May 24th, Dortmund Westfalenstadion.
More than 60,000 fans were prepared early.
More than 50,000 of them were wearing red jerseys, and Liverpool fans completely occupied the stadium at this moment.
In comparison, the number of fans of the Green and White Legion was pitiful, less than 10,000.
There are even more fans wearing yellow and black Dortmund jerseys than Sporting Lisbon fans.
This is the prestige crushing of the five major leagues over the minor leagues.
While the players on both sides were still warming up, the commentators started working.
"Hello everyone, this is the 2000-2001 UEFA Cup final. I am Huang Jianxiang. Today our special guests are Chinese player Fan Zhiyi from the Premier League Crystal Palace, and his former teammate at Crystal Palace who currently plays for Dalian Shide. International footballer Sun Jihai.”
"Today's matches are between the Premier League giants Liverpool and the Portuguese Premier League giants Sporting Lisbon. Among them, Sporting Lisbon's Chinese player Deng Kai is deeply loved by Chinese fans and is the home team of most Chinese fans."
"I wonder who Fan Zhiyi is more optimistic about in this game?"
Fan Zhiyi smiled: "Of course it's Liverpool. I played against Liverpool in the Premier League, and they are very strong. Their lineup today is basically their starting lineup in the league."
"Irving and Heskey can be called Liverpool's golden partners. They are also the first choice for England's forward line-up. Among them, Owen has become the Premier League's top scorer for two consecutive years. The momentum is very strong. English fans believe that he is a superstar who can surpass Ronaldo."
"Husky is 1.9 meters tall. He has a strong fulcrum and can also fight alone. Except for his slightly inferior shooting skills, he has almost no shortcomings. His explosive power is the strongest thing for his height. He was once called For a larger version of Eusebio the Black Panther.”
"Drogba and Heskey at Sporting Lisbon are somewhat similar, but Drogba is so much better. The gap between him and Heskey is like dust and stars."
Sun Jihai praised it and said that Brother Fan can use metaphors.
Fan Zhiyi got even more excited after being encouraged, as if he brought out the Liverpool intelligence analyzed by the team's assistant coach: "Liverpool's midfield is also not weak. The left and right midfielders Borg and Danny Murphy are both powerful players. The midfield combination McAllister and Vladimir Smicer are back to their prime this season, getting better and better as they get older."
"Especially Smicer, as one of the troika of the Czech national team, although his development is not as good as that of Nedvěd who is all-powerful in Lazio, but he is slightly better than Boboski who is wasting his time in Benfica."
"Five years ago, the Czech team shined in the European Cup and reached the semi-finals, and Smicer was indispensable. In last year's European Cup, although the Czech team had a poor record, Smicer performed well personally. Among them, scoring twice in three minutes to defeat the Danish team was another masterpiece of his. It is worth mentioning that the person who scored twice through the goal at that time was Sporting Lisbon goalkeeper Schmeichel!"
"Liverpool's defense is also strong. The center back pairing of Hyypia and Henjos has a good understanding of each other, and Carragher performed very well at the left back position. The right back is Marcus Babel, a famous player imported from Bayern. "
"Speaking of which, Babel also has a score to settle with Schmeichel and Deng Kai. In the Champions League final two years ago, after Bayern was defeated by Manchester United, the scene of Babel angrily hitting the turf was the saddest thing for all Bayern fans. One scene.”
"In addition, there are several high-level players on Liverpool's bench. Robbie Fowler is definitely one of the strongest substitute strikers. Dietmar Hamann and Liverpool's own youth training midfielder Jay Ladd also has the ability to start."
"Such a lineup is definitely several times stronger than Sporting Lisbon. What's more, in terms of schedule, Sporting Lisbon just experienced a league game two days ago, while Liverpool's schedule is relatively easy. It's hard to lose even if you wait for work!"
After Fan Zhiyi beat Liverpool, Huang Jianxiang expressed a different view: "Although Liverpool's lineup is stronger, Sporting Lisbon has created many miracles before, and they may be able to do it in this game."
"Sporting Lisbon's starting lineup can be said to be the Portuguese Super League All-Stars!"
"Cristiano Ronaldo, Drogba, Quaresma"
"Viana, Deng Kai"
"Matthaus Deschamps"
"Terry, Font, Barzagli, goalkeeper Schmeichel!"
"Among them, Cristiano Ronaldo has a very strong scoring ability and is very likely to score a goal in this game! He is definitely a player that Liverpool needs to focus on..."
Fan Zhiyi reached out and interrupted Huang Jianxiang's introduction: "Well, regarding Ronaldo, a friend of mine has an evaluation of him, which I think is more pertinent."
Huang Jianxiang: "I would like to hear the details."
Fan Zhiyi: "His playing style relies heavily on the body, but his physical fitness is okay in the secondary leagues, but it is not enough in the five major leagues. So according to his playing style, he can play for up to three years."
Huang Jianxiang was thoughtful and felt that this sentence was not simple.
…
Soon, the two sides returned to the locker room and then lined up out of the player tunnel.
With a whistle, the game officially begins.
It may be that this game is of great importance, and players on both sides are extremely cautious, that is, conservative.
After all, no matter who wins between the two teams, whoever wins will be the new Triple Crown champion!
In the first ten minutes, neither side created any threatening offense.
But that doesn’t mean this time is useless.
Through this period of testing, both teams judged the opponent's strength and status, and then generated corresponding plans.
On the Liverpool coaching bench, head coach Gerard Houllier was happily communicating with Barmby, Hamann, Gerrard and other substitute players around him: "Sure enough, there is something wrong with their physical fitness!"
"The load of two games in three days is too great, and their running ability has dropped significantly."
"The frontcourt is okay, but if the system of three central defenders and two defensive midfielders in the backcourt is not strong enough, it will almost completely give up the two wings!"
"If you play in the second half, you must take advantage of these opportunities!"
After speaking, Houllier waved his hand, signaling the Liverpool players on the field to change their offensive focus.
Smicer immediately distributed the football to left midfielder Berg.
In just ten minutes, Liverpool created dangers one after another, and Sporting Lisbon gradually fell into a disadvantage.
Twenty-one minutes.
Font made a header to clear the ball, but Deschamps was double-teamed and kicked the football forward.
Liverpool midfielder McAllister completed the interception and passed the ball to right back Babel.
Babel dribbled the ball, hit the wall and then made a pass from Murphy.
Heskey, the black treasure of England's black and white treasures, beat Fonte to header.
Schmeichel reacted quickly and subconsciously saved the powerful header.
But the next moment, the white treasure Owen flashed in front of the goal and succeeded in making a supplementary shot.
One to zero!
After twenty minutes of fierce fighting, Liverpool finally broke the deadlock and took the lead!
