Although Velarde's technical ability is no worse than Messi's, and Coutinho is also a technical master, the overall style of the team is not to control the ball, so the ball possession rate is not as good as Barcelona.
Once Barcelona got the ball, they began to move in the midfield and backcourt, using everyone's overall skillful skills to firmly control the ball at their feet and wait for opportunities.
Although Velarde, Coutinho, Firmino, Mane and others all pressed forward, Barcelona's overall technical level was too high. Whether passing or controlling the ball, it was difficult for Liverpool to steal the ball. Come down.
Barcelona's ball possession rate once reached twice that of Liverpool, which is about 67%.
This is hard to see in Liverpool in the past year.
However, although Barcelona has a superior ball possession rate, it has not yet been able to break through Liverpool's defense. On the one hand, it is the problem of Messi's physical fitness and physique, and on the other hand, it is the problem of Iniesta's support.
Different from the previous years when Iniesta and Xavi were at their peak, Iniesta is now older and Xavi has left Barcelona. Barcelona's midfield support has huge problems. Many times it can only be played at the back. He is on the wrong side of the field, but he has no ability to immediately deliver the ball to the frontcourt to score the opponent's goal when the forward runs out of space.
Liverpool is different. Although they are at a disadvantage in ball possession, they are not in too much danger. Instead, when pressing high in the midfield and frontcourt, they can immediately attack once they grab the ball.
Especially Villard, who is good at offense and defense, can pass and shoot, and has too many choices.
In the 13th minute of the first half, Velarde teamed up with Firmino, Mane and others to force Barcelona midfielder Rakitic to make a passing error. Velarde sprinted to intercept the ball at high speed and immediately made a pass. The ball was sent behind the Barcelona defense.
Firmino rushed past defenders Mascherano and Mathieu, forming an anti-offside single shot, but the advantage was not big, so Firmino did not dare to stop the ball and directly volleyed sideways to score the goal. The ball was kicked towards the goal.
The ball also successfully avoided goalkeeper Ter Stegen's fingers. Unfortunately, it missed the post slightly in the end, but it still posed a certain threat and won applause from the Liverpool fans in the stands.
Subsequently, Barcelona took a goal kick and began a long journey of controlling the ball in the backcourt. Once Willard and others come forward to press, Barcelona will use their skilled passing skills to pass the ball between the defenders. Willard and others counterattacked fiercely, and they passed the ball forward again. After Willard and others retreated, Barcelona passed the ball back to the backcourt.
The repeated back and forth made many neutral fans and media feel dissatisfied and confused.
Is this Barcelona, the so-called Cosmos team?
Where is the Barcelona team that was invincible, invincible, and won six titles of the year under Guardiola?
Many players are still in the team, and they have also strengthened Neymar, Suarez, etc. Why did they play like this when facing Liverpool.
Many people were puzzled.
But in fact this is normal. This Barcelona is no longer the same as the peak Barcelona in 2009 and 2013.
The departure or aging of veterans, the running-in problems of new players, etc., have left Barcelona with only passing control and not much offensive power. Only when playing against a team that is weaker than Barcelona, relying on the personal abilities of Messi, Neymar, Suarez and the assistance of Iniesta can form a smooth passing and controlling attack against the opponent.
But once they encounter a team as strong and tactically appropriate as Liverpool, Barcelona's passing and controlling turns into a sleepy passing and controlling, and they can only make mistakes in the backcourt and have no threat in the frontcourt.
Even if the ball occasionally passes to the feet of Messi, Neymar and others, with the cooperation of Velarde and his teammates in the backcourt, Messi and Neymar are unable to make many effective breakthroughs and break the situation.
Willard's defensive ability also played a significant role in containing Messi's performance.
When he was teammates with Velarde, Messi was much less stressed, such as the national team. But now it’s uncomfortable to be against Willard.
Velarde's consciousness, speed, physique, etc. surpass Messi in all aspects. Even if Messi can occasionally make a breakthrough with his extraordinary skills, he will be interfered with and will be knocked away by Velarde's body, and then The ball was intercepted by a teammate behind Villard who was assisting in defense.
After playing for almost half an hour, Barcelona had not yet taken advantage of their absolute advantage in possession to score a goal. Instead, in the 33rd minute, Liverpool finally got the ball through a high press in the midfield. A successful frontcourt counterattack was launched.
When Velarde got the ball, he was surrounded by Suarez, Rakitic, and Roberto. Therefore, Velarde did not make a personal breakthrough, but decisively passed the ball to the player who also had excellent skills. Coutinho is also in good form this season.
Coutinho broke through with the ball from the left, and Velarde squeezed out of Rakitic's circle from the center and advanced at high speed.
With their superb speed and movement awareness, Rakitic and others were quickly left behind by Velarde. Coupled with the movement of Firmino and Mane, Barcelona's defense was quickly overwhelmed. Torn to pieces, only center back Mascherano is left next to Willard.
But he is not tall enough to pose a threat to Willard.
Coutinho also saw the opportunity. Through the change of rhythm, he shook off the full-back Pique next to him and passed the ball.
After spotting the spot, Velarde ran over, jumped high in front of the penalty area, easily defeated Mascherano, flicked his head and headed the ball towards the goal.
With his full physique and bounce, Velarde was pulled by Mascherano when he headed the ball, but he still did not miss it, and used his attribute 95 heading skills to head the ball to The last point.
Goalkeeper Ter Stegen saw that Willard was about to hit the ball and had already moved to the front point. Unexpectedly, Willard hit a back point.
Ter Stegen reluctantly moved a step outside, jumped up and tried to lift the ball over the crossbar. However, the ball flew over his palm and then fell into the goal against the lower edge of the crossbar.
In the 33rd minute, when Liverpool was lagging far behind in possession, Willard scored with a header during the counterattack, taking the lead in breaking the deadlock and giving Liverpool a 1-0 lead at home.
The Liverpool fans at the scene and in front of the TV suddenly applauded and cheered enthusiastically, and the commentators from the English media who supported Liverpool also shouted:
"Goooooooooooooooooooooooooal..."
"The ball went in!!!"
"Liverpool were the first to break the deadlock."
"Header from Alan Willard."
"Liverpool took the lead in scoring through pressing and counterattacking in the midfield when the ball possession rate was much lower than Barcelona's."
"Barcelona's ball possession rate is indeed ahead by a large margin, but it seems to be of no use. Most of their ball possession rate is achieved through ineffective passes in the backcourt. There are not many passes that are truly offensive and threatening."
"Occasionally Messi, Neymar, and Suarez can form individual breakthroughs, but they cannot penetrate Liverpool's entire defense and pose a threat to the goal."
"After playing for half an hour, Barcelona still didn't have a very threatening attack. This is very rare for Barcelona."
"It seems that the saying that possession rate wins the world may be broken by Liverpool in this game."
"Barcelona's Cosmos myth may come to an end after this game."
"Klopp's high pressing tactics may become a new trend."
