liverpool. After the ball was handed to Velarde's feet, Schmelzer could not retreat before he could. , and Willard hit the ball behind him with a long pass.
The opponent Milner took the ball behind Schmelzer and passed it down. If the ball had not been passed well, it passed too close to the goalkeeper. Goalkeeper Weidenfeller attacked in advance and beat center Origi. If he punches the ball away, Origi might succeed in the header and score with a header.
After this dangerous situation, Schmelzer did not dare to provide assists anymore. He could only firmly guard his defense zone to avoid being hit behind by Willard and others because of his deep penetration.
In the remaining time, neither side scored again, ending the first half with a score of 0-1. Liverpool, playing away, temporarily took a one-goal lead.
After a 15-minute rest, the two sides changed sides and fought again.
At the beginning of the second half, Dortmund launched a wave of strong attacks. Although Liverpool was prepared, Mkhitaryan still threatened in the 48th minute with a long shot from the penalty area.
Mkhitaryan's long-range shot is quite skillful. Not only does it have good power and speed, it also hits the goal frame at a certain angle.
Goalkeeper Mignolet tried his best to save the ball, but he only saved the ball from the bottom line and failed to completely press it in his arms.
Dortmund received a corner kick.
It was during this corner kick that Velarde was distracted by Hummels who entered the penalty area, but Royce's corner kick was not passed into the penalty area, but to the top of the arc outside the penalty area. area.
Castro, the defensive midfielder outside the penalty area, easily received the ball without being defended. A header passed the ball, which not only avoided the Red Army players who were attacking, but also passed a good pass to Weigel, the defensive midfielder partner on the side. ball.
The ball was delivered just right, allowing Weigel to curl his bow and arrow about 26 meters away from the goal on the right side of the penalty area, and hit an earth-shattering volley.
The ball flew across Liverpool's entire penalty area like a cannonball, and then hit the lower edge of the crossbar and entered the upper right corner of the goal.
Goalkeeper Mignolet was blocked by the crowd in the penalty area and was unable to judge the path of the ball immediately. By the time he saw the path of the ball clearly and made the save, it was already too late.
The entire Westfalenstadion boiled instantly, and the German commentator roared crazily:
"Toooooooooooooooooooooooooor..."
"The ball went in!!!"
"World wave!"
"The Hornets played a wonderful tactical corner kick. Royce drove the ball outside the top of the penalty area, avoiding the crowd of Liverpool defenders in the penalty area."
"Castro easily got the spot without any defender outside the penalty area. He made a header and passed the ball to Weigel on the side, and then Weigel volleyed an earth-shattering goal from far away. The shot was world-wide and went straight into Liverpool's goal."
"It was a fantastic volley that deserves to be in the top ten of the week."
"The Hornets finally scored and equalized the score. The score is now 1-1."
"However, Dortmund is playing at home, and the score of 1-1 is definitely not enough. The Hornets still need to continue attacking, strive to continue to score goals, and reverse the score."
"If we can rewrite the score to 2-1 or even 3-1, then the probability of advancing to the semi-finals in the next round will be much greater."
"Bumblebee has to keep up the good work."
On the field, Dortmund's players naturally knew that the score of 1-1 was not enough. Therefore, even Weigel, who scored this wonderful goal, did not celebrate grandly. He simply hugged and high-fived his teammates in celebration, then returned to his own half, allowing Liverpool to kick the ball in and restart the game. .
Only the Hornets fans in the stands sang the team song and enthusiastically celebrated this wonderful goal to equalize the score.
Liverpool also knows that it is difficult for a strong Bundesliga team like Dortmund not to score a goal at their home court. Now that Dortmund has scored and equalized the score, Liverpool can just score another goal, take the lead again, and continue to expand the number of away goals.
If they can score another goal, regain the lead, and score two away goals, then Liverpool's probability of advancing to the semi-finals will undoubtedly be stronger.
Dortmund obviously knows this, so they are very careful when attacking. Once the ball is lost, everyone will immediately return to defense to avoid being scored by Liverpool again.
But since then, Dortmund's offense has not been strong enough to break Liverpool's defense.
As time went by, the 1-1 score reached a stalemate after 80 minutes, and Dortmund finally started to get impatient. After all, if it ends with this score and the second leg moves to Anfield, the advantage will obviously be on Liverpool's side.
Therefore, the Hornets must attack, score at least one more goal, and win 2-1 at home in order to retain a greater advantage in advancing to the second round.
With this in mind, Dortmund naturally increased their attack intensity. Not only the two defensive midfielders, but also the two full-backs Schmelzer and Piszczek, and even the center back Hummels began to frequently intervene in the attack.
It's just that when they lost the ball, they fought hard to defend and tried not to give Liverpool a chance to counterattack.
But sometimes, the speed of returning to defense cannot keep up with the speed of the opponent's attack. If the players involved in the attack could successfully return to defense every time, there would be no such thing as a quick counterattack.
When the time came to the 84th minute, Mkhitaryan was about to dribble the ball to break through Henderson but failed. He had no choice but to spike the ball to get out of the way of Henderson, and then wanted to pass the ball to Pish on the wing. Check.
As a result, Willard saw through the passing intention in advance, suddenly started to accelerate, successfully grabbed the ball, stole the ball before Piszczek, and immediately passed it to Coutinho, who was receiving the ball in front, and then he did not have the ball. Sprinting towards Dortmund's half.
At the same time, Origi and Milner also turned and pushed forward. Together with Willard and Coutinho, Liverpool fired four arrows and instantly started a multi-person sprint counterattack mode.
