After the weekend league ended, it was time for the European war in midweek.
On September 26, in the second round of the Champions League group stage, Liverpool challenged Spartak Moscow away. What is more friendly to Liverpool is that it is not the cold winter season yet, and Moscow is not as cold as ice and snow, so it is still acceptable.
If it is the last round of the group stage and we play a Russian team away from home around December, it will be uncomfortable.
Liverpool will naturally play with all their main players in this game, striving to take all three points. The sooner they qualify, the more room the team will have to maneuver in the domestic league and cup competitions.
Therefore, even if it was an away game, Liverpool launched a fierce attack on Spartak from the beginning, using their stronger overall strength and technical advantages to firmly control the ball and launch a fierce attack on Spartak Moscow's penalty area. Indiscriminate bombing, the ball possession rate once soared to more than 70%.
Although Spartak Moscow was playing at home, and there were countless polar bears and shirtless men in the stands cheering for the home team, they still couldn't stop Liverpool's waves of attacks.
In the 24th minute, Willard dribbled the ball through the middle and attracted a tense siege from four Spartan defenders. Instead of breaking into the Longtan alone, he decisively distributed the ball.
Salah received the ball from the right and passed the ball under the ball. Firmino fought for the top in the middle, but it also shook Sparta's center back and goalkeeper, allowing Mane, who followed up from behind, to dive easily. The shot was successful and the ball went into the back of Sparta's goal.
Liverpool leads 1-0 away from home.
Liverpool, who had taken the lead, did not shrink their defense. Instead, they continued to press Spartak Moscow and bombard them indiscriminately, striving to gain a bigger lead early. They could make substitutions and relax in the second half.
The Russians secretly want to scare Liverpool with their strong physical fitness, but they also know that Liverpool has Willard, a master of free kicks, so they have always been more cautious, even if they commit fouls, they are far away from the goal.
But there are always mistakes.
In the 37th minute, Sparta defender Bochetti accidentally tripped Salah while intercepting Salah's breakthrough at the front of the penalty area. Although he was not shown a yellow card, the referee awarded a free pass in an excellent position. ball.
Although Bochetti tried his best to defend the referee, saying that he did not touch Salah and that Salah dived himself, the referee saw it clearly and naturally would not listen to Bochetti's nonsense and insisted on his penalty. .
Willard lived up to expectations, taking a perfect arcing free kick and sending the ball directly into the dead center of the goal.
Liverpool leads 2-0 away from home and basically seals the victory. Facing Liverpool led by Willard, it would be extremely difficult for any team to come back from two goals behind.
Therefore, during the halftime break, Klopp made a decisive substitution, replacing Mane and Wijnaldum to rest, leaving only one substitution on hand as a precaution, just in case.
After the start of the second half, Spartak Moscow stepped up their offensive, trying to make a last ditch effort after Liverpool's substitution.
But the presence of Willard and Van Dijk made Sparta's offense basically in vain, and Liverpool often counterattacked after getting the ball.
In the 56th minute, Velarde saw an opportunity after getting the ball in the backcourt and directly found Firmino with a long pass. Although it was not a one-shot when Firmino got the ball, he still relied on his skills to complete the turn with a stop and wipe. Then he dribbled the ball forward while leaning on defender Kutepov, and finally reached the top of the arc in the penalty area. A kick successfully lifted the ball over the head of goalkeeper Rebrov and into the goal.
Liverpool led 3-0 away from home, completely sealing the victory.
The score has reached this level. Except for Willard, who is full of physical strength, others can finally safely and boldly treat this game as a training match, slow down the attack and rest physically and mentally. If Sparta presses, everyone will attack forward; if they don't press, they will drop in the midfield and take the opportunity to rest.
In the 68th minute, Klopp also replaced Van Dijk to rest.
Even so, Liverpool still had another opportunity for a corner kick in the 77th minute. Willard jumped high in the penalty area and headed the ball into Sparta's goal, completing the score. and helped Liverpool lock the final score at 4-0.
Finally, the referee blew the whistle to end the game. Liverpool defeated Spartak Moscow 4-0 in an away game and won two consecutive victories in the Champions League group stage.
In another group match, Sevilla defeated Maribor 3-0 and took all three points.
It seems that Sevilla has a greater chance of defeating Spartak Moscow and getting the second qualifying spot in the group.
But this has nothing to do with Liverpool. No matter who finishes second in the group, it will not affect Liverpool's first place in the group and sprint towards the feat of successfully defending the Champions League for the first time after its restructuring.
Back in China, on October 1, in the 7th round of the Premier League, Liverpool challenged Newcastle United away.
As a traditional strong team in the Premier League, Newcastle United was completely unable to resist Liverpool's attack. Even though Liverpool was fighting on multiple fronts, there was a certain amount of rotation in this game.
But Willard's start basically determined the outcome of this game.
Only 8 minutes into the game, Velarde used a lightning counterattack to cause the opponent's defender to foul him and got a free kick.
Willard hit the target with a direct free kick and sent the ball into Newcastle's goal.
After taking the lead, the game became even easier for Liverpool.
After 90 minutes, the score on the live electronic screen was 0-3. Liverpool defeated Newcastle United with three goals in an away game and achieved a complete victory. Willard scored twice again, and Mane was the icing on the cake.
It is a pity that the Manchester City duo also won this round and continued to rank in the top two of the standings. Liverpool could only finish third by one point. Fortunately, the gap with fourth place has opened up by 4 points.
After playing Newcastle United, the time entered the international football match day, and Velarde returned to China to participate in the last two rounds of the World Cup preliminaries. They were Argentina's home game against Peru in the 17th round of the South American World Cup preliminaries, and Argentina's away game against Ecuador in the 18th round.
Argentina won two consecutive games without any suspense. Velarde scored 5 goals in the two games and was named the top scorer in South America in the World Preliminaries.
After the South American World Cup preliminaries, Argentina ranked first and qualified with an undefeated record without any doubt. The second place was Brazil, the third place was Uruguay, the fourth place was Argentina, and the fifth place was Peru.
The top four teams directly advance to the World Cup in Russia. Peru, which is fifth, needs to play a two-round play-off with New Zealand, the first place in Oceania. The winner will qualify for the main round of the World Cup in Russia.
Without a doubt, this will be Peru's best opportunity ever.
In the play-offs, the No. 1 spot in Oceania is the best to win. It depends on whether Peru can seize this opportunity.
