[Shocking! Klopp Mocks Ajax's Young Players, Saying They Are Worthless Compared to Leo Lin!]
[Unbelievable! Klopp Believes Leo Lin Is on Superstar Level Compared with Ajax's Stars!]
[Klopp Looks Down on Opponents Before the Match. Will He Be Held Responsible for These Remarks? If Liverpool Lose, Will It Be Blamed on Klopp's Arrogance?]
On the morning of March 2, Klopp looked at headline after headline taken out of context by shameless reporters, each one written purely to grab attention, and knew he still had not escaped. Those people had not let him off after all.
On March 2, the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal was about to begin.
At Ajax's home ground, the beautiful stadium named after the legendary Cruyff was packed with Ajax fans.
Ajax had once again reached a glorious moment in the club's history, and their fans were looking forward to seeing them beat Liverpool.
"Beating Liverpool obviously won't be easy, but beating Ajax won't be easy either. So I think this match will either end with Liverpool losing, Ajax losing, or both sides drawing!"
Ashley Cole made his prediction with confidence.
"If nonsense like that counts as a prediction, then every prediction I make from now on will be flawless!"
"The result is either a draw or one side wins. Ashley Cole, can you say something with a little substance?"
Ever since joining the commentary team, Gullit and Ashley Cole had become a pair of natural rivals, always bickering with each other.
Scholes had long since gotten used to scenes like this. He was always the calmest one, the person trying to keep everything under control, just like Gerrard before him.
"All right, all right, let's take a look at Ajax's starting lineup for this match. They really do have plenty of outstanding young talent!"
"Goalkeeper: Onana."
"Defenders: Tagliafico, Blind, De Ligt, Veltman!"
"Midfielders: De Jong, Schöne, Van de Beek!"
"Forwards: Neres, Tadić, Ziyech!"
"Liverpool's formation is exactly the same as Ajax's. Van Dijk partners Matip at center back, with Robertson and Arnold continuing as starters."
"The front three remain unchanged. Henderson returns to the starting lineup in midfield, and Rodri is still holding things down."
"Recently, Rodri has become another stable starter in Liverpool's midfield, and his market value has already risen to sixty million euros. Liverpool spent very little to sign him. This has been an incredibly profitable deal!"
Leo Lin stepped onto the Cruyff Arena. The football atmosphere here was different from the Premier League, and he liked it.
The match began amid applause from the Ajax fans. In the stands, the supporters unfurled a portrait of Cruyff.
Ajax had once again produced an excellent Champions League run, and the fans were using the moment to pay tribute to their footballing godfather, Cruyff.
Ajax's style of play was extremely distinctive. After kick-off, their midfield positioning was very interesting.
De Jong sometimes pushed forward and sometimes dropped deep. Whenever Ajax defended, De Jong would sit deeper. The moment any Ajax player got the ball, they would look for De Jong first.
Even when De Jong did not have good space to receive it, they would still give him the ball, and then De Jong would use his magical ability to carry it forward.
Gullit was quickly impressed by De Jong's dribbling.
"De Jong carries the ball out from the back, pulls wide, and uses Tagliafico's cover to drive forward!"
"He stops sharply, turns, and drags the ball past Rodri. That was such an imaginative breakthrough!"
"De Jong keeps driving forward! He's almost carried the ball more than thirty meters all by himself!"
"Henderson blocks him, but the ball is still under De Jong's control. Excellent rhythm. De Jong keeps going!"
"Through ball!"
"Tadić!"
"Alisson blocks Tadić's shot!"
"That attack showed every one of De Jong's strengths!"
"That is what you call progression! That is what you call dribbling!"
"No wonder so many clubs like him. Who wouldn't want a ball-carrying machine like that?"
It was Rodri's first time facing De Jong. Although he had been prepared, he still failed to stop him, allowing De Jong to seize the chance and slip past.
Leo Lin made a few gestures toward Rodri, and Rodri nodded.
The corner was taken by De Jong. De Ligt came into the box to join the attack. He was Ajax's main aerial target.
De Jong's delivery was very accurate and was clearly looking for De Ligt. But because the target was so obvious, Leo Lin had been watching De Ligt the whole time. Then, with the support of the Gullit skill, he overpowered De Ligt and cleared it with a header.
Henderson turned with the ball and sent out a long pass. The aggressive ball forward gave Mané a chance down the wing.
Veltman found himself one-on-one against Mané, and before he could even settle into his rhythm, Mané forced his way past him.
"Mané's breakthrough is so fierce!"
"He keeps driving toward the box!"
"Mané!"
"Shot!"
"No goal!"
"Mané beat Veltman down the flank and got the shooting chance, but unfortunately for Liverpool, Onana reacted brilliantly and stopped Mané's low shot!"
After blocking Mané's shot, Onana immediately got up and roared at Veltman.
"What are you doing?"
"You can't let him get past you that easily!"
Veltman raised a hand in apology.
"It's obvious who the leader of this team is. That's Onana's command ability!"
Ajax fans were still shaken after nearly conceding to Liverpool. When play resumed, De Jong continued acting as Ajax's driving engine.
In the 20th minute!
"De Jong has taken ball progression to a high level. Tagliafico plays a waist-high ball into De Jong."
"He controls it and breaks forward. He still wants to slip past Rodri!"
De Jong wanted to control the ball and beat his man in one move. It was a clever attempt, but Rodri was ready this time. He went straight into the physical duel, squeezing De Jong toward his weaker side.
His weaker side meant the side away from De Jong's dominant foot, forcing him to lose control of his balance.
Rodri's clever use of contact really did knock De Jong off balance.
"Rodri wins the ball!"
"Smart use of the body!"
Leo Lin had already seen the weakness in De Jong's ball-carrying. At this stage, De Jong was still very young. His body was not strong enough, and he relied heavily on his dominant foot. He always shifted all his weight to that side.
So after Leo Lin made a few gestures to Rodri, telling him how to defend against De Jong's center of gravity, Rodri successfully won the ball.
After the tackle, Rodri decisively passed to Leo Lin. Leo Lin received it and turned. Now it was his turn to drive forward.
But Leo Lin's progression was completely different from De Jong's.
His center of gravity seemed to be on the foot carrying the ball, but because Leo Lin was stronger and had a steadier base, whenever a player came at him, he would suddenly switch from dribbling with his left foot to his right, then from his right back to his left.
Leo Lin was not limited to dribbling with one foot, and he did not keep his center of gravity fixed in one place.
With clever switching between both feet and intelligent dribbling, Leo Lin first went past Schöne, then brushed off Van de Beek, easily completing his drive through the middle.
Then, with a delicate outside-of-the-foot pass, he found Mané.
Mané took the ball and swept it into the middle.
Firmino pressed against Blind and attacked the ball.
...
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