After playing the 14th round of the Premier League, Liverpool will go on the road to challenge Lyon, France, for the final round of the Champions League group stage.
But Liverpool has qualified early and secured first place in the group, and as we enter the end of the year, the Premier League matches will become more intensive. What's even more damning is that for the sake of commercial interests, other leagues have a holiday during the winter break, but the Premier League has entered an even more terrifying Christmas and New Year's Day schedule.
Therefore, if conditions permit, the team must take precautions, prepare for the Christmas schedule, and reserve personnel and physical fitness.
Since they have already qualified for the Champions League group stage in advance and secured first place in the group, Liverpool naturally did not hesitate to send out a full substitute lineup. This time even Velarde failed to start and sat on the bench.
Many other main players did not even make the squad and stayed in the country directly. Not only many of the players who played were original substitute players, but also some players who were directly promoted from the youth team entered the starting lineup or the squad.
Such a group of starting lineups composed of young people who are substitutes and can rarely enter the first team to participate in games and training. Facing Lyon, who must win in order to reverse Juventus and gain the right to qualify, the result is doomed from the beginning.
Lyon opened the scoring in the 21st minute of the first half and then scored the second goal in the 68th minute of the second half to lead Liverpool 2-0 and seal the victory.
It wasn't until the 78th minute that Klopp replaced Willard to maintain his condition.
After Willard came on the field, he almost got one back with a direct free kick. However, the goalkeeper showed great courage and predicted the direction of his shot in advance, moved in advance, and then saved Willard's free kick that went straight to the dead corner. Got out.
In the end, Liverpool lost 0-2 to Lyon in an away game, ending their journey to the Champions League group stage.
But this defeat did not affect Liverpool's advancement to the knockout rounds with the first points in the group. Lyon, who defeated Liverpool, failed to reverse Juventus and gain the right to qualify for second place in the group, because Juventus also defeated Dinamo Zagreb in this round, taking all three points and finishing second in the group. After advancing to the knockout rounds, Lyon could only compete in the Europa League with third place in the group.
Returning to the league, on December 11, in the 15th round of the Premier League, Liverpool sat at Anfield at home to face the Hammers West Ham United.
West Ham United has encountered greater difficulties this season and is currently ranked fourth from the bottom in the standings, only 1 point more than the third-to-last relegation zone. Once this game is lost to Liverpool, the Hammers may slip into the relegation zone.
Therefore, even on the road, even at Anfield, the Hammers deployed a 433 offensive formation to fight against the Red Army Liverpool.
Anyway, there is a high probability of losing when facing Liverpool away from home, so it is better to give it a try.
But the result was not what the Hammers expected, because West Ham United's defense was relatively empty due to their attacking style.
Only 5 minutes into the game, Liverpool cooperated in the frontcourt. Lallana made a cross from the left. Firmino turned his back to the goal in the penalty area and leaned on the center back Ogbonna to return the ball. Willard came back. He stepped in, met the ball without stopping and hit the goal with a heavy shot, successfully blasting the ball into the West Ham United goal.
West Ham United's players and coaches were a little disappointed by conceding the goal so early in the game, but they also strengthened their determination to attack.
West Ham United, which was attacking with all its strength, unexpectedly performed an exquisite teamwork in the 27th minute. A full 6 passes did not allow Liverpool players to touch the ball, including Willard.
In the end, their No. 27 Payet completed a close shot in the penalty area and kicked the ball into Liverpool's goal.
West Ham unexpectedly scored an equalizer at Anfield.
This goal boosted the morale of the Hammers. Both offensively and defensively, they became more active and wanted to fight Liverpool to the death.
It's difficult to beat a relegation team, and it's difficult in a place like this, because the opponent has nothing to lose, and even more powerful fighting power will often break out when the team is desperate.
It's a pity that West Ham United met Liverpool in this game. If they met other teams, they might actually be able to get a draw or even win. However, the Red Army Liverpool is too strong, and West Ham United's partial or occasional highlight performance cannot smooth the strength gap between them and the Red Army.
In the remaining game time, West Ham United could not break Liverpool's goal again. The Red Army's defense, led by Willard, gave them no chance to score.
West Ham United's goal was breached three times by Liverpool in the remaining time. In the end, Liverpool defeated West Ham United 4-1 at home and won the 15th round of the league.
Among them, Willard performed a hat-trick, raising his total annual goal record to 119 goals. He is about to break the 120-goal mark, which is simply jaw-dropping.
In addition, after joining Liverpool, Willard has scored 96 goals in all official games for Liverpool, and will soon break the 100-goal mark.
And Willard has only played 55 games for Liverpool.
This efficiency is indeed terrifying.
On December 12, the UEFA headquarters held a draw ceremony for the Champions League knockout rounds, which is the top 16. Liverpool had good luck and the winner was Porto, the Portuguese Super League giant.
Although Porto has won the Champions League more than once, in terms of current hard power, it is definitely not as good as the giant teams in the five major leagues. Liverpool has done a good job in drawing this team.
Like other teams, Barcelona was drawn by Paris Saint-Germain, Arsenal was drawn by Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid was drawn by Bayer Leverkusen, etc., which is a headache.
Also on this day, the separated "France Football" held the 2016 Golden Globe Award Ceremony in Paris. Some of the stars who made the 30-person Golden Globe Award list, as well as some industry celebrities, star models, etc. attended the award ceremony.
Ronaldo played more than 50 times this year and scored more than 50 goals and more than ten assists. He won three highly valuable honors: the Champions League + Champions League Golden Boot + European Cup.
Without Velarde, Ronaldo would undoubtedly win this year's Ballon d'Or, both in terms of team honors and personal performance.
Unfortunately, Willard's performance was even more dazzling. He played 69 times throughout the year and scored 119 goals, becoming the first player in the history of football to break the 100-goal mark in total.
In addition, Willard has also won the English League Cup, Europa League, European Super Cup, America's Cup, Olympic Games and other championships, and is almost the best player, top scorer, etc. in various events.
In terms of team honor, Willard does not lose much to Ronaldo. As for personal performance, it is crushing.
Therefore, the final winner was Willard.
When the award-giving guest took out the card with the winner's name from the envelope and read out the name "Alan Willard", the audience burst into applause, especially his girlfriend Desia, who accompanied Willard to receive the award. I was so excited that my eyes filled with tears.
